Her is the story of Theodore Twombly, a recently divorced man who falls in love with Samantha, a version of a newly developed computer Operating System (that he randomly happens upon through some paradoxically utopic Big Brother-like advertising) that is personality specific, and artificially and boundlessly intelligent.

The movie opens into a futuristic world filled with oppressively bright colors that are all somehow simultaneously washed out, taking on this bland, depressed quality. The extensive use of frontality and tight shots/extreme close-ups really causes the viewer to poignantly feel with each character. The cinematography was romantic and effective; the shots and city environment give a sense of claustrophobia.

Moreover, every actor was excellent, from Olivia Wilde in her two-minute cameo to the unseen Scarlett Johansson to Amy Adams as Amy, Theodore's refreshingly real best friend, to Rooney Mara as Theodore’s frustrated ex-wife, all helmed by the tour de force that is Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore.

Oh, Theodore Twombly. He's a beautiful, wistful, full character with a resounding air of crippling loneliness and deep melancholy. He's affable, lovable and loving, just a puppy dog of a man, yet he's almost childlike, suspended in the world of adulthood while still unwittingly attempting to avoid all the real consequence that comes with that world: even the colors scream enfant. Just having gone through a divorce, Theodore avoids handling his own feelings and instead pours out his emotions on others' behalf as a letter writer for beautifulhandwrittenletters.com, a witty jab at the irony of our sentimentality in this age of technology. Phoenix embodies this character so strikingly; you feel every ounce of heavy loneliness, each false hope, each shred of disillusionment, each stifling disappoint, every morsel of meager carefree joy with Theodore. And despite any of Theodore's cherubic qualities, Her contains the best sex seen I've ever witnessed - and I couldn't even see it.

This film is a heartbreaking story about love and the human condition set in a world of fantasy that feels so inescapably and incredibly grounded, mortal, and real.  I didn't want it to end and was so sad to walk back into our world afterwards. It was somber, but almost delightfully so; it had a lightness that was so, so heavy. In an observation that just about sums the whole story, Amy says, "falling in love... is a form of socially acceptable insanity." And I'll leave you with that.

Rating: A+

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom comes out at an unfortunate and relevant time. Earlier this month, Nelson Mandela died. Through this movie we can follow his suffering and triumph. The film tells the story of his life as a young man, to his time in prison, and then his eventual rise to power. It focuses mainly on the black South African’s fight for equal rights and the effects it has on upon Mandela and his family.

Mandela is played by Idris Elba who gives an outstanding performance that conveys Mandela’s charismatic public persona and later the depth of his emotional wounds.  The supporting cast is full of solid yet mostly forgettable performances. While Naomie Harris does have some good moments as Winnie Mandela, Nelson’s second wife, those moments aren't enough to overcome the problems with her story line, which feels unnecessary and out of place considering the rest of the film we see and hear everything with Mandela. I would much rather have had the point of view remain consistent letting the audience react with Mandela as we do with one of the other events during his prison sentence. Instead we get too little of his wife to see her develop yet too much seemingly only to remind the audience that she is still out there.

The only other moments we stray from Mandela are a couple montages filmed in a pseudo live television coverage format and overlaid with music that doesn't fit the subtle score that compliments the rest of the film. While they try to give a sense of the civil unrest that is consuming the country they fail miserably because most don't provide any context and are finished so quickly that I didn't have time to absorb them. Lastly, the film had problematic intermittent dream sequences. Out of the few in the film there was one that was successful while the rest seem to foreshadow events that happen only a minute or two later.

Overall I enjoyed the film and it excels when Elba is on screen. The film struggles when the story strays from the immediate involvement of Mandela, but luckily these moments are too few to detract too much from the experience.

Grade: B-

Many believe that Christmas – which this year coincides with the release of Martin Scorsese's latest film The Wolf of Wall Street – can bring out the deepest greed in people (and the greatest charity, to be fair). It might be appropriate, then, that The Wolf of Wall Street follows some of the greediest people on the planet: stock brokers. Chief among them was Jordan Belfort.

The Great Gatsby 2: Champagne Wishes and Cocaine Dreams

Based on the book of the same name, The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan, following his rags-to-riches-to-rags tale of Wall Street stardom. Jordan is no anti-hero, however. Though charming, he lacks all self-control and morality. He lives by no code and cares for no one but himself. And Leo becomes ever more entertaining to watch as he falls further down the rabbit hole.

This plays as both a strength and weakness for The Wolf of Wall Street. Never have I seen such epic scenes of increasing depravity. The film makes a game of outdoing itself in scenes of excess and shock value. So much gratuitous nudity, sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and deeply lewd behavior can be found here that the MPAA just had to have been bribed or blackmailed to let this pass with an R rating. The film does an excellent job of exemplifying the excesses of the filthy rich (emphasis on the filthy).  As entertaining as this exposé is, though, it detracts from the film as a whole.  The focus on faithfully depicting the more risqué aspects of its source material make the rest of the plot seem a little thin: Jordan doesn't arrive on Wall Street a drug-addicted, sex-obsessed alpha male, and I wish more time was spent on his transition into the Wolf, as well as the consequences when it all starts crumbling down.

While the dramatic beats aren't perfect, the comedy hits hard. This is the funniest movie I've seen this year. The behavior and situations that Belfort and his cohorts become embroiled in are absurd and darkly comic. This helps keep things interesting throughout the 3-hour runtime. The characters are often more like caricatures than real people, another strength and weakness of the film.  Yet even though the characters’ behaviors are clearly exaggerated at points, it’s hard not to leave the theater uneasy at the thought that there may be real powerful Wall Street elites out there who engage in some of Jordan’s outrageous behaviors.

If you're a Scorsese fan, you'll find a lot to like here as the film is shot in classic Scorsese fashion. DiCaprio is backed by a very strong and talented supporting cast; Jonah Hill gives a terrific performance as Donnie Azoff, one of Jordan’s associates. And Matthew McConaughey steals the show during his all-too-brief appearance.

The Wolf of Wall Street is all about excess: over-the-top performances, enormous shock value, and a long runtime. The dramatic scenes are presented well, but they could have benefited from more exploration of the characters and their inner dialogue.  However, the comedy makes up for those shortcomings and pulls us through to the very end. This probably isn't the movie to go see with your family on Christmas Day, unless you're comfortable sitting next to your parents while watching Leonardo DiCaprio snort coke off a hooker’s ass, but it’s definitely worth seeking out when you have the opportunity.

Grade: B+

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has gorgeous landscape shots and an intriguing story idea, but not much else. Character decisions often feel a little unbelievable and sometimes even preposterous. It’s a great Christmas time family movie, since it’s accessible, heartwarming and fun, but it won’t last beyond the holidays.

Let me be clear, this is not a bad movie. It’s actually a good movie; however, at this time of year when you’re competing against works like Inside Llewyn Davis, Her and The Past, it’s just not enough.

Walter (Ben Stiller) is your classic daydreamer, bored by his life and desiring to escape into Hollywood-style realities.  He wants to be an action hero, a love god, etc; but this was not always the case. Walter used to be more of a daredevil, which is how the film explains his quick transition from square to adventurer. This is a very problematic story point. Walter is meant to represent the restrained societal being, the cowardly square. Ultimately, he winds up being a person with a father complex. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Stiller wants to have it both ways.

Throughout the film, Walter is trying to court co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wig). This love story feels contrived, despite strong moments. She’s actually an excellent example of how the reactions characters have don’t match the extremely high stakes of this movie. I was astounded by how calm Cheryl is when Walter calls her on the phone describing dangerous situations that someone like him would never be found in. That being said, there were times her character was used beautifully. In one moment, when Walter has finally begun to take risks, he channels her in his mind for encouragement to jump onto a moving helicopter while the classic David Bowie song Space Oddity plays in the background. It’s actually quite memorable. Still, these successes are few and far between. Moments in this film are strong, but the cohesive whole is less than the sum of its parts.

I found The Secret Life of Walter Mitty very disappointing, but I still have hope for it. Perhaps on future viewings, when I’m not holding it to the standard of the Coens, Jonze and Farhadi, it’ll crystalize. 

Grade: B-

The following is an edited version of what I wrote after the Telluride Film Festival. I haven't had the opportunity to see the film again yet.

Asghar Farhadi’s films deftly prod deeper and deeper by peeling away the layers of the situation he establishes. He has a quietly powerful presence with complexity of thought, depth of feeling, patience, and profound understanding.

Like A Separation, The Past masterfully circles around a central conflict by moving from character to character, exploring each person’s unique perspective, and in this case pain, to establish complete understanding. Each portrait is fully realized. Several times I couldn’t hold back tears, as Farhadi slowly pulled back the curtain. Like one rarely does at the cinema, I felt the full depth of characters’ emotions. I felt the character Lucie so strongly inside that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn't stop caring about her.

The tragedy of The Past is that all human beings are essentially the same, and our inability to see this often causes tremendous pain, whether that be in minor quibbles or death. Farhadi doesn't explain ideas we haven't already considered, that's not his skill. He shows us the humanity behind those ideas, in a deeper, more empathetic way than we've experienced.

Grade: A

American Hustle is exciting from start to finish. With a stellar cast, screenplay, and score, this laugh-out-loud ridiculous tale is definitely worth seeing.

The movie ostensibly tells the story of the “Abscam” scandal, in which FBI agents in the late 1970s/early ‘80s used a fake Arab sheikh to bring down corrupt politicians. The mood of American Hustle is delightfully playful, opening on a shot of Christian Bale’s uncharacteristically large gut (he gained 50lbs for the role) and then spending time examining his character’s terrible toupee.

Bale’s character is Irving Rosenfeld, the fictional persona of the con man Melvin Weinberg, who helped mastermind the FBI sting. Irving learned how to “hustle” at a young age by throwing rocks through local storefronts to drum up business for his father’s glass company – and he’s convinced that everyone in the world also hustles to survive. He sports confidence and style in his backdoor endeavors involving forged art and a fake loan business and falls in love almost at first sight with the British Lady Edith Greensly (Amy Adams), whom he soon brings in to help with his deals. Adams delivers a knockout performance of a survival-oriented hustler that feels to be withholding something from everyone around her—including the audience. Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Irv’s wife Rosalyn, is an overly emotional, socially inappropriate overkill. Jeremy Renner plays merry and corrupt Mayor Carmine Polito with believable sincerity and heart.

The film heavily focuses on personal reinvention, or the hope that if you can turn yourself into somebody else then you will achieve your dreams. While I think the final 20 minutes need some personal reinvention to keep up with the pace of the rest of the film, you won’t want your money back – the stellar performances alone are worth the hustle.

Grade: A

Inside Llewyn Davis follows a musician, struggling to survive the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s. At a Q+A session after the film, lead actor Oscar Isaac joked that it’s kind of like “the passion of the folk singer” as Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) is battered by unsympathetic friends and missed opportunities. However, is Llewyn unlucky or self-destructive?

He’s a hard character to love. He’s frequently unkind to his friends and rarely thankful for what they give him (money, shelter, etc). And yet, they forgive him. Have they seen a different Llewyn before this, or is his selfish misery something that they see within themselves? In typical Coen Brothers fashion, these questions are never answered.

Inside Llewyn Davis is a strange kind of road movie, moving from couch to couch and diversion to diversion. It’s effective because all the pieces fit together perfectly. Isaac is sublime, playing Llewyn with effectively cold sincerity. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel’s melancholic tones drive the film’s soulfulness. The tight, simplistic script by the Coens is spot on as always.

I have been thinking about Inside Llewyn Davis for weeks. It doesn’t have as much intellectual intrigue as other Coen films like No Country for Old Men or A Serious Man. That’s fine though, this is a different kind of movie. It has soul.

Grade: A/A-

Saving Mr. Banks is a sugary blend of contrived meaning, blatant lack of awareness, and Disney-fied corporate propaganda.

And it’s not that bad.

The film stars Emma Thompson as PL Travers –the original author of Mary Poppins. Thompson plays the part with such bitterness you’d think all she really needed was a spoonful of sugar. Travers desperately clings to her precious creation, butting heads with Disney’s happiest writers and refusing to budge.

Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney himself, a family man, a Midwest man, a happiest-place-on-earth-chain-smoking man with a great mustache and greater tan. You know exactly what you’re going to get with this one: Hanks plays dress-up and toys with an iffy accent, but he can do anything, so we forgive him. He’s rounded out by pleasant sidekicks including sweethearts Jason Schwartzmann, BJ Novak, Bradley Whitford, and Paul Giamatti.

Taking place in two different time periods, we’re given the Poppins negotiations and writing process in the 1960s, as well as a gorgeous family falling apart in 1920s Australia. Colin Farrell steals the spotlight as an alcoholic father fighting a losing battle. It’s heartbreaking, but a treat to watch. He is a shining light – if not a huge draw – for the film.

Unfortunately Saving Mr. Banks is a disjointed ball of irony. It’s prime focus is the struggle between maintaining artistic integrity and letting go of the past, all while not falling victim to Disney’s song-and-dance transformation – yet that’s exactly what happens. The harsh truths of Travers’ displeasure with the final film are silenced in favor of a happy ending. It all feels a little too surreal: a bit overacted, glorified, and, well, Disney-fied.

It’s tough to determine whom the film is marketed to, exactly. Make no mistake: this is not a children’s movie. Alcoholism and abandonment are the heavy ankleweights attached to the sunny façade and took me by surprise – but as an adult, you may not care.

Grade: B-

I keep hearing that The Desolation of Smaug is slightly better than An Unexpected Journey. First, I don't agree. But really, who cares? Both films are unnecessary. I actually found this installment far less enjoyable than the first, and a waste of my time. I walked into the film stressed about finals, searching for some escapism, and found very little. You know what you're getting into with a new Hobbit film, all the same old stuff. However this time, it felt like Jackson didn't take the time to properly establish the stakes, or why anything was happening. It seemed like in the writing/editing processes they thought to themselves: "Oh what does it matter? They need to get from A to B while being chased, and there needs to be some monster." They rarely gave me a reason to care, or understand why things were happening.

It's certainly not bad, but very disappointing. Proceed with caution.

Grade: C-

Out of the Furnace is the type of film that gets worse the more you think about it.

Director Scott Cooper gives us essentially zero backstory for main character Russell (Christian Bale). A gritty mill worker in Braddock, PA, he ends up in prison after a car accident. His brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) is a scrappy Iraq war veteran struggling to find work. With a penchant for fist fighting, Rodney enters fights under a bookie (Willem Defoe) to make some cash and pay his debts.

Rodney learns there’s an opportunity up in the mountains of northern New Jersey, where the mountain’s inhabitants live by their own set of rules: no police interference, no laws, no regard for humanity. It’s a secluded community. This group is based off a real-life Native American tribe that live in the Ramapo Mountains area of New Jersey. Read up on them if you get a chance – their story is quite interesting, but one terribly misrepresented in the film.

Enter the group’s ruthless druggie warlord, Harlan (Woody Harrelson). He’s disgusting and scary and everything you’d fear from the leader of a cultish enterprise. Harrelson lends himself to the role quite well; I physically cringed at some of his more gruesome scenes.

In a series of events that shift the film’s focus, Rodney goes missing up in the mountains. Russell, now freed from jail, sets off on a path of vigilante justice to find out what happened.

Out of the Furnace is visually pleasing, and the billed cast is stellar – Forest Whitaker and Zoe Saldana also star. While there is skilled acting onscreen, the script can’t keep up. Trying to sum up the plot is futile: There is none. Don’t be fooled: we’re given numerous shots of Bale looking down and dreary, but the fact that I didn’t walk out of the theater in immediate disgust is a testament to his (and the rest of the cast’s) acting abilities. Only after I got home did I realize how much the film was truly lacking.

It’s a shame – with a little more character development, this film could’ve turned out much better, and it’s not like they didn’t have the space. Total runtime? An hour and 45 minutes.

It’s stocked with gratuitous violence and some clichéd plot lines. The cast did the best they could with a shoddy script, but it didn’t pull all the way through.

Grade: C-