The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

I have to admit something: I read the books and liked them.  I began them on a lark, sort of a "Let's see what all the kids these days are reading" motive, which then became "this author really knows how to tell a story!  ...even if her grammar is BAD!"  But of course I had seen the first movie prior to reading the book.  After loving the book I watched it again, just to see if my impressions had changed.  They had not.  I still thought the first movie was too safe, too formulaic, too by-the-numbers.  It seemed to lack a soul, the exciting edge the book has.

Catching Fire goes a long way toward fixing that.  The major issues in the first are made much better here in the sequel.  The result is a film that has excitement and yet takes the time for real plot development.  The actors do a fine job, though there is nothing too very worthy of mention.  Donald Sutherland's President Snow character is much better used here, becoming a vicious, cunning, despicable kind of guy who projects an image of benevolence.

I didn't find much to complain about (which for those of you who know me, you know how weird that is).  But one thing irritated me rather much.  At one point the director chose to utilize a rotating camera shot, where the audience point of view spins around the characters on screen while they dance.  Unfortunately, the scene is not shot in one take, and the editing of the scene together results in a choppy, jerky, distracting mess.  It just plain didn't work.  Now, if it had been done in one take it might have been great.  As it is, the scene is not very grand.

I still wish the story went in a different direction than it did, but I wished that about the book too.  All in all, this is a sequel that outshines the original.  Add to that the fact the third book seems to lend itself to being adapted to film and I think we've got a good little movie trilogy here.

Entertainment: 7/10
Artistic Value: 6/10
Technical Merit: 5/10

Overall: 6/10

Best of the Letter "G:" The Godfather (1972)

Many people have described The Godfather as the best mob movie ever made.  I disagree.  At its heart, I don't believe The Godfather is about organized crime.  Distilled to its essence, this is a movie about a father and son; how their relationship is strained, tested and reconciled, with the transforming to become like his father.  It is about the effort to protect a family, to care for loved ones, and to make right certain wrongs.  Under normal circumstances these would be noble goals on a path of virtue.  But the circumstances of the Corleone family in The Godfather are anything but normal, which makes the character arch and journey of Michael Corleone one of the great tragedies of American cinema.  And this story -when combined with some of the best acting, writing, and deliberate pacing of all time -makes The Godfather one of the best and most perfect films ever.

Godfather and son

So yeah, it's a family movie.  It's about the mob, killing people, drugs, and very horse's head serious threats.  But at heart The Godfather is a movie about a family.  And this family has love and anger and issues just like any other family.  But this family also deals in death.

This is where The Godfather succeeds so masterfully.  The criminals here are not shallow black-hatted caricatures that simply act evil as a foil to showcase the pure motives of the good guy.  Here we have no "good guy" as we might have expected previously.  Instead, all the bad guys have good in them, while at the same time all of the "good guys" (well, the main characters anyway) have great capacity for evil.

This movie has it all, and does it all exceedingly well.  Never has a film done acting better, the direction is top-notch, and the screenplay is legendary.  The Godfather has very few, if any missteps, and the result is simply wonderful.  This is one of the great dramas and tragedies of our age, especially when combined with part 2.  Don't miss this one!

Entertainment:  9/10
Artistic Value: 10/10
Technical Merit: 10/10

Overall: 10/10


Runners Up:

• The Great Escape
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
• The Goonies (just kidding.  But seriously, goonies never say die.)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Being a fan of action movies and comic books, I am predisposed to enjoy movies such as Thor 2.  So, naturally, I actually DID find myself enjoying Thor: The Dark World.  There is so much for a comic nerd to love here, and enough action to please those who are just along for the ride.

Of course, that's not to say this is a flawless or exceptional film in any sense.  Thor 2 suffers as a sequel, due to the first being much more well-crafted and executed.  The sequel just doesn't quite have the spark the first did, and the change in the director's chair clearly shows all the way through.

There are a few outright negatives I noticed.  Firstly, the movie was overall poorly edited.  Second, it had more than a tad bit of those "isn't THAT just a little convenient!" moments (such as the fact that it was Jane who finds the Aether by accident, or that the things Erik Selvig was working on could be easily adapted to save the day).  Third, I never quite understood why Thor's desperate plan was all that necessary.  I mean, the movie never convinced me that Asgard really was all that outmatched by the dark elves.  Finally, the end (and I won't spoil anything for you) tried to have a really strong punch, but seemed to lack coherency -raising many questions that contradict or defy explanation.

But hey, on the whole it was very enjoyable and well done.  It had a well-mined seam of humor and it certainly set up further development in the Marvel universe.  Where they are going with the overall story arc of these movies is hinted at throughout the movie, and it all looks to be quite epic.

Final thought: Loki rocks.  He's by far the most interesting character in the film.

Entertainment: 7/10
Artistic Value: 4/10
Technical Merit: 5/10

Overall: 6/10

Best of the Letter "F:" Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Charming, somber, grand and fun and full of greatness.  Fiddler on the Roof is one of the best musicals of all time, and a perfect adaption of a play for the silver screen.  Carried by the singularly brilliant and enormously entertaining performance of Topol as main character Tevye,  Fiddler is a great example of what can be done in the musical genre.

Depicting the plight of Jews in early 20th century Russia, Fiddler addresses the question of how the distinctive, chosen people maintain their identity in a changing world.  In one word?  "Tradition!"  "Without our traditions, we would be a shaky as a fiddler on the roof!"

Some of the best musical numbers of all time are found here: "If I Were a Rich Man," "Sunrise, Sunset," "Matchmaker," "To Life," "Do You Love Me?," and of course "Tradition!"  Combine these great musical pieces with great dancing, acting, and meaning, and you have the stuff of memories.

Even the part I can't stand is fitting.  Ever since my first viewing I have hated the song "Wonder of Wonders," as sung by the geeky tailor Motel.  Musically the song is a wreck, the choreography basically has him scampering through the woods in a completely awkward manner, even the cinematography changes style to something more jerky, so that everything adds up to a giant, glaring cancer of discomfort in the middle of an otherwise healthy and beautiful film.  And yet on further consideration, I have to admit that the song absolutely suits the character, and in his joy at that moment he doesn't care what I think of him.  That in itself is kinda beautiful, even if I still fast forward through the scene when I watch the movie.

The characters are memorable, the plot is full of beauty and heartache, the sets are wonderfully dirty, and the lighthearted moments are as frequent as the somber ones.  Fiddler is a film for the ages, a great performance by Topol, with some of the most iconic moments in musical history.

Watch it and enjoy.  It's the best film that begins with the letter "F."

Entertainment: 8/10
Artistic Value: 9/10
Technical Merit: 7/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Honorable Mentions for the letter "F:" (and there are many)

• The French Connection
• Fight Club
• Fargo
• A Few Good Men
• Finding Nemo
• The Fugitive
• First Blood
• The Fifth Element  (for you, Dave)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best of the Letter "E:" The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Here's just a bit of trivia about me: by the time I was 9 years old I could quote every line of the Star Wars trilogy.  I still can quote every line of all three Star Wars movies!  (And yes, there are only 3.  There are also a few hideous usurpers that deserve not the name, but there are only 3 Star Wars movies.)

Star Wars is why I originally fell in love with movies.  I had the toys, and I still play the video games.  I have so many fond memories about these films that re-watching one of the movies is like revisiting childhood lane.
But of course, films do not always age well.  Something you love as a child may not be as sparkling awesome as an adult.  Star Wars is really no exception.  What I thought was flawless as a child shows cracks when I grew up -cracks like bad acting, some examples of poor writing, and Ewoks.

Does it get more iconic than this?

And yet The Empire Strikes Back is different.  Episode V took the world of Episode IV and expanded on it and perfected it.  Somehow actors who had somewhat wooden deliveries in Episode IV became much better actors.  Somehow the writing became much more polished and smooth.  Things that were fun became phenomenal.  Special effects were kicked up a notch.  Icons became, well, more iconic.  Even the music improved with the addition of the Imperial March.  (It's might be noted that perhaps the reason it is the best of the series is that Lucas had the least control over it...)

Star Wars has never been better than The Empire Strikes Back.  Darth Vader has never been more ultimately evil, and his character still remains one of the best villains of all time.  Han Solo is the most lovable, heroic scoundrel of all time.  Yoda is the greatest bad-grammar-makes-you-seem-smarter pseudo philosophers of all time.  The action is fantastic, the themes are timeless, the story is somber, and the scope is epic.

Sure, the movies is not perfect.  But it does everything it needs to do perfectly.  It sparks the imagination, is undeniably entertaining, and develops a universe that fans still love to inhabit.

And it is the best movie you can watch that starts with the letter "E."

Entertainment: 9/10
Artistic Value: 5/10
Technical Merit: 7/10

Overall: 8/10


Runners Up for the Letter "E:"

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Elf
• The Exorcist
• The Emperor's New Groove
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Movies from #-D

In case you missed them, here's a round-up of the best films from #-D:

Best Number:
12 Angry Men (1957)

Best "A:"
Alien (1979)

Best "B:"
Ben-Hur (1957)

Best "C:"
Casablanca (1942)

Best "D:"
Das Boot (1981)

So what's next?  What's the best film that starts with "E?"

Here's a hint: It's a sequel.

Best of the Letter "D:" Das Boot (1981)

Submarine movies tend to have a clausterphobic tenseness that is simply unlike other kinds of movies.  And of all submarine movies, Das Boot is king.  There had been submarine movies before, and lots since, but Das Boot was and remains the best.  And on top of it all, it is also a fantastic overall film

Director Wolfgang Peterson weaves together a magnificent tale of a German U-boat  and its adventures on a mission during world war 2.  What is immediately noticeable is that these are not evil men, nor Nazi robots.  They are not faceless or nameless or without basic qualities of human life.  They are men, no more so or less so than any of us.  For me this represents a "humanization" of the enemy.  I was raised a red-white-and-blue blooded American, and most of the movies about WW2 that I've seen present Germans as more or less stereotypical bad guys.  Germans of the 30's and 40's in film are typically wicked or simple nameless uniforms -an obstacle for the hero to overcome but certainly not people in their own right.  I mean, the Germans of WW2 couldn't have been caring or capable of heroics, could they?

We need movies like Das Boot to remind us what war makes us often forget: that people on the "other side" are still people.  And there is nobility and goodness possible in them.

Ok, let's get this out of the way: Das Boot is filmed entirely in German, which means I need English subtitles to understand it.  And I like it that way.  It means it is much more authentic and real.  Don't let the subtitles put you off or you will miss out on one of the most human war tales of all time.

And the realism stands out.  Other movies have imitated that tense wait for depth charges and the harrowing, violent chaos as the explosions come.  Yet none have ever done that experience as well.  Das Boot will bring the viewer into that confined space with those crewmen, and even for only a minute we feel part of that terror.

After a while we feel like we know these men.  We share with them the terror of the depth charge bombardment, the frustration of trying to make difficult repairs, the joys of wind in the face and the thrill of the hunt.  And we share in their humanity as they weep over having to leave stranded sailors from a torpedoed ship, knowing they will drown.  That scene is one of the most effective anti-war war scenes of all time.  They have rejoiced over hitting the ship with a torpedo a few hours previous, yet weep when they realize that the sailors on the now sinking ship will not be rescued and are doomed.  They killed them, yet did not want them to die.  It's an amazing and effective scene.

Anyway, watch Das Boot.  You'll cheer for the crew, then feel conflicted.  You'll see a great example of action film making.  And you'll be watching the best movie ever that begins with "D."

Entertainment: 10/10
Artistic Value: 8/10
Technical Merit: 10/10

Overall: 10/10


Runners up for the letter "D:"

• Die Hard
• District 9
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

And films worthy of mention: Deliverance, Dawn of the Dead, The Departed