The Void

Would you rather be trapped inside a hospital with a bunch of zombies or try your luck outside against the freaky, KKK-hooded, cult-types who may or may not be from another planet? There’s clever, budget-saving devices here, goopy special effects, and a brisk pace, but there’s not a lot that’s very original. It feels like a résumé movie. “Look what we can do with NO money in Canada!” The filmmakers would claim. “Now give us more money.”

Boss Baby

The premise is so outlandish, even for an animation, story-tellers must rely on the “it-was-all-a-dream” style of ending. But the kids in the audience loved the fart jokes and the diaper jokes, so it’s got that going for it.

Power Rangers

I submit to you that, throughout the course of this saga, there is very little power and extremely short-range rangers.

Kong: Skull Island

Somebody saw Apocalypse Now and thought, “What if King Kong was Colonel Kurtz?” There are numerous shots and designs lifted from Coppola’s opus and other Vietnam war films. So if you haven’t seen those movies, Kong: Skull Island might seem pretty cool. But if you HAVE seen those old movies, this might leave a stale aftertaste.

Get Out

There are those that think that horror movies should just be catharsis; escapism. But the best horror movies are about something -- social, political, sexual, etc. Jordan Peel/Blumhouse et al confront a very specific and very racially charged subject in a funny, sarcastic, and highly entertaining way. Horror film fans may miss not seeing ALL of the tropes of the genre, but what they do get is a surprisingly insightful yarn about the co-opting or cultural appropriating of black lives and black culture for the benefit of the rich and primarily the white. Performances here are GREAT, including some sizzling supporting turns from body-snatched staff of the evil rich, white people in question. And just when you think you’ve got Peele’s script figured out, he twists it up in the most funny and unpredictable ways. Is it suspenseful? Not really. Is it perfect? Not even close. But the humor, satire, and insight about race makes this a modern classic. Kudos to all.

Logan

** SPOILERS UNITE!!**

What if Charles Xavier had dementia? What if there was a child like Wolverine with no moral compass? What if someone cloned Wolverine and made him a mindless super-soldier? There are several really gripping comic-book premises loaded up here, and the execution is robust. Filmed and paced like an old Western by James Mangold et al, there’s actually scenes of the movie Shane in this movie, which is a lot like Shane. But it’s not like it’s THAT innovative of an idea to change the tone. People are getting tired of superhero movies, but you have to keep the characters alive and in the zeitgeist. So what do you do? The last “Wolverine” movie by the same team was more of a samurai movie than a “superhero” movie, so it would make sense to veer into the Western genre mythos. What is always key in anything X-Man is that the kids who are different have a tribe; a place to not be ostracized or weaponized. Professor X always sees to it that they’re accepted somewhere, which makes him the real super-hero.

Hacksaw Ridge

Never has a movie been more appropriately named. Mel went out and made a pretty decent war movie, but then jammed in a bunch of Christianity and pontificating. The boot camp/training scenes are overflowing with clichés. One almost wonders if Mel was TRYING to make a throwback in tone; the bloody war version of a Todd Haynes movie. Nevertheless, Mel thrives when the bodies are being blown apart, but falls on his face when the hero and his best gal go on a date. It almost feels like this was directed by two people. One, a talented commander of epic battles, and two, a ham-handed hack. Moments of this are pretty good, and moments of this are embarrassingly bad. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition, probably a lot like the voices in Mel Gibson’s head.

A Cure for Wellness

Ultimately a downer. This icky, creepy shaggy-dog story had some great visuals -- beautiful compositions of old sanitarium hallways and steam rooms. Lots of eels. So, so, so many eels. Almost too many eels. Is there really such a thing as too many eels? I'm getting off track. Regardless, the plot makes NO sense. I think it’s supposed to be an allegory for something, but I’m not sure what. Fertility? The holocaust? I’ve always liked Gore Verbinsky, but this was overwrought and underwhelming.

Loving

Refreshingly, this is less about the famous court case of Richard and Mildred Loving (Loving v. Virginia) and more about their marriage while they’re coping with all of the civil right injustices. Performances are sensitive and the filmmakers use great care to never make this preachy or ham-fisted. One wishes this same delicacy could have been used in Selma, another civil rights account worthy of way more tenderness and subtlety than those filmmakers wrought. Good to know, too, that sometimes the SCOTUS can be on the right side of history.

John Wick Chapter 2

DO.
NOT.
FUCK.
WITH.
JOHN.
WICK.

Manchester by the Sea

Unpretentious drama about how tragedies shape who we are going forward in our lives. While we can often NOT forgive ourselves, it still helps to be forgiven by others. It’s very well-acted, and the deepest human emotions are explored skillfully. It’s notably less tear-jerky than Lion or Moonlight, which makes it worthwhile. Although the resolution feels a bit downcast at first, on the drive home, one realizes there is some hope for redemption.

Moonlight

Well acted and skillfully filmed, Moonlight reminded me of Precious and Beast of the Southern Wild. It’s a harrowing tale of a certain black experience, wherein there seems to be a frustrating lack of social workers. It’s difficult to know what the hero “Chiron” wants or needs out of life. How does a character express a need for self-discovery or acceptance? Nevertheless, he does what heroes do: he searches for answers. The revelations are more emotional than suspenseful, and at the end you wonder where the characters will go from there. But at the moment that the curtain finally falls, you feel that Chiron may have found temporary peace. A worthwhile goal in life, but is it too abstract for a movie? Will one artist’s vision of peace resonate with everyone who sees it? Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot.

Harry Benson: Shoot First

Worthwhile documentary about a Scottish photographer famous for covering the Beatles and numerous world events. His timing, being in the right place at the right time with a camera, was impeccable. Nice personal story, too, about the man and his family.

48 Hours to Live

Structured like a film noir, this low-budget dance/club movie won’t resonate. You can either dance or you can kill, but you can’t really do both.

Passengers

Sci-fi movies often ask you to suspend your disbelief a couple of times at the beginning. You have to believe in the future, in space travel, and in time travel. As long as they can set the story in motion, and as long as the story is still about humanity, this can work. But if you ask the audience to suspend their disbelief TOO MANY times, logic start to seep through the cracks, and the movie gets ruined. That’s Passengers, which crashes with a big, astronomical THUD at the end. At a certain point, you begin asking logic questions, and space is no place for logic...

Rogue One

Seeing this a second time is still thoroughly enjoyable. Watching the motley crew of the galaxy’s unshaven, swarthy outcasts kick imperial ass and sacrifice their lives makes for a thrilling night at the movies.

Doug's Favorite Movies of 2016

La La Land
Rogue One
Arrival
Hell or High Water
Everybody Wants Some!!
Hail Caesar!
10 Cloverfield Lane

La La Land

Inevitably, there will be backlash. There’s always a backlash. I was part of the backlash bandwagon for Birdman. People don’t want to see other people be happy. I get that. The funny thing is: La La Land doesn’t care what you think. La La Land requires no context. La La Land is not a reaction to the downward spiral of morale in the U.S. or a rejoinder to the grimness of Spotlight. La La Land is a brightly-burning candle in a vacuum. It’s delightful, it’s innovative, it’s funny, and it’s heartbreaking. It deserves every Oscar it wins. “But I don’t like musicals!” People will say. That’s fine. La La Land doesn’t need their oxygen. It will burn brightly on its own.

Jackie

Despite being way too short to play Jackie, Natalie Portman mines extreme emotional depths to portray the famous grieving widow. But no amount of perfectly-accented, blue-blooded scenery-chewing can make up for the fact that there’s just not that much of a plot here. Jackie plans the funeral a little bit, then wanders around in the house a bit, and then wanders around in the garden a bit, all with the accompaniment of the depressing monotone piano score. It’s all very maudlin, even if, as people say, it’s a treatise of feminism.

Rogue One

**  May the SPOILERS be with you! **

“Wow them in the end and you’ve got a hit.”

Remember when the fake Robert McKee said that to the fake Charlie Kauffman in Adaptation? That’s how it feels to watch Rogue One. Unlike the JJ Abrams directed The Force Awakens, which doesn’t really end because we know that it’s a franchise and for some reason Disney and Lucasfilm don’t trust us to come back for the next movie, so they have to end everything on a cliffhanger like it’s an episode of Lost, Rogue One ENDS. And we already know how it’s supposed to end! It’s been completely forecast and foreshadowed. It’s the opening crawl of Star Wars! And yet, it still ends beautifully and tragically.  No sequels here. It’s all over for some of these people, but they go out more heroically then almost anybody else in Star Wars, and that is extremely satisfying. So the beginning is sort of a mess. There are a million unanswered questions, there seems to be scenes missing, and at times I felt like I had walked into the movie halfway through without a clear introduction to some of the characters. You ask yourself, “Who the hell are these people?”

But they wowed me at the end and that makes it worth the price of the ticket and a bucket of popcorn.

“I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me!”

Lion

Well-acted but depressing true story about a dumb kid who gets lost in India. Super, super depressing.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The funny thing about an adult being the protagonist in a "Harry Potter" universe movie is: as the kids are always jaw-droppingly amazed by all of the outlandish creatures and magic, the adults tend to be pretty blasé about the proceedings. That’s “Newt” played by Eddie Redmayne, who is so unimpressed by all of the drama he’s causing in New York that’s he’s almost whispering his lines. That gives this “Harry Potter” chapter an almost droll, Doctor Who kind of vibe, which is still very British. Rowling packs her plays with plot, and the lingo of the universe which is very exclusive and hard for muggles like me to understand sometimes. And like all movies these days, this doesn’t end. It just sets up another movie. Big surprise. Nothing happens. But be that as it may, it’s still a perfectly light and entertaining fantasy, pitting a kind of hippie magical zookeeper against the forces of evil. Revelations will hopefully occur – eventually.

Elle

** RAPE SPOILERS **

Paul Verhoeven’s sexy rape thriller features lots of rape. There’s a few rapes, and then a couple more rapes. Isabelle Huppert is the actress who gets raped and then she turns the tables to start doing some rapes herself. She doesn’t seem to care a lot that she’s getting raped, and maybe that what interests Verhoeven in the subject of sexy, sexy rape. It’s not a BAD sexy, rape thriller, for what it is, I guess. It’s well-acted and unique, for a sexy rape thriller. But just so you know, you’re signed up for a lot of rape.  (Oh! Also: music by Anne Dudley.) 

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

An unfortunate case of “format overshadows function.” Ang Lee et al chose the brightest, deepest and most detailed 3D imaginable to tell a dull story about US soldiers getting way more credit than they want for fighting in the war in Iraq. Yes, the battle scenes and halftime football scenes make for some pretty cool footage in 12O frames per second. But that only represents about 10% of the movie. In the other scenes – rides in limos, arguments in sky-boxes, chatting in corridors, it feels like overkill. Intimate scenes are way, way over lit, and the acting feels stilted because the actors seem like they’re under a microscope. I could see how, for certain movies, this format would be amazing. But why this movie?? As for the story itself, there's not really a plot. It's a series of essays and vignettes that don't add up to much except for a vague theme -- a disturbing, conflicted, anti-war message. “Sorry you have PTSD kid, but if you don’t go back to Iraq, this cheerleader will think you’re a pussy. So, good luck!” If you see it, see it in a theater in the fancy, gimmicky format. This’ll be terrible on video.

Arrival

I’m always relieved when I sit down in a movie theater, the lights go down, and the aliens land. Alien parables always make poignant critiques of the human condition like war-mongering, environmental neglect, man’s inhumanity to man, etc. Arrival is analogous to the Tower of Babel, wherein an alien language is translated by different cultures, and of course, interpreted to reinforce their own fears and prejudices. But there’s one hero translator, Amy Adams, who trusts the E.T.s and listens with optimism and peace in her heart. Can she get entire cultures to listen before it’s too late?

Amy Adams is one of the best in the business. Her emotional journey is the spine of this movie, so it succeeds on an emotional level. There are some sci-fi time-jumps and alien razzle-dazzle that left the ending a little confusing for me. But I recognize: that’s not really the point. It’s about the interpreter being the hero. In the grimy, lie-filled era of Breitbart and Fox news, having a messenger who cares about the real truth can have global repercussions.

Doctor Strange

It’s kind of like The Matrix: A guy learns there are metaphysical netherworlds and he has to learn to navigate them. And the villain is determined to rule the world by dominating the metaphysical netherworlds. And then everybody fights.

Benedict Cumberbatch is really good here. He’s never reluctant or disbelieving of the metaphysical netherworlds, and gamely and humorously dives into them, at first for selfish reasons, but then for heroic ones. The visuals are fun and really trippy. The rules for metaphysical netherworlds are a bit fluid, as you can imagine, so creativity abounds.

More obviously than a lot of these comic book adaptations, this feels like an “act one.” The opening chapter. The odds aren’t greatly stacked against Doctor Strange and he has yet to be faced with tough choices. Danger will arrive in future episodes. (Stay for ALL of the end credits.) And you can’t really say this about a lot of movies these days: this must be seen in a theater. It won’t work on video.

Ouija: Origin of Evil

This is so close to being a Lifetime Channel movie it’s uncanny. A widowed mom and her 2 kids struggle to make the house payments. An evil man (in the form of a ghost) shows up to wreak havoc on their lives. Only the fact that it’s a period-piece and the acting is pretty good distinguishes this from those Saturday M.O.W.s. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining. Until the final moments, when a dogpile of twists undermines the skillfully rendered plot thus far, it’s pretty creepy. It almost feels like the final moments were filmmaking by committee -- lawyers or uncreative executive types forced ridiculous twists and sequel set-ups into a fairly solid story to squeeze every last dollar out of the project. It’s like a cake with way too much frosting. Be that as it may, this movie accomplishes exactly what I’m sure it aspired to do: scare 13-year-old girls and not embarrass itself in the process.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

There was a time when I couldn’t WAIT for the next Tim Burton movie. But I wasn’t that excited about this one, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because I never read the book? Nevertheless, it feels like someone copied the style of Tim Burton, but it doesn’t feel like Burton, and again I’m not sure why. The characters, the children in the home for peculiar children, all seem very similar: Polite, well-dressed, well-spoken, and very British. They’re not peculiar as much as they’re horribly deformed, but are trying their best to fit in by dressing nicely. I think the “X-MEN: mutants are okay” theme gets a little lost, which is too bad. There’s a jumpy, time-travel plot, which always means the stakes are pretty low, since all setbacks can be corrected. And there are some MAJOR logic holes. But Eva Green is good, so there’s one in the win column. The bottom line is: special effects have peaked. We can do anything now FX-wise, so to fill a movie with visuals just isn’t enough. We need a return to storytelling. I felt very “meh” about this, which is not the way I want to feel about a “Tim Burton movie.”

Hell or High Water

Texas. Beer. Guns. Throw in a couple of well-meaning bank robbers and you got yourself a movie. The cast is great here. The pace is brisk. The action is tense. And there’s no bad guy. The bad guy is the bank that low-balls sick people and repos their houses. So it’s not even that the story is so original or that the plot is so strong. These are pretty conventional pieces. It’s the THEME that makes this so good. It makes you want to rob a bank.

The Magnificent Seven

So you have a black guy, a Mexican guy, a Chinese guy, a Native American, a guy with PTSD, a giant person, and an addict. Is that seven? Yep, that’s seven. And the message is clear: when the discriminated-against minorities band together, then they can defeat armies of the establishment – white males who marginalize everyone so they can keep their power. Spoiler alert: There might be some martyrs for the cause. But sometimes you have to force change. There were no women in the "seven." Maybe they’ll make a sequel: The Magnificent 8?

Don't Breathe

When you boil this down, it’s a pretty conventional horror movie. College kids wander into a place they’re not supposed to be and suffer the consequences. There’s excellent cause and effect here, and a great use of setting and space. But like all movies in this genre, the characters lack basic common sense, and that can be frustrating. Jane Levy carries this – she’s always been good. And the pace and short running time keeps you engaged. So it’s slightly better than the average version of this type of thing. It’s a hit. I’m happy for Ghost House. But reinvent the wheel? They did not.

Suicide Squad

I’ll be curious to see the David Ayer/director’s cut of this if it ever gets released. They say WB hired the company who cut the trailer to spice this up a little bit. But it feels hackneyed and rushed. Lengthy segments feel like they were skipped over. Bottom line: Margot Robbie is good as Harley Quinn, but it’s hard to know what her super villain power is. Is she just a super smart-aleck?? Is that enough? Oh, and also: Jared Leto was TERRIBLE as The Joker. It makes you wonder if that’s why they had to hack up the movie.

The D.C. universe is 0 for 3. Here’s hoping Wonder Woman can rescue them all.

Lo and Behold

Werner Herzog’s new doc is about the origins of the internet. But it’s also about how the internet changed and affected society, in positive and negative ways. It’s a thoughtful essay, narrated, of course, by Herzog himself, whose poetic, German-accented whispery-ness hypnotizes and coaxes, but never proselytizes about his subjects. Gripping and enlightening.

Sausage Party

Hot dogs look like penises! Yay!

War Dogs

What if the characters in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET were war profiteers? WAR DOGS takes the zany, foul-mouthed bro-mance approach, enticing and then destroying the young, money-hungry whippersnapper anti-heroes with dreams of riches and financial security. Better than most movies like this, filmmakers do a good job of explaining exactly how their business worked, and how it was possible for it to go completely off the rails. So, it was actually educational and informative. It won’t make a huge splash, but it’s well-acted, it moves quick, and it’s captivating.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

I never watched this show, so there were a lot of inside jokes that I probably didn’t get. But the women are funny and I laughed. You can sense the desperation in the characters as they get older, but try to hang on to their old lives. Aren’t we all!

Jason Bourne

Overall, during a stale, disappointing summer of movies, this is a serviceable and enjoyable action movie. What was always different about the “Bourne” movies was the long takes and raw urgency. Unfortunately, Matt Damon doesn’t do the hand-to-hand the way he used to -- when the characters really seemed like they were trying to kill each other. But the raw urgency is still there. There are several epic set-pieces which are a thrill to watch, but what’s wild is: these are now becoming conventional. The new thing is: How does Jason Bourne hide from the evil higher-ups when there’s such a huge lack of privacy? Does he turn evil, government turncoats spying/privacy playbook against them? How? Has he been taking computer classes?

Batman: The Killing Joke

First of all, I’m proud to say I saw this in the theater.

Anyhoo… “Many critics consider the graphic novel to be the definitive Joker story and one of the best Batman stories ever published.” There was a lot of pressure on the DC/WB animation department to get this one right. They did a GREAT job with THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Using the cast from the 90’s era animated series is a great step in the right direction. Unfortunately, this kinda sucked. The original book is short. It wouldn’t even make a half-hour episode. So they added an entire prelude to this involving Batgirl, which wasn’t at all terrible, but, you know, it just wasn’t THE KILLING JOKE. So, it didn’t really fit. Also, spoiler alert, Batgirl and Batman have steamy hot cosplay sex in this, which to my understanding, isn’t canon and seemed really silly. The small section of the movie that actually followed the book was cool, but my mood was already ruined by the prelude. Hard to recommend this. Maybe the next one, with the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward, will be better?

Star Trek Beyond

I couldn’t recall the plot if I had a phaser to my head. Suffice to say, it was a new story with new villains. Which is refreshing, since everything else about the Star Trek franchise is so well-worn and engrained. It’s entertaining, and it feels new, even though, as I said, forgettable.

Swiss Army Man

At some point during this movie, I found myself thinking, “This is why I go to the movies.” Even though there are some previously used plot points and themes in here, lifted from Castaway, Weekend at Bernie’s, and every 60’s era, live-action Disney movie, there’s something about this that feels really original. A lot of that uniqueness comes from the commitment of the actors, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliff. There’s something very sweet and endearing about their friendship. Filmmakers have sublimely emotional aspirations here. It doesn’t always work, and the ending is a little disappointing, but… If you want something funny and weird and completely different from a super-hero movie: dive on in.

The Lobster

I hated this movie, but I’m not sure why, because it seems like something I would like. I’m okay with quirky, but I’m annoyed by quirky for quirky’s sake. When the rules of the quirky universe don’t have inner logic, then it’s really just an artistic jerk-off with no real point. There are laughs and the performances are astute. But when the themes and motifs contradict one another and can easily be deconstructed and ripped apart, than I start getting angry. I hate leaving the theater angry.

Nice Guys

Funny, and lot of throwback, signature Shane Black-isms, if there is such a thing. There’s a great physicality to this film, and excellent, action-movie cause and effect. There are times when it almost feels like a Warner Brothers/ Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon; the McGuffin bounces around from person to person and bullets fly and guys go careening through plate-glass windows, cracking wise the whole time. It’s all good fun.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Andy Samberg has proven himself to be consistently funny in Brooklyn 99. So with nothing to “prove”, he can just go out and be as silly as possible. Last summer’s HBO movie Seven Days in Hell did just that, and it acts as a precursor to this: a still R-Rated but more mainstream spoof. Like most of the Lonely Island sketches on SNL, the appeal of the songs was always that they were a little bit catchy, actually somewhat competent. The same is true here, especially a love/booty jam about Osama Bin Laden. Like The Rutles and CB4, there’s interviews and performances with real popstars, doing their best to play it straight. Pink is great here. It’s everything you’d expect from a Lonely Island movie, it’s funny and catchy, and it might inspire you to get on Youtube and look back at their old catalog.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Underwhelming and unremarkable. Performance wise, Lawrence and Fassbender do the heavy lifting, but unfortunately they find themselves standing around waiting for Oscar Issacs to finish his long speeches. Funny enough, there’s not a lot of action for an action movie. Like the last movie, Quicksilver gets his solo, which works, and the cameo from Wolverine kicks ass, as it should. It’s not terrible, but it feels a bit phoned in.

X-Men always seems to work best when it serves as an  allegory for discriminated-against minorities. There’s little smatterings of that here, especially with Cyclops’ origin story. But there needs to be more. Weird, blue Egyptian Gods bloviating entertains only for so long.

Keanu

It’s no surprise that a "Key & Peele" movie would just be a bunch of sketches strung together. While the plot of the movie is thin, there are laughs and there is a little bit of social commentary. What does it mean to be black? What does it mean to be tough? Why are these things expected to go hand-in-hand? This won’t really resonate, but wasn’t a waste of time either.

Money Monster

George Clooney says it’s not about Jim Cramer. It’s about the system. But the problem with this is: it turns out not to be an indictment of the system. There’s one guy, an evil British villain who broke the law, mislead investors, etc, etc. That being said, for what it is: Dog Day Afternoon meets Network, is a decent thriller, well-acted and well-directed by Jodie Foster. But I can almost hear the studio notes as I’m watching it. “There has to be a villain. A system can’t be a villain.”

Captain America: Civil War

** SPOILERS**

We need to talk about Bucky. He’s not himself. He’s either being brainwashed or framed or something by a German dude, who has no superpowers. And we should all fight about it. But maybe that’s what the evil, German dude wants??

I guess that’s as good a reason as any for superheroes to fight. Bucky seems like a peripheral character, and whether or not he’s in control of his actions or not doesn’t seem like it would warrant all of this superhero posturing and hullaballoo. But revelations happen, as they often do, and now vengeances must be strenuously undertaken.

The huge cast of this movie is remarkable. There are a lot of really expensive Oscar-types in supporting roles. The abundant action is thrilling and also somewhat track-able (But it’s no Mad Max). The visual effects are, of course, unparalleled. The music is good. Someone cared about this movie. Someone wanted audiences to get their money’s worth. Is it a great movie? Nah. Not really. But it gets an “A” for effort.

It’s hard to really predict when the bombardment of superhero movies will end, and how they’ll keep people’s interest going forward. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Marvel’s Netflix shows: The scaled-back, day-to-day life of a costumed vigilante (Daredevil, Jessica Jones). For now, the “battle of the network stars” business model is fun, but is it sustainable? Why am I worried about the business model??  

Everybody Wants Some!!

It’s classic Rick Linklater. Like Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Suburbia, and Boyhood before it, it’s a movie driven by characters and theme, but the plot is a little fluid. Strong themes exploring the nature of young men forming a team, bonding, trying to fit in, and trying to get laid proliferate. And at the end of the movie, after the college baseball teammates have been to a disco, a country bar, and a punk bar trying to meet women, you kind of get it: It’s all an essay about having a posse, a tribe. Like other Linklater movies, there are a couple of young actors who turn in classic, star-making performances here: (think Ethan Hawke, Matthew McConaughey): remember the names Juston Street and Glenn Powell. But everybody in the ensemble cast is solid.  Linklater seems to be determined to prove that you don’t need a strong plot to invoke strong feelings.

Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice

Who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? Superman, obviously. But what if Batman had a weapon made of kryptonite? Well, then all bets are off, right?? I know: let’s spend 400 million dollars to answer the questions that stump eight-year-olds.

There are images in this that are beautiful. Perfectly composed, spectacularly lit, sublime. It’s too bad Zack Snyder and his team won’t hold on these beautiful compositions for more than a nanosecond. It’s also too bad that the script makes zero sense and seems like it was written by the eight-year-olds that were asking all those tough questions in the first place. The plot is baffling. If someone who understands it could please call me and explain it to me, that would be great.

Batman and Superman are both having dreams in this. The dreams seem to be important, and function as Easter eggs for the fans of the Justice League canon. But they do nothing but bog this movie down, because they make absolutely NO SENSE. Thanks for playing to the fans, but come on, guys, the movie still needs to be cohesive!

Like a lot of superhero sequels, this movie is guilty of biting off too much. It was the same story with Man of Steel: Make a five-hour movie, then cut it down to two. Affleck gets to make his own Batman movie at some point. Maybe he’ll bring the storytelling chops he brought to Argo and The Town.

I Saw the Light

This biopic of Hank Williams obeys all of the musical biopic tropes with strict adherence. He’s talented. He becomes famous. He abuses his women. His life spirals down in a maelstrom of booze and pills. Repeat. Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olson are top-notch, but the script is choppy and episodic. There’s no build up or crescendo to anything emotionally satisfying. So, it’s good for Hank Williams fans, I think, but just as a movie? Meh.

10 Cloverfield Lane

The only people who have bomb shelters and doomsday vaults are the conspiracy-nut kooks, right? So, when the apocalypse hits, which it inevitably will, all the normal people will be dead and only the bomb shelter kooks will be left alive, right? That’s the premise of 10 Cloverfield Lane. John Goodman masterfully realizes his paranoid rube, kidnapping, but also pretending to protect his captors. As an audience, it really makes you want the characters to try their luck on the outside world rather than deal with this nutball. Besides, was there even an apocalypse? How can you be sure if you’re not even allowed to look out a window? The pressure builds and the suspense piles on as the small cast of characters philosophically speculate over the fate of the world. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is strong here; resourceful and not the least bit victimy. Credit goes to the writer (Dan Casey) for straying from female victim stereotypes. It’s a big, satisfying ending, thankfully not too J.J. Abramsy, who seems to be intent on jerking his audiences around lately with a lot of questions and cliffhangers. It suffices to say: there’s answers.

The Perfect Match

Saw this again in a theater.

The Perfect Match

Watching Jorva’s theatrical release, on which I was Associate Producer. The ensemble elements of this work well. I wish Lionsgate had put this in more theaters.

Hail, Caesar!

Made as a love letter to all things Hollywood. Moments of this are hilarious, but seem to be laser-guided to people who know about or work in the movie industry. It’s essential satire too, and an appropriate companion piece to Trumbo. During the red scare, what did people think was going to happen? This preposterous what-if culminates in Channing Tatum, a closeted song-and-dance man, paddling out to sea to rendezvous with a Russian sub, carrying a headful of American “secrets.” McCarthyism brilliantly pushed to its illogical conclusion by the Coens, winking as fast as they can. Of all the Coens' rotating cast of repertory players -- the ensemble of nutballs -- there’s one standout: the new kid. Alden Ehrenreich nails his dopey cowpoke character, who’s way more sharp and sensible than his first appearances would demonstrate. There’s big laughs in this, at least for Hollywood types. Who knows if the rest of the world will get it?

Deadpool

Hey, hey! It’s an X-MEN comedy! There’s big laughs in this. A lot of fourth wall breaking and winking at the audience. It’s like a "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon.  The action scenes aren’t all that original and kind of bereft of suspense and excitement. Typical punching and fighting and smart-alecky bravado is par for the course. But the zingers zing. And Deadpool gets to have a girlfriend, and she’s not so innocent either. So this is worth seeing for the gags, even if Deadpool gets tortured for a little too long, and the action is better on the Daredevil Netflix series. 

Spotlight

The journalists are the heroes, taking their jobs very seriously. They back up their stories with quotes, they verify and corroborate their sources, getting confirmations and second confirmations. You know: journalism. In this day and age, where TMZ style “journalism” rules, where the major news organizations prop-up and egg-on a clown candidate without asking any tough questions so they’ll see how outrageous he’ll become, we as a society could take a few lessons from these guys at the Boston Globe. The movie-making itself isn’t mind-blowingly original. The acting is subtle; not screamy. Scenes flow with suspense, drama, and finesse, but no one fights a bear. I guess you could say Spotlight is the polar opposite of The Revenant: it’s subtle, meaningful, and, most of all, relevant.

Steve Jobs

I’m a big, big fan of Danny Boyle. He has a true signature style. So it’s interesting to see his strong, bold style get trumped by someone with even MORE signature style: Sorkin. So this is really Sorkin-ish. Very Sorkiny. Fassbender and Winslet are both fantastic here and the rhythm of the dialogue and the scenes is like great jazz, it’s never anything but utterly gripping. But, I wonder what’s the PURPOSE of this movie? What does it teach us? Does it intend only to entertain and engage, like music? What should we take away? It makes you think a LOT about Apple and computers, and how much innovation happened in the span of 14 years. It also seems to be intent on branding Jobs as a big asshole with a lot of really nice people around him. A lot of questions about Jobs get asked, but a lot of answers are not provided. Worth watching for the cadence of it all, but as a drama, the final act seems like it’s missing.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Second viewing. 

More relaxing and enjoyable the second time around, and it’s more clear to me that this is obviously Rey’s story. Which makes it all the more infuriating that the filmmakers intentionally mislead about who she is and where she’s from. It’s not an episode of Lost, JJ. The only way that the filmmakers can reveal her origins is by introducing a series of flashbacks. So suddenly it’s an Alias episode. Most of the series hasn’t used the flashback as a narrative device, but then again I suppose you could argue that episodes 1, 2, and 3 are flashbacks after seeing 4, 5, and 6 first. Also, Rogue One will be taking place between 3 and 4, as does the TV show Rebels. So I guess we’re signed up for flashbacks and time jumps now, which means they never have to finish anything and they never have to explain anything. I’m sure the corporate big-wigs aren’t too worried about knowing who Rey is or selling the Rey toys. She is, after all, just a girl. Why would she be important? They even left her character out of the Star Wars monopoly game. One only hopes it’s just a mind game, and we all underestimate how important she’ll become in the galaxy.

Doug's Favorite Movies of 2015

Mad Max: Fury Road
Inside Out
The Martian
Amy
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
The Big Short
Kingsman: The Secret Service
What We Do in the Shadows

The Hateful Eight

Lots to admire about this 70mm print. It's beautifully filmed; you can practically see every snowflake in dazzling detail. Sam Jackson is great here, and is so much more memorable than the "Avengers" movies or "Kingsman." Walton Goggins and Jennifer Jason Leigh are also captivating, as they bite into this three-hour Mexican standoff. But as fun as it was to watch, I’m not sure if it was ABOUT anything. There doesn’t seem to be a point or a theme. Revenge? Redemption? Violence is bad? The old west was terrible? Women had it rough? My favorite of Tarantino’s is still Kill Bill, in which the themes of revenge and motherhood are so strong.

The Big Short

If you told me that Adam McKay, SNL writer and director of numerous Will Ferrell comedies, would make one of the most biting, interesting, and incendiary movies of the year, I probably wouldn’t believe you. But here you have it: a comedy/tragedy, happily missing traditional narrative structure, featuring multiple protagonists, no real good guys, scheming, wheeling, and dealing to bet against the U.S. economy. There are frequent laughs as the ensemble breaks down the fourth wall to explain banking things to the audience. But it’s not like they’re heroes, right? They’re kind of scumbags. So, it’s morally very confusing, but also brilliant. Because the filmmakers know that most of us don’t understand these banking terms and this jargon. But the characters in the movie do, and they take advantage of this superior knowledge to make fools out of everybody for their own financial gain. The experience of watching it is light, breezy and funny. But the ride home is a little different, when we start to realize how much we all lost during the housing crisis. Purely original and creative filmmaking by everyone involved, this is guaranteed to garner a best picture nomination.

Revenant

I have never been crazy about Alejandro Iñárritu. I have found most of his movies to be irritating, self-indulgent, and derivative. I didn’t like Birdman. So I’m not a fan to begin with. While there are beautifully directed sequences, it just felt like a Terrence Malick rip-off to me. The New World meets John Ford. The acting is strong especially from Leonardo DiCaprio, who absolutely delivers, with full commitment, to his role as a tracker, surviving and bent on revenge. The moving camera is amazing. But this movie is histrionic and it lacks subtlety. It’s just not that entertaining. I found myself making wise-cracks in my head about the “bombast” of it all. I kind of wish Terrence Malik had actually directed it. It might’ve had some more quiet and interesting moments.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

** SPOILERS INCOMING! **

Volumes and volumes and volumes could be written about this. I don’t really know where to begin. Suffice it to say, I loved watching it, but felt let down at the end by the unanswered questions. I felt like the filmmakers were jerking the audience around a little bit by omitting key details to create suspense. A small example: the giant Sith lord was revealed to be a hologram. Then why did he have to be giant? Why couldn’t he have been the same size as the other holograms in the series? This kind of misdirection permeates throughout the movie, and after a while it gets frustrating.

It’s clearly Rey’s story, and Daisy Ridley is a revelation. It’s too bad the filmmakers leave much of her back-story off screen. Star Wars taught us more about Luke Skywalker in 30 minutes than this movie teaches us about Rey in two hours. Director Abrams is known for his TVish cliffhangers and ambiguities. I think he uses them as a crutch. It’s time to answer some questions, JJ.

The release of this movie has people in the media pissing on the prequels. The bad acting. The dumb stories. Jar-Jar. But there were positives to the prequels that people forget: Lucas never let you forget that you were in a galaxy far far away. The different planets and the different worlds were always foreign and beautiful. Giant, otherworldly buildings, waterfalls, oceans, and ships flying by painted the backgrounds in a way that the current movie does not. In The Force Awakens, efforts to set the scene were meager, and settings often just look like a field somewhere in England.

My other problem: How the hell do you make a Star Wars movie without R2-D2 in it?? The hero of the WHOLE SERIES as far as I’m concerned. Anyway, I could go on and on. I plan on seeing it again, and a lot of people say that the second viewing is better. I’m happy that Star Wars is back, but the jury is still out on JJ Abrams and the gimmickry of this particular chapter.

Legend

Ever-present Tom Hardy acts up a storm as the twin, British gangsters. His technique is fascinating, the differences and similarities between the two brothers. The post-production effects and editing team deserve some credit for this, melding the two performances together. But the device of the story, that it’s narrated by Frances, Reggie’s (spoiler alert) dead wife, feels confusing and gimmicky. That is not to say that Emily Browning doesn’t turn in an interesting performance either, especially since she’s up against the scenery-chomping Hardy. Worthwhile as a little slice of mafia history, but not remarkable.

Trumbo

Finally a movie about this ugly period of American history. It took long enough, but I can see why filmmakers might be reluctant to expose Ronald Reagan and John Wayne for the myopic hatemongers that they were. The movie itself is very conventional, almost intentionally so, as though it were made in the 50’s. Performances are all solid, especially Cranston, who embodies his noble screenwriter with technique and aplomb. I like the movies when the screenwriter is the hero.

Once Upon a Crime: The Borrelli Davis Conspiracy

A very powerful doc surrounding the frame-up of a restaurant owner and former NYPD cop, Mike Borelli, by the Denver Police. Not only did Denver police frame Borelli, mainly because he was Italian, but they framed his old friend Bob Davis, too, also a cop. It’s infuriating and an absolute travesty of injustice what happened to these men. The film is very well-made and highly emotional. Confusing at first, because of the barrage of names the audience is hit with early in the film. But the story becomes clear as Borelli and Davis emerge, both incredible models for patience and forgiveness. A highly admirable work of art, as it sets out to change minds and right wrongs. It will make you sad and it will make you angry, and that’s the point.

The Peanuts Movie

Many clever ideas went into this reboot/update of the beloved comic. Filmmakers understand the essence of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and give them each subplots capturing the innocence of Schulz's original strip but with modernized visuals. As much as people say they love the old cartoons, visually speaking, let's face it: they were a bit 2D and boring. Animators give this incarnation some dimension, some zip, and it works without robbing the world and characters of their timelessness. In fact, there are several very cool sequences incorporating the old comic strip look as a new device, which I won’t give away, but it’s very cool. Bottom line, this is a great kids movie. But by kids movie, I mean kids. 3-6. They’ll be moving on to superheroes after age 6. For nostalgic purposes, adults will see this, but studios won’t always be able to bank on that.

The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Competent zomedy. Could have been worse.

Spectre

** SPOILERS. LOTS OF 'EM **

... starts out with an amazing action sequence in Mexico, delivering all you could ever want in a Bond movie. But the rest of the movie is kind of by-the-numbers, never blowing the lid off of the genre the way Mission Impossible did over the summer. There are moments of levity that feel like throwbacks to the Roger Moore era, which is nice. But Craig seems like he’s playing it too deadpan, bored with his job, as an actor and a spy. The casting of Christoph Waltz and the guy who plays Moriarty in Sherlock feels lazy. Cast guys who have already played famous villains as villains? Meh. If you’ve got Mission Impossible and Mad Max to compete with, you’re going to have to surprise me a little.

Bridge of Spies

With Spielberg directing a Coen brothers script, you would think this would be a fireball. Instead, it’s a muted drama about negotiation. Hanks embodies his insurance lawyer expertly as he confidently negotiates with badass, cold-war spies and diplomats. What’s nice about this, too, is learning a little piece of American history that I never knew.

Unfortunately for Spielberg, Janusz Kaminski, and the rest of the highly talented artists who worked to depict the cold war era as moodily as possible, the projectionist at the AMC Cherry Creek mall cinema didn’t care enough to focus the projector in the theater, mostly ruining the look of the movie. It’s no wonder everybody’s staying home and watching Netflix these days. I should go on Yelp and complain. Yep. That’s what I should do.

The Walk

Joe Levitt is the consummate and dedicated professional, willing to fully commit to his roles, emotionally and physically. (50/50, Inception) When you’re listening to his French accent, you just have to trust that it’s accurate and he didn’t learn it from watching Peppy LePew, even though sometimes he sounds a bit like Peppy Lepew, and/or Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Because we know the World Trade Center doesn’t exist anymore, every frame of this movie has to be made digitally from scratch. An amazing feat, and an emotional tightrope of sorts. Because this movie intends to move the audience to reimagine the twin towers as new, amazing pillars of architecture. Filmmakers attempt to help us forget, for a while, the images of the burning, crumbling, ground-zero targets that are constantly being used to re-justify the war in Iraq.

 So there’s a sense of child-like wonder here. Of optimism. And it’s a nice sentiment. As for the plot and characters, that’s all secondary to the experience of watching the movie. Having your knees buckle in the theater as the “camera” swoops up, down, and all around the high-wire act. It’s more like a ride than a movie. Don’t bother watching it on video, it won’t work. Ultimately, it’s an achievement in technology, not story-telling. There’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose. But just remember, you can’t complain if you watch this on Netflix and it seems fluffy and a little boring.

Pan

Doing another adaptation of "Peter Pan" is tricky business, but if ever there was anybody to do it, it would be Joe Wright. The imagination here is incredible. Flying ships, flying children, and shit-ton of visual fairy dust. Unfortunately, the script and some of the choices are weird. There’s an awkward use of modern music that sticks out like a fart in church. The plot, and Peter’s "quest," is baffling and goes unfulfilled. The CGI is the star here, which is not enough.

The Martian

** SPOILER ALERT! **

 Ridley Scott has been hit and miss lately, but this is a hit and I recommend it. In a perfect, beautiful, laser-guided plot-point, 15 minutes into the movie Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney declares, “I’m not going to die here.” Filmmakers choose to avoid this astronaut’s personal life, and instead focus their terrestrial b-plot on the NASA scientists determined to get him home, but also avoid what seems like an inevitable P.R. disaster. Meanwhile, Watney’s Castaway on Mars adventure is tense and watchable; surviving with potatoes, duct-tape, and disco music. (There’s a surprising amount of levity in these scenes…) While it’s true you never think he’s going to die, it’s fascinating watching him stay calm as he leaps the next hurdle by the skin of his teeth. I’m happy for Sir Ridley, who’s made a couple of duds lately. (The Counselor, etc.) At 78, he’s still a maestro of science fiction, attempting projects most of his contemporaries would never touch, and occasionally succeeding far more visibly than his prodigy. (think Interstellar.) Nominations are forthcoming.

Pawn Sacrifice

... made me think a lot about mental illness. The movie implies that Bobby Fisher may have been mentally ill, but also that maybe some of his episodes were strategic ways to distract his opponents. Either way, like a lot of depictions of successful, money-making schizophrenics, the people around them seem to ignore the symptoms just to make more money. Toby McGuire’s strong portrayal of Bobby Fisher isn’t a cute and cuddly version of mental illness; he’s kind of a dick and he’s almost dangerous. It’s a worthwhile biopic about an interesting subject. It’s well-acted, well-directed, perfectly paced, and a strong think-piece about exploiting the mentally-ill. Kudos to McGuire, Knight, Zwick, et al.

Sicario

Another cop fable with lots of morally ambiguous characters. Cops in bed with criminals and cops breaking the law, but only to cut off the head of the snake. Lots of law enforcement clichés. It’s well-shot, and there are several really exciting sequences. Emily Blunt is like a new action hero, bringing a fully-formed character to the table; confused by the grey areas she’s been pulled into. Unfortunately, the story steers away from her for a while, and there’s a noticeable shift of who is the protagonist and what is the tone. It’s worth seeing for Blunt and the photography, but there’s no real resolution at the end, which is like being in the shower and running out of hot water, but still being covered in shampoo.

Black Mass

This movie wants so badly to be a Scorsese movie. Every frame feels lifted from Goodfellas or The Departed. But just copying Scorsese’s style may not be enough, despite of the best efforts of all involved. Turns out, the story may also be a factor. The story feels hacked-up, episodic, and never builds or crescendos into any kind of emotional climax. So what if the acting is good and the accents seem authentic? If there isn’t a satisfying ending, you’re going to feel… meh.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

I feel like I’ve seen a lot of spy movies lately, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This particular Guy Ritchie yarn is more of a comedy than an action movie, which is fine. Not that the spies here aren’t formidable or the action isn’t actiony. Superman and The Lone Ranger make for imposing agents, but the best moments are the ones that are going for laughs. Droll moments of physical shtick while the fuzes are lit. It’s unique, too, that it’s a re-boot, or re-hash, but it takes place in its original time period. So there’s a lot of 60’s clothes and 60’s tech. Will audiences like that? I’m not sure. (It reminded me a little bit of X-MEN: First Class.) Anyway, it’s a likeable and watchable movie. Ritchie cheats a bit by rewinding the timelines a little and showing you scenes from other characters viewpoints, so as to explain confusing plot-points. As long as you trust him, I suppose, he can do what he wants. The bottom line is, every summer movie should be AT LEAST this good.  

Straight Outta Compton

This music bio-pic starts out well, depicting how the members of NWA form and become hugely influential. The emphasis is more on the lives of the players rather than the music, which is fine because the drama is high, but I wish there was more music, too. Performances are all solid, especially from a relative unknown, Jason Mitchell, as Eazy-E, the drug-dealer turned record label owner who hates doing the paperwork. Important, also, seeing the reminders of the 1992 L.A riots, and how similar it was to current police protests in Missouri, etc. The way the police hassled people back then is infuriating. How much has changed?? It runs long and some of the arguments about contracts can get a little tedious. So, it doesn’t deviate that much from a typical music biopic, but during the too infrequent times when it is musical, the audience was rapping along.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

This was awesome. It’s not like we haven’t seen a car chase through the Moroccan streets. And it’s not like we haven’t seen a fight in the rafters while the opera is going on, but there’s just something better about this. I think it’s the directing by Christopher McQuarrie. He’s not the most experienced director, but he seems to care a LOT about where the camera is to make sure we can follow the action and that nothing is disorienting. "Mad Max" and "Mission Impossible" have made an old school return to continuity; a huge relief when most action movies are so shaky and cutty that you can’t follow what’s going on. There’s also a counter spy, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who essentially steals the show right out from under Tom Cruise. She’s a badass and never a damsel in distress, and either Cruise lucked-out by having her, or he’s a genius for getting her. Either way, we all know that Tom is batshit crazy. It’s all you can think when he’s clinging to the side of a plane mid-flight. But he aims to please. And if movies are going to be $19, they better be worth the money. This was.

Trainwreck

There are a couple of big laughs here, but I didn’t find this to be the mind-blowing, trail-blazing feminist masterpiece that the world thinks it is. There are bits in the movie that have nothing to do with the “story” and were clearly inserted just to be funny, which is fine. But when this supposedly raunchy comedy starts to get all serious and there’s group hugging, I start to tune out. No raunchy comedy should have crying and/or group hugging. Also, the cynic in me realizes that adding male sports stars brings in more of a male audience, which evens out the demographics in what would otherwise be a very female-skewing movie about sisters and dying parents and stuff. So I don’t feel like the comedy is coming from a place of real honesty. Anyway, I liked Spy better.

Ant-Man

The super-hero stakes here are small, no pun intended. The world is not about to end, and the super-villian isn’t a God trying to rule multiple dimensions. What this means is, thankfully, this is a comedy. Meaning it’s paced like a comedy. The action is light and quick, and the word play is snappy. It wouldn’t have worked without Paul Rudd, the least-likely super hero, who glides through the story like drinking a smooth, cold beer on a summer day. A likable movie that won’t really resonate in the Marvel lexicon, but there’s worse ways to spend an evening.

Amy

Unbelievably sad doc about Amy Winehouse, the singer whose only crime was that she was born too talented. Relentlessly hounded by the British paparazzi, her life lives-out like a cliché of a rockumentary: fame-hungry parents, drugs, abusive boyfriends, comebacks, and finally, the body bag wheeling away from the home. Great doc with great music and poignant insight. But sad. The wrong movie was called Train Wreck. When are we going to stop letting the tabloid press torment people to death?

Spy

We laughed. Melissa McCarthy’s spy character must suffer numerous indignities as she makes her first foray as a field agent. The script does everything it can to embarrass her, and in the wrong hands this could have been miserable. But like any good comedy, it’s a high wire act. The embarrassing things only work because of McCarthy’s funny and impatient reactions to them. And she never gives up, which makes her a hero. Also, thankfully, she’s a competent spy. She doesn’t accidentally stumble on solutions, the way they might in Get Smart or Spies Like Us. We went to see Train Wreck, which was sold out, so we saw this instead. It was a fine alternative.

Session Man

A screening at the memorial service of my screenwriting guru Seth Winston. It’s the look of glory in James Remar’s eyes when he realizes he might go on tour with his rock and roll heroes. And it’s the look of resigned disappointment in his eyes when he accepts that he may never be more than a session musician. A poignant, Oscar-winning short made by a funny, cantankerous, and deeply respected AFI prof.

Terminator Genisys

** So, So, So many SPOILERS!**

Time-travel machines are versatile. Not only can you travel through time to change the past, but they also allow you to change old movie plots. So somebody thought that the plot of the Terminator wasn’t good enough so they needed to change it. But this nullifies all of the other Terminators after the original Terminator. Meaning: T2, T2-3D (the ride), T3, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Terminator: Salvation are all nullified. Meaning that ANY time anybody wants to change anything, they can just hop in the ol’ time machine, go back, and change it. Meaning that these movies are devoid of suspense and are becoming more and more like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I was always willing to accept these paradoxes as dramatic license as long as the fights and effects were cool. Cameron’s movies were mind-blowingly innovative and beautifully cut, which raises expectations. But this. This is more like a b-movie with money. I kept waiting for the Carolco logo to roll up. There’s no risk, no innovation. It’s not a disaster, but… It’s so bereft of fun or drama, it’s like it was made with an action movie algorithm programmed by Skynet.

Inside Out

** SPOILERS **

For anyone who has seen this, it should come as no surprise that I wept like an Italian widow during the third act. It’s a profound metaphor interpreted beautifully by the Pixar studios. It’s not so much that we’re seeing anthropomorphized emotions. That’s been done before. It’s the realization that all of the human emotions deserve equal play. Riley is an eleven-year-old forced to move cities. Not really an Earth-shattering tragedy, but it is to her. Watching the emotional hierarchy in her mind is fascinating. At times there’s some chasing and hijinks in the middle that seems unnecessary. But by the final third, when the leader of the emotional core, Joy, excellently voiced by Amy Poehler, realizes that she can’t always be in charge, it’s an epiphany; a life lesson. Because she’s only eleven, Riley hasn’t yet learned that the instant she voices her sadness, she’ll feel better. To make a movie for general audiences (this is PG, which is weird) that aspires to have this much emotional resonance, Pixar not only deserves a best picture nomination, but they also probably deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jurassic World

So, it turns out, Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg, Michael Kahn, and John Williams actually bring something to the table. If you want proof, check out Jurassic World, a movie that looks like it was written, produced, and edited by a nine-year-old. All the science of Crichton’s science fiction is gone. The characters are dumb, have no common sense, and act like they’ve never seen a movie before. Bryce Dallas Howard fares the worst here, forced by filmmakers to run through the jungles in her high heels and deny that live dinosaurs are anything other than “assets.” It’s embarrassing. But she gets to do the bravest and coolest thing in the movie. Too bad Ian Malcolm did the exact same thing in Jurassic Park. It’s making a fortune, so clearly I’m out of touch.

Being Charlie

A work-in-progress by my employers. Sensitively directed by Rob Reiner based on a script written by his son Nick Reiner and his writing partner Matt Elisofon. Really strong performance by Nick Robinson as the kid with problems. And expertly edited by Bob Joyce.

San Andreas

"The entire state is collapsing in on itself, but let’s take a brief interlude to talk about our relationship. Why didn’t it work between us?"

"I don’t know. But let’s get to San Francisco where there are millions of people evacuating, so we can search for our daughter."

"Hey! Look! There she is!"

"Oh, no! A tsunami. Why is it moving toward the earthquake instead of away from it?"

"No time for questions! Just drive over it in the boat we “borrowed!”"

Journey to the South Pacific

Imax doc following a boy who fishes a lot and goes to school on a boat. Technically awesome, as always, but a dull subject.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Third viewing.

The last movie I saw three times in the theater is Casino Royale, so "Fury Road" is special. One of the topics that keeps coming up is that this movie is secretly a piece of feminism. “We are not things,” the breeders declare, as they try and escape. One of them cuts off a brutal looking chastity belt. Uttering two simple lines, you can easily conclude that Imperator Furiosa was one of those breeders; a sex slave who found a new job as a warrior when she reached a certain age. In this movie, women represent all things good. And they free the world from the tyranny of man. And Max helps out a little, but only when needed. Is it a piece of feminism? Ask yourself that after you tune into Jurassic World and watch Bryce Dallas Howard run through the jungle in high heels.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Second viewing. Spoilers galore.

There has been an uncharacteristically high number of people who have pulled me aside to talk about this movie. With both positive and negative comments, George Miller has made a big splash. You don’t hear these kind of passionate arguments, yay or nay, about Avengers 2. George Miller has lit a fuse, and it’s exciting. The second viewing helped me notice a lot more of the post-apocalyptic weirdness in the script. Many of the lines made me crack up with delight. Describing anything tragic or unfortunate as, “mediocre!” The warboys obsession with Valhalla and chrome. The slave drummers, and the slave with the flaming guitar. The cancer. Those kinds of quirks are forbidden by big studios. Which makes me think that Miller and company received less studio interference than normal. Which is great. I hope this movie makes a billion dollars.

Mad Max: Fury Road

**SPOILERS**

Boom. Here it is. The trailers promised us something, and behold. Like a shot of nitrous oxide straight into the pleasure center of the brain, George Miller and his wife, editor Margaret Sixel, deliver the daring, balls-to-the-wall summer movie we all so desperately needed. This makes Fast and the Furious look like "Winnie the Pooh." The minimal dialogue and complicated set pieces are exhilarating. But the people who say this movie is just one big chase are wrong. There is inner logic. There is cause and effect. There are bursts and lulls. During the brief periods of respite, filmmakers use their screen time judiciously giving us small tidbits of backstory; refreshingly simple and all we need to know. Maybe the best and most surprising thing about it: Mad Max isn’t even the hero! Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) is driving the war machine and the plot. Armless, covered in grease, and saving the slaves, she’s the best action hero, male or female, to emerge from the dust in a long while. She literally rips off the villain’s face!! Awesome. Thank you George Miller.

Avengers: The Age of Ultron

Enjoyable and entertaining to watch, but there’s nothing new or surprising here. I kept waiting for a big twist, or the introduction of a new superhero. Or a cameo. Something. It might be a while before a superhero movie surprises me with something different, but I’ll still keep buying tickets until then. 

Ex Machina

A nifty, little thriller with some familiar sci-fi tropes, but strong performances and a willingness to follow through on its themes.