Unbroken (2014)

 

Unbroken focuses on three key periods in the life of Olympian Louis “Louie” Zamperini (played with flashes of intensity by newcomer Jack O’Connell). The key strength of this Angelina Jolie-directed film is its reliance on the extraordinary details of Zamperini’s experiences. Unfortunately, except for some dazzling cinematography and strong supporting performances, the film takes a rather conventional biopic structure to relate the key events in his life. The film opens with Zamperini and the rest of the bomber’s crew being attacked by Japanese fighter planes but managing to return to the base alive despite having their plane badly damaged. However, after this rather dazzling opening, the film uses the traditional trope of reverting to his childhood years. As a young boy, Zamparaini was always getting into fights and drinking and smoking—a troublemaker who is able to run fast enough to elude capture. His brother (played as a young man by John D’Leo) encourages him to take up track and field, which leads to him participating in the infamous 1936 Olympics in Germany and garnering the attention of Adolf Hitler for his fast final lap of the 5,000-meters race. This third of the film’s story is the least interesting perhaps because it mostly sticks to presenting the details of Zamperini’s life without much dramatic tension. We learn very little here about why he becomes the strong survivor that he does. It’s the second segment, when the film returns to his time as a bombardier in the Pacific and the plane crash on a recovery mission that led to him and two other servicemen (played by Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock) spending more than six weeks on a raft together, that we begin to see how remarkable a single person’s life can be. Sometimes the film uses Zamperini’s point-of-view in the raft to allow us the chance to experience just how desperate the three men become. They eat raw fish and drink rainwater to survive, but they still try to keep each other from going mad from sun exposure and the repeated threat of shark attacks. The Japanese navy captures the two survivors and forces them into POW camps. The third segment of the film chronicles Zamparini’s life in two such camps, both of them under the command of Mutsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe, who singles out the Olympic hero for constant punishment. The torture inflicted by The Bird is tough to watch given how excessive and brutal it is. Given how desperate his condition is, it’s astonishing to watch Zamperini time and again survive the challenges and beatings that The Bird metes out. After watching long stretches of The Bird’s sadistic behavior and Zamparini’s toughness, viewers might find his and other men’s release from the camp almost anticlimactic. What you have to acknowledge after watching Unbroken is that Zamparini led a remarkable life; it’s a shame that this film isn’t more innovative in its (still-admirable) attempts to honor his accomplishments. 

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent is the story of Sleeping Beauty told from another character’s perspective, that of the title character, a misunderstood fairy who condemns Sleeping Beauty to her long sleep. The film examines the tension between the kingdom of the humans and the Moors where the magical folk (fairies, pixies, etc.) live. A young Maleficent falls in love with a human named Stefan; however, he leaves her when their kiss turns out not to be “love’s true kiss.” He returns to the land of the humans, only to betray Maleficent later because of his outsized ambition to be kind, cutting off her powerful wings. When his daughter, the Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning), is born, Maleficent (Angela Jolie in full-on imperious acting mode) curses her with the familiar “she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die when she turns 16.” The catch: the spell can be broken only by true love’s kiss. To ensure her safety, Aurora is whisked away to be taken care of by three pixies (played with a delightful comic touch by Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, and Juno Temple), King Stefan orders all spinning wheels destroyed, and Maleficent creates a wall of thorns to block access between the kingdom and the Moors. Why the king would send Aurora to the Moors for protection is a puzzling move, especially since it leads Maleficent to befriend Aurora and serve as her erstwhile “fairy” godmother. Naturally, there’s a huge battle between the humans and the magic folks, and that extended sequence is one of the most visually arresting of the film. The film is very CGI heavy, and it’s rather obvious at times, but when Maleficent transforms her raven sidekick Diaval (Sam Riley) into a dragon, all is forgiven. Disney’s adaptation of its famous version of the fairy tale takes some astonishing risks, not the least of which is making Maleficent a tragic but sympathetic character rather than the heartless evil character from other versions. Jolie’s Maleficent is pure drag queen fantasy nightmare with her outside horns and enormous wings; she makes quite the visual impression. She’s really the most intriguing aspect of the film, and it’s undoubtedly her look that led to the film’s sole nomination for an Academy Award.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Costume Design

Into the Woods (2014)

 

Into the Woods is the film adaptation of the famed Stephen Sondheim musical that weaves together the disparate fairy tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding Hood into the story of a baker and his wife (a lovely Emily Blunt). The barren couple wish to have a child and are given a chance to break a curse by the witch (Meryl Streep, having a delightful time) who lives next door. The adventures and misadventures that follow are some pretty dark stuff dealing with parents and children, spouses, regrets, revenge, growing up—all of the stuff of contemporary musicals. The woods themselves become this metaphorical space of self-discovery and revelation, and I must say that this is one of the first movie musicals in decades to resonate powerfully with me. It grapples with the issues that real humans face even though the fairytale setting might suggest otherwise. The songs are, as expected, a major draw, and almost all of them are performed with great enthusiasm and precision, a necessity with the tongue-twisters that Sondheim creates. I particularly enjoyed “Agony” sung by the two princes played by Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen. Who knew Pine could be so delightful and could sing so well? (And who could have predicted just how good leather pants would look on both of the princes?) “On the Steps of the Palace” and “No One Is Alone” are also shining moments with the latter one bringing tears to my eyes. By the end of the film, many characters have seen their lives overturned, but expecting the fairy tale ending of “happily ever after” in a Sondheim musical will only lead to disappointment. However, knowing that not all stories end happily means you can better appreciate what the filmmakers (and the people who created the original Broadway musical) achieve here.

Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Meryl Streep), Best Achievement in Production Design, and Best Achievement in Costume Design

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the final installment in director Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s series of novels about the inhabitants of Middle Earth. At least, it’s allegedly the final installment; after six quite lengthy films, you would assume that there isn’t much more to cover. Honestly, I’m not even certain that The Hobbit, one of the shortest books in Tolkien’s series, needed to have its plot spread over three films. For example, the opening attack by the dragon Smaug on Laketown, which was set up at the end of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, happens rather quickly here. What could have been more of a centerpiece is briskly dispatched so that we can get to the treasure—so much gold!—in the mountain of Erebor and the goals by various characters to possess it and the Arkenstone, yet another McGuffin that drives the plot but isn’t particularly valuable to the actual narrative itself. What does matter, of course, is the battle of the title. I honestly had to look up who was the fifth army. It’s obvious that the orcs, dwarves, elves, and humans are involved, but the last group was apparently the wargs (wolves) or maybe it was the eagles or maybe no one else was distracted (as I was) by trying to count to five while the battle raged on. I still couldn’t always tell the dwarves apart, but I did begin to appreciate the performance in this third film of Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenfield, who feels entitled to the fortune and becomes obsessed with possessing it. The production design, the hair and makeup, the visual effects, really all of the technical aspects of The Battle of the Five Armies are first rate, as they have been for all of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. The battle itself is not as spectacular as the Battle of Helm’s Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but then how could it be? Aside from that powerful, lengthy sequence, though, what we as viewers perhaps enjoy most is seeing the development of characters about whom we have come to understand deeply. Our central character is, naturally, Bilbo (played beautifully as a young hobbit by Martin Freeman), the heart of this epic movie about powerful struggles for control, and the focus upon him makes this film somewhat more sentimental than the other entries in the trilogy. Of course, the plot here also sets up what’s going to occur in The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring, the initial entry in Jackson’s first Middle Earth trilogy, so there’s inevitably less of a sense of suspense here. You know how events are going to play out if you’ve seen the Lord of the Rings films. For example, it can hardly be a spoiler that Bilbo returns home at the film’s end to write the tale that would become The Hobbit. Nevertheless, the entire film offers a satisfying finale to the Hobbit trilogy and a clear introduction to the characters and some of the key plot points of the Lord of the Rings films.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy takes the rather hoary conceit of a group of misfits, some of whom hate initially hate each other and/or are bitter enemies, coming together to achieve an admirable, even heroic goal: in this case, the saving of the universe from a megalomaniac. What makes this film different from the rest of the science fiction pack that use the same plot outlines is its injection of a consistent sense of humor throughout the special effects battles. Each of the five central characters has her/his own backstory involving pain and sadness. For example, Peter Quill, or, as he prefers to call himself, Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt), was abducted by aliens as a young boy on the day that his mother died. The green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was orphaned when Thanos killed her parents, only to have him train her to be one of his personal killing machines; he even ironically calls her his “daughter.” Both Quill and Gamora are trying to obtain and/or hold onto an orb, the McGuffin for this film, only to be thwarted initially by the attempts by Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a raccoon that has been genetically engineered against its will, and the tree-like Groot (hilariously voiced by Vin Diesel), to capture Quill for a huge bounty. Add to their company Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a hulking, scarred alien out for revenge for the death of his wife and daughter at the hands of Ronan, Thanos’ henchman who is the primary villain in this film, and you’ve got an intriguing mix of criminals who must come together for the good of everyone in the universe. The beats will likely be familiar to anyone knowledgeable about science fiction stories like The Avengers, and even though the orb, which contains something called an Infinity Stone that gives infinite power to its possessor, is allegedly central to the plot, what really draws our attention is the interplay between the main characters and the ways that they become friends and develop strong feelings of love and concern for each other. I’m not sure that the movie really takes itself too seriously, and that’s good because, frankly, the names of most of the secondary characters and the different planets and cities and such became too much to remember after a while, and Ronan (an unrecognizable Lee Pace) isn’t truly frightening enough to create significant tension. Using great pop music from the 1970s—my personal favorites here are Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” and Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”—to punctuate the emotions in various scenes, Guardians of the Galaxy keeps our focus on the interpersonal more than the spectacular, and that’s probably one of the reasons that it was such a successful film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Hairstyling and Makeup and Best Achievement in Best Visual Effects

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me (2014)

 

Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me charts the farewell tour of the country music legend after his announcement that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The tour, which is in support of his final album, Ghost on the Canvas, begins at the Nokia Theater (now the Microsoft Theater) in Los Angeles and ends 150 shows later in Napa. We are given glimpses of several different stops along the way, primarily so that we can witness how his disease begins to affect his ability to perform, the one thing in his life that still seems to give him some focus and a sense of purpose. He seems to be a different person on stage, and it is especially heartbreaking to watch his decline there. As the tour progresses, he becomes less and less able to remember the lyrics to even his most famous songs without the help of a teleprompter, and he’s unable at times to recall the names of some of his bandmates, which is all the sadder because most of them are members of his family. In addition to selected moments from the tour, the documentary also presents a few television appearances such as on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Grammy Awards where Campbell receives a lifetime achievement honor as well as interviews with famous people who have also had members of their families diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, the Edge from U2, Bruce Springsteen, and former President Bill Clinton. Interspersed throughout the film are clips from the height of his career (the late 1960s and 1970s) that only serve to emphasize how much his condition has deteriorated. Two thoughts linger after viewing this emotional film. One is how remarkable it is that Campbell has maintained his sense of humor. Of course, there are moments of anger and frustration when he can’t recall important details or when he’s forgotten what he’s just done, but for the most part, he is always cracking jokes and laughing.  The other is just how dedicated his wife is to ensuring that he is taken care of. The film is truly a testament to her love for and dedication to him. She is so much a part of his life and of this documentary, and it is particularly sad to watch her having to witness the progress of his disease. The film’s only nomination came for one of its songs, the final song, in fact, which is a bittersweet coda to the film and its message of resilience in the face of a debilitating illness.

Oscar Nomination: Best Original Song (“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”)

Best Animated Short Film of 2014

The Bigger Picture, a short from the United Kingdom, is a very downbeat film. It concerns two middle-aged brothers and their ailing mother who needs to be committed to a nursing home. One of the brothers, Richard, does all of the work caring for her, but he remains perpetually underappreciated. The other, Nick, is a bit of a snob, to be honest, and quite unappealing, but he always takes credit for anything good that he does, no matter how small. The film gives a clear sense of the different personalities of the two brothers, one of whom is unemployed and a bit of a loser and the other being the one for whom everything seems to come easily. The short features a couple of moments of levity here and there, but I suppose a filmmaker would find it tough to make this material funny. At times, the short’s images look almost like paintings, crudely drawn perhaps, but they must have been large to match the actual sized furnishings on display. The attempt at reconciliation seems forced here despite knowing that this scenario is too common among siblings.

The Dam Keeper tackles the subject of how important friendship can be to someone being bullied. A little pig lives alone in a windmill that keeps darkness (pollution? bad weather?) away from his town. He took over the job from his father after the elder pig’s passing, and even though he is still in school, he has to reset the windmill twice daily to preserve the town. Sadly, all of the other animals in the school harass and tease the little pig; the reason is never clear although I guess the implication is that he’s a loner who prefers to keep to himself, and young people never seem to understand that impulse. The arrival of a new student, a little fox, changes the pig’s life when the two realize that they both like to draw. Although they would seem to be “natural” enemies—after all, a pig and a fox being friends?—but perhaps the message is that even opposites can have things in common. A misunderstanding separates them, and the pig doesn’t make it home in time to prevent the town from being immersed in darkness one day.  All is resolved happily eventually, and the fox and the pig enjoy their time alone in the large windmill. I don’t know how young a child could be and still understand the message of this film, but given how many young people we’ve lost in recent years to suicide because of bullying, I’m certain it would resonate with many, many people. You could easily “read” the friendship between the pig and the fox as the beginning of a budding romance, given that both of them are male, but most people would probably prefer to concentrate just upon their friendship.

Feast, a very polished entry from the United States, is a delight. A Disney short that aired before Big Hero 6 in theaters, it features the story of a puppy whose love of food propels the narrative. Unfortunately, what happens in its owner’s life determines what kind of food the little French bulldog gets. When it’s tiny and first rescued, the dog gets delicious scraps from the table, pretty much whatever the owner wants to eat since he’s a bachelor at the time, but when the owner gets a girlfriend (a waitress) the food switches to healthy food served with garnish. When the couple breaks up, the food doesn’t revert back to the meatballs and pizza the dog once enjoyed. The owner’s depression over the split prompts the dog, now grown bigger and seemingly wiser, to reunite the couple despite its fears that it will have to keep eating healthily. Later, though, the arrival of a baby in the house means the dog now gets to eat everything again, so he gets a happy ending after all. I would warn you not to watch this short if you’re hungry because the food, especially in the early scenes, looks delicious. What we’re watching here, of course, isn’t the story of the dog. It merely foregrounds the story of the couple’s relationship, but the choice to keep the dog as the central focus is a wise one. Anyone who loves dogs will enjoy watching the facial expressions on this one’s face.

Me and My Moulton tells the story of three sisters in Norway whose family life seems to them to be too different (i.e., strange) from their friends’ lives. Narrated by the 7-year-old middle daughter, this co-production of Norway and Canada brings into contrast the lives these girls lead as the children of architects when compared to their apparently wealthier neighbors. For example, everyone else in the area seems to have a bicycle, prompting repeated appeals to the girls’ parents to purchase them one as well. Unfortunately, the parents can’t afford an expensive bike and they can’t purchase one immediately, leading the narrator to bemoan why her parents aren’t more like everyone else’s. We learn, though, that the downstairs neighbors who seem to be so happy truly aren’t. Meanwhile, the girls and their parents live more simply and seem to enjoy each other’s company more. The arrival of the bicycle, the Moulton of the title, adds to the girl’s eventual realization that you should accept your situation in life. It might not be quite as bad as you imagine it to be. The animation for this short is rather simple, but the use of bright colors helps to heighten its impact. A few clever moments also add to the humor, especially the three-legged chairs that keep tipping over and depositing their sitters on the floor. The narrative doesn’t reveal anything particularly profound, but Me and My Moulton is enjoyable to watch.

A Single Life clocks in at little more than two minutes long and, to be honest, ended just about the time I figured out what was happening. A woman receives a 45 rpm single in the mail and puts it on her record player. When the record skips, if it moves forward in the song, she ages. If it skips backward, she becomes younger. That’s really it. Maybe there’s a message here about living in the moment rather than trying to move too quickly to your future or always trying to relive your past. However, given its quick running time, this short from the Netherlands doesn’t really have or take the time to have much of an impact. It’s cute and clever, but not much else. This is the slightest film in the category, and you have to wonder how the voters selected it over all of the other animated short films released in 2014.

Oscar Winner: Feast. This short is yet another example of the revived Disney tradition of quality short films to accompany its feature films.

My Choice: Feast. It’s beautifully drawn, which you cannot say about most of the other entries, and the story is beautifully resonant as well.