My Movie Resolutions for 2014- Mike

You hear Miss America say it, you hear the winner of American Idol say it, but I never thought I’d hear me say that I never thought this would ever happen to me. I thought that writing about movies was something I started to give me an excuse to sing praises about classic movies that not many people appreciated. 

My Movie Resolutions for 2014 - Thomas

Looking back on 2013, it has been quite a year for cinema. Gravity became an unprecedented hit, influencing cinema for the foreseeable future. 12 Years a Slave and The Butler brought Civil Rights into the discussion in new and important ways. Even Leonardo DiCaprio stopped by to yet again play super wealthy young tycoons... TWICE (The Great Gatsby and The Wolf of Wall Street). But for all of the fun on screen, it is important for a cinephile to grow on his own merits. With 2014 on the near horizon, I figured that I would share some hopeful resolutions regarding either watching or discussing cinema in the year to come.

An Analysis of Anton Chigurh

Javier Bardem

If there is one singular fact about the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men regarding the praise that I give it, it is this: I haven't always liked No Country for Old Men, but I have always enjoyed Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Weeks after the Academy Awards, I saw the film at a second-run venue with terrible seats waiting for the film to impress me. Much like two different parties who were moaning as they shared their opinion moments after Tommy Lee Jones woke up, I was left sort of baffled by the praise. At the time, I perceived it as an underwhelming film. That is, in every category except one: Chigurh and his cattle gun.

Analysis of Walter Sobchak

Warning! Major Spoilers Ahead.

His morals are very black and white and he won’t settle for anything that he thinks is wrong. The bad guys want money from Jeffrey Lebowski and The Dude goes to do the tradeoff but Walter won’t let it happen, he has to give them a ringer, he doesn’t care that this has nothing to do with him; he has to do what is right. He doesn’t want an urn for his friend’s ashes because he plans to scatter them so when the funeral home forces him to buy one he gets very angry and ends up putting his friend in a big coffee can. And then of course when he Donny, and The Dude are getting mugged he refuses to give anything “What’s mine is mine”, and then proceeds to humiliate the muggers by kicking their asses. Sure if he had just let the muggers take their pocket money they would have come out on top because no matter how much money they had it still wouldn’t be enough to make up for the loss of Donny’s life, but for Walter it is more possible for him to flap his arms and fly than it is to give what is rightfully his.

The Coens Best Characters

With “Inside Llewyn Davis” hitting theaters soon and a TV show based on “Fargo” coming next year we thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the Coen brothers and their characters. All of them are pretty colorful and can have doctoral dissertations written about them but we chose to take one of our favorite characters and write a piece on them.

How to Succeed Post Potter Without Really Trying.

In the interest of the future of cinema it is important to be able to spot the talent that will make up the next generation of the industry. More often than not actors will not grow up to be as famous as they were as a kid, with good examples including Haley Joel Osment, and Macaulay Culkin, but occasionally as is the case with Jodie Foster, one will make it through to being a great adult talent.

Years ago when “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone” came out, I am sure that nobody suspected that the 11 year old boy playing Harry would go on to be a star of Broadway, performing in Tony Award winning revival plays such as “Equus” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. Daniel Radcliffe was nominated for a Drama Desk award for his performance in “Equus”. His performances in the early Potter films didn’t promise this much talent and yet the films continued to be made around him.

Emma Watson Proves That There is a Life After Harry Potter

Emma Watson in The Bling Ring

I will admit that in the grand scheme of the world involving Harry Potter, I will always admire the books over the movies. It isn't some anal code in which literature trumps cinema, just that the films seemed a bit too streamlined to be more than good. Still, if the Harry Potter films had any success, it is the amazing longevity that most of the actors had. 12 years ago, director Christopher Columbus changed the world by teaming up with prepubescent performers who didn't have more than a few minimal credits to their name. When compared to most child actors, the fact that a near perfect record stands not only for those who made it to the final film, but also live somewhat decent lives, despite being among the highest paid performers in the world and forever icons in a franchise grossing $1.15 billion (with a "B"). Still, how do you follow up the phenomenon without being typecasted? Among the main players, I feel like Emma Watson is doing it right.