Nebraska

Alexander Payne is channeling David Lynch's The Straight Story here.

Whereas old Mr. Straight from Iowa was off on his a lawnmower to visit his brother Wisconsin, who had recently had a stroke and whom he had not spoken to for years, old Mr. Grant tries to get from Billings, MT, to Lincoln, NE, and - also lacking a licence - sets off on foot to collect a promised prize of $ 1,000,000,--.

Of course, nobody besides him is fooled by the mailing promising the money and his family tries to talk him out of it, but his son David realizes that his father simply must do this, if not for the money than out of principle and drives him. Along the way, they run into a few difficulties like head wounds and lost teeth and end up having to shackle up in Mr. Grant's hometown. There, talk of him being a millionaire is making the rounds and everyone is lining up to get a piece of the action. And no persuading from David's side that his dad has not actually won anything can stop it. It is only when the cousins mug the pair and steal the coveted letter that the truth finally hits home with the small town folks, but not with David's dad.

In the end, they make it to the address given to learn that - as expected - Mr. Grant did not actually have one of the winning numbers. He gets a hat for his troubles.

Much like The Straight Story, this is a quiet and slow paced journey that has a man reconnect with his family. Also, it portrays the difficult relationship between the lifelong hard drinking father and his two sons, that may be better off with the old man in constant care. But along the way, they all realize how solid their family bond actually is when faced with the adversaries of people trying to get their hands on the imaginary loot. Together, they even try to steal a compressor before realizing that they stole from the wrong person.

The black and white gives this a slightly bleak but also very calm feel and the acting from all involved is really wonderful. Who knew Bruce Dern as the quietly stubborn father is wonderful and got a well-deserved Oscar nomination for this. June Squibb (as his wife and also Oscar nominated), who I don't remember having seen before, is fantastic. Bob Odenkirk has a small role as David's brother and does that well, of course. And who knew Will Forte had a serious role in him? Also in a supporting role here is Stacy Keach (I didn't even know whether he was still alive, to be honest) as one of the old friends lining up for money after having people first applaud old Grant by announcing the money won and later has everyone laughing at the old man by reading out the mailing that - obvious to everyone but Mr. Grant - is nothing more than a marketing scheme.

This is really wonderful and I hope someone involved wins something tonight.

8/10

Which brings us to the current ranking of the Best Picture nominees I have seen so far (which should not be misunderstood as a tip for tonight - I do believe that 12 Years a Slave will win, although I am still rooting for Gravity and hoping that American Hustle does not pull off a surprise):

Gravity
Captain Philips
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
American Hustle

We're the Millers

Small time drug dealer David is mugged by a group of neighborhood punks that take his weed and all his money. As he is now in the red with the Brad, who he deals for, he has to agree to go to Mexico to pick up a large amount of drugs for "Pablo Chacon". Brad leads him to believe that he uses that name with the Mexicans.

As a cover, David rents a family - his stripping neighbor Rose, his dorky 'friend' Kenny and a girl crashing on couches, Casey - the Millers. Together they go to Mexico in an RV and pick up a massive amount of weed and go on their merry way. Unfortunately, the real Pablo Chacon shows up right after and together with a huge honcho he goes hunting for the 'family' that he believes stole his drugs.

The Millers, unaware that they are being followed, have trouble with their RV (of course) and get help from fellow RV travelers, the Fitzgeralds. The father Don works for the DEA (of course), so the Millers cannot wait to get away from them. When they go to pick up their fixed vehicle, the baddies have caught up with them but the family manages to flee.

They hit another bump in the road, when Kenny gets bitten by a huge spider (courtesy of the honcho's mother) and they have to stop for medical help right next to an amusement park (uhm...), there they run into the Fitzgeralds and Pablo again (of course). In the confusion that follows, they take out the bad guys, Mr. Fitzgerald finds out that they have been smuggling drugs but lets them go anyway. In return, David helps the DEA take down Brad and he and the rest of the Millers go into witness protection together (of course).

And, yes, David and Rose (real name Sarah) do fall in love.

6/10

The Croods

This film about a pre-historic family having to flee its home cave is not officially out yet. I saw it today as a (free) preview.

The Crods consist of the - even now - traditional ingredients: the over-protective father, a somewhat modern mother, the rebellious teenage daughter, the scared son, the aggressively biting baby and the 'still alive' mother in law. When an outsider, Guy, come in and warns them of the coming 'End' they have to follow him towards the sun, where 'tomorrow' lies.

The dimwitted father has the biggest issue with this. His standing as head of the family is threatened when the family starts listening to this newcomer and his daughter is totally smitten with him, as well. After they live through many an adventure together and survive (!) mostly thanks to Guy, they end up on a wonderful beach where they - presumably - live happily ever after, with Guy now firmly implanted in the family and a few pets to boot.

Cute.

6/10

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Three weeks until asteroid 'Matilda' annihilates all life on earth. Two people meeting by chance try to help each other in tying up some loose ends.

Any charm this might have had gets sucked out by Keira Knightly.

Weirdly boring.

Nice music, though.

2/10

The Trip

You will probably get more out of this film if you know the two lead actors. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play themselves on a food tasting trip together for The Observer.

Whereas Coogan has appeared in international productions, Brydon is probably not as widely known, internationally, I think.

I am a fan of the show QI, on which Brydon is a regular, so I was familiar with him before watching this. I very much like his "little man in a box" voice (it does turn up in the film).

Basically, this is about two comedians in their 40s who are critizising each other's work while trying to get through a string of meals and occasionally getting on each other's nerves. It features a lot of impressions (Michael Caine) and made up conversations (the "To bed! We shall leave at daybreak!" bit in the car is quite funny) as well as occasional singing.

Small road trip film that I enjoyed a lot.

6/10 

V/H/S

Another "found footage" film. Just what we've all been waiting for, right?

A group of bad guys steal a collection of video tapes for some unnamed source. All the little films are, like, totally scary and stuff.

One is about a female vampire (I think) that first has sex with a trio of friends and then starts to kill them. Not that they deserve any better, those idiots. Personally, I would not hang on to the video camera I am carrying when I am already injured and trying to escape said vampire.

But, hey, that's just me.

Then there is this couple on a road trip who film the most trivial and boring things. Then they are the ones being filmed while asleep in some cheap motel room. The couple is predictably boring and the tape mostly is, as well. At least, there is a nice twist. The guy dies.

Oh good, tape no. 3 is of a group of young people going to some lake in the woods. After two minutes of first seeing them you can't wait for them to die, they are such assholes. They do. And...here is a little something I will record whenever I come across it:

DEAD CHEERLEADER ALERT!!!

Wait, the next segment is a video chat, not a VHS tape. How would this have ended up on a tape. This is cheating! One feed comes from inside a hunted apartment. There may be aliens involved. Or ghosts. Or something.

Lastly, the obligatory Halloween segment.

This is oh so bad.

1/10

Stake Land

We enter the film after the collapse of the country has already happened. There is no real explanation as to what exactly happened or why. The plain facts are that there are the humans - some fighting, some preaching, some hoping for protection - and then there are the 'vamps' - moving like zombies, but whatever.

We follow the story of Martin, told mostly in voice-over (which I am not a fan of, ever), who was saved by a guy called Mister (yes, I know). Poor thing had to watch his whole family get killed first, though. This Mister wants to get young Martin safely to 'New Eden' (=Canada) and they travel north together, killing vamps and fighting religious nuts along the way.

The scenery and the basic story of man trying to get boy to safe haven is basically the same as in The Road. Of course, Stake Land has more action and, well, non-humans in it but as a continuous narrative The Road is far superior. Stake Land is still more interesting than most standard vampire (or zombie) movies, though.

The film also features Kelly McGillis, whom I haven't seen in a long time. She dies (just FYI).

4/10

Wolf Creek

If you ever consider going to Australia and doing the road trip/back packer thing - don't. If you don't get killed by some redneck hick in the middle of nowhere surely one of the ridiculously poisonous creatures will kill you. How do I know that? Through many, many Australian horror films, of course.

It all starts out nicely enough. You hang out on some beach or other, getting drunk and sleeping on the beach and it's all fun and games until your car just won't start again when it's all dark out and you're in an area called Wolf Creek. I mean, it could have stalled in Emu Creek, but that just doesn't sound creepy enough. Then you obviously run into some scary looking guy that pretends to be all helpful but turns out to be this serial killer that can merrily hack tourists into pieces because he lives at a place so remote that - even if you kinda sorta know the general area it is located in - cannot be pinpointed by authorities because the place is just so fucking big and empty. And, anyway, people disappear in Australia all the time (so, why again would you want to go there?).

Sure, you might be able to escape. But where do you go? What if you're on foot? Remember: you are miles and miles of deserted country roads from any civilization, because you did this wannabe hippie road trip thing. So even if you think you have escaped and by chance should meet another human being willing to help you, the bad guy is still out there hunting you and the good samaritan will be collateral damage.

Because bad guys in horror film simply do not die. Like, ever. Nevermind that you shot him and stabbed him. He will come after you. And he will find you.

True story.

4/10