127 Hours

Does more damage to Phish fans than the latest Benoit Blanc movie.  Absolutely rips on a filmmaking and performance level, even if the true to life survival story is a little standard for my tastes. In spite of it all, it is a testament to the ability of everyone behind the scenes I had a sinking feeling in my gut for the vast majority of the runtime even as I knew exactly what was going to happen here through sheer pop culture  water cooler moments. Film after film, Anthony Dod Mantle is climbing onto my cinematographer Mount Rushmore.  Not usually a fan of Franco (as a performer or as a person) but I can’t deny this is a challenging role he absolutely crushes. It plays well and inverts the nuances of his personality that usually don’t gel well for me onscreen. That amputation scene was as rough as I’d heard and more. Bumped it up a full half star for that and the ending montage.