Can't Place My Finger On Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson makes weird movies. That's kind of his thing. But Inherent Vice takes that statement to a whole new level.

This is the first film adapted from the author Thomas Pynchon's work. And it's got a plot far too convoluted to explain, but I'll try anyway. In 1970s Los Angeles, Doc (Joaquin Phoenix) is a private detective smoking his days away while he's not trying to solve a case. But one day his ex-girlfriend Shasta (Katherine Waterston) shows up at his place in tears telling him about a conspiracy she's been drawn into to stick her current boyfriend (who's actually married) in a looney bin. The story just gets weirder and weirder from there. But always with a sense of fun and intrigue.

I guess when I say I can't place my finger on Inherent Vice, what I mean is I like it but I don't really understand why I like it. This movie feels like an anomaly. It's like P.T. Anderson's attempt at making his own The Big Lebowski. But he being who he is found a property that perfectly encapsulated exactly what his version of that would be. It's baffling. It's mesmerizing. It almost shouldn't work, but then something comes along and gets you back on the same page. There are too many names by half and too many organizations trying to be involved, but that doesn't seem to matter. Somehow the relationship between Doc (Phoenix) and Bigfoot (Josh Brolin) holds power over the audience. Neither character makes sense by themselves, but at some point they both begin to make perfect sense with each other.

Joaquin Phoenix does a good enough job here. Though at stretches he is impossible to understand and the looseness of some of the scenes, particularly early on, seems to work against his current acting style making him feel like he's sitting in some low-level acting class trying to remember how to breath and talk at the same time. But like I said, he mostly gets it done. Josh Brolin is great! He's entertaining to watch, knows when to chew the scenery and when to reel it in, and his character choices are precisely what is called for at any given time. To be honest, I'm surprised he's not getting any Supporting Actor buzz. Katherine Waterston is a joy to watch here as well. I didn't know her very well before this flick, but I'll be looking for her in the future. It's also really cool to have Joanna Newsom in there as the narrator. She's got such a wonderful voice which she'll usually display in music, but P.T. had the insight to let her voice color his own film in a different way.

On the surface, Inherent Vice seems like it shouldn't work. It's just too overwhelming and weird. But a great director with a quality cast... and a little bit of elbow grease... gets it done here. This is a flick worth seeing in theaters.

Her Is The Best Film Of 2013

As I walked out of that theater I knew it without a doubt.

In 2013, nothing else compared. No other motion picture was more timely, impressive in scope, or well fleshed out than Spike Jonze's Her. Honestly, when I first caught the trailer, I knew I was gonna like this movie. But I had no idea I was going to LOVE it.

The most impressive element... the thing that took me most by surprise... was Spike's ability not to fall into the obvious writing traps this concept could have afforded. Scarlett Johansson's Samantha is just so utterly believable and intriguing to the point that I believe everyone in that screening wished they had her as their own OS.

It never ceases to amaze me how, with every passing year, a new element of sci-fi becomes almost happenstance. This time it was utterly believable that our Operating Systems could one day be given sentience. And therefor become much more effective in helping us maneuver through our everyday lives. When Samantha first appears, she immediately cleans up Theodore's (Joaquin Phoenix) mess. In a matter of seconds, his life becomes infinitely easier. I don't think this idea is very far off. And Spike Jonze goes out of his way (without taking any extra steps mind you) to show us how society has already evolved to allow for this technology. Theodore's job is a very simple and effective means to explaining where humanity is at this time. He writes "beautiful" heartfelt letters for people... so that they don't have to themselves. The evolution of society was already leaning in Samantha's favor. So getting to that point feels pretty much effortless.

This is just one simple detail that I am pulling to try and explain how perfect this film actually is. Wait until you meet the alien (you'll know what I'm talking about).

I didn't believe it before, but now I do... Joaquin Phoenix is back. He gave an exceptional performance. I felt for him the whole movie and felt almost disgusted with myself for how onboard I was in his choice to be with Samantha. Scarlett Johansson deserves an Oscar. I know there's no voice category, but she lived that part and as an audience we somehow understood her... not an easy task when you're trying to convey a sentience that can communicate with pretty much the entire world all at once. Amy Adams was great. Chris Pratt was great. Rooney Mara was great. Olivia Wilde too. Man! What an awesome group of people. And just look at who plays the voices on the other ends of phone calls in this thing. Just All Star all the way.

Spike Jonze has been leading toward this for quite some time now. And I'm very pleased to be recommending this new film of his so ardently. It left me utterly exhausted emotionally. I love the concept, I love the colors, I love the music. Don't ask any questions. Just see Her.