Unsolicited Movie Reviews - 2019 Oscar Edition

Here we go again. Oscar time is upon us. The tickets have been bought and the ballots have been cast. Every year I take a few minutes to reflect on the Oscar nominees and humbly offer my opinions on said list. A few years ago, the Academy expanded the number of movies that could be nominated for Best Picture to 10. This year the voters presumably only found 8 movies worthy of the top honor. Just between you and me I think they were overly optimistic by about 6. 

Honestly, this is the thinnest year for nominees that I can remember.  There is some fine filmmaking to be sure but for me some of the candidates did not rise to the level of Best Picture.  For the purposes of this ranking I try my best not to factor in the current political climate. This is not my best guess of who is going to win. If you don’t like Bryan Singer, and apparently you probably shouldn’t, because he’s accused of some bad behavior or you think Spike Lee is a lunatic, great. That isn’t what this list is about. This is strictly which films I liked best and how I would vote given the opportunity. Anyway, I love to hear your thoughts on the films and your thoughts on my opinions. I especially like it when you decide to shower me with praise. 

BlacKKKlansman 

Sharp, funny, poignant, blunt and unambiguous. This could have been a kooky, dark comedy. It could have been a gritty, biting drama. With Lee at the helm it is both. The movie is at times a reverent homage to the civil rights struggle and at other times a viscously, funny parody punking the Klan. The movie is at its best when it is saluting the righteous while emasculating the bigoted and ignorant. It is an impressive balance struck between solemn and silly. John David Washington leads a great cast that includes Adam Driver in a supporting role worthy of a nomination.  Ashlie Atkinson sweetly playing the overly, eager and willing wife of a member of the Klan is just downright disturbing.   Like him or love him it is almost impossible not to respect Spike Lee simply as a film maker. When you think back over his career it is more than mind boggling that he has never won a directing Oscar.  He isn’t the only one this have ever happened to. He won’t be the last. It took Spielberg 21 years with arguably the most impressive directing career in history. Well it has been 30 years since Do The Right Thing and I hope the Academy sees fit to....you know.....are you gonna make me say it....really.......ok.....Do the right thing.  

The Black Panther 

Thank goodness they nominated The Black Panther for an academy award. How else would it find an audience?  Seriously, on the off chance there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen this film, like my wife who doesn’t “do” super hero movies, I beg you one last time to see this film. All too often we exalt films much higher than is reasonably necessary. We make them “triumphs of the human condition” or “masterpieces of the cinema” or “The next Dumb and Dumber”.  99.9% of the time it is ridiculously pretentious.  Occasionally though, something happens with a film and it does take on a more significant role culturally and socially. I have been watching movies for over 40 years in the theater. It is amazingly rare to see a film with the same combination of entertainment and social value. It works on an entertainment level because it is a freaking Marvel Super Hero movie and for right or wrong, they have figured out an amazingly lucrative formula. The stories, the special effects, the jokes the whole flipping universe seems to work and, in this case, it works exceptionally well. Socially, it put black faces and female faces in roles and scenarios where they have not been traditionally seen. And it didn’t do it as a gimmick or as a “one off’ event. It did it like it was supposed to be that way and that it wasn’t anything extraordinary. In doing so the normalcy made it extraordinary.  But the effect of those faces in those roles was further reaching and more consequential than we could really know.  I don’t mean to make the movie out as a miracle or a salve for the world’s ails. I’ll just say that has much as it meant to me, I easily understood how much more it meant to so many others.  

A Star Is Born Simply put, I loved it. It is textured and nuanced. It is an excellent retelling of a tale that has already been told 3 other times.  That is no easy task. The music is superb throughout. The music, all new, is so good because it enhances the story but doesn’t become the story. When Jackson plays songs that are supposed to be classic hits, they are so good you start wondering if you have heard the song before. It adds a level of believability to the film that is hard to describe but it is special. Sam Elliot is superb as usual.  I really hope he gets the statue for Best Supporting and GaGa more than held her own. But make no mistake about it this is Bradley Cooper’s film. Not just because he directed it. It is a more that admirable offering for any first-time director but I do think his performance has gotten overshadowed and a little overlooked. His desperation and loneliness are heartbreaking. He really did disappear at times. Still, if Star suffers from no awards, I think it will have to do more with the producers “overselling” to the Academy. My Lord they have been everywhere and saturated the viewers. Either way it is still a very moving film even if it isn’t transcendent.  

Roma 

A very good chance this film wins Best Picture. It clicks a lot of boxes. First of all, it is absolutely gorgeous. Shot in a stunning black and white. Movies like this are why it is sinful to suggest that Best Cinematography not be televised. Secondly, it is an extremely, personal film from a well-respected director. Alfonso Cuarón made this movie as a testament to the nanny who helped raise him. She was a loved member of his family and his dedication to the project has been well documented. Third, the acting is quite stellar.  Yalitza Aparicio is marvelous in her role as the nanny as was Marina de Tavira as the beleaguered mother. Both were unassuming to their core. There are also some headscratcher aspects of the film that just leave you bewildered. The “naked martial arts exhibition” and the “rebel training camp” scenes follow a small arc in the story that is hard to reconcile with the rest of the film. But the ending is more than satisfying on a visual and emotional level. There is a lot here to like and just enough to leave you a little confused. 

Green Book So, what happens is that Jessica Tandy is a black piano virtuoso and Morgan Freeman is a punchy but lovable Italian tough guy who needs a job......wait......what?  Honestly the only thing really wrong with this film is that we have seen it so many times before. Two very different people placed into uncomfortable circumstances become great friends because in the end all that matters is the person inside, their humanity and how we treat each other. It is a formula for a reason. It works. But it can get tired from time to time. That doesn’t take away from how well it is acted or how compelling the story is. The fact that it came from the horse’s mouth and based on the recollections of the actual participants makes it interesting as well. Viggo Mortenson and Mahershala Ali are two of the better actors on the planet.  It is well worth your time to see just not the best picture of the year.  

Bohemian Rhapsody

In spite of one phenomenal performance and a ton of great music from an iconic band this movie is an absolute mess. The story is convoluted and the series of events are not only ridiculously convenient but obviously embellished. Major plot points are contrived to build suspense when none was actually there. And the script was so insulting and overtly manipulative that it would have the viewer accept Freddie Mercury tracked down the love of his life, came out of the closet to his father, revealed he had Aids (which we wouldn’t be diagnosed with for several more years) and did this all on a 45 minute care ride to Wembley Stadium before giving the single most important performance in the history of the human race. Give me a break.  

As a rule, I try to mostly judge movies on how they made me feel. Was I happy, sad, irritated etc.? When I walked out of Bohemian Rhapsody, I have to admit my toe was tapping. I enjoyed myself and the nostalgia stirred by the music was great. As a two-hour long retrospective of the band and their music it was fun. The last 15 minutes recreating the infamous Live Aid Concert was nothing short of awesome. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury is almost certainly going to be this year’s Best Actor winner and more than deservingly so. But as a film telling a story it has huge elements that are laughably bad and the worst part is that they didn’t need to be.  

Vice  
Man, I was excited about this film......then I saw it. Expectations are a funny thing.  After “The Big Short” a few years ago I thought Adam McKay doing a film about Dick Cheney was a slam dunk. He had proven he could take convoluted material that was also sensitive and explain it in a creative way while finding some dark humor at the same time. Here’s the thing. VICE isn’t The Big Short. Somebody should have told the director. He tries to use many of the same story telling devices that worked brilliantly for him before but they come off as tired and even bitter.   The saving grace of the VICE is Christian Bale as Cheney. Rami Malek will most likely win the Best Acting award but don’t let that take away from how ridiculously great Bale was in this film.  McKay has plenty to say about Cheney and his effect on world politics, domestic politics, civil rights, the rule of law and the role of the executive, and that’s fine. Hell, that is awesome. At its best film can do that like no other medium. And a filmmaker should have a point view. But the movie comes off as petulant and wholly void of nuance. Two hours of banging the viewer over the head of how dumb and evil a character leaves you wondering.....”Ok, got it, where is the rest?” 

The Devil may be most effective when he’s boring. Maybe that’s the point. But as a matter of film making it leaves you with a two-hour long film full of one-dimensional characters and no counterbalance to root for or compare to. 

The Devil isn’t the only thing that was boring.  

Just as an aside, I will for the life of me never understand why someone would spend 3 or 4 years writing, editing, casting, shooting and promoting movie with all the effort and work that is involved to make a film about a subject for which they are so obviously loathsome. (See “Iron Lady” for another example).  At least if you are going to do it you should make a better movie.  

The Favourite 

Queen Anne ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 til her death in 1714. During her reign England and Scotland merged as a realm and for the final 7 years of her life she was Queen of Great Britain and Scotland. I only bring this up because with what was most obviously a consequential reign the film makers chose to make a movie about the Queen’s rather violent lesbian affairs and the torrid rivalries that were born within her court to curry the Queen’s, um, favor.. Oh, yea and somehow this is represented by a bunch of rabbits. I swear to God.....rabbits. But don’t you worry. This is high art. I mean there are phenomenal actresses in juicy roles (true actually), exquisite costumes (also true) and the director has to be an unadulterated genius because of his indescribable brilliance to shoot the whole damn thing with a fish-eye lens to assumingly suggest the distorted sense of reality lived inside the walls of the monarchy. OOOOOOOOh, originality (finally sarcasm). Ah you pretentious mistress, I have seen thy face and this is the Favourite.  

There you have it. Enjoy the show!

  

Unsolicited Movie Review - 2018 Summer Edition

Unsolicited Movie Review - 2018 Summer Edition

The best time of year in the world of movies is Oscar Season. Late fall through the end of the year most of the contenders get released to beat the awards deadline and still be fresh in the voter’s minds.

A close second is the summer blockbuster season. For the most part, these are different kinds of films. Big budget, popcorn eaters with action and stars typically rule the day. Traditionally, there are a few good comedies and rom-coms, mystery/capers, horrors and now what has seemingly turned into its own genre Super Hero Movies. It is a mixed bag and a little something for everyone except for pretentious think-pieces that question the innersoles of the characters and the righteousness of humanity. You’ll have to wait till at least October to learn the meaning of life.

So every year I usually do a quick run-down of a few of my favorite summer pics. My number of enthusiastic recommendations was fewer than expected this year. It has been a little different season so I’ve changed it up to include a look at a lot of films from the summer.

Personally, I can’t remember a more disappointing summer movie season. There were some bright spots but as a rule I rated it Extra Medium. Just BLAH! Some I have already written about but here is a quick breakdown of what I saw this summer. Worst to Best! Sort of! Don’t Agree? Tell me about it I can handle it.

Alpha – OMEGaaaaahd I hated it. (Movie was gorgeous. At least it had that.)

Equalizer 2 – Should have been called FERTILIZER 2. What a turd. Don’t get me wrong I love Denzel and loved the first Equalizer. It had that unexpected element like Taken. But the sequel is an absolute mess. Aside from a few great fight sequences and some promising new characters the rest of the story is all over the place. There are ridiculous holes in the script that are just unforgivable at this level of movie production. Denzel famously hasn’t done sequels in his career…..this is why.

Breaking In – Despite a clichéd premise the movie had a better than average cast. They made it watchable until the end but when but it was over you just wanted to punch the writers in the privates.

Ocean’s 8 – Ocean’s 11 was such a good movie Steven Soderburgh decided to make 2 sequels. Ocean’s 12 and Ocean’s 13. Those were pretty good so he deep fried the script and made Logan Lucky. Never one to resist beating a dead horse he then decided to produce an all-female version. It was fine. A similar concept to the Ghostbuster’s remake with much better results to be sure but please, Steven Soderburgh, for all that’s holy stop. Unless of course you want to make Ocean’s 300 with me and a bunch of fat actors dressed up like Spartans trying to rob a Dunkin Donuts. Now, that would be worth watching.

MEG – Read the book 15 years ago and remembered thinking this would make a great movie one day when the special effects were doable. After the first Jurassic Park all special effects were doable. So I watched it in a matinee and didn’t fall asleep. There were way too many characters to care about any of them and the blatant pandering to the Asian movie market was a tad obvious. Don’t expect Jason Statham to have too many emotional moments but the sharks are cool and a few laughs.

Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom – What do you want me to say. It was slick and they have this premise figured out to be entertaining. Nothing new but at least they do the same stuff over and over pretty well.

Sicario: Day of Soldado – Not nearly as compelling as the first film. The loss of Emily Blunt’s character and the absence of any counterbalance to del Toro and Brolin hurt the movie. That being said it set up a 3rd film perfectly. The writer, Taylor Sheridan, has had as good of a 3 year run as you will ever see penning 3 of the best 15 movies since 2015. (Sicario, Hell or High Water and Wind River). This film isn't as good as those three but still worth a watch and a study.

Incredibles 2 – It was fun and smart and everything you would expect. It was also been way too long since the first movie.

Avengers: Infiniti Wars – My Mom loved elephants. She had elephant earrings and necklaces and shirts. It was her thing. She also had a number of elephant figurines she had collected over the years. Some were from gifts some from purchases and there were probably 30 of them. One time she decided to display them on top of a cabinet in my bathroom. I would sit there pondering all these elephants with tusks and trunks intertwined as I conducted my business. One day I remarked to my mother that the top of that cabinet looked like a Pachydermal Orgy. She took them down a few days later.
I tell you this because that is what I was reminded of watching Avengers Infinity Wars. It just looked like a big super hero spandex orgy with no sex. I keep saying I’ve almost hit critical mass with super hero movies. Was this the one that pushes me over the edge? Probably not though. I’m a glutton.

DeadPool 2 – If Iron Man got to use the F-Bomb and was poor.

The Spy Who Dumped Me - Better that it had any right to be. Kate McKinnon is funny. She has to be directed and a good director is needed to edit her and make her look “all the time” funny. Here she was great. Kunis was a more than respectable Abbot to McKinnon’s Costello.
I have to admit, maybe because there are more female directors getting big films, I’ve seen more male genitalia in main stream films in the past 3 years than I saw in the my previous 43 years on this earth combined. I’m all for girl power and hats off for more opportunities but are all the saggy, old man balls really the legacy these ladies want to give to film?

Solo – The amount of butt hurt over poor little Solo only grossing 400 million dollars aside, I thought it was a great prequel. Ron Howard stepped out of the traditional Star Wars script and turned in an intergalactic Buddy movie. Don’t believe the whining. This is superb film making.

AntMan and The Wasp – Compared to the Spandex Orgy that was Infinity War it was nice not to have the fate of humanity hinge on the outcome. Paul Rudd is superb and extremely likable but the supporting cast is equally as watchable. Please, so I don’t pull the cord, more super hero movies like this please.

Mission Impossible Fallout – IMO, Tom Cruise is a bit of a nut. Ok, he is all of a nut. But there are two kinds of crazy. One type is when you strip off your clothes and go into your back yard and howl at the moon. The second type is when you strip off your clothes and come into my back yard and howl at the moon while upsetting my dogs. The first one I don’t mind. The second, I take kind of personal. That’s Tom Cruise. I don’t care what he thinks about psychoanalysis or Prozac or that he thinks he’s an alien. That’s howling in his back yard. I take more offense at the fact of how horrible Mission Impossible II was. It sucked out loud and I’m sure I pissed away $20 watching. That’s howling in my back yard. It was the one aberration in this series. Luckily, starting with MI3 he put all his proverbial clothes back on and just howls at the box office. Slick, sophisticated with phenomenal action sequences involving honest to goodness stunts. Yes he’s as crazy as a loon but he is a full blown movie star and knows what to do with an audience.

PS
An outlier from the summer BlacKkKlansman is worth its own writeup that I'll do at a later time

Unsolicited Movie Reviews – 2018 Oscar Edition

Unsolicited Movie Reviews – 2018 Oscar Edition

Every year’s crop of Oscar Best Picture nominees seems to share a similar or predominant theme. Last year’s was misery and sorrow. Practically all the movies were ridiculously sad. Two years ago the common thread seemed to be struggling against overwhelming forces or odds. This year’s lot is much more tonally confused on the whole. This makes for an interesting year and forces you to watch an unusually, broad variety of films in both story and style.

For our consideration we have 2 historical dramas that show two views of the same event and could not be more different films. There is 1 revenge epic, 1 satirical horror, 1 coming of age tale, 1 First Amendment anthem and 3 creepy love stories for three different reasons.

For the purposes of this ranking I try my best not to factor in the current political climate. This is not my best guess of who is going to win. If you don’t like Gary Oldman because he’s accused of some bad behavior or you think Lady Bird will ride to victory because of the Me Too movement, great. That isn’t what this list is about. This is strictly which films I liked best and how I would vote given the opportunity.

There are always head-scratchers as well. One glaring omission in this year’s crop, Wind River, was beyond worthy and I think it is a shame that it was omitted. Additionally, Gil Birmhingham’s performance as a grieving father of a murder victim was grossly overlooked as well. But those are the breaks. I promise you there are greater tragedies in this world. The sun will come up tomorrow.

Again and for the record, these are listed in my personal order ranked by how I would vote if I were voting and not what I think will win. DO NOT use this for betting unless you want to lose your house.

Dunkirk – Best movie I saw this year. One of the better movies I’ve seen in the last decade. Dunkirk,

to put it plainly, is a masterpiece. From the first minute of the film there is not a single moment to let your guard down emotionally. There is not one minute to control your senses. There is only a race against time and an unseen enemy that is palpable and real throughout the entire movie. Some were put off with Nolan’s penchant to play with time and sequence. To each his own but part of the brilliance of the movie is the way Nolan intertwined 3 story lines of 3 chronological lengths into a single 2 hour arc and showed practically every svrmr from 2 and sometimes 3 points of view. That would be amazing on a technical level alone and I haven’t even mentioned what a great history lesson it tells.

Dunkirk is a worthy tribute to the spirit and will of the soldiers stranded on that beach and the nation that rallied to protect their protectors. Strong, Calm, Determined, Unflappable…..Britain!

Honest to goodness, at times it took my breath away. Phenomenal Film Making

Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri – At times heartbreaking, infuriating, surprising and often brutally hysterical TBOEM is more than worthy of Best Picture. The movie is loosely inspired by an unsolved 1991 rape and murder that prompted the victim’s father to rent billboards critical of the investigation. That’s where the similarities stop.

TBOEM speaks to rage and sorrow and the debilitating effects of violence,of all kinds. It shows the consequences of desperation and helplessness on otherwise good people. It makes you question to what lengths you yourself would go for justice. But as dark as it remains throughout it reminds us how powerful the mere hope for redemption can be.

It would be impossible to assemble a better cast. Frances McDormand was great and should win. Woody Harrelson continues to build a ridiculous acting resume for the same guy who was Woody on CHEERS. However, if Sam Rockwell doesn’t win for Best Supporting it will be a shame. His was a brutally raw characterization and somehow this is his first nomination after an impressive career.

Get Out – Sharp, funny, disturbing and occasionally a little scary. This was marketed as a “horror” film. Not sure it falls into that genre but then again that is all about perspective. More accurately it is a brilliant piece of scathing satire.

Daniel Kaluuya would have a great shot at the Best Actor trophy if not for Gary Oldman's Churchill.  Kaluuya's gradual realization of his predicament was so well paced it set the tone for the entire film. It also made the final revelation that much scarier. Jordan Peele showed depth as a film maker outside of comedy. Get Out came out of left field and will reap career rewards for all involved.

As a matter of odds they stack up against Get Out. It is a “horror”. It made a ton of money and it was released in February. Why does that matter? Most Oscars go to the films released in the latter part of the year. The last February release to win Best Picture was Silence of the Lambs 26 years ago. However, if there is a shocker, no pun intended, this will be it.

Darkest Hour – I don’t trust myself to objectively critique this film. I am a huge Churchill buff. Few historical figures rise to the level of adoration that I feel for Winston. I have read reviews that thought this movie was overly sentimental and formulaic. Other reviewers felt it unfairly portrayed Chamberlin and Halifax. There is an argument to be made, that the film makers completely wasted Kristen Scott Thomas as Clemmie. That may all very well be accurate and further more I don’t really give a damn.

This film is about Churchill. It is about his words and his deeds and his struggle to hold a nation together at times by what seemed to be his own bare hands at times. It is about his dogged determination to “KEEP BUGGERING ON” even as the world and many in his own government were hiding in the shadows. It is about a masterful performance by Gary Oldman who literally disappears in the role.  The film is at its best when Churchill is at his lowest. It does a stellar job of conveying the utter isolation and personal responsibility this man had to feel.

Lady Bird – I struggled placing Lady Bird on the list more than the other films. It is an Academy darling. It is small, contemplative with sharp dialogue and eccentric but relatable characters.

What I liked about the film was the acting. Saoirse Ronan is the real deal. She was nominated 2 years ago for Brooklyn and 10 years ago for Atonement.  That is 3 nominations and she is only 23. She would be unrecognizable between the two roles. She has such a memorable presence on screen where it just seems like she belongs.

I also loved Laurie Metcalf as the Mom who may have redefined the apex of passive aggression. She was marvelous and were it not for Allison Janney I think she would be a shoe-in for the Best Supporting Actress award.

It didn’t have as much of an emotional punch for me but my wife tells me I’m wrong and she is usually correct.

The Post – Spielberg directs Streep and Hanks in a story about one of the biggest news stories in the nation’s history. Honest to God if this film hadn’t been nominated the world may have stopped spinning on its axis. Everything about this film works. The writing, acting, directing, lighting, cinematography etc. all work wonderfully.

The only problem with this, and a few other more recent films by SS, is that they are like a 7’ tall man dunking a basketball.  It is what you expect. Excellence and continued success raise a bar so high it is hard not to raise expectations. Then if doves don’t sweep in and carry you off to a land of rainbows and gold you feel like you have been let down. Spielberg, Hanks and Streep are somewhat victims of their own success. I think they will get over it while they are sitting around polishing their other Oscars with $1000 bills.

This is a really, really, fine film. Unfortunately, it will unfairly be compared to the better “All the President’s Men”.  It won’t go down as Spielberg’s greatest but that doesn’t make it bad it just doesn’t make it transcendent.

The Shape of Water – I keep reading that this is the best bet for Best Picture. Here is the thing. It is all about the buy-in. Every movie you see requires a certain degree of disbelief suspension. The degree required for The Shape of Water is off the charts. To put it plainly, it is just weird. Now, cross-species stories aren’t new exactly. We’ve had Beauty and the Beast, Starman and Julia Roberts’ marriage to Lyle Lovett. So how is it otherwise?

Take the weird out of it and you have a rich, beautifully filmed love story set to the backdrop of espionage and world politics. You have two sympathetic heroes, compelling supporting characters and a creepily strange villain. Visually, the movie is nothing short of gorgeous and all the technical aspects of the film work.

But here is the thing. It’s just freaking weird. If you get past that you’ll probably love it.

Phantom Thread – Can a movie be exceptionally well made being full of brilliant direction, exquisite acting and an attention to cinematic detail that is nothing short of amazing and still make me dislike it? Phantom Thread proves that the answer to that question is YES.

I didn’t hate it. It just pissed me off and not because it was trying to piss me off . That would have been fine. The problem is that it was trying to surprise the viewer. It was being pretentiously clever. If this movie were a college student it would be sitting in a café smoking cloves and making puns about Proust. All the while it would be feeling superior to its friends that didn’t get the reference.

There is some fine craftsmanship all through this movie. Supposedly it is the last film of Daniel Day-Lewis, arguably this generation’s greatest actor. I find this rather disheartening because the movie itself is a little bit of an asshole.

Call Me By Your Name – FINALLY, this is the first nominated film in 2 years that I actually hated.
First, it was shot beautifully. If it were a travel log for the Italian countryside it would have been a raging success.  Or even better, think of the most beautiful painting you have ever seen. Whether it is in a book or a museum, just imagine whatever painting you consider the most beautiful. Then get some popcorn, pull up a chair and stare at the painting in a dark room. Just look at it sitting there. Keep looking. It doesn’t move. Oh, you notice something in the corner. Keep looking……..Keep………Looking. Now, it has been a couple of hours and you check your watch and you realize, “Holy crap! That took ten minutes”.  That is what this movie is like.

This movie was marketed as a young gay man’s coming of age story while living in Italy. He falls in love with one of his father’s older students. This movie should have been marketed as “Hey look, gay people can be just as frigging boring as the rest of us!”

I’m not saying there isn’t a story here or the acting was awful. It was just so lifeless especially for a film that is supposedly about passion. I also think it is fair to point out that I found the age difference of the love story a bit creepy. I realize the young man’s character was 18 and an adult but visually the actor that played his looked significantly younger especially compared to his love interest Armie Hammer.

There you have it. That’s all I got.

Unsolicited Movie Reviews - Summer Edition 2017

Unsolicited Movie Reviews – Summer Edition  2017

There has been a mixed bag of quality in the theaters this summer. Why in God’s name there was any need to extend series like the Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean is beyond me. Judging by ticket sales it was beyond the audiences as well. Conversely, I’ve written how I thought DUNKIRK was a masterpiece and the War for the Planet of the Apes capped a phenomenal trilogy that was always better than it had any right to be. But huge movies like that are going to have an audience either way. Here are four other, less hyped, pictures that I had time to dig into the last few days.

Wind River – A tracker for the Fish and Wildlife Service finds the body of young girl, who has been murdered and raped, in a remote part of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. It is a great story with an exceptional cast and it is beautifully shot. But, what is really notable about the film is all that it gets done in a short amount of time. It is a rare film indeed that: (1)Delicately portrays a palpable sense of loss after a tragedy; (2)Provides a totally satisfying and visceral, revenge plot; (3)Shines a glaring and troubling light on the continued struggles of an often overlooked and forgotten segment of our population

Wind River does all three. If it had carried off just two it would have been a really good film. Consequently it is an exceptional movie. Jeremy Renner is sneaky good as is Elizabeth Olsen. But for me the most notable performance is by Gil Birmingham as the father of the victim. He’ll break your heart.

Lucky Logan – I wanted to like. I planned to like. Trust me I tried to like. I should have liked it. Turns out, I didn’t really like. No doubt the film has its funny parts. It is quirky and fast paced like a lot of Soderbergh’s films. What I don’t understand is why Soderbergh would even come back to the genre after 3 Ocean’s movie. The film is even billed as Ocean’s 7-11. This plays off the fact it takes place in West Virginia and North Carolina and has a “hillbilly” cast of characters. Actually, cast of caricatures would be more like it. I’m quite certain they just had a script for a 4^th Oceans movie and decided to add a few Ya’lls and Howdys. Unfortunately, where the Oceans movies were sleek and smart LL is strained and dull. There were plot holes big enough to drive a jacked up 4x4 through. Not the least of which was leaving the impression that Charlotte, NC and West Virginia were fairly close together geographically as opposed to several hours apart.

Channing Tatum continues to prove he is a good actor and the story line with his family is interesting. Daniel Craig is genuinely funny in his role but despite a few good parts there just isn’t enough for me to recommend it. The film as a whole was a disappointment.

What Happened to Monday – This is not a theatrical release. It is a NETFLIX exclusive that dropped in August continuing the onslaught of projects produced by the streaming giant. Not having to worry about distribution apparently makes way for an enormous about of studio productivity.

This is a classic sci-fi, action tale. It stars the wonderful Noomi Repace as the Settman siblings. Set 40 years in the future, in an attempt to combat over-population, the earth’s governments have taken drastic actions implementing the One Child Policy. Additionally, using the Child Allocation Bureau they secretly exterminate the “overages” while misleading the people claiming they are just putting the children in cryogenic storage until they find a solution for the over-population. It is all very Logan’s Run. The Settman siblings are 7 identical sisters who have been raised in hiding. To avoid detection they eventually share the public identity of one person, Karen Settman.  Each sibling takes a day of the week out in the world. Coincidentally, their day of the week is also their name, Sunday takes Sunday. Monday takes Monday etc. 

Very, Very Entertaining. Well worth a stay-in date night. The action and suspense is very good. There is quite a bit of violence and at least one very steamy love scene. You’ve been warned.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard – Another straight up, grab the popcorn and turn your brain off action movie. The jokes are smart. The buddy relationship works and all in all it never takes itself too seriously. It isn’t a classic like Die Hard or as well-crafted as Kingsmen but it is still very entertaining.

Ryan Reynolds is as dependable an actor as there is in Hollywood. He’s just likeable. He also has superb comedic timing. Samuel Jackson is Samuel Jackson. He is brash and loud and says the F-word A LOT! If that type of thing bothers you I would suggest another movie. Between the violence and language it earns its R rating.

Unsolicited Movie Review - Dunkirk

Unsolicited Movie Review – Dunkirk

It’s the age old question. If you could go back in time what event would you like relive or even try and change if you could?

There are an infinite number of answers from the birth of Christ to 9/11 and on and on. Well, I have a new entry. I would like to have been in the movie executive’s office circa 1999 when they decided to have Michael Bay direct the upcoming moving Pearl Harbor. Had I been there I would have gently yet forcefully persuaded them to rethink such a decision and hire Christopher Nolan for the position. Then, just maybe, we would have had a raw, emotional, accurate retelling of a quintessential moment in our history that captured the base communal fear and courage it took to survive an event that helped define the nature of our national character and not a 3 hour long, CGI enhanced turd.

Dunkirk, to put it plainly, is a masterpiece. 

From the first minute of the film there is not a single moment to let your guard down emotionally. There is not one minute to control your senses. There is only a race against time and an unseen enemy that is palpable and real throughout the entire movie.

The acting is exceptional all around by stars you know like Kenneth Brannaugh and Tom Hardy as well as those you don’t, like Fionn Whitehead and Barry Keoghan. Also, continuing a stellar 32 year-overnight success acting career, Mark Rylance beautifully encapsulates the stoic, responsible, patriotic, dutiful British citizen to perfection. He like thousands of others answered the call.

But make no mistake about it, film is a director’s medium and Nolan has marshaled his team to make a brilliant film. This is not your father’s war flick. Heck, this is not your war flick. Dunkirk simultaneously makes you concentrate and distracts you. The sound, not just the music, is its own character. And it isn’t a showering of noise like you expect in battle and war films. The sounds are almost laser focused and distinctive to the fear and desperation Nolan is wrapping you in at the time. The noises and sounds have feeling and depth all their own. The cinematography expresses scale and scope like you rarely see on screen. (It reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia.) Every inch of the frame is important and the camera placements show you angles and lines and perspective you aren’t used to seeing. This keeps you on your toes the entire time.

It is also fair to point out that Nolan is famous for playing with sequence and time in his movies. It is his signature. He does it here as well but it is not distracting. It’s brilliant. He not only interweaves three different story lines of three different lengths of time he does so by showing you every major event from three different points of view: the land, the air and the sea. Sometimes you don’t even realize it till its over.

And I haven’t even mentioned what a great history lesson it all is.

Dunkirk is a worthy tribute to the spirit and will of the soldiers stranded on that beach and the nation that rallied to protect their protectors. Strong, Calm, Determined, Unflappable…..Britian!

Honest to goodness, at times it took my breath away.

Oscar Picks 2017 Best Picture

Glitz, Glamour and Glory are all on the table for Sunday night’s Oscars. Diamonds and Limos and Gowns and Tuxedos to celebrate what is quite possibly the saddest bunch of films I can ever remember being nominated for Best Picture. They aren’t bad, quite to the contrary, but good Lord they are sad. Grief, sorrow, loss, misery, shame, if you suffer from it then it probably plays a major role in this year’s selections. I have to admit it was not easy getting through all of them this year. Not because they weren’t entertaining, they were. It was because they were brutally emotional. That is a good thing to be sure but not always an easy thing.

If I have said this once I’ve said this a thousand times. We love movies when we care what happens to the characters. Everything else is just window dressing. How does it make you feel? Do you the viewer buy into what the director is selling? Are you cheering or jeering? If you are doing neither there is a problem. Movies work or don’t work because of the emotional connection made with the viewer. Everything else like lighting, cinematography, editing, music, etc…..can all be great but at the end of the day if we don’t care then nothing else really matters.

This year’s crop contains 3 movies based on actual events, 1 adapted from a play, 1 rewritten from an unpublished short story,  1 musical, 1 alien encounter, 1 modern day western and 1 cinematic kick in the gut!  They are all exceptional films. There is no proverbial turd in this year’s Oscar punch bowl. No particular controversy over nominations. I like it better when there is at least one stinker I can hate. Alas that is not this year. Some I obviously liked more than others but really not a bad one in the bunch.

These are listed in my personal order ranked by how I would vote if I were voting and not what I think will win. So, for the record, I wouldn’t use this for betting unless you want to lose your house.

LION: All these reviews are to a great extent a gut reaction. How did the movie make me feel? This will be my shortest review. I’m not even going to talk about plot because if it weren’t a true story it would be ridiculously unbelievable. Simply put, Lion is the best film I saw this year. It is easily my vote for Best Picture. The story by itself is awe inspiring. Every step of this young man’s life balances between disaster and survival.  Of all the movies in this year’s class Lion won’t get out of my head. The journey of this young man shown by the film elicits shock, sadness, survival, despair, kindness, exhaustion, fear, perseverance, joy and most of all love. It is some kind of beautiful ride.

HIDDEN FIGURES: Hidden Figures follows a tried and true formula. That is not an insult. Historical dramas like this have a formula for a reason. The formula works.  I guess I could go into how the Space Race is used as a mirror image for Civil Rights and how in the end the only way to succeed in either is for the best and brightest of us all to work together regardless of race or color or creed……I could but I won’t. It is much simpler than that. This is a great movie because the film makers took a phenomenal, mostly unknown, story and told it in a compelling albeit formulaic way. The movie is perfectly cast. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe are superb and deserve all the accolades thrown at them. Through their character’s previously hidden perseverance we are finally shown a more complete picture of our shared history. It’s a history that many thought they knew inside and out. Yet it reminds us that our greatest glories are always the work of more than just the glorified. More importantly it provides long, over-due credit where credit was so obviously due. That is no small or insignificant thing.

Hacksaw Ridge: The real life story of Desmond Doss is more dramatic than anything Hollywood could invent.  Most “true stories” that make it to the big screen are skewered for taking what are usually unnecessary liberties with the story. In stark contrast director Mel Gibson actually had to tone down and cut some the acts of bravery Doss committed on Okinawa in WWII.  Gibson didn’t want the audience to think he was embellishing the story. He couldn’t make this stuff up……literally. You want to know how good this movie is? Mel Gibson, Hollywood Persona Non Grata Extraordinaire, directed it and it still got nominated. Gibson is a skilled film maker. He understands the medium and has as good a connection with his audience as anyone. He recognized that Doss’ entire life was as much the story as his acts of heroism.  In lesser hands this film could have been a debacle. It could have been made into a hundred things it was never intended to be by ignoring all the little things that were actually what was important.  Luckily an unbelievable story about bravery and kindness and duty and faith was made into a powerful movie about bravery, kindness, duty and faith…… What a novel concept.

HELL OR HIGH WATER: Chris Pine is an exceptional, leading man known for big budgets and action. Ben Foster may be the best character actor working in Hollywood. Jeff Bridges successfully occupied both of those positions at different times in his career. Now he’s a grizzled veteran of the screen and as good as ever. Hell or High Water is a well-crafted film. It packs more into less than any film I’ve seen in a long time. A script so well written with dialogue so efficient they succeed in telling an intricate story with as few words as possible. It is quite impressive. 

The story is timely, compelling and most importantly entertaining. There isn’t a single character, even the not-so-good guys, that you aren’t compelled to care about. What else do you need from a film?

Did I mention Jeff Bridges is great?

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA: Upon hearing “He Stopped Loving Her Today” for the first time George Jones reportedly looked at his producers and said, “Great song. But nobody is ever gonna play it on the radio. It’s just too damn sad.” 

It would be hard to imagine the makers of Manchester by the Sea didn’t hear the same sentiments. Luckily for country music, and for cinema, grief is a helluva thing and Manchester by the Sea is a helluva movie. It is gripping and methodical and while the pace is slow it never drags. Every single scene moves the story forward. It continually builds anticipation to learn what happens in these people’s lives and you’re just praying they can finally catch a break. I did find the music to be a distraction in some places but that’s just me being picky. Casey Affleck should and probably will win the Oscar for Best Actor. This is a heartbreaking look at the debilitation grief can have on a life and lives.

MOONLIGHT: This may be the best film of the year.  Initially I thought I just didn’t identify with the lead character in Moonlight.  I’m not gay. I’m not black and I didn’t grow up in a place of such violence and despair with a drug addicted mother. Additionally, it reminds me of another nominated movie from two years ago that I hated titled, “BOYHOOD”. Both follow the main character from youth to manhood. Unlike Boyhood  which follows a working-class white kid and uses the same cast of actors filmed over a 7 year period, Moonlight shows the main character at three distinct stages of his life all played by different actors and in my opinion with much better results. It’s not fair to draw such a straight line between two movies. However, I find it interesting how much more emotionally invested I felt after watching Moonlight even though it never remotely resembles my own life experience.

You are dropped into this boy's, Chiron, life and vividly see what it is like living every day in a constant state of fear. It’s palpable. Mahershala Ali is outstanding as the local drug dealer who becomes a somewhat. stable father figure for the boy. So to be sure Chiron finds rays of love and kindness along the way but even then he’s never more than a step away from danger and fear. Everything and everyone is compromised. How do you trust? How does that effect and mold a soul, even one as kind and beautiful as Chiron's? Moonlight may not be the easiest film to watch which makes it the one film you probably should.

LA LA Land: Taken in pieces La La Land is a mess. The whole first hour is painstakingly dull. While the jazz is great it doesn’t always meld well with some of the more “musical friendly” songs.  Additionally, the numbers are charming and artfully staged. I wouldn’t say any of them are show stopping or all that memorable. Not to mention that Gosling can’t sing and over halfway through the film I couldn’t imagine why in God’s name this movie had been so well received.

Fortunately, we don’t take films in pieces. We take them as a whole. Stone and Gosling are both excellent actors and even more importantly they have superb chemistry. Very much like the chemistry I imagine I would have in real life with Diane Lane if I ever…. You know…. actually meet Diane Lane. But that’s beside the point. 

For the record, I like musicals. Oklahoma, South Pacific, West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, Top Hat, Yankee Doodle Dandy…you name it and I’m in.  La La Land is not in that class but if you give it time and musicals don’t freak you out then the payoff is worth it.

FENCES: Films adapted from plays often choose one of two ways to go. Either they totally embrace the play format and limit the sets and visual aspects of the film (12 Angry Men) or they ignore those limitations and embrace the complex visual opportunities offered by the medium of film (A Few Good Men). Fences it seems tries to hedge its bets.  Washington as the director never seems sure which tactic to use.  The few times they break away to shots outside the “set” it never really advances the story.  It is like they found some extra budget and decided to add a location shot. It is a minor complaint but it does disrupt the flow. Regardless, this movie isn’t about the editing or the setting. It is about the acting and the dialogue and on both those counts Fences is exceptional. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis have few peers. Her rage is fueled by her desperation about his rage and his rage is born from his desperation. It is a vicious circle. It isn't always clear how to make a good movie.

A great cast speaking the exquisite words of August Wilson is not a bad place to start.

  

ARRIVAL: I liked Arrival. I liked it even better when I saw it two years ago as Interstellar.

No, they aren’t the same movie but, you know, they are the same movie. One major difference is Interstellar was actually awesome and Arrival was pretty good. There were also hints of Sphere, Inception and Contact to be fair. 

Don’t get me wrong there is no shame in stealing from other movies and making them into great movies. Steven Spielberg is a master of it. But in order for it to be forgiven the end product needs to be a lot better than Arrival. The acting is strong and it has a great, if not totally original, twist to explain their Sci-fi premise. Unfortunately, it causes more questions than answers. Amy Adams is continuing to amass an impressive body of work. I hope she is going to be around a long time. Again, not a bad film, I think Arrival gets lost in translation up against this year's field of nominees.

Unsolicited Movie Review - LOVING

Unsolicited Movie Review - Loving

With the Oscars coming up I go through a ritual to try and see all the nominated films for Best Picture. By accident I was under the impression that LOVING was nominated for Best Picture. It was not. Although Ruth Negga did receive a nod, well deserved mind you, for Best Actress. However since it isn't nominated for Best Picture I figured I would go ahead and share my review.

This movie is beautiful.

This movie is important.

This movie is well written.

This movie is delicately acted.

This movie is boring as dirt.

Good Lord could somebody have a seminar with the director about pace?

I wouldn't say it is a bad movie. The script and quality of acting are both top-notch. The talent it takes, especially by the two leads, to portray characters with personalities resembling cardboard is impressive. There is meaning and there is value to this film. Let me put it this way. Nobody ever complained that it wasn't longer.

The tag line of this film was “A Landmark Movie”, apparently playing off the landmark Supreme Court decision that it focused on.

The tag line for it should have been “Even boring people can change the world!”