The ballots for the Florida Film Critics Circle were due today. Here are my on point nominees. You know I’m right…
Month: December 2014
FORCE MAJEURE Review
At some point in every relationship there comes a test of sorts that reveals the true crux of its foundations. Like farting in front of your spouse for the first time or running away during an avalanche. In director Ruben Ostlund’s brilliant Force Majeure, it’s the latter event that fractures a seemingly happy marriage. This wickedly sharp-eyed Swedish export explores the trappings of marital complacency and the deceptive appearance of security. While Gone Girl took on similar themes earlier this year in an extreme, tabloid manner, Force Majeure’s sensibilities are more in the line with a slowly burning melodrama (think Michael Haneke, if that helps).
BIRDMAN Review
Christ, where do we even start? Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is an unclassifiable visual feast that flirts with realism and fantasy. It’s a technical wet dream that unravels in real time, in a simulated one take. On the surface it’s about an aging actor struggling to stay relevant and reclaim his declining celebrity, while its undercurrents explore the madness of the industry.
The film and his role are entirely built around Keaton, whose has-been status as OG Batman makes him the perfect fit for ex-superhero actor Riggan Thomson’s tightie whities.
New Granada 