Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
Certificate: 15
Genre: Romance
Awards: Best Actress (Lawrence)

Pat (Cooper) has just been released from a mental institution after attacking attacking his wife's lover after which he was found to have undiagnosed bipolar disorder. He wants to get back with his wife but, with a restraining order in place, it seems impossible for him to do so. After going to dinner at a friend's,  Pat meets Tiffany (Lawrence). Widowed and with her own problems, Tiffany confuses Pat but she could be the way to get a letter to his wife.

Silver Linings Playbook benefits from some very good Acting. Cooper and Lawrence work so well together while De Niro and Weaver are great as Pat's parents. De Niro in particular should be applauded. It's his best performance in years as he plays a father who really doesn't know how to handle Pat's problems while having OCD himself. Another surprisingly good performance comes from Chris Tucker in his first non Rush Hour film in years.

The story itself is sweet and original. It may use some of the typical cliches but they make sense. The chasing through the street at the end may be a very overused action, but it has a deeper meaning here thanks to the inverted chasing earlier in the film.

I really enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook. The characters are so well conceived. From the very beginning you fall love with them and then the next two hours are just bliss.

*****Brilliant

Gravity (2013)

Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Certificate: 12
Genre: SciFi, Thriller
Awards: Best Director, Best cinematography, Best editing, Best original score, best sound editing, best sound mixing, best visual effects

Gravity has become one of the most respected and successful films of the year and it's pretty easy to see why. The story is great, the technological efforts are great and it leaves the audience on the edge of their seat the whole way through...

Out in space, a group of astronauts are caught in a storm of debris from a destroyed Russian satellite. The only survivors are veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney) and newbie medical engineer Ryan Stone (Bullock). The two try to make it to a Russian satellite in order to get back home.

This is really Bullock's film here and, wisely, Cuaron never cuts away from her. We never see mission control back home panicking or anything like that. we see only what she sees and therefore experience only what she sees, making this a very eerie experience. Space looks amazing and the 3D actually brings something more into it, the first film since Avatar to do so.

There are a few gut punches in the film that, when added with the minimalistic music, creates a feeling of realism that makes the film even more tragic. Although it's a SciFi film, Gravity has more in common with survival films like Into The Wild than Star Trek and that really makes the film unique.

I am inclined to agree with the majority here as Gravity is definitely one of, if not the, best films of the year. If anything is worth seeing, this is.

*****Brilliant

Carnage (2011)

Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly
Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Awards: None

Carnage is based off of a play and so it is no surprise that it takes place almost completely in one room. After two children get into a fight, both sets of parents decide to settle the matter without causing too much of a fuss. However, due to clashing personalities and the absence of the children, nothing is settled and the adults start to attack each-other, even if they started out on the same side.

Carnage is a very predictable film. Right from the start you know that nothing is really going to happen, so you can just sit back and enjoy the battle. The end credit sequence brilliantly proves the point the film wants to convey, that the argument is pointless. What's also great is how the least identifiable character (a top performance by Waltz) becomes the one we side with as everybody else starts becoming more aggressive while showing their true colours. Waltz is the most honest of them all. He doesn't care and never has.

The three other cast members are also on top performance here. Each is given a chance to morph their character as they pull of their social masks.

Overall, the film is interesting, but it's nothing great and certainty not Polanski's best. But it has an almost farce-like feeling to it that makes it compelling. It is a much more serious farce. This is worth a watch if you can find it, but don't expect Rosemary's Baby.

****Good