Collateral Beauty

Life is Cynical continues Will Smith’s Pursuit of Oskars but falls like so many dominos as it drifts from clichéd to conniving to contrived. Star-studded cast turn in career low performances as the illogical and deeply troubled mini-machiavellis. One clever third act reveal hardly compensates for all the collateral BS.

Movie 43

Outstanding cast of A-listers assemble to breathe life into SNL rejected short scripts… and fail. Stolen jokes, weak performances, and senseless frame story further ensure disaster.  Like ‘Funny or Die’ but mostly the latter as each segment manages a moment of humor, then milks it to painful and poisonous death. 

Carnage

Trapped in a tiny apartment, Oscar winners perform a charming play.  Foster leads the pack performance-wise while Reilly and Waltz play it heavy, but it’s difficult to make such an underwhelming story truly compelling on the screen.  Bookend shots leave apartment but stay far from kid subjects.  Director Polanski’s choice?

Contagion

Soderbergh Traffics in another terrifying global film. Sprawling story adequately accomplishes conveying scope of realistic doomsday scenario, but fails to see some it’s character studies through to completion. Strong performances with epidemic of Oscars are sometimes over-powered by look-at-me editing, and a pervasive score. Good Planet of the Apes tie-in.

Sense and Sensibility

Trelawney gets a Grant with self-scripted role while she sticks Winslet with Snape, who finally gets to be a good guy. Meanwhile House makes a home with Umbrage, and everyone struggles to express themselves through bookish British dialogue. Released in China under alternative title: Crouching Sense, Hidden Sensibility. Jolly good.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A smart sentimental movie that masterfully hides from genre categorization. Carrey takes a serious turn while Winslet and Ruffalo go crazy. Dunst and Wood make odd additions but everyone works in service of this carefully constructed screwball adventure. Like Inception but emotional instead of intellectual, so the opposite, an exception.