Ruby Sparks (2012)

Ruby Sparks
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Writer: Zoe Kazan
Cast: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Toni Trucks, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Aasif Mandvi, Steve Coogan, Deborah Ann Woll, Elliott Gould

Plot:
Calvin (Paul Dano) wrote a critically acclaimed bestseller when he was very young – and has been stuck ever since. He can’t really write anything, he’s afraid that he won’t live up to his own reputation. But then he starts writing about Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan) – the perfect girl for him – and literally falls in love with his own creation. That is, until she actually shows up in his kitchen. At first, Calvin believes that he’s finally cracked, but other people can see her, too. And so Calvin doesn’t question it, instead starts enjoying their relationship. But how long can anybody remain perferct?

Ruby Sparks is the perfect take-down of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. And not only that, it is also a wonderfully charming, touching and funny movie with an extremely excellent cast.

For Ellen (2012)

For Ellen
Director: So Yong Kim
Writer: So Yong Kim
Cast: Paul Dano, Jon Heder, Shaylena Mandigo, Jena Malone, Margarita Levieva
Part of: Viennale

Plot:
Joby Taylor (Paul Dano) is a rather successful rock musician about to get divorced from his already very estranged wife Claire (Margarita Levieva). In fact, Claire has been bringing up their daughter Ellen (Shaylena Mandigo) while Joby’s been gone and now they’re only talking through their lawyers. In a last attempt to salvage something, Joby refuses to sign the divorce papers unless he gets to spend time with Ellen.

For Ellen was an extremely nice and sweet and touching and cute and absolutely wonderful film. It was one of those films that I wanted to see again the minute it was over.

Looper (2012)

Looper
Director: Rian Johnson
Writer: Rian Johnson
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Noah Segan, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo, Pierce Gagnon, Qing Xu

Plot:
Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a looper – gangsters from the future send the people they wish to kill back in time, where the loopers dispose of them. The last person they will dispose of that way will be their older selves, and thereby fulfilling their contract. As it happens, most loopers’ contracts are starting to get closed. But when it’s Joe’s turn, Old!Joe (Bruce Willis) won’t play along and makes a break for it.

Apart from one inconsistency, Looper is an expertly crafted and engaging time travel story. While it is not the greatest film ever made, I did enjoy it a whole lot.

[SPOILER]

The Girl Next Door (2004)

The Girl Next Door
Director: Luke Greenfield
Writer: Stuart Blumberg, David Wagner, Brent Goldberg
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette, Paul Dano

Plot:
Matthew (Emile Hirsch) is a senior in high school and just applied for a scholarship to Brown university (given to students with special moral fiber). He’s rather geeky, though his best friends Eli (Chris Marquette) and Klitz (Paul Dano) are even geekier. But that changes when Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) moves in next door. Matthew falls hard for Danielle and isn’t even deterred when he finds out that she’s a porn star. But she quickly turns his whole life upside down.

I was pretty sure that I would hate this film, Manic Pixie Dream Girl and all, but in the end it really wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Though that doesn’t make it any good, either.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Cowboys & Aliens is the newest film by Jon Favreau, written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg‘s comic book, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Paul Dano.

Plot:
Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the desert, without his memories but with a weird bracelet on his arm that he isn’t able to remove. He makes his way to the town of Absolution where he is recognised as a wanted fugitive when he gives Percy (Paul Dano), the son of the local head honcho Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), his due. Before things can go really bad, Absolution is attacked by space ships and many of the town inhabitants are abducted, among them Percy and the town’s barkeeper Doc’s (Sam Rockwell) wife. That’s when Jake’s bracelet kicks into action and shows some really special features. So, a search party heads out to find the missing people, including Jake, Woodrow, Doc and the mysterious Ella (Olivia Wilde).

Cowboys & Aliens is a well paced action flick with a good sense of humor and a very good cast. I liked it a lot.

[SPOILERS]

The Good Heart (2009)

The Good Heart is the newest film by Dagur Kári, starring Paul Dano and Brian Cox.

Plot:
Jacques (Brian Cox) is a misanthropic bar owner, Lucas (Paul Dano) a homeless young man who is nice to everyone. They meet in a hospital after Jacques suffers from a heart attack and Lucas recuperates after a suicide attempt. For some reason, Jacques settles on Lucas to be his successor. He takes him in and teaches him the way of the bar: basically, be as unfriendly as possible to everyone.

The Good Heart could have been really good. It’s got great actors and nice cinematography, unfortunately it also has a crappy script, a ridiculous storyline and Dagur Kári really did not convince me as a director.

[SPOILERS]

Meek’s Cutoff (2010)

[Viennale.]

Meek’s Cutoff is the newest film by Kelly Reichardt, starring Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Shirley Henderson, Rod Rondeaux.

Plot:
A small group of settlers turn from the Oregon Trail to take a shortcut, led by the grandtalker Meek (Bruce Greenwood). When their water starts to run out in the middle of the desert, they don’t really know what to do and neither does Meek. But they notice that there is a Native American (Rod Rondeaux) following them. After Emily (Michelle Williams) makes first contact with him, they both run off. But the men decide that he should lead them to water and capture him.

After Wendy and Lucy*, I expected a lot from this film. So much that I watched it, even though I really couldn’t care less about the genre itself, actually. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I had to fight to stay awake several times and was generally pretty bored.

[SPOILERS]

Knight and Day (2010)

Knight and Day is the newest movie by James Mangold, starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano and Jordi Mollà.

Plot:
June (Cameron Diaz) bumps into Roy (Tom Cruise) on her way home. She then ends up on the same flight as him, which is nearly empty. They start flirting, but while June goes to the bathroom to amp herself up, Roy goes ahead and kills all of the passengers – and the pilots – who happen to be spies trying to catch Roy who seems to be a rogue spy himself. Things go only downhill from there. A plane crash and approximately 5 conspiracy theories later, June is thoroughly tangled up in Roy’s world and has to tag along, rather reluctantly.

I didn’t expect much from Knight and Day – though the trailer did make me laugh – and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a great movie, but it’s good entertainment and I laughed actually quite a bit. Though there were a few things that bothered me, altogether the film was pretty enjoyable.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Where the Wild Things Are is the newest movie by Spike Jonze based on the book by Maurice Sendak. The movie was written by Jonze and Dave Eggers and stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose and Mark Ruffalo.

Plot:
Max (Max Records) is a lonely child full with fantastic [in the original sense] ideas. One day, after getting into a fight with his mother (Catherine Keener), Max runs from the house in a frenzy. He stumbles upon a boat which takes him to a land inhabitated by huge monsters. After they threaten to eat him, Max becomes their king and befriends them, especially Carol (James Gandolfini). But all is not well there, either.

Where the Wild Things Are is perfect. The look, the feel, the script, the actors, the music… it’s absolutley wonderful. The only caveat: They shifted the target demographic from preschooler to anyone older than ten.
[If that wasn't warning enough, there's going to be some serious gushage in this post.]

Taking Woodstock (2009)

Taking Woodstock is Ang Lee‘s newest movie, starring Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirsch, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Liev Schreiber and Paul Dano.

Plot:
Taking Woodstock is based on the real life story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), an out of luck interior designer who has to move back to his parents’ motel and of how he gets the Woodstock festival to be in his small town after Woodstock (and a neughbouring village) both pull the permits for it to be held there.

Taking Woodstock is a funny and heartfelt movie but most of all, a movie that manages to capture the spirit of the time (or at least it seems that way to someone who wasn’t alive then). It’s a captivating coming of age story set in slightly crazy but definitely special times that is told with a lot of humour and respect. Loved it.