The Tree Of Life

There’s an ungodly amount of things to discuss about Terrence Malick’s latest, so I’ll just give my main compliment and complaint. It’s a consistently stunning visual flurry, seemingly shot with a floating ectoplasmic camera. However, the half-hour existentialistic “scenarios” sandwich-board the main narrative more awkwardly than it should. Despite that, when the film hit, it hit me hard. Ultimately, The Tree Of Life  is like life itself: it can be ambiguous, it can be rewarding, it can be frustrating as hell, but there’s no denying the sheer amount of beauty within it that, unfortunately, will go completely unnoticed by some. 

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Cowboys & Aliens

Favreau’s latest should be titled Cowboys then Aliens, for it starts off as a Western and slowly turns more sci-fi-ish as it trucks along. Daniel Craig plays the-man-with-no-name role, proving to be the only real interesting character in the film. That is, until you actually find out his name (and back story). Olivia Wilde simply hangs ‘round the cast to say “Hey, how’s it going?” before whipping out the magical plot-twist of bullshit. The plot and side characters are more straightforward than the instruction manual for my toaster. Yes, you’ll get cowboys fighting aliens, but it shouldn’t be this generic.

YEAH... NAH...

Horrible Bosses

Being able to preserve Jennifer Anniston’s still-hot body from cryogenic stasis is impressive enough, but when you have an entire cast pulling out their A-game to do a comedic premise justice, that’s a whole other science. Horrible Bosses lives and breaths by its script and performances, achieving both aspects with a rambunctious wit and an energetic sense of comradeliness. Some cameos were briefer than I’d hoped and Charlie Day’s adolescent high-pitch whininess irritates me somewhat, but that’s just me. The film still kept me laughing consistently minute by minute. There’s not much more I could ask from a straight-up comedy. 

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Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Screw Skynet, I welcome our new prime ape overlords. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is a superb prequel-reboot-remake thingy of the 1968 classic, with less prosthetics and more Weta CG goodness. Though the side characters serve little more than plot devices, the film never lets go of the fact that this is Caesar’s story, and the emotive range they capture is pretty staggering. There are a couple of holes and cringe-worthy moments, but I hellishly enjoyed this film. I was afraid they’d mess this prequel up, but those fears have been put to rest… and replaced by gorillas…

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