A Serious Man (2009) - A serious masterpiece

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+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Dramedy of the Year + Best Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Michael Stuhlbarg

Michael Stuhlbarg seems to be looking down at the state of his life with consternation from his rooftop on the humorous, desaturated poster for Ethan and Joel Coen's A Serious Man

We follow a Jewish physics professor from Minnesota, as life deals him some blows: His wife wants a divorce, his job situation is precarious, his brother won't leave their house, where he sleeps on the couch, and ...

A Serious Man is the 14th feature from Minnesotan master writer-director brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (Fargo (1996)). It is a very well-composed and very Jewish existential dramedy peopled with some great faces and situations:
Michael Stuhlbarg (Lincoln (2012)) is a precious find as the title character, and Richard Kind (Divorce Invitation (2012)) is wonderful in a rare movie performance as the brother. The dragging, potentially depressing material in the film is suppressed through snappy, perfect editing, (also credited to the two Coens), and an underlying feeling of warmth and sympathy towards not only the main character but several figures in the bleak travesty that unfolds in the course of the narrative. As well as, of course, a good dose of distanced gallows humor.

The film opens with an unrelated Jewish folk horror short, and though the film is Jewish through and through, it is just as much a universal predicament that it depicts, so that it is a film for everyone, (mostly adults though, of course.)
The Coens strike real creative gold with this favorite of mine. It is one of their least talked about but best films.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 31.4 mil. $
= Big hit
[A Serious Man premiered 12 September (Toronto) and runs 106 minutes. The story is inspired by a mysterious rabbi the Coens knew in their adolescence. Shooting took place from September - November 2008 in Minnesota and the Czech Republic. The film opened #30 to a 251k $ opening weekend in 6 theaters (an impressive 41k $ average) in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 262 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 9.2 mil. $ (29.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 3.6 mil. $ (11.5 %) and France with 3.5 mil. $ (11.1 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Picture (lost to The Hurt Locker) and Best Original Screenplay (lost to Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a David di Donatello award (Italy's Oscar), won 2 Independent Spirit awards out of 3 nominations, won AFI's Movie of the Year award and 2 National Board of Review awards and many more. A Serious Man is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Serious Man?

Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014, TV movie) - SyFy's new franchise becomes a cold turkey in New York

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This poster for Anthony C. Ferrante's Sharknado 2: The Second One is an exact replica of the poster for the first film with only the text changed

 

Fin Shepard and his ex-wife are on their way to New York on their book tour, promoting her book of his heroism during the dramatic events of the first film, when another sharknado hits the two and all of Manhattan.

 

The followup to Sharknado (2013, TV movie) has more stars, - such as Richard Kind (Inside Out (2015)) in a weird, half-funny cameo that is beneath him, - in a plot that is just as ridiculous as the one in the first film. Mark McGrath (Scooby-Doo (2002)) and Dante Palminteri (Bleed for This (2016)) as Fin's brother-in-law and brother-in-law's son act the worst, - but are they supposed to? Maybe. I find the Sharknado films hard to get, really. - Their joke seems to be drawn out here.

Back as writer and director, respectively, are Thunder Levin (Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016)) and Anthony C. Ferrante (Headless Horseman (2007)).

 

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Anthony C. Ferrante: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Sharknado (2013, TV movie) - A trashy TV franchise fed to life by online trending

 

 

Here's an official trailer for the TV movie

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown (one-night US screening August 21, numbers undisclosed)

= Unknown (but certainly a TV movie hit)

[Sharknado 2: The Second One premiered July 30 on SyFy and runs 95 minutes. It was shot in California and New York in February 2014, while the state was experiencing freezing winter, which creeps into the film, although it is set in July. The film's premiere was watched by 3.9 mil. viewers in North America, the biggest TV movie debut on the SyFy channel ever. At the same time, another sequel for premiere a year later was announced. Since then also a 4th film in the franchise has been made. The budget for the film was likely 3-4 mil. $. Sharknado 2: The Second One is rotten at 59 % with a 4.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Sharknado 2: The Second One?

Obvious Child (2014) - Slate and Robespierre's laugh-out-loud indie comedy

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+ Best Independent Movie of the Year

Lead Jenny Slate in front of a deliciously pink background on this poster for Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child

Our heroine is a stand-up comedian at a local Brooklyn club, who also works in a bookstore, which is closing, just as her boyfriend has also dumped her. So she sleeps with a handsome stranger ...

Obvious Child is the feature debut for writer-director Gillian Robespierre, based on her own same-titled 2009 short. It's fueled by an incredibly funny script, which the hysterically funny Jenny Slate (The Lorax (2012)), a comical natural talent, breathes wonderful life into. There's also several fine supporting performances: From Richard Kind (Inside Out (2015)) as her father, Polly Draper (Our Idiot Brother (2011) as her mother, Gabe Liedman (Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2015), TV-series) as her gay friend, Gaby Hoffmann (Wild (2014)) as her girlfriend and Jake Lacy (Carol (2015)) as her new romance, who is almost unearthly sweet.
SPOILER You might feel ambiguous about seeing these two nice people, a great, blossoming couple, decide to go get an abortion. - But Obvious Child still somehow remains among the warmest, sweetest and certainly funniest romcoms in a long while. - Don't cheat yourself of this experience!
Interesting fact: Robespierre devised the film (and the short it's based on) on her frustration about the "misrepresentation of women on screen when it came to unplanned pregnancy", citing films such as Juno (2007), Knocked Up (2007) and Waitress (2007) as her target.

Related posts:

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
 

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 3.3 mil. $
= Uncertainty
[Obvious Child was undoubtedly made on a small budget, perhaps around 1 mil. $, in which case it should be counted as a box office success. But without knowing for sure, we can't call it. It was in North American release for 18 weeks, topping at 196 screens, grossing 3.1 mil. $ (93.9 % of the total gross). It was released in only two other markets, the UK (which, with 197k $, made up nearly all the rest of the gross) and New Zealand. Obvious Child is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.3 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Obvious Child?

Inside Out (2015) - The must-see movie masterpiece of the year

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year
+ Best Family Movie of the Year

The five core emotion characters on the poster for Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen's Inside Out

Inside Out is the big Pixar event of the year and a film that's gonna go down as one of the greatest animation films of all time, I predict. It is a must-see, a masterpiece and maybe the year's best film.

Riley Andersen is an 11 year-old girl, whose life in Minnesota has been mostly happy up until now, as her parents have decided to move the family to San Francisco. Inside Out looks at how the girl's emotions react to the dramatic changes in her life.

The ingenious and very careful design of the representations of people's inner lives that are a major part of this film have been described as so thought-provoking and poignant that the film doesn't really need its story, meaning the story of moving in Riley's external world. I couldn't disagree more, as I think the external story makes the inner life more actively insightful, - and vice versa, - whereas an exclusive focusing on the inner life could have been more stillborn in contrast. The very relatable story of Riley's problems in adapting to a new environment and leaving her familiar one behind propels Inside Out forward. SPOILER The resolution inside the girl is ultimately more reliant on ploys of adventure and fantasy, but it also conveys a strong and true message about the importance of sadness and letting a variety of emotions be expressed, which touched everyone I saw the movie with on a deep level; (I was sure because of the noticeably loud sobs and sniffling.)
Inside Out is not only extremely funny and touching; its animation and character designs are overpoweringly strong and beautiful; Michael Giacchino (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)) has made a great score, and the sound universe is fabulous. 
Inside Out is almost too good. - How will anyone ever be able to make anything to equal this, I pondered after finally coming out on the other side of the film's magic. Inside Out is human and profound. Smaller kids won't grasp it all, but I still think it is recommendable to people of all ages and outlooks. It is the kind of rare film that I genuinely believe betters the world.

Inside Out also has the benefit of a top-notch voice cast of which I'll single out Amy Poehler (They Came Together (2014)) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (The Office (2005-13)) as Sadness, and in particular Richard Kind (A Serious Man (2009)) as Bing Bong, a kind of fantasy imaginary creature who, with the talent and expertise of the Pixar character animators and Kind's outstanding voicing, grabs audiences hearts in very little time. Truly amazing.
Screenwriters Meg LaFauve (Captain Marvel (2018)), Josh Cooley (Up (2009), voice actor) and writer-directors Pete Doctor (Up) and Ronaldo Del Carmen (Freakazoid! (1995-96)) have layered the story with all kinds of meanings and evocative, innovative concepts. It marks Del Carmen's first feature directorial work and Doctor's best to date. The film had a long and difficult development, which can be read about here.
The short film before Inside Out is James Ford Murphy's Lava (2014), a gorgeously animated, musical love story of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean. In itself a moving work of art.

Related posts:

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a great trailer for the film here

Cost: 175 mil. $
Box office: 702.5 mil. $ (and counting)
= Big hit
[Inside Out was a majorly anticipated film; its unique story grabbed people's attention and imagination everywhere. It opened to a stunning 90.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, #2 behind Jurassic World (with 106.6 mil. $), but still Pixar's second biggest opening of all time (behind Toy Story 3 (2010)) and the biggest opening ever for an original movie, animated or otherwise, (original meaning not a sequel, spin-off, remake or an adaptation), in this capacity even beating Avatar (2009)! Inside Out went on to gross 344.5 mil. $ (49 % of the total gross) in North America. And there seems to be no possibility at all that it won't win the Best Animation Oscar (at least!) at the next Oscars, (in my mind.)]

What do you think of Inside Out?