12 Years a Slave (2013)

IMDb plot summary: In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Directed by Steve McQueen. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, and Brad Pitt.

This movie didn't blow me away, but it told a solid, powerful story well. There were times when it felt like the message overpowered the characters themselves, but overall it stuck to simply putting the narrative on screen, and I think it worked well. Some very solid performances here (although I STILL cannot identify Michael Fassbender's face -- he's a good actor, why is he so visually forgettable for me?). Whether it deserved its recent Best Picture win or not, it's certainly worth watching, though I think for me it might end up falling into that category of "good movies I forget about within a year." 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #762 out of 2058, below Saving Private Ryan and above Nine Lives.

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Jesus Christ Superstar (2001)

IMDb plot summary: A rock musical version of the Passion Play seen from the point of view of Judas.
Directed by Gale Edwards and Nick Morris. Starring Glenn Carter, Jerome Pradon, Renee Castle, and Fred Johanson.

It's been a long time since I actually listened to most of the music for Jesus Christ Superstar. I had forgotten how silly and meandering a lot of the lyrics are. Like most Webber shows, this definitely goes for style over substance, but it doesn't matter much because the style is *ever* so much fun. Catchy melodies, big dramatic orchestrations, fun staging and huge power ballads... Thoroughly enjoyable.

As far as this production specifically, I liked parts of it a LOT. Glenn Carter's Jesus in particular is pretty great, both good to listen to and reaching the right places emotionally. Jerome Pradon's Judas... um... is less pleasant. In an attempt to put plenty of passion into his role, he comes across as shrill and unmusical, particularly in his death scene, where I swear he was just screeching every other line. There is a lot of overacting from side characters, particularly Fred Johanson as Pilate (I kept giggling and repeating his inflections for Jacob because he sounded very much like a cartoon villain).

There are a couple of *really* great moments that help to cancel out some of the weirdnesses. "Gethsemane," which is my favorite song in the show, is a breathtaking performance that hits all the right notes (both emotionally, but musically as well). I also was extremely moved by "Could We Start Again, Please?", a song I've never particularly liked before.

In short, a good production, if not a perfect one. I will have to watch the 1970s version sometime to compare. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #602 out of 2057, below Frankenweenie and above Brave.

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Don Jon (2013)

IMDb plot summary: A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.
Directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore.

This is a really solid first writer/director effort from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. There are a few spots throughout where the dialogue is a little too obvious or "indie cute," but for the most part it's a good movie. The character of Jon is an intriguing one and it's definitely an interesting ride to watch him grow and change throughout the course of the story. Not spectacular, but worth a watch. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #658 out of 2056, below Gandhi and above The Red Shoes.

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La Haine (1995)

IMDb plot summary: After local youth Abdel is beaten unconscious by police, a riot ensues on his estate during which a policeman loses his gun. The gun is found by Vinz who threatens he will kill a cop if Abdel dies.
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, and Saïd Taghmaoui.

This is one of those movies where I can objectively stand back, look at the film, and say, "This is a great movie," but I had very little emotional reaction to it at all, so it clearly wasn't a great movie to *me*. I liked the ending and how it all finally culminated, but the rest of the movie was a bit of a struggle to sit through. Kudos to Vincent Cassel, though -- his performance was my favorite throughout and even when I was bored with what was actually happening in the movie, I found him interesting to watch.

I'm never sure how to rate movies like this that are clearly good although I didn't like them. 2.5 stars?

Flickchart: #1286 out of 2055, below State of the Union and above Side Effects.

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JFK (1991)

IMDb plot summary: A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Directed by Oliver Stone. Starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Laurie Metcalf.

This one was tough for me to get into. It FELT like three hours of movie, and I sludged through it. There are some very interesting moments throughout, particularly ones that play up the paranoia (the scene where Garrison is told someone is planning to kill him sticks in my mind especially), and the visuals evoked a very specific atmosphere that I thought was cool, but it just wasn't enough to make the rest of the movie work for me. If I'm going to watch a movie about government conspiracies, I'd rather just rewatch All the President's Men. 2 stars.

Flickchart: #1372 out of 2054, below Run Lola Run and above Waltz With Bashir.

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
Directed by Francis Lawrence. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin and Jena Malone.

I feel pretty much the same way about this one as I did about the first. It's a solid adaptation. It feels kind of weird to rank the two movies separately since this is clearly like... the middle of a story, rather than a story in and of itself. The acting continues to be good here, the costume and production design continues to be intriguing, there's not really a lot of change from the book so there's nothing to discuss there. (Mini rant: Unfortunately, while Catching Fire is probably the most interesting book in the trilogy, Mockingjay is coming up next, in which nothing happens until the final 40 pages... and THAT is the one they choose to split into two movies? Silly.) 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #797 out of 2053, below National Treasure and above Bolt.

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Watchmen (2009)

IMDb plot summary: In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it.
Directed by Zack Snyder. Starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, and Jackie Earle Haley.

This was a long movie, but, for the most part, a very engaging one. The premise was extremely interesting, the story unfolded in a compelling way, the production design was great (this movie had some AMAZING visuals), the characters were layered and fascinating...

I found it less problematic than V for Vendetta, the other Alan Moore comic adaptation I watched for this movie challenge, largely because the movie seemed to be echoing Dr. Manhattan's feelings on the huge amounts of violence being shed in the name of freedom/peace/something: "Without condoning or condemning, I understand." In V for Vendetta, I felt the movie was urging me to cheer for the killers. In this movie, I could just let it unfold and what happened, happened.

I'm not sure if the nature of the movie would hold up so well to a rewatch, or whether knowing all the plot points would make it seem longer and more tedious the second time around, but I thoroughly enjoyed my first viewing. 4 stars.

Flickchart: #642 out of 2052, below We're Not Married! and above Once Upon a Mattress.

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