Bart Layton, UK, 2012, 99 min.

While watching a documentary, or any film about a “true” story, you need to determine the bias of the film’s creators before you come up with your opinion on the topic. All documentaries are biased in some way. Mostly to prove a point.

The Imposter, by Bart Layton, tells the true story of child who went missing in Texas, and 3 years later was found in Spain and returned to his family. But the child is not who everyone thinks he is. Instead of a 15 year old American, he is a 23 year old French con-artist.

It’s a wild story, and that short description doesn’t tell the whole tale. There is more, and it’s keeps getting more and more interesting. And I think that’s where the bias is.

The film is biased to tell a great story. The film-makers have found one, for sure, but they make sure to wring every inch of story out of it. They make sure the twists register as “twists”, and that some theories are portrayed as more than just theories. Most of the story is told by a pathological liar, and the film makes no attempt to deal with that.

From a film-making stand point I don’t know if there is anything wrong with it. The film is well-made and entertaining. It runs a bit long, and borrows heavily from Errol Morris’s style, but those aren’t major criticisms.

It may give the wrong impression on some aspects of the events in question, I don’t know. But the story intrigues, provokes discussion, and is a crazy tale to experience. Do documentaries have an obligation not to be biased? Well, if that’s the case, you better stop watching documentaries. They all are.

This film wins the award “Most Awesome Private Eye” for Charlie Parker, who cracks the case wide open. It’s the ears! The ears!

A lot has been said about how Roger Ebert was an important person in the world of film criticism, and how he gave insightful commentary on topics far and wide. So instead of writing a tribute I thought I would let his work speak for itself.

If you only read one thing from Roger Ebert, read this essay on race in America.

For his sense of humor read this Sex and the City 2 review.

For his love of cinema read this City of God review.

For great analysis of a tough film read this Crash review.

For his take on Film Criticism, read this essay.

Thanks, Mr. Ebert. You will be missed.

Jon M. Chu, USA, 2013, 110 min.

The second G.I. Joe movie arrives into theaters a full nine months late. That extra gestation gave the studio time to coat the film in a nice layer of 3D, but instead of wasting time on that they should have given the script a nice new edit.

There are some things you should know about me before you continue reading this review. I have not seen the cartoon at all, so when I saw the first film I was not incensed about the deviation from cannon. So I enjoyed it. It had good action scenes, some fun characters with clear roles, over-the-top coincidences, and a plot that made enough sense to hold it all together (if you didn’t think about it too much).

The second film picks up where the first one left off except that most of the characters from the original are gone or replaced, and a bunch of new ones are added. The humor is still there, which is good, and the character’s are pretty cool. But sometimes it’s just a bit over-the-top, especially Bruce Willis, who for some reason has a tank in his garage.

The script is where things go a bit off the rails. I am not asking for much when it comes to the plot of a G.I. Joe movie, but when I get confused as to what people’s plans are and what motivates the character’s actions, then the script needs work.

But oh well. I can’t complain. There were some good things. The 3D was pretty good for post-conversion. Dwayne Johnson has great screen presence as usual and delivers the humor when needed. There is a guy that does Parkour, and there is a ninja fight on the side of the mountain. I guess you win, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but it was a close one.

This film wins the award “Funniest Prison Warden” for Walter Goggins really enjoying himself while giving a tour of his prison.

Karyn Kusama, USA, 2009, 107 min

There is so much wrong with Jennifer’s BodyI don’t even know where to start. Diablo Cody, coming straight off the huge success of her first script (Juno), writes this story of a high school girl who turns into some sort of monster after a terrible event at a rock concert.

The titular Jennifer, played by Megan Fox, is the head cheerleader type. She is definitely the intended draw of the film. Every shot she is in is designed to highlight her beauty, how cool she looks covered in blood, or really anything else about her body. There is something inherently wrong with that, but I guess the film delivers what is advertised so I’m not going to comment further.

The story is told through the eyes of her best friend, the conservative Amanda Seyfried. She struggles with her feelings for Jennifer, as well as being the only one who knows Jennifer’s secret. It is standard horror film stuff, and Diablo Cody tries to freshen it up by including “hip” dialog. But most of the lines are dead in the water and the humor just doesn’t work.

There is little Kusama can do to overcome the absurd plot-turns and over-written dialog. But she does direct with style and at least pulls off some memorable imagery. But it’s not enough, and the whole film falls flat well before the second(!) bookend is resolved. But like I said, the film delivers what was advertised, lots of chances to see Jennifer’s body.

This film wins the award “Thinnest Reason for a Satanic Sacrifice” for, well, I’m not going to spoil it. I know its supposed to be funny, but really? That’s the best idea?

Lee Kirk, USA, 2012, 94 min.

Unfortunately, there are no robots in The Giant Mechanical Man. Instead, its a good-natured and sweet romantic comedy/drama. It’s quirky to the max but it does have the right attitude, even if we’ve seen it all before.

But how annoyingly quirky the story is! A street-performer who walks around the city on stilts and painted silver, (the titular man) wants to show society that they are not alone when thinking about how everyone has become robots in their life. He’s actually pretty good at it.

There is a girl of course. She is skating by in life with no clear direction, unsure of where to go or what to do. She ends up living with his sister who tries to set her up with a cheese ball self-help guru (Played very entertainingly by Topher Grace.)

Eventually, the man and woman both wind up working at the local zoo, and a friendship is kindled. What happens next is very predictable. Romance, misunderstandings, confrontations, reconciliation, etc. Nothing you haven’t seen before a million times.

What I noticed about this film from the first second was how unbearably “independent” it was. From the quirky characters and the musical choices. And even the message and theme of the film. And it even stars Jenna Fischer and Chris Messina! It doesn’t get much more indie than that.

After describing my feelings about this film to a friend he said that it’s a sad day when independent cinema could be called cliche. And it’s true. This movie, although well-meaning with some good scenes here and there, is predictable and unsurprising.

This film wins the award “Most Brazenly Indie Film” for being the story of, and I quote “An offbeat romantic comedy about a silver-painted street performer and the soft spoken zoo worker who falls for him.”