American Hustle

Dustin: 5 of 5 stars Nick: 4.5 of 5 stars Average: 4.75 of 5 stars (Tweety canary)

 
Dustin: Hey Nick, what did you think of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones? 

Nick: I didn’t think of it. I haven’t seen it. Have you? 

Dustin: As if I’d waste one second of my life watching that turd. So let’s talk about American Hustle instead. 

Nick: David O. Russell’s film is “based on a true story” about a con man (Christian Bale) and woman (Amy Adams) who are forced by a glory seeking FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) into ousting corrupt politicians. 

Dustin: “Some of this actually happened.”

This might have been the best movie of the year. It was hilarious and it unfolded cleverly. I loved the character study. Unlike 12 Years a Slave, where all the characters were black or white, this story has Italians, Jews, Mexicans, and morally, they all are shades of gray. Christian Bale says several times he sees the world only in shades of gray, and that really comes across with these complex characters. 

Nick: If there was a ever a line I never knew where a character stood. 

Dustin: You have Bale’s character, Rosenfeld, an unscrupulous con man who has a soft spot for the mayor he’s setting up, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Polito is corrupt, but he genuinely cares about people, especially his constituents. Amy Adams plays Sydney Prosser, a con artist even more skilled than Rosenfeld whose dishonesty is really a survival instinct. Bradley Cooper is an FBI agent who is overly ambitious and quickly gets himself into more trouble than he can handle. Finally, Jennifer Lawrence in a secondary role almost steals the movie as Bale’s ditzy wife. She has to be one of the most versatile actresses around today. 

Nick: While Lawrence has been slightly glorified in the past, I would never argue against her getting any award for this film. The film was definitely the best cast of the year. Everyone was well suited to their roles even the minor ones like Louis C.K.! That’s right, Louis C.K. is in the film quite a bit and adds great character to the “No” man above Cooper’s hot-shot copper. 

Dustin: Louis C.K. is probably the only one who could have pulled off that role. His lines were quite funny, but he delivered them dry enough that they got laughs without breaking the tone of the movie. 

Nick: The cast is so well done that I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing any of these roles.  The actors became the characters. 

Dustin: Christian Bale quite literally became his character, packing on quite a few pounds. I imagine he must’ve eaten a quart of ice cream a day for months to get that belly. I wouldn’t be surprised if he even got circumcised to portray his Jewish character. The way he goes all out for his roles, like in The Machinist, is part of what makes his movies so appealing.

The Machinist (2004)

Batman Begins (2005)

American Hustle (2013)

Nick: I couldn’t tell if it was a fat suit or not. I know he always transforms himself, but normally there will be all this news around how he’s losing/gaining weight for a film and nothing caught my eye. Still, not only is he able to achieve the body type he is always able to mentally get there as well. 

Dustin: If there was anything that didn’t work for you in this movie, what was it? 

Nick: There was nothing substantial in the misfiring department, but if complaining is necessary (it is) than I’d say the pacing was slightly off, the film was slightly too long and the climax was satisfactory, but not exceptional. 

Dustin: I agree the film felt a little long, but I don’t really care since I enjoyed it so much. I think I did look at my watch twice to try to figure out what act we were in. I agree the climax wasn’t exceptional, but I’ll say it was pleasing. I was worried this movie could end with a dud, but it wrapped things up in a satisfying way, so I was glad the preceding two hours wasn’t wasted. 

Nick: It was interesting that I as well never knew what act the film was in. That makes the film stronger to me in a way because its setting things up but not in an obvious way to where you say to yourself “this is obviously the rising action.” The whole film felt like the rising action. 

Dustin: This is the first film we’ve given the “Tweety canary” status to. Our mark of quality. Everyone should go see this movie.

Best & Worst of 2013

To sum up our first year on the Internets, we've each compiled a list of our top five favorite movies of the year. We've also included our worst five of the year for completion’s sake. Happy New Year! 

Dustin 

Top 5

Note: As of this writing, I have yet to see American Hustle or Inside Llewyn Davis.

1. Mud: This was a movie that did everything right and then some. Atmospheric, great characters and dialogue. Everything set up pays off at the end. Easily my favorite movie of the year.

2. Captain Phillips: This is the exact kind of movie that appeals to me. I love true stories of adversity. The casting of the non-Tom Hanks characters was perfect, and it was suspenseful throughout, even though I’m not a fan of Paul Greengrass’s jerky camerawork.

3. Disconnect: This was a quality indie film about how technology develops faster than our ability to cope with it. Four loosely connected stories unfold simultaneously as events from the Web impact real lives.

4. Emperor: This historical film about the investigation into whether Hirohito should be tried for war crimes was vastly underrated (it has 31 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing). I think most critics missed the point on this one, focusing on the romantic subplot with a couple cliched moments, rather than on how brilliantly this movie brought to life post-war Tokyo.

5. This Is the End: This was the funniest movie about the Rapture since Left Behind.

Worst 5

Note: I had yet to see 47 Ronin as of this writing, although it would be in my bottom five.

5. White House Down: I watched this as an in-flight movie between South Korea and Indonesia. Nothing could have made that flight seem longer than this movie. Even with 17 minutes edited out for Asiana Airlines, it was still long and tedious. My time could have been better spent getting a head start on my expense report, or staring at the back of the seat in front of me.

4. Texas Chainsaw: This movie had some “dumb fun,” but it made a fatal error in asking us to root for Leatherface. They don’t need to make any more of these movies.

3. Tyler Perry’s Temptation: This may have been one of the dumbest things I've ever sat through, and I felt my butt cheeks clenching in embarrassment of the thought someone might see me in the theater watching it. Not even the best actors could have brought this trite and predictable script to life, and none of them were in this movie.

2. Movie 43: This was a notoriously bad low-brow sketch comedy that might be slightly shocking airing on the CW at 9 p.m. It was self-aware of how bad it was, which makes me question how it even got made in the first place. It did have a couple highlights, such as the superhero speed-dating skit and Terrence Howard's inspiring pep talk to his basketball team.

1. Scary Movie 5: If one movie of the year should be placed in a time capsule for 1000 years, it should be this. That way no one alive today will accidentally see this joyless PG-13 atrocity. And 1000 years from now the technology this was filmed on will be so obsolete, no one in the future will accidentally see it either. References to every movie of the past year aren't jokes. One revealing sequence was an overlong parody of Evil Dead. Not the Sam Raimi classic, mind you, but the reboot released a week before this movie, which should give you some idea of how fast this piece-of-shit was thrown together.

Nick

I would like to point out that I have yet to see Her, American Hustle, Nebraska, Upstream Color, 

Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine, Inside Llewyn Davis, Short Term 12 and Enough Said. 

Top 9 (in no particular order)

Mud (4.5 stars of 5): A fairy tale based in reality. Never have I ever thought that Matthew McConaughey would be in two of my favorite films of the year. Drink!

The Wolf of Wall Street (4.5 stars of 5): The most disgusting fun one can have in theaters this year. Has a pace and energy reminiscent of Goodfellas with characters who are more likable the more deplorable they become.

12 Years A Slave (4.5 stars of 5): Some of the scenes and shots in this film will be forever mentioned among film society. My favorite being when Solomon is left hanging from a tree branch with his toes hardly touching the slick mud beneath him. All this while people go about their day behind him. Some acknowledge him and some ignore him. The feeling we get is a harsh truth that this is not a rare sighting.

All Is Lost (4.5 stars of 5): What I wanted Gravity to be! Somehow engaging with so little plot and no conversation. All Is Lost had me on the edge of my seat for the whole movie.

American Hustle (4.5 stars of 5): The attention that Christian Bale gives to his toupee in the opening scene is akin to how much attention David O. Russell gives to all the details in his films.

This is the End (4 star of 5): This was my favorite film of the year until the rest of this lot was released. That speaks volumes on how well this movie was made.

Spring Breakers (4 stars of 5): I feel that everything that happened after Selena Gomez left the party was in her mind. Although she left, Gomez still told the story therefore all the visuals come from her and this is so interesting because all of her friends survive the gun fight. She’s imagining that all the partying has gone too far and has escalated into her fun-loving friends helping Alien in his drug war. She has hope that they will get out alive. I’m more pessimistic.

Frances Ha (4 stars of 5): Do you like the TV show Girls? Frances Ha has the same concept, but more endearing and no nudity.

Spectacular Now (4 stars of 5): The most realistic teens that I can remember seeing on film.

Worst 5

The Croods: There are jokes about how cave girls love shoes… (sigh)

Gangster Squad: Film noir is probably my favorite genre. I’m a sucker for it. Since this film became an idea I was excited. Gosling, Penn, Brolin, Mackie, Nolte, Stone! Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) as director! Too high expectations can really ruin a film, but it wasn’t only my expectations that ruined it.

R.I.P.D.: I had all but low expectations for this film, and it really was worse than I imagined. I wonder if it was made by the same production company as Men in Black?

Planes: I didn’t actually see this movie, so it's probably not fair to Disney's film. Well, it wasn’t fair for Disney to make a film that looks like their subsidiary Cars. Why would they do this if Cars is the worst-reviewed canon on Pixar's resume? Could it be because Cars raked in $8 billion in merchandise? That’s data from before Cars 2 was released!

Movie 43: Never has an hour and a half runtime felt like forever like this mess. Liev Schrieber made me laugh, but he is an excellent actor. No, I don’t hate Emma Stone, but she is in three of my worst five of the year.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 3.5 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is the long-awaited sequel to 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. This time around, Burgundy and his plucky news team have landed themselves a slot on GNN, the world’s first 24-hour news channel, and are instantly launched to stardom.

Nick, how would you say this sequel compares to the first?

Nick: When I saw Anchorman in theaters it marked my first and last time of falling out of my seat from laughing too hard. Then I didn't see the film again for five years because everyone quoted it enough to make me never want to watch it again. In the world of Anime there is a term known as “fan service.” This film is wholly fan service. It seems almost every set-up from the original is rehashed here and sometimes that worked and sometimes it fell flat--large fight among news teams, Brian Fantana’s random extensive collection of womanizing items, and, of course, some good ol’ jazz flute (pronounced with a soft J).

Dustin: There was some fan service here, the epic battle being the most noticeable. But I felt like this stuff didn't really come in until the third act. The first two parts of the movie were still original enough. And being a fan of the first film, I enjoyed the callbacks to it, and didn't think it was overdone.

Nick: The callbacks didn't bother me until the fight scene because it felt so forced and was so out of place for what Burgundy was trying to achieve at that moment. Maybe if the fight was 30 minutes earlier in the film when Harry Lime is the actual antagonist. Also, the joke about Lime being forced to change his name to Lame went on way too long with little actually coming from the situation.

Dustin: I liked how long that joke got played out. It was mildly amusing at first, got old quickly, then after awhile, it became funny again, especially as Ron Burgundy refused to budge on letting him change his name back to Lime.

I agree as a viewer I had kind of moved on from Harry Lame by the time he showed up for the battle, and I recognized that battle as being included as a somehow even more overblown version of the original. It was one of several sequences from the movie that could have been cut without missing much. The other being the dinner with his black boss/girlfriend’s family. While funny, but it didn't advance the story in the slightest, it felt like an interlude that broke up the scene between Burgundy and his girlfriend in the taxi.

Nick: Most of this movie were scenes that didn't add up to anything, but that’s how you know it’s made purely for the fans of the original. Although I feel this wasn't that good of a movie and I probably won’t watch it again, I found it extremely enjoyable. The scene where he assembles the news team is as good if not better than the sequence in the original. Champ is a fast food restaurant owner whose chicken might not actually be chicken.

Dustin: I really loved the “assembling the team” sequence. They take their time reintroducing each member of the news team, making each introduction special. You feel like you are inviting old friends into your home again.

I thought this movie was every bit as good as the first, even though it went too far at times. I definitely laughed a lot this time, and enjoyed it more upon first viewing.

I actually didn't much care for the original when I first saw it. I thought it was strange and only mildly amusing. Then, a few days later, something strange happened. I found I kept quoting the movie and couldn't get the characters out of my head. Since then, I've seen it more times than I care to admit on cable, and really love it.

Nick: The original was the beginning of the new irreverent comedy regime. Most people didn't get it, although it eventually became one of the highest selling DVDs of all time. The new film couldn't feel original and that hurt it, but at the same time I’m not sure if it’s any worse. The one thing that was detracting was that the scenes had no particular order. Most scenes after assembling the team just seemed to be forced into a certain time slot within the film. Especially the “Black Family” dinner scene you mentioned earlier. Also, I wish Harris Ford was in this movie more! He would have been a good antagonist.

Dustin: I agree Harrison Ford was a cameo at best. He shows up again later in the film, but I won’t say when to avoid spoilers, but even then he doesn't get much to do.

I still thought this one was original enough. One sequence that could have been cut from this two-hour comedy without missing a beat was when Ron Burgundy goes blind and has to adjust to a new way of life, and even nurses a captured shark back to health. It was mostly pointless, but it was also my favorite part of the movie. I've been singing “The Ballad of Doby” ever since.

Nick: That was also my favorite part of the film and one I thought should have contained a jazz flute solo. Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) was a major part of the original film while being mostly unimportant in the follow up. Applegate did such a wonderful job in the original it was a disappointment for me she lost screentime.

Dustin: I thought she got enough screen time here, but she didn't drive the plot as much as she did in the original.

One character I thought got too much screentime here was Brick. Steve Carell was a little too over-the-top this time around, screaming and yelling. He got obnoxious at times, wooing Kristen Wiig for the second time this year (see Despicable Me 2).

Nick: COMPLETELY AGREED. Brick Tamland is a secondary character at best, standing in the back and saying or doing something unusual, and that works, but giving his character a love interest really hurt the pace of the film.

Dustin: I liked Brick because we had our own Brick in Kansas City: Don Harman from Fox 4 WDAF-TV, who unfortunately committed suicide.

The first film was like an affectionate send-up of goofy local news teams. This one was more of a criticism of sensational 24-hour news and commercial interests controlling content. I thought it may have been more relevant in that sense than the first one.

Nick: The film could have been something more if it explored the negatives of Ron reporting unimportant news and the owner wanting to control the news to his own means, but the film never gets to anywhere. It always starts a new sub-plot that never gets summed up.

Dustin: I was expecting that to become the plot, given the gravity of the situation. But it gets resolved in a very easy manner and quickly brushed aside.

Did you hear a lot of people walking out of the theater at the end saying, “That was stupid?”

Nick: Nope. The audience gave the film an overwhelmingly positive response.

Dustin: I heard about a half dozen people saying, “That was stupid,” “That sure got stupid in a hurry,” “Why did you drag me to that?”

Anchorman 2, like its predecessor, is an aggressively original comedy, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a laugh who appreciates Will Ferrell’s brand of humor.