Playing Catch Up: Mini-Reviews for Blue Jasmine, Don Jon, The World's End and World War Z

BLUE JASMINE
I confess, I've never really understood the appeal of Woody Allen. I enjoyed Annie Hall, but I only got about halfway through Manhattan before deciding I'd rather do anything else. I did get a chance to see Midnight in Paris a couple years back, but found it underwhelming and dull. I had a similar reaction to Allen's latest Blue Jasmine, which is only a marginal improvement. Sure, Cate Blanchett gives a great performance, but she's about the only great thing in this movie. The scattershot plot is frustrating and unsatisfying and the characters come across as shallow and pompous. Allen keeps the viewer at arm's length with his pretentious sensibilities and annoying self-aware dialogue. I'm so busy being frustrated with his inane attempts to come across as 'intelligent' that I can't even bother to invest in this sorry excuse for storytelling.

FINAL RATING: 2/5

DON JON
Is there anything Joseph Gordon-Levitt can't do? His feature film debut as a writer/director is bursting with creativity and boundless energy. Don Jon is funny, sweet and features great performances from an excellent cast. It's not without its fair amount of flaws, though. It feels as if it was two acts of a story in desperate need of a strong third act and its final thirty minutes feel a bit uncharacteristic considering everything that precedes it. Regardless, the film is a modest success and Mr. Gordon-Levitt shows great promise as a writer and director. Count me in for his next feature.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/5

THE WORLD'S END
The World's End is, if nothing else, a whole lot of fun. Sure, it's missing the manic energy and zaniness of its superior predecessors Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but this final entry of the superb Wright/Pegg/Frost Cornetto Trilogy is still a worthwhile trip to the movies. It takes quite a bit of its precious time getting warmed up in the first act, but once it gets going, the laughs and excitement rarely let up. One of the best trilogies around!

FINAL RATING: 4/5

WORLD WAR Z
WWZ could go down in history as the blandest zombie movie ever made. Actually, calling it a movie is giving it way too much credit; it's barely even that. The whole enterprise gives the impression that someone had a half-assed idea for an identityless, boring zombie movie and Brad Pitt, desperately wanting to star in an adaptation of the worldwide bestseller World War Z, snagged the screenplay and plastered the novel's title all over it in the hopes that it might make a buck or two. It looks like the plan worked, but any smidgen of creativity ends there. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but I can only presume you're better off checking that out or watching The Walking Dead than you are wasting your money on this nonsense.

FINAL RATING: 1.5/5


 

Gravity, a stunning and emotional masterpiece

I wanted to start this review with something cliched along the lines of, "I have seen the future of cinema and it is Gravity," but that term 'future of cinema' is tossed around so casually, it feels as if it's lost much of its significance. Besides, simply referring to Gravity as 'the future of cinema' does it a bit of an injustice, like it's an achievement that could possibly be repeated in a future age. This is a once-in-a-lifetime moviegoing experience and I don't think the 'future of cinema' will spawn many movies quite like it. I wish I could adequately describe in words just how captivating, thrilling and genuinely moving this latest masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron is, but I find myself incapable of doing so. Besides, a picture says a thousand words and Gravity is chock-full-o' some of the best you'll ever see on a movie screen, so I'll just let the film itself do the talking.

The main plot of Gravity is about as straightforward as they come: Two astronauts (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock) get stranded in outer space after satellite debris disables their ship. Over the course of 91 minutes, we pay witness to their desperate attempts to survive and get back to earth in one piece. The simplicity of the story is refreshing in the wake of so many convoluted plotlines that big budget fare seem to demand these days. Alfonso Cuaron and his son Jonas have crafted a screenplay that trims anything extraneous, focusing on the primary journeys of these characters and their struggles. This is a survival story pure and simple and while the images that Cuaron, his cinematographer Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki and the visual effects team have crafted are thrilling and groundbreaking in every which way, a large amount of Gravity's beauty is due in no small part to its intimate look at the nature of humanity and our will to survive.

Sandra Bullock may deserve all the mockery this side of the Mississippi in regards to the Oscar she was awarded for her obnoxious performance in The Blind Side, but her performance as astronaut Ryan Stone in Gravity is no laughing matter. She gives would could arguably be the finest performance of her career and one of the best of 2013. Watching her struggles and her pain as she fights for her life is just as mesmerizing as the visuals on display. Likewise, George Clooney is fantastic, bringing all his trademark charm and humor to his performance as veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski.

Gravity has no precedent. It's been compared to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the comparison kind of ends with the fact that they both take place in outer space. I assure you, you've never seen anything like this before and unless you actually decide to take a trip to outer space in the near future, I sincerely doubt anything will come close to the experience of watching this film. Cuaron crafts images so spectacular they'll bring tears to your eyes and with Bullock's performance providing an emotional anchor for the visual splendor and endless thrills, you'll find both your brain and your heart totally engaged and overwhelmed. This is visual storytelling at its finest and it not only belongs near the top of any list of 2013's best films, it belongs amongst the ranks of the greatest films ever made. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Cuaron doesn't opt to wait another seven years before releasing his next feature.

CONCLUSION: A glorious cinematic achievement in every sense of the word, Gravity is an experience like no other. You aren't just watching these astronauts in space; you're right there with them, participating in their struggles. See it. See it on the biggest IMAX screen you can find. See it in 3D. Whatever you do, just SEE IT. This is a game-changer in every conceivable fashion.

FINAL RATING: 5/5