Nothing Compares

Not the most technically marvelous doc. But the information and emotion are highly relevant (obviously). Sinead O’Connor was right about the Catholic church, and it’s good she got to live to see the scandal break in the Boston Globe, etc (see Spotlight). It’s mysterious that the Prince estate would not allow a recording of the song “Nothing Compares 2U” to be used in the film. It seems petty, but I don’t know all the facts. Regardless, Sinead was lightning in a bottle, and unfortunately personified the “tortured artist.”

Oppenheimer

The long-awaited moment for Cillian Murphy has arrived, and it’s epic -- part David Lean biopic, part The Right Stuff team of scientists, and part Terrence Malick impressionistic essay on the morals of war. Murphy is fantastic playing a low-key, introverted scientist, but through excellent filmmaking conveying what is the “calling” to change the world. He did, it turns out. It’s a stirring portrayal. 

The entire movie is a piecemeal montage. There is no “present” there’s no hero’s journey, per se. The threads that weave together the story are two hearings. One, a hearing about renewing Oppenheimer's security clearance which devolves into a red-scare boondoggle, and one a senate confirmation hearing for Lewis Strauss (Bob Downey), who perpetrated aforementioned red-scare boondoggle. Every single white, male actor in the entire world is in this movie. Its filled with Oscar winners playing bit parts, which can be cleverly deceptive. Who will matter? Normally you assume the movie star will be the pivotal character. But if EVERYBODY’S a movie star, the picture begins to fill out and Christopher Nolan’s point becomes clear: all these scientists and generals and stuff were so important. They were ALL stars. The few women in the story, all with limited screen-time, are really memorable. It’s a blast (hydrogen or atomic?) when they’re spotlighted. 

The essay slowly builds towards a big-boom bomb test, which, when it happens feels gratifying and heroic. Ironic, because the details of what happens in Japan are rushed through and off-screen. We the audience don’t see the damage – only the post-war arrogance and paranoia -- a filmmaker’s choice which makes the conclusion to Oppenheimer’s story undeniably melancholy. Conversely, Alden Ehrenreich standing toe-to-toe with Downey as the results of the confirmation hearing are announced provides the juicy drama to wrap things up.

The Equalizer 2

This feels long. And the bits where Denzel is saving old people and troubled kids from the neighborhood feel pious and corny. But in the climax there’s a hell of a gunfight in the middle of a hurricane which I’m not sure how they did and it’s a barnburner. “Wow them in the end.”

Mission Impossible 2

So, is this a John Woo movie or a Mission: Impossible movie? I’d say it’s more of a John Woo movie. Upon re-watching this for the first time in 20+ years, John Woo is wooing it up with the "gun-fu" all over the place. Slow motion, acrobatic, and doves. Lots of doves. Also, the music is kind of corny and even though the plot is simplistic, it makes almost no sense. Young Thandiwe Newton is good here, but she’s definitely a damsel and a pretty face, and not the bad-ass assassin types we see in the later movies. I’m sure I liked this at the time, but now it really feels like it’s from a bygone era.

MEGAN

So, it’s Twilight Zone’s “Living Doll”/Chucky/H.A.L. 9000 etc. Number 5 is alive. Rod Serling was definitely a genius, but I’m not sure he could have predicted today’s A.I. when he created “Talky Tina.” The key to this is more of the campiness factor. The way Megan is dressed, and the way she dances and sings, is played more for nervous chuckles than anything else. This is pretty mild for a horror movie -- it’s less violent than a lot of HBO shows. So, while it doesn’t have an original bone in its plastic body, it entertains with a high camp factor.

The Lost City

This one’s for the ladies. Sandy Bullock stays as girly as possible while surrounded by "himbos" in a comedy adventure that might as well be called a remake of Romancing the Stone. Scene-by scene, the riffing and schtick is skillful, but the whole mess is kinda plain and forgettable – a suitable airplane diversion, but barely.

Barbie

If they had an Oscar for “Commitment to the Bit,” Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling would be shoo-ins. Carefully striking a fine-line between tribute and parody, indie “manic pixie” Greta Gerwig bedazzles the big screen and sells a bunch of toys in this explosion of pink and existential angst. The gags and musical numbers are funny and original, but the wire-framework is lifted from numerous cautionary tales throughout history invoking “number 5 is alive”: Frankenstein, Pinocchio, The Twilight Zone, Short Circuit, Chucky, Wargames, "2001", Toy Story, that Amazing Stories episode with the doll, Megan… This list goes on and on. As much as Robbie is the star, she delegates a lot of the schtick to Ryan Gosling, who “Mickey Mouse Clubs” his way to a bunch of laughs, and America Ferrara, who gets to give the big speech. Despite the well-worn premise, the script stays tight and surprising, walking that tightrope that means: you’ll either love it or hate it.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

This is my third train fight in a month (see also Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Extraction 2). If you were an alien visiting Earth for the first time and didn’t know any better, you would think that trains were the most ubiquitous form of transportation and that people would constantly be running and fighting on the roof. Though, this takes the “slow motion train wreck” to the BEYOND with the CRASHING of the train and the subsequent escaping from the wrecked train in a Rube Goldberg/Buster Keaton sequence that’s both hair-raising and comedic. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, McQ, and the rest of the filmmakers seem to spend thousands of hours brainstorming ridiculously close calls that defy physics for our entertainment pleasure. 

As we saw this in an old theater in Lagos, Portugal, I thought there might be issues with the sound. But after a while, I realized that filmmakers mixed this with the music way up, and many of the sound effects and ambient noises muted, which gives it a montage/music video effect. A choice, for better or for worse, to sustain the audience in a different way. The action is top-notch, naturally, and there’s plenty of suspenseful humor. You will, as always, get your money’s worth.

Wham!

I was never a big WHAM! guy, it’s safe to admit. It’s an informative doc that seems intent on redeeming the other guy in Wham! who isn’t George Michael – Andrew something. The band was his idea, after all. Anyway, lots of music and a treasure trove of old photos and interview clips keep the pace moving and the Wham! whamming. 

The Meg

This gave me warm, nostalgic feelings of the 1990s, when every third movie was a terrible, big-budget rip-off of Jurassic Park. Strong swimmer Jason Statham is perfect as the stoic outlier, knowing the truth about the creature when no one else knows. The science here is preposterous and the sparse shark effects are only so-so. But the monster movie clichés are playfully executed and the sense of dumb fun is admirable. A good airplane movie.

Wind River

A western with snow-mobiles instead of horses. The trope of the big city lawman (woman) teaming up with the local gunslinger gets effectively spun by the maestro of gritty, Tyler Sheridan. The snowy, cold place is ominous but the reason why the baddies are bad is a little foggy. “Scarlet Witch” and “Hawkeye” are both in top form here; minimalist and suppressed by the bitter cold and the mean rednecks. Tightly-paced and always engaging even if the villainy is vague.