This Is a (Quickie) Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

December 21, 2015

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Mockingjay2

The final installment of The Hunger Games is a collection of several great scenes and production details, but the overall product is not commensurately impressive. I bemoaned the announcement that the final book would be split into two movies, and the end result did not disabuse me of this notion. As the rebel fighters make their way to the Capitol, they are bombarded by a succession of ingeniously fiendish mutants and booby traps; they are the dangers of the hunger games themselves unleashed. The rebels are more impressed than intimidated, noting that the gamemakers have not stopped doing their jobs, even though the official games are no more. It is like a large-scale, lethally high-stakes Home Alone. There is plenty of room to draw out thematic points on this canvas, but the approach Part 2 (and Part 1) takes is not ideal for underscoring them. More close-ups of Jennifer Lawrence’s preternaturally expressive face might have helped.

This Is a (Quickie) Movie Review: The Peanuts Movie

December 21, 2015

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Peanuts

How old are Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang? Their constant concern about interpersonal relationship dynamics in their latest cinematic iteration would suggest that they are at least preteens, but part of the conceit of Charles Schulz’s creations is how wise (and neurotic, introspective, fastidious, etc.) beyond their years they are. The Peanuts Movie makes it clear that Sally is in kindergarten, and we know her big brother is only a couple of years older. Thus, it is so endearingly hilarious that Charlie frets over the possibility of going into escrow upon being paired up with the Little Red-Haired Girl on a book report assignment. The emotions these kids wear may be many sizes too big, but the values they display – loyalty, respect, individualism, joie de vivre – are timelessly adult.

This Is a Movie Review: Spectre

December 18, 2015

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Spectre

The truth about Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), the all-reaching villain of Spectre, is the truth about EVERYTHING in the Daniel Craig Bond-era. This is incalculably dumb. And yet somehow I love it. That is to say, I love it because of how dumb it is. It plays not too differently from the reveal in Austin Powers in Goldmember, which makes sense considering that this entry is the first that really allows Craig to be the wisecracking Bond of old. On a serious note, Spectre’s reflexivity does do a fine job of acknowledging how legitimately devastated Bond has been by the losses of Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd and Judi Dench’s M.

As Dr. Madeleine Swann, Léa Seydoux is engineered to be the (too-)perfect Bond girl. She simultaneously indulges in and responds to the worst excesses of James’ ladies. Seydoux may be 17 years younger than Daniel Craig, but Bond also hooks up with the more age-adjacent Monica Bellucci. She calls him out for being too aggressive, but then she decides that they in fact make an ideal match (and then she goes ahead and proves it).

Spectre tries to be everything for every Bond fan, which is incredibly foolish and prevents it from being a top-tier addition. But it makes for some dopey fun alongside the reliably well-staged action.

This Is a Movie Review: Creed

December 17, 2015

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CREED

“Rocky, Apollo Creed’s son looks at you and says, ‘family.’ What does that mean to you?” “It means I’m a lucky guy, what can I say.”

Creed is a rather formulaic movie, that formula being “Rocky movie.” To be clear, “Rocky movie” is a genre unto itself. It is a dialect within the language of underdog movies within the family of languages of sports movies. This latest entry fulfills the promise of that dialect.

Following in the footsteps of the recent Fast and Furious sequels, Creed incorporates all of the most ridiculous elements of the previous sequels in the series and turns them into something beautiful. But whereas those car movies have become increasingly over-the-top, this latest boxing tale scales back to the intimate size of the original. It is essentially the same story as Rocky, but Creed utilizes this framework to key into the heritage and possible futures of its main characters. Adonis Creed’s biggest accomplishment is not going the distance but instead, living up to his personal identity while nourishing his place in his family (birth, makeshift, or otherwise).

This Is a (Quickie) Movie Review: Krampus

December 17, 2015

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Krampus

Krampus has a weird tonal mix, which could be a criticism, but in this case, it means that it is a lot of fun. Really, it is the only approach that makes sense. How else is it supposed to feel when a giant goat creature and his freaky minions are terrorizing you? The narrative swings include going back and forth between family members being awful and lovable, between the characters standing a chance against Krampus and having no chance at all, between an insulting ending and a perfectly ambiguous one, generally managing just the right balance through it all.

This Is a Movie Review: Spotlight

December 17, 2015

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SpotlightNewsroom

There is an inherent drama and urgency in the Catholic Church priest abuse scandal that a film about it does not need to do any work to tease out. But just perfunctorily putting the Boston Globe’s investigation of this story does not automatically make for a great movie. Luckily, director Tom McCarthy and his co-screenwriter Josh Singer make plenty of astute filmmaking decisions alongside their similarly tuned-in cast and crew.

Recognizing that the story itself is plenty powerful (the epilogue text detailing the extent of the abuse is perhaps the most overwhelming moment in any movie this year), the actors on the Spotlight team (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James) keep it understated. As victims’ lawyer Mitch Garabedian, Stanley Tucci is labeled eccentric, but he is actually also low-key. The production design, cinematography, and costumes are all also appropriately drab.

The plot manages to legitimately earn the descriptor “action,” with the editing favoring cross-cutting between various story threads. This plays out as such: Mike Rezendes (Ruffalo) tracks down evidence at the courthouse, and before we find out if he uncovers the right puzzle piece, we check in on Sacha Pfeiffer (McAdams) interviewing a victim, but before she gets out all her questions, it cuts back to Mike, and then it cuts around to the rest of the team. This is just Filmmaking 101, creating tension and establishing engagement. Spotlight makes a difference, and it is thrilling.

This Is a (Quickie) Movie Review: Brooklyn

December 5, 2015

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BrooklynSaoirse

Brooklyn is a film about decision-making. After returning to her homeland for her sister’s funeral, Irish immigrant Eilis Lacy (Saoirse Ronan) has two fine choices for how her life should proceed: return to New York to start a new life with Italian-American beau Tony (Emory Cohen), or remain with her family and childhood friends and possibly explore a romance with a lad named Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson). Though she agonizes over the decision, as both options offer the promise of personal and professional happiness, her story progresses such that there is really only one right choice. It is small-scale, but infinitely relatable. Making any major life decision means that different major decisions have not been chosen. Eilis is lucky enough to know what she really wants, even when it overwhelms her. That said, it still takes a lot of effort to put those desires into action. It requires devoted acting to demonstrate the power of these moments – Ronan conveys a world of wonder as she looks ahead.

This Is a Movie Review: The Night Before

December 4, 2015

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nightbefore

The Night Before works best when invoking Christmas’ supernatural spirit. This is not the typical case of affirming the existence of Santa (though he is present, in the form of narrator Tracy Morgan). Instead, it is more of the It’s a Wonderful Life-style holiday magic, with Michael Shannon as Mr. Green, the weed dealer and guardian angel of the three main friends (Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie).

This fantastical side is just the right sort of flavoring, because otherwise, the film would just be a perfectly pleasant tale in which everything works out in the end (with the requisite shenanigans on the way there). But there is a mature, humanistic vision within. The female roles are not too huge, but in the moments they have, they manage as much depth as the men in their lives. Rogen plays his typical man-child trying to grow up but freaking out about it, but it works partly because his significant other (Jillian Bell) is actually allowed to feel much the same way and strengthen their bond because of it. As a steroid-using football player, Mackie has a mother (Lorraine Toussaint) stern enough to call him out on his worst behavior but warm enough to have no love lost. JGL has the most significant arc, utilizing Christmas Eve to finally develop the capacity for romantic commitment. The object of his affection (Lizzy Caplan) manages to turn a tricky role that could have been an afterthought into a firm, but loving voice of reason that this otherwise meandering film needed.

This Is a Movie Review: Steve Jobs

November 10, 2015

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Steve-Jobs2015

The most quixotic quest in Steve Jobs does not come courtesy of the title character, but of his Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who shows up at each of the three product launches that this film covers over 14 years to request acknowledgement for the team that worked on the Apple II computer, whose contributions Jobs keep insisting are irrelevant to the direction of the future. It is highly unlikely that the real Woz actually kept this up, or that all the other same set of people in his life kept showing up 5 minutes before Jobs was about to take the stage. That improbability is part and parcel of the artfulness that visionary creators like Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle always strive to convey. In the case of Steve Jobs, that structure is not just style, which is especially evident in the Seth Rogen-portrayed version of Woz’s Sisyphean streak.

The question of whether or not Jobs will express gratitude to accomplishments that are (supposedly) irrelevant to his promises is at the heart of whether or not great figures with personal shortcomings are necessarily wired that way. Michael Fassbender’s performance lends itself to either interpretation: perhaps Jobs would not have been the influencer he was if he had made more interpersonal compromises, or maybe he would have accomplished even more. What is undoubtedly true is that he saw the world like no else did, and it will take someone with a similarly unprecedented mind to solve the brilliant/decent binary-or-not conundrum.

This Is a (Quickie) Movie Review: Bridge of Spies

November 9, 2015

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Bridge-of-Spies

Bridge of Spies sneaks up on you. The 20th century conflict between the Americans and the Soviets was not just cold, it was also dry. Accordingly, Bridge of Spies is mostly procedural. Discussions of due process are elucidated, and negotiations are often portrayed as merely functional. This approach is boosted with impassioned integrity and deadpan existentialism (the best running gag is Mark Rylance as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel asking “Would it help?” when told he never worries). Then, the movie brings out its finishing move, throwing down with the scale of all that negotiator James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) achieves, through the power of patience and keeping the faith.

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