Bryan Caron's Blog, page 12
April 1, 2018
Movie Mayhem – Ready Player One
Ready Player One — 2018; Directed by Steven Spielberg; Starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance, Lena Waithe, and Simon Pegg
I’ve never read Ready Player One, the pop-culture-heavy book written by Ernest Cline (who shares credit on the screenplay with Zak Penn) for which the film is based, but when it was announced that Steven Spielberg would helm the big-budget adaptation, excitement hit 88 miles per hour. In most people’s minds (and hearts), Spielberg is the quintessential sc-fi/fantasy director of the eighties, so to have him direct a movie that would incorporate so many beloved references — a lot of which he himself had a hand in bringing to life — was a film lover’s dream come true. As time passed, though, and the anticipation wore off, some began to wonder: could Spielberg, who had grown more accustomed to heavy adult material in the past two decades (and failed to deliver on his fantasy adaptation of the beloved children’s story, The BFG) pull off the same magic he was able to deliver back in the heyday of what this respectable critic deems the best era of film, music and gaming? The answer to that question has been answered, and I’m happy to say it is a resounding — Yes he can.
Digging deep within himself to find that child-like wonder once more, Spielberg pulls us into a world of pure imagination while using subtle (and some not so subtle) layers to comment on the world’s growing need to communicate in a virtual world as opposed to interacting with others in reality. When you see something like Super 8, It or Stranger Things — those wonderful attempts to recapture that free-wheeling purity the eighties encompassed — we reminisce about those memories of kids riding bikes until dusk and getting into mischievous trouble like the little scallions they were, harkening back to one movie in particular — E.T., which all but defined a generation of film making. Spielberg pulls off a unique magic trick by taking us back to that era while simultaneously propelling us into the future.
Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives with his aunt and boyfriend in what can only be described as a vertical trailer park, in which a series of manufactured homes are stacked atop one another in a tower of freewheeling slums. He’s an outcast without friends who desires a better life, but can’t break free of his own artificial shackles. None of it matters, though, when you have the Oasis, a virtual fantasy world in which basically the entire population uses to escape their sorrowful lives. Here, you can be anyone or anything you want to be; a giant video game where the stakes are limited to losing everything you built and collected within the game (money, property, etc.) when you’re killed, but one in which you could live a happy, luxurious life forever as the doppelgänger you always wished you could be.
But as glorious as this world can be, there’s evil afoot (natch). The IOI, the massive corporation that manufactures the equipment that not only allow you into the Oasis, but provide gear such as body suits and gloves, which enhance the virtual experience with the sensory-level technology so you can feel every sensation as if it’s the real thing, is looking to officially take over the Oasis and turn the entire experience into one giant marketing scheme.
To do this, they must first win the game within the game set up by Halliday (Mark Rylance), the creator of the Oasis and lover of all things pop-culture, who refused to give into the corporate side of entertainment. It’s revealed upon his death that Halliday set up a challenge to find three keys, which would unlock a hidden Easter egg and give all shares of the Oasis to the winner. Everyone, including the IOI’s team of dozens of employees, has been looking for the clues to unlock the mystery for the past five years, but have been unable to get past the very first challenge — a deadly race that always ends with King Kong trashing the competitors just before the finish line.
Wade, using the gamer name Parzival while inside the Oasis, isn’t against joining in on the fun, but his reasons are much more pure than that of the IOI — Wade is doing it for the love of pop culture and to continue the legacy left behind by someone who may have been even lonelier than he is. Halliday, it turns out, left many clues in his extensive library of memories, and only someone who is so ingrained in the man’s past could possibly figure out what they all mean. When Wade does finally figure out how to finish the race, he and his team of friends, which include Artemis (Olivia Cooke) and Aech (Lena Waithe), quickly discover the clues to the next set of keys and do everything they can to save the game from a corporate takeover.
Everyone involved is clearly having a blast here playing out there fantasies. Sheridan and Cooke have a kind chemistry that doesn’t get in the way of their growing romantic feelings for one another. Neither of the characters start out perfect, and each have their own personal reason to hide in the Oasis. This clear lack of self-esteem (whether because of their situation in life or their appearance) bonds the two first as partners, then as friends, then as a couple.
It is a bit of a leap of faith to believe that all of Wade’s companions on his quest inside the Oasis all live within a close proximity to one another in the real world, but it’s an issue that’s easy to ignore. Spielberg could have thrown a line in about how a couple of them flew cross-country to help protect Wade from IOI operatives who come after him after learning what his name is in the real world, but who really cares? By the time it matters, we’re already invested in all of the characters to the point that we just want to see a team of superheroes join forces to win the game and save the world.
On top of everything, it’s the visual effects that would make or break the movie, and for all intents and purposes, Spielberg once again blows your mind. The animation within the Oasis isn’t perfect, and that in and of itself is perfect, allowing you to feel as if you are, in fact, living in a game found on any platform these days, with hair artificially blowing in the wind around a more plastic environment. Juxtopose that with a gritty realism created for the real world, which runs mostly gray and brown except for when Wade and Artemis, also known as Samantha, are together, which adds a fresh, light touch of color to match the passion and drive the two share for one another and their ultimate goals. Spielberg, it turns out, still has a terrific eye for detail that envelops his audience into a world that’s a marvel to behold, and one that you’ll need to see multiple times to catch every last bit of winks and nods of nostalgia that fill every pixel.
My Grade: A
Bonus Reviews:
God’s Not Dead: A Light In Darkness is a strong finale to a trilogy that speaks to both believers and non-believers alike, uniting us all under the disciplines of love, honor, patience and understanding, rather than hatred, vitriol, violence and antipathy towards those you may not agree with. A-
One thing you never want to feel when watching a comedy is the sense of trying too hard, and Sherlock Gnomes, a sequel no one asked for, does just that, forcing characters into situations and jokes that feel artificial and rudimentary because the filmmakers aren’t creative enough to come up with anything new. B-
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Next week, new movies include Blockers, A Quiet Place, The Miracle Season and Chappaquiddick. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 25, 2018
Movie Mayhem – Midnight Sun
Midnight Sun — 2018; Directed by Scott Speer; Starring Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle and Quinn Shephard
When I initially heard about Midnight Sun, the first thing that came to mind was last year’s Everything, Everything, which also included a young teenage girl trapped in her house because of some rare disease. One major difference between the two films is that in the latter film, the main character couldn’t step outside at all due to a failed immune system, whereas in the former, Katie (Bella Thorne) can go outside, but only at night, since any contact with the sun will basically kill her. Both films dissect the idea of how much a life a person can actually have when they’re all but trapped in their home, and wrap that idea around a convenient love story, in which the girl falls in love with the cutest guy on the block, who just so happens to find them to be beautifully captivating.
There are a few more similarities (talk about going off to a far-away place, characters ogling over their love interests through windows), but the differences do keep them from feeling like a carbon copy of one another. The biggest difference is in how the female characters handle the disease. In Everything, the heroine isn’t secretive about her disease. She may not come right out and say what it is, but at least her boy toy knows that being outside is dangerous. In Midnight, Katie keeps her illness a secret from Charlie (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a simple choice that makes some sense under the circumstances, but becomes really stupid as the relationship unfolds.
You can see where Midnight Sun is going from the very first frame because it doesn’t stray far, if at all, from the basic formula we all come to expect from a young adult love story. However, Thorne and Schwarzenegger are charming enough to hold your attention and become invested in not only their relationship, but in the disease itself. The meet-cute on the train station platform where Katie likes to play music on occasion is sweet and funny, as Katie makes excuse after excuse for why she has to leave after coming face-to-face with the boy she’s been watching ride by her window every day. She encompasses just the right amount of anxiety, fear, embarrassment, love and flirtatious goofiness that you can’t help but fall in love with her, and Schwarzenegger proves that he can be a movie star in a much different way than his father.
As the two get to know one another on a deeper level, we feel how connected they are, not just in a physical way, but a spiritual way as well. None of it would have come to fruition, though, if it wasn’t for Katie’s best friend, Morgan (Quinn Shephard), who I’d be totally up to seeing in her own movie. She’s got that hot-girl-screaming-to-break-free-of-her-geektastic-tomboy-shell vibe going on, and it works well against all of the other characters in the film. A subplot between her and one of her co-workers (Nicholas Coombe) does get a little bit of a short-shrift, but it’s still a fun little juxtaposition to the love affair the film is focused on.
This isn’t the only subplot that fails to get fleshed out, either, the biggest of which is the relationship between Charlie and a high school sexpot (Tiera Skovbye) who desperately tries to hook up with Charlie. These flagrant attempts at getting into his pants are a bit off-putting, especially when they have no consequence to anything that happens in the film. It’s there to represent Charlie as one of the popular jocks who could have any girl he wants, but chooses Katie over the casual hookup, showing he isn’t just a shallow kid, but is looking for someone that excites him, who’s interesting and mysterious and intelligent and creative. But without some sort of closure or comeuppance for the shallow rich girl, her jealousy of Katie feels shoehorned into the film over the long run.
One standout I do want to give props to is Rob Riggle, who delivers a unexpectedly subtle performance as Katie’s dad. I don’t tend to care for Riggle’s brand of broad comedy, as to me it always feels a little too forced. But as a widowed father of a sick child, Riggle pulls back on his usual instincts and channels that madcap energy into providing this man with powerful strength and depth. He’s scared for his daughter but wants to see her happy, so allowing her to be more than the porcelain doll he’s raised is hard for him. We can see a mix of pain and joy in every look and choice he makes for and with her, and it helps to build a solid, well-established relationship between him and Katie. It’s nowhere near an Academy Award winning performance, but for Riggle, it’s a big step forward into new territory that I believe he can make work to his advantage.
The disease depicted in the film is a real disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), and it certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, with the description alone — wherein the slightest exposure to the ultraviolet rays of sunlightcan cause unreparable damage to the DNA of a person’s epidermal cells, easily leading to skin cancer and death — I couldn’t help but wonder (which they also somewhat refer to in the film) if this disease may have had a part to play in vampire lore. That aside, Midnight Sun surprised me when it came to my overall reaction, and though it may have a lot of similarities to other recent films and stick closely to the genre’s story beats, it’s certainly a good date-night flick that packs a decent emotional punch.
You can learn more about XP here.
My Grade: A-
Bonus Reviews:
I’m not sure why all of the recent giant robot flicks and action movies think that they need to populate their movies with pre-teens, but unlike the recent Transformers, at least the young girl (Cailee Spaeny) in Pacific Rim: Uprising actually has a purpose to the overall film, which itself does a good job of extending the lore of the original. A-
Though I applaud Steven Soderbergh choosing to film the entirety of Unsane on an iPhone, and I like how the uncomfortable angles help make you feel as if you yourself are stalking the character, because there isn’t any life to the story, the film ends up feeling like a glorified attempt by a film student to impress his professor. B
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Next week, new movies include Ready Player One, Tyler Perry’s Acrimony and God’s Not Dead: A Light In Darkness. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 18, 2018
Movie Mayhem – I Can Only Imagine
I Can Only Imagine — 2018; Directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin; Starring J. Michael Finley, Dennis Quaid, Trace Adkins and Madeline Carroll
Art in all of its forms has the ability to invoke emotion, transport you to a different time and of course inspire. But art is also subjective; not everything is going to affect the same audience in the same way, and not all artists will find an audience at all. Yet, no matter how many people tell someone to give up, a true artist — one who believes in their work and in the message they are trying to convey through their art — will never let anyone keep them from speaking their mind or pursuing their dreams. As an artist myself, I know my passion isn’t about fame, money or power; it’s about speaking a truth among a sea of voices reaching out to convey their own truths — their own souls. I also know that it only takes one moment, one song, one book, one movie to pull you from obscurity and into the public consciousness.
For Mercy Me, one of the most famous Christian rock bands of the 21st Century, that song was lead singer Bart Millard’s “I Can Only Imagine,” which took not only Christian radio by storm, but the world with its honest, inspiring lyrics, opening doors for the band that had all but been closed to them before.
Based on the story behind the song, I Can Only Imagine follows the journey Bart took to find the strength to write the song and put context and meaning behind the beautiful words he wrote. Growing up with an abusive father (Dennis Quaid), Bart (played by J. Michael Finley and Brody Rose (at a young age)), does everything he can to bury the truth. He keeps his father away from those he loves; he keeps his girlfriend, Shannon (Madeline Carroll) away from his house, and when he can’t take the abuse any longer, he hightails it out of town without ever looking back. But when a chance meeting leads to a gig as the lead singer of a band, everything changes, not only for Bart, but everyone who took a chance on him, including his reluctant manager, Brickell (Trace Adkins)
Finley is quite good as the beaten Bart, conveying a broken spirit that won’t allow him to truly find his voice. His performance is only bolstered by an impressive supporting cast that heightens each note of Bart’s heartfelt story with beautiful strokes of inspiration. No matter how large or small the role, each actor fills their character with enough depth or charisma, most notably Quaid, who showcases a brute force that is so conflicted by everything he’s lost that it’s hard to watch this man come to terms with his demons while succumbing to them at the same time. One moment in particular, when Quaid breaks down listening to his son sing, is small, but quite devastating.
Everyone involved does their job to enhance what’s truly important, which is the message behind the film. I have no doubt that directors Andrew and Jon Erwin took plenty of liberties in telling this story, but what film “based on a true story” doesn’t? The point they’re trying to get across is in how Bart got to a place where he could write this particular song. As Brickell tells him at one point (and I’m paraphrasing here), art isn’t just about doing something or running through the motions. To truly connect with an audience, there has to be a strong core of truth behind it, and until you’re able to get past the fear of connecting with that truth and conveying that to the audience (essentially giving a piece of yourself to the world), no one will ever see you as anything but a fraud, no matter how big or small you may be.
The film isn’t perfect, but what piece of art is? Every beat of the story is created with an earnest precision, doing everything it needs to draw out the right emotion at the right time. Whether it’s tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of inspiration or the occasional laugh to warm those tears, the Erwin’s pull at your heartstrings like master artists. And don’t think for a second that by saying this makes the film a downer; it’s so far from that. The Erwin’s make sure to keep everything light and airy, even as the world crumbles, giving off a sense that, yes, things may be quite dour, but there’s hope in every corner of sadness, so long as you’re willing to seek it out and accept it.
The world can be a very bitter place, especially in the times we currently live, where vitriol and politics have all but divided us all, so it’s a breath of fresh air to have a piece of art come to life to inspire everyone to keep pursuing their dreams no matter how bad things may feel. No matter how many people in your life tell you to give up on your dreams and settle for reality, don’t ever allow that mindset to win. The more you push, the more you let your heart go where it wants, the more chances you have to break through the noise and deliver your truth to the world in the way you want. It doesn’t matter if it inspires a million people or just one – your voice matters (or will matter) to someone. Listen to your heart and never let fear keep you from speaking your truth.
My Grade: A
Bonus Reviews:
Unlike the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider films, Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider is a grounded action film that showcases not only a taut sense of fantasy realism, but the reasons for how Lara begins her journey into the charismatic tomb raider of lore. A
With a story that tries and fails to pair metaphor with realism, a very smart and capable cast can’t overcome 7 Days in Entebbe‘s dry, confusing and tedious look into the true story of a team of terrorists (or Palestinian Freedom Fighters) hijacking a plane in 1976. B-
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Next week, new movies include Pacific Rim: Uprising, Sherlock Gnomes, Midnight Sun, Unsane and Paul, Apostle of Christ. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 11, 2018
Movie Mayhem – A Wrinkle In Time
A Wrinkle In Time — 2018; Directed by Ava DeVernay; Starring Storm Reid, Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Levi Miller and Daric McCabe
Sometimes I feel guilty when a movie comes out and I haven’t read the book it’s based on; sort of like a kid in school forgoing the book to watch the movie for a book report. Sometimes it can be better not to have read the book first, as the book is almost always “better” than the movie. Not only do books allow for deeper exploration into why and how characters do what they do and the environments that surround them, but what’s produced on screen usually can’t compare to what you imagined on your own. At the same time, films can wind up being just as entertaining as their written counterparts, even as they alter or cut elements for time. In the case of A Wrinkle In Time, Disney’s new adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s fantastical book, having seen the movie without having read the book somehow makes me feel I’m missing something — as if there’s a secret in the book that didn’t transfer to the big screen.
Storm Reid plays Meg, a junior high student still grieving over the loss of her father, Mr. Murry (Chris Pine), after his mysterious disappearance four years earlier. She’s a very intelligent girl but a bit of an outcast who doesn’t feel she belongs. This struggle in figuring out who she is and what she wants to be drives the bulk of the narrative, especially after she discovers that her father’s madcap theories about bending space and time with his mind may not have been so wild and crazy. After her little brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), introduces her to free spirit Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), old-as-dirt Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and the wise and majestic Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Meg discovers her father may still be alive, trapped somewhere in the universe, and it’s up to her to rescue him.
The visual fantasy elements of the film are done well, especially when the team of rescuers (which also includes Calvin (Levi Miller), one of Meg’s classmates who stands in as a love interest for some reason) enter the “It”, a mysterious dark force that devours the light and love from the universe, leaving behind darkness that manifests itself as hatred, jealousy, contempt and the like. At the same time, they feel a little sporadic, as if they’re thrown in for no other reason than because they need a new set piece to wow you with. The explanations for how things work are either non-existent or overly blatant, and that balance makes the overall pace of the film feel somewhat stiff.
This rigid sense of aesthetics also bleeds into the cast. It’s extremely hard to relate to anyone in the film, mostly because it doesn’t feel as if the players on the board are working together, even when they visibly are. Other than the loving relationship between Meg and Charles Wallace, no one is actually connected to anyone else. In other words, everyone seems to be in their own movie, almost as if they all filmed their scenes separately and then added together digitally. This is especially true of Meg and Calvin’s relationship, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Not only are we never introduced to the two as a pair prior to the journey, but Calvin’s presence holds absolutely no relevance. If he was removed from the film, it wouldn’t make much of a difference to the plot or the growth of the characters.
This isn’t all the fault of the actors; they’re doing the best with what they’re given (especially Witherspoon, who is such a delight in every scene she’s in). When the script doesn’t leave us with a whole lot of explanation for anything, or roll out developments that have no resolution or are resolved with nothing more than a simple wave, there isn’t much the actors can do to overcome that. Take Charles Wallace, for example. He was adopted by Mr. Murry and his wife, Mrs. Murry (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) as a baby, and though this fact comes into play late in the film, the reason for why they adopted him is left on the cutting room floor. Although the climax of the film is emotionally resonant, knowing why Charles Wallace’s parents chose to — or had to — adopt him would have given a much better context, allowing that emotion to be even more significant.
The supporting players that pop in, including Zach Galifianakis as Happy Medium and Michael Peña as… I’m not quite sure exactly…, don’t add a whole lot to what’s happening, and though I liked that the trio of Mrs. had to abandon Meg in order for her to truly find herself and become the hero she was born to be, they didn’t do a whole lot to get her ready, and I’m not sure they helped her enough to allow for her to complete her journey without them.
Although I liked and appreciated the strong message director Ava DuVernay leaves behind about loving who you are and never hiding from it, it doesn’t seem as anything will change after what happens. There are a lot of fun and interesting aspects to the film, but with such thin character developments, a lack of resolution in a lot of the subplots, characters that felt separated from one another even as they held hands to unite in strength, and the entire idea of Meg being a warrior who will serve the good and the light in the universe being subdued to the point where it doesn’t make a lot of sense, A Wrinkle In Time fails to capture any true sense of wonder. An adaptation shouldn’t leave you feeling as if you would have a better experience if you read the book, but that’s exactly what this film does, so I guess I’m going to have to do just that to find out what magic was actually missing.
My Grade: B
Bonus Reviews:
Without the presence of any fun, interesting characters to hang with or winks to its own absurdity, Hurricane Heist‘s obvious attempt to be the next Twister fails miserably, leaving behind nothing more than a strong gust of bland nonsense. C+
Gringo pulls together a team of expert actors to ground their precise, over-the-top performances, allowing everyone involved to have a blast for two hours playing on the tropes of a typical kidnapping thriller. A-
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Next week, new movies include Tomb Raider, I Can Only Imagine and Love, Simon. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 3, 2018
Chaos Movie Awards 2018
The 90th Academy Awards
The Academy Awards will celebrate their 90th year this year. What does that mean? Not much. It’s just an interesting little factoid. Come back to me when the show turns 100, and then we’ll talk. Until then, awards will continue to be handed out, there will be some welcome surprises (and at least one shocker that no one sees coming), a lot of annoying political talk, and of course some predictable antics among several highly paid, talented people patting themselves on the back for over three hours.
And I can’t get enough of it!
With it all comes my predictions for this year’s main categories, as well as a few of my own special awards for those who should be recognized in categories meant more for the MTV Movie Awards than the great, prestige of the Oscars.
Best Picture (Nominees – Call Me By Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Who Will Win: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
It’s certainly refreshing to see a horror movie find its way onto the list this year, but you have to know it has no chance of winning against the crop of prestigious films the Academy chose to honor this year. Most pundits are leaning toward The Shape of Water or Phantom Thread taking home the top prize, but I have a feeling that Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri will edge out the win by a close margin.
Who Should Win: Darkest Hour
Of all the nominees this year, Darkest Hour was the one that remained compelling throughout no matter how slow the pace may have appeared on the surface. Even though there isn’t a lot of action, and the majority of the film revolves around politicians talking and conspiring against one another, thanks to a bevy of incredible performances and a timely story that holds your interest with its similarities to recent politics, Darkest Hour was the most compulsively fascinating of the bunch.
Best Actor (Nominees – Timothée Chalamet, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Kaluuya, Gary Oldman, Denzel Washington)
[image error]Best Religious Feature: The Shack
Joel Edgerton gives an emotionally satisfying performance as a grieving father who finds a letter urging him to go to a shack in the wilderness for answers to his daughter’s kidnapping. While there, he has an experience with God that speaks deeply to the those who may have lost someone in a terrible accident, spreading the message for why something so painful could happen to someone so kind, and how one can move on and find solace in the gentleness of God’s ultimate love.
What do you think? Who will win and should win the Oscars this year? Do you have any movies or actors you’d like to give a shout out to for their excellence in 2017?
February 25, 2018
Movie Mayhem – Game Night
Game Night — 2018; Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein; Starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury and Billy Magnussen
The fear for any new comedy opening in multiplexes these days is the question of whether the trailer revealed too much — especially when it comes to the comedy itself. A lot of times you’ll hear someone say all the best jokes were in the trailer, which is understandable, because studios want to draw people in, so they have to put their best foot forward. But if all the best humor is in the trailer, it means the film as a whole can’t be very good, since there’s no substance left to keep you interested. The greatest achievement a broad comedy can have is to keep you laughing and smiling as you leave the theater because the elements in the trailer were no match for the stuff that wasn’t. Game Night sits on the fence between these two extremes; though most of the really good stuff is in the trailer, there’s still plenty of laughs to keep you smiling past the end credits.
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie, a married couple who first met during a trivia contest at a local bar (on opposing teams, no less). It was love at first clue, and the two have been holding (and winning) game nights with their friends ever since. When Bateman’s brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler, who needs to be offered more movie roles; the guy is awesome), shows up on vacation from his glorious life, the rivalry between the two intensifies, especially when Brooks hijacks game night and turns it into a murder mystery party. The night kicks off with an “FBI agent” (Zerrick Williams) cluing everyone in on what’s about to happen, and when a couple of thugs crash the party and kidnap Brooks, the game’s afoot. But is it really a game, or is there something else going on behind the scenes?
Because the comedy in a movie like this is mostly situational, it must first and foremost rely heavily on its characters to keep everything that happens grounded and believable. Luckily, we have Bateman (with his usual deadpan delivery) and McAdams (as sweet, lovely and charming as ever), who make an adorable and cohesive pair — two sides of the same coin. It’s clear the two share a loving bond of respect for the other, even when they disagree or fight over the little things in life. Yet, this is an ensemble movie, so even though the weight of the plot lies on their shoulders (for good reason), the supporting cast must be strong enough to compliment the pair without feeling like secondary. non-essential characters.
For the most part, directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are able to accomplish just that. First up is Kevin (Lemorne Morris) and his girlfriend, Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), who also share some nice chemistry, even if the ongoing storyline of what celebrity Michelle may have slept with during their one time apart is mostly a throwaway setup that doesn’t have any real connection to the plot or the character arcs, which makes the whole thing grow a little tired as the night goes on. The second couple is Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and his swinging door of hot, stupid girlfriends, all except for Sarah (Sharon Horgan), the pretty but smart co-worker he brings with him to Brooks’s game night. Sarah balances out Ryan’s buffoonery quite well, yet their chemistry is a bit lacking in comparison to the other couples, and their arc doesn’t really have a satisfying conclusion. It’s just sort of there.
The shining star among this group of friends is the outsider who I was initially afraid might not blend well enough to work. As Max and Annie’s creepy-bordering-on-psychotic-stalker neighbor, Gary, Jesse Plemons plays the character with a subdued hint of madness that stems from a deep sadness and desire and need to fit in. Gary was once a staple on game night when he was married to one of Annie’s other friends, but now that they’re separated, the group keeps their distance, lying to him about their game nights because, understandably so, they feel there’s something off with him. I felt extremely uncomfortable whenever Plemons was on screen, which I’m sure is exactly what Daley and Goldstein were going for. It’s out of this discomfort that the chuckles and giggles and laughs come out to play.
Wait. What about the plot you ask? Well, to talk about it would be to give a lot away. Let’s just say it does keep you wondering whether what we’re seeing is real or not, and there are a couple of great moments that play into that guessing game quite well. Back in 1997, Michael Douglas and Sean Penn made a psychological thriller with the same type of premise called The Game, a film whose sole purpose was to keep that guessing game alive. What makes this one a bit different is in the way Daley and Goldstein play with this idea; they aren’t so much interested in keeping you guessing as they are having fun and toying with the idea in small doses.
I will say that when all the characters believe the whole thing is an act, everything is so much funnier. I think Daley and Goldstein could have been able to mine a lot more laughs from this premise had they kept the characters in that state of bewilderment much longer than they do. Once they start to question the reality of everything, some of the situations become, in a way, less interesting. Whether fake or not, if the audience believes everything might be real, but the characters don’t, there’s some great comedic effects that can be utilized; when the characters think it’s all real and the audience isn’t sure, that’s where a disconnect begins to happen, adding a level of ambiguity to whether we should laugh at what’s happening. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any laughs in the second half of the film, it’s just not as delightfully giddy as the first half.
Game Night won’t win any awards for being the best comedy ever made, nor will it be regarded as a bad comedy. It’s funny and the actors blend together perfectly, keeping everything, both fake and real, believable while learning a few life lessons in the process. Bateman and McAdams may hold the entirety of the film together, but they also believe in the ensemble and let everyone shine in their own way, a small gesture that could lead this film to grow more appreciated over time.
My Grade: A
Bonus Reviews:
Annihilation may be though of as too smart, but don’t let that keep you from internalizing everything the film has to offer. From it’s imagery to it’s thoughtful ideas, the film deserves to be enjoyed for what it is — a well-crafted piece of science fiction. A-
Though some of the acting could have used some help, and some ideas aren’t developed enough, Every Day has a unique, well-developed love story at it’s core, keeping the heartfelt, tender and tragic romance from devolving into convention. A-
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Next week, new movies include Death Wish and Red Sparrow. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
February 18, 2018
Movie Mayhem – Black Panther
Black Panther — 2018; Directed by Ryan Cooglar; Starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Michale B. Jordan, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett
Bilbo Baggins, meet the man behind your nemisis, Gollum!
That’s what I kept thinking when CIA operative Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, first introduced in Captain America: Civil War) bags the nefarious Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, last seen tormenting the Avengers in Avengers: Age of Ultron). This time around, Ross goes undercover to purchase an artifact made of Vibranium (the storngest metal in the world, found only in the African nation of Wakanda) to lure Klaue into the open. But what’s that lurking in the shadows? Why, it’s T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), crowned king of Wakanda after the death of his father in a massive explosion at the U.N., who’s also out to stop Klaue once and for all. Both men want him for different reasons (Ross because he’s a federal criminal; T’Challa because he stole several pounds of Vibranium), and neither wants to give him up. What they don’t know is there’s a third player in the mix who also wants Klaue for his own purposes. Who will triumph?
Though this three-way dance for control over Klaue may seem insignificant on the surface, it turns out to be the linchpin that ignites and ties together all of the different plot points of Black Panther, Marvel’s newest entry into their unstoppable cinematic juggernaut. Taking place about a week after the events of Civil War, Marvel once again finds a way to hit all of the right notes in expanding on the world they’ve created and bring a new voice to the Marvel fold in director Ryan Cooglar, who, like every director before him, stays true to the overall Marvel brand while putting his own signature stamp on the project.
Returning home after teaming up with Steve Rogers to stop Tony Stark from keeping the Sokovia accords from falling apart, T’Challa has to go through a ritual in which the powers of his ancestors are stripped away in order to fight any challenger who wishes to fight him for the throne. He gains the respect of his pride (see what I did there) rather quickly and undergoes the process of regaining his powers, an interesting ritual that allows the possessor to walk among the ancestors, including his father, for advice and closure. What he doesn’t know is there’s another threat from the outside who will stop at nothing to rip the crown from T’Challa and claim it as his own so that he can lead Wakanda in a global takeover.
T’Challa is a reluctant, yet smart leader. He rarely, if ever, allows his emotions to get the better of him, doing everything in his power to accomplish his goals without the need for violence. But when diplomacy breaks down, he’s as prepared as ever to fight those who stand in his way, complete with his own version of Q — his younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who runs the laboratory that develops all of the advanced tech from the Vibranium they mine beneath their hidden city. The pair is fun and convincing as a brother and sister team, one who sits in the pocket of calm and logic, the other that just wants to be part of the fight. Joining them are Okoye (Danai Gurira), the head of the royal guard who protects the throne (and whomever sits upon it) with her life, and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), T’Challa’s love interest, who’s also a feisty spy and warrior in her own right.
Everyone involved — which seems to include every high-caliber black actor working today, including a riveting Sterling K. Brown, the usual voice of reason Forest Whitaker, a stoic Angela Bassett, and an irresolute Daniel Kaluuya— is at the top of their game, especially Serkis, who drives his wild-man sensibilities to the extreme without sliding into a cartoon version of himself. It’s great to see Serkis in a role that isn’t covered by computer graphics, and it appears, so does he. He brings an excited whimsy to his role, which he carefully dovetails into a level of eccentricity and gusto that lightens up the film. There are many actors who’ve created villains you love to hate, but with Serkis, he convinces you to root for the villain, simply because you want to see more of him.
Speaking of that villain you love to hate — in Black Panther, that would be Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who plays this resentful character as if he were in a prestige picture prime for Oscar gold. Nothing about his performance (outside of the mind-blowing technology, rhino horses, and comic-book lore) screams comic villain. He’s able to take what could have been an over-the-top caricature and grounds him with a heartbreaking weight that allows you to believe every word and move he makes. It’s an honest performance that balances out some of the more outrageous antics that in other films would keep you from believing this could take place in the real world.
What does go over-the-top — and rightfully so — are the action sequences. But because Cooglar chose to insert these top-notch, and in some cases, Oscar-nominated actors, into the action, it’s far easier to believe what’s happening. Which is where Cooglar’s idealism comes into play. He’s able to have fun with his toys, but send a message at the same time, one that will speak to many people, even if I did feel it was a little contradictory at times.
I wouldn’t say Black Panther is the best Marvel has ever produced, but when you have so many great films in the canon already, to sit on the same pedestal as all of those that came before and show you can not only play in the same sandbox, but hold your own against other heavyweights, that’s saying something. Boseman has played many real-life characters in his time in Hollywood, and as Civil War has proven before, Black Panther reiterates that he has many talents up his sleeve, and his low-key creation is a welcome addition to the universe that just keeps expanding for the better.
My Grade: A
Bonus Review:
Though there are some fun moments throughout Early Man, I couldn’t help but feel I’ve seen it all before. There’s nothing wrong with characters, the plot, the animation or the voice-work, but there’s nothing new or surprising either. B
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Next week, new movies include Game Night, Annihilation and Every Day. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
February 11, 2018
Movie Mayhem – The 15:17 To Paris
The 15:17 To Paris — 2018; Directed by Clint Eastwood; Starring Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Judy Greer and Jenna Fischer
Clint Eastwood has been a Hollywood icon for a very long time. I can’t say I’m a big fan of his older material (or his acting, in general – I know; blasphemous, right!), but I am a fan of his directing, especially in the past decade or so. Eastwood has the ability to find the richness, compassion and fear of everyday life without coming off preachy, tedious or boring, allowing the characters and the journeys he develops to be relatable in a small, subtle way. Which is why his newest film, The 15:17 To Paris, is so disappointing. The true story behind the film is a testament to our everyday heroes — those who find the courage to do what’s necessary in a moment when most would run and hide — however, Eastwood can’t seem to find a way to tell the story with enough power to imbue the audience with the power necessary to care.
The film follows three friends (Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, all playing themselves) who wind up on a train to Paris that’s about to be attacked by a lone terrorist (Ray Corasani). By remaining calm in the face of chaos (and with a little bit of luck — or God’s grace), the three men are able to subdue the terrorist, saving a countless number of lives. The story may be one of great heroism, but to no fault of anyone involved, the actual event the movie revolves around is so small (and in some ways so insignificant in comparison to other similar incidents), it’s hard for Eastwood and writer Dorothy Blyskal to find a way to fill the length of a feature film with any substance.
I have to give credit to Eastwood for choosing to allow the actual men who lived through the incident to tell their own story, and to Skarlatos, Sadler and Stone for giving it their all and doing everything they could to do their story justice. I have no doubt these guys are terrific, upstanding people, but they are not actors, and I can’t help but feel that the film would have been much more riveting had they been portrayed by real actors. The emotion and personality of these life-long friends is on one level genuine, but on a deeper level, incredibly stale — almost as if the entire thing is one long reenactment on some cheaply-produced documentary. If it weren’t for Judy Greer, Jenna Fischer and a couple of the other fine actors Eastwood chose to round out the rest of the cast with, the film would have felt even more like a strong attempt from a first-time film student.
This plays into the construction of the story as well. Because the incident only takes up the final ten minutes of the film, Eastwood has to fill the film with backstory on the three friends to see how they reached that inevitable point. The problem is, the moments Eastwood chooses to focus on seem to have no importance on the incident itself. We’re meant to believe that Stone (played at a younger age by William Jennings) entered the military because he felt an obligation to help people, but where does this innate need come from? Does it come from being bullied in school? Does it come from losing Skarlatos (played at a young age by Bryce Gheiser) when he’s forced to live with his father? We’re never quite sure because Eastwood doesn’t allow these moments to fully blossom into anything but incidents that happened in their lives. After Skarlatos moves away, for example, we jump ten or so years, so any issues that may have come with his absence dissipate into what’s essentially, an unimportant memory.
To give the film some character and depth, Eastwood should’ve given these moments more time to breathe, or in the very least, expanded on them to make them matter to the overall story. But he seems to have trouble connecting the dots, which leads to a series of relationships that come and go without any viable connection. Stone and Sadler spending time with a young tourist? The hookup of Skarlatos with a German student? What is their purpose to the main plot except for the fact the incidents happened? Removing them from the script would subtract nothing from the story itself, which makes those moments wholly insignificant.
Not even the core relationship between Skarlatos, Sadler and Stone is compelling enough to root for. When the three of them first meet in one of many trips to the principal’s office, we’re supposed to believe this bond is unbreakable. But with what we’re given, all it feels like is an obligation. When Sadler teases Stone that he didn’t think he’d be able to finish basic training because he hasn’t been able to finish anything before (something we haven’t been allowed to see for ourselves), we’re thrown into a montage of Stone training to pass his physical tests. But this determination based off of his friends grief isn’t given any emotional weight, so when things don’t end up the way Stone hopes, that feeling of triumph over adversity and disenchantment and frustration never manifest themselves with any real command.
I wanted very much to become absorbed into the film, because I know (as the screenplay spends a lot of time pushing the idea) that these three men are, and may always be, incredibly heroic. But with a story that feels extremely flat, performances that are better suited for trained actors, and an editing style that has to remind you there’s a terrorist incident on the way to try and maintain your interest, Eastwood has constructed a dull, unremarkable film that wants us to be proud of our everyday heroes, but doesn’t allow us to believe it.
My Grade: C
Bonus Reviews:
Based on the previews, Peter Rabbit felt like another run-of-the-mill kiddie-flick that would spend most of its time on inane, juvenile jokes. What we get, though, is a witty, tender, fun little movie that has fun with its characters, its genre and its source material. A-
Focusing on a couple of weeks of Winston Churchill’s (a profound and moving Gary Oldman) reign as Prime Minister of England, Darkest Hour is a perfect example of how to make an adult, political movie as riveting as a major, multi-million dollar blockbuster. A
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Next week, new movies include Black Panther, Early Man and Samson. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
February 4, 2018
IndieBooks Review – Tomoiya’s Story: Escape To Darkness
Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness; Written by C.A. King
When telling a story, there are a multitude of things to think about, the main ones being the main plot, subplots, character development, relationships, tone and themes. One that is just as important is the relationship between the narrator of the story being told and the reader. For most writers, this connection is ingrained in the art form. In other words, they don’t have to consciously think about it as they write; they simply understand what type of relationship one is looking to have with the reader, which could be anything from trust to ignorance. C.A. King’s novella, Tomoiya’s Story: Escape to Darkness, is a story within story, so the challenge of building a relationship with the reader is two-fold — there’s the overall narrator who is telling us the story of Tomoiya, and then there’s the secondary narrator conveying a story to Tomoiya. Because of this duel narrative, I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing something, even though the characters have some interesting layers and the ideas throughout are solid.
The Tomoiya of the title is a young girl who wants to know more about her favorite book, one left behind by her mother. We’re told through her eyes that the book ends with the wedding of its protagonist, Princess Allaynie, to her chosen suitor, Mijellin. But according to “the man” (our secondary narrator), the story itself is incomplete. Just before the wedding, a trader known as Wodon arrives and quickly finds out that Allaynie has a secret — she’s what’s known as a vampire. And not just any vampire, but a very rare breed that has special powers that can benefit Wodon greatly. He kidnaps her for his own nefarious purposes, but when she escapes, he becomes hellbent on destroying all vampires in the universe.
What’s inherent in this scenario is whether or not we can trust the man who tells the bulk of the story. What we’re getting is what amounts to a second-hand account of history, so it’s very hard to know how much is fact and how much is fabricated to enhance or alter the past in the man’s favor. Which is fine, however, without knowing who this person is, we’re never clear as to what motivates him, so to a degree, we can’t decipher what’s happening, or for what purpose, and so it made me feel as if I wasn’t in on all of the King’s secrets.
This isn’t just in regards to the narrator, either. Because of the nature of the format, we’re thrown into this situation without truly knowing who all of the characters are, and because of the length of the book (a quick 98 pages), King doesn’t allow us to spend the time with these characters to become familiar enough to understand and empathize with their motivations, forcing the reader to follow the actions of characters through ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out. And when one of the more interesting characters disappears half-way through the book and is never heard from again, it’s a bit off-putting.
I did find the changes to the vampire lore that King creates to be very interesting, however, it’s hard to follow as they seem to be some contradictory ideas as to where and when the lore started and/or evolved across the universe. Is this meant to take place close to Earth, where most vampire lore has seen varying iterations, or is this in a galaxy far far away, where this type of idea wouldn’t be known? Or is this the beginning of the lore, which would eventually expand across the universe to where we see it today? This confused me and drew a disconnect with the overall flow of the book.
The pace, though, is swift, which makes the story an easy read. But because of this, there are many holes where large chunks of time are omitted, forcing King to simply tell us what happened — sequences I wish we could have seen play out to some degree. I understand why it works in the context of the man’s story, but without being immersed into the visuals of these moments, we’re left with dry exposition, inevitably leading to moments that have no real impact because they happen so abruptly.
Overall, King’s ideas are good, and I liked a few of the characters, but would have liked to have had a much stronger relationship with the narrator, both from the author and the man within the story, so that I could connect with the characters on a deeper level and understand the difference between what was truly important and what was simply being told for effect.
My Grade: B
Born and raised in Halton County, Ontario, Canada, C.A. King is proud to be among the list of Canadian-born authors. King wasn’t always a writer; it wasn’t until her husband and both parents passed that King found her passion for the written word. After retiring from the workforce to do some soul searching, she found she could redirect her emotions onto the page, and in 2014, decided to follow that passion and publish some of her works. She hopes her writing can inspire a new generation of Canadian authors and add to the literary heritage and culture Canada has to offer.
Check out all of C.A.’s social media platforms:
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C.A. King
If you are an independent author and would like your book reviewed, let me know in the comments section with a link to where I can purchase the book. If I find it intriguing, and it’s something I think I’d like, I will purchase a copy and add it to my reading list. I will be doing one independent book review per month, so not all requests will be accepted.
Movie Mayhem – Winchester
Winchester — 2018; Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig; Starring Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, Bruce Spense and Eamon Farren
Horror films are one of the most lucrative genres in film. Not only are they relatively cheap to produce, but people as a whole love to be frightened, a combination that inherently make really good bedfellows. What’s even better — the film as a whole doesn’t even have to be that good to get people interested. In fact, people expect some level of corniness, whether it be in the acting, the plot or the deaths. This isn’t to say people don’t expect a level of sophistication, but as long as the movie is sincere about it’s intentions, it’s not necessarily required for entries in this genre. When producers do decide to elevate the material, such as in last year’s Get Out, it can add a new sense of pathos to the quality of the viewing experience. Then again, trying to add too much results in a oddly-psychedelic experience like mother!.
The newest entry on the horror block, Winchester — the story of the supposedly most haunted house in North America, once owned by Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren), the wife of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company owner, William — wants very much for you to believe that it’s more than your average horror flick. After all, it secured the likes of award winning actors Mirren and Jason Clarke as its leads. But that’s about where it ends, as it seems the budget for the cast was used to secure those two actors, leaving hardly anything for the rest, who by comparison, make it clear they aren’t nearly ready to appear alongside these well-known stalwarts.
Clarke plays Eric Price, a psychologist hired by the Winchester lawyers to evaluate Sarah’s mental capacity before ousting her as majority shareholder in the company. The reason they don’t believe she’s of sound mind and body is because of her penchant for continuously building on her mansion twenty-four seven. But is the reclusive woman truly unfit, or are there other reasons for her quirky behavior? Eric agrees to stay in the house during his evaluation, but what he finds is far more than what he expected.
Aside from its stars, it’s clear directors Michael and Peter Spierig want to elevate the material beyond a simple haunting. They do what they can to subvert the most popular haunted house tropes — person moves in; person begins to be haunted; person goes to the library or finds a box of old news clippings; person hires a priest to cleanse the home; supernatural beings are vanquished (and sometimes they come back) — by keeping the spirits from playing games with its inhabitants and giving good reason for why supernatural phenomena happen gradually throughout.
As the story goes, Sarah Winchester built the “mystery mansion” to house vengeful spirits who were shot and killed by the Winchester rifle. To do so, she built rooms that signified or recreated the place of death and locked the spirits within these rooms by a piece of wood with thirteen nails. But there’s one spirit waiting for his room to be completed, that seems to be much more powerful than the rest, gaining the ability to possess Sarah’s great-nephew (Finn Scicluna-O-Prey). This concept is interesting, and plays nicely into the overall ideas, but once again highlight the issues that resonate within the film.
Not a lot seems to happen here, but that’s about par for this genre; they’re meant to scare you, not preach a life lesson. Winchester, though, has a nagging atmosphere without purpose. Not only do they do hardly anything with the possession aspects, but Sarah’s niece (Sarah Snook) and great-nephew have almost nothing to do with the overall story other than to pad the run time of the script, making it more a distraction than anything else. Then there’s the neglect to focus on the more intricate, maze-like quality and oddities of the mansion itself. They mention the fact that it’s not your ordinary house and there are a couple of moments that lend themselves to the plot, but the Spierig brothers never really utilize this aspect of the home, which keeps the viewer from truly investing in the abnormal bizarre that’s been constructed.
The Spierig brothers do, however, offer up a quiet message dealing with loss, letting go of the past, and having the courage to move on after someone you care about passes on. In that way, Eric is very much like the spirit that haunts the family, they just show their grief in very different ways. This juxtaposition does add a little depth to the characters, and Clarke does a good job of showing a deep, ingrained pain without hitting you over the head with it. With that said, the climax doesn’t quite feel as powerful as it should have. All of the elements are there and everything is set up nicely for a powerful moment of clarity and release, but something is still missing. We’re not told enough or given enough information to truly connect with Eric’s past, and therefore when the climactic moment comes, I know what I was supposed to feel, I just couldn’t find a way to ingest it.
Whether the events of the film are true or not is up to you to believe, but as a horror film, Winchester does what it can to elevate itself among your typical haunted house movie but can’t keep from feeling like a run-of-the-mill haunted house flick with top-tier actors. Then again, isn’t a simple story with a strong spirit who wrecks havoc on the lives of the living exactly what the general horror fan expects?
My Grade: B+
Bonus Review:
For a movie that is full of the three C’s — coincidence, contrivance and convenience — Maze Runner: The Death Cure is a fun escape that does what it needs to entertain fans and close out the intriguing trilogy with satisfaction. A-
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Next week, new movies include Fifty Shades Freed, Peter Rabbit and The 15:17 To Paris. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
