#10 Before Midnight
The Before... series, considered by some circles as the best trilogy ever, has had the luxury of time to gather a cult following. Between Sunrise (1995), Sunset (2004), and Midnight (2013) were 9 years apiece. The chemistry between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) is indeed still palpable 18 years later, but a lot has changed since that train ride to Vienna. They have twin daughters together, live in Paris, and see Jesse's son Hank only in the summer (he lives with Jesse's ex in Chicago). On holiday in Greece, their friends give them a much needed night of child care as they attempt to rekindle the fire with a hotel room and spa set up. Unfortunately, life weighs on them both, so it's harder than they imagine.
The duo, along with Richard Linklater, created a script that feels improvised but is actually very rehearsed. It never feels forced, and the dialogue is both outstanding and very real. A fantastic performance turned in by both, and fans who are sad to put the trilogy to bed can rest easy that they went out the right way.
#9 All is Lost
"Our man", played courageously by Robert Redford, wakes up in his sailboat looking down at 3 feet of water. He goes out onto the deck and realizes he has collided with a floating shipping container. From there, it's every minute counts as his boat is starting to go down and weather is on its way. With the exception of the narration at the beginning, Redford utters less than 20 words throughout, but his actions and his looks bring everything you need to know to the story. It is a travesty that he did not get nominated for an Oscar considering his age (77) and the fact that it is an incredibly ballsy role to take on. Written and directed by J.C. Chandor (Margin Call), it's a completely original, completely breathtaking movie with a last two minutes that will knock you on your ass.
#8 Gravity
By now you know the drill--it's Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone, an engineer in space doing everything she possibly can to survive after flying debris collides with her space station. Along for the ride is Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a veteran astronaut who talks her down from her gasping and grasping in order to get her to safety. The story is thin and the crisis after crisis thing gets a little tiresome, but good lord, is it incredible to look at and to hear. Sandra Bullock was a trooper-reportedly in antigravity sequences suspended for 12-14 hours at a time. Where this movie will suffer is on home televisions, but Mr. Cuaron, the master of the long take (opening sequence was one 13 minute shot), made the kind of movie that makes you need to go to the movies.
#7 Captain Phillips
We here in Minneapolis are rooting hard for Barkhad Abdi, as the ruthless leader of the Somali pirates, to take home the statue for best supporting actor; before his excellent turn in Captain Phillips, he was a limousine driver here in the Twin Cities (and I believe a couple of the other Somalis in the film are Minneapolis raised as well). He deserves it--he was a terrifying villain with nothing to lose. This one was incredibly exciting throughout, and Tom Hanks is, as per usual, amazing as the ice-in-his-veins, quick-thinking boat captain who will do anything he can to get his people to safety, even if it means sacrificing his own.
#6 Dallas Buyer's Club
As we found out via Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" opening and other dated musings from the early to mid 1980s, AIDS was considered entirely a homosexual disease. So when rodeo cowboy Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) founds out he is HIV positive, his first reaction is "I ain't gay." He sure isn't--he's as hetero as they come--but he's the exact kind of promiscuous party guy whose reckless behavior leads him in that direction. Shortly after his diagnosis, he meets Rayon (a fantastic Jared Leto), a cross-dressing escort who is also living with the disease. In Rayon, he finds a top salesman/woman when they set up a business smuggling and selling experimental HIV drug cocktails. The story is totally true. Sometimes it comes across as formulaic and the ending is abrupt (as if the directors realized they had only 10 minutes left to wrap everything up), but it's a great underdog story and both performances are out of this world good. If Leto and McConaughey both win, it would certainly be deserved.
More to come!
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