The LEGO Movie – The Big Twist
Anyone who grew up playing with LEGO knows the magic that comes with each and every brick. The toy is literally designed for endless play, and over the years, LEGO builders – young and old, novice and professional – have proven that there are limitless possibilities for what can be created by simply letting your imagination run wild.
That idea is at the very core of The LEGO Movie, a film that was far better than it had any right to be, thanks to some expert direction from new favorites Phil Lord and Chris Miller. As fun as Emmet, Wildstyle, and Vitruvius’ adventure was, the film’s true focus was on the fact that the sky isn’t even the limit when it comes to LEGO.
That message was perfectly translated through the big twist: that everything we’ve seen on screen thus far had all taken place within a child’s imagination. In a brave moment of self-sacrifice, Emmet throws himself off Lord Business’ tower and finds himself on the floor of a basement in the real world, where it’s revealed that a boy has been playing with his father’s LEGO bricks, and creating the adventure that we’ve all been following on screen.
The twist is simple but extremely effective, and is perfectly followed up by a side story involving the boy’s father (who he’s used to base Lord Business on), an adult LEGO builder content with simply, and religiously, following the instructions. Once he begins spending time with his son – seeing what he’s created – he lightens up and joins in on the play. Together, they’re able to tap into LEGO’s true potential and unlock the magic that’s made LEGO endure for as long as it has.
– James Garcia
Foxcatcher – The Shooting
It’s an overlooked fact, but moviegoers simply take the acting ability of comedians for granted. Men-children from Jim Carrey (The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind), to Robin Williams (Insomnia, One Hour Photo, Good Will Hunting), to even Seth Rogen in the criminally underrated Take This Waltz have proven time and time again that they actually have talent beyond making a fool of themselves.
Steve Carell is the latest to join the club, playing the schizophrenic, delusional, cocaine addicted, overly patriotic, nut job John du Pont. He also happens to be obsessed with the sport of Olympic wrestling. Carell, with a nasally voice and prosthetic nose shaped like an eagle, gives a genuinely creepy performance that will raise the hair on your skin.
Despite the fact that he is a whack job, he never once strikes you as the type that could actually be capable of murder. However, that is exactly what John du Pont does towards the end of Foxcatcher. There isn’t even any tension or build-up to the moment; it’s just something he does. It’s clear that even director Bennett Miller doesn’t know why, as Foxcatcher isn’t out to deliver all the answers behind the richest man ever convicted of murder, but rather to show us the characters and allow us to analyze them, coming to our own conclusion.
Even the direction behind the scene is exceptionally executed; it’s John du Pont in the passenger seat of his car, pulling up to a major character’s driveway in the snow filled middle of winter, and gunning him down with crazy eyes for no real discernible reason. Steve Carell is probably a lock for a Best Actor nomination at this point, and this is the scene that sealed the deal.
– Robert Kojder