Under Seen in 2012 – Movies Spotlight – March 2013

Every year there are a number of great films that seem to be overlooked due to their small budgets, bad marketing, and/or limited theatrical releases. Here are a few of the best neglected films of 2012 (that you have probably not seen, but should).

Film: Dredd

Director: Pete Travis

Cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, and Lena Headey

Plot Summary: This action film takes place in a dystopian futuristic city overridden by crime in which police officers are judge, jury, and executioner. On a routine call to investigate a murder, a seasoned veteran Judge Dredd and his rookie trainee Anderson find themselves in the middle of tenement controlled by a vicious gang. They have no choice but to fight their way out (and for Dredd that means bring every criminal to justice).

Why You Need to See It: What is most incredible about this film is that the mere idea of a new Judge Dredd project is completely laughable (which is probably why no one saw this film), because the 1995 Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd is so utterly terrible (and a huge disappointment to the fans of the 2000AD comics), and yet Pete Travis, writer Alex Garland, and company have made one of the year’s best action films.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Film: Goon

Director: Michael Dowse

Cast: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Marc-Andre Grondin, and Liev Schreiber

Plot Summary: This sports comedy is about Doug Glatt a club bouncer who finds that he has a real talent for fighting. Exploiting his toughness and team loyalty, he earns a place on a small town minor league hockey team as its enforcer.

Why You Need to See It: Goon is very funny – graphically violent and vulgar, but very funny. It is one of the best sports comedies in some time, and is most akin to genre favorite Slap Shot (as they both deal with minor league hockey goons). What also works fantastically well about the film is how it captures the spirit of playing and travelling as part of a team (the shenanigans and joking).

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Film: The Innkeepers

Director: Ti West

Cast: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, and Kelly McGillis

Plot Summary: The Yankee Pedlar Inn in New England is famous for being haunted, but it has fallen on hard times and is closing. During its last weekend open, two employees Claire and Luke are determined to find evidence of supernatural activity in the hotel.

Why You Need to See It: The Innkeepers is thrilling and scary, but this throwback horror film does not rely on cheap tricks to insight its moments of terror. Rather, it slowly builds tension and develops its characters (which gives the viewer more of a stake in the outcome) taking its time to optimize the impact of the third act. It feels like a classic ghost story.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Film: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Director: Stephen Chbosky

Cast: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller

Plot Summary: This drama is about Charlie a high school freshman who is having a hard time. However, everything changes for him when he is taken under the wings of two seniors Sam and Patrick.

Why You Need to See It: On top of the excellent performances from the film’s three main actors, The Perks of Being a Wallflower succeeds because it earnestly addresses the high school experience through drama, comedy, romance, and its wonderful characters. It feels in many ways like a film made by John Hughes at his best.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Film: Safety Not Guaranteed

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, and Jake Johnson

Plot Summary: This dramedy is about Darius a magazine intern who has felt lost since the death of her mother when she was a child. However, when she is dragged along with another intern by one of the magazine’s writers to work on a story about a man seeking a companion for time travel, she unexpectedly finds something that inspires her again.

Why You Need to See It: Safety Not Guaranteed is a time travel narrative that plays better than most of its big budget contemporaries. It has a wondrous genuine tone that draws the viewer in, to go along with its great characters. Also, it is quite funny.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Film: Sound of My Voice

Director: Zal Batmanglij

Cast: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius, and Brit Marling

Plot Summary: This mystery drama is about Peter a journalist who is investigating a cult leader, Maggie, claiming to be from the future with the intension of exposing her as a fraud. To get a firsthand look at Maggie, Peter and his girlfriend go undercover and are initiated into the cult, only to be pulled in deeper.

Why You Need to See It: Sound of My Voice is a mystery built on very well-crafted suspense and a fantastic payoff (which leaves the viewer questioning all the details that the film has shown them). Despite its micro-budget (i.e. lacking big action set pieces or other such spectacles that populate Hollywood mysteries and thrillers), the film is thoroughly compelling on the strength of its script and performances.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Streaming

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) – Review

Review: Safety Not Guaranteed is a heartfelt and funny indie drama. The film is about Darius, a magazine intern who has sort of felt lost since her mom died when she was young. During her latest assignment, accompanying a writer and another intern for the magazine on a story about a guy Kenneth who thinks he can time travel, she for the first time finds something she cares about and can believe in. Director Colin Trevorrow has created a film that both encompasses all the generic and typical genre devices of a quirky indie dramedy and has a fresh and wonderfully genuine spark to it. Trevorrow seemingly checks off each expected narrative component that a viewer familiar with indie dramedies would anticipate being in the film: an overall oddness and ironic tone to the world and quirkiness to the characters, characters stifled by seemingly meaningless existences (and jobs), a low budget feel (hand held camera work, natural lighting and so on), and emotive stares saying more than words (among others). However, all that being true, and all that being seemingly done to death in almost every indie dramedy to date, Tervorrow still infuses the film with a gleeful optimism and infectious almost magical tone that something special might truly happen, which makes the film completely compelling. This is only built upon by Trevorrow’s great characters. While in a general sense, the film may seem generic on the surface; on a deeper level these characters are still vital and relatable to the audience because Trevorrow and his actors give them good character moments and depth. They feel real and fleshed out, connecting them to the audience (and thereby the audience cares what happens to them). What they have to say means something and is not just trivial or plot-driven. Trevorrow also does a good job keeping the film brisk and moving, when it easily could have been overlong and meandering (which would have greatly hurt its impact). There are three main characters and two principal supporting characters, and yet even with the film’s short runtime, each has a full narrative journey and meaningful experience. And, the ending is utterly satisfying. Much like Primer, Safety Not Guaranteed is a low budget indie that gives big budget time travel narratives a run for their money and is better than most (thanks to great characters).

Techincal, aesthetic & acting achievements: Colin Trevorrow, making his feature debut, has done well for himself creating a narrative that is structurally sound and characters that the audience can take stock in, while seemingly complying to the stylistic requirements of the current indie dramedy genre. I look forward to seeing what he does next. Composer Ryan Miller’s score is almost overly generic for the genre (though, it will probably be well received for fans not yet fully burnt out on the style – here is an example), but still works well with the material overall.  Cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke and production designer Ben Blankenship, much like Miller’s score, stylistically are aligned with what we typically expect from the genre. Though, at the same time, having the film visually exist completely in a real toned down space worked well juxtaposed to the narrative device of time travel. The cast is great throughout, and is what makes the film special. Kristen Bell is good in a small role, while Jenica Bergere and Karan Soni are great in their supporting roles. Jake M. Johnson brings a lot of raw energy to the film, playing magazine writer Jeff as someone cool and self-satisfied in a superficial way, but sad on a more personal level. Mark Duplass’s character Kenneth on paper seems to be hard to play – being weird and paranoid, yet endearing – but he plays him almost effortlessly. This is really Duplass’s acting breakthrough. Aubrey Plaza plays Darius somewhat along the same lines as her character in Parks and Recreation – being disengaged – but rather than it being motivated by “it is not cool to care” here Darius is troubled and depressed. She desperately wants to feel something, but life has just let her down so far. It is strong work by Plaza as well.

Summary & score: Safety Not Guaranteed may not be one of the great remembered indie dramas of the decade (or even year), but it is certainly compelling, different and interesting. 8/10