The Revenant

"I'll be right here."

This was my second most anticipated movie of the year - behind Star Wars. It did not disappoint in the slightest.

This "survival/revenge thriller", brought to you by the dream team director and cinematographer behind Birdman, is the best looking movie I've seen all year. It was shot using all natural light, and every single frame - from the crisp icy water to the ominous torch-filled night - is absolutely stunning.

It's wonderful that scenes that are so hard to watch are so beautiful to look at.

DiCaprio's character, a frontiersman named Hugh Glass, goes through hell and back in this movie. It's absolutely brutal. The pragmatic violence and visceral story left me physically and emotionally drained. The themes of trust, loss, life, death, and the relationship between father and son pour out of the natural scenery - DiCaprio accurately describes director Alejandro Iñárritu as "a master painter painting a landscape".

The movie has an evocative heartbeat: a fluently vivid pacing that lies in perfect harmony with both the movie's score and DiCaprio's pained breath.

Tom Hardy continues to amaze me with his ability to seamlessly become the character he is tasked with portraying, delivering a gut-wrenchingly provoking performance - worthy of a supporting actor nod for sure.

Leonardo DiCaprio. Nominated for four Oscars. Winner of none. He's got this one in the bag.

His ability to realistically and convincingly portray the pain Hugh Glass endures - both physical and emotional - is nothing short of incredible.

He may have some competition - notably Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Redmayne for The Danish Girl - but Leo deserves this. He's going to win it.

My dad really put it in perspective - pointing out the point of movies. To stir up deep emotion - to change your way of thinking about the world around you and the feelings within you.

The Revenant thoroughly succeeds in that regard. Go see it on the big screen.

Joy

“Inspired by the true stories of daring women. One in particular.”

I really wanted to love Joy. The day the trailer came out, I watched it 7 times. I still love watching the trailer. Sadly, the movie itself didn't live up to the hype.

Even though David O. Russell gets criticized for using the same actors over and over again, I don't have a problem with it. I love his main 3: Lawrence, De Niro, and Cooper. 

I can't quite put a finger on what Joy did wrong, but it just wasn't anything special for me. I enjoyed the movie, and it was definitely worth a watch, and I was glad I saw it, but it didn't blow me away like Silver Linings Playbook did.

The premise of the movie is the woman who invented the self-wringing mop - very, very loosely based on the real live entrepreneur Joy Mangano. 

That above sentence alone is enough to make me lose all interest in this movie. So, from a very glass half full perspective, props to O. Russell for having the guts to take a swing at this.

It works well but isn't spectacular - if I had to compare this movie to a snack it would be peanut butter and celery. It has its moments (well shot, nice generational story, stellar performances), but under all that tasty peanut butter you have the blandness of the celery (Bradley Cooper's character, narrating grandma, self wringing mops). 

So overall, you don't need to see this in theaters - but one day, it will make for a great rainy day Netflix selection.

If you're looking for a great "inspired by true events" movie, go see The Revenant instead.

The Big Short

I was 10 years old during the 2008 housing crisis. I didn't even know it existed until this year - and I certainly didn't know a thing about it until after I watched this movie.

The Big Short seriously impressed me because not only was it extremely entertaining, it was educational and even thought provoking. My biggest worry of going to see this movie was that I was going to be too dumb to be able to understand any of the economics/wall street lingo a movie about the 2008 housing crisis would have.

Don't let that stop you from watching this movie at all.

It was actually kind of scary in timing - right at the moment during a complex "wall street" conversation, when I was distracted by the thought, "What have I gotten myself into?", the narrator kind of "pauses" the movie. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but they put the story on hold for a second and give you an incredibly easy to understand, funny economics lesson.

This movie is probably the most unique I have seen all year. From the flashy editing to the "Office-esque" camerawork, from the "docu-drama" story set-up to the frequent destruction of the fourth wall, The Big Short managed to immerse and un-immerse me in a brilliant way. 

Every single performance is spot on. There wasn't anybody I wasn't impressed by (Bale, Gosling, Carrell, Pitt... the list goes on).

I loved this movie. There are memorable scenes that made me feel. I was happy, sad, shocked, even angry - about a crisis I didn't even know existed. Go see it.