Three movies in the last two weeks. All of them independent, two of them seen at fancy theaters and one of them seen at the good ol' AMC megaplex. Award nominations are rampant for two and yet the third has flown under the radar enough to be just as charming. It's officially the season to watch cerebral flicks.
We'll start in chronological order of screening, the first of which being The Savages, starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. As brother and sister, Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Linney do an excellent job portraying a sibling relationship beset by the apathy and cruelty of their dying father. The Buffalo Winter setting is a perfectly drab backdrop for what are superficially incomplete lives of regret and depression. The acting jobs are superb and the story itself is both sad and endearing. Beside seeing the downward spiral of aging, seeing the self-acceptance of brother and sister of their childhood resentment stuck with me after the film.
From small indie flick to large indie flick, There Will Be Blood is a subtle epic hearkening from the days of Citizen Kane and John Huston. Daniel Day-Lewis portrays a burgeoning oil tycoon in the early 20th century with all the intensity and bluster of a southeastern tornado. Just as powerful as his performance is, the film itself is an incredible feat of cinema. I'm still thinking of it, three days after having seen it, and have yet to feel that I've seen beneath all the layers of subtext. P.T. Anderson has built himself a movie worthy of the accolades it's receiving, due in part to the ferocity of his lead actor, and in whole to his remarkable vision.
In the same weekend as this monstrous work of art, I finished with Juno. Worth as much critical acclaim as There Will be Blood, Juno was an excellent finish to the already cinematically packed slate of movies. As sweet a film as Blood was intense, Juno rests all of its charm on the able shoulders of Ellen Page in the title role and the film's mix of quirkiness, comedy, and pathos. One person said it reminded them of Napoleon Dynamite and while I can see the similarity in production values, this is a no-nonsense film about maturity and love. Granted, the subject matter of teen pregnancy could turn off those with a more conservative viewpoint, but it's this relationship that Juno forms with her predicament that makes it work so well. Of all these films, I could say that this is the one I liked the best.
Overall scores:
The Savages - 3.5 out of 5 stars
There Will be Blood - 4 out of 5 stars
Juno - 4.5 out of 5 stars
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