Argo (2012)

Director: Ben Affleck. Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin. 120 min. Rated R. Historical/Thriller.

After a succinct illustrative 5-minute animated prologue (describing why the Iran hostage crisis really happened), Argo narrates the factual-based story of how the CIA helped 6 Americans hidden in the Canadian ambassador's home escape Iran during the crisis, under the guise of a sci-fi film crew. Affleck does a tremendous job at avoiding this becoming a propaganda-laden piece by keeping scenes showing Iranians to a minimum (rare commoners, mostly authorities), and the simulated Tehran settings are incredibly realistic, far superior to any I've ever seen. Ends in a heart-pounding climax, which apparently is significantly dramatized. No Oscar-contender, but immensely entertaining.

Mo says:

End of Watch (2012)

Director: David Ayer. Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera. 109 min. Rated R. Crime/Drama.

There's only one profession I believe to be tougher than medicine, and that's police work. This film clearly demonstrates it. Showing two good-natured cops (Gyllenhaal and Peña) patrolling the filthiest neighborhood in the worst city on Earth (south-central LA), the hand-held documentary style photography places you right in the scene, and makes you wonder how these people survive even a month on the job. And amazingly, the movie has a well-written story with robust character development, leading to a very surprising ending. End of Watch performs the impossible task of making you respect these people, without being formulaic.

PS: Thank you, Reza, for the recommendation.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Stand by Me (1986)

Director: Rob Reiner. Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Richard Dreyfuss. 89 min. Rated R. Adventure/Drama.

Yes, watched it for the first time. It's a weird age, when you're growing out of superhero fantasies, but you're not a teenager yet. You're confused, but don't even know you're confused, and best friends (who are as confused as you are) become your only shelter. In a road movie setting, Stand by Me depicts this age very well, as four pre-junior high buddies embark on a quest on foot to find an allegedly hidden dead body, 20 miles from their homes. Classic Stephen King heroes, villains and locales, make this a memorable movie to watch with same-aged friends.

PS: Similar to Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), Rob Reiner (Misery) has been one of those rare directors that's managed the seemingly impossible task of adapting Stephen King novels.

Mo says:

Harakiri (Seppuku) (1962)

Director: Masaki Kobayashi. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita. 133 min. Drama/Action. Japan.

Again, we have a masterpiece, 50 years old, in stark black-and-white, with not even a boring moment. A young masterless Samurai (a ronin), walks into a great clan house, requesting to use their forecourt to perform a "harakiri" - a ritual suicidal disembowelment. The clan believes this to be an extortion ploy, and forces the Samurai to perform the ritual, shown in full bloody detail. Violence breeds violence, and the movie ends in climactic sword fights of captivating cinematic perfection. Harakiri is an anti-Samurai film as much as Unforgiven was an anti-Western; showing how Samurai honor, is just a facade.

Mo says:

Duck, You Sucker (A Fistful of Dynamite, Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution) (1971)

Director: Sergio Leone. Cast: Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli. 157 min. Rated PG. Italy. Western.

Why has this Leone gem been so obscure? It has most of the components that made The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly so lovable: a slick explosives expert (Coburn instead of Eastwood's sharpshooter) and a filthy clown-like bandit (Steiger instead of Wallach's "Ugly") form an unlikely alliance in the setting of an historical event (the Mexican Revolution substituting the Civil War) in search of, obviously, gold. Flashbacks to Coburn's life in the IRA, reminiscent of Once Upon a Time in the West's structure, made me wonder: maybe people found this Leone work too repetitious. But I loved it.

Trivia: This is the second episode of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time trilogy, starting with Once Upon a Time in the West and ending with Once Upon a Time in America.

Mo says:

Looper (2012)

Director: Rian Johnson. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels. 118 mi. Rated R. Action/Sci-fi.

Maybe I had high expectations, but one of my pet peeves is movies that don't play it fair. Looper is advertised as a time-travel movie with all its paradoxes, but then contains another sci-fi element that encompasses at least half (if not more) of the story: telekinesis. Almost as if the writer/director needed two story gimmicks to write a whole movie, because he didn't have enough story with only one. Major rip-offs from X-Men 3's telekinesis scenes, a supposedly action movie that's quite slow, and Gordon-Levitt's terrible make-up as a young Bruce Willis, all spoiled the fun for me.

Mo says:

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Director: Rupert Sanders. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Toby Jones. 127 min. Rated PG-13. Fantasy/Action.

Love it when I'm given dark adult-themed versions of childhood fairy tales (Robin Hood, The Dark Knight), to show what really happened - and I wasn't told because I was too young to understand. So eat your heart out Walt Disney; the cat's out of the bag. This creative Lord of the Rings version of Snow White is more to be seen than heard, as the gloomy visuals are hypnotic, Theron and Stewart are perfect in their roles, and the seven dwarfs are a stellar cast. Expecting cinematography, costume and make-up Oscar nominations. Disappointed by the 48% on the Tomatometer.

Mo says:

Arbitrage (2012)

Director: Nicholas Jarecki. Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth, Laetitia Casta. 107 min. Rated R. Drama.

Wall Street tycoon juggles his business, his family, a charity foundation, a mistress, a dead body, and a collapsing merger, all at the same time. So there’s great story potential here, but it’s the casting department where Arbitrage falls short. The daughter shows anti-matter acting skills, Sarandon is a fifth-wheeler, and Gere … I don’t know.  Probably a dream role for any actor, but I couldn’t imagine Gere being such a slick persona, and his excited outbursts at times of crisis didn’t help (remember how cool Don Corleone was?). For such a role, Alec Baldwin might have been my pick.

Mo says:

Dredd 3D (2012)

 Director: Pete Travis. Cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey. 95 min. Rated R. USA/UK/India. Action/Sci-fi. 


Die Hard meets BladeRunner. In a post-apocalyptic future where mankind lives in a fortified city stretching from Boston to D.C., a government agent who's cop/jury/judge all at once, is trapped in a 200-floor apartment complex, trying to bring down a drug kingpin. Not much of a story, but the action-packed visuals are an experience of a lifetime. Let's just say it's as crucial as Avatar to watch this in 3D. Never thought the Stallone version of Judge Dredd (1995) was as terrible as they said, but if this is what the comic book is all about, wouldn't mind a sequel.

Mo says:

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Director: Drew Goddard. Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins. 95 min. Rated R. Horror/Thriller.

Anything I tell about the story would spoil the fun. Let's just say this is a combination of Evil Dead's horror/comedy mixture, and The Truman Show's deep look into how a governmental authority controls us by feeding our imagination with macabre entities (and as an homage, there's a character called Truman). The way the movie intelligently uses some famous movie cliches (the deformed gas station attendant who shows our heroes the wrong direction) to step up the story, is just brilliant. And I loved the choice of a famous actress cameo at the end. Screenwriter Joss Whedon has scored again.

Mo says:

Oslo, August 31st (2011)

Director: Joachim Trier. Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava. 95 min. Not Rated. Norway. Drama.

A former drug addict comes out of rehab, and embarks on a quest to regain his previous life and search for a prestigious job as a magazine editor. Very soon, he realizes the society is not forgiving, and he is quite alone. This is a very sad story which is likely not far from the bitter truth, but I can neither explain Ebert's four stars nor the movie's 98% on the Tomatometer.

PS: This is streaming on Netflix.

Mo says:

Brave (2012)

Director(s): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell. Voices: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson. 100 min. Rated PG. Animation.

Long story short ... it's all about hair. The long fuzzy red Irish hair, because everything else falls short. There's no doubt that Pixar works miracles by detailing the heroine's hair, to the point that when it's covered in the archery competition sequence, its deficiency proves it already has a character of its own. But there's not much going on in terms of story or character development or take-home message for kids beyond that. And we have the obligatory second arrow slicing the first one in half on the bulls-eye - this time in slow-motion.

Mo says: