August: Osage County

When watching August: Osage County you will know right away that this was first a play. It has that dependency on great acting to get the story across in an entertaining way because the scenery is very limited and mostly confined to inside a house.

The actors in this are of the highest order. Every single one of them brilliant in their roles and, really, it's a shame not one of them was awarded an Oscar. If Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine beat Meryl Streep's Violet to it, my expectation for that performance are sky high.

And it is Meryl Streep together with Julia Roberts that carry the film, supported by the rest of the stellar cast.

The family gathers for, first, the disappearance and, then, the funeral of Beverly Weston and as the three daughters and Violet's sister descend upon the house with their families, wounds - both old and new - soon break open and every conversation turns into an argument.

All relations are cracked to begin with but some will be broken beyond any hope of repair after a few days, when Violet is left alone with her housekeeper because everyone gets away after yet another explosive scene.

Brilliant.

9/10

12 Years a Slave

This is the film that won Best Film (Drama) at last night's Golden Globe Awards. This was the only award it received. Strangely enough, neither of the two nominated actors - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o - took home a statue, which is a shame, really. Granted, I have not seen all the films that travel the award circuit this season and cannot attest to either Matthew McConaughey's or Jennifer Lawrence's (the two the afore mentioned lost to) performances in their respective films yet but the one has lost a lot of weight for his film and the other has been Hollywood's darling for the last couple of years (and kudos to them) and this clearly needs to be lauded over actual acting performances.

To the film at hand. Yes, it is about a slavery but fortunately it is not of the sappy kind. The tale unfolds slowly and is told quietly, with only occasional burst of extreme violence.

It is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man in New York state, who gets lured to Washington D.C. under false pretenses and kidnapped and sold to a slave trader. He first ends up at the plantation of one Mr. Ford, who is not an evil man and probably thinks of himself as someone caught in the system he has no way of opposing. After a fight with the vicious foreman, Solomon is sold on to Edwin Epps. On the Epps property, his name is changed to Platt and his new labor is picking cotton. Epps - unlike Ford - is indeed an evil man and drunkard, proudly calling the slaves his property. He is sexually obsessed with the slave girl Patsey, much to his wife's chagrin. Mistress Epps tries repeatedly to have him sell Patsey and - as he refuses - throws a bottle at her and later scratches her barely healed face. All this, to get back at her husband.

Solomon, meanwhile, tries to survive and does not admit to being able to read and write as to not draw any attention to himself. He does once reach out to a white man picking cotton with him. He asks him to send a letter for him, but the guy immediately tells on him. Solomon can appease Epps by telling him that the man is lying and only trying to get Epps to make him foreman.

After more than a decade in slavery, he finally meets someone he can trust with his story and giving word to his friends and family. Bass, a Canadian who is on the property to build a gazebo does make his opposition to slavery clear and helps Solomon by writing to his folks on his behalf. Solomon is picked up by an old friend and returns to his family for a tearful reunion.

The cast in this is absolutely fantastic (see top of the page).

8/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Q: How do you turn a fantasy novel of 310 pages (my paperback edition) into three overly long 3D films?

A: You don't.

The first half of the second part of the Hobbit trilogy seemed to drag on forever. The quest of the dwarf and hobbit team was more about running over plains from the evil orks, walking through mysterious forests, escaping elfish prisons, climbing mountains, hiding in barrels under fish and puzzling over how to open one of those secret doors that appear to be strewn out all over Middle Earth than it was about actually standing up to the evil creature that stole your kingdom.

The second half (of the second part...blah blah, you get the picture) was stunning. There was actual fighting going on and inhabitants of Middle Earth (dwarf, man, elf) showing their true colors and some actual bravery. The elfs came to help the dwarfs fight the orks and save a dwarf's life (practically unheard of). There is even the kindling of romance blossoming between an elfish maid and a dwarf (here Peter Jackson hit a snooze button). A human hero seams to be emerging, as well. But we will have none of this until the last film.

But Smaug is an amazing creature. The part of Bilbo trying to steal the one jewel that will make Thorin king again from the dragon and the furious dragon hunting the intruders is this film's saving grace. It is even long enough to make one almost forget the tediousness one had to sit through to get there.

It is by no means a bad film. It is simply bloated. But anyone who has actually read The Hobbit could have told you that as soon as word got out that it would become a trilogy.

Surely, part three has an epic battle in store.

6/10

Star Trek Into Darkness

We start off with Captain Kirk getting in trouble (yet again) for ignoring protocol by risking his ship and crew to save one crew member. Spock, that is, who finds all this highly illogical, of course.

The threat this time around comes from one super human (?) that goes by the name Harrison but turns out to be Star Trek nemesis of old lore Khan. Khan and his people have been asleep for centuries but he alone has been woken by Star Fleet, to use him in any way they can (him being stronger, faster...generally better than everyone else). What they didn't foresee apparently was that he did not comply with their plans and hits them hard, right there in their own HQ.

What follows is a intergalactic man hunt that leads the crew of the Enterprise to Kronos, where they inevitably have a clash with the local Klingons before Khan saves (!) them and gives himself up after learning that 72 torpedoes are aboard the Enterprise. What Kirk and his crew do not know (yet) is that inside every torpedo is a creature just like Khan, so his first order of business is to save his kin.

The Enterprise gets an unexpected visit from a ship headed by star fleet commander Marcus, who wanted Khan dead rather than captured so as to cover up his misjudgment in waking him up in the first place. He is certainly right in warning Kirk about trusting Khan but has no qualms about blowing up the Enterprise with everyone on it. So Kirk, with help from Khan and Scotty, take matters into their hands and take over the now enemy ship.

Of course, Khan turns out to be a very bad guy, indeed. He takes the ship and forces the torpedoes to be transferred over from the Enterprise. As soon as the beaming is concluded he starts shooting the Enterprise. This leads to, first, a battle of the two ships in space and, second, an epic fist fight of Khan vs Spock back on earth, where in the end both ship make it, Khan's not quite in one piece.

Other than action and fists flying, there is also a lot of crying going on, as you can see in the representative photos. Even Spock cries. And he yells. And he gets very, very angry. What gets to Spock is Kirk dying. But, thanks to Khan's superior blood, Bones is able to save him. All is well.

8/10