Category Archives: Drama

01.02.17
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Fences

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Denzel Washington directs this adaptation of a Tony award-winning play in which he and Viola Davis once starred in, and here they return in their roles as a working-class African-American father and his wife, who try to raise their family in the 1950’s. Here they deliver two of the year’s best performances with terrific chemistry and dialogue. Washington plays a complex character with a difficult past and a lot he must deal with in the present, who at first seems like a typical nice family man who cares about those close to him, but he’s also intimidating when he wants to be. Delivering such a strong performance like this can be especially hard when you’re on both sides of the camera, but he’s able to convey this character’s personality and wide range of emotions very well. As for Viola Davis, she hasn’t been this good in anything since The Help. She gives it he absolute best here in every sense, and capturing the on-screen feeling of her character, who’s different than the typical housewife you’ll see in this type of films, is a task she’s definitely fit for handling. Despite the performances, there isn’t much about Fences that everyone is guaranteed to love. Sitting through this film requires more patience than most dialogue-heavy movies, and not because it’s 140 minutes long, but because of the extended scenes that span from 15-20 minutes, with a limited amount of characters and are heavy with dialogue and information. While many audiences may enjoy this style, others may not exactly enjoy sitting through the film. I enjoyed watching Fences on the most part due to its powerful themes and especially the performances, but its not one of the films that is guaranteed to keep everyone interested throughout the movie’s runtime. Watching Fences feels more like experiencing a play than a movie, so how much you’ll like it depends greatly on your taste. Some will definitely be captivated by nearly every moment in the film, and some may not enjoy it as much. It’s worth watching for the acting and the intense rush of feelings that you’ll experience in every scene. The emotions that are brought in and conveyed in each scene of the movie were unpredictable and there were lots of moments where mere dialogue exchanges felt heart-pumping because of this. The script deals with the characters and their relationships very well, building up the feelings and feeding us information about the characters throughout every minute in the film, until there becomes a bit too much for the screenplay to need to handle. The small setting in which the entire film takes place makes the larger picture of where and when the movie takes place feel underdeveloped, but the way the actors bring the characters and how they interact with the setting definitely makes up for this.

Fences isn’t a must-watch for everyone due to its theater style of scenery and storytelling, but it brings some superb writing and terrific performances to the screen that you can be sure the Academy won’t ignore.

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12.18.16
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La La Land

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A jazz pianist and an aspiring actress, both pursuing success in the city of Los Angeles, fall in love, but the dreams they worked so hard to achieve threaten to break them apart.

From the brilliant mind behind Whiplash comes by far the most entertaining, heartfelt, vividly smart, and well-shot film of the year. Damien Chazelle has reached the heights of his previous film with a musical that pays homage to the golden age of Hollywood musicals yet comes up with something so original and relevant to our generation. La La Land is one of the most passionate and ambitious projects this year, and embraces its themes and emotions about pursuing your dreams in every moment of its run-time. From the beautifully shot musical numbers to the terrific leading performances from Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, there’s nothing to this film that can be missed. The marvelous cinematography that almost never cuts in between scenes, the cheerful and praiseworthy music, and the incredible set pieces help make this film a wonderful visual experience as well, and there’s no doubt that it’ll get awarded for all the technical categories that it so beautifully masters. Gosling and Stone have excellent chemistry on screen,  and they were perfectly cast in their roles which they portray with tons of strength, character, and charisma. There is some excellent use of imagery and symbolism throughout that isn’t hard to notice. Every shot in this movie is something new, filmed like no other movie before in recent years. I did not think Chazelle would be able to reach the heights of Whiplash with his next film, but he was able to do it in the best way, and his career definitely won’t stop here. La La Land uses its incredible sets, camerawork, music, and acting talents to build a wonderful and extraordinary experience, and although tough, it’s ultimately settling in the most beautiful way.

La La Land is truly a special movie that tops nearly every movie I’ve seen this year with its emotional and visual brilliance, with a superb cast and unforgettable music. There’s no way you won’t love this movie if you go see it, so I highly recommend you watch it on the big screen, because you won’t regret it.

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12.11.16
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Nocturnal Animals

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Susan (Amy Adams) is an art gallery owner who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings (also played by Gyllenhaal), a math professor whose family vacation turns violent.

Nocturnal Animals isn’t the ordinary film you’d go to the movies to watch – I knew this from the moment the film started. It’s not simply a thriller, or a drama, either. It’s hard to fit Nocturnal Animals into one genre of film – that’s why it does so well on its own. Gyllenhaal outdoes his work in this year’s Demolition as both the author of the fictional novel of which the film’s themes revolve around, as well as the novel’s protagonist, and what shocked me is that he was able to deliver two completely different performances in one film. Michael Shannon is also scene-stealing as a detective who will go far distances to see justice done, or even do it himself. Adams also delivers a strong emotional connection with the audience as we dig deeper into her character’s past and feelings, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is unrecognizable and frightening in a role like nothing he’s played before. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the sound editing is gripping and realistic. From the film’s first act, my heart was pumping and I was always on the edge of my seat. Every scene demonstrated the cast and crew’s marvelous talents, and always brought some new feeling or reaction into the film, and in a great way. This is easily one of the most thrilling and unpredictable films of this year. The way the director combines different story-lines and beautiful visuals to create an extraordinary story is haunting but also memorable. The film may sometimes by tough to watch for some viewers, but I found myself constantly intrigued and never pulled out of the film. The ending is also something I did not see coming, leaving me still thinking about how everything so cleverly connects, with the movie’s writing, performances, visuals, and excellent execution adding up to pure cinematic brilliance.

Although I can’t say everyone will enjoy watching Nocturnal Animals, I personally found it to be an intriguing and masterfully done piece of cinema, with strong emotions that are conveyed indirectly and brilliantly to the audience, with strong imagery and fantastic acting that I think most moviegoers may appreciate and love like I did.

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11.12.16
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Arrival

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When Earth is thrown into turmoil after 12 mysterious spacecrafts land in different locations around the planet, a linguistics professor (Amy Adams) is recruited by the military to assist in translating the aliens’ communications.

I did not think it would be Denis Villeneuve, the mastermind behind Prisoners and Sicario, to create the most clever, gorgeous, and poignant film of the year, and one of my favorite sci-fi films of the decade, right up there with Christopher Nolan’s masterpieces Inception and Interstellar. Although I can’t say I didn’t love Villeneuve’s previous works, I simply did not believe that Arrival would transcend the quality his other films by that much, creating a spectacle through its magnificent themes about love, life, and death. What the trailers show you is a science fiction thriller that pulls inspiration from alien encounter classics such as some of Spielberg’s first works in the sci-fi genre, but what I got was something far deeper. Arrival‘s brilliant form of storytelling and gut-punching emotion, as well as some gorgeous cinematography and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s awe-inspiring music, which Villeneuve uses so perfectly, is what easily makes it the best film I’ve seen all year. Amy Adams delivers a career-defining performance that I sure hope lands her an Oscar nomination, because of how much emotion and sensibility she brought to her character. Although we’ve seen films in which one character knows how to communicate with the extra-terrestrials beings while the rest refuse to trust them, the writing makes it feel so extraordinary and fresh to the genre.

Not only was I taken aback by every shot in the film, and by every one of Villeneuve’s perfected use of imagery and symbolism, but the themes and emotions explored in the film hit me hard. Not to mention the final 20 minutes of the film, which are like nothing I’ve ever seen. The film evolves into a complex psychological drama, and the ending, which changes the entire way you look at the film, left me breathless. I still can’t stop thinking about the film since I watched it. See the film to find out what I mean. Denis Villeneuve has become one of the greatest film directors working right now, with his beautiful visual storytelling and imagery, and being able to create such amazing scenery with a budget less than $50 million. I applaud him for being able to create a complex and thoughtful film that’s comparable to the works of Christopher Nolan and even M. Night Shyamalan. Please help this movie at the box office and go see it in theaters, because it’s definitely worth it and better than anything else playing right now.

Arrival is a masterful and impeccable work of art. With a strong leading performance and a fantastic screenplay and narrative, Denis Villeneueve brings a piece of science fiction that’s not to be forgotten to the big screen, and what’s easily the greatest and most watchable film of the year.

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10.30.16
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The Accountant

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An autistic but brilliant young boy grows up to be a skilled accountant – whose clients work for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations.

Out of the two films Ben Affleck has starred in this year, I’d only look forward to a sequel to one of them, and that’s this one. The Accountant is one of not very many movies to come out this year that keeps you on the edge of your seat without constantly featuring loud gunshots, screeching cars, and a large body count, although there’s a mix of all of that in the film’s touch of action sequences. Affleck is spot-on as a protagonist who’s personality is quite complicated due to his condition – friendly to some but dangerous to others. His character’s complexity is what makes him so fascinating and sympathetic. Affleck is incredibly committed and mentally balanced in the way he portrays his character, leading to his character to feel very real and deep in the way he was developed. I can definitely say his role in this film is up there among his other excellent work this decade in The Town, Argo, and Gone Girl. Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, and Jon Bernthal lead a decent yet interesting ensemble of supporting characters and all play their parts remarkably well. There’s a lot to their characters that you don’t know by only watching the trailers, which is something that helps keep the thrills going throughout. There’s a compelling aspect of the film in the way it examines its characters, revealing things to you one by one, and even though it one point it gets about too complicated and you wish it just wasn’t, there’s a gripping aspect to every big character in the film, even themes that are similar to those in director Gavin O’Connor’s previous films. Speaking of O’Connor, he directs the film very well, notably the film’s action sequences, with excellent sound editing and choreography, making it feel less like a Hollywood-style action scene and more like a scene featuring action that advances the plot. Even though there aren’t many throughout the movie, I like that it was constructed as if it were an action movie, although it’s hard to put it under the action genre, I’d rather say it’s a drama thriller with some mystery thrown in there, too.

The Accountant plays out as if it’s an episode of Daredevil, crossed with the Jason Bourne franchise and with a little bit of Rain Man in there as well. It’s somewhat a vigilante thriller but at the same time, it’s a deep character drama that features an autistic protagonist. I really liked the mix of the two genres. Although this movie is far from perfect, I can’t say critics have been praising it enough with its underwhelming reviews. I feel like most critics were let down by their expectations rather by their films, as the trailer advertised the film as one thing and instead it was something much bigger. The Accountant turned out to be very different than I expected, and I was alright with that. It gets over-complicated at one point and some of the plot points and the tone aren’t balanced like they should be. However, I was still very entertained by The Accountant, and I appreciate the cast and directing. You may be let down if you’re looking for just an action movie or just a drama, as this movie is a mix of many great things, but I’d recommend this film for movie-goers looking for a great movie to keep them on the edge of their seat.

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10.10.16
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Deepwater Horizon

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Deepwater Horizon is a thrilling dramatization of the April 2010 disaster when the offshore drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded and ultimately created the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The movie focuses on the crew’s struggles to make it off the rig alive.
Deepwater Horizon re-teams director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) with star Mark Wahlberg for another intense true story that does not disappoint. Berg impressively recreates the tragic events focused on in the film, and brings in well-written and emotionally powerful characters. Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, and Gina Rodriguez make up a great ensemble cast of workers fighting for their lives to get back to those they leave. The characters are all given a good touch of development, and the choices they make in attempt to survive feel very human. There’s also a great message about human nature that I won’t ruin for you, but you’ll catch it in the first act. Berg also bring us some incredible cinematography, making the disaster feel dangerously realistic. The sound editing and visual effects pull you into the oil disaster and often take your breath away. It’s easy to make a disaster film like this a mindless visually packed thriller (for example, this year’s The Finest Hours), but when you are able to make the technical aspect of the film something truly special, and have an interesting script, it can turn out to be something unique. Deepwater Horizon dares to be brutal, heart-racing, and ultimately gut-punching, which makes it an unpassable adventure worth seeing on the big screen.
Deepwater Horizon is intense, marvelously shot, emotionally powerful, and kept me on the edge of my seat of the entire second half of the film. Peter Berg has proved himself a master of covering dramatic events like this through film, and I can’t wait to see what he’ll bring us with Patriots Day later this year. If you’re looking for a movie to go see in theaters, you should definitely consider Deepwater Horizon.
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09.27.16
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The 2016 FilmToppings Summer Movie Awards

Summer is always an interesting season for movies. Now that summer has ended, I bring you my 3rd annual summer movie awards! You guys all voted on Instagram for your favorite of each category, and here are the results:

Best Cinematography: Star Trek Beyond

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Best Visual Effects: Kubo and the Two Strings

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Best Score/Soundtrack: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

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Best Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Captain America: Civil War

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Best Actor: Ryan Gosling – The Nice Guys

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Best Actress: Angourie Rice – The Nice Guys

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Worst Movie: Independence Day: Resurgence

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Best Movie: The Nice Guys

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These are the winners of this summer’s awards ceremony! This summer had some unexpected disappointments but also some pleasantly outstanding films, including ones that won these categories. What did you think about this year’s summer movies?

09.11.16
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Sully

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After successfully landing U.S. Airway Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, saving all 155 lives on board, captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is deemed a hero by the news and everyone around him, but soon, a new investigation forces Sully to put his job, family, and reputation on the line.

The 2016 Oscar season continues to soar with Clint Eastwood’s Sully, based on the famous and heroic Hudson River landing January 15, 2009. Tom Hanks is no less than I expected from him as the heroic pilot and protagonist of the film. Don’t expect that single show-stealing scenes you get from most Oscar-hopeful/nominated performances, but Hanks becomes Sully throughout the film and watching him in this movie was nothing like watching an actor recite lines in front of a camera. One of the reasons Hanks is my favorite actor currently working in Hollywood is that he never needs to “overact” in order to deliver a great performance. He exaggerates his the way the script tells him to feel, instead you are able to understand his emotions with the smallest expressions from Hanks. Aaron Eckhart also delivers an impressive performance as Sully’s co-pilot Jeff Skiles, delivering a great personality and some humor as well. This movie is also very prestigious from a technical standpoint. The editing is marvelous and the cinematography is quite remarkable, especially in the plane-landing sequence that had me on the very edge of my seat, even though we all know the outcome. Eastwood directs and constructs the sequence to make the audience feel as if they are on the flight and really experiencing the scene, without needing to use loud sound effects and excessive use of cuts. The rest of the scenes are also directed so well that for a while, it’s even hard to believe that it all actually happened. Whenever a scene ends triumphantly, most films will have people cheering and clapping to indicate that something great has happened. Instead, the way Sully would bring you a scene like this is by having you listen to the exchange of dialogue, and ending the scene afterwards. Sully never exaggerates but is still so powerful with storytelling and emotion. This movie is not only a celebration of the miraculous event that occurred on the Hudson 7 years ago, but a celebration of human nature and how selfless and great us humans can be.

Tensely shot, incredibly acted, and magnificently directed, Sully is easily one of the greatest films this year, with Tom Hanks marvelously portraying a heroic pilot that the film proudly honors, and Eastwood directing a true story to its true potential. Don’t have anything else to do? Go watch Sully.

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09.07.16
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The Light Between Oceans

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After a lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia rescue a baby from an adrift rowboat, they must decide whether to keep her and raise her as their own or report her to the police. Derek Cianfrance has brought us something truly beautiful with The Light Between Oceans, a poignant, tear-jerking, well-acted piece of film that will impact you emotionally like no other movie this year. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are astonishing in the film’s lead roles. Fassbender conveys every little emotion his character feels without having to use words. I don’t know if his performance here can beat what he gave us in last year’s Steve Jobs, but this film is undoubtedly another great example of how incapable Fassbender is of delivering anything less than great. Vikander fabulously helps carry the film and delivers what is by far the greatest performance of the year. It was hard to imagine her out of character for a moment because of how impeccably and marvelously she portrayed her role. She brings so much emotional strength that it even becomes disturbing in a few scenes. I haven’t seen too many performances like her’s in recent years. Rachel Weisz is also emotionally exquisite in her strong supporting performance.

The Light Between Oceans doesn’t only bring the best out of its A-list actors. The cinematography is dazzling and the score from Alexandre Desplat is easily the best this year. Every shot in the film is captured so gorgeously and perfectly, and it’s all accompanied very well to Desplat’s marvelous soundtrack. The movie tries very hard to get you emotional and depressed, and thankfully it doesn’t miss. Some scenes in this film managed to break my heart and almost made me shed a few tears. There are parts that are very tough to watch, so I’d only recommend this film for teens and older, but every one of these scenes are boasted by the cast’s strong performances and nearly flawless directing. I’m so impressed by how Cianfrance was able to put all of this to film and capture it so powerfully. All of this is what ultimately makes The Light Between Oceans a modern cinematic achievement.

The Light Between Oceans is gorgeously shot, acted, and directed, and is easily one of the best and most depressing films I’ve seen in theaters this year. It slows down a tad in the final act, but there’s no doubt to say this is the first true Oscar contender of the year. I can’t understand what critics find to be so mediocre about this movie, and I’d highly recommend you go see it if you’re 14 or older.

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08.27.16
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War Dogs

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War Dogs is based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.

War Dogs is surprisingly one of the smartest and most entertaining movies of the year. With two excellent leading actors and superb writing, this movie is very hard not to enjoy. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller both kill it as two twenty-something-year-old arms dealers who became millionaires by forging their way to million-dollar deals and eventually, driving Porsche’s too. Hill is unforgettable, bringing so much fun and wit to his role, and Teller is filled with soul as Hill’s partner-in-crime, as well as the film’s narrator.

This movie is being sold as a comedy, and as much gut-busting humor that’s included in the film, I would look at it in a more broad way as a hybrid of The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can. I was especially reminded of Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can because of the idea of young men making bad decisions, as well as an awful lot of money, with Hill and Teller’s roles resembling DiCaprio’s portrayal of con man Frank Abagnale, Jr. Although the characters in this film weren’t always in illegal business, but in both films the characters decide to cheat their way to the American dream. Even though this movie is from the director of the Hangover trilogy, don’t expect goofy and nonsensical humor, because War Dogs is a LOT more than that.

If you like watching movies about true stories that you wouldn’t believe actually happened at first, then this is the movie for you. The plot is heavily fictionalized but the overall story is true, and it was a story that was not just interesting to watch, but entertaining as hell to sit through. The movie is less than two hours long, but not a moment felt rushed. The script never provides a dull moment, and there are some scenes and lines that will be difficult for you to forget. Don’t expect much action from this film either, because that’s not what War Dogs is about. War Dogs is a dangerously true story, that’s more of a dramatic than a comedic or thrilling movie, and that may be hard to believe but also very hard to forget. Please give this one a watch in theaters if you want a remarkably awesome time at the movies.

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