Paper Towns (2015)

This reminded me a lot of On the Town with a tinge of Gone Girl. It's not a musical, but the premise is similar. The male protagonist is searching for the female lead for nearly the entire movie.  His two buddies help him out and find ladies of their own.  Much like Ivy in On the Town, Cara Delevingne is actually hardly in the movie, just a short bit in the beginning and an even shorter scene at the end. But that is just as well because Delevingne is not a great actress. Maybe she should stick to modeling.

As for the Gone Girl aspect, there is that distinction between being gone and being missing.  And then there's that crazy girl.  This isn't quite Gone Girl-level insane, but this girl is not normal.  She leaves a series of impossible clues that make up the central mystery of the movie.  That even the first clue is solved is a miracle.  And continuing with the crazy theme, she pulls some pranks on her schoolmates, which is a seriously bad and dangerous idea when all of your Floridian neighbors have guns.

22 Jump Street (2014)

This movie is surprisingly good.  The premise of the movie follows the movie's trajectory in the real world.  The first case worked out so well that the team got funding to do another case, "exactly the same."  Ice Cube repeats this line several times, and predictably the case turns out to not go exactly the same way despite their protestations.  What is so refreshing and funny is that everyone is in on the joke.  What is the same is the bromance between Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill that just works so well.  They have a relationship that is almost at a James Franco-Seth Rogen level.

The best part of the film is actually the end credits.  They aren't bloopers but rather we see clips of hypothetical sequels that become more and more ridiculous to the audience's delight.  There are plenty of cameos in the movie, and even some high profile actors who show up in just a couple of seconds of credits for a laugh.       

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

Isao Takahata spent many years on this film, allegedly his final film, and it paid off.  Takahata is a master at his craft, proving Studio Ghibli to truly be one of the most prolific studios for bringing the world the works of two legends.  Adapted from an ancient Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a majestic triumph. The artwork is truly stunning.  In an age when most all of the animated films produced are computer animated in the same style, it is refreshing and comforting to see hand-drawn lines, soft edges, and beautiful watercolors.  The scenes with a lot of movement are particularly stunning but the stills allow the viewer to admire the exquisite artwork.  I have never seen a movie that looked quite like this and it is brilliant.

The Congress (2013)

Ari Folman's follow-up to his acclaimed animated documentary once again delves into the world of animation, this time using animation as a plot device.  The latter half of the film is animated in a style that is notably different from the cut-out comic book animation style of Waltz with Bashir.  It starts out sort of psychedelic in a Yellow Submarine-esque feel, preparing the audience for a funky ride through cuckoo town.  This is a seriously wacky movie.  Folman animates recognizable figures in pop culture and art--the animated scenes genuinely look like something straight from Cartoon Network.

The premise of the movie is very interesting, but there is simply too much going on.  The first premise of the film is Robin Wright playing a version of herself, an aging actress who is getting less work, and resorts to selling her image.  Her likeness is captured by computers and the computers make movies starring their manipulation of Robin Wright.  In exchange she promises to quit acting, so the computerized version of her can be used in movies.  The movie is a critique of Hollywood and the studio system.  Folman clearly supports actors and their art, which cannot be replaced by computers.  But this is not just mere theory--recently the Hunger Games director decided to not use a computerized Philip Seymour Hoffman in the final film, opting to simply remove him from their unfinished scenes.  Marlon Brando attempted to preserve his head and emotions digitally for use in performance in the future, as detailed in the documentary Listen to Me Marlon.

But this storyline, which could stand alone to make a formidable movie, is seemingly abandoned in the second half of the movie.  The plot gets more convoluted and the movie moves on to explore other issues about denying reality and living in a fantasy of one's own kooky creation.  There's just so much going on, that it is easy to get confused.  But the movie is very interesting and its a pleasure to watch the animations.  Robin Wright is excellent acting live and voice-acting.  She reveals her mastery of her emotions in the scene in which the computer is capturing her range of facial expressions.  This movie is less personal and less powerful than Waltz with Bashir, but it is a brave foray into narrative film.

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (2013)

This documentary takes us behind the scenes of the famed Studio Ghibli in Japan; home to legendary filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. The film focuses primarily on Miya-san and his final film The Wind Rises.  It also alludes to Takahata and his final film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya dragging along.  Miyazaki hypothesizes that Takahata had no intention of finishing this movie, though it was released last year to much acclaim.

This documentary is a fitting end to an era of Japanese animated film. I grew up with these films and it is bittersweet; the film is somber hinting at the impending closure of the studio.  This movie is a eulogy of sorts for Studio Ghibli and it is beautiful.  Miyazaki is candid, musing about his art and life.  It is truly special to watch the hand-drawn animation process, an art that is losing steam to computer animation.  In the grand spectrum of cinema, this movie may not be a hallmark in film history, but it documents one of the most important men in one of the most important studios in film history.

Keep On Keepin' On (2014)

This was one of the most enjoyable documentaries I have seen. It made me smile a lot.  This film is about two jazz musicians: the legendary trumpeter Clark Terry, and a prodigious blind pianist Justin Kauflin.  But more than that, this film is about their mentor-mentee relationship. Though born 66 years apart, the two of them bond over a love of jazz, Terry's desire to impart his knowledge upon a protege,  and Terry's failing eyesight in his old age.  The filmmaker gets intimate footage inside the Arkansas home of Terry, filming late-night practice sessions.  Terry teaches Kauflin old riffs and melodies by singing them to him as he lays in bed, and Kauflin plays them back perfectly on his keyboard with his guide dog at his side.  It is a touching story of an unlikely friendship with great music.  

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Believe it or not, this is the first superhero film in the Disney canon. They've done the princess movie to death, but this is the first foray into animated superheroes.  After acquiring Marvel, this is a fitting film for Disney to produce as its main character is a child, and like all Disney films the parents are dead, and the film has a message. Baymax is Disney's answer to minions, a lovable, huggable white Michelin man sort of character; in other words a marketing, merchandising magnet.  The icing on the cake is John Lasseter's magic touch of comedy and emotion.

How to get children interested in science and robotics--more specifically how to get girls interested in STEM?  I understand that the story is based on established material, but I think the protagonist Hiro should have been a girl rather than a boy. At least two of the members of the superhero team are female.  This movie proves to children that science is cool and the limits of technology are endless.  It is important to inspire a new generation of innovators and inventors.