THE AWARDS KEEP COMING

The awards are now coming fast and furious with Boston, Los Angeles and New York online critics groups announcing their picks for the best of this year in film. The American Film Institute has also delivered their choices for this year and while the films are good but they're awfully safe and predictable.

There are now finally some front runners starting to emerge with the films, "The Artist", "Hugo", "Moneyball" "The Descendants" "A Separation" and "The Tree of Life" (specifically for the work of cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki who is deservedly sweeping this category) and actors, Michael Fassbender, Albert Brooks, Christopher Plummer, Melissa McCarthy and Jessica Chastain who should get an Oscar nomination for at least one of the six films she made this year.

AFI 2011 FILMS OF THE YEAR

"BRIDESMAIDS"

"THE DESCENDANTS"

"THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

"THE HELP"

"HUGO"

"J. EDGAR"

"MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"

"MONEYBALL"

"THE TREE OF LIFE"

"WAR HORSE"

THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

PICTURE: "The Artist"

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

ACTOR: Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

SCREENPLAY:  Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin, "Moneyball"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

DOCUMENTARY: "Project Nim"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Incendies"

ANIMATED FILM: "Rango"

FILM EDITING: Christian Marclay, "The Clock"

NEW FILMMAKER: Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

ENSEMBLE CAST: "Carnage"

USE OF MUSIC IN FILM: (tie) "Drive" and "The Artist"

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

PICTURE: "The Descendants"

DIRECTOR: Terence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"

ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, "Poetry"

ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, "A Dangerous Method", "Jane Eyre", "Shame", and "X-Men: First Class"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, "The Tree of Life", "The Help", "The Debt", "Take Shelter", "Coriolanus" and "Texas Killing Fields"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, "Hugo"

DOCUMENTARY: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

ANIMATION: "Rango"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "City of Life and Death"

NEW GENERATION: The creative team behind "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: "Spark of Being"

BEST MUSIC/SCORE: The Chemical Brothers, "Hanna"

THE NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE

PICTURE: "The Artist"

DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, "The Descendants"

ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

ACTOR: Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

DOCUMENTARY: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

ANIMATED FEATURE: "The Adventures of Tintin"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "A Separation"

DEBUT DIRECTOR: Joe Cornish, "Attack the Block"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Jessica Chastain

ENSEMBLE CAST: "Bridesmaids"

MUSIC: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist"

SHAME (2011)

Written by Steve McQueen & Abi Morgan


Directed by Steve McQueen


Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA.  December 5, 2011 7:45PM



"Shame" is the first Hollywood film to be released rated NC-17 since Ang Lee's espionage thriller, "Lust, Caution" in 2007. While I personally feel the rating is a bit of an overkill (and I want to commend Fox Searchlight for being willing to release the film with this rating) but the film certainly does display,explicitly and unflinchingly, all types of sexuality in this story about a man whose life slowly begins to unravel due to his constant, uncontrollable pursuit of sexual stimulation as a way to help fill an empty void within himself.

Michael Fassbender plays Brandon who, on the surface, appears to be your average, successful New Yorker; handsome, charming, stylish with a job in which he is well compensated but secretly he spends most of his waking moments trying to satisfy his all-consuming sexual urges. Brandon's daily routine consists of,while at work, spending hours scanning through Internet porn before sneaking off to the men's room to masturbate then later, (if he hasn't managed to find a sexual conquest on the streets) he arrives home where he spends the evening surfing more porn, and more masturbation before hiring a prostitute as a nightcap. Each of these moments are cold, mechanical and he doesn't seem to be enjoying much of it.

A disruption of his schedule occurs when Brandon's estranged sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up at his doorstep, with no place to go, after another disastrous relationship has ended. He reluctantly agrees to let her stay for a while as she promises not to get in his way. However,  that promise is short lived as Sissy is a complete slob, and always at the apartment which is interrupting his ability to fulfill his needs. Their relationship is complicated, full of resentment, emotional abuse and some sexual tension. In many ways, Sissy is just as damaged as her brother, although not nearly as extreme, as she clings desperately to men that are wrong or unavailable for her and lacks good judgement as she beds down Brandon's boss ( James Badge Dale) the same evening after Brandon invited him to hear her sing at a nightclub.

As an attempt at some sense of normalcy, Brandon decides to ask a co-worker ( Nicole Beharie) out on a date. They have an actual connection and share a  lovely evening together but later when they try to be intimate, Brandon finds that he is incapable of having a meaningful, sexual encounter with someone he actually has any feelings for and ends up later hiring a hooker to get him off.

As Brandon's private activities are revealed to people close to him, he becomes even more frustrated which in turn leads him to act out sexually in more reckless and dangerous ways.

"Shame" is a confident and accomplished work and, surprisingly, is only the second feature film by British writer/director, Steve McQueen following "Hunger", the 2008 film about IRA member, Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, which won the Camera d'Or at that year's Cannes Film Festival.  He began his career as an experimental artist and you can see that in his unconventional film making style where he enjoys extreme close-ups,  and long takes that don't cut away from the subject. He has crafted a darkly mesmerizing character study that simply presents this man's condition and offers no opinion or resolution. While the screenplay is spare and doesn't reveal much background on the siblings but we are given enough clues to see that they had a rough, difficult childhood.which left them both feeling unworthy of love with very low self-esteem.

What I am most impressed about is that "Shame" is refreshingly an adult film about an adult subject matter and sadly, these films are simply not being made anymore as Hollywood remains committed to cinematic ideas that will mostly appeal to only a sixteen-year old boys. Newsflash! - Grown folks still like to go to the movies and would like more options than transforming robots and flying men wearing capes.

This is Mr. Fassbender's fourth film appearance this year following his wide-ranging, terrific turns in "Jane Eyre", "X-Men: First Class" and David Cronenberg's recently released, "A Dangerous Method" but this is clearly his best. Fassbender also starred in "Hunger" and it's clear that he and McQueen have developed a working relationship built on complete faith and trust that allows the actor to be willing to travel wherever needed for the role. It is an amazing, committed performance in which he not only brilliantly exposes his character's internal anguish but he also bravely displays every part of his external being. This film has already won him several awards and I think Mr. Fassbender will have to make room on his mantle for a few more.

Ms Mulligan never fails to impress as the lost and needy sister. The young British actress not only convincingly plays an American but actually sings a complete rendition of  the usually inspiring anthem, "New York, New York" with her version unexpectedly slow and haunting.

I admit that I am still a little skeptical that sex addiction truly exists but nevertheless, "Shame" sheds some light to a dark secret that is finally revealed and delivers it in a powerfully honest, fascinating and non-judgemental way of how something that should be such a pleasurable experience, could possibly develop in to a crippling condition for some individuals.

THE 2011 AWARDS SEASON HAS BEGUN

The award season has officially been kicked off with two critics groups; New York Film Critics Circle and The National Board of Review declaring their picks for the best achievements in cinema during this year and the Independent Spirit Awards selecting their nominees.

Long before any announcements were even made, there was a little bit of controversy as The NYFCC decided to jump ahead of the NBR, who traditionally are the first to present their list of winners, to November 28th to proclaim their selections. However, that change created a problem for the New York critics as they were not able to see a few possible contenders because of their new date and even decided to push it back by a day to allow them to screen David Fincher's English- language remake of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". The group believes that this move will help them effectively affect the Oscar race but it's nothing more than delusional thinking as there is no way to get an accurate gauge of this year's best films if they haven't seen all of them before their new deadline.

This year, there seems to be no particular film that is dominating the awards as the picks are all over the place with no real front-runners for the coveted Oscar nominations, which leaves the field very wide open.  The good news is that hopefully this will lead to generating some new attention to some wonderful but challenging films that could always use a little more help in getting more people in to the theaters such as "The Artist", "Margin Call", "Drive" and "Take Shelter".

Here is the list  from the following groups:

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

Best Picture: "The Artist"

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin, "Moneyball"

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"

Best Actor: Brad Pitt, "Moneyball" & "The Tree of Life"

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, "The Tree of Life", "The Help", and "Take Shelter"

Best First Feature: "Margin Call"

Best Non-Fiction Film: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

Best Film: "Hugo"

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Actor: George Clooney, "The Descendants"

Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, "50/50"

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, "The Descendants"

Best Animated Feature: "Rango"

Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"

Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"

Best Ensemble: "The Help"

Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender ("A Dangerous Method", "Jane Eyre", "Shame", "X-Men: First Class")

NBR Freedom of Expression: "Crime After Crime"

NBR Freedom of Expression: "Pariah"

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"

Best Documentary: "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"

Special Achievement in Film Making: "The Harry Potter Franchise" - A Distinguished Translation from Book to Film


THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Here are the 2011 Indie Spirit nominations:

Best Feature

"50/50"
"Beginners"
"Drive"
"Take Shelter"
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"

Best Screenplay

Joseph Cedar, "Footnote"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Tom McCarthy, "Win Win"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants"

Best First Feature

"Another Earth"
"In the Family"
"Margin Call"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Natural Selection"

Best First Screenplay

Mike Cahill & Brit Marling, "Another Earth"
J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"
Patrick deWitt, "Terri"
Phil Johnston, "Cedar Rapids"
Will Reiser, "50/50"

Best Female Lead

Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"
Rachael Harris, "Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Male Lead

Demián Bichir, "A Better Life"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Ryan Gosling, "Drive"
Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

Best Supporting Female

Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"
Anjelica Huston, 5"0/50
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Supporting Male

Albert Brooks, "Drive"
John Hawkes, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
John C. Reilly, "Cedar Rapids"
Corey Stoll, "Midnight in Paris"

Best Cinematography

Joel Hodge, "Bellflower"
Benjamin Kasulke, "The Off Hours"
Darius Khondji, "Midnight in Paris"
Guillaume Schiffman, "The Artist"
Jeffrey Waldron, "The Dynamiter"

Best Documentary

"An African Election"
"Bill Cunningham New York"
"The Interrupters"
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"
"We Were Here"

Best International Film

"A Separation"
"Melancholia"
"Shame"
"The Kid With a Bike"
"Tyrannosaur"

The Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast):

"Margin Call"

The John Cassavetes Award – (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

"Bellflower"
"Circumstance"
"Hello Lonesome"
"Pariah"
"The Dynamiter"

MELANCHOLIA (2011)

Written & Directed by Lars von Trier


Where & When: AFI Fest, Chinese 6 Theaters, Hollywood, CA. November 8, 2011  3:15PM



"Melancholia", the latest film by Lars von Trier, one of cinema's  most controversial figures, opens with an eerie but breathtakingly beautiful slow-motion montage of highlighted moments from the film set to Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde". It plays, in many ways, like a music video  that perfectly conveys a sense of the impending doom that is to follow this segment.

The film is split in to two parts with the first focusing on Justine (Kirsten Dunst), a young bride who is arriving very late to her own lavish wedding with her future husband, Michael (Alexander Skarsgard). It is being held at the mansion of her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who is annoyed but hardly surprised while her boorish husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland) feels the need to repeatedly remind Justine how much he spent paying for this affair.

After the couple are finally married, the reception begins with plenty of booze, dancing and drama. Justine's jovial father (John Hurt) toasts the newlyweds but his bitter ex-wife (Charlotte Rampling) puts a damper on the party by proclaiming that she doesn't believe in marriage while the wedding planner (Udo Kier) refuses to look at Justine any longer since he feels that her tardy appearance ruined his wedding.

Justine has been secretly behaving like the happy bride throughout the evening but when able to sneak away from the festivities, she takes a bath, then retreats in her usual depressed mood, while struggling to find a way to maintain the smiling facade for the sake of her marriage.

The second half deals with Claire as she brings her sister to her home to live with her husband and young son months after the wedding. The reason is that Justine has fallen in to such a deep, catatonic state that she is not able to find the strength to even get in to a bathtub.

Claire has become anxious herself due to a giant planet, called Melancholia, that appears to be heading on a collusion course straight in to Earth. Her husband, who is a self-proclaimed expert on astrology, assures her that it will miss hitting our planet but she is not completely convinced. His prediction turns out not to be accurate as Melancholia slowly moves closer to our planet. As the end seems to draw near, Claire is inconsolably panic-stricken, fearing for her son's life but a sense of calm and inner peace falls over Justine as she finally has a clearer understanding of the meaning of her life.

I have never been a big fan of the films of Mr. von Trier as I find his vision to be daunting, extremely challenging and unpleasantly dark with not much of a payoff in the end, which was certainly the case of his last film, 2009's "Antichrist" but "Melancholia" is his most accessible and conventional film to date with even a surprising touch of sweetness that managed to sneak it's way in. While it is still uneven with moments throughout that feel random and overlong but the film is a thrilling visual wonder, most especially the conclusion which offers an ending that is disturbing, terrifying and yet so completely captivating that it actually left me speechless in my seat.

Since her major breakthrough at the age of ten in "Interview With a Vampire" in 1994 , Ms Dunst has not been given many opportunities to showcase her full range as an actress although there were a few roles that hinted at her potential, such as the films, "The Virgin Suicides", "Marie Antoinette" and last year's, "All Good Things" but in "Melancholia" she's finally has the chance in a brutally, raw performance that takes her on a full range of deep and complex emotions. Ms Dunst won the Best Actress Award at Cannes this year and she certainly deserves an Oscar nod for her work here.

Ms Gainsbourg, who herself won the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her performance in "Antichrist", is equally impressive as the caring and protective older sister whose steely exterior crumbles as she is overcome with fear and hopelessness as our planet approaches it's final end.

One thing that can be said about Mr.von Trier is that he is certainly a polarizing figure with just as many film audiences finding him a daring, cinematic genius as those who find his work unnecessarily fractious and misogynistic. He has also been called a manic-depressive, who desperately needs to seek additional help due to some comments he made at this year's Cannes Film Festival before a screening of "Melancholia" that made him seem like a Nazi sympathizer (which may or may not have been his attempt at humor) and as a result, caused him to be banned from the festival.

It 's clear that von Trier thoroughly enjoys provoking, shocking and using his own painful experiences to create work which will explore his bleak world view while stimulating conversation by expressing ideas that will most certainly make members of the audience agitated and uncomfortable. While he is still very much an artist who is troublesome, excessive, provocative and somewhat juvenile but with "Melancholia", Mr. von Trier has found a way to restrain some of these impulses to create a film that will allow viewers to see that he is also capable of creating a sublime film that is remarkably poignant, reflective and touching. "Melancholia" is a film that will linger in your mind for a long while after seeing it.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011)

Written & Directed by Sean Durkin


Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA.  October 25, 2011  7:30PM


The three names in the title of "Martha Marcy May Marlene" refers to only one person but each name represents three separate and turbulent times in this young woman's life.

Elizabeth Olsen plays Martha, which is her actual birth name, who has just called her older sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulsen) that she's not made any contact with in two years. Martha has been in upstate New York where she had been living in a cult-like commune and just recently felt she needed to sneak off and escape.

Lucy decides to take Martha to her summer home in Connecticut, not too far from the commune, that she shares with her new husband, Ted (Hugh Darcy). Although he's not thrilled with the idea of having Martha with them, since he wanted to spend some quiet time with his wife, but he's more than willing to try and help her out.

Listless and unmotivated, Martha doesn't want to do much more than sleep but Lucy insists that she get out and enjoy the sunshine. As Lucy spends more time with her sister, she begins to realize, which we see through a series of flashbacks, that the years in that place has taken it's toll on Martha. She is shocked and disturbed by how much Martha has changed as she no longer aware of proper etiquette in middle-class society such as wearing a bathing suit while swimming in public or crawling in to bed with her while she's in the middle of making love with her husband. Although Martha had some issues long before she joined the commune but the unconventional environment didn't help her in any way.

We can understand the initial attraction for Martha to this group as the leader, Patrick (John Hawkes) is soft-spoken, charming and seductive. He renames Martha, "Marcy May" since he feels that it suits her better and she happily accepts, in some way flattered, that he has taken the time out to notice her. Life on the compound begins calm and idyllic as it provides Martha with a family structure in which she seems to have been searching for but soon the situation slowly grows darker. It begins small with the women are not allowed to eat until after the men have finished to larger problems such as the dangerous methods used for collecting money to live on to the depraved and disturbing way Patrick takes advantage of the new female followers.

Martha becomes increasingly confused, having difficulty being able to distinguish between reality and her troubled past as well as fear that Patrick and his cult are watching her and waiting for an opportunity to take her back.

"Martha" won writer/director Sean Durkin the Best Director prize at last year's Sundance Film Festival and this feature film debut expands upon his short, "Mary Last Seen" which was also about a young girl trying to cope with life after leaving a cult and that won Best Short Film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. This quiet, little film is beautifully shot with cinematographer, Jody Lee Lipes creating a delicate, dream-like quality with Mr. Durkin getting fine performances from his terrific cast but I had difficulty becoming fully engaged in the film. I realize that the main focus was on Martha's struggle to find her way after her involvement with this group but I was distracted by the many questions that were left unanswered that made it hard to understand or connect with the victim such as what was the actual attraction or motivation for any of these people to devote their lives to Patrick so completely, most especially since the film made it a point to avoid any religious reason and what exactly happened to fracture the relationship between the sisters and push Martha in to the clutches of this group?

Ms Olsen, the younger sister of the twin child actors (TV's "Full House") turned powerful, media moguls, Mary-Kate and Ashley, is quite impressive in her first leading film role and actually the main reason to see this film. At only twenty-two, she is gifted with a natural ease in front of the camera and a compelling presence as she perfectly captures her character's uneasy attempt of trying to rediscover who she is. "Martha" is a superb showcase of Ms Olsen's potential as a major screen actor.

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" is an admirable first film that delivers well-executed film making and solid performances and while it authentically shows us the harrowing ordeal of this young woman's but it's just too vague in the details of what exactly contributed to her complete wiliness to get involved with this cult. While the film is not a complete success but director, Sean Durkin along with his very talented leading lady, Elizabeth Olsen show true promise.

2011 AFI FEST AWARD WINNERS

This year's AFI Fest Presented by Audi has ended. It was the first time I volunteered to help out with this festival and I had a great time. I only got a chance to see only one film, "Melancholia" but it was something I was really looking forward in seeing and it was well worth getting the opportunity to see it early.

This really is a terrific festival dedicated to world cinema and a wonderful experience. If you missed it, please be sure to check it out next year.

Here is a list of all of the award winners:

AUDIENCE AWARDS

The Audience Awards were announced at a special ceremony at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Thursday, November 11, 2011:

World Cinema: (Tie) JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (David Gelb) and KINYARWANDA (Alrick Brown)





New Auteurs: BULLHEAD (Michaël R. Roskam)



Young Americans: WUSS (Clay Liford)



Breakthrough: (Award accompanied by a $ 5,000 cash prize) WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT (Alexandra-Therese Keining)

JURY AWARDS

The New Auteurs Critic's Jury (Justin Chang, Mike Goodridge, Mark Olsen and Jean Oppenheimer) awarded prizes to:

Grand Jury Prize: THE LONELIEST PLANET (Julia Loktev)

Special Jury Prize: ATTENBERG (Athina Rachel Tsangari)



Acting Award Prize: Matthias Schoenaerts BULLHEAD

In addition, the Shorts Jury (Barry Jenkins, Gerardo Naranjo and Kim Yutani) announced its winners, which qualify the films for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual Academy Awards.

Grand Jury Prize – Live Action Short: FROZEN STORIES (Grzegorz Jaroszuk); Honorable Mention: BABYLAND (Marc Fratello)

Grand Jury Prize – Animated Short: THE EAGLEMAN STAG (Michael Please); Honorable Mention: THE VOYAGERS (Penny Lane)

LIKE CRAZY (2011)

Written by Ben York James & Drake Doremus


Directed by Drake Doremus


Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. November 1, 2011 5:30PM


Do you recall the first time you saw someone across the room, your eyes meet, sparks fly and there is some sort of sense of a deep, magical connection from just that initial encounter? The romantic drama, "Like Crazy" attempts to recreate that special moment but the results end up being uneven and not exactly as moving and thrilling as you might like to remember.

Anton Yelchin plays Jacob, a cute young man attending college in Los Angeles who wants to design furniture. Felicity Jones is Anna, a pretty, British young lady who is attending the same college to become a writer. They notice each other in class but barely speak so, Anna boldly leaves a note on Jacob's car asking him out on a date. Intrigued and certainly attracted to her, Jacob accepts her offer. The two connect almost immediately as we see the romance blossoming through a series of dates and intimate moments.

Anna's student visa expires at the end of the school year which means she is supposed to return home but now she's hopelessly in love with Jacob and can't bear the thought of leaving him. After a romantic, farewell getaway to Catalina Island, she decides to stay throughout the summer to spend more time with the man she loves.

Anna later returns home to England with the intention of returning quickly as a tourist. However, a complication arises when she arrives in Los Angeles and she is denied entry because of her previous visa violation. Jacob and Anna try to maintain their relationship long-distance for a while but the difficulties of the time-difference, jealousy and frustration causes the couple to separate.

Jacob starts a successful design business and begins to date his employee (Jennifer Lawrence) while Anna works writing for an Internet blog as she goes out with her handsome neighbor (Charlie Bewley) but their feelings for each other never change. They soon reconnect with Jacob visiting England and Anna's family hiring an immigration lawyer to help untangle the legal matter but will this couple be able to survive the stress and strain of trying to hang on in order to keep their love alive?

"Like Crazy" has received plenty of critical praise and has won several awards including the Best Actress and Best Film Grand Jury Prizes at last year's Sundance Film Festival but I just don't get it. There is strong camera work by cinematographer, John Guleserian and the performances are well done but I didn't see anything particularly special or inspiring about this film to get so worked-up about.

Now, I realize it has been many, many years since I've been caught-up in the throws of young love and perhaps my memory is now just a bit foggy but I can't imagine it ever being this emotionally flat and uninteresting. There have been a large number of films that have documented the incredible highs and terrible lows of falling in love so we need to see something that strongly takes on a creative or inventive variation of this theme as much as possible and "Like Crazy", while it is a well-made, is lacking in that area. The apparently fresh idea that the major obstacles standing in the way of their happiness is their different nationalities and bad judgement is pretty thin and less than engaging.

Director, Drake Doremus and co-writer, Ben York James put together a sixty page outline with the lead actors improvising much of the screenplay and while the two young actors are able to bring some realism to their characters but with Yelchin at only the age of twenty-two and Jones at twenty-seven, there isn't a lot of life experience to be able to add compelling and meaningful dialogue.

Despite the efforts of a talented cast and crew, "Like Crazy" never rises above a fairly, standard love story and with a running time of only ninety minutes, feels over-extended and tedious.