Begin Again (2013/2014)

Written and Directed by John Carney (Once)
Starring:
Mark Ruffalo (13 Going on 30)
Keira Knightley (Bend it Like Beckham)
James Cordon (Doctor Who)
Adam Levine (Iran So Far)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Catherine Keener (40 Year Old Virgin)
Yasiin "Mos Def " Bey (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
Ceelo Green (Mystery Men)

Character, baby! This is what I'm talking about! Carney once again proves his knack at topographic authenticity. He constructs raw, ruptured, whole characters that grow and change in the span of two hours. The first half of the film employs a fluid structure allowing lives to weave in and out of each other yet avoids feeling repetitive. Simple cut-away shots, throw away dialogue, and clothing choices all work to give every small character a palpable depth. The film builds itself up on separate time frames adding more and more meaning after each revelation until we are rolling full steam ahead to a straightforward culmination of the plot heading to a delectably satisfying finish.

Begin Again also offers some genuine movie magic. That ghost performance was a thing of beauty. Fueled by happiness and excitement, those recording scenes are remarkably infectious and vault the otherwise simple idea of the outdoor studio to be something exceptional. Carney manages to construct intimately meaningful scenes using the simple joys we all wish we could experience any given day. It might be a product of my deplorable social life but do you know how rare it is to listen to music with someone else and you both enjoy it? Sharing music is one of the hardest achievements in real life and this film shows the ideal fulfillment while giving the characters a convincing emotional journey to have deserved experiencing it. Carney shines a spotlight on the power of friendship and showcases a mutual respect devoid of clingyness and constructed naturally out of the story. I can't tell you how vitalizing the moment was when I realized the two leads are not going to get together.

Ruffalo's man-on-the-brink performance gave me something I always want to see, a character's struggle to improve. Carney allows his characters to make good decisions after suffering for bad ones. 

Lovely dabs of humor lift the potentially depressing traps in the plot. From ripping on Levine's absurd beard to letting a Ruffalo and an underused James Cordon throw out quick witty dialogue, the movie is never short on pleasantness to accompany the depth. I got a real Blues Brothersy vibe from the time spent putting the band together, as well. It turned in to the movie I wanted Inside Llewyn Davis to be. Carney trumped the Coen Brothers. 

As with  Markéta Irglová in Once, Carney continues to show his savvy for subversion of standard female romanticism. Here, Knightley's sandal-loving songstress, Gretta James (such a classically inspired name, isn't it) is allowed to choose as much as the male lead and she is *gasp* individually capable of thought, undergoing such glorious glorious progression. 2014 was a solid year for both original films and strong female characters and my final ranking will reflected just that.

I'll end with the driving force of the movie. Without good songs, this would be a decent film. Instead we have, like Once before it, a film littered with moody and melodic tunes sung by the actors that are really good and once more, well deservedly up for Best Song at the Oscars. As if Keira Knightley didn't have enough talent, she can sing right up there with Adam Levine.

Bottom Line: A thoroughly satisfying musical that tickled every sentimental bone in my body and mesmerizes on both a technical and creative level.

10 out of 10

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

Written, Starring, and Directed by Seth MacFarlane (Ted)
Also Written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild (Also Ted)
Also Starring:
Charlize Theron (The Devil's Advocate)
Neil Patrick Harris (Gone Girl)
Liam Neeson (Batman Begins)
Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls)

Gotta love it when a film blasts its title out in some dialogue. This crude and vulgar western comedy musters up enough wit and energy that I could not help but be charmed by it. Born from the ashes of Blazing Saddles, it may not have the same borders to cross as that legendary film but it manages to find a nice place for itself in that lofty shadow. Driven by a foul-mouthed silliness, the real success is how sincere the whole thing feels. MacFarlane must have had a high level of energy behind the camera as he was able to inject the actors with welcomed touch of investment. It seemed like they all enjoyed working on this movie.

Sadly the trailers give away quite a few of the bigger gags but we're still treated to enough fresh jokes Throw in MacFarlane's knack for kooky musical numbers and Theron getting her comedy on in a way she hasn't since Arrested Development and we've got an enjoyable film going on. It helps that I have a soft spot for silliness and NPH (Who doesn't have a soft spot for NPH?)

This movie gives you the basics every western brings in an attempt to parody them. We have our hero, we have our love interest, we have our rough and tumble outlaw villain, a whore, a side kick, the works.

Yup, all there. 

The Villain, Clinch, is overly cliched and portrayed with a refreshing sinister Irish sneer only Liam Neeson could unleash. Such a simple evil, contextualized in such a way, namely wrapped up in idiocy, where it comes across as entirely unique. The comedic frame MacFarlane adds, feeds every other cliched character a genuine response. I was reminded of the writing on Parks and Recreation's early episodes vs the later and better ones.  The writers write how characters react, altering how the audience relates to that character. It worked for Leslie Knope and is put to a similar effect here.

Sincere in their emotion what ever it may be. As silly and crude as it gets, MacFarlane's passion for this project seeps into each stupid character and the generic western supporting cast is endearingly hilarious if you let them be. From the dad, to the Indians, to the fair workers, the roles are played with that vital sincerity needed to make any comedy a hit with audiences. Even when you know they are coming, the jokes can manage to get a smile. The cameos are diverse, some subtle, some overt but each serves their purpose which, again, is comedy. It'll be fun seeing if it can stave off those Razzie nominations. I'll be rooting for it to pull through unscathed. 

Bottom Line: I saw here glimpses of what the Lone Ranger could have been. A western with heart, albeit a heart with literal feces of all sorts running through its arteries. A dash of romance, a pinch of self discovery, and solid, sometimes surprisingly grand camera work make this a pretty decent film. Not everyone will enjoy the niche comedy but those who eat up Family Guy certainly will.  

8 out of 10. 

Predestination (2015)

Written and Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig. 

Starring: 

Ethan Hawke (Gattaca)

Sarah Snook 

Noah Taylor (Game of Thrones)

Ever since I was destroyed by a little film called Gattaca, the name Ethan Hawke always stirs up a healthy reflux of anticipation. Here, that excitement is not wasted. The story the Spierig Brothers set out to tell with Predestination may be well-tread territory (not to mention an adaptation of a Heinlein short story - http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/303/heinlein_all_you_zombies.pdf ) but through deliberate pacing, a lovely smattering of weirdness, and some spectacular scope, they manage to make a distinct temporal statement that keeps you completely engaged and emotionally active. Their talent with SciFi aesthetics, as proven with the vamp tale Daybreakers, raises this movie from one that not only respectfully mimics recent Scifi triumphs like Looper, Moon, Minority Report, and About Time to one that joins their esteemed ranks. The end result is one of the best time travel movies ever made, not to mention an effective piece of mustache propaganda.  

The real victory lap of Predestination, story wise, is the forceful and simple method of time travel while firmly contained in a recent yet decidedly unfamiliar past. Even in the convolution that comes from messing with time, the story managed to hold on to a simplicity that comfortably utilizes, at times admittedly cheesy, sentiment. When the payoff is as complete as the one here is, those minor faults can be forgiven. The film's muted spectacle tries successfully to spotlight the performances. 

Dual framing devices are at play with one firmly grounded in a harrowing reality and powerfully introducing Sarah Snook to the world and the other one jumping across decades. The whole is focused on a single, dashed-line perspective that tries it's best to pull a Memento. It's an admirable attempt and one whose perspective requires patience to watch and ultimately, it works. For those who enjoy letting a movie take them on a ride, the patience put in is rewarded. The pacing is best compared to a bridge in a song, a deliberate gear shift like those found in Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out or Metallica's Fade to Black where the whole thing suddenly zones in and rockets forward. When Predestination makes that pivot, strap in. 

Propelled by remarkable performances from Snook and Hawke, the story is able to build an atmosphere that's calm but boiling. I love the way this movie is structured and that it doesn't insist on secrecy, rather it uses framing devices and expectations to allow the story to fill itself out. 

If you don't at the very least expect that certain things are at play during a time travel story, then the movie won't resonate with you as it should. The success of Predestination is that it tells a tale that is complete. 

The score is effective in enhancing any given mood from the first minute. Everything plays to one goal, one complete and satiating story that touches remarkably on the themes of identity, love, purpose, and destiny. Themes that bring to mind the Golden Age of Sci Fi literature and do justice to the source material. 

The Sci Fi elements are undoubtedly cool. An understated and simple method of time travel portrayed with intelligent editing and filming that leave a high impact resonance whenever depicted. 

Not a vehicle. Not a sphere. Not a large floating box. But a small trumpet case meant to be held close. Containing a device that it never shown. Much like the film as a whole the device is sparsely calling attention to itself yet every atom of it is essential. 

Some detractors have written of the messy nature of the movie, others call to question it's devious motives. I firmly disagree with them. I didn't find Predestination to be overly twisty. Its wasn't tediously convoluted. There's no deliberate obfuscation other than the standard components of a story with an ending. This is an independent film, sure, but its thankfully not an avant garde disaster. If you don't expect certain things to hold true under the umbrella of time travel, then the fault lies within your own bland sense of wonder (unprovoked preemptive strike!) To me this is a simple story that explores relevant themes while confidently employing Sci Fi tropes.

I found the overly reflective dialogue to be rather enjoyable. It was a contemplative exercise that, if you buy into, gets you thinking about interesting concepts. Time travel in film always brings the hop of seeing something fresh. A hope that it's more than just a romp through history. When a movie refuses to be defined by our inevitable expectations, it becomes something transcendent. A good film, let alone time travel film, alters yours perception of reality after the credits role, assuming of course, you are willing to allow your perception to be unraveled going into it.  Like how Truman Show played on our own narcissism, this attacks our very concept of destiny.

Bottom line. I wanted time travel and Ethan Hawke and was not disappointed. I can only hope we see more of Sarah Snook. The Spierig Brothers are two for two and so is 2015. 

10 out of 10. 

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Written and Directed by Matthew Vaughn (X- Men: First Class)
Also Written by Jane Goldman
Based on the Graphic Novel by Mark Millar (Wanted)
Starring:
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained)
Mark Strong (Stardust)
Michael Caine (Interstellar)
Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Mark Hamill (...Star Wars)
Taron Edgeron 
Sofia Boutella
Sophie Cookson
Richard Brake (Doom)
Hanna Alstrom

We kick off 2015 with a film that was kicked out of 2014 and may well be the tip of this newborn pyramid of a year. I'm talking the best. Already. And yes, I know what the rest of the year holds. Kingsman: The Secret Service is beyond amazing. Its hyperbolicly stylish and carries that lovely Lock, Stock vibe. The violence is horrifyingly giddy, yet beautifully destructive. Limitless in it's ingenuity, the camera is propelled through punches, it swims and zooms elegantly into from gun to gun, fist to fist. We are treated to action that sucks you in with its pulse and vein rupturing kinetics all the while the story somehow managing to be genuinely creative an affectionately touching in its execution. A deft sense of character injects Kingsman with gentle touch of sentimentality to help ground the surreal viciousness of the action. We are left caring about Harry Hart and Eggsy.

In a melding of variously familiar elements, Matthew Vaughn has managed to make a monumental masterpiece of mayhem. Taking the basic Hero's Journey and adding in a hint of Men in Black, a shade of the Matrix, a smattering of spy tropes along with Arthurian vernacular swirled in to make this a thoroughly engrossing product. When Kingsman was at full-throttle insanity (the Church tracking shot),  I was reminded of the best of Edgar Wright's fight scenes from Scott Pilgrim if you mix in the energy of the zombies from World War Z. While containing many standard elements of the average Hero's Journey, Kingsman is also actively working to subvert the conventional pitfalls. There turns you see coming and sudden stops that appear out of nowhere. The film keeps you on a cliff. There are heavy stakes aplenty and there are consequences that roar into effect.

We have an antagonist for the ages and his Number 2 is appropriately unstoppable. With Sam Jackson's Valentine's, the implementation of his plan is flawless in that, much like with Watchmen's all-time great antagonist, there is no stopping him simply because he is better. The question is not whether he will succeed, but rather, what will the heroes do when he does. Valentine joins the ranks of villains like The Dark Knight's Joker, Star Trek Into Darkness' "Khan," The Avenger's Loki, and Skyfall's Silva but unlike them, he doesn't need to get captured for his plan to succeed.

Mark Millar's unhinged story lends perfectly to Vaughn's hyperactive style (As we saw with Kick-A**) and Vaughn, in turn, has that magic touch in selecting and milking the coolest possible performances out of his stars.

We add another triumphant role to Mark Strong's filmography while Colin Firth's performance successfully plants his foot in this decisively unfamiliar territory for the one time regally stuttering Oscar Winner. A report had John Boyega (Attack the Block and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens) up for the role of Eggsy and, while it may have been refreshing to add a bit of diversity to this quite pale line up of heroes, the job Taron Edgerton does is quite good. He's got the confidence and talent to bring an otherwise standard character a bit of depth. Also, he's listed as 5 feet and 10 inches so it gives me hope to one day do heroically stupid things.

The themes this movie explores are familiar but it still manages to knowingly subvert expectations. There is, remarkably and thankfully, no forced love story. What there is, is a display of friendship and loyalty. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, we are treated to more complex characters who are motivated by a past that they are haunted by and driven to make choices they must then live with. They are influenced more by their stated goals rather than standard cliches. Again, reminiscent of MIB and Guardians of the Galaxy in that department as well.

Bottom Line: Kingsman hit all the right quavers for me and met each of my unhealthily sadistic expectations. I felt like leaving a tip (were that deemed in any way an acceptable form of showing appreciation to a film whose authors are thousands of miles away). I had this movie pegged to finish at number two behind Del Toro's upcoming effort Crimson Peak and  well ahead of predicted number 4, Star Wars, but now that I've seen this thing? Let's just say that 2015 has it's work cut out.

A resounding 10 out of 10.







SPOILER PIT. Read on at your own peril. 

This is a brutal movie that cares not for your romantic notions of heroism. People die and, in the aftermath, society undoubtedly is brought to is knees. When Valentine personally killed Colin Firth, he succeeded where so many villains have fallen short. He killed THE hero. It was shocking and visibly affected the audience who've come to be babied into thinking the star can't be killed. Also, the amount of people that lose their lives, while hilariously depicted, is no joke, The movie is effective in building a sense of legacy and it does so through death. Killing Eggys dad moments in and the manner in which it happened, was highly impactful. This was followed mere minutes later, yet far in the future, by Lancelot's death. Death was the propellant. The villain, even in death, was, in many ways, victorious. He played the Kingsman and they were backed into a corner, forced to do what they had to but it was a heavy price to pay. That is why this movie is so resonant. It has the guts to go where you would never expect it to. It kills the hero and, as stated earlier, it doesn't shove a love story front and center.  

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

Written and Directed by Craig Johnson
Also written by Mark Heyman 
Starring:
Bill Hader (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
Owen Wilson (Idiocracy)
Boyd Holbrook (...The Host)
Ty Burrell (The Incredible Hulk)

A showcase of imperfect people behaving imperfectly. A story conveying how family can be the cause of all the turmoil in your life yet lift you up when you need it most. Showing that humor and happiness comes from finding your best self and knowing who brings it out. While the revelations can get a bit fatiguing, the pacing allows you to make the best of it.

Thanks in large part to the well spotlit chemistry of Wiig and Hader, The Skeleton Twins is loaded with moments of heartfelt fart-laced, novocaine driven comedy that help you cope with the darkness that lies in all of us, even if there seems to be a bit of excess darkness here. All these complex feelings inspired by this little film shows just how much talent that SNL cast had all at once. The lip-syncing scene is truly the highlight of the movie.

This honest and simple story makes you care about these people who are obviously flawed and dealing with the pressures of two very different lives. One, a wife on the verge of collapse and the her brother, a suicidal failing actor. They've not spoken in ten years which sets up this cathartic intertwining of their crumbling lives.

It's is a good film, not perfect (I couldn't help but roll my eyes during the entire mom scene) but it is, as the unlikely stars have classified it on many occasions, quite a serious one that manages to accomplish much. And the pair do indeed perform admirable. Possibly more than they even understood. although, knowing how talented the duo is, they probably are fully aware of just how incredible they were. It was a chance to show the rest of the world (because, of course, I already could tell) that they are more than simply Stefon and Gilly. They were able to display all these gutting exchanges and heartfelt scenes and hold their own when the story brought the world down upon them.

Craig Johnson's story also allows the two leads to demonstrate their comedic prowess, albeit in a controlled manner, their characters are shown to be good for each other. The moments when Skeleton Twins is soaring are when Hader and Wiig are feeding into each other, when the siblings are made to interact, for better or worse.

Johnson's endearing tale of two estranged siblings expertly covers many vital life lessons we could all learn to use. Showing up when you are most needed. Who needs you? Affairs deserve consequences. The idea that we don't always tell ourselves the truth. That we make the choice that feels good vs. the one we know is right. All heavy concepts and all explored with dignity and care.

The finale is one of the most therapeutic conclusions a film could have. That we can't see our own broken behavior while we are doing it. Sometimes we need someone to stop us.

Bottom Line: Somewhat depressing but in the end, we all need more Hader and Wiig in our lives.

9 out of 10. 

The Imitation Game (2014)

Directed by Morten Tyldum (Headhunters)
Written by Graham Moore 
Starring:
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock)
Keira Knightly (Bend It Like Beckham)
Mark Strong (Stardust)
Charles Dance (Game of Thrones)
Matthew Goode (Watchmen)
Allen Leech (Primeval)
Rory Kinnear (Skyfall)
Tuppence Middleton (Trance)

BE ADVISED: The following contains intense gushing praise. 

When The Imitation Game is at full power, your emotions belong to this movie. It takes you completely with its Britishness. Holds you by the face, clutches your cheeks and injects a cold, swirling sense of life into the core of your mind. By the end, The film opens your eyes to a truer history and you walk out to a broken world. Not bad for a biopic. Especially noteworthy is how three timelines all tell one vastly necessary story and each feeds into one another to build a masterpiece. 

Like any masterpiece, this film operates as more than just a drama. It's a war movie, its a biography, its a revisiting to the still relevant horrid hatred of homosexuality. Yes, its about all those serious things, but they can be depressing and bitter when not mixed and treated with a little sugar. The humor and confidence boasted by the cast throughout the film is brilliantly handled, and vitally so. We are never unaware of the perils surrounding Alan Turing and his crew of World War II Enigma code breakers but we are given the positivity to emotionally survive the ordeal through sharp wit and renegadian dialogue. The delivery of those lines make me feel cool just thinking about them. For instance, literally every word out of Mark Strong' s Col. Maj. Stewart Menzies will get a woman pregnant. 

The pinnacle scene where they fracture the enigma is gorgeously handled. A burst of realization sparking in Turing's eye performed like nothing else in the universe mattered, a moment of such euphoric eureka that we, as the audience are enthralled beyond all reason. 

Speaking further to all of the above, Tyldum, in his English language directorial debut, maximizes every bit of tension, humor, and love out of his film. There is even a sense of muted style to the camera work. People are often positioned off center, intentionally keeping your eyes active. Tyldum takes the top screenplay of the 2011 blacklist, and former DeCaprio starring vehicle to wonderful heights. Paired with Cumberbatch, Tyldum honors Turing's memory justly. 

Romance is also capably handled as the it never becomes annoying. The movie sweetly portrays friendship and trust. Showing that we can be more by looking towards others. Knowing that we all need help. The major scene between Knightley and Cumberbatch (Lets go a ahead and add his name to the old Portable Turing Machine's dictionary) that lays their relationship out in the open is as good as it gets. The actors, the score, the direction, the momentum of the entire story, it all swirls into a perfect storm powerful enough to engulf every ounce of attention you have. In that moment I had to break away and look around. I had to see the faces in the crown that were gone, completely absorbed by the screen. Prisoners of the moment in a jail so finely constructed only those whoare waiting for the tide to pass over them can escape. Everyone else belongs to that scene. Belongs to the movie. 

Their relationship is also beautifully summed up by the most important adage of the film:

 "Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

I think I instantly became a better person the moment after hearing that line. Thankfully it was repeated so that I may more easily remember it. 

Aside from the two leads (albeit one far leadier than the other), this movie benefits from having a supremely talented supporting cast who are allowed to fully flesh out their deeply human roles. Charles Dance is superbly capable and prickly as the Lanniseresque Commander Denniston. Matthew Goode, Allen Leech, and the rest of the code breakers are also immensely effective in their work. Rory Kinnear helps bring meaning to the scenes set in the 50s. Tuppence Middleton also quite nicely maximized her screen time and made her otherwise cliched character be more than it could potentially have been. And lest we forget, the childhood scenes are handled so somberly by Alex Lawther. (Although, I am a bit sad about a lack of Tom Hiddleston who could easily slip in for Matthew Goode. The dream of having him, Cumberbatch, and Strong on screen together must wait. This movie instead joins the ranks of War Horse as another trifecta close call.)

No movie can reach the upper echelon of cinema without a penetrating score. Zimmer's Interstellar set the bar this year and here Alexandre Desplat(Argo) rise to match him. Desplat, who apparently had only three weeks at his disposal, does a philomenal job (Anyone catch that? Philomena...no?) The piano tune is immaculately simple yet profoundly immersive,  Listening to it feels like you're swimming in a field of snow. 

And finally we get to Benedict himself. The absolute, unquestioningly best part of this movie is his performance. He controls the movie from the very first second. His voice....what more can be said. It is a force of nature. A monsoon of deepness that loosens all joints in your body. He is on the list of people that I would like to be yelled at by, right next to Michael Fassbender and Judi Dench. Cumberbatch shows shades of Sherlock here as well with his superb ability to portray characters whose minds are on a different plane of existence. Already the reigning Actor of the Year for 2013, Imitation Game marks him firmly in contention for a repeat win. 

As for the bad stuff...I wish the two adorable elderly ladies to the left of me would've had fewer conversations. God, I love free screening. But seriously, there is severe difficulty in finding any fault here. Scouring the negative reviews of this film leads you to see that the only bad thing is that it is a biopic and some people have watched too many to allow another good biopic to exist. Sadly, I am still in the shallow end of that pool so these eyes have yet to be jaded. Although this did elicit a similar response to watching A Beautiful Mind for the first time, which is yet another positive accolade to bestow on this movie. 

To steal a word from Selina Meyer, this is a robust year for movies. How many times can a film buff allow his top spot to be toppled? We may be looking at the unholy unordered top ten by year's end. You're up Peter Jackson. Good call in having Cumberbatch play two roles in one movie.  

Bottom Line. Stunning performance. Stunning Film. 

10 out of 10. 

22 Jump Street (2014)

Written and Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Lego Movie)

Also written by Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)

Starring:

Channing Tatum (This is the End)

Jonah Hill (This is the End)

Ice Cube (21 Jump Street)

Amber Stevens (New Girl)

Wyatt Russell (Kurt Russell?)

Jillian Bell (Workaholics)

Dave Franco (Fright Night)

Rob Riggle (21 Jump Street)
Lucus Twins (Tonight Show Stand up set)
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation)
Craig Roberts (Submarine)
Peter Stormare (Constantine)

It took a while to finally watch the whole film and so it sat patiently high on the watchlist for almost a year. But the bridge has finally been crossed and boy howdy was it a raunchy bridge. The level of self awareness approached Spaceballsian levels yet somehow avoided being an all out parody. Much like in the first film, Miller and Lord continued to build on these lovable morons and set them loose in this pre-established world. Lest we forget, this is still the same universe but with a vastly different tone than the show.

Impressive and bold stunt work that, when paired with the highly creative humor, earns the right be called an action comedy nearly equal to Hot Fuzz.

Boundless flowing idiocy from every character and every scene that requires thought and plays to niche interests. So many jokes that its a struggle to recall all of them. This is a movie to own because it will make you funnier as a person.  Also the end credits sequence is an all time great so you'll be wanting to pause it about 43 times.

The cast not only performs well, but the casting choices are themselves meta-jokes that take even more thinking to get. There have never been, and may never be again, this many Ice Cube jokes in one film. And if that jock football player looks familiar, it's because he's a young Kurt Russell. I'm not buying the whole offspring thing. He's a clone.

The story has just the right amount of predictability. It keeps everything fresh even while you know full well that the outcome will be that these two goofballs will win. That's not the point.

And there is a bit of retreading here as well. The first film already had the odd couple dynamic play out and while that may be the hardest thing to sit through again, the destination, and knowing that when they come back together the hilarity will be unmatched is what we all wait for. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Coupled with the abusive use of a higher budget, the turbo-stupidity will make it all worth it.

Bottom Line. The praise is high and the film deserves it. Lord and Miller are on a roll. With so few films left in the year, this is a lock for top ten of the year.

10 out of 10 chickens

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Directed by Anton Corbijn (Arcade Fire's insane Reflektor Video)
Written by Andrew Bovell
Starring:
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Twister)
Rachel McAdams (About Time)
Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
Robin Wright (Princess Bride)
Willem Defoe (John Wick)
Grigoriy Dobrygin
Mehdi Dehbi
Homayoun Ershadi
Nina Hoss

Here is a film that is carried by the talents of the actors who deliver on their particular brand of acting. Hoffman was magnificent and enough to keep eyes on the screen. He had plenty of help as well to make up for a rather uninspired plot. McAdams was genuine and avoided getting too mushy throughout. DeFoe plants himself as a potential Actor of the Year after strong roles in the stellar films, John Wick and Grand Budapest Hotel. Wright was steady yet her character and that of her cohorts in the other government organization were fairly unexplored. Daniel Bruhl was criminally underused. And lastly, unknown actor Mehdi Dehbi was exceptional. He held his own on screen with Hoffman and brought to life a rather whole Muslim character.

The story itself, an area that usually allow some leeway if the other elements are up to par, was barely interesting. No real hero. No real ending. No real villain. This film, like a sentient cantaloupe on a jet ski, didn't know what it wanted to be but carried on as though it did. There is constant referance to Chechnya yet barely any explanation or utilization on the actual importance of it. Dobrygin's Essa could have been a great character but all he did was mope about and be told what to do. But somehow, on the backs of those stand out performances spotlit by some confident directing, Corbijn turned in a decent product.

The plot may have had something going for it were it not forcibly removing or ignoring some of the more interesting characters to the background in favor of the typical whitewashed yet hardboiled spy characters. There was no real need or purpose to the romantic tension. It felt forced. That said, the denouement was rather thrilling. Were it preceded by any purposeful character building instead of barely explored faces belonging to standard lead characters in an anti terrorist organization, it may have mattered more.

The inclusion of positive Muslim characters does do it some favors in diluting the deja vu but lest it get too original, there was the standard prominent Muslim with ties to terrorism leading to the central dilemma of the whole movie to be fairly dull. I will give props when props are due, though as salat (prayer) was properly depicted. All in all it was like a less stylized version of the summer filler NBC show Crossing Lines.

The power of that conclusion begs the question of how much more engaging a story this would have been had the ending been the place where the film began telling the story.

6 out of 10.

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Written an Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Starring:
Tom Hiddleston (Thor: The Dark World)
Tilda Swinton (Constantine)
Anton Yelchin (Fright Night)
Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland)
John Hurt (Spaceballs)
Jeffery Wright (Casino Royale)

I had a fever and the only prescription was a butt load of rotating overhead shots. This movie cured that fever. Now I'm ODing on rotating overhead shots and I love it! The record spinning, the blood highs, the camera fading between characters. Gorgeous, slow, rhythmic revolutions, giving off that feeling of immortality? More please.

This movie was supposed to ooze gothic hairstyles and pale-skinned royalty and it certainly delivered on those promises. The hair is flowing all around like Oprah was the costume designer and she handed out glorious long locks to each cast member. Hiddleston gets flowing long locks, and Swinton gets creepy looking long locks, Yelchin gets Veddery
long locks, Wasikowska gets...the same creepy looking long locks as Swinton, John Hurt gets lustrous long locks EVERYBODY GETS LONG LOCKS!  The we have the two leads as pale as they come (aside from Paul Bettany, could they not get him?)

Now that we've established that the hair and casting was as tasty as a sweet blood Popsicle, we can get to the story.

It was abundantly clear that Jarmusch wanted no part of making a horror or action film. He was focused on telling the tale of two, lets call them vampires since the film doesn't, that are indeterminately old and immeasurably in love. On those counts, Jarmusch succeeds. We get a tale that is very much just a few days (and numerous tangled sleeping positions) in the lives of these creatures of the night.

Not having to sit through two characters fall in love was kind of refreshing. Instead, we have the other things that keep annoying us. People getting in between them. Specifically Ava (Wasikowska). She was unbearable. We want to see Adam and Eve be together and chill. (Heck, just let me watch Adam compose music for two hours.) But we don't get that, we have this pseudo story thrust in there involving other characters that are relatively uninteresting.

While the effort to tell a story concerned more with something small while set within a strange world approach is commendable, it wasn't done to perfection like in, say John Wick, where each strange element is allowed to breathe a bit before coming back to focus on the central character.

With Only Lovers Left Alive, the kind of interesting world that is put forth and a character as compelling as Adam that is brought about, why not just explore his psyche and his process while he interacts with the slightly unknown world around him and the apprently present immortal community. The film fails to give enough light to the strangeness that it tells us is out there while alluding too much to it. Its all a bloody tease in the end. All these musicians and scientists are mentioned and all this fancy talk about space and music leads to nothing and after some wasted plot points we are left with some pathetic version of these two very promising characters.

The film breaks the promises it sets up. A standard which was set up by Hot Fuzz. Albeit a comedy but one that showed that when you set something up, be it a joke or a name or a concept, there better be resolution. We get nothing out of all that Tesla Tech, which the characters flat out abandon, we hardly scratch Adam's ability to be a musical and scientific muse, and that wooden bullet is virtually meaning less.

The conclusion is strange but expected. There is nothing wrong with ending a film that gives but a glimpse into two extraordinarily long lives mid-action. And while the decisions leading to it leave you wondering how these two could have lived this long if their apparently final and possibly fatal trip to Tangier is induced by nothing, and carried out in so ill-prepared a manner, you still have to allow these characters to make that mistake.

These story hiccups are, however, only minor when set next to how entrancing the performances were and how cool Hiddleston is. Swinton and Wasikowska are take em or leave em but there is nothing without Hiddleston. Yelchin and Hurt are great as well, bringing their more capable talents to simpler roles than they are used to. Its always nice to see actors who can be leads to supporting work (cough Jude Law and Matt Damon cough)

Back to Hiddleston for a quick wrap up. He is this movie. Everything feeds off of him including that hypnotic music his character composes.

8 out of 10

Fury (2014)

Written and Directed by David Ayer (Street Kings)
Staring:
Brad Pitt (Fight Club)
Shia LeBeouf (Holes)
Michael Peña (Silver Linings Playbook)
Jon Bernthal (Eastwick)
Logan Lerman (3:10 to Yuma)
Jason Issacs (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Xavier Samuel (New Moon)
Scott Eastwood (Clint Eastwood's Facewrinkle)
Alicia Von Rittberg (Debut)

As much as Logan Lerman can't hold a screen, like Noah earlier this year or 3:10 to Yuma a while back, he sure know how to be the whiner in all the right movies. Fury is a depressingly gruesome tale told with unrelenting honesty by David Ayer, whose track record is spotty at best. Street Kings and Harsh Times were a waste of time and talent, but he did helm End of Watch and write Training Day (neither of which I've seen but whose worth can't be denied by ignorance).

Brad Pitt performs as expected, one review had his performance pegged as a toned down version of his Inglorious Basterds character Lt. Aldo Raine, which is not wrong. But the most memorable stints come from Bernthal and LeBeouf (who apparently was so true to character that he didn't shower during the shoot). Notable names in the cast are peppered throughout the film and, like John Wick, no small role is wasted. In the vein of another Jason-Issacs-cameo war film, Black Hawk Down, it would't be surprising if Eastwood or Samuel went the route of a, lets say, Tom Hardy or Orlando Bloom and use this film as a platform to greater fame.

The details of tank warfare Ayer manages to display is a blistering success. It's ground that hasn't truly been spotlit before. "Best job I ever had," the catchphrase repeated by the characters, holds remarkable power in the hands of the performers and the in the context with which it is delivered. Before now, tanks were slow and fearful, but this film gives them a personality. A soul. Although Ayer focus' only on the tank Fury, it wouldn't have hurt the film to give some spotlight to the other crews and not just their versions of Pitt's character.

The story has tangents which take you away from the action and its fault is that it focus' too much on the moral complexity of its characters. It's not that the scenes with the poorly juxtaposed romance is unbearable to watch, in fact, it has it's emotional high points, it's just that it has no real purpose other than adding something that appeases the audience Logan Lerman brought in. That was a poor decision, we already know that he is the POV for the audience, there is no need to soften his character up that much. That said, the ending, which I won't mention, wasn't unwelcome.

All in all, this is a modern day war classic. The gore is gory, The blood is bloody. And death surrounds you the entire time. Each character is morally compromised and there's enough humor that you don't succumb to depression while watching it. Ayer's success here makes his involvement with DC's Suicide Squad all the more interesting.

8 out of 10.