Chronicle (2012)

Title: Chronicle
Release Date: 3 February 2012
Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/
My Rating: (7/10) ★★★★★★★✩✩✩

Josh Trank creatively and comically weaves together a found footage tale of teenage angst that, under less visionary leadership, could have been a confusing mess. But here, with complete commitment to the aesthetic and adequate time spent developing major far-fetched plot devices, Chronicle does what most found footage films can only hope to do: make you believe both the impossible scenarios and the implausible camera set ups. Couple this with Dane DeHaan's spot-on performance (making you feel for the character even though most of the time he is relegated to off camera VO's or extreme closeups), and you got a winning combo.

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

(Traveling through the films of Woody Allen)

Title: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
Release Date: 16 July 1982
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Mary Steenburgen, Jose Ferrer
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084329/

My Rating: (3/10) ★★★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

I have tried to force myself to get through this movie three separate times, and on each occasion my mind wanders and I find myself thoroughly bored. This was the first Woody Allen film I ever tried to watch, and now that I'm examining his career I understand we got off to a very bad start. The combination of Mary Steenburgen and Mia Farrow is deadly, not to mention the rest of the neurotic ensemble in mostly period clothes, brooding about their philosophical troubles while doing their best Woody Allen impressions. Jose Ferrer is especially irritating. There are no sympathetic characters and no one to root for. It aims to be a quirky sex farce, but the pacing is off and the comedy doesn't land. The only redeemable quality is getting to see Woody Allen ride a flying bike. 

While important in the examination of Allen's canon, at least for the simple fact that it was the first time he worked both in an ensemble cast and with Mia Farrow,  this is my least favorite of his films to date.