The Attack (Ziad Doueiri, 2012)

7.5/10
An interesting movie about an Arab surgeon in Tel Aviv named Amin who discovers that a recent suicide bombing was perpetrated by his wife of 15 years. The brunt of the movie is him coming to terms with this fact and searching for answers.
It's a good movie, technically well made, very well acted, and dances a very delicate political and religious line but without ever really passing judgment. In fact the movie almost keeps Amin at arm's distance - for someone who lost his wife of 15 years and who was harbouring feelings completely foreign to Amin, his grief doesn't get much screen time. Maybe the writer was afraid that if you show Amin weeping over a suicide bomber's death (even if it was his wife), it would already be asking the audience to empathize with a monstrous act. By the same token, the movie also impresses in its refusal to provide Amin (or the audience) with simple answers, but this too proves somewhat distancing, leaving the movie and its story, with such potential for emotional impact, a little dry.
Also I looked up afterwards who did the music because I would have sworn on anything you put in front of me it was Explosions in the Sky. Turns out it's a guy named Eric Neveux doing a very believable Explosions in the Sky impression. Regardless who it was it fit the movie very well.

Elysium (Neill Blomkamp, 2013)

7/10
Given some of the criticism I've heard about it, I was expecting worse. In reality, it was pretty good. At the very least, I was entertained, and I didn't find Blomkamp's social commentary too heavy-handed. It was a little goofy at times, and there were some issues with the tone - in the early-going it felt entirely too mechanical, and then tried to make up for lost time by pouring on the cheese, which was unnecessary. Jodie Foster's performance can best be described as 'distracting' (what was the point in giving her a weird French accent?). Sharlto Copley was excellent and Matt Damon was reliable as ever. It wasn't quite the revelation District 9 was but I guess Blomkamp set the bar too high for himself with that one. Elysium is still a pretty respectable follow-up performance.

Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)

9/10
I'm a little embarrassed I haven't seen this movie until now, and with the third one coming out I figured I better get started. It's exactly as I expected it to be and I was happy for that. I imagined, with three movies in the can together, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy would have strong chemistry, but I was unprepared for just how well they worked together. There was very little not to like and I look forward to seeing the next one, hopefully soon.

The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)

7.5/10
This is certainly an original and surreal documentary. Produced by Werner Herzog, at times it feels like the best documentary he never directed. it certainly has a lot of his hallmarks, down to wondering just how much of what you're seeing is real and how much is scripted. And Anwar Congo is as incredible a figure as you would find in a Herzog doc, one of those creatures too unfathomable to be fiction.
Congo is filmed recreating his crimes as aggressor and as victim, as well as revisiting places from his gangster past and even recreating the dreams that continue to haunt him. We're led to believe this reveals some kind of truth to Anwar, who finally seems remorseful by the end of the "exercise", although it's shown so briefly and alongside so many other fantastic scenes it's hard not to question its authenticity.
I wasn't as enamored with the movie as I thought I would be - it's a little long and feels like a bit of a smoke-and-mirrors act at times, and I wondered a couple of times if the 2 and a half hours wouldn't be better spent educating people more about these crimes instead of partially glorifying them for the sake of a quick payoff at the film's end. What, if anything, Congo has learned from his experience making the film is completely given to the ether. But it's certainly interesting and completely unique and I appreciate it for that.

On the Road (Walter Salles, 2012)

5/10
A film adaptation of Kerouac's book has been in development for, like, 15 years. I can't imagine anyone who had been holding their breath that entire time waiting for the result would be too blown away with what Walter Salles put together here. On the Road struck me as an unfilmable book and this would appear to be the evidence of that. None of the manic urgency and pulse of Kerouac's story is here, and you get the feeling that Salles knows he's painted himself into a corner with this move...scenes pass by without any real conviction or importance attached to them. Major events in the book (Sal's stay at the farm, the sojourn with Burroughs, Mexico) come and go almost as brief vignettes that appear only in the movie because, hey, they were in the book and we had to film them.
Another strange thing is how rarely it felt like the movie was taking place in the late 40's/early 50's. Rather, I was very aware that I was watching a 2012 movie.
As far as the ensemble cast, I felt Garrett Hedlund (Dean) and Kristen Stewart (Marylou) were solid, but didn't really like Sam Riley as Sal and his forced "Kerouac voice". Viggo Mortensen made the best of what he had to work with and Kirsten Dunst felt horribly out of place.
On the whole, this just felt like a movie that didn't need to exist, illuminating nothing from its source material and failing to entertain in addition to that.

Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964)

8/10
Hard to believe this giallo from Mario Bava dates all the way back to 1964! The first so-called "bodycount" movie, it's not real gruesome, just features a lot of what would become giallo staples - namely masked men killing women. The colors are gorgeous, the opening title sequence is fantastic, the soundtrack is good...the plot starts out pretty knotty but kind of dumbs itself down by the end, which was a bummer, but you can't expect too much from a movie like this. But it was really enjoyable and visually a treat, so I liked it.

From One Second to the Next (Werner Herzog, 2013)

7.5/10
Okay, feels a little weird reviewing what is essentially a public service announcement from a major corporation, but it was directed by Werner Herzog and it's over thirty minutes long so I'll give it a score. You can see the full thing here. Basically a series of 5 or 6 vignettes interviewing people involved in accidents from texting while driving, either the victims or the offenders. Basically what it sounds like, sad and definitely thought-provoking, although the people liable to text while driving probably aren't the ones who are going to watch a half-hour short about it on Youtube either. The final vignette is especially striking.
And from an artistic point of view, this is certainly Herzog's least personal and most hands-off documentary ever (he never appears or speaks on camera) but you can still see a few of his touches, particularly in the lingering shots, some of the quirks focused on (a young girl's empty hand, for instance) and the last line of the short. In any case, a good watch.

Blackfish (Gabriela Cowperthwaite, 2013)

8/10
A pretty interesting documentary about killer whales (orcas) in captivity and specifically taking aim at SeaWorld and the way it both mistreats the whales and endangers its own staff by putting them in the water with these humungous and sometimes unpredictable creatures. It was inspired by the 2010 death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau at the hands (fins?) of the whale Tilikum, an orca who had a history of "being involved in" (whether he was responsible is up for debate) the death of two other humans. SeaWorld claims Brancheau's death was either her fault or the result of a whale's "playtime" that went wrong. The movie levels the much heavier allegation that Brancheau's death was not an isolated incident, that whales in captivity have a history of endangering humans, and that SeaWorld has a vested interest in sweeping those facts under the rug and continuing to endanger the lives of their staff to sell park tickets and Shamu dolls.
It's a good documentary, even if it has an agenda, although it's maybe lacking a certain artistry that would elevate it to a level beyond mere "National Geographic special". Lots of talking heads, lots of camcorder footage of whale attacks, and a few too many kitschy/ironic 90's SeaWorld "everybody's happy" commercials.
The subject matter is interesting if not revelatory - it's something everybody knows takes place, although it can be alarming to see the evidence the filmmakers have compiled all at once.