Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone is one of the best films I've seen recently. The beauty of the cinematography, even while filming ugly scenes, is extraordinary, as we are given a glimpse of a hidden America that lies smack in the heartland. The story of a teenage girl who searches for her drug-cooking father, who has put their house up as bail bond, takes us in to the so-called "meth belt" in the Ozarks. This teenager, Ree Dolly, cares for two younger siblings and a mentally ill mother, while keeping danger--mostly from her own relations--at bay. The constriction of that place, with its poverty, its deprivation and its danger works on the viewer to convey a sense of dread and despair. Single moments create tremendous impact: in one scene, Ree visits the high school she seems to rarely, if ever attend. We see, briefly, two classes in session: one in child rearing, and the other, a junior ROTC class, with teenagers marching in formation in a run-down gym. Ree looks longingly into that gym, but hunches her shoulders and moves on.
One of the strengths of the film is the veracity of the acting, which at no point seems to be acting; the players meld into the surroundings effortlessly. This is no doubt credit to the script, which seems at times as composed of a kind of rough poetry, speech rendered simultaneously metaphoric and concrete.


I contrast this to another film getting Oscar buzz, the terrible The Kids are All Right which is painfully predictable at times and seems to be getting rewarded for showing lesbians as regular married folk. Gosh, lesbians are just like other people! Who knew! What might have been interesting was the "relationship" with the sperm donor of the couple's children. This character, played by Mark Ruffalo, is changed by knowing his children, but the evolution just sort of happens. Unexplored too, are the complex tensions and feelings that might arise from such a situation. Instead, the focus is back on the married couple, (dykes have problems, too!!) with a large lens on the terrible Annette Benning, who as Nic, a type A obstetrician, chews the scenery much as she did in American Beauty (the only weak spot in that film). It doesn't work here. Julianne Moore is good as always, as is everyone else but Benning, but so much centers around Benning's character and the contrived interplay between each actor that the film never really comes together. I won't be a spoiler and tell you what conflict is created from this mess, as it is too ridiculous and too glaringly, um, predicable, as is the set up for the ending scene. Predictable. I cannot figure out what everyone is so excited about. Not the writing, not the acting, nada!

Moving on to Black Swan, another award favorite. Natalie Portman does a good job as Nina, a tortured ballerina, and Mila Kunis as her rival is fun to watch. While the film was entertaining, I agree with David Denby (in The New Yorker) that the movie "turns the uncanny into shtick" and lacks control. Much of it is so over the top that my companions and I found ourselves laughing out loud. Part of the problem is that it doesn't know quite which way to go. Is the rival ballerina after Nina? Could be a suspense thriller. Is Nina's mom a whack job, out to keep her little girl under her thumb by messing with her head? Could be a complex psychological drama. Is, in fact, Nina just losing her mind? Yes, guess so. But even that could be mined for more interest and subtlety that we get here. Fans of director Aronofsky will probably enjoy the spectacular and fantastic aspects of this, and not care about the obviousness or incoherence. It was a hoot, though. Danke schon!

I'm giving Tangled a big thumbs up. All the best of Disney--good story, good music, a ton of fun. We had a three generation outing for this one, and everyone enjoyed it.

I'm looking to see as many films as I can in the coming weeks just so I can have arguments with my friends about how bad most are...fun! What should I see next?