Gravity: Well color me shocked; I actually really liked Gravity. None of Alfonso Cuaron's previous work had really clicked with me so I didn't really expect anything at all out of this and I ended up being very pleasantly surprised. The highly-touted visuals are truly breathtaking to behold and do a great job of helping set the film's bleak tone. Gravity isn't just a mindless visual spectacle, it's a consistently tense and harrowing survival tale. Sandra Bullock delivers a sensational performance in what is essentially a one-woman show. Bullock perfectly conveys the bevy of emotions of someone who is left to find a way to survive all alone in the empty abyss of outer space. Out of all of the 2013 Best Picture nominees I've seen so far, Gravity is without question one of the best.
4/5 Stars
Bad Words: It's official, Bad Words is the feel-bad movie of 2014. Call me sick, but I honestly find it refreshing that a comedy has come out and stuck to its mean-spirited humor throughout. Even the obligatory "happy" ending has a morbid bite to it. Jason Bateman gives arguably the strongest performance of his career going against his typical nice guy formula as Guy Trillby; a 40 year-old jackass who finds a loophole in the rules and tries to win a spelling bee. Bateman is brilliantly matched by Kathryn Hahn as the bitter journalist/reluctant love interest that is sponsoring Trillby's endeavor to win the Spelling Bee and Rohan Chand, as a young loner contestant who ends up befriending Trillby. Bad Words is a quick, breezy and hilarious tale that is a must-see for fans of dark comedy.
4/5 Stars
Divergent: In the cannon of young adult adaptions, Divergent is certainly one of the stronger ones. The film is never dull and does a good job of setting up the story arc (which is far too complex for me to explain in a brief review) for future installments. Above all, Divergent is a great platform to expose the talent of Shailene Woodley to the masses. She has absolutely shined in every film she's been in thus far and her work here as the heroine Tris is no exception. There are some intricacies within the story that are a bit confusing for non-readers of the book like myself, but they aren't so frequent that you ever become truly lost with what's going on. Divergent is a promising albeit not strikingly original start to the next major young adult dystopian franchise.
3.5/5 Stars
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