Welcome to a new segment, where movies being released on DVD and Blu-Ray will be quickly reviewed. Each Tuesday, three movies will be mentioned. These can range from being the biggest movies to be released that day or the movies I feel are worth bringing to light (such as hidden gems as a means to avoid painfully obvious duds). We begin with three interesting films this week.
Standardized ratings will remain, but, unlike initial reviews on Fridays and/or Saturdays, these reviews will have three subheadings: Buy it, rent it, or skip it. As, in the future, movies that I have reviewed in full will most likely return to these Tuesday articles, these mini reviews will only cover the basic strengths and flaws for each movie and will mention which audiences will appreciate the respective movie. Without further notice, let us start off this new segment with one of the year’s best films so far.
Mud
Verdict: Buy It
Final Rating: 9.3/10
Jeff Nichols is an outstanding director who is slowly taking over the film industry from the backdoor. His tales of southern hospitality through the eyes of the possibly disturbed are close to home and thus all the more earth shattering. While Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories seemed like difficult films to top, Mud may do just that. Matthew MaConaughey seems to be getting more and more tired of being a punch line as he has done nothing but show the world that he is no longer a lazy actor. With a few notable films within the past few years (Magic Mike, The Lincoln Lawyer, Killer Joe), Mud may be not just his best performance lately, but his best yet. Mud’s an appropriate name for an individual that attracts trouble and the innocence of the curious (in the case of the latter it’s two wondering boys who cannot help but step in the sinking mess), and his character is like that of the troll under the bridge. Only this character isn’t purposefully troublesome; He just has that kind of aura. Mud is carried by great performances and a sweet story of the south that turns into a heart wrenching finale. It cleverly modernizes many traits of the classic western without being a full-on western and thus alienating audiences. It’s a gripping film made by a sensational new director/screenwriter, and it is well worth checking out as it is one of the best films of the year so far.
Oblivion
Verdict: Rent It
Final Rating:5.1/10
Oblivion is, without question, an absolute beauty of a movie. Joseph Kosinski knows how to make a visually stunning science fiction movie, as can be seen with Tron: Legacy. However, it is apparent that he still needs some getting used to when it comes to converting a story into a film that reaches outside of visual achievements, and it is more painfully obvious in this film as he actually wrote the screenplay for it. The story awkwardly pieces together many plot points of other, better, science fiction movies, such as the woman of the protagonist’s dreams found in Brazil, and the many points found in Duncan Jones’s excellent film Moon. While these feel more like nods and tributes than thievery, the film thinks it is more creative than it actually is. The story is familiar to science fiction fanatics and it isn’t told nearly as well. No matter. The acting is pretty spot on and the special effects are riveting. If you want a film that will provide you with a lot of eye candy, this is worth checking out. If you want something moving or in depth, which should go hand in hand with a science fiction movie but doesn’t here, perhaps watch another film.
To the Wonder
Verdict: Rent It
Final Rating: 7.1/10
Off the bat, this movie will seem disappointing when being compared to Terrence Malick’s other work, especially 2011’s masterful Tree of Life. If you are willing to separate To the Wonder from that film, it’s actually pretty good. It is undeniably flawed and it misses the poetic brilliance that catapult Malick’s best films (including Badlands and Days of Heaven, which you should check out, along with Tree of Life, immediately) into a spiritual realm. To the Wonder tries to encapsulate the emotional connections of its main characters, which works sometimes but not always. It is difficult to achieve such a feat especially with Malick’s classic style of filmmaking, which reenacts daydreams and distant memories through aesthetic brilliance. The film got a pretty poor reception at TIFF last year, but I think there is still a lot of redeeming value here. While the poetic narrations aren’t as powerful as they were in Tree of Life, where we entered the minds of the wandering souls looking for a connection to their families, it’s kind of nice that way. Sure, the narrations seem much more preachy and stuck in To the Wonder, but at the same time, when it comes to love, faith and religion, that’s often how people would think; Ignorantly. In the end, To the Wonder isn’t nearly as inviting as some of Malick’s other films, but if you want to see a film that tries to contain all of the stages of feeling affectionate within a brilliantly shot and scored movie (aesthetically, this is one of the best movies of the year. No surprise there), give To the Wonder a shot. I have a feeling this film will age better than the way it seems now.
