Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring Ryan Gosling
8.9/10

Drive is a film ripe with style and influence, which is why it will be liked for years to come by film fans, but possibly fade in the background by next year in the eyes of casual movie-goers. It's a tough feature to pin-down, as it dashes back and forth from moody, silent tension to scenes of bone-chilling violence. A film that defies genres and is as well done as this doesn't come along too often, so the celebration of Drive by critics and fans a like is certainly warranted.

But just how good is Drive? Is it going to be a huge contender for award season? Will Ryan Gosling or possibly Albert Brooks be nominated for their equally great performances? It's hard to say, with Gosling in a string of films this year, showing what just could be his strongest year of acting. Drive could be written off for awards this year, as it does come off as an art film with very little dialogue and the absurd violence of revenge films such as the much celebrated (and soon to be remade) classic Oldboy.

Much is expected from Danish director of the wonderful "Pusher" series, Nicolas Winding Refn. This is his first American production, and he shows fantastic knack for action, tension and style. He crafts a beautiful, slick film from the opening scene to the final credits - and what an opening scene it is.

We are introduced to Gosling's unnamed character of the Driver as he explains his getaway services to whom they are provided, which brings us into a tension building scene of the Driver waiting in his car while listening to a Celtics game on the radio before a man with a briefcase and balaclava hops in the backseat and the Driver starts off. He takes the suspects through the city streets as he is followed by a police helicopter, listening to the events described on a handheld transmitter as the Celtics game doubles in the background. He is waiting it out, but what for we don't know until the game ends and he speeds into a full parking garage of Celtics fans, parks his car, puts on a cap and removes his jacket before he walks out past the police cars unnoticed.

Then the credits hit. This movie is going to be bad-ass, is the only thing you can think. The credit sequence is just as sleek and hip, giving a feeling of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City combined with Travis Bickle's eerie drive around of the Scorsese classic Taxi Driver, which the film obviously has influence from. Gosling immediately shows a sense of solitude with his characterization of the Driver just in these opening scenes. With very little dialogue and no narration, he does so with subtle expression.

I won't bother to spoil much of the film by diving into the rest of the plot for those who haven't seen it, because the shocking turns make the film more than what it is if they are unfolding before your eyes. It is a wonderfully constructed plot, that at times can seem unrealistic, but the beauty and heart of the film causes not much else to matter.

The ensemble cast of Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Pearlman, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Issac, and Christina Hendricks all perform fantastically. I would be disappointed not to see a nod from the Academy for at least Gosling and Brooks this year, the latter who takes the role of a brutal murderer and commits 100 percent to it without a blink after a career of much fantastic comedy.

In the end, Drive is a film to be seen by true fans of film, and there are moments that action fans with enjoy as well. It does deserve the praise it's received in my eyes, and will be sure to be one of the best films of the year. It's far from a perfect film by any means, but still works on almost every level. See this movie, and there's a good chance you'll watch it at least one more time, as I'm doing while I write this.

Trailer:

SNL - Anna Faris/Drake - 7.2/10

Saturday Night Live is in a strange place this season. The cast is divided into three categories; the veterans who are confident in their sketch comedy abilities, the veterans who aren’t, and the freshmen or sophomores who are still trying to figure out if they are right for the job. Of course, many SNL casts can be described this way – but for the first time in a long time, it feels like it may be starting to come together.

I missed the boat not reviewing the first three outings this year, which were hosted by Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Stiller respectively. So far this year I’ve remained entertained by every outing (subtracting pretty much every musical performance from that equation) and tonight’s episode, hosted by Anna Faris, was no different.

Even though Faris is constantly the star or a supporting member of lackluster comedies, with the rare sub-gem in between, she is very talented. She has hosted before, a rare episode that I haven’t seen or don’t remember because it may have been off, but I was excited to see what energy she would bring to the cast this week.

Our cold-open this week brought Fred Armisen some screen time with his New York mayor Bloomberg impression, which turns out to be nearly as droll as his Obama. Thankfully, it was saved by some solid jokes about him welcoming the occupy Wall Street movement to New York and little self-deprecating NYC jokes the crowd always seems to warm up to. And of course, it’s always good to keep the cold-open to under five minutes as to not overstay the welcome of the sketch and suck the energy out of the entire show.

Faris’ monologue went the safe route of audience questions, which only really works if the cast or writers get involved and get a little weird with it, and they did. Bill Hader pulled off an insanely Will Forte-esque manifestation of a sex offender which led into Abby Elliot’s exaggerated impression of Faris – and both worked. Again, kept short and sweet with a couple of laughs, we still have energy.

But can energy last when it leads right into a sketch that is already tired but has only been used a handful of times? The Manuel Ortiz show, led by Fred Armisen, is an example of one of those types of sketches. The only way it can work is if it is tight, tweaked, and well performed by it’s players. Tonight, it was. Bill Hader saves it by being over the top while still managing to be funny. Not to mention Bobby Moynihan getting some laughs by dressing up as a Woman. Is it just me or is he finally stepping into the chubby guy role that Horatio Sans didn’t quite grasp? Last week doing a good political sketch, constantly playing children and Women? It’s starting to work for him. A small shout out to Paul Brittain in this as well, just his few seconds of screen time and great accent were worth him dressing up like that.

This leads into another Bill Hader hosted game show, “What’s Wrong With Tanya”, where Lifetime television movie Mothers try to guess what’s wrong with Lifetime television movie daughters named Tanya. No, I don’t know if that makes sense to explain and no, I don’t know what to think of this sketch. It was strange, and could have been saved for later in the show. But it is nice to see Andy Samberg becoming the go to guy for tiny roles in live skits based on his expressions, as he is constantly killing it. It is what he’s been asking for the past couple seasons.

The digital short this week was another escalation bit where Samberg interviewed musical guest Drake in increasingly awkward and funny ways, as the shorts have become in the past couple seasons. While it was funny, it was lackluster again, much like last week’s with Ben Stiller. Samberg’s comedic chops usually manage to save them, and it was no different here.

Weekend Update has seemed bi-polar this year. There will be one funny guest, and one big miss. One string of great jokes from Seth, and a bunch of bombs. This week, we had Bobby as Anthony Crispino again, who was tired the last couple times up to the plate but delivered here without audience reaction. Seth followed with some good ones leading into Drake and Jay Pharoah as two teenagers dressed up like Werewolves for Halloween performing a rap about stealing candy from kids. I felt like the rap could have worked much better as a digital short and improved the episode greatly, it had the potential to go viral and maybe even break Jay as a performer and get him some followers. Still, it’s great to see that Jay still has that booming confidence even though he’s been a ghost through the first few episodes.

Post-update is tricky, but in the past couple of seasons it has been the breeding ground for strange sketches that end up working and sometimes create recurring characters. We had the potential for that tonight. First was a musical number filled with the clichés of what dating is all about from a Woman’s perspective which was performed very well by both Abby Elliot and Kirsten Wiig. It had the feeling of the recent “Paris” sketches but was less of an arty bit and more of a full on showcase of the female cast’s talent which I greatly enjoyed, even if I was confused at first.

Something which made me breathe easy was the fact that Taran Killam made an appearance in the next sketch, and not just an appearance, but stole the show again. Lately, he’s been plastered all over the stage, but was only in one sketch tonight. Him and Bayer played two American hosts of a show about stereo typical Japanese culture (such as j-pop, anime, you get the drift) and it was performed fantastically by him, though not so much Bayer (who has been getting far too much face time this year for someone who awkwardly delivers and trips up most of her jokes). Though I appreciate two newish cast members being able to carry a sketch, I’m not sure if she is right choice to always play the female in these.

The last two sketches were total throwaways, obviously unsure if they were going to make the cut. The final one I won’t bother to talk about as it was basically a garbage three minute dump, but the first was a possible glimpse into some of the comedy we could see from the new cast members. Paul Brittain played a strange little man resembling a Prince who was being introduced by Faris to her family as her boyfriend. He trotted around, danced and asked for candy. For some reason, it was silly and hilarious, much like Brittains Sex Ed Vincent character he showed us his first season (but created much earlier). It was wonderful and strange to see his style of humor carrying a sketch and being backed by strong performers like Sedeikis and Samberg.

All in all, this episode was not very memorable for it’s first half, but it’s second half was interesting to watch. It was funny as a whole, but forgettable about an hour after I watched it. It’s good to see them not run out of energy just four weeks in, and the next outing should be good with Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny hosting. Faris didn’t get much to do this week, so hopefully he will.

Also, I’d like to note that I did not mention the GOP debate sketch because it was quite a train wreck, as much as I like a lot of the impressions of the candidates.

Favorite Lines:

“Technically I may be richer than A-Rod, but we can all agree he’s done less to earn it.”

“Apparently they’re occupying Wallgreens.”

The prospect of people named “Meaty Diane”, and “Pee-Wee German”.

“No nose, just holes.”