THE BEST OF 2014 - The Best TV Of The Year

THE BEST OF 2014 - The Best TV Shows of The Year

- So it may not be hyperbole to call 2014 television's best year ever. In the wake of last year's Breaking Bad finale, I think there was a collective panic from industry insiders - was the Golden Age of TV over? Had Breaking Bad set the bar so high that it was all downhill from here? The answer was, in fact, a resounding "no." Breaking Bad did raise the bar, but a number of new and returning dramas stepped up admirably to fill the void. 

You guys know that I'm a huge pop-culture junkie. I watch a lot of TV. But there was no possible way I could keep up with the tidal wave of good stuff this year. In fact, no one could. There was good TV coming from broadcast, cable, and premium networks. There was even more good TV coming from Netflix. And Amazon. And any number of other places. In 2015, we're going to get a new season of Community via Yahoo. We're going to get a new Tina Fey-penned comedy - originally meant for NBC - premiering on Netflix. We're going to watch via streaming, EST, VOD, TVE, and DVR. There's too much content, no question. Luckily, so much of it is good that if you don't have a great show or two that you're into, well, you're clearly living in a cave. 

All of a sudden, IFC is doing great shows. Comedy Central is on an incredible hot streak, helping to usher in a TV comedy renaissance that led to tons of laughs this year. Some of TV's best shows are only getting better - with Game of Thrones having its best-ever season, and Key & Peele emerging as *the* must-see comedy on TV. New shows blew me away with their quality and originality. True Detective, Fargo, Broad City, Penny Dreadful. Even shows that I dismissed have apparently gotten better. Last year, everyone seemed with me as I unceremoniously dropped the likes of Arrow and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from my DVR. Now, all I hear is how I need to get back onboard. Speaking of superheroes, there were tons of them on TV this year. Some of the new comic book shows bombed, but others soared. The Flash is probably my favorite new show of the 2014 Fall TV season -a fun, fast-paced series unashamed of its comic book roots. 

Perhaps no show best summarizes the state of TV in 2014 as well as Black Mirror - a British series that actually first premiered in the UK back in 2011. Here is a series that was mostly unknown in the US, but then suddenly dropped on Netflix in December and became an instant viral sensation. This modern twist on The Twilight Zone - a sci-fi anthology that tells darkly-tinged stories about the dangers of technology - received no promotion, no advertising ... it simply went live on Neflix and word-of-mouth did the rest. 

The other mega-hit that sort of defines 2014 for me wasn't even actually a TV show, but a podcast. More and more over the last few years, I've found podcasts a great way to go more in-depth on a particular area of interest. But Serial was the first podcast that I listened to with the same sense of what-will-happen-next urgency with which I watch my favorite TV series. Serial quickly became a genuine pop-culture phenomenon, and it's yet another sign that great content is now coming from just about everywhere, in many shapes and forms. You can compare Serial to old radio serials, or to true-crime TV, or to This American Life (from which it spun out), but the fact is ... this is pretty much uncharted territory. Listening to Serial felt like an entirely new kind of entertainment experience for me. Like many, I suspect, I went in skeptical, but quickly became a believer. Ironically, in a world in which we're all encouraged to buy huge, vivid, LED TV's, many of us found ourselves, in 2014, huddled around our listening device of choice, enraptured by an audio-only serialized narrative. Who would have thought?

It's exciting. In the early days of TV, scripted series were crafted like stage plays. Only later did TV embrace more cinematic storytelling. Now we're sort of seeing TV series evolve to fully embrace all the new ways that people are watching them. We're seeing shows made for binge-watching, shows made for streaming, shows made for web-watching, and some shows that aren't really TV at all. From narrative podcasts like Serial to serialized story-based games like Telltale's The Walking Dead - it's a brave new world of content. It's all happening. Just remember to go outside once in a while.


DANNY'S TOP TV SHOWS OF 2014:


1. FARGO

- I was skeptical going in, but Fargo very quickly became an absolute must-watch. With the same sort of wit, humor, and sense of creeping dread as the Coen Bros. classic, but with a sensibility all its own, writer Noah Hawley's FX masterwork was the best thing on TV this year. The cast was off-the-charts good - Billy Bob Thornton played a villain for the ages, Alison Tohlman emerged as a bright new star, and Martin Freeman lay claim to yet another instantly-iconic role. The look and feel of the show was utterly cinematic - paying homage to the film while also carving out its own aesthetic. But ultimately, what I loved about the show was the same thing that makes the film an all-time favorite: Fargo is a left-of-center look at the best and worst of humanity - examining good, evil, and they grey spaces in between. 

2. TRUE DETECTIVE

- It was a close race for the #1 spot this year, and for me it was a near toss-up between Fargo and True Detective. I gave Fargo the slight edge, but man, True Detective was an absolute powerhouse of a show. For one thing, the acting of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson was titanic. This was some of the best-ever acting on TV. McConaughey wowed as the ultra-intense, scarred-by-evil Rust. Harrelson blew the doors off as powder-keg, would-be family man Marty. The show reminded me of past favorites like Millennium, in that it wasn't content with just being a procedural cop show, but pushed further to instead become a meditation on the nature of evil. The show took on a tinge of existential horror, leading many to believe supernatural elements were waiting in the wings. But True Detective, ultimately, didn't need otherdimensional creatures to make an impact. It did so by showing us the dark side of what ordinary humans are capable of.

3. GAME OF THRONES

- I've loved Game of Thrones since the first episode, but there was always a slight feeling of inconsistency. The great moments were at times nestled between a lot of padding. Not so this year. This year, Game of Thrones delivered one genuine "holy $%&#!" moment after another, blowing up social media and inspiring endless cries of "no spoilers!" The fact is, GoT was an absolute must-watch this year - and it had everything - from gladiatorial battles to patricide to dragons to ice-zombies to all-out-war. Filled with great, iconic performances and an unmatched sense of epicness, this was the year that Game of Thrones went from almost-great to just plain awesome.

4. NATHAN FOR YOU

- In a year that was a TV comedy renaissance, Nathan For You - and its unlikely star Nathan Fielder - reigned supreme. Nathan For You was good in Season 1, but Season 2 raised the bar and delivered one classic episode after another. The only thing I can rightly compare it to is Da Ali G Show at its peak - because Nathan's ability to meld brilliant sketch ideas with real-world, mostly oblivious-to-the-joke marks is second only to that of the great Sacha Baron Cohen. What's more, Nathan feels like the comedy hero we needed in 2014 - a deadpan geek who mercilessly mocks the consumer culture we find ourselves so squarely immersed in. His outlandish business ideas and get-rich-quick schemes often have a strangely sound logic behind them, but it's Nathan's unflappable commitment to his character and his ideas that sells the joke each and every time.

5. THE AMERICANS

- This show keeps getting better and better. Season 2 of The Americans upped the tension in the Jennings household, increasingly showing the toll that Philip and Elizabeth's double lives takes on both them and their not-so-little-anymore kids. Seeing Philip's fractured psyche start to collapse, as he balances multiple lives and multiple identities, was incredibly compelling. And Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell (and Noah Emmerich - so great on this show) continue to do top-tier work here. To me, this is the heir apparent of Breaking Bad - a sophisticated, smart, satirical peak down the rabbit hole, showing us the darkest side of the American Dream

6. KEY & PEELE

- I've been a fan of Key & Peele from the start, but this year the show really upped its game, becoming a true must-watch, each episode delivering multiple instantly-viral sketches that will forever live in the TV comedy cannon. The show looks amazing - with movie-quality direction. And Key & Peele seem to be able to do anything - playing every sort of character under the sun. This is the best sketch comedy going today - not relying on gimmicks or recurring characters, but just trying out material, experimenting, and making some of the funniest comedy out there in the process.

7. MASTERS OF SEX

- The most compelling relationship on TV these days is the one between Michael Sheen's Dr. William Masters and Lizzy Caplan's Virginia Masters. The push and pull between them, the delicate balance of love, hate, resentment, attraction, repulsion, respect, and co-dependency is fascinating, and Sheen and Caplan absolutely kill it on this show. Michael Sheen needs to be in the conversation around best performance in a TV drama. He is phenomenal on Masters of Sex - and has delivered some of 2014's best, most memorable, most devastating TV moments as this character. The show excels at depicting this central relationship, but it also has so much to say about men, women, and America - where it's been and where it is. What's funny is how sex is, in some ways, the least essential part of the show. But rest assured, this is one of TV's best.

8. COSMOS

-  All hail Neil DeGrasse Tyson and his unyielding commitment to making science awesome. Cosmos was educational, informative, and often mind-blowing in its depiction of life, the universe, and everything. But it also was a show with a bit of a chip on its shoulder, relentlessly making the case for science, for the scientific method, for the importance of facts over fallacy. In a world in which influential groups and individuals deny science itself - deny evolution, climate change, genetics - Cosmos was a meticulously-presented refutation to the deniers, and a poignant affirmation to everyone else - of the power and awe-inspiring nature of the universe. Each episode left you feeling awed, humbled, and curious. 

9. COMMUNITY

- Community seemed poised for cancellation in 2014, and when word came down, cries of "Six Seasons and a Movie" swelled from the faithful. And with good reason. After a so-so, Dan Harmon-less Season 4, Season 5 was downright next-level, with all-time classic episodes that hit in rapid succession. From "Repilot" to "App Development and Condiments," from "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" to "G.I. Jeff," Community went totally off its rocker in S5, did pretty much whatever the hell it wanted, and in the process created a whole bunch of awesome. Six Seasons and a Movie indeed.

10. ORPHAN BLACK

-  At this year's Comic-Con, I saw fans cheering, applauding, crying, and basically going absolutely bat-$&%# crazy for Orphan Black, and for its multi-talented star Tatiana Maslaney. And with good reason, I think. The show can be messy, uneven at times. Its underlying mythology is still a little weaksauce, and the less said about the "Tony" episode, the better. But beneath all that lies the biggest beating heart of any show on TV. We love these sorts of genre shows because we feel like we're along for the ride as characters we love get put through hell, beat the odds, and emerge stronger for it. And no show makes you root for its underdog characters as does Orphan Black, with the unlikely members of its "Clone Club" (each played, in a performance that continues to amaze, by Maslaney) serving as some of TV's most fun and most badass heroes. Want strong female characters? Orphan Black has 'em in spades. It's no wonder then that when the twisty, action-packed Season 2 culminated in an all-clone dance party, it was one of the most purely joyful TV moments of the year. 


The Next Best:


11. BOARDWALK EMPIRE

- Boardwalk's truncated final season got off to a shaky start, but business really picked up as the series finale drew near. In the final summation, Boardwalk was a fantastic show - a brilliantly-woven tapestry of a certain time and place in American history, a look at how the American Dream was sold away to criminals and gangsters. There were so many great, award-worthy performances on the show, but when all is said and done, I have to give credit to Steve Buscemi as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson. It was a quietly powerful performance - a man who thought himself above the fray, but who, ultimately, is undone by his own sins.

12. BROAD CITY

- Don't be surprised if Broad City is even higher on this list next year. It came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, yet another hilarious show in Comedy Central's re-tooled lineup that provided a forum for fresh, funny voices. In this case, the voices belonged to Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, a comedy duo that shows that women can do brilliantly stupid stoner comedy just as well as the guys. Their New York-set misadventures are weird and funny, but there's also an authenticity to these two that you can't manufacture. There's no filter here - these girls are doing their thing and I'm just thankful we get to watch.

13. JUSTIFIED

-  Year-in-and-year-out, Justified is one of the best damn shows on TV, and certainly among the most badass. I sort of feel like I'm underrating this past season, only because while it might have been just a bit of an off year for the show, it still delivered a Stetson's-worth of great moments. Sadly, Justified often flies under the awards-show radar, but Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins - not to mention the kickass supporting cast - just kill it week-in, week-out. And I'll say this: now that there's a bit of a sense of urgency, with the upcoming season being the show's last ... there's absolutely no TV show I'm looking forward to more in 2015 than Justified's last ride.

14. THE GOLDBERGS

-  By the end of Season 1, The Goldbergs had become the best sitcom on broadcast TV. It was sort of a throwback - funny and offbeat, but also charming and sweet. The Goldbergs' nostalgic vision of 1980-something suburbia is like looking through an old photo album, and the callbacks to the pop-culture of my youth are always handled with clear and genuine affection. But the Goldbergs is no mere nostalgia-machine. The writing is clever and the jokes are spot-on. My only concern is that Season 2 has grown just a bit same-y and repetitive. Here's hoping for a Goldberg golden age in 2015.

15. PENNY DREADFUL

- This show seemed made just for me. An Alan Moore-esque Victorian horror-adventure series that combined literature's great monsters into one pulpy universe? Sold and sold. But I'll admit, the first episode of the show left me wondering if it would really be all that I hoped. As it turns out, the show evolved into something truly special over time. The biggest revelation was Eva Green as the enigmatic Vanessa Ives. As we learned more about Ms. Ives' inner demons (both figurative and literal), the show became a true tour de force, with Eva Green doing some drop-dead amazing acting that elevated the show to instant cult-fave. More, please.

16. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

- Brooklyn Nine-Nine's ensemble is very, very strong - and that's led to some of the funniest TV of the last year. Samberg is the headliner, but Andre Braugher is the MVP. His Captain Ray Holt has quickly become one of TV's best and funniest characters, with a deadpan delivery that kills. But the rest of the cast - Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti - have also really stepped up, in a way that reminds me of early Parks and Rec. All the ingredients are there for B99 to become something truly great, and I think 2015 may be its year.

17. SILICON VALLEY

- 2014 marked the return of Mike Judge to TV, and for a brief moment, all was right with the world. Silicon Valley had all the hallmarks of classic Judge, calling to mind things like Office Space and King of the Hill - with Judge's satirical eye now turned towards the tech industry. The cast of the show was great, especially standout TJ Miller. And the way that the show skewered the real silicon valley was nothing short of brilliant. If this was the year that the nerds took over the world, then Silicon Valley showed what it is that we have wrought, warts and all.

18. 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY

- Yes, there is a part of me that wants to rank this higher. It's hard to judge Jack Bauer and co. objectively, because no matter its faults, I love 24 without reservation, and nothing made me happier in 2014, TV-wise, than having the JACK BAUER BY-GOD POWER HOUR back on TV, with Jack dispensing gravitas and kicking-ass like it was 2004 again. The end of 24 had really caused a void on TV, a void that needed to be filled. And thank the lord, 24 returned to give us the badass TV show we wanted and needed. And this wasn't just a nostalgia-run. Kiefer Sutherland was in top form, and the return of beloved favorites (Chloe! Heller!) and the introduction of new ones (welcome Yvonne Strahovski!) made this 24 resurrection a true TV event.

19. PARKS & RECREATION

- Parks is one of my favorite TV comedies of the last ten years, and man, I'll be sad to see it go when it finales over the next several weeks. Season 6 sputtered a bit at times, with certain stories feeling a bit dragged out and overdone. But the show rallied late in the season, delivering some flat-out classics, and then shocking us all with an unexpected time-jump cliffhanger to cap things off. Parks is still one of the best - with an all-star cast that I have no doubt will bring us a memorable final season. Saying goodbye to Pawnee is going to be *literally* one of hardest farewells in TV history.

20. AMERICAN HORROR STORY

- Few shows are so all-over-the-place, yet so can't-stop-watching entertaining, as AHS. The final few episodes of Coven ended strong, and so far, Freakshow has been an odd but fascinating iteration of the show - toning down the horror in favor of general weirdness and character-driven soap-opera. But man, even when the storylines don't add up, the cast makes things ever-interesting. I could watch Jessica Lange's Elsa Mars spout oddball insights and lurid anecdotes all day. For sheer, jaw-dropping WTF-ness, it doesn't get any better.

21. NEW GIRL

- After a rough Season 3, New Girl has really bounced back for Season 4 - once again finding the absurdist center at the bottom of the weekly tootsie-pop that made Season 2 really shine. Max Greenfield continues to kill it on this show, with Schmidt giving voice to weekly witticisms that make New Girl, still, one of the most quotable comedies on TV. At its best, New Girl is home to some of the sharpest writing on TV, and can, on a good day, make me laugh harder than anything else out there.

22. SHERLOCK

- I binge-watched through Sherlock this year, and I finally got the hype around the series. Really, it's all in the endlessly-entertaining back-and-forth dialogue. Watching Benedict Cumberbatch's socially-inept Sherlock try to fit in with the rest of humanity is the show's ace-in-the-hole, and that was nowhere more evident than in Season 3's way-too-fun wedding episode. Season 3 also brought back arch-enemy extraordinaire Moriarty, and left the door open for even more adventures to come. Can't come soon enough, says I. 

23. THE FLASH

- My favorite new show of the 2014 Fall TV season, The Flash is pure geekgasm-inducing joy for the DC Comics faithful. Borrowing heavily from classic runs on The Flash comics, the show stands out for actually embracing its superhero and sci-fi premise, showing us a full-fledged superhero, in full costume, doing superhero-y things and going on superhero-y adventures. Imagine that - a show that seems proud and reverential of its comic book origins. It's what makes The Flash one of TV's most purely entertaining series.

24. GARFUNKEL & OATES

- The great Comedy Explosion of 2014 continued as cult comedy faves Garfunkel & Oates got their own show on IFC. I really dug it. The two have a unique sensibility and the observational humor is often spot-on. Match that with the catchy and deceptively biting songs, and you've got yourself a winner. With this, Portlandia, and Maron, IFC had a winning 2014.

25. BATES MOTEL

- Bates Motel has really found its footing as a quirky mash-up of CW teen drama and Twin Peaks-esque small-town weirdness. And, you know, Psycho. Norman Bates is still not quite a psycho-killer, but he's well on his way, and watching him downward-spiral into the abyss has made for some fascinating TV. Freddie Highmore is still fantastic as Norman, and Vera Farmiga turns in one of TV's strangest yet most endearing performances each week as Norma. This show is well-worth a binge-watch if you've yet to get onboard.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

- Portlandia
- Maron
- Sleepy Hollow

SPECIAL MENTION: 

a.) THE COLBERT REPORT

- Fare thee well, Stephen Colbert. For years, The Colbert Report has been the spot-on satire we needed, a show that somehow transcended its initial gimmick to become one of the smartest, funniest, and downright essential shows on TV. I congratulate Colbert on his new gig as Letterman's late-night replacement, but man, I will miss the "Stephen Colbert" character. I can only hope that others will step up to fill the void. In the meantime, hats off to Colbert, as it's been a legendary run.

b.) HELLO LADIES

- I did want to mention the fantastic special that aired this winter on HBO, wrapping up one of my favorite shows of 2013. The Hello Ladies special was a brilliant closer to Stephen Merchant's show, and I can only hope that we don't go long without more wonderfully-awkward cringe-comedy from Merchant and his co-conspirators.


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:


The Best TV Heroes of 2014:

1.) Molly Solverson - Fargo
2.) Raylan Givens - Justified
3.) Vanessa Ives - Penny Dreadful
4.) Sarah Manning, Alison Hendrix, and Cosima Niehaus - Orphan Black
5.) Barry Allen - The Flash 


The Best TV Villains of 2014:

1.) Lorne Malvo - Fargo
2.) King Joffrey - Game of Thrones
3.) Tywin Lanister - Game of Thrones
4.) Boyd Crowder - Justified
5.) Al Capone  - Boardwalk Empire


The Best TV Anti-Heroes of 2013:

1.) Rust and Marty - True Detective
2.) Philip and Elizabeth Jennings - The Americans
3.) The Hound - Game of Thrones
4.) Nucky Thompson - Boardwalk Empire
5.) Helena - Orphan Black


Best Actress in a Comedy:

1.)  - Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer - Broad City

Runners Up: Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation, Carrie Brownstein - Portlandia


Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy:

1.) Wendi McLendon-Covey - The Goldbergs

Runners Up: Gillian Jacobs - Community, Alison Brie - Community


Best Actor in a Comedy:

1.) Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key - Key & Peele

Runners Up: Max Greenfield - New Girl, Jake Johnson - New Girl  


Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy:

1.) TJ Miller - Silicon Valley

Runners Up: Nick Offermann - Parks and Recreation, Hannibal Buress - Broad City, Troy Gentile - The Goldbergs


Best Actress in a Drama:

1.) Lizzy Caplan - Masters of Sex

Runners Up: Eva Green - Penny Dreadful, Tatiana Maslaney - Orphan Black, Alison Tohlman - Fargo, Jessica Lange - American Horror Story


Best Supporting Actress in a Drama:

1.)  Maisie Williams - Game of Thrones

Runners Up: Annaleigh Ashford - Masters of Sex, Emilia Clarke - Game of Thrones, Angela Bassett - American Horror Story: Freakshow


Best Actor in a Drama:

1.) Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson - True Detective

Runners Up: Matthew Rhys - The Americans, Martin Freeman - Fargo, Michael Sheen - Masters of Sex


Best Supporting Actor in a Drama:

1.) Michael Shannon - Boardwalk Empire

Runners Up:  Walton Goggins - Justified, Noah Emmerich - The Americans, Charles Dance - Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones


And that's all, folks - my picks for the best TV of 2014.

THE IMITATION GAME Is a Poignant Look at the Life of Alan Turing

THE IMITATION GAME Review:

- THE IMITATION GAME is a true-life story set during World War II, but it's also a film that feels timely, relevant, and that has profound implications for the world we live in today. In many ways, this is old-school, high-gloss Oscar-bait filmmaking. It's a true story - to some extent a biopic, it's filled with a cast of well-liked but awards-friendly British actors, and it nakedly makes a play to tug on your heartstrings. In some ways, it's easy to be cynical about this sort of film - the kind that rolls around every winter like clockwork. But the fact is, THE IMITATION GAME is so well-done - so well-acted, so compelling as a slice of history and as a biography - that it pretty much 100% won me over. This is traditional Hollywood prestige filmmaking, sure. But it's traditional prestige filmmaking done really well, and this is also a fine film that I'd consider a must-see. Sometimes high-gloss and British accents can be a good thing.

The movie features Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing - the scientist who is in many ways the father of modern computer technology. During World War II, the British government enlisted Turing to lead a team tasked with cracking encrypted Nazi codes. Turing's solution - to build a complex machine that could analyze Nazi communications faster than any human - was initially ridiculed. But the machine not only proved successful, but in fact was the forefather of the coming computer revolution.

The film isn't just about Turing's role in the war - it's also about his personal struggles. Turing was gay, and it was a part of himself that he fought to fully come to terms with. Through flashbacks, we see Turing as a shy, lonely, and picked-on schoolboy, starting to realize that his friendship with a male schoolmate is potentially blossoming into something more. During the war, we see the adult Turing - now a quirky, socially-inept genius - trying not to let his sexuality undermine the important work he's doing. Turing fails to fit in with his colleagues, but he finds friendship in the brilliant Joan Clarke (Keira Knightly). When Turing sets up a test to find promising scientific recruits, Joan wows the usually unimpressed Turing. But because she is a woman, Joan is excluded by the government from being a part of Turing's team - at least openly. At Turing's urging, Joan signs up to be a secretary and then, in secret, works as a crucial part of his code-breaking unit. In some ways, Turing and Joan are two sides of the same coin - both are geniuses who have to keep parts of themselves hidden. Turing has to keep up appearances with his team and his bosses - eventually marrying Joan as a way to deflect suspicions about his personal life. Joan, meanwhile, has all the potential in the world to do great things. But during this still-relatively-recent era, she was denied to do so opoenly because she was a woman.

Cumberbatch is pretty much always fantastic, and he again excels here as Alan Turing. Certainly, the role isn't too much of a stretch for the actor - he plays the sort of maladjusted, antisocial genius that is squarely in his wheelhouse (fans of Sherlock will find Turing not that far removed from the Baker St. detective). Cumberbatch is in some ways a showy actor, and this is a showy part - his Turing is full of quirks and stammers and gesticulating gestures. But there is a sadness and a complexity there beneath the quirkiness, and Cumberbatch does a great job of showing us that in fairly brilliant fashion. It's yet more proof as to why the actor has, very quickly and very deservingly, become a fan and critical favorite.

The rest of the cast is excellent - positively filled with the kind of actors who make every movie they're in better for it. Knightly is quite good as Joan - she's a plucky genius who also recognizes Turing's need for friendship and companionship. She provides him with a human connection that puts his work - and his demons - in context. Knightly nails the part. Matthew Goode is also fantastic here. Goode has really been impressing me of late, most especially in last year's Stoker. But man, he kills it here as Hugh Alexander, the guy who was considered Britain's top code-breaker until Turing came onto the scene. There's initially a lot of tension between Alexander and Turing, but seeing their rivalry evolve to grudging respect and, ultimately, to friendship is one of the film's strongest arcs. And how great is Mark Strong? The dude is always a mega-badass, and he is true to form here as Turing's military liason. As if that wasn't enough gravitas, the movie also features Game of Thrones' Charles Dance as Commander Denniston, the military brass supervising Turing's top-secret mission. Dance is pretty much the best at playing the take-no-$#%& hard-ass, so, suffice it to say, he's great here.

For most of its running time, THE IMITATION GAME really sings from a storytelling and pacing perspective. The movie quite simply does a great job at making its at-times bleak narrative still feel rousing and inspirational during key moments. Where the film falters a bit is when it veers from the more straightforward storytelling that it does really well. More specifically, the movie's structure is a little strange - starting a decade or so post-war, then shifting to World War II (with sporadic flashbacks to Turing's childhood), and then ultimately taking us back to the post-war period, where Turing is in not-so-great shape following government-mandated medical treatments meant to "cure" him of his proclivities. The problem is that the time shifts don't feel completely elegant or natural, and by structuring the movie this way, it feels like we're missing what could have been a more poignant depiction of Turing's post-war downward spiral.

Still, I think the film recovers admirably from these slight missteps, and ends with a powerful closing sequence that hammers home the dichotomy of Turing's scientific influence vs. his status as an outcast and criminal, simply because of his sexuality. I've seen criticism of the film that accuses the movie of not addressing this theme fully enough, but I have to strongly disagree. Turing's status as an outsider is a running theme that colors the entirety of the movie. It's there in his social phobias that keep him from being one of the guys with his colleagues. It's there in the flashbacks, where he has to deal with an unspoken truth about his feelings towards his best friend. It's even there in his relationship to his machine. Not only in his drive to create a device free of human error and imperfection, but in his dedication to the machine as an all-consuming obsession.

Ultimately, what's remarkable about this story is how, at it's core, it's a narrative about disparate people coming together to do something remarkable. The code-breakers eventually rally behind Turing, despite their differences, because they all believe in the work they are doing. Cheesy? Maybe just a little. But it's also one hell of a message that we could all do well to remember. The other thing about the film is that Turing was an outsider, and he was an eccentric. But that, posits the movie, is something to be embraced rather than shunned. In fact, eccentricity is one of the chief places in which we can find true genius.

THE IMITATION GAME isn't an experimental game-changer or a boundary-pushing film from a narrative or aesthetic viewpoint. Like I said, it's a pretty classically-made Hollywood prestige film, and director Morten Tyldum excels at giving us lived-in feeling stately government buildings and lager-filled pubs and other British-isms that add to the film's aesthetic. But there is also a lot of depth to the narrative and a lot to chew on - and this is the rare World War II film that's not about combat, but about strategy and tactics and smart people trying to out-think the opposition. That to me is cool, and if that still doesn't sell you, the all-star cast, led by an Oscar-worthy Cumberbatch, should. There will be those who find fault in some of the liberties taken with Turing's story, but I think the film does a commendable job of putting his life out there on film. It's an important chapter in modern history, and an amazing life story from which we can all learn something.

My Grade: A-

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Is Darkly Funny Descent Into Familial Hell

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Review:

- One might have thought, going in, that AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY was the sort of somber, weepy, bland melodrama that was pure Oscar-bait. The truth is, the film - based on the play by Tracy Letts - is much darker, funnier, and more biting than it might initially appear. While late to the party, I became a fan of Letts after seeing another adaptation of one his plays - Killer Joe - last year. That movie was so wonderfully lurid, insane, and funny that I thought "whoever wrote this is one sick, brilliant sort of genius." At first glance, Osage County might seem a world removed from the depravity of Killer Joe. But in fact, the two works share a similarly dark sense of humor, a similarly satirical look at dysfunctional family dynamics, and a similarly Southern Gothic-tinged vibe. Ultimately, I really enjoyed this film. I suppose I can sum it up like this: I was one of the few in my afternoon showing that was under 75, but my viewing experience was riddled with the shocked gasps and hollers of disbelieving senior citizens, who had come in expecting a vanilla drama and got way more than they bargained for. That's a sort of subversiveness I can get behind.

OSAGE COUNTY is the story of the Weston family. When the family patriarch, Beverly (Sam Shepard) passes away, his daughters and extended family gather at the homestead to join his widow, Violet (Meryl Streep) for the funeral and an extended period of mourning. Even before her husband died, Violet was a complete wreck - a ranting, raving, vindictive, barely-able-to-stand drug addict. Now, with her family there to witness it, she's continuing on her downward spiral, even as she continues to be a mean, nasty, spite-filled, and ultimately pitiful woman. At the same time, her daughters each have problems of their own. Eldest Barbara (Julia Roberts) has a marriage on the verge of collapse, after her professor husband (Ewan McGregor) cheated on her with a student. She also has a rebellious teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) to boot. Middle daughter Karen (Juliette Lewis) is a loser who's latched on to a wealthy-but-skeevy businessman (Dermot Mulroney). And youngest daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) - the spinster of the group - has finally found love, but with the worst possible person on the planet to find it with. To compound all of this family drama, Violet's sister Mattie (Margot Martindale) and her husband (Chris Cooper) are in town, along with their simpleton son (Benedict Cumberbatch). And as we come to find out, there are decades of unspoken resentments, lies, and secrets between the two sisters.

The drama comes fast and furious, and the betrayals, backstabbings, and behind-closed-doors scheming sessions pile up with remarkable and absurdly comic speed. It all gets to be a bit much after a while, and towards the end of the film, an exhaustion-level sets in. Are these characters *still* going at it? However, the cast is so good that watching these titans throw down is pretty consistently entertaining.

First I will say this: this is probably my favorite-ever acting from Julia Roberts. I can't think of any other movie where she's this raw, unhinged, and balls-to-the-wall. She gives as good as she gets from Streep and the rest of the cast, and the best moment of the movie (the Oscar-worthy screaming of "I'M IN CHARGE NOW!") belongs to her. This is a side of Julia I've not really seen before, and dammit all, I'd like to see more.

Second, I will say that my favorite character in the movie was probably Chris Cooper's voice-of-reason uncle. Cooper's character is perhaps the most decent in the film, but his quiet nature makes him a relative pushover in a family full of forceful personalities. But when he does finally stand up to his nagging wife ... my god, what a moment.

Third, I've got to give a special shout-out to Julianne Nicholson. I wasn't familiar with her going in, but she more than holds her own with all the other cinematic icons in the film. In fact, whereas Streep and others go full-on *acting* here, Nicholson is one of the few in the film who turns in what feels like a more nuanced, less showy performance that sort of positions her as the heart and soul of the film. Nicholson subtley, skillfully makes Ivy into the film's best and most sympathetic character.

As for Streep ... on one hand, she's great here, as usual. On the other hand, she's dialed up to 11 for the duration of the film, and she at times devolves into cartoonishness. I think it might speak a bit to some general disconnect between the tone of Lett's play and the type of actors who were cast here. Streep is the best in the biz, but she doesn't really do self-aware, winking-at-the-audience acting. Others like Martindale, Cooper, Juliette Lewis, and even Roberts seem a little more attuned to the tone of Lett's play. Streep gives 110%, but there's something a little too on-the-nose about the way she plays Violet.

As goes Streep, so too goes the film. Like I said, I really enjoyed it. At the same time, it does get to be a little much, over time. Letts' dialogue (he wrote the screenplay adaptation in addition to the original play) is consistently enjoyable - and there's a biting humor at its core that gives the whole film a cleverness and snappiness and an almost musical rhythm. What keeps this from being a classic is just a weariness that sets in. Whereas Killer Joe feels brisk, like it builds brilliantly to a crescendo, Osage County seems to hit its dramatic climax well before the credits roll. Still, if you want to see some real heavyweights of acting throw down in a no-holds-barred, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"-style smackdown, the film is well worth checking out.

My Grade: B+

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG - An Action-Packed Return to Middle Earth

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Review:

- The first HOBBIT film had its share of haters, but when I reviewed it last year I just couldn't bring myself to jump aboard the "I hate Hobbit" bandwagon. The facts are these: a.) no, The Hobbit was not quite on par with Peter Jackson's three Lord of the Rings films, b.) there was a sense that not only was Jackson a bit rusty when it came to crafting tales of Middle Earth, but that he was indulging some of his worst tendencies (overly-long narratives, overreliance on CGI wizardry) at the expense of the good, old-fashioned epic filmmaking that made LOTR great, and c.) these problems were further compounded by the rather unpleasant experience of seeing the movie in 48 frames-per-second, which gave the whole thing an overly-slick, overly-fake visual quality. But STILL ... with all that said, there was that magic in The Hobbit that was there, also, in LOTR. It was there in when the dwarves sang their Misty Mountain song, it was there when Gandalf reassured Bilbo that he could be of value to the group, and it was there when Bilbo encountered Golem for some long-anticipated Riddles in the Dark. You can't wholly quantify that magic, and to me the fact that it was still there in The Hobbit made it a movie that, despite its flaws, was still something special. Now, with the second Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug, I'm happy to say that those magical moments come faster and more frequently that in the first film. There's a sure-handedness to Jackson's direction that wasn't always there in Part 1. And there's a feeling that this, again, is something special. Yes, there are flaws. But I still came away with a feeling that these are the movies that Peter Jackson was born to make, and a Jackson-directed film set in Middle Earth is still one of the best things going in the modern era of movies.

The Desolation of Smaug picks up soon after the end of The Hobbit. Thanks to his ring of power, Bilbo Baggins is now more confident, and has become a more valued member of the group - comprised of himself, Gandalf, and a dozen or so dwarves - led by the increasingly driven Thorin Oakenshield. Thorin is more determined than ever to reclaim his people's now-abandoned homeland. In his way, however, are bands of roving orcs - including their leader (and Thorin's nemesis) Azog. The orcs - gaining numbers thanks to the increasing power and influence of their enigmatic leader (the Necromancer, aka the-once-and-future Sauron) - are an ever-present threat. But Bilbo and company also come across giant spiders, unstable shape-shifters, and not-so-friendly elves on their journey. It is the elves who sort of open up the movie and begin to expand its scope even further. Orlando Bloom's Legolas, of LOTR fame, re-emerges as a major player, along with Evangeline Lily's Tauriel.

Tauriel is a new, made-for-the-movies character who I have to say, is pretty great. She adds a great, kick-ass female character to what was a completely male-dominated storyline. And she adds an element of romance - as part of a quasi-love triangle with Legolas and dwarf Kili. I can see why some might be wary of this, but I've got to admit that the relationship between Kili and Tauriel actually ended up being one of my favorite parts of the film. There's some great, epic-romance dialogue between them that calls to mind some of the best scenes between Aragorn and Arwen in LOTR. And as for Lily, man, it's about time that she got to play a big blockbuster role like this one. She not only meets expectations as Tauriel, but far exceeds them. I mean, look, the woman was born to play a badass elf. I've also got to think that this will open the door for Lily to take on more high-profile action roles, because she effortlessly makes Tauriel into a strong, intriguing, and pretty-damn-badass character ... that I think even hardcore Tolkien devotees will warm to.

Overall, this film just seems to handle its characters better than in the first. Some of the dwarves still blend together a bit - but, in addition to Kili's role as love-struck rebel, there are several other standouts. Ken Stott's Balin, for example, really solidifies himself as the heart and soul of the group here, laying claim to numerous memorable moments as the group's elder statesman. And Thorin seems like a better-defined character here - showing shades of LOTR's Boromir - with his resolve to achieve victory slightly corrupting his sense of morality. Because of the film's expanded scope, Bilbo inevitably takes a backseat at times. But I wasn't too distressed about it, as Bilbo is still front and center for the film's biggest moments - including his fairly epic, climactic confrontation with the dragon Smaug. Martin Freeman seems a little more at home as gaining-confidence Bilbo (as opposed to the first film's more whimpering version), and he is, again, really really good in the role.

Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf ... I've said a lot about this role and this actor over the years, but the guy is phenomenal and a cinematic treasure. I feel like Gandalf needs special mention here because he's got so many fantastic scenes in this film. Here's the thing: I totally get the complaint that some of Gandalf's side stories in this one may seem to some a bit extraneous and tacked on. And yet, how can you not love them? In The Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson gives us some of the coolest-ever Gandalf scenes. Namely, the imagery and epicness that we get during Gandalf's infiltration of the Necromancer's fortress is just off-the-charts. Nothing brings a smile to my face when Jackson gives us larger-than-life imagery that feels right out of a storybook painting ... and Gandalf fending off an orc horde on the crumbling stone walkways of Dol Guldur is exactly that.

Despite those storybook-like moments, I think that Jackson, overall, does a better job in this film of blending over-the-top action with more grounded moments. Visually, the orcs and other creatures look better than in Part 1. In the first film, Azog and his cohorts looked straight out of a Playstation game. Here, there seems to be a better mix of CG characters with practical FX and old-fashioned costuming and make-up. So, for example, when the elves hold a captive orc at knifepoint and interrogate him, in a crucial scene, it feels more real, more substantial, than most of what we got in the first film. Azog in particular still seems too videogame-ish and unreal for my tastes, but overall, it seems like Jackson better uses the various artistic tools at his disposal this time around.

Interestingly, the movie takes on a much grittier, more intimate feel when we get to Laketown. Laketown is where much of the action of the film's final third is set, and suddenly, the movie's focus shifts from elves and orcs to very human political drama. It's sort of interesting to see the introduction of Luke Evan's Bard - a smuggler who rebels against Laketown's corrupt and oppressive ruler. Bard brings a similar sort of brooding nobility to the story as Aragorn did in LOTR. But Jackson sets up an interesting juxtaposition of this sleepy, human fishing village that is suddenly beset by the problems of the larger, wider world - even as its own people's rebellion catches fire. Fans of Tolkien's The Hobbit (myself included) may find it a bit odd to have so much of a Hobbit film taken up by this darker, less fantastical Laketown section. But I did find that Laketown helps to give some nice context to all of the more out-there and magical elements of this world - sort of like Rohan did in LOTR. There aren't just dwarves, elves, and wizards who are in danger from Smaug, but also these more regular, everyday sorts of people. There are enough loose ends in Laketown where it and its people still seem only half-explored, but I still found the tonal shift it brings to the table to be welcome and surprising.

Overall though, I'd still categorize these Hobbit films as lighter, more over-the-top, and more storybook-like than their LOTR predecessors. That is most evident, perhaps, in the movie's big action scenes. And let me say: The Desolation of Smaug has one of the great over-the-top action scenes we've yet seen in a blockbuster film. This is what I will call "the barrel sequence." While some may criticize the barrel sequence as being *too* cartoonish, too silly, too much, I can only say that I found it to be completely enthralling and joyful - along the lines of the best Spielbergian set-piece action sequences to ever grace the screen. Jackson has always had that Spielbergian influence in his action (perhaps even more evident in King Kong than in LOTR), but the barrel sequence is full-on Spielberg - a rip-roaring rollercoaster ride of an action scene that is exciting, hilarious, surprising, and just flat-out amazing on both a creative and technical level. To me, LOTR was an epic, and The Hobbit is an adventure. There's a difference. And I think that difference opens things up for Jackson to be a little more playful with the action here. In LOTR, the barrel sequence may have been too much, and not keeping with the tone of the films. But here, in my view, it works - and works wonderfully, at that.

The barrel sequence is perhaps the set-piece highlight of the movie, but other scenes show off Jackson's horror-movie chops to great effect. I talked about Gandalf's sequences at Dol Guldur, which definitely have a creepy, creature-feature vibe at times. But the most horror-ish sequence in the film has got to be the spider-attack. The spider sequence is done fantastically, with a mind-melting combo of action, horror, and humor that is vintage Jackson. It's a great character moment, as Bilbo plays the hero and saves his friends with the help of his ring. But it's also an expertly-staged, awesomely-visualized bit of action that is breathtaking to watch unfold.

There are any number of great little bits in The Desolation of Smaug that work brilliantly. John Bell's shapeshifting Bain is a fun, menacing character - and he has some fantastic dialogue after letting the dwarves take refuge in his remote home. Stephen Fry is excellent, of course, as the slimy Master of Laketown. I do wish that his character got a little more fleshing out, but he does a great job with what's there. Elf king Thranduil is another character whose screentime is relatively brief, but who makes a strong impression thanks to actor Lee Pace. And then there's Smaug, who is voiced so well and so menacingly by Benedict Cumberbatch that it's hard to now imagine anyone else playing the part.

By the way, the music here continues to be top-notch - with Howard Shore's score an ear-pleasing mix of old and new themes. I really liked the Laketown theme, and think it's up there with previous LOTR classics. The one glaring omission to me was the lack of a reprise of the Misty Mountain song when the dwarves finally arrive at their long-sought after destination.

The film does, again, get a bit draggy in parts. Part of me does still, inevitably wonder if we needed three films to tell this story, and if all of the setup of LOTR was really necessary. But this is what Jackson and team decided on, and it helps that the additional material he's added or elaborated on has been, mostly, pretty cool. In any case, there's less here that feels tangential than in the first film. The story flows more organically, and there's more a sense of it all building towards something. One other complaint though: Jackson seems to develop an unwelcome habit of occasionally, almost compulsively cutting from the action right before a key beat. The timing of the editing, at times, seems a little off - and once in a while (as with an abrupt cut during a key moment between Kili and Tauriel), it's even a bit jarring.

But mostly, Jackson seems to more fully find his footing than in the first film. His direction seems more confident, more free. And there is a narrative momentum here that wasn't there in The Hobbit. When The Hobbit ended, there was not that old LOTR feeling of "must see the next one ... right now!" But here, I think Jackson recaptured that. Despite the long running time, I was ready for Part 3 immediately, and so too was the majority of the audience in the theater. Jackson tantalizingly, teasingly ends this one on one hell of a cliffhanger - prompting one young boy in our audience to cry out "aww, come on!" as the credits rolled. And you've got to love that. I don't know that this prequel trilogy will ever be held in the same esteem as the original Lord of the Rings movies, but I do feel that Jackson got some of his mojo back for Part 2, and is poised to deliver a fairly epic Part 3. So yes, there are things about The Desolation of Smaug that bother me. But when a movie is so exciting, so full of magic, that you forget about those flaws and just get caught up in this world and this journey - well, that's something special, and rare in the world of blockbuster filmmaking.

My Grade: A-

12 YEARS A SLAVE Is Brilliant and Poetic Depiction of the American Nightmare

 12 YEARS A SLAVE Review:

- 12 YEARS A SLAVE is such a unique, in some ways unusual film, that I honestly wasn't sure what to make of it, exactly, upon leaving the theater. This sprawling tale of American Slavery doesn't feel at all like what we've come to expect from films dealing with this era or with this narrative. Director Steve McQueen includes absolutely no flourishes of Spielbergian grandiosity in his film. Instead, he uses long, unwavering takes to create a film filled with artfully-depicted brutality, and positively overflowing with a feeling of overpowering, existential dread. The mix of unfiltered ugliness mixed with lyrical, poetic storytelling (and some sprinkling of gallows humor - both literal and figurative) creates a movie that plays out like a waking nightmare for its protagonist, the sold-into-slavery Solomon Northup. The result is a film that's utterly engrossing and endlessly praise-worthy. This is a film that has literary depth and subtext, but that also crackles with memorable visuals and cinematic sweep.

Solomon is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and it's a career-making performance. Ejiofor brings a soulful, restrained dignity to the character that I don't think I fully appreciated until late in the film. I describe the performance in these terms because Solomon starts the movie as a free, educated black man - a man who enjoys a relatively decent and undeniably joyful life - with a loving wife, two young children, and respected in his upstate New York town as a knowledgeable and trustworthy builder. However, it's his hobby that gets him into trouble - his skill as a fiddle-player attracts the attention of two traveling entertainers who convince Solomon to accompany them for a few of their shows. When Solomon is deceived by the musicians, he suddenly wakes up in a dark prison, having been abducted, taken down south, and sold into slavery. And from that point on, he has to hide who he really is. Because all the things that helped him get ahead up North - his smarts, his eloquence, his education - are liabilities as a slave. In order to survive, he has to show restraint, hide his thoughts, hide his intellect, hide his rage. And that is what makes Ejiofor's performance so remarkable. We see hints of what's going on in his head - in Solomon's eyes. But only rarely is he free to say what he really thinks. The dichotomy between who Solomon was and who he is forced to become is absolutely jarring. Because the white slave owners view him as lesser, animalistic, primitive - so too is this how he must act. And Ejiofor pulls off this tricky balance - this performance full of subtle expressions and telling glances - with aplomb. His Solomon never fully loses his dignity or his almost regal-like aura of calm and wisdom. But it's not for lack of trying on the part of the slave-owners who want to strip him of his humanity. What's remarkable about the film is the push and pull in that dynamic. Despite all efforts to break Solomon, to make him the prototypical, subservient slave - it's just impossible. The guy is too smart, too resourceful, too full of life for that sort of reductive psychology to fully take hold.

As good as Ejiofor is, he's surrounded by a remarkable supporting cast that is filled with equally award-worthy performances. There's two additional turns that really stand out to me though. One is Michael Fassbender as slave-owner Edwin Epps. Epps is the second slave-owner that Solomon is sold to (following a stint with the kinder and more sympathetic Ford, played by Benedict Cumberbatch), and he's a monster. The violence and rage he directs at his slaves is indicative of deep-seated psychological issues. Further complicating Epp's mania is his lustful obsession with one of the female slaves, Patsey. Epps puts Patsey on a pedestal, routinely praising her as his best worker in the fields. He also routinely rapes her, sapping her soul and demoralizing her to the point where she is hopeless and suicidal. Epps' disturbing relationship with Patsey drives his wife (a great turn from Sarah Paulson) off the wall, and Patsey and the other slaves find themselves caught in the volatile couple's tumultuous relationship. Fassbender is riveting as Epps though. He's a thoroughly despicable villain, but also a deeply complex character - a strange brew of madness and rage. But he is also emblematic of the disease of the mind that permeated throughout the antebellum south. How was it, we wonder, that so many could condone slavery, or even sadistically take pleasure in it? Epps', as a psychological profile, is case in point. Fassbender does wonders with the character - scary yet fascinating.

That leads me to Lupita Nyong'o as Patsey. Similar to Solomon, she must outwardly seem subservient and appreciative of her masters. But in Patsey's eyes, we see the bubbling sadness and hopelessness. We see the remnants of youth and girlhood, which we see all but stripped away by Epps. And when Patsey is pushed to limit, when she can take no more, Nyong'o turns in a gripping, jaw-dropping performance when she, as Patsey, lets the emotions flow freely in a rare moment of open expression. She and Solomon are two sides of the same coin. Solomon's lived the life of a free man, and so knows what it is that he lost as a slave. Patsey has known nothing but slavery, and can't even fathom what life outside of it is like. Suffice it to say, Nyong'o makes Patsey into the film's unlikely star - a supporting character whose horrifying treatment under Epps shows slavery at its worst and most soul-crushing.

So many other great little performances are scattered throughout the film. I mentioned Cumberbatch and Paulson, who are both excellent. Paul Giamatti shows up briefly but memorably as a sleazy slave-trader. The great Michael K. Williams, of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, also makes a brief but badass cameo. Another small but crucial role is played by Garret Dillahunt (whose presence reinforces my perception that the film actually has a lot of stylistic and thematic similarities to the HBO series Deadwood). Dillahunt does here what he does best - he plays a slightly crazy and unhinged guy who Solomon takes a big risk in trusting. Alfre Woodard is another iconic actress who shows up for a small but vital role, playing a favored slave who has grown quite comfortable with her status. Now, I've heard some criticism of Bradd Pitt's role as a Canadian journeyman who provides a crucial bit of help to Solomon. I thought that Pitt's freewheeling persona proved a good fit for the part, and he provides a crucial counterpoint to characters like Epps. Pitt's puzzlement at slavery helps to paint the obsession that men like Epps have with it as a sort of infectious disease that had taken root in the minds of the antebellum south. At the same time, what seems like simple sanity to us now was, in that time and place, the very definition of radical and subversive thought. Finally, I've got to mention Paul Dano. Dano is just the best at playing loathsome, weaselly characters who very much deserve the punch-to-the-face that they inevitably receive. He's played that sort of character a lot, but this might be his best overall variation on that theme since There Will Be Blood.

Thinking about Dano's character, and Fassbender's, and other aspects of the film ... there is something slightly, undeniably pulpy about 12 YEARS A SLAVE. I keep mentioning this when I hear people say they're not sure they can stomach the film. It is violent, it is brutal, and it is at times disturbing. But to McQueen's credit, it's also an incredibly entertaining film. That takes nothing away from the seriousness of the subject matter, or the emotional weight of the movie. But McQueen also doesn't shy away from giving his film style and atmosphere, and even a bit of over-the-topness. I'll say that the movie's best scene is a weird mix of darkly funny and oddly disturbing. In the scene, Solomon is all but left for dead, set to be hung, before the men doing the hanging are stopped before Solomon can be fully strung up. And so Solomon is left with his toes just barely touching the ground, straining to keep himself from strangling to death. Solomon is gasping, panting, flailing. And all around him - as McQueen keeps his camera still and centered - we see others, black and white, simply going about their business - paying absolutely no attention to the guy right there, in front of them, on the very precipice of life and death. It's a scene that goes from scary to funny to scary again, and it's a weird Twilight Zone moment that, in its own way, completely summarizes the entire movie in miniature. Because yes, this is Solomon's story, but it's also the story of a supposedly civilized nation that had become a country of brainwashed zombies, stuck in a purgatory-like state in which, somehow, this sort of atrocity wasn't worth batting an eye over.

And so the film does have that pulpy aspect, that dark humor,  and that slightly skewed aesthetic that makes it more than your typical Hollywood-ized history lesson. There are a lot of layers here. And McQueen proves himself, above all else, a great storyteller - not telling his narrative in a completely linear or traditional sense, but in a way that's incredibly gripping, yet different from what one might expect from this sort of story. He doesn't talk down to the audience, or oversimplify things. He uses flashbacks and flash-forwards to create a sense of disorientation, to reinforce that nightmare feeling. He uses long takes many times - fixing his camera's lens on nature, on faces, on images - to make us pay attention to detail, focus on juxtaposition, and soak in the emotion of a moment.

I also think that John Ridley's screenplay is worth mentioning. Ridley also wrote Red Tails - a movie that is full on pulp (whereas 12 Years A Slave is only pulp-tinged, I'd say), but also one that I don't think really telegraphed Ridley's full potential. I mentioned the comparison to TV's Deadwood earlier, and that comparison comes to mind when I think of this film's colorful dialogue - a sort of formal prose that lends a certain gravitas to the words that are spoken. The mix of poetry and vulgarity, formality and brutality, is in keeping with the weird dichotomies of the movie's setting.

The whole film, in fact, is one of dichotomies. Its central story is that of a worldly and well-regarded man suddenly plunged into a hellish life of slavery, in which it is assumed that he is sub-human. In this world of degradation and humiliation, Solomon is surrounded by brutal men who also regard themselves as god-fearing Southern Gentlemen. And then there's the absurdity that always strikes me with stories about slavery - the fact that the slaves that were so looked down upon were, despite that, so ever-present and such a constant and integral part of their owner's lives.

12 YEARS A SLAVE does not fit the template of what a big Hollywood Oscar-bait movie is supposed to be, and I think that's what makes it so great. This is a film that's genuinely challenging and thought-provoking. At times, I'd even call it an art-film in certain respects for the non-traditional ways that some of its key scenes unfold. At other times, I agree with the sentiment that it plays out almost like a horror film or a Twilight Zone episode - with an ordinary man suddenly thrust into a nightmare scenario that completely turns his world upside down. There's that noir-ish feeling of fate conspiring against him, of being trapped in a dark void from which escape is a near-impossibility. But when you couple that creepy vibe with the fact that this is real history - an adaptation of a real person's autobiography - there is, again, that dichotomy: of real-life-meets-unreality. Life as waking nightmare. A warped, backwards version of the American Dream in which, instead of upward mobility, a man is dragged from the middle class all the way down to the bottom, made a slave, forced to endure hell, as part of some mass delusion about skin color determining one's worth as a human being. 12 YEARS A SLAVE doesn't give you that swell of emotion and triumph when it ends. It's not a crowd-pleaser that sends you home happy, or in tears for that matter. No, the feeling you get at the end of this film is one of waking up from a strange dream. A dream that you pinch yourself to make sure that, yes, it was, in fact, only a dream. But here's the brilliance of the movie - this wasn't just a dream. This happened. That took a while to register with me. It took a few days for the full achievement of this film to fully sink in. But now, I can look back and recognize the unique brilliance at play here, and I can heartily recommend this film as one of the true must-see movies of 2013.

My Grade: A

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS Goes Boldly Forward

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS Review:

- No, this isn't the old Star Trek. This isn't the philosophical original Star Trek, nor is it the intellectual Next Generation. This is the new-school Trek, and what it is is the pop iconography of Star Trek distilled down into a two hour popcorn blockbuster. If that idea inherently annoys you, then hey, you may be predisposed to dislike Into Darkness. It's even more Star Wars-ish than the first film - huge battles and set-piece action scenes, plenty of comedy and lighthearted quips, and a pulp-pop sci-fi energy that is made more for the masses and less so for the diehard Trekkie that refuses to think that Trek can be every bit as action-packed and fast-paced as its sci-fi brethren.

Look, I'm not a hardcore Trekkie, but I have a huge soft spot for select moments of the Original Series, and even more so for The Next Generation (and I'm still brainstorming roundabout ways for Patrick Stewart to cameo in the new movies). And hey, I agree that Star Trek in its absolute ideal form is about being smarter than other sci-fi franchises. Trek should ideally explore moral and philosophical concepts with depth and reverence, treat its futuristic science seriously, and make you think as much (if not more so) as it makes you feel.

The problem is ... it's near-impossible to put all of that into a two-hour movie, especially when the franchise only produces a new movie once every four or so years. And ironically enough, the most highly-regarded Trek movies - Wrath of Khan, First Contact - are the ones that go the big blockbuster route, and that take the show's iconic characters and put them in epic, huge-stakes conflicts worthy of the big-screen.

And so that's why I'm pretty pleased with INTO DARKNESS. Yes, the script is imperfect. Yes, some of the movie is, as Spock would say, illogical. And yes, the movie goes for brawn over brains. But man, this is one of the most fun, entertaining, and rip-roaring blockbusters in quite some time. The movie's energy and action is second to none, and it propels forward at a dizzying and dazzling pace. Most importantly though, the excellent cast really shines. JJ Abrams and Damon Lindeloff have always been "character first, plot second" guys - and while I haven't always agreed with that approach (final season of Lost, anyone?), it really is appreciated here. Because despite the odds and the legacy that they have to live up to, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, and the rest of this new cast have become damn near definitive. Blasphemy? I don't know - and the transition is eased by having the great Leonard Nimoy aboard to lend an extra dose of gravitas as Spock Prime. But the cast is universally fantastic here. This movie franchise doesn't have dozens of episodes to establish relationships, so it's got to move quickly. But amidst the chaos and frenzy, there are some wonderful dynamics at play here. We've only known these versions of the characters for a short time - plus, it's been a while since the last film - but Abrams and co place the spotlight firmly on the core cast and their relationships, and very quickly we're invested and rooting for 'em.

So yes, this is different. Some fans are going to roll their eyes and wonder if they're watching The CW's new take on Trek. But again, it's the quality of the actors that elevates the material and makes you genuinely invested in them. Chris Pine shines as Kirk. I think as the franchise proceeds, he needs to start to bring a little more maturity and weight to the role ... but for now, he is charismatic and capable as the still-headstrong captain of the Enterprise. The real star of the movie, however, is Zachary Quinto's Spock. Quinto has now perfected Spock's stoicism, with an undercurrent of wry humor and the capability for genuine pathos as well (credit his half-human side). Plus, he's super badass when it's his turn to save the day. Ultimately, the theme of the movie is about Spock learning how to be not just a slave to logic, but a good friend, companion, and teammate. Maybe that sounds cheesy on paper, and maybe it is slightly cheesy in practice in the film. But again, this is a much more heart-driven Star Trek than we've seen before, and it works quite well in this context.

Aside from Pine and Quinto, the supporting cast is just so darn lovable, it hurts. In terms of returning players, Simon Pegg's Scotty is the real scene-stealer in this one. He's got a pivotal role as compared to the first film, and he's both funny and, in a way, Kirk's conscious. Karl Urban as Bones has less screentime, but man, he's good - delivering the good doctor's lines with a sardonic deadpan that cracked me up. And Zoe Saldana really holds it down as Uhura. While part of her role in the movie is defined by her relationship with Spock, she proves quite capable as a multitalented crew-member and also gets to kick some serious ass. Anton Yelchin's Chekov and John Cho's Sulu get fairly minimal screentime here, but both have a couple of nice moments. And I'll also give a shout-out to Bruce Greenwood as Kirk's predecessor Pike. He has some excellent moments with Kirk in the film, and Greenwood's presence lends a lot to the proceedings and plays a key role in the overall plot.

As for newcomers ... let's talk Benedict Cumberbatch. I know, the guy has a legion of fans already, but I went into Trek mostly unfamiliar with his work. As the villainous terrorist John Harrison (or is he?!), Cumberbatch is basically pretty awesome - as menacing and steely as you could want in a villain. I will say though, the big surprise for me was how big a role Peter Weller (Robocop!) ended up having in the film, playing the head honcho of Starfleet. Weller is one of my all-time favorites, so to see him get to play a major role in a big movie like this was a lot of fun. How is he not in more action and sci-fi films? Also enjoyed Alice Eve as new crew member Carol. It was high time that the modern version of the Enterprise had more than one major female crew member, and Eve quickly asserts herself as a capable-though-possibly-drama-starting member of the team. And man, she does "horrified blood-curdling scream" as good as anyone.

Now, about the plot. I liked it, though I do think the script leaves a lot of room to be picked apart. I will say this: some of the plot nitpicks I've already read online are pretty lame, in my opinion. The movie doesn't have time to address every little nagging question of the "why would he do X when he could have easily just done Y" variety, but most of these kinds of questions can be explained with a little something called imagination. To me, there were not really moments where I thought "glaring plothole!" Mostly, I thought things like, "hmm, okay, I guess Bones couldn't have just done X because, well, if you think about it ...". Point being, I really don't think there are plotholes big or important enough to in any way ruin the movie. Mostly, I think these kinds of complaints are people looking for any excuse to pick apart the movie.

And hey, sidenote: the worst complaints to me are the ones having to do with the rebooted timeline of these films not exactly paralleling the timeline of the original Trek universe. It's a rebooted universe! Anything is possible! But more importantly, I think fans just need to accept that that was basically a plot device / contrivance to allow JJ Abrams and co. to tip the hat to the old franchise, and to allow for a passing of the torch via Nimoy's version of Spock. It clearly was not intended as something to be analysed in the fashion of "so if everything was the same up until Point X, then clearly these elements of the new universe should be completely unchanged from the old one!" It was just a way to have old Spock in the new movies. Chill out. Basically, yes it's fun to think about (nerd-alert!), but not an essential part of these new movies.

That being said, there are some shortcuts taken in the script that I found hard to swallow. Not enough to justify unbridled nerd-rage towards Abrams, Kurtzman, Orci, and Lindeloff - but there nonetheless. One general problem is that the movie hurdles forward so quickly that it necessitates that the characters change their stance on issues on a dime. "Let's go for Plan A!" "No, Plan B!" "No, I was wrong, and I now see the error of my ways from five minutes ago! Plan A was right all along!" Occasionally frustrating, but sort of forgivable given how much the movie is cramming into a few hours. But to me, the biggest weakness of the film is the way in which Cumberbatch's character is handled. Like I said, Cumberbatch himself is awesome in terms of his performance. But the character's arc and backstory feels incredibly rushed and not necessarily presented in an organic-seeming way. Too much of this character's potential awesome-factor is reliant on people having a big "aha!" moment when his true backstory is revealed. And having that moment is fine, but we need more. I needed Cumberbatch himself to make us understand exactly why he is one evil dude not to be messed with, and to make us understand what his plans are and why he needed to be stopped. The movie takes some major shortcuts in this area, and it feels off. I like the call-backs to earlier Trek lore, but if this rebooted franchise wants to stand on its own, it can't rely on us having prior knowledge or recognition of key moments from the old movies. Shout-outs are fun (and this new Trek has a lot of fun ones that I won't spoil here), but skipping over the main villain's origins and motivation and plans, just because we're meant to assume them based on old stories? That is problematic.

But ... it's problematic more so if you look at Cumberbatch as being the movie's uber Big Bad. In a way, he's not, and that makes his somewhat thin character a little more acceptable. Why do I say that? Because ultimately, the film is less about him and more about Starfleet. I'm not going to spoil, except to say that this is a movie about modern warfare on an intergalactic level. Earth is America, the volatile and warlike Klingons are like the outer space version of Muslim extremists, and Starfleet is the force that has to decide if its mission is exploratory or militaristic. Cumberbatch? He's sort of the unfortunate guy who got caught in the middle of all this, got used, abused, and exploited in the name of military advancement, and is now pretty pissed off about it. The parallels with modern politics are not exact, but the thematic connection is 100% there and not exactly subtle (in fact, it may be a bit too on-the-nose). But again, even though I felt the movie took shortcuts with Cumberbatch, it is less important when you accept that he's actually more of a pawn in the movie's uber-plot than the one truly pulling the strings.

There's a lot going on in this film, but JJ Abrams juggles it pretty well, and compensates for some of the script's looseness with a nonstop barrage of incredible set piece action scenes. Star Trek Into Darkness looks amazing, and I don't doubt that Abrams can now go ahead and direct a Star Wars film every bit as epic and iconic as fans could hope for. Abrams continues to sort of pay homage to Spielberg in the way he creates huge-scale visuals matched with choreography that has real rhythm - mixing character, humor, and action to create swashbuckling scenes of epic scale and scope. And man, in IMAX 3D, the film looks stunning - a majority of the film appears to have been shot in IMAX, and there's an immersive, you-are-there feeling that rivals most rides at Disneyland.

Ultimately, Into Darkness succeeds because it is, quite simply, jam-packed with awesome moments. The "oh $#%&" factor is high. Even if the script has some problems, the overall pacing of the film makes for a fairly intoxicating experience - the energy never lets up, and the movie is never dull. Each major sequence of the film feels expertly crafted and staged, and I constantly felt wowed by what I was seeing onscreen - from the opening's breathtaking primordial, volcanic jungle to a later scene in which Pine and Cumberbatch rocket through space with only the help of perilously-close-to-malfunctioning space suits. Abrams wisely does something that I don't think any incarnation of Star Trek has previously done very well - and that is ground all of the interstellar stuff with a sense of what life is like on earth during this era. Into Darkness' juxtaposition of a sleek future-earth (London and San Francisco specifically), teeming with alien life and exotic tech - with the uncharted wilderness of space, and its Klingon homeworlds and floating fortresses - is unique in the Star Trek franchise. Abrams attacks the world of Trek with a Spielbergian sense of awe and wonder and infinite possibility that, honestly, the franchise has rarely ever possessed in years prior.

To reiterate, I can't say enough about the staging and pacing of the film - it moves with a breathless and almost musical energy that is reminiscent of the great action/adventure classics. Haters like to compare these new Trek films to the likes of dreck like Michael Bay's Transformers (and yes, I realize the two franchises share some writers). But visually, from a directorial standpoint, let's give JJ his due. He's doing things here that are in another league than anything Bay could hope to accomplish with his chaotic and ugly visual style. This is Grade-A stuff. And by the way, speaking of music, the movie's score is fantastic, mixing the newer theme with the old-school theme song in a way that is incredibly cool.

Yes, there are logic gaps in Into Darkness that would give Spock some serious pause. But the movie is so fun, so exciting, so visually explosive, and so filled with great characters and moments that it's hard - for me at least - to get too hung up. The movie is flawed, sure, but it also felt like the kind of epic popcorn flick that is the perfect way to kick off the Summer movie season. Save the primal screams of anger for Kirk and Spock - this Trek, while paying homage to the past, nonetheless goes boldly where no Trek has gone before.

My Grade: A-