Movies I Wanna See Most: Fall 2016

So far, 2016 has felt like something of a lackluster year for film when compared to what felt like a rather stellar 2015. Maybe it is the hurt of summer '16 and the many disappointments it carried that is still making me feel worse about the year than it actually has been, but if the summer of '16 was a let down the latter half of the year certainly seems like it has a shot of righting the ship and offering plenty of interesting films that could fill the majority of my year end list that I'm beginning to get concerned about. In fact, the rest of the year is so jam-packed with highly anticipated stuff I think I could make a top twenty and be legitimately excited for each and every one of the movies on that list. As I did last year, I'm basically including a top fifteen with more of a focus on why my top ten are indeed my top ten, but hard choices had to be made.

I'm interested to see what Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks have to offer with Sully and the fact it was shot 100% on IMAX cameras. I'm equally as intrigued by what Oliver Stone and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have up their sleeves in Snowden, but while interested I can't say I'm necessarily excited for the possibilities these features hold. I kind of feel I know what to expect and if they fulfill those expectations, great-if they surpass them-even better. This could very much describe the way I feel about the likes of The Girl on the Train and The Accountant as well. I'm very much interested to see if either of these can rise above their genre trappings to be more than what their trailers promise or if they'll simply be solid exercises in those genres-which isn't a bad thing either. I expect Birth of a Nation may be a great film, but am I excited to watch another harsh account concerning slavery? Not really. If I knew or had seen a little more about Denzel Washington's Fences adaptation or Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain I might be more inclined to include them on my list. Speaking of Washington, I'm certainly eager to see such mainstream films as Magnificent Seven, When a Monster Calls, Deepwater Horizon, Moana, and Assassins Creed, but not more than what is currently on my list. Monster and Moana would definitely make that top twenty though.

I've excluded Martin Scorsese's Silence from this list as I've put it on the last four or five lists I've made of this nature and it seems and it still doesn't have a firm release date. If we were to get some kind of confirmation it would certainly be near the top, but as of right now I'm treating this thing as if it won't come out until 2017. Same for the Will Smith/Kate Winslet/Keira Knightley/Helen Mirren/ Edward Norton/Naomie Harris/Michael Peña starrer Collateral Beauty. We could get a trailer any day now given the December 16th release date, but as we haven't seen so much as a still yet there is nothing to go on. The one landing just outside this top fifteen is Ewan McGregor's directorial debut in American Pastoral which I unfortunately feel will take a while to get to my neck of the woods. And so, without further adieu, let's dig in...

First Trailer for INFERNO Starring Tom Hanks

For some reason, I'm rather excited about the idea of another Dan Brown adaptation courtesy of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. By the time this latest film premieres it will have been over a decade since The Da Vinci Code hit theaters and while I found that film incredibly challenging to get through in its long stretches of being little more than boring it felt like an event of sorts and that it ended up making $217 million domestically and $758 million globally there is no surprise it spawned more adaptations of Brown's work. Though 2009's Angels & Demons didn't do as much business it still fared well and is easily the more entertaining of the two films. With many notes acquired I'd be surprised if Inferno doesn't turn out to be a fun, unfiltered mystery/thriller that plays into all our favorite guilty pleasures that seem to make up the easily digestible narratives of Brown's work. That said, I still haven't read any of Brown's novels and don't plan on changing that soon so I have no idea how good or potentially fun this adaptation stands the chance of being, but I enjoy conspiracies and Tom Hanks enough to be excited for this thing. David Koepp returns after adapting Brown's Angels & Demons to do the same here and replacing the obligatory female sidekick previously played by the likes of Audrey Tautou and Ayelet Zurer is Felecity Jones who, in this story, helps Hanks' Robert Langdon race against the clock to foil a deadly global plot. The catch is, the beginning of the film finds Langdon waking up in a European hospital with amnesia. How will this play into the plot? Who knows. Hopefully it simply serves to make the mystery as intriguing as possible as that was the biggest downfall with the series originator. Of course, the biggest mystery will be if there is still an audience for this series seven years after the last film and three years after the book was published. We shall find out when Inferno, also starring Ben Foster, Omar Sy, and Irrfan Khan, opens on October 28th, 2016.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2016

As always, there is a lot to look forward to this year at the cinema. In attempting to look through all of the major releases for the upcoming year that are already on the calendar I've come across more than enough movies to keep a variety of audiences entertained, but what follows is not just a list of films I'm most excited to see (though that is surely the bulk of it), but also commentary on just how difficult it's become to both look forward to and be excited about the onslaught of super hero films I know we will inevitably receive. I'm a fan of comic book movies and am looking forward to seeing all seven of the major ones that will be released over the course of 2016, but to allow them to take over seven individual spots on my list seems ridiculous and something of a waste. Everyone who's been to the movies in the last two months (and if you've seen the Star Wars numbers coming in you'll know that's a lot of people) know there is a new Batman V. Superman movie coming out and another Marvel movie where Captain America and Iron Man face-off. They may even know that Ryan Reynolds is playing some kind of version of Ryan Reynolds in a red suit, but while I'm as hopeful as the biggest fanboy that Deadpool turns out to be as great as the wonderful marketing campaign has led us to believe-it's an obvious choice, an obvious movie to anticipate. Does that mean every film on my list is a smaller film that you probably haven't heard about yet? No, not at all. There are of course films like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Star Trek Beyond, and Star Wars: Rogue One sprinkled throughout because, guess what? I like Harry Potter, Justin Lin, and Star Wars so I'm genuinely excited to see how those movies turn out. By stating the obvious at the beginning though, by saying that, "Look, there are going to be this many super hero movies this year and yes I'm pumped for all of them, but here are a bunch of other movies that might interest you that I'm excited about," this list might provide insight to a film you didn't know was coming down the pipeline prior.

TRUE STORY Review

The immediate assumption when seeing a movie starring both Jonah Hill and James Franco is that it is of course a comedy, but when you place the fact both of these guys are Oscar-nominated actors in front of that you can understand where things might not be all you expect. In a new collaboration between the actors simply titled True Story there is little to smile about, much less laugh at. All of that taken into consideration, I wasn't sure what to expect given this seemed a deliberate attempt, especially from Hill, to further his dramatic career while Franco is so over the map at this point it was up for debate how much time and effort he actually put into the role of a seemingly normal man who came home from work one night and murdered his entire family. To these points, suspicion was dismissed fairly early as director Rupert Goold (making his feature film debut) jumps right into the hook of the piece while following it up with an intense exploration as to why that hook might have existed in the first place. The readily available chemistry between Franco and Hill is on full display as the majority of the film concerns itself with these two central characters figuring out the other with the remaining facets outside these more fascinating moments being more by the numbers. We've all seen movies based on real life crime stories of course and have become accustomed to the beats they hit as far as how to figure out the big question of whodunit and why the typical protagonist might make certain mistakes, getting too close to the case for their own good, but this only happens in True Story part of the time and while it certainly detracts from the more fascinating relationship formed between Hill's Michael Finkel and Franco's Christian Longo there is enough here between the two of them to create a rather enticing piece of character study for the audience to decipher and ultimately decide where we come down not just on the accused murderer, but both of these men.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING Review

After seeing The Imitation Game earlier this week and how it concerned itself with addressing the life of a genius while centering around a pivotal narrative in his life I more or less expected the same from The Theory of Everything where instead of the subject being a mathematician they are a theoretical physicist. While my main complaint concerning the biopic is that most follow a typical template The Theory of Everything does so with seemingly no ambition to be anything more. This was unanimously my complaint with the story of Alan Turing while working to its advantage because the story it chooses to document is infinitely compelling. With the tale of Stephen Hawking though, the story is simply him. This is a documentation of his life events, but there is no driving force or specific goal behind it that desperately needs to be accomplished. A set objective isn't always necessary and great, intriguing films can certainly be made without the need of some overarching intent driving the narrative, but here it felt as if that certain something was missing. That said, director James Marsh who is mainly known for his documentaries, has crafted a movie that is more memorable for its performances and smaller moments than anything else. As far as what the film is actually missing to make up for its somewhat lackadaisical approach to plot is hard to say. It has the two young stars at the head aging unconvincingly, it centers around a man who had to overcome great odds in his life and accomplished a great many things despite those odds set against him, but it also never challenges the audience to feel his struggles. I imagine the majority of the American public would recognize Hawking's name if not for the reasons he is well-known and so one has to wonder why this story was worth telling if the real life Hawking received credit where credit was due. As the film progresses though I began to understand why Marsh kept things as simple as he possibly could; this isn't a story about a specific thing Hawking accomplished, but the pure miracle that he kept accomplishing things at all after being diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 1963.  I understand the approach and the finished product is a fine enough summation of what has been a rather extraordinary life, but that doesn't excuse the fact it still feels like something crucial is missing that might have made the difference in a good film and an exceptional one.    

First Trailer for THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

In what will surely be hoping to become a serious Oscar contender this fall, Eddie Redmayne of Les Miserables portrays Stephen Hawking in the doctors formative years where he meets and falls in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde (Felecity Jones). Hailed as the extraordinary true story of one of the world’s greatest living minds this biopic certainly has a certain level of intrigue to it. The other factors that allow me to find this more interesting than the rather vanilla trailer suggests is the fact it is directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire). Marsh is not a director that has necessarily allowed himself to be restrained to one category or genre, but instead actually floats between making narrative features and documentaries. I can only imagine with this kind of history and pool of knowledge to pull from the filmmaker will find an interesting way to tell a good story while also successfully capturing the essence of his subjects and what makes them as much as the events worth paying attention to. Most people know Hawking received the earth-shattering diagnosis of motor neuron disease at age 21 which here seems to function as the reason audiences will need to get behind these characters and root for Hawking and his wife to defy impossible odds while breaking new ground in medicine and science. The films screenplay by Anthony McCarten is based on the memoir "Travelling to Infinity" written by Hawking's wife Jane and so there should be a certain level of insight here on the more personal parts of Hawking's life that could prove to deliver on those Oscar hopes. The Theory of Everything also stars David Thewlis, Emily Watson and will have its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival next month while opening in theaters on November 7th.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Review

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy set a high standard for comic book films. Not only did they have ambitions to be the best of their kind, but the best kind of film period. They looked to transcend the genre and that is more than well and good because I am a huge fan of Nolan and what he did for Batman, but in many ways that can only be the right approach for so many comic book heroes. Not every super hero benefits from being dark, brooding and grounded in reality. This idea of grounding everything from these fantastical, imaginary worlds into the reality that surrounds us will not always be possible and that is what director Marc Webb seems to have tapped into with his re-booted Spider-Man series that looks to fully embrace the world of the comics. Unlike many I was a big fan of the 2012 re-boot starring Andrew Garfield as the masked webslinger for despite the fact it lacked credible or sometimes even remotely intelligent dialogue (an issue that continues here) as well as relying too heavily on special effects in its clumsy action sequences (an issue both improved upon while still heavily leaning on the computer generated crutch) it was a Spider-Man film, that for the first time felt like it captured the spirit of the comics. I'll be the first to admit I am not a big comic book reader, but Spider-Man is an exception and was always a personal favorite of mine growing up. Not only for the little bit of comic reading that I dabbled in, but like Batman and the X-Men it was for the 90's animated series that pulled me into these worlds in the first place. What I enjoyed about 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man was that it seemed to fully immerse itself in the world of its relatable protagonist and was unafraid to try and bring to the screen the more ridiculous of Spider-Man's villains which included a giant lizard in a lab coat. Seeing these actual worlds jump off the pages and onto the screen is what comic book fans have presumably wanted for years yet now that Nolan's Batman films have re-defined what a credible super hero movie is it is easy to look at those that don't adhere to the same rules as something of a lesser accomplishment. It is by the fact fans should come to the realization that this may be the closest in regards to all aspects of the way a movie can be made that a motion picture has captured the essence of what makes a comic so entertaining and endearing through its world building, its dramatic beats, its character development and most of all, its silliness. In short, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 really bowled me over.

First Trailer for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

I have to say, I'm pretty excited for the second installment of director Marc Webb's Spider-Man franchise. Though the first film gets somewhat of a bad rap (I know the plot of turning everyone into lizards wasn't exactly real and gritty), but I think or maybe I hope that much of the reason that film flew more under the radar than most successful series-launchers is that it came out in a crowded year. Having to compete in a summer season already defined by The Avengers and the final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy couldn't have been easy, yet The Amazing Spider-Man still managed $750 million worldwide. With a relatively quiet 2014 (the only other major super hero film slated for summer as of now is X-Men: Days of Future Past while Guardians of the Galaxy takes a later August slot) it could be the time to shine for Andrew Garfield's new Spidey. While I was hoping the trailer didn't give too much away it certainly hints at where this series is going. There have been reports that Sony has this franchise planned all the way through a fourth film and that includes building to The Sinister Six. The idea of going the opposite route in which Marvel Studios has gone and instead creating the legendary team of super villains rather than heroes is rather genius and definitely a way to make up for the fact we still can't see Spider-Man join The Avengers on screen. Spidey has always been the Marvel hero with the most notable roster of bad guys so this makes sense in terms of building excitement as well. The trailer, while emphasizing a plethora of villains, doesn't give them much screen time but more teases them than anything else. The bulk of the two and half minute clip is dedicated to Peter Parker coming to terms with his reality and his new relationship with Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). I sincerely hope the marketing for this film doesn't give too much away over the next four months as it seems Sony/Columbia have something that could make for a potentially fantastic theater-going experience here. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also stars Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, Felicity Jones, Chris Cooper, Sally Field and kicks off the summer on May 2, 2014.

HYSTERIA Review

Movies like Hysteria seem to always surprise me. This conclusion is based on nothing more than the time period in which the story is set. I always assume that anything having to do with the late 1800's or so will be terribly boring (see, it has even affected the way I describe the era) and that a story being told from this time can only be equally as exciting. Excitement, for lack of a better term, is exactly what Hysteria intends to induce though, if not in its audience at least in its characters which in turn relays some pretty good laughs to those of us unsure about what we were walking into in the first place. While the hook here is that the movie tells a story more appropriate to what might be featured on an MTV show today it places these actions in that time period when everything was supposedly so prim and proper. That time where everything private was actually kept that way and an individual prided themselves on their public image. It is funny to watch this, especially in the early scenes where our main character Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is exposed to the practices of his new employer and how they attempt to cover up what they are really doing with fancy medical talk. While it is entertaining to a point the joke quickly wears pretty slim and what we are left with is a pretty standard romantic comedy that is clearly trying to be something more by adding in the restrictions and conventions of the 1880's but instead gives us a few good laughs, a typical Maggie Gyllenhaal character, and a lovely little romance to tie everything up in the end.

Edmund St. John-Smythe (Rupert Everett) and Dr.
Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) are the creators
of the modern vibrator.

That is not to say I didn't enjoy Hysteria for the majority of its running time. I was actually presently surprised by how charming the performances were and how well the film was photographed for such a small, under the radar picture. Director Tanya Wexler has directed two previous features neither of which I'm familiar with, but she shows great flair here for making a light piece with a subject matter that might easily appall yet goes down easy. There is ultimately no real need for fuss around Hysteria as it is a pleasant movie to watch but will likely never be desired as subject matter for day to day conversation. If anything it is an irrelevant film that will be dismissed as quickly as it was consumed. There is an inkling of a great idea here and good measure for plenty of interesting characters, but I have no idea how much of this is actually based on reality or how much has been fictionalized for the film. It is true yes, that Granville invented the electric vibrator but he genuinely seemed to have done this for reasons other than what it has become strictly used for today. You see, in this time period the diagnosis of "hysteria" was pretty much a label that covered all kinds of disorders but when Granville, in desperation to practice real medicine, comes across a job at the practice of Dr. Robert Dalrymple he finds that the good doctor has come up with a way to cure these women of their cravings and desires that they believed they should have been absent of. Granville goes into this believing he is simply relieving such mundane things as muscle aches when in reality he is meeting the sexual desires of hundreds of women that are left unsatisfied at home by their husbands who are either unable or unwilling to meet their needs.

Dr. Granville becomes enchanted by his employer's
daughter, Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal). 

While the premise is rather provocative and the movie itself has a nice tongue-in-cheek attitude about itself, unfortunately for the actors, who really do seem to be enjoying themselves bringing this light romp to the screen, the writing gives them little to do beyond falling into the trappings of those formulaic rom-coms we've all become so accustomed to. Dancy is a wonderful little actor who breathes believability into a man not interested in taking advantage of the women he pleasures daily but is more interested in actually making a difference in peoples lives in a way his schooling has prepared him to do. This regularly puts him out of a job which is how he ends up working under Dalrymple which in turns begins to give him hand cramps because of all the work he is doing. In lieu of this injury the good doctor seeks comfort in one of his friends, the always charmingly reliable Rupert Everett as Edmund St. John Smythe, inventions. Smythe has developed an electrical fan and the vibrations from it give Granville the idea to modify it thus resulting in what we now know as the vibrator. For good measure it is thrown in that Dr. Dalrymple has two lovely daughters in the form of Felecity Jones (Like Crazy) and Gyllenhaal as Charlotte. Granville is naturally attracted to the more reserved and formal Emily (Jones) but I bet you can guess that the more rebellious and strong minded Charlotte will win his heart just from the poster.

Emily (Felecity Jones), Dr. Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce),
and Dr. Granville discuss his future with their family.

Gyllenhaal gives a fine performance but really, it feels all the more familiar than it does original these days. She has made a career out of playing the hard-edged, determined woman who will not take no for an answer  and whether it be Stranger Than Fiction, Away We Go, or the upcoming Won't Back Down we feel like we've seen it before and the only saving grace for that upcoming role is the fact she is supported by the likes of Viola Davis. I like Gyllenhaal and think she has serious range as evidenced by the remainder of her resume but she is so drawn to these types of characters that she can't help but be attracted to them and in turn it kind of gives the movie a level of familiarity where it should be an exception to the rule as she is so proclaimed to be in Hysteria. Gyllenhaal is not the overall issue with the film though, it more falls on the fact the idea of the film isn't filled out well enough to support a feature length movie. There is plenty of talent and good performances here though to overcome the issues as I really did have a splendid, care-free time watching the movie, but I was left with little to think about as the credits rolled. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this but even for a comedy we should be left with some impressions of our favorite jokes or in terms of romantic comedies a longing to know how the lives of our two lovers turned out, but none of that rings true here. I accepted the story for what it was and moved on. Even now, a day later I can hardly remember Gyllenhaal's characters name without having to look it up. It wasn't the intense, personal experience you'd expect from a well-made art house picture but it left me satisfied enough. Which, I guess, works just fine considering its subject matter has the same effect. 

HYSTERIA Review

Movies like Hysteria seem to always surprise me. This conclusion is based on nothing more than the time period in which the story is set. I always assume that anything having to do with the late 1800's or so will be terribly boring (see, it has even affected the way I describe the era) and that a story being told from this time can only be equally as exciting. Excitement, for lack of a better term, is exactly what Hysteria intends to induce though, if not in its audience at least in its characters which in turn relays some pretty good laughs to those of us unsure about what we were walking into in the first place. While the hook here is that the movie tells a story more appropriate to what might be featured on an MTV show today it places these actions in that time period when everything was supposedly so prim and proper. That time where everything private was actually kept that way and an individual prided themselves on their public image. It is funny to watch this, especially in the early scenes where our main character Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is exposed to the practices of his new employer and how they attempt to cover up what they are really doing with fancy medical talk. While it is entertaining to a point the joke quickly wears pretty slim and what we are left with is a pretty standard romantic comedy that is clearly trying to be something more by adding in the restrictions and conventions of the 1880's but instead gives us a few good laughs, a typical Maggie Gyllenhaal character, and a lovely little romance to tie everything up in the end.

LIKE CRAZY Review

I was always one to dismiss young love as idiotic, as naive, and somewhat unnecessary. I would stare at couples who seemed to get too serious in high school and just want to look at them and say, "You know you have no idea right?" That to try to understand that feeling was impossible as a teenager. These are the years you research it, get to know the ups and downs of it, that way when you are older and meet someone you could see spending those ups and downs with, you are fully prepared. It isn't until you meet that person though that you really start to think about love and all its complexities and sweetness and heartbreak. These emotions were dissected with great respect earlier this year in the ensemble film "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and now we have another film that likes to associate the word "crazy" with the emotion, but in a much more focused way. "Like Crazy" is a film that follows the progression of a couple through the honeymoon phase, where those cute looks give way to thousands of possibilities and the world is a place easily conquered if you have love. We see them grow, adore one another but also how they come to find each others faults and the negative ways in which they are dealt. It is an involving film. It is very real, honest, and simple but if you have ever had even the slightest hint of loving someone, of longing to be with someone in your life you will understand where "Like Crazy" is coming from and you will feel it.

Anna (Felecity Jones) knows how to reel 'em in.

We are introduced to Anna in school and as an aspiring writer. She is smart and pretty; we see that and are quickly given the impression she has a liking to another boy in class. Jacob, a furniture designer who is surprised to find the sweet note on his car that prompts him to call her. They meet up, go out and the first awkward conversations and situations ensue. This is obviously a smaller, more art house type film though and so without second guessing we know these young academic thinkers are quirky kids coming into their adulthood, surprised by the fact they are old enough to take on such responsibilities as jobs and love, and the potential commitments that feeling can lead to. As our two young lovers discover one another on that first date we to get to know them. It is clear that writer/director Drake Doremus is drawing from personal experiences here and in doing that he allows himself to focus soely on the faces of the two young actors playing Anna and Jacob. It is in their faces that we see surprise of how well this is turning out, that feeling that is almost impossible to describe where every angle of each others face and body language offers a kind of excitement that is unknown but attainable. It is more than something new, it is a feeling you aren't sure you've ever even heard of, but you like it and you know there is no way you will be able to stop yourself from falling for that person.

Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna fall for one another
soon after meeting.

Those young actors playing Anna and Jacob are to truly be comended for their work here. Both Anton Yelchin who has proved with every role that he is capable of bringing raw human elements to any situation does a really extraordinary job of that with such a simple and human situation. His co-star Felecity Jones who, in her biggest role to date, brings the film a life, a heartbeat that without her strong performance might have relegated this film to a sub par love story. No matter how much we understand what Jacob is going through and why he does what he does, we are given the story more through the perspective of Anna. Anna is the one who refuses to accept the trappings of the life she is supposed to lead when she knows that she will forever regret not being with Jacob. As Jacob Yelchin comes to terms with what his reality has presented him. The plot of the story coming from the fact Anna is a British college student who, after falling for Jacob overstays her visa and is then banned from the U.S. for doing so. It is the separation they deal with that tests their relationship, that gives the audience real concern as to if things will be happily ever after by the time the credits roll.

It is a moment when Anna is in the UK and Jacob is hanging out with friends (both trying to move on) that Jacob calls Anna hoping simply to hear her voice after the time difference has not allowed them communication. We see him happy to hear her, but her dismissive tone so as not too seem upset puts him down. The call is short, not much is said and Jacob probably feels worse than he did before. He sits, staring at his phone unable to even enjoy the world around him because the one person he wants to experience it with isn't by his side. Then we cut back to Anna, laying on her bed and you can feel the heartbreak in how she lays. She curls up into the fetal position almost and you see the back start to jerk signaling the tears on her face. At this point we don't even have to see her face to know what she is going through. She sits back up, knowing she was wrong for trying to fool herself and calls Jacob back. It sounds slightly melodramatic here, but it is captured so perfectly, so honestly that if you don't feel Anna's hurt then there is seriously something wrong with you.

Jacob sparks a romance with Sam (Jennifer Lawrence)
as well, but it doesn't comapre to he and Anna's. 

The appealing relatability of "Like Crazy" makes it a film that most will enjoy not because of its originality but in the way it approaches its subject matter. As the story develops I'll admit to getting slightly frustrated with the way Jacob comes to kind of be less passionate about his relationship with Anna. She seems to always have Jacob on her mind, an inescapable part of her life she feels incomplete without, yet Jacob seems almost content with settling on Sam, the more convienent of choices plyed here by Jennifer Lawrence. It is understandable and I get it, but even when we see Anna with another guy we still sense her allegiance to Jacob. That is lost when we see Jacob and Sam together. I will not spoil the end by saying whether or not they end up together because if you get the chance to view the film you certainly should and it should no doubt be a journey of love that you take with these two. I will however comment that Doremus perfectly handles his final moments, focusing again so closely on the facial expressions and crosscutting these unspoken feelings with flashes of one another at the beginning of their relationship. It is not a clean resolution to be sure, but it is satisfying and explains that feeling of love and it's overall meaning in life as tenderly as the entire film tries to explore it.

LIKE CRAZY Review

I was always one to dismiss young love as idiotic, as naive, and somewhat unnecessary. I would stare at couples who seemed to get too serious in high school and just want to look at them and say, "You know you have no idea right?" That to try to understand that feeling was impossible as a teenager. These are the years you research it, get to know the ups and downs of it, that way when you are older and meet someone you could see spending those ups and downs with, you are fully prepared. It isn't until you meet that person though that you really start to think about love and all its complexities and sweetness and heartbreak. These emotions were dissected with great respect earlier this year in the ensemble film "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and now we have another film that likes to associate the word "crazy" with the emotion, but in a much more focused way. "Like Crazy" is a film that follows the progression of a couple through the honeymoon phase, where those cute looks give way to thousands of possibilities and the world is a place easily conquered if you have love. We see them grow, adore one another but also how they come to find each others faults and the negative ways in which they are dealt. It is an involving film. It is very real, honest, and simple but if you have ever had even the slightest hint of loving someone, of longing to be with someone in your life you will understand where "Like Crazy" is coming from and you will feel it.