Somewhere

Being a great admirer of Sofia Coppola’s body of work I immediately placed her latest film on my must see list for December. Somewhere is filled with the usual elements found in a Sofia Coppola film such as quiet moments revealed in a single frame and the peaceful, almost meditative, pace. However, I think she missed the opportunity to make this small film a great film and another Oscar contender like Lost in Translation. It felt as though this film ended at the end of the second act and there was no climax. If there had been that climax, the movie would’ve truly arced, the lesson would’ve been learned, and the main character would’ve grown. Instead you’re left with hopes that Johnny the actor steps up and becomes a real father.

The Tempest

Julie Taymor is a visionary director who knows how to turn a film into a piece of fine art. Everything about this film worked and complimented the language of Shakespeare beautifully. The most noteworthy part of the film was the lack of CGI when creating the special effects. Most of the effects were created with film tricks and editing, a tradition long forgotten in the film industry today. I would gladly sit through this film again and immerse myself in the world Julie Taymor created.

Tron: Legacy

I have never seen the original Tron and when I heard the sequel was coming out, I put the original in my Netflix queue and it became “unavailable,” so I only had a vague idea of what to expect. There were some cool effects in the basically monochromatic color scheme and I’m pretty sure science-fiction and video game enthusiasts will find it to be a fantastic film, filling the void for this year’s Avatar. It was an entertaining film with a kick ass soundtrack which I’m planning on purchasing in the near future, but when thinking about individual parts to evaluate, I’m left cold. I guess a bunch of neutral elements put together equals something entertaining? I don’t know.