tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352835192024-03-13T04:56:51.250-07:00Cam's Cinematic EpisodesA wacky world of movie related nonsense. Enter At Thine Own Risk!Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-76108001318062402172020-01-30T15:57:00.000-08:002020-01-30T16:10:44.921-08:00The Bottom Five Worst Films of 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">1) <i>THE FANATIC</i> – 2019 was a heavy year for discourse regarding how Hollywood should be casting potentially sensitive roles. Frankly put, certain types of performance just don’t fly anymore! Apparently those conversations never reached the ears of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who cast the increasingly bonkers John Travolta as an obsessed cinephile on the autism spectrum in this revolting and moronic “satire” of fandom and fame. Adopting a stooped, shuffling gait, obnoxious whine and patchy mullet, the fallen actor conjures up a genuinely mortifying creation; the living embodiment of a fiery train yard collision. Grotesque protagonist aside, though, this is just a deeply terrible and cruel study in posturing frat-boy nihilism with nothing insightful to say whatsoever. <i>The Fanatic</i> wants so badly to be this generation’s <i>Misery</i>, and while that word definitely springs to mind throughout it’s not in relation to the works of Stephen King. </span></div>
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<a name='more'></a>2) <span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><i>CATS</i></span> – If the internet is to be believed Tom Hooper’s gaudy adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long-running Broadway smash is an insane must-see descent into hallucinatory lunacy. And while the highly questionable CG costumes and nonsensical Jellicle storytelling would seem to support that opinion, the truth is that <i>Cats</i> is also one hell of a numbingly dull sit. Easily last year’s most astonishing example of large scale creative hubris, this big budget musical affords its star-studded lineup about as much dignity as a soggy feline subjected to an unwelcome bath. Words fail to convey the humiliation of watching Sir Ian McKellan lick milk out of a saucer, or the sight of Idris Elba dutifully strutting around in a jacked-up, furry nude suit. Stick with the soundtrack. It’s shorter, less nightmare-inducing and – most rewarding of all - features 100% less mucus during Jennifer Hudson’s haunted rendition of “Memories.” </div>
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3) <span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><i>HELLBOY</i></span> – Whatever issues one might have with Guillermo del Toro’s original duology will be completely and totally forgotten after enduring this disastrously half-baked reboot. Utterly absent of imagination, wit or visual pizzazz, Neil Marshall’s fumbling adaptation of Mike Mignola’s cult comic series looks and feels like a superhero flick phoned-in from the early 2000s. It’s honestly depressing to watch Ron Perlman replacement David Harbour dutifully slog his way through this boring, edited-to-oblivion mess, engulfed in a tornado of pixelated CG, incompetent world-building and pathetic sequel-bait teases. No matter the crushing tedium though, viewers can at least take comfort in knowing their squandered two hours pales in comparison to the star’s tragically wasted makeup chair time.<br />
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4) <span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><i>EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE</i></span> – In theory, this ultra-flat Ted Bundy biopic has a fair deal going for it. There’s Zac Efron’s committed and occasionally compelling performance, for starters. But also the fact the film is helmed by Joe Berlinger, the celebrated documentarian who masterminded the riveting and comprehensive <i>Conversations with a Killer: Ted Bundy Tapes</i> Netflix series. So why does the final result play out like an amateur hour TV movie complete with lethargic direction, eye-rolling dialogue and superficial ripped-from-Wikipedia plotting? <i>Extremely Wicked et al</i>. aspires to place us inside the paranoid, schizophrenic mind of its fascinating subject, despite lacking the crucial artistry required to do so. Alas, this true crime anti-drama doesn’t just demystify the devil; it turns him into an utter snore. <br />
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5) <i><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">SERENITY</span></i> – How so many talented people read the screenplay for this wildly ill-conceived and mind-blowingly stupid film noir twist-a-thon and still said “Sign me up!” is a question for the ages. Headed by Matthew McConaughey as a sweaty gigolo/fishing boat captain who becomes embroiled in a steamy and dangerous plot involving his ex (Anne Hathaway) and her gangster husband (Jason Clarke), <i>Serenity</i> goes places no sane person could ever predict, much less yearn to see realized. Writer/director Steven Knight (<i>Locke</i>) has delivered fantastic work in the past, and doubtlessly will again, but his latest wasn’t just running on fumes, it appeared to be huffing them too. </div>
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Dishonorable Mentions: <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>ANGEL HAS FALLEN</i></span>, <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>DARK PHOENIX</i></span>, <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>THE DIRT</i></span>, <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS</i></span>, <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>THE LION KING</i></span>, <span style="color: #e06666;"><i>MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL</i></span>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-19585791615873722252020-01-09T16:43:00.001-08:002020-01-10T15:12:55.662-08:00The Top 10 Best Films of 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">1) <i>ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD</i> – Energetically rebounding back into audiences’ good graces after 2015’s polarizing underperformer <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2015.html"><i>The Hateful Eight</i></a>, visionary virtuoso Quentin Tarantino’s passionate love letter to 1969 Hollywood is his most heartfelt and comical work to date. A wild, weird and uncharacteristically sweet cocktail of old time showbiz minutiae, bubbly nostalgia, killer tunes and obscure pop-culture nerdery, <i>Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood</i> continues QT’s winning trend of kooky historical revisionism in fresh and occasionally startling ways. Fashioning iconic roles for Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt (the former in primo self-absorbed bumbling mode, the latter cool as Mr. Freeze) as struggling western TV veterans, Tarantino brings the crazy waning days of the 60s alive with a formidable cast and an obsessive attention to detail. Both an adoring deep dive into a bygone era, and a rapturously radical rewriting of Sharon Tate’s dreadful narrative, this fairy tale hang-out delight is a blissful escape of the highest order, and only grows more and more magical with each subsequent revisit. </span><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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2) <i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">MARRIAGE STORY</span></i> – In theory, a warts and all divorce drama should probably feel like a bit of a slog to endure. And yet, in the hands of dependably idiosyncratic filmmaker Noah Baumbach, <i>Marriage Story</i> is not only a keenly observant and incredibly absorbing entertainment, but also a titanic, multi-faceted acting showcase for stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Playing flawed yet well-meaning parents braving the complex and overwhelming process of legal separation, the two leads wring every bit of nuance, reality and subtle humor from Baumbach’s wonderfully sincere screenplay (his best since 2005’s <i>Squid and the Whale</i>) with nary a false note. While there is ugliness on display, there’s also so much love, warmth and compassion that, when all is said and done, we walk away genuinely optimistic about where the future may take these two.<br />
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3) <i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">THE IRISHMAN</span></i> – If there was ever a doubt Martin Scorsese had said all there was to say with the gangster picture, consider <i>The Irishman</i> his bullet-riddled rejection of such concerns. Eschewing the propulsive glitz and glamor of <i>Goodfellas</i> or <i>Casino</i>, the legendary auteur’s sober genre eulogy instead offers up a mesmerizingly intimate portrait of a blue collar mobster slowly undone by an unremarkable life of crime. Using mostly effective de-aging effects in order to trace the decades-spanning rise and fall of Robert De Niro’s pokerfaced hitman, Scorsese crafts a spell-binding American tragedy filled out with poignant performances by Joe Pesci and Al Pacino and engrossing historical sweep. Unfolding with the delicate precision of an elegantly-written novel, this is the reflective work of an artist coming to terms with the fact that for these characters the end arrives not with an exclamation mark but with a single melancholy period.<br />
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4) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>US</i></span> – Slashing away any concerns about a sophomore slump with a pair of golden scissors, Jordan Peele’s daring follow-up to the universally adored <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2018/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2017.html">Get Out</a></i> is an exhilarating and disturbing evolution of his audacious brand of socially conscious terror. Headlined by an unbelievable Lupita Nyong’o as a troubled mother whose family vacation is disrupted by a quartet of sinister doppelgangers,<i> Us</i> is every bit as a scary, creepy and funny (Peele knows how to score a major laugh!) as fans of his debut could ever hope. But beyond that, the film underscores the writer/director’s knack for world-building, using his relatively simple hook to draw the viewer into a realm far stranger and more thought-provoking than ever expected. A thematically rich exercise in adult-oriented horror tackling themes of inequality, oppression and duality, this picture haunts the mind long after the screams have died down.<br />
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5) <i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">PARASITE</span></i> – Arguably the predominant theme in cinema in 2019 was the increasingly volatile disparity between the haves and the have-nots. And, in retrospect, no filmmaker was more geared to deliver the definitive statement on the subject than Bong Joon Ho. Boasting a back catalogue loaded with thoughtful examinations of the issue (including 2014’s spectacular <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2015/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2014.html">Snowpiercer</a></i>), the consistently great South Korean writer/director blew critics and fans away with this powerful offbeat drama about an impoverished family who manipulate their way into an affluent household. A brilliant slice of pitch black satire, the helmer’s latest is a near perfect blend of Hitchcockian suspense, unpredictable twists and turns, powerhouse acting (Kang-ho Song as the desperate patriarch in particular), sly humor and profound heart-break.<br />
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6) <i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">MIDSOMMAR</span></i> – For many horror helmers, 2018’s revelatory nightmare <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2019/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2018_19.html"><i>Hereditary</i></a> would be a career milestone. But for writer/director Ari Aster it was just a warm up. Fascinated with damaged interpersonal dynamics, the sun-soaked, Sweden-set <i>Midsommar</i> sees the aspiring master shifting away from his debut’s dysfunctional family drama in favor of a twisted and draining examination of toxic romantic relationships. Starring 2019 breakthrough champ Florence Pugh as a depressed young woman who joins her selfish boyfriend and his pals on a trip to a bizarre <i>Wicker Man</i>-ish pagan festival, this anxiety-inducing stroke of deranged genius runs the unholy gamut, generating soul-shaking shudders, unanticipated chuckles and raw catharsis.<br />
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7) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>WAVES</i></span> – A vibrant and devastating emotional rollercoaster of a movie, Trey Edward Schults’ shattering account of a suburban African American family hurled into unforeseen chaos was among the year’s most impactful sleepers. Largely carried on the ultra-capable shoulders of relative newcomers Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr., <i>Waves</i> classily sidesteps clichés and familiar beats, digging into the tumultuous experiences of its leads with honesty, insight and genuine empathy. Shults, who previously wrote and helmed the 2017 arthouse horror effort<i> It Comes at Night</i>, operates on a whole other level here, cementing himself as a bold, ambitious creative voice worthy of paying close attention to in the future.<br />
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8) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>KNIVES OUT</i></span> – Fresh off of his ludicrously controversial stint in <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2018/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2017.html">Star Wars</a></i> land, writer/director Rian Johnson’s gleeful palette-cleansing ode to the works of Agatha Christie is a complete riot, playfully prodding the tried-and-true whodunnit formula in fun and gripping new directions. As Johnson and his murderer’s row of all-star suspects weave a razor-edged web for Daniel Craig’s Southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc to wryly unravel you can feel the joy emanating from each and every impeccably-staged moment. That <i>Knives Out</i> proved such a hit at the box office, and stands poised to launch a smart and innovative franchise, is genuinely encouraging, as this film didn’t just air out the parlor room; it made it a must-visit destination.<br />
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9) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>AVENGERS: ENDGAME</i></span> – Crafting an exciting and satisfying end to an epic tale is a nearly impossible feat, and most fall short (helloooo <i>The Rise of Skywalker</i>!). But somehow, those merry marching storytellers at Marvel grandly closed off their unprecedented 22-film Infinity Saga in such thrilling fashion they almost made it look easy! Bidding adieu to beloved fan favorites and tying off a decade’s worth of narrative loose ends in infectiously high-spirted style, <i>Endgame</i> was the rare 2019 blockbuster that demonstrated an implicit understanding that, while large-scale action can be neat and all, it’s truly the characters we buy tickets for. And that the triumphant sight of dozens of armored Avengers charging into battle in an unstoppable wave gives us chills not because of the flashy costumes and hardware, but rather because of the quirky, courageous and unwaveringly human personalities underneath.<br />
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10) <i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">THE LIGHTHOUSE</span></i> – Few directors capture a palpable sense of place better than writer/director Robert Eggers. This brine, piss and blood-drenched psychological thriller about two 19th century lighthouse keepers (Willem Dafoe & Robert Pattinson) succumbing to serious cabin fever on a lonely, barren rock is utterly unlike any other movie from this past year. Or any year, honestly. Brimming with mythical sea creatures, crude body functions and hallucinogenic flights of frenzied fancy, <i>The Lighthouse</i> proves that 2016’s unforgettable <i>The Witch</i> was no fluke. Now let's all pray we won’t have to wait long for more of Eggers' mad visions to rise to the surface. </div>
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Honorable Mentions: <i><span style="color: orange;">BOOKSMART</span></i>, <i><span style="color: orange;">EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE</span></i>, <i><span style="color: orange;">HUSTLERS</span></i>, <span style="color: orange;"><i>JOJO RABBIT</i></span>, <i><span style="color: orange;">LITTLE WOMEN</span></i>, <span style="color: orange;"><i>TOY STORY 4</i></span><br />
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*Due to delayed release schedules I was unfortunately not able to see <i>Uncut Gems</i> or <i>1917</i> in time for consideration.Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-46874920152143229102019-01-23T19:13:00.001-08:002019-01-24T14:53:15.931-08:00The Bottom Five Worst Films of 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">1) <i>The 15:17 to Paris</i> – Props to veteran icon Clint Eastwood for still trying to experiment behind the camera but, yeegads, this docu-drama account of the 2015 Thalys train attack couldn’t be any clumsier if it tried. In a film rife with terrible creative decisions it's tough to nail down the filmmaker's most damning misstep, but casting the real life heroes as themselves was probably the most ill-advised. Saddled with tin-eared, cornball dialogue, the three floundering non-actors try again and again to approximate authentic human behavior to truly cringe-inducing results. They’re done no favors by Dorothy Blyskal’s insultingly obvious screenplay, which is broken up into three sections that might as well feature the introductory subtitles “Blatant Recruitment Ad,” “Meandering European Travelogue” and “The Part You Came For!” Inexplicably boring, sappy and amateurish, <i>The 15:17 to Paris</i> is the worst directorial effort of Eastwood’s long – and often spotty – career, made all the more unforgivable for transforming a gripping true story into made-for-TV movie-grade schlock that plays like parody. </span><br />
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2) <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><i>Mile 22</i></span> – After cranking out a pair of reasonably successful fact-based thrillers recently with <i>Deepwater Horizon</i> and <i>Patriots Day</i>, director Peter Berg and producer/star Mark Wahlberg unfortunately succumb to all of their most obnoxious impulses with this toxic, mean-spirited actioner. Featuring the laid back leading man as a brilliant CIA operative on the edge (he obsessively snaps his elastic bracelet, people!) who’s tasked with transporting a mysterious asset (Iko Uwais) out of Indonesia, <i>Mile 22</i> is both gratingly dumb and bewilderingly overcomplicated. Edited within an inch of its life, the film crashes from scene to scene in a frenzy of hyperkinetic cuts, shaky camera work, horrific dialogue (every line in the script must have been written in all-caps), weirdo politics and a hilariously jumbled narration by Wahlberg that seems designed to confound. Originally intended as the first in a trilogy, this sorry stab at mashing-up <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2012.html">The Raid</a></i> with Jason Bourne collapses immediately upon departure.<br />
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3) <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><i>Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald</i></span> – Hooboy has the magic died at this point. While the first entry in the <i>Fantastic Beasts</i> series was a grim and messy chore, it at least had something resembling a story to tell. Not the case here! Artlessly assembled solely to engineer more sequels, <i>The Crimes of Grindelwald</i> is a narrative trainwreck, devoid of focus, emotion or the slightest glimmer of inspiration. There’s no sense of wonder here, and definitely no sense of urgency, as its impressive collection of talented thespians (especially a charismatic Jude Law as young Dumbledore) dutifully trudge from one fan service-laden moment to the next, without any clear direction or motivation, until the movie fades to black on an inevitable cliffhanger. The Wizarding World may have survived some sinister forces in the past, but time will tell if it can survive the dangers of cynical franchise cash-grabbing.
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4) <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><i>Mute</i></span> – Ever since his fantastic 2009 sci-fi debut <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/07/epi-cast-episode-14-mann-up-princess.html">Moon</a></i> put him on the map, director Duncan Jones has struggled to capitalize on the visionary-in-the-making hype surrounding him. An attempt at self-redemption following the high profile dud <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-warcraft.html">Warcraft</a></i>, the helmer's return to his futuristic <i>Moon</i>-verse proves disastrous. Starring Alexander Skarsgard as a mute Amish bartender (!) tangled up with psychopathic gangsters, this nasty, dreary and often incoherent Netflix effort is a grueling test to endure. For a director with such a clear voice out of the gate, this undisciplined and sloppy endeavor is a thuddingly clear sign it’s time to go back to basics and leave the expansive world-building to the pros. <br />
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5) <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><i>The Happytime Murders</i></span> – You can practically hear the studio pitch: “Hey, remember <i>Who Framed Roger Rabbit?</i> That movie was a huge hit! What would happen if we made it hard R-rated? And with puppets!!!” Alas, Brian Henson’s comedic take on hardboiled film noir is more <i>Cool World</i> than <i>Roger Rabbit</i>, stranding its willing and able human stars (Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks and Maya Rudolph) in a joylessly grotesque parade of DOA one-liners, eye-rolling gross-out gags and annoying ‘wacky’ felt stereotypes. Bafflingly bankrupt of imagination, given the pedigree behind it, <i>The Happytime Murders</i> is all stuffing and no personality. </div>
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Dishonorable Mentions: <i><span style="color: red;">THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX</span></i>, <i><span style="color: red;">JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM</span></i>, <i><span style="color: red;">PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING</span></i>, <i><span style="color: red;">SKYSCRAPER</span></i>, <i><span style="color: red;">VENOM</span></i>, <i><span style="color: red;">A WRINKLE IN TIME</span></i>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-62220284900248763672019-01-19T20:17:00.001-08:002019-01-22T15:24:05.583-08:00The Top 10 Best Films of 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">1) <em>PADDINGTON 2</em> – Modestly released in North American theatres last January, director Paul King’s superlative sequel to his clever 2015 surprise hit adaptation of Michael Bond's beloved literary icon is a flat-out miracle. Channeling the fantastically-realized, quirky world-building of Wes Anderson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, along with the enduring sight gag virtuosity of silent legends Chaplin and Keaton, this dazzling and joyful family entertainment frankly put the increasingly back catalogue-obsessed Disney to utter shame in 2018. A timely and gently stirring argument for diverse communities and inclusiveness, the picture wears its big heart on its sleeve while also delivering an abundance of unexpected delights, from MVP Hugh Grant’s deliriously bonkers villain performance to a thrilling, impeccably-constructed third act guaranteed to kick-start the waterworks. An unlikely hero if ever there was one, <em>Paddington 2</em>’s soulful and optimistic little marmalade enthusiast proved a priceless tour guide to follow on the year’s most fulfilling and magical journey.</span><br />
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2) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS</em></span> – The Coen brothers are famous and adored for dodging easy categorization. It’s fitting then, that their first foray into the Netflix arena should prove such an oddball triumph, rife with fevered flights of fancy, deliciously macabre humor and blindsiding emotional gut-punches. A mesmerizing collection of Western-flavored vignettes delving into all of the duo’s favorite philosophical musings - morality, death, the consequences of choice and the harsh randomness of the universe – <em>The Ballad of Buster Scruggs</em> reimagines its classic movie-land tall tales in visually lush and consistently ingenious offbeat style. From the gleefully sociopathic singing outlaw pleasures of its opening <em>Looney Tunes</em>-like instalment, to the enigmatically foreboding Gothic carriage ride that brings the film home, this eminently rewatchable anthology meticulously projects the spirit of the west through a brilliantly fractured prism.<br />
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3) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>THE RIDER</em></span> – Blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, writer/director Chloe Zhao’s moving examination of a young cowboy at a career crossroads was a surprise jaw-dropper. Loosely based on lead actor Brady Jandreau’s own traumatic story, which saw his own rodeo star promise brutally thwarted by a nearly fatal injury, this delicately meditative fly-on-the-wall narrative – which features several key players portraying their own real life counterparts – allows deeply intimate access to its protagonist and the very specific world he occupies. A fascinating window into the unfortunate realities of small town American cowboy culture, where options are few and far between but youthful feelings of invincibility run rampant, <em>The Rider</em> is poetic and soulful; a sensitive exploration of masculinity and the pain of dreams cut short by circumstance.<br />
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4) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>BLACKKKLANSMAN</em></span> – After a somewhat inconsistent rough patch gifted provocateur Spike Lee roared back into theatres with this passionate, engrossing and sometimes flat-out hilarious account of Chicago police officer Ron Stallworth’s infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1970s. Unflinchingly tackling the most disgusting depths of racism head-on, Lee and leading men John David Washington and Adam Driver take a sharp satirical scalpel to the absurdity of the KKK (Topher Grace as David Dukes is borderline genius) while also underscoring exactly what makes them so incredibly dangerous. Both a top-flight procedural drama and a galvanizing social commentary, <i>BlacKkKlansman</i> sees Lee at his most focused in years; playful, technically daring, witty, angry and more than willing to intellectually tear down the very origins of narrative cinema in order to get his essential point across.<br />
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5) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT</em></span> – Remember the innocent days of 1996 when Tom Cruise hanging from a ceiling was the height of suspense? What a difference two decades and four ante-upping sequels makes! Helmed by returning <em>Rogue Nation</em> writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, <em>Fallout</em> isn’t just a sensational <em>Mission: Impossible</em> picture; it’s among the most amazingly skillful and exhilarating silver screen action epics of its time. With McQuarrie amping up his game to unbelievable new heights, Cruise has finally found the perfect partner to aid him in his mind-boggling quest to achieve superhuman record book glory. A 150-minute freight train of armrest-gripping spy-jinks, this cinematic showstopper works overtime to push the wow!!!-factor, leaving you breathless, giddy and ultimately baffled as to how the series could possibly get any cooler.<br />
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6) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>HEREDITARY</em></span> – There’s no shortage of horror movies that’ll make you jump. But only a small number have the ability to worm their twisted way into your psyche and leave you genuinely shaken and disturbed. <em>Hereditary</em>, directed by first time writer/director Ari Aster, manages that unsettling feat and then some. A cracked portrait of a family falling prey to a terrifying combination of supernatural phenomena and mental illness in the wake of a relative’s death, this ghoulish genre great avoids the predictable like a shrieking demon avoids a crucifix. Buoyed by wrenching, spiraling performances from Toni Collette and Alex Wolff, Aster’s grandly orchestrated nightmare propels us through its darkest inner recesses, provoking us to question the nature of what we’re witnessing, and inducing cold, numbing dread over the ghastly presences lurking just outside the frame.<br />
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7) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>ANNIHILATION</em></span> – In his bold return to the director’s chair after 2014’s singular sci-fi gem <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2015.html">Ex Machina</a></em>, refreshingly unconventional writer/director Alex Garland impressed and confounded ticket buyers in equal measure with this trippy and unnerving adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel. Tracking an ill-fated expedition into an alien-infected patch of Floridian swampland called Area X, <em>Annihilation</em> is equal parts <em>Aliens</em> and <em>2001</em>; offering unforgettable visceral thrills (one scene in particular, showcasing a mutated creature’s newly acquired hunting tactic, is legendary) as well as enough heady, ambiguous fodder to fuel years of geeky debate and interpretation. A visionary achievement of spectacle, ideas and emotion, Garland’s latest is a bracing experience boasting no shortage of bite.</div>
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8) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK</em></span> – If his Oscar-winning triumph <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2016.html">Moonlight </a></em>didn’t already make the case strongly enough, <em>If Beale Street Could Talk</em> solidifies writer/director Barry Jenkins as one the premiere masters of ‘the scene.’ There’s not a single moment throughout his James Baldwin adaptation that doesn’t course with life, and he’s fearless in his painterly ability to shift moods and tones in service of his characters and their struggles. Drawing towering turns from an incredible cast (which includes KiKi Layne, Stephan James and Regina King), Jenkins’ tragic romantic period piece is a poignant high-wire dance, scored to Nicholas Britell’s melancholy jazz riffs, that pulses with truth, love, regret and outrage. </div>
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9) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>WIDOWS</em></span> – You certainly can’t blame lauded director Steve McQueen for wanting to have a bit of fun, coming off of a trio of downer tour de forces with <em>Hunger</em>, <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/12/film-review-shame.html">Shame</a></em> and <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/12/the-top-10-best-films-of-2013.html">12 Years a Slave</a></em>. Turns out, he's just as adept at crafting cracking thrillers as he is gut-wrenching drama! Collaborating with <em>Gone Girl </em>screenwriter Gillian Flynn, McQueen and his murderers’ row of acting powerhouses (Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki and Daniel Kaluuya are especially remarkable) treated audiences to the type of smart and sophisticated adult-geared studio entertainment that so rarely winds up in theatres anymore. That <em>Widows</em> was met with such a cold reception is borderline criminal.<br />
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10) <span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><em>EIGHTH GRADE</em></span> – We go to the movies for many reasons; for laughter, scares, excitement, wonder... Rarely, however, do we attend with the desire to crawl under our seats in mortified sympathy. First time writer/director Bo Burnham accomplishes this objective several times throughout his attention-grabbing debut, which chronicles the day-to-day existence of 13-year-old Kayla (a courageous Elsie Fisher) as she drags herself through her final hellish week of middle school. A perfect 21st century companion piece to Todd Solondz’s 1995 cult fave <em>Welcome to the Dollhouse</em>, <em>Eighth Grade</em> is as amusingly perceptive (Josh Hamilton’s clueless, well-meaning dad is a riot) as it is uncomfortable, the rare coming-of-age dramedy that makes you want to pour gasoline on your lingering childhood nostalgia.<br />
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Honorable Mentions: <span style="color: #ffd966;"><em>BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE</em></span>, <span style="color: #ffd966;"><em>THE FAVOURITE</em></span>, <span style="color: #ffd966;"><em>FIRST REFORMED</em></span>, <em><span style="color: #ffd966;">MANDY</span></em>, <em><span style="color: #ffd966;">SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE</span></em>, <em><span style="color: #ffd966;">WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?</span></em>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-51079341376319508912018-01-08T17:38:00.004-08:002018-01-08T23:26:11.530-08:00The Bottom 5 Worst Films of 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">1) <em><span style="color: #fce5cd;">BRIGHT</span></em> – Despite having an otherwise banner year with noteworthy releases like <em>Mudbound</em>, <em>Okja</em> and <em>Gerald’s Game</em>, Netflix also barfed out its most revolting high profile creative disaster to date! Directed by notoriously problematic auteur David Ayer (</span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/08/film-review-suicide-squad.html"><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;"><em>Suicide Squad</em></span></a><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">, <i>Sabotage)</i>, this gritty Will Smith/Joel Edgerton fantasy cop clunker stumbles as badly as an orc at a tap dance recital. Both a boringly inept action picture and a deeply offensive commentary on race relations, <em>Bright</em> is two hours of drooling, knuckle-dragging bluster operating under the pathetic delusion it has relevant and thought-provoking things to say. If ever a title stood in stark, brutal contrast to the actual product, this is it!</span> <br />
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2) <span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/06/film-review-transformers-last-knight.html">TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT</a></i></span> – Hard to believe it has been ten whole years since we first witnessed an Autobot pee on a dude. How far we’ve come, right? This fifth installment in the nonsensical Michael Bay series is pretty much more of the tedious same; another sadistically overlong and insipid orchestra of messy CG pandemonium, sputtering actors, juvenile gags and lecherous misogyny. While it’s debatable whether <i>The Last Knight</i> is the worst <i>Transformers</i> flick or not, it’s definitely the most lethargic and half-assed, lacking even the spark of madness that made its predecessors mildly amusing to ridicule. And if you can’t make Anthony Hopkins wielding a gun-cane while trading quips with his robot butler interesting, then why even bother?<br />
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3) <span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/06/film-review-mummy.html">THE MUMMY</a></i></span> – Following in the clumsy footsteps of <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2014/05/film-review-amazing-spiderman-2.html">Amazing Spider-Man 2</a></i>, 2017 saw Universal simultaneously launch its Dark Universe mega-franchise and kill it with a single bumbling blowout. An ill-conceived and cynical patchwork of spin-off set-ups and sequel bait, <i>The Mummy</i> never once gives any impression the studio cared if it was good or not. Starring a curiously miscast Tom Cruise in full vanity mode (multiple characters reference the 55-year-old’s youth and sexual stamina), Alex Kurtzman’s anonymously-helmed blockbuster bomb is about as ambitious as those musty, churned-out 1940s efforts where the title character just shuffles awkwardly around the studio backlot for 60 stretched-out minutes.</div>
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4) <span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;"><i>THE SNOWMAN</i></span> – From the acclaimed filmmaker of <i>Let the Right One In</i> and <i>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i> came… this?! Famously declared unfinished during the press tour, Tomas Alfredson’s soggy serial killer whodunit would be forgettable if it wasn’t so fascinatingly incoherent. Plot threads are laboriously introduced and dragged out, only to be jettisoned unceremoniously, while great actors such as Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg and J.K. Simmons fail to elevate their energy level above drowsy. But, on the bright side, <i>The Snowman</i> did gift the world with a hero named Harry Hole, so there’s that! </div>
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5) <i><span style="color: #fce5cd; font-size: large;">THE BOOK OF HENRY</span></i> – The most bewildering effort on this list, oft-criticized director Colin Trevorrow followed up his global smash <i>Jurassic World</i> with this smarmy confection about a child genius teaching his flighty mother how to pull off the perfect murder via hilariously detailed audiotapes. And if that synopsis sounds like an absurd joke, you better believe the movie isn’t in on it! Gratingly precocious and totally nuts, <em>The Book of Henry</em> belongs in the same special crap pile as legendarily bizarre Oscar-grab misfires <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/search?q=worst+2016">Collateral Beauty</a></i> and <i>Seven Pounds</i>. </div>
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Dishonorable Mentions: <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">BAYWATCH</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">THE CIRCLE</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">THE DARK TOWER</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">POWER RANGERS</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #fce5cd;">RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER</span></i></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-3699073406601301612018-01-04T21:13:00.003-08:002018-01-04T22:00:39.492-08:00The Top 10 Best Films of 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1) <span style="color: #d0e0e3; font-size: large;"><i>DUNKIRK</i></span> <span style="color: #cfe2f3;">– <span style="font-size: large;">While Hollywood awkwardly struggled against the growing threat of online streaming and increasingly stellar home video options in 2017, Christopher Nolan unleashed a towering testament to the unrivalled power of the theatrical experience. A marvel of historical recreation and state-of-the-art film-craft, this white-knuckle depiction of the 1940 Dunkirk<i> </i>evacuation had zero close competition last year when it came to majestic blockbuster storytelling. More than its innumerable technical achievements, however, <i>Dunkirk</i> saw the consistently innovative writer/director casting off the pervasive near 20-year influence of <i>Saving Private Ryan</i> and reinventing the war movie from the ground up as an immersive POV-driven study in the cruel randomness of battle, where survival is often the only victory to strive for. A magnificent visual feast given restless pulse by Hans Zimmer’s driving ticking clock-score, Nolan’s latest was his most intensely focused attempt at channeling pure cinema yet, and his most astonishing high-wire act.</span></span> <br />
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2) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i>A GHOST STORY</i></span> – Quiet and unassuming, David Lowery’s follow-up to 2016’s delightful <i>Pete’s Dragon</i> reimagining delicately lulls you into its tranquil, melancholy rhythms with such ease you can’t help but be unprepared for the tear-jerking emotional rollercoaster ride it ultimately takes you on. Told from the mute perspective of Casey Affleck’s wandering spirit as he grapples with grief (Rooney Mara, as our protagonist’s girlfriend, is heartbreaking), existence in limbo and the fleeting nature of time,<i> A Ghost Story</i> is a solemn contemplation that seems initially small but offers bountiful universal rewards to those willing to surrender to it. Profoundly intimate, the film conjures the poetic spirit of Terrence Malick and yet feels utterly original, imbuing its simple tale with shattering depth, intelligence and sensitivity.<br />
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3) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i>THE FLORIDA PROJECT</i></span> – If 2015’s scrappy, high-voltage attention-grabber <i>Tangerine</i> proved writer/director Sean Baker to be a talent worth watching, 2017 established him as one of the most exciting auteurs of his generation. Fascinated by those existing on the fringes of society, the helmer aims his unobtrusive viewfinder this time at the impoverished residents of a rundown Florida hotel as they go about their mundane and occasionally tragic daily lives. Employing a humbly noble Willem Dafoe and a cast of utterly convincing unknowns – Bria Vinaite, as a woefully ill-fit mom, is a genuine find – Baker expertly conveys the crushing realities of modern economic disparity and its generational ramifications with empathy and a documentarian’s insight, finding gentle humanity amidst depressing uncertainty.<br />
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4) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/06/film-review-war-for-planet-of-apes.html">WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES</a></i></span> – Whereas most geek-property series unfold in a frenzied tornado of noisy fan speculation and anxiety, the modern <i>Apes</i> pictures feel liberated by their ability to just do their own brilliant thing in relative secret. Poignantly closing out the arc of Andy Serkis’s tragic protagonist Caesar, director and co-writer Matt Reeves crafted one of the most stunningly impactful and extraordinary entries in the franchise’s proud 50-year run. A bleak mythic meditation on the shattering effects of violence and hatred on the psyche, <i>War for the Planet of the Apes</i> was a timely feel-bad blockbuster that left you pondering its richly layered themes and ideas long after the bracing thrills of its superbly-rendered spectacle had calmed. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PIZ8Q5Ah8zY/Wk8I8kYiMRI/AAAAAAAAD3I/0LHwLo6lG1wJCUs7XGwohBIl8MaXp2xwACLcBGAs/s1600/best5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>5) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i>THE LOST CITY OF Z</i></span> – Beyond the classic man vs. nature epics of Werner Herzog, no movie has captured the agony and the ecstasy of jungle exploration as powerfully as James Gray’s captivating biopic of Col. Percival Fawcett. Starring Charlie Hunnam as the feverishly driven British surveyor, <i>The Lost City of Z</i> unfolds like a hypnotic dream as we follow our hero on his increasingly maddening journeys into the Amazon’s intoxicating emerald abyss in search of answers. A lush, foreboding depiction of natural wonder – cinematographer Darius Khondji (<i>Seven</i>, <i>Amour</i>) delivers uncanny work – the film seduces us into sharing our hero’s unyielding passion for discovery while also hauntingly underscoring the punishing cost attached to it. <br />
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6) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i>STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI</i></span> – If 2015’s <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2015.html">The Force Awakens</a></i> drew criticisms for hewing a little too closely to the <i>A New Hope</i> playbook, Rian Johnson’s go-for-broke sequel unabashedly shattered preconceived notions in high, dizzying style. Boasting the requisite show-stopping space opera action fans have come to expect – including two staggering ship battle sequences that rank near the top of the franchise’s incredible pantheon – the quirky <i>Brick</i> and <i>Looper </i>writer/director expands George Lucas’s galaxy in unexpectedly audacious ways while also infusing his debut entry with heretofore unparalleled thematic heft. Joyfully nailing down the unique identity of this third Skywalker trilogy, <i>The Last Jedi</i> was surprising, moving, clever and endlessly exhilarating; essentially everything we hope a great <i>Star Wars</i> picture will be. <br />
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7) <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">GET OUT</span></i> – Arriving almost out of nowhere and blowing up into one of 2017’s most exciting and well-deserved box office dynamos, Jordan Peele’s provocative horror satire is an astonishing blast of razor-sharp social critique, big laughs and super-fun crowd-pleasing scares. Revelatory, smart and confident from beginning to end it feels like the work of a master at the height of his craft, not a first time director. In addition to being the best possible fright-fest for our all-too-ugly times, <i>Get Out</i> leaves no doubt it’s destined to be one day mentioned in the same reverential breath as enduring terror icons <i>The Shining</i>, <i>Halloween</i>, <i>The Exorcist</i> and, one of its primary influences, <i>Rosemary’s Baby</i>. </div>
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8) <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">LADY BIRD</span></i> – Not content to just star in one of this decade’s best female coming of age comedies in 2012’s <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/06/film-review-heat-and-frances-ha.html">Frances Ha</a></i>, Greta Gerwig also went and wrote and directed one last year that’s even better! A wry semi-autobiographical take on the helmer’s own angsty lower middle-class teenage years in Sacramento, <i>Lady Bird</i> is a breezily hilarious and perceptive glimpse into complicated mother-daughter dynamics and the restless frustration of being an artistic-minded youth desperate to break free and embrace life. There’s a wonderful undercurrent of authenticity and truth coursing through Gerwig’s low-key, thoughtful sophomore effort, given beautiful life by dueling powerhouse leads Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, and an endlessly endearing supporting cast.<br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZ9Z7iSBb9M/Wk8KdpV3PqI/AAAAAAAAD3c/h8lKCkeB9Rgh1XhwssVydr6xoljsDBzlwCLcBGAs/s1600/best9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZ9Z7iSBb9M/Wk8KdpV3PqI/AAAAAAAAD3c/h8lKCkeB9Rgh1XhwssVydr6xoljsDBzlwCLcBGAs/s320/best9.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
9) <span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI</span></i> </span>– Recovering from the messy overindulgences of 2012’s all-over-the-place <i>Seven Psychopaths</i>, acclaimed <i>In Bruges</i> writer/director Martin McDonagh once again sharply channels the acidic cynicism and foul-mouthed wit that made him so electrifying in the first place. A blackly comedic portrait of grief and anger taken to its most uncomfortable and destructive extremes, <i>Three Billboards</i> slyly sidesteps expectations and clichés with crafty aplomb, forcing the audience to constantly reconsider the messy morality of its complex characters from scene to shocking scene. Drawing beyond sensational performances from Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, McDonagh’s polarizing come-back is equal parts offensive and compelling; a crude and wicked little gem that burrows into your head and sticks there.</div>
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10) <span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"><i>BLADE RUNNER 2049</i></span> – The only thing more awesome than the overwhelming artistic pleasures of Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s watershed 1982 classic is the fact it even exists at all. Given a massive bankroll and pretty much unlimited creative space to unleash his wildest ambitions, the apparently unstoppable Canadian director transformed a no-win scenario into an utterly transfixing and thought-provoking triumph of big idea science-fiction. Matching up Ryan Gosling’s troubled replicant with Harrison Ford’s world-weary icon, <i>Blade Runner 2049</i> honors the massive achievements of the past while also boldly opening up new doors of future-noir intrigue and jaw-dropping motion picture splendor on the very grandest of scales.<br />
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Honorable Mentions: <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">THE BIG SICK</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">CALL ME BY YOUR NAME</span></i>, <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/05/film-review-guardians-of-galaxy-vol-2.html"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – VOL. 2</span></a></i>, <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">LOGAN</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">MUDBOUND</span></i>, <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">THE SHAPE OF WATER</span></i></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-39431768771966306252017-06-26T16:41:00.000-07:002017-06-26T16:50:37.508-07:00Film Review - WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">Since its inception in 1968 Fox’s</span><i><span style="color: red;"> Planet of the Apes</span></i><span style="color: red;"> franchise, based on Pierre Boulle’s novel, has represented the best in mainstream science fiction cinema, projecting engrossing, smart allegories against a broadly fun and thrilling backdrop. Eerily tapping into the zeitgeist of the day almost every time out, these pictures have become an unlikely success story; a reliable earner that consistently deprives viewers of happy endings or easy answers. This proud tradition evolved beautifully over the past few years with Rupert Wyatt’s </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/08/epi-cast-episode-31-podcast-of-planet.html"><span style="color: red;">Rise of the Planet of the Apes</span></a></i><span style="color: red;"> and Matt Reeves’s </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2015/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2014.html"><span style="color: red;">Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</span></a></i><span style="color: red;">, which married the series’ bleak and daring integrity with state-of-the-art WETA wizardry to awesome results. And, in the latter film’s crushing ending, the ground was laid for an unforgettable conclusion to the arc of Andy Serkis’ chimpanzee revolutionary Caesar.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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It’s beyond satisfying to report trilogy capper <i>War for the Planet of the Apes</i> is a towering achievement; a haunting and challenging final chapter that’s as impressive as its predecessors. Easily the most despairing entry yet, it’s something of a miracle it even exists in an age of obsessive market-testing. But, under the confident watch of remarkable director Matt Reeves (who also shares scripting duties with Mark Bomback), the descent into misery is earned and thematically appropriate, propelled by the wounded souls of the characters, not mean-spirted nihilistic manipulation. A self-professed student of Hitchcock, he implicitly understands the importance of subjectivity and offers each crucial participant an opportunity to express their own invaluable point-of-view.</div>
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What Reeves has fashioned with his second <i>Apes</i> picture is an honest examination of war. He has little interest in cranking out splashy, sensationalized action spectacle devoid of consequences. No, instead he’s fascinated in exploring the dehumanizing effects and psychological cost of battle. Much like in 2014’s <i>Dawn</i>, the grandly conceived mayhem is ugly and unpleasant, committed by desperate men weakened by fear. This approach to the violence is the correct one. It intensifies our sympathetic bond with tormented protagonist Caesar, whose yearnings for peace and community mirror our own.<br />
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<i>War</i> kicks off in bravura style, with a tension-soaked, largely dialogue-free sequence wherein a small militia force attacks an ape encampment in the deep forest. This conflict, which results in untold casualties, ultimately draws Caeser back out of the shadows. Despite proposing an honorable ceasefire, his dreams are unspeakably shattered when the ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson, appropriately Kurtz-ian) leads a stealth assault unit right into the heart of his hidden home fortress. Racked with fury, and still harboring guilt from killing former friend Koba (Toby Kebbell), our hero, along with loyal lieutenants Maurice (Karin Konoval), Rocket (Terry Notary) and Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), embark on a quest for vengeance against their deranged enemy. However, the mission proves far more fraught with complication than anticipated, as staggering revelations regarding the world, and the apes’ place in it, come to nightmarish light.<br />
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All too often creative fatigue sets in by the third franchise instalment. Not the case here! Continuing to expand the <i>Apes</i> universe in bold directions, Reeves early on employs a basic road trip structure as a means of introducing fascinating new characters and concepts. Most compelling, and likely crowd-pleasing, among <i>War</i>’s additions is Steve Zahn’s Bad Ape, a meagre, Gollum-like figure who has long survived as a lowly scavenger. Supplying the film’s only real comedy relief, there’s nonetheless a tangible sense of melancholy to his goofiness; the wacky eccentricities born primarily from past pain and isolation. He offers a fresh perspective on the long-raging struggle, as does a young mute girl (Amiah Miller) fatefully brought into Caesar’s circle. She adds unexpected poignancy and grace to some of the movie’s most seemingly hopeless moments. </div>
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These two forces of warmth and decency are balanced out by the problematic Rex (Ty Olsson), the fearsome gorilla who leads the Colonel’s Donkey division - a platoon of human-collaborating apes who’ve accepted slavery in exchange for self-preservation. Reeves’ and Bomback’s screenplay smartly uses this tragic villain (a welcome follow-up to <i>Dawn</i>’s Koba), and his self-loathing simian allies, as a means of blurring the battle-lines and deepening the film’s remarkable moral complexities. By fleshing out his internal struggles, and those of the fallible members of Caeser’s own army, the picture paints a sadly relevant portrait of the corrupting power of terror.</div>
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In Caesar, these modern<i> Apes</i> tales have fashioned one of the most captivating blockbuster protagonists in recent memory. While savior figures often come across as impenetrable and difficult to relate to (especially when presented, as here, with heavy biblical overtones), his tormented, doubt-filled journey has proven consistently compelling. In <i>War</i> we see him in his rawest state yet, nearly broken by the burden of leadership and unsure of both himself and the future of his species. There’s frankly no better word to describe Serkis’ performance than magnificent. Despite acting through layers of incredible technology he once again imbues his masterpiece creation with stunning emotional sophistication and touching compassion. His noble chimp visionary - far and away the franchise’s greatest protagonist (sorry Chuck!) - faces insurmountable hardships and stumbles, and we’re right there with him for every grueling, uneasy step.</div>
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What a wonderful unexpected gift this new series has proven to be. To see a studio plunge ungodly resources into rebooting such a strange, downbeat property, and then show a steadfast commitment to artistry, innovation and well-crafted storytelling over easy money, is such a stunning rarity it warrants respectful appreciation. And it is undeniably exhilarating to see their hard work pay off! The commanding <i>War</i> triumphantly solidifies the Caesar saga’s rightful place, alongside the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> and <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/film-review-dark-knight-knight-to.html">Dark Knight</a></i> pictures, as the one of the very finest contemporary epic trilogies. “Apes together strong,” indeed.</div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">4.5 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-45494262219749367252017-06-24T18:04:00.000-07:002017-06-24T21:23:22.853-07:00Film Review - TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Although it may not be immediately obvious, 2017 marks a significant milestone for the world of cinema. No, not the 40th anniversary of </span><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Star Wars</span></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">, silly! This year commemorates one glorious decade of Michael Bay </span><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Transformers</span></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"> movies! A historic era, if ever there was one, defined by its maker’s steadfast determination to project crude racial caricatures, slobbering misogyny, blatant product placement and brain-scraping, assaultive chaos in front of the eyes of children of all ages. Let us all make a solemn plea to the higher powers that future generations not hold this franchise’s four billion dollar worldwide earnings against us. For we will have no answers, only silence. And shame.</span></span></div>
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The fifth entry, <i>Transformers: The Last Knight</i> is exactly what one might expect if they’ve waded through the previous four. Whereas the <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/06/film-review-pirates-of-caribbean-dead.html">Pirates of the Caribbean</a></i> series, for example, has degraded over time, these unstoppable things haven’t suffered any real franchise fatigue. They’re still the same stupid, incoherent expressions of gleeful adolescent rage the original was when it wowed audiences in 2007. The mythology has gotten exponentially more labyrinthine (if that’s possible), but you can still watch any single film and be able to tell others you’ve seen them all. Sure, this one tosses Arthurian legends - passed off as legitimate history – into the mix. However it’s just dopey window-dressing to gussy up the typical screeching, ugly visual overload that makes up the majority of the run-time.</div>
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A pretty lame result, given modest early hopes this one would take a slightly different tact. <i>The Last Knight</i> is the first project to emerge from Paramount's recently assembled franchise brain-trust, which was created in order to expand the brand in fresh and exciting ways (screenwriting pox Ehren Kruger, whose fever dreams fuelled the last three, is MIA here). Alas, new additions Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/05/film-review-iron-man-heavy-metal-wonder.html">Iron Man</a></i>) and Ken Nolan (<i>Black Hawk Down</i>) – with assistance from wildly inconsistent veteran Akiva Goldsman (<i>A Beautiful Mind</i>, <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/7-days-of-bat-day-5-batman-robin-1997.html">Batman & Robin</a></i>) – have churned out a clunker that feels almost entirely indistinguishable from that which came before. Money well spent, guys!</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g3SYKXoW90Y/WU8LUMmkyZI/AAAAAAAAD1o/i1kENzKlbQYKrYJ6iz3TfdaAQjVgr2c2ACEwYBhgL/s1600/Mark-Wahlberg-in-Transformers-The-Last-Knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g3SYKXoW90Y/WU8LUMmkyZI/AAAAAAAAD1o/i1kENzKlbQYKrYJ6iz3TfdaAQjVgr2c2ACEwYBhgL/s320/Mark-Wahlberg-in-Transformers-The-Last-Knight.jpg" width="320" /></a>Rewriting the origin of the gigantic robots’ arrival on Earth for the umpteenth time, <i>The Last Knight</i> opens in the Dark Ages (the inspiration for Bay’s race and gender politics, hey-o!), where Merlin (Stanley Tucci, the brief bright spot) receives a Cybertronian wand that clinches victory for the overwhelmed Britons. Smash cut to a decimated modern day Chicago: the U.S. government, in an effort to rid the globe of the walking extraterrestrial junkyards, has assembled a deadly mechanized strike time that controls the streets with brutal force. With potential savior Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) gone on an extended trip back home to kill his Borg Queen-like creator Quintessa (Gemma Chan), the city has devolved into carnage, leaving Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), 14-year-old Izabella (Isabela Moner), and their massive clanging allies, alone to rise up against the unjust crusade.</div>
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Aggravated by their destructive rebellion, America makes a desperate bargain with the evil Megatron (Frank Welker) to help exterminate the Autobot threat. It’s all a ruse, clearly, as the gravel-voiced baddie actually seeks to usher in doomsday for humanity. Eccentric academic Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins) is on to him, and recruits Yeager and brilliant historian Vivian Wembley (Laura Haddock) to recover Merlin’s long lost weapon, which can thwart the apocalyptic Decepticon menace lurking within our planet’s core. As our heroes valiantly strive to outrace their deadly pursuers to the prize, Optimus struggles under the corruptive influence of his seductive deity’s hypnotic spell.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bcrOiTx_LPQ/WU8LiAGShmI/AAAAAAAAD1w/QIdIw91RK7I5dJiTPQWCt-4xuvBaI9KbACEwYBhgL/s1600/Transformers-The-Last-Knight-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1600" height="164" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bcrOiTx_LPQ/WU8LiAGShmI/AAAAAAAAD1w/QIdIw91RK7I5dJiTPQWCt-4xuvBaI9KbACEwYBhgL/s320/Transformers-The-Last-Knight-image.jpg" width="320" /></a>If any of the above plot details sound at all comprehensible, rest assured such is not the case when channeled through the mad, amped-up sensibilities of Michael Bay. The director – who delivered a decent movie last year with <i>13 Hours</i> - again chooses crazed, explosion-y style over substance, letting his simple chase plot carelessly devolve into a confused jumble of overwrought exposition (John Turturro shows up to literally phone in jibberish) that grows more and more puzzling until you give up trying to connect the dots all together. Multiple characters (including Moner and Jerrod Carmichael as Cade's nervous sidekick) are exhaustively introduced and then forgotten, and rampant unfunny comic riffing and extended sequences of grotesque CG bedlam cause the momentum to lurch and stagger. No joke, about 45 minutes could have been cut without harm (preferably all scenes involving Burton’s obnoxious split-personality robot butler, played by Jim Carter).</div>
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You kinda have to admire Bay though. While Terrence Malick works with comparative shoestring budgets, Bay, the manic auteur, has ungodly resources to throw around in service of exploring his own inimitable obsessions and fantasies. Rarely in big budget moviemaking has an artist been laid as bare as he is in these films, boldly inviting us into his own hyperkinetic psyche where crass sensation trumps sense or accepted morality. It’s a genuinely strange place: affection is articulated through hostility, science is dumb, violence solves all, ethnic stereotypes dictate behavior and women are fetishized and resented for it (at one point Cade sneers at Vivian for wearing a “stripper dress” as the camera creepily lingers on her). Maybe this why he keeps coming back to the franchise; they’re insanely lucrative therapy sessions.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FfPEX_uHk_8/WU8Lf6OArmI/AAAAAAAAD1s/sICy5JyntekQ1kZnxPf926Cl54yqYa-1QCEwYBhgL/s1600/Quintessa-and-Optimus-Prime-in-Transformers-The-Last-Knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="160" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FfPEX_uHk_8/WU8Lf6OArmI/AAAAAAAAD1s/sICy5JyntekQ1kZnxPf926Cl54yqYa-1QCEwYBhgL/s320/Quintessa-and-Optimus-Prime-in-Transformers-The-Last-Knight.jpg" width="320" /></a>Either way, <i>The Last Knight</i> leaves one with a definitive feeling that enough is enough. In an age where Marvel, LucasFilm, Pixar and so many others are producing rousing family-friendly blockbusters filled with wit, fun and technical daring these repetitive cookie-cutter <i>Transformers </i>flicks – which can’t even be bothered bringing the title characters off the flipping sidelines – don’t cut it no matter how many expensive 1s and 0s noisily bounce around the frame. Ten years without a glimmer of maturation is a really damning sign it’s time to grow up already and move on.</div>
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">1 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-88909625441866975422017-06-14T20:07:00.001-07:002017-06-14T20:21:18.803-07:00Film Review - THE MUMMY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">Universal’s <i>The Mummy</i> is a dried out, moldy husk of creative bankruptcy that symbolizes the very worst in modern blockbuster moviemaking. Lazily pilfering the graves of the studio’s famous horror icons in a sweat-stained attempt to conjure up a quickie shared mega-franchise in the Marvel template, the film offers zero artistry or ambition. Instead it’s aggravatingly smug in its self-satisfaction, a feature-length Dark Universe series prologue that dimly assumes audiences will hunger for more after being fed two hours of filler. This isn’t so much putting the cart before the horse as it is strapping the bewildered animal to a teetering pile of wood, metal and nails.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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The studio has been eager to relaunch its famous monsters line for a long time. However, it appears the box-office failures of 2004’s<i> Van Helsing</i> (Bad!), 2010’s <i>The Wolfman</i> (Good!) and 2014’s <i>Dracula Untold</i> (Bad!) have left them baffled as to how to proceed. The original classic films, which ran from 1930 to 1956, weren’t exactly high octane fare. Rather, they were strange creature showcases, heavy on ominous German Expressionist atmosphere and dread, that allowed some of the industry’s most stylish off-beat visionaries – such as Tod Browning (<i>Dracula</i>), James Whale (the first two<i> Frankenstein</i>s, <i>Invisible Man</i>) and Karl Freund (<i>The Mummy</i>) - to work their eerie magic. The devil with source material fidelity though, moody horror rarely yields boffo franchise dollars anymore! Superheroes on the other hand...</div>
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Thus, this iteration of<i> The Mummy</i> isn’t interested in being a spooky blast, or crafting colorful characters, so much as ham-fistedly foreshadowing future <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2012/05/film-review-marvels-avengers.html">Avengers</a></i>-esque crossovers. Similar to 2016 debacles <i>Independence Day: Resurgence</i> and <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-warcraft.html">Warcraft</a></i>, what we have here is a textbook case of Phantom Sequel Syndrome, wherein payoff is almost entirely dependent on follow-ups which may or may not ever happen. It’s a terrible approach to producing entertainment and buries this otherwise wholly mediocre genre clunker under an unnecessary ton of embarrassing baggage. It inspires wistful nostalgia for Brendan Fraser’s bombastic adventures among the undead.</div>
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If one were feeling charitable, credit is at least due to this <i>Mummy</i> for trying something new in attempting a female take on the archetypal antagonist. Named Ahmanet (the invaluable Sofia Boutella), she’s a vengeful Egyptian princess with designs on reawakening Set, the god of death (note: in actuality the god of desert, storms and violence, but whatever), who will help her conquer the land. Exhumed in Iraq by opportunistic treasure hunter/U.S. military man Nick Morton (Tom Cruise, doing what he can to enliven <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/02/film-review-underworld-rise-of-lycans.html">Underworld</a></i>-grade material), she hitches a ride to London with designs on recovering the lost piece of a ceremonial dagger long buried beneath the city in a Crusader Knight’s grave. While Nick and his archaeologist love interest Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) fight to stay one step ahead of their vengeful soul-sucking enemy, the mysterious Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe, in hammy <i>Man with the Iron Fists</i> check-cashing mode) lurks behind the curtain with a grander game in mind.<br />
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It is peculiar how needlessly convoluted and confusing <i>The Mummy</i> is given the fact the general premise is ridiculously simple. Cobbled together by six credited writers, including director/producer Alex Kurtzman and heavy-hitters David Koepp (<i>Jurassic Park</i>) and Christopher McQuarrie (<i>Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation</i>), the picture screams ‘committee-made.’ Showing little faith for the intelligence of its viewers, the screenplay shoehorns in constant creaky exposition – often repeating information learned mere moments ago – and, in both Jekyll and Jack Johnston’s comic sidekick, establishes two different spokesmen to tirelessly spew it. The dopey narrative technique proves futile, though, as the film never nails down its increasingly stupid mythology, or provides coherence to the dreary procession of awkward action sequences and plot beats inelegantly smashed together in the editing room. Perhaps the raging sandstorm of nonsense would be less tedious with engaging heroes and villains to latch onto. Alas, they’re all generic types whose alleged personalities are spoken of but never glimpsed. </div>
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Alex Kurtzman was a disastrous choice to oversee this ramshackle product. A Hollywood mega-producer, and writer of tent-poles both fantastic (<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/05/film-review-star-trek-set-phasers-on.html">Star Trek</a></i>, <i>Mission: Impossible III</i>) and execrable (<a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2007/07/film-review-transformers-these-robots.html"><i>Transformers 1</i></a> & <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/06/film-review-transformers-revenge-of.html">2</a></i>, <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2014/05/film-review-amazing-spiderman-2.html">Amazing Spider-Man 2</a></i>), he arrives with only one directorial effort under his belt in the completely forgotten 2012 dramedy <i>People Like Us</i>. For a franchise steeped in a rich history of fantastic uncanny imagery he’s a barely competent journeyman lacking the required panache to deliver effective scares or satisfying action. There’s nary a single shot in <i>The Mummy</i> that lingers in the imagination (it frequently looks inexplicably cheap), and even the much-ballyhooed zero-G plane crash scene only leaves you pondering how much cooler it might have been with a skilled eye behind the camera. Although it’s tempting to cut Kurtzman the helmer some slack and assume his work was compromised by relentless corporate interests, it’s impossible to neglect the sad truth that Kurtzman the producer was essential in forging this shaky blueprint, and already bungled the same crass business strategy with the second Andrew Garfield Spidey flick.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yeMsHrnzx0s/WUHxKlyz8jI/AAAAAAAAD1Q/n_Blz9WqsJokcNzBIME7FhrPZFoBtgLBgCEwYBhgL/s1600/the-mummy-annabelle-wallis-tom-cruise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1600" height="145" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yeMsHrnzx0s/WUHxKlyz8jI/AAAAAAAAD1Q/n_Blz9WqsJokcNzBIME7FhrPZFoBtgLBgCEwYBhgL/s320/the-mummy-annabelle-wallis-tom-cruise.jpg" width="320" /></a>How many times must Hollywood learn that an audience’s loyalty isn’t won on vague promises of future rewards alone? By sloppily serving the interests of too many masters, <i>The Mummy</i> fails on every conceivable level. It’s not fun, rousing or creepy, and easily the weakest and most unappealing variation on the ancient formula to date. Yes, even more so than <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/08/film-review-mummy-tomb-of-dragon.html">Tomb of the Dragon Emperor</a></i>. It’s undeniably pathetic the first chapter of the Dark Universe franchise can’t even make a convincing argument against tossing the boring old book back on the shelf.</div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">1out of 5</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-10492766593702809722017-06-11T21:52:00.002-07:002020-06-12T18:31:50.524-07:00Film Review - WONDER WOMAN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o2l-HgPKymU/WT4YdzEPo3I/AAAAAAAAD0o/OJy3AWTTBR42kxDJdrJ311Pwup2DH6iFwCLcB/s1600/wonder-woman-final-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o2l-HgPKymU/WT4YdzEPo3I/AAAAAAAAD0o/OJy3AWTTBR42kxDJdrJ311Pwup2DH6iFwCLcB/s400/wonder-woman-final-poster.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">The last 15-plus years must have felt like a cruel joke for die-hard Wonder Woman fans. Since </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-x-men-apocalypse.html"><span style="color: red;">X-Men</span></a><span style="color: red;"> and </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2007/05/film-review-spider-man-3-spidey-scores.html"><span style="color: red;">Spider-Man</span></a><span style="color: red;"> launched the superhero craze, a steady parade of male icons have headlined their own showcase vehicles as comic-dom’s definitive heroine sat dormant, ignored in favor of low wattage players like Ant-Man, </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/film-review-hellboy-ii-golden-army-make.html"><span style="color: red;">Hellboy</span></a><span style="color: red;"> and </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/01/while-2010-was-not-strong-year-for.html"><span style="color: red;">Jonah Hex</span></a><span style="color: red;">. Victim to the dumb belief audiences weren’t interested in female-fronted adaptations – thanks to reasonable public indifference to low-rent crapfests </span><i><span style="color: red;">Catwoman</span></i><span style="color: red;"> and </span><i><span style="color: red;">Elektra</span></i><span style="color: red;"> - the Amazonian crusader finally arrived last year with a brief-but-buzzworthy turn in the dire </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/03/film-review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of.html"><span style="color: red;">Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice</span></a></i><span style="color: red;">. Given the DC Extended Universe’s lousy track record though, the potential for a good solo movie seemed highly dubious.</span></span><br />
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Let it be said firstly that Diana Prince’s first cinematic spotlight adventure, directed by celebrated <i>Monster</i> helmer Patty Jenkins, winningly honors the icon herself, who first exploded from the pages of 1941’s<i> All Star Comics</i> #8, even if the picture as a whole doesn’t deliver the desired punch. It’s a frustrating effort that gets so much right it becomes extra aggravating when it makes the same unfortunate stumbles - albeit to a less crippling degree - DC Films’ previous efforts have made. For a character brimming with confidence and bold individuality, why, oh why, couldn’t her movie follow suit?<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BN3km-2lgTo/WT4YcvJ9RlI/AAAAAAAAD0k/A6CLEug_M_cWdfqC3_wfxOSH-CpQAnsUwCEw/s1600/wonder_woman_SD2_758_426_81_s_c1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Similar to 2013’s <i>Man of Steel</i>, <i>Wonder Woman</i> also dazzles from the get-go with an astonishingly well-crafted opening section depicting our lead’s origins in a grand far away land. Instead of a Kryptonian spacey prog-rock utopia, in this case it’s the lush and beautiful mystical island of Themyscira, created and hidden from mankind by Zeus, inhabited by Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and her legion of fierce Amazonians. Growing up in the protective shadow of her cautious mother, Princess Diana (Gal Gadot, with younger versions played by Lilly Aspell and Emily Carey) yearns to pursue the warrior heritage she sees embodied by her fearsome aunt Antiope (Robin Wright). And, after at last receiving permission, she trains grueling year after year in order to earn her rightful place alongside her fellow protectors.<br />
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As fate would have it, the island’s serene bubble is soon burst when a plane carrying WWI spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) inadvertently tears through its portal, luring German troops into paradise. Sympathetic to her American visitor’s haunted accounts of mankind’s suffering, Diana pledges to accompany him to home wherein she will vanquish the banished god of war Ares, who she holds responsible for the brutal conflict. Revolted by the limitations placed on women in early 20th century London society, she accompanies her new ally and his ragtag team into the grim, muddy hell of battle. There, she quickly begins providing hope for the hopeless, even while nefarious fiends Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya) plot to thwart the impending ceasefire with weapons of unimaginably ghastly power.<br />
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Whereas <i>MoS</i>, <i>BvS</i> and <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/08/film-review-suicide-squad.html"><i>Suicide Squad</i></a> inexplicably went out of their way to completely bungle the company’s most beloved heroes and villains, <i>Wonder Woman</i> warrants major kudos for being the first of the studio’s efforts to completely understand the psychology, iconography and moral compass of its main character. No doubt helmer Jenkins - working with a screenplay by Allan Heinberg, a former writer/producer on <i>The O.C.</i>, <i>Grey’s Anatomy</i> and <i>Scandal</i> - played a key role in this achievement given her history of crafting grounded character studies. Although Diana faces similar challenges in translation as many of her fellow brand-mates, being essentially an invincible God lacking the messy and relatable quirks of Marvel’s creations, the film finds compelling methods of opening up her through her commitment to decency. While she can undeniably kick ass with the very best of them, without ever falling victim to action figure tedium, it’s the unwavering focus on her deep compassion, unflagging optimism and refusal to back down that draws us in. In the otherwise weirdly aggressive DCEU she’s the first truly inspirational protagonist to emerge.<br />
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All involved were extremely fortunate to find Wonder Woman’s ideal conduit in Gal Gadot, one of those perfect-in-every-way casting coups akin to <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/05/film-review-thor.html">Thor</a></i>’s Chris Hemsworth or original Superman Christopher Reeve. Exuding benevolence, and boasting impressive physicality, solid comedic timing and an ability to sell both the crowd-pleasing and quietly intimate moments, the actress can frankly have the role as long as she wants it. Her Diana plays nicely off of established charisma-bomb Pine – whose Trevor is nicely layered and hyper-capable – and succeeds in finding the emotional truth in scenes that occasionally veer into cornball territory. Nailing ace material is impressive; however her ability to make even the script’s clumsier bits work on a character level is an even more profound testament to her skills.<br />
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Were this an auteur-driven superhero epic like those produced before the Marvel Studios model was born, such as Nolan’s <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/film-review-dark-knight-knight-to.html">Bat</a></i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/film-review-dark-knight-knight-to.html">-films</a> or Raimi’s <i>Spider-Mans</i>, <i>Wonder Woman</i> might have been as incredible as its star. Jenkins’ fascination with exploring the deeper themes of the character is commendable, and a sad rarity in franchise moviemaking. Alas, she must also serve the grand DCEU game plan, which means there’s only so much room for outside-the-box thinking. And part of the problem is the unnecessarily self-serious tone established by the preceding franchise entries, which runs awkwardly headlong into the picture’s high-spirited attitude and beaming hopefulness.<br />
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There’s a lightness of touch missing to these films that holds them back from ever truly soaring. You can feel it gradually overtake this movie bit by bit until the whole endeavor capsizes into a messy and tedious third act display of monologuing villain nonsense, ugly CG bedlam (after a thrilling early beach skirmish the action noticeably degrades into spastic choppiness throughout the runtime) and <i>Captain America: First Avenger</i>-ish payoffs. It’s curious why the studio is so determined to suck the fun and joy out of their work, when those elements have been so crucial in winning over generations of readers.<br />
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It really doesn’t help that <i>Wonder Woman</i> offers up some of the most uninspired antagonists in recent memory. Simply put, they bring next to nothing, and play an almost entirely insignificant role in Diana’s story, which seems like the sort of thing that should have been remedied before shooting. At least Dr. Maru strikes an impressive visual, with her deformed face covered by a makeshift cosmetic appliance echoing<i> Boardwalk Empire</i>’s Richard Harrow, yet she’s the epitome of disposable outside of a solid scene with Pine. As for the big bad, let’s just say he’s somehow less impressive than <i>BvS</i>’s big lame-o Doomsday, which is a not an admirable feat.</div>
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Because of the obvious passion and fantastic contributions from Jenkins, Gadot and Pine you can’t help but root for the movie to work (especially when our heroine’s killer theme music kicks in), even in spite of its forgettable (non-Themyscira) supporting characters, hacky bookends and often sagging energy. Perhaps the greatest takeaway from <i>Wonder Woman</i> is witnessing her worthy ascension to the top of the DCEU hero pack, which at least leaves us encouraged that next time around Diana may get the triumphant picture she truly deserves. Because there’s little question the silver screen needs her right now.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">2.5 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-91766582682472948722017-06-08T19:58:00.003-07:002017-06-10T17:06:41.455-07:00Film Review - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES and ALIEN: COVENANT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">Last summer Hollywood learned a costly lesson about the dangers</span><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"> of investing in unwanted blockbuster sequels. With massively-hyped follow-ups like </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2017/01/the-bottom-5-worst-films-of-2016.html"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">Alice through the Looking Glass</span></a></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">, </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-teenage-mutant-ninja.html"><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows</span></a></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"> and </span><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">Independence Day: Resurgence</span></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;"> imploding at the box office it became painfully evident that in an era of constant franchising there’s nothing special about returning to the familiar anymore. Especially if the predecessor wasn’t loved.</span></div>
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That lesson continues this season – it typically takes studios two-to-three years to course correct – with the release of fifth (!) and sixth (!!) entries in the once mighty<i> Pirates of the Caribbean</i> and <i>Alien</i> series. And in both cases these sequels come with the burden of having to erase the sting of disappointing previous instalments (2011’s nigh unwatchable<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/05/film-review-pirates-of-caribbean-on.html"> On Stranger Tides</a></i> and 2012’s muddled <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2012/06/film-review-prometheus.html">Prometheus</a></i>, respectively) by attempting to rekindle the creative fire that sparked their beloved original launches. <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">Although neither totally reinvigorates their
brand, or offers an abundance of new or innovative ideas, one film nonetheless
comes pretty darn close, while the other flounders.</span></div>
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When we last left Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">at the end of <i>On Stranger Tides</i>,</span> he had defeated the nefarious Blackbeard, lost the Black Pearl to a shrinking spell and pretty much totally bored audiences into submission. Thus, many of that film’s hanging plot threads – such as Penelope Cruz – were jettisoned in favor of this loose reboot, <i>Dead Men Tell No Tales</i>, which introduces Henry Turner (bland Brenton Thwaites), teenage son of <i>Pirates</i> power players Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), and sends him on a quest to free his cursed pop from Davy Jones’ curse (see movie #3). This fateful mission draws in Jack, a now prosperous Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) and Carina (bright spot Kaya Scodelario), a rebellious young woman of science who holds a cryptic map to Neptune’s trident, which could forever end evil magic on the high seas. Of course, in order to capture the mystical weapon, they have to contend with Javier Bardem’s ghostly Captain Salazar, an ooze-drooling fiend with a fiery hate-on for our iconic lead character.</div>
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Though it’s a dubious accomplishment, <i>Dead Man Tell No Tales</i> is a marked improvement over <i>On Stranger Tides</i>, which – bafflingly massive international business aside – left the franchise beached and lifeless like the Kraken in <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/search?q=at+world%27s+end">At World’s End</a></i>. Piloted by Norwegian directors <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1461392?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Joachim Rønning</a> and Espen Sandberg, who showed great promise in their debut, 2012’s Oscar-nominated real life adventure tale <i>Kon-Tiki</i>, this <i>Pirates</i> again emphasizes colorful showpieces (such as a great guillotine sequence and a zombie shark attack) and character banter over plot. Working from Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay, the duo is unable, like Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall before them, to wrangle the absurdly over-complicated mythology into a coherent yarn. With two major McGuffins (the trident and Jack’s magical compass), and one minor (Carina’s map) in constant play, there’s no compelling focus, and pointless additions like Golshifteh Farahani’s exposition witch – who really should have been reconfigured into a major character – only muddies the already murky narrative waters.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AblAW7yjPn8/WToPXmTyG2I/AAAAAAAAD0M/IZE89tlI6ZoSFKcGy_MlMxAdnqEg3iAyQCEw/s1600/hero_Dead-Men-No-Tales-2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1200" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AblAW7yjPn8/WToPXmTyG2I/AAAAAAAAD0M/IZE89tlI6ZoSFKcGy_MlMxAdnqEg3iAyQCEw/s320/hero_Dead-Men-No-Tales-2017.jpg" width="320" /></a>Alas, it's also relentlessly obvious we’re essentially watching the fourth remake of <i>Curse of the Black Pearl</i>. All the elements are the same, including a stuffy British Naval adversary (David Wenham) and subplot involving parentage, albeit with a little more jazziness and vigor than last time. It’s a bit head-scratching, frankly, why the rinse-and-repeat formula has been so rigorously embraced. If ever there was a potential heir to the <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/05/film-review-indiana-jones-and-kingdom.html">Indiana Jones</a></i> episodic adventure throne,<i> Pirates</i> should have been it. But now? The whole enterprise feels soggy, from Depp’s one-joke protagonist – who lacks the necessary dimension that fellow character-actor-in-quirky-superstar-mode Tony Stark has in spades – to the recycled character types (Bardem at least deserves credit for a suitably loathsome bad guy turn, cartoonish motivation be damned!) and needlessly complex over-reliance on random incident over disciplined storytelling. <i>Dead Men Tell No Tales</i> isn’t offensive or painful by any stretch; it just shows total ambivalence towards setting sail for newfangled creative horizons the way the first chapter did back in 2003. Yargh. </div>
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Hey! Speaking of ridiculously convoluted mythology, remember <i>Prometheus</i>? The weirdly confused prequel that almost instantly killed all interest in Ridley Scott’s return to the universe he (chest) birthed in 1979? Well, the acclaimed helmer is back with <i>Alien: Covenant</i>, an intentionally scaled down xenomorph-happy follow-up that doesn’t reach the heights of the original, or James Cameron’s unstoppable <i>Aliens</i>, yet surprisingly flourishes under the weight of low expectations and financial constraints.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oC-Rkmc_sQk/WToPYQq5AYI/AAAAAAAAD0M/85mEdmF_M6Ew6YfsAJxar9H6D42Aid6ogCEw/s1600/ad3e88cd694c4132_MCDALCO_EC016_H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oC-Rkmc_sQk/WToPYQq5AYI/AAAAAAAAD0M/85mEdmF_M6Ew6YfsAJxar9H6D42Aid6ogCEw/s320/ad3e88cd694c4132_MCDALCO_EC016_H.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>Transpiring a handful of years after the gruesome loss of the Prometheus vessel, Scott’s third series entry opens with the crew of the colony ship Covenant experiencing a tragic loss during a long expedition to their prospective home. Upon discovering an alternative planet that appears to support life, acting captain Oram (Billy Crudup) orders an investigation of the world’s resources and environmental conditions. As so typically goes, though, the unit’s exploratory trek is abruptly interrupted by an infectious agent that proves a mite deadly. Before long chaos reigns and it's clear the vast majority of the unlucky visitors, including second-in-command Daniels (Katherine Waterston), pilot Tennessee (Danny McBride) and android assistant Walter (Michael Fassbender, far and away the movie’s MVP), will have truncated lifespans. When it seems the situation couldn’t get any stranger, out the darkness emerges David (Fassbender 2.0), the abandoned AI last seen one movie ago as a decapitated head, with dark secrets to divulge.</div>
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While visibly a product of artistic backpedaling, intended to better service the wants of fans, there’s a tightness, simplicity and tension to <i>Alien: Covenant</i> that genuinely works. It’s undeniably less ambitious than <i>Prometheus</i>, but it’s also more engaging, answering its predecessor’s complex questions with greater interest than one would have ever hoped. Curiously, in fact, it is this further world building, and revelations involving David and Walter, that prove infinitely more rewarding – it is very odd the director isn’t overseeing the second <i>Blade Runner</i> given his obsession with AI here - than the usual H.R. Geiger creature stuff, which Scott seems only half-heartedly interested in. Despite introducing new breeds of nightmare fodder, there’s not a whole lot of variety in their modus operandi, and the director struggles to find memorable ways to stage their bloody attacks, outside of a truly gripping extended sequence in a medical bay.</div>
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Whether this experiment has been worth the investment still remains up for debate, if slightly less now. The film, like <i>Prometheus</i>, also stubbornly refuses to establish a sufficient bridge to <i>Alien</i>, however, due to the brilliantly twisted collaboration between Scott and Fassbender, and frequent bursts of sinister imagination peppered throughout, it’s hard to feel ripped off. <i>Covenant</i> succeeds in fueling the appetite for more, should Scott be allowed to once again release his terrifying xenomorphic children into the shadows. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales</span></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">: 2 out of 5</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Alien: Covenant</span></i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">: 3.5 out of 5</span></span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-11399157422781111852017-05-19T17:49:00.000-07:002017-06-10T17:08:02.269-07:00Film Review - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">“I’m gonna make some WEIRD shit!” That exclamation, blurted out, eyes agog and mind visibly racing, by Chris Pratt’s ever-ironic Star-Lord shortly after reuniting with his God-like father Ego (Kurt Russell), perfectly sums up the insanely energetic mindset of writer/director James Gunn on his return visit to the Marvel cosmic universe. Following up his surprise smash 2014 origin story, the helmer maniacally kicks into hyperdrive with <em>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2</em>, doubling down on the irreverent hilarity of the first entry and ratcheting up the comic-book crazy to bracingly madcap effect. Remembering when we questioned whether <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/05/film-review-thor.html">Thor</a></em> was a step too far for mainstream audiences to accept? Ah, how gently naive we all were.</span><br />
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Whereas the first time around Gunn was bolted down by the now boilerplate Marvel plot structure, complete with a magical item hunt motivated by a vaguely defined villain in Lee Pace’s Ronan, <em>Vol. 2</em> sees him cutting loose and embracing the groove of his off-beat creation. And, unlike disappointing studio sequels such as <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/11/film-review-thor-dark-world.html">Thor: The Dark World</a></em> and<em> Iron Man 2</em>, the pressure to re-perform doesn’t hobble the movie, it liberates it. Akin to how <em>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</em> evolved from <em>First Avenger</em>, this return of the titular space-faring bad-asses deepens our understanding of the characters and their world, while opening genuinely exciting avenues for future excursions. It leaves one dizzy and salivating for <em>Vol. 3</em>, not brainstorming course corrections.<br />
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When we last left Guardians Peter Quill, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper/Sean Gunn) and Groot (Vin Diesel) they were victoriously blasting off from Xandar in search of “something good, something bad… a bit of both.” They’ve found it, at the beginning of <em>Vol. 2</em>, after valiantly protecting the invaluable battery supply of the aristocratic gold-skinned Sovereign people from a giant slobbering space beastie. However, during the formal process of collecting their reward – Gamora’s evil adopted sister Nebula (Karen Gillen), who has a considerable bounty on her head – unscrupulous mistakes are made and the gang are fast on the run from the planet’s haughty High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki, an ideal blend of camp and self-seriousness) and her army of warships.<br />
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During a frenetic escape through an asteroid field, the team encounters Quill’s mysterious biological dad, a celestial being who is in actuality a living, thriving planet. This revelation leads Star-Lord on a quest to learn more about his heritage and his long-lost pa's origins and powers, while Drax bonds with Ego’s gentle companion Mantis (Pom Klementieff), a socially stunted empath with closely kept secrets. In the meantime, Rocket and Groot, with an indignant Nebula in tow, are reunited with disgraced Ravager captain Yondu (Michael Rooker), and get swept up in violent space pirate drama. Ultimately, through shocks and surprises best left unmentioned here, these two engrossing tales intersect in a spectacular climax that delivers a rewarding mega-bomb of character growth and unexpectedly poignant emotional resolution.<br />
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For all of its triumphs and indisputable success both commercially and critically, Marvel has long established itself as a producer-controlled brand – not dissimilar from the Bond films under the Broccoli family - where the director’s vision takes a backseat to the grand company plan. And it’s hard to argue with the results for the most part! However, <em>Guardians Vol. 2</em> feels like the first entry to truly be driven by the sensibilities and obsessions of the auteur behind the wheel. This movie could only have been made by James Gunn, and his peculiar punkish style – honed on several proudly Z-grade Troma productions (including <em>Tromeo and Juliet</em>!), as well as cult faves <em>Slither </em>and <em>Super</em> – is gloriously unleashed across every colorful frame. Striking a perfect balance of off-the-wall and sweet, he bombards the audience with fast-paced bursts of bizarro quips and sight gags, while never allowing the relentless humor to stand in the way of a strong emotional hook. He’s also, of course, a maestro of musical cues, knocking it out of the park again with a killer soundtrack that enlivens the already dynamic proceedings. Sequences set to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” and Jay & the American’s “Come a Little Bit Closer” hit all the right buttons, while the opening credits, featuring Electric Light Orchestra, launch the picture on a perfect crowd-pumping note. And while he lacks the action chops of the Russo Brothers, of <em>Winter Soldier</em> and <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/05/film-review-captain-america-civil-war.html">Civil War</a></em> fame, he smartly devises clever ways to undercut the more bombastic moments with unexpected reveals or running jokes.<br />
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As opposed to <em>Vol. 1</em>, the momentum here feels noticeably far more propelled by the characters than the plot. Frankly, this may just be Marvel’s answer to Howard Hawks’ <em>Rio Bravo</em>; a shaggy hangout film that sets up its story and then sits back and lets its heroes discover their own way to the conclusion, with plenty of amusing diversions along the way. For some this may prove frustrating. But Gunn and his actors understand these heroes and villains so deeply the pace never flags, and we gain priceless insight into their relationships and specific world views. Although the <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/05/film-review-fast-furious-6.html">Fast and Furious</a></em> series superficially crows on and on about the meaning of family, <em>Guardians Vol. 2</em> is actively intrigued in exploring it, from the off-kilter dynamics between Quill and his dueling dysfunctional father figures Ego and Yondu to the resentful competitiveness dividing Gamora and Nebula. Every major figure has an interesting arc, from MVPs Rocket, baby Groot and Drax (Dave Bautista continues to be a surprising comedy weapon) all the way down to engaging second stringers Ayesha, Mantis and Sean Gunn’s antsy Ravager sidekick Kraglin.<br />
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There’s so much unbridled imagination, so much quirky joy running through <em>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2</em> it often comes across as almost maddeningly effortless. Why can’t more colossal genre blockbusters hit equally rewarding notes or think outside the established boxes?! This is shaping up to be a very special franchise - so far the most confident and consistently winning among Marvel’s slew of very entertaining heavy-hitters – and Gunn leaves little doubt that wherever we find our heroes on their next adventure it thankfully won’t be anywhere safe or predictable. <br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">4 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-27795347796452390092017-03-21T23:37:00.002-07:002017-03-22T08:03:57.981-07:00Film Review - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">To compare Walt Disney’s live action </span><i><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">Beauty and the Beast</span></i><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;"> remake to its 1991 animated classic predecessor is almost completely pointless. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s Best Picture-nominated masterpiece is a nearly perfect work that, alongside </span><i><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">The Lion King</span></i><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">, marks the pinnacle of the company’s Renaissance era. Its haunting, heartfelt and gorgeous artistry forever evolved the form, moved generations of movie-lovers and now occupies the canon of all-time cinema triumphs. Whereas </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/04/film-review-jungle-book.html"><i><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">The Jungle Book</span></i></a><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;"> offered plenty of wiggle room for invention, refining and reinterpretation, no such luck here. And so, rather thanklessly, director Bill Condon’s update of this tale as old as time can aspire only to honor what came before.</span></div>
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As you’d probably expect, there’s not a lot of variation in the story on this return visit. Belle (Emma Watson) is still a plucky and book-smart heroine, weary of day-to-day life in her “poor provincial town,” who winds up imprisoned in the forgotten castle of the monstrous cursed prince (Dan Stevens) after taking the place of her unlucky inventor father (Kevin Kline). The Beast’s abode is, of course, still occupied by the same gaggle of interfering household items, including Lumière (Ewan McGregor), Cogsworth (Ian McKellan), Chip (Nathan Mack) and Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), who enthusiastically adopt the role of matchmakers in order to break the spell that has altered them. Villainy is supplied once again by the narcissistic creep Gaston (Luke Evans), a boastful war hero with anger issues, and his simpering, visibly lovelorn cohort LeFou (Josh Gad, camping it up with wild abandon).<br />
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To be fair, though, the script, by Stephen Chbosky (<i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i>) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/04/film-review-huntsman-winters-war.html">The Huntsman: Winter’s War</a></i>), doesn’t completely follow Linda Woolverton’s original screenplay – how it isn’t credited as source material is still a mite baffling - verbatim. <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> 2017 pleasantly expands on the courtship between the two confused prospective lovers, such as a nice addition wherein her passion for Shakespeare inspires him to call upon his own invaluable aristocratic education, and deepens the sadism and manipulative tendencies of Evans’ blustering antagonist. Unfortunately, they also graft a thoroughly unnecessary subplot regarding the Beast and Belle’s mothers onto the picture, the latter of which sticks out like a jarring sore thumb thanks to its too grim tone and a lazy throwaway plot device gimmick. At 129 minutes, tacked on material like this, a hacky and simplistic attempt to ground the characters’ psychology and give them a common bond, only takes up time with zero emotional reward.</div>
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Alas, it’s a bit of a damning testament that, more often than not, it is the new material that brings this <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> to a screeching halt, especially given the flawless economical storytelling of the 1991 film. Thankfully Condon, whose diverse and slightly batty resume, which includes entries like <i>Kinsey</i>, <i>Dreamgirls </i>and the two <i>Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn</i> installments, implicitly understands what he’s selling tickets for. He stages the cherished Alan Menken/Howard Ashman musical numbers with a showman’s splashy aplomb (soaring opener “Belle” and the eternally chill-inducing title number are the most dazzling showstoppers), and even gives Beast a grandly tormented torch song of his own. And despite having the impossible task of creating visual splendor on par with Disney animation at its best, he and his art department blanket the screen with stylishly melancholy gothic atmosphere, complete with perpetual snowfall and crumbling stone architecture with a groaning pulse of its own. Echoes can often be felt of Jean Cocteau’s hypnotic 1946 version of the fairy tale. </div>
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Condon and his team deserve credit for the technical polish of this <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, which is more of a sumptuous visual extravaganza than <i>Maleficent</i>, the <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2010/03/film-review-alice-in-wonderland.html">Alice in Wonderland</a></i> movies or Kenneth Branagh’s otherwise superior <i>Cinderella</i>. They’re so good at adapting the unforgettable iconography of the original that’s it’s easy to take for granted, as the parts that stumble stand out more than the countless elements that don't. Yet, it must be said, the Beast’s transformed servants simply don’t work when grounded in our physical reality. Their stiff, busy designs lack charisma and never achieve the larger than life presence of their more colorful counterparts. This deficiency is most felt in the huge “Be Our Guest” sequence, which the director goes for broke with, but is drained of life and charm thanks to its performers’ lack of broadly exaggerated body language and expressive facial gestures. It’s easy to see why the filmmakers didn’t bother to include the song “Human Again,” which was added for the original’s 2002 re-release.</div>
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Despite all the shiny bells and whistles, all would be for naught if the performances fell flat. And, thankfully, they're almost all uniformly winning. Watson cheerfully radiates Belle's proud, inquisitive confidence, and knows exactly how to sell the pure wide-eyed wonder of a Disney heroine. She generates strong sparks with Stevens’ poignantly mournful mo-capped Beast, who’s noticeably less animalistic than Robby Benson’s, and has gentle chemistry with the always reliable Kline. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, it’s Evans’ Gaston who steals the show! The actor, often cast in underwritten roles like the title bloodsucker in <i>Dracula Untold</i> and as the baddie of <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/05/film-review-fast-furious-6.html">Fast & Furious 6</a></i>, must have known he had landed an ideal showcase and attacks it with the ferocity of a pack of ravenous white wolves. He exhibits all the cartoonish, clueless vanity you’d hope (the “Gaston” performance doesn’t disappoint), with unsettling layers of intense psychological weirdness bubbling underneath.</div>
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With a flurry of live action Disney reinterpretations in the works – including <i>The Lion King</i>,<i> Mulan</i>, <i>Fantasia</i>’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” <i>Peter Pan</i> and *ahem* <i>Dumbo</i> – it’s tough to view this <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> as something that's overly special. However it’s a solidly transporting family entertainment that effectively taps into the audience’s profoundly powerful nostalgia for the 1991 film. This is skillful studio moviemaking, featuring many of the industry’s finest craftspeople working with ungodly resources to realize their vision. It just never convinces us into believing we’re watching magic. </div>
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<span style="color: #fff2cc; font-size: large;">3 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-37608028994890613632017-02-02T17:08:00.000-08:002017-02-02T17:19:53.056-08:00Film Review - XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9162nF-gL6s/WJPWuUbscsI/AAAAAAAADxw/fXAxI5-OFyoae5zZvVlcV1gqLPwE57jcQCLcB/s1600/xxx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9162nF-gL6s/WJPWuUbscsI/AAAAAAAADxw/fXAxI5-OFyoae5zZvVlcV1gqLPwE57jcQCLcB/s400/xxx.jpg" width="256" /></a><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">It’s safe to say the world didn’t need another sequel to </span><i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">XXX</span></i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">, nor did it probably want one. After all, the novelty of watching an extreme sports spy adventure wore off about 45 minutes into the thuddingly bland 2002 original. So why does </span><i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">The Return of Xander Cage</span></i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> exist then, you ask? Well, based purely on the evidence at hand, it exists entirely to serve as a big dumb tribute to the glowing majesty of Vin Diesel. For this movie argues the 49-year-old action star (who also produced) is both our greatest living athlete and a breathtaking specimen of pure perfection. Oh, and he’s utterly irresistible to all women, despite the fact the film’s love scenes have about as much carnal passion and raw sexuality as the famous </span><i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Seinfeld</span></i><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> bit where Kramer makes out with an Elaine mannequin. I’ll leave it to you to determine who the mannequin in this equation is.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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To be fair, Diesel in midlife crisis mode still usually works. But does it work here? Not so much, sadly. The problem really lies in the fact that, whereas the star’s<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/05/film-review-fast-furious-6.html"> Fast and Furious</a></i> franchise has matured and evolved with the times, the <i>XXX </i>series has not. Yes, the family theme has been majorly boosted, with an appealingly diverse, albeit hit-or-miss, supporting cast put in place, yet the movie itself feels like a B-level effort from the last decade. The dialogue and scripting by F. Scott Frazier is flat at best, groan-inducing and dimly misogynistic at worst, and there’s not much wit or imagination to make up for the overwhelming lunk-headedness of the entire endeavor. If you’re not going to push the insanity of the dopey premise to feverishly crazy places, why really bother?<br />
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<i>The Return of Xander Cage</i> does raise hopes in its early moments, though, as we’re introduced to its apparent antagonists; a badass parkouring quartet of wild cards (Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Tony Jaa and Michael Bisping) who crash CIA headquarters in order to steal an electronic gadget called Pandora’s Box. What is this all-important McGuffin, pray tell? It’s a handheld electronic device capable of bringing down satellites like guided missiles. All that really matters, however, is that CIA head honcho Jane Marke (Toni Collette, camping it up like a true pro) wants it back and recognizes there’s only one man capable of retrieving it.<br />
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She finds our tattooed savior in Latin America, where he’s performing Robin Hood-like feats for local villages using little more than a skateboard and, uh, snow skis. Although reluctant to re-align with the government, Cage ultimately enlists, bringing with him an alternative-styled squad of his own: sharpshooter Ruby Rose, madman driver Rory McCann, nerdy techie Nina Dobrev and rave DJ (yes, you read that correctly) Kris Wu. While the mission seems pretty straight forward at first, it’s isn’t long before the two opposing sides’ relentless series of stunt spectaculars and acrobatic displays of hyperkinetic fisticuffs give way to the staggering revelation there could be more going on than they initially realized. Gadzooks!</div>
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Unlike Rob Cohen’s series opener, or Lee Tamahori’s deservedly forgotten Ice Cube-led sequel <i>State of the Union</i>, <i>The Return of Xander Cage</i> actually manages to deliver a memorable action beat or two. The showcase sequences, such as Diesel’s aforementioned jungle skiing/skateboarding getaway, and a massive ocean-bound motorcycle chase between him and Yen, are cleanly staged by director D.J. Caruso (<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/10/film-review-eagle-eye-blindingly-stupid.html">Eagle Eye</a></i>) – who was previously notorious for his over-frenzied and incoherent on-screen action – and don’t suffer from the cartoony CG overload that occasionally sneaks in to the later bits. Sure, their overt goofiness detracts from any potential exhilaration, nevertheless they’re different and represent the film’s rare willingness to think outside the box. And it’s impossible to ignore the fact they all occur in the first half, leaving a second hour that relies far more on boring shoot-outs and passably-shot brawling. The climax, aboard a jumbo jet, offers some fun ideas without ever quite delivering the knock out we hope for.</div>
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Whereas Diesel’s engaging credibility as a physical presence is indisputable, he lacks the light touch charisma to really pull off this breed of character. He’s better at playing more emotionally burdened figures like Dom Toretto or Riddick, where his rumbling vocal affectations and tortured moodiness tap into a certain poetic tough guy gravitas. Xander Cage lacks those qualities, and relies more on playful flash and verve to get by. The actor does what he can with very dated material, firing off terrible puns and dire jokes dutifully, but never truly commands the screen like he should. Instead of being the magnetic anchor the movie needs, like spiritual predecessor James Bond, he’s often totally overshadowed by more compelling players like Yen, Collette, Samuel L. Jackson or his absurdly fluffy coat.</div>
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Unlike 2011’s fantastically amusing <i>Fast Five</i>, <i>XXX: The Return of Xander Cage</i> fails to succeed in its bid to persuade us this is a Diesel franchise in need of a renaissance. Back in 2002 the first entry attempted to advertise to the world that Bond was a tired relic in need of a more youthful and edgier replacement, and now we have a third sequel that seems to unconsciously aspire to ape the final Pierce Brosnan 007 film <i>Die Another Day</i>. That ain’t progress and it sure isn’t relevant, no matter how much hip hop music you add to the mix. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">2 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-40172265868591599192017-01-26T20:53:00.000-08:002017-01-26T21:25:50.603-08:00Film Review - THE FOUNDER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">As an actor, Michael Keaton is unable to mask his razor-sharp intellect. There’s a nervous, fidgety energy about him, a sense that he’s always working angles in his head. We always suspect he’s a step or two ahead of those around him, and that he’s consistently engaged by his secret determination to remain so. His best films, such as Tim Burton’s <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/7-days-of-bat-day-1-batman-1989.html">Batman</a></i> entries, <i>Beetlejuice</i>, <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2015.html">Spotlight</a></i>, <i>The Paper</i> or <i>Jackie Brown</i>, tap into the live-wire eccentricity hidden beneath his everyman exterior and burst to life whenever he so much as raises his cocksure, devilish eyebrows.</span><br />
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It’s been great fun watching Hollywood rediscover him the last few years, beginning with the best picture-winning <i>Birdman</i>, and it’s a pleasure to see him land another perfect gig in<i> The Founder</i>, John Lee Hancock’s amusing biopic of wily McDonald’s visionary Ray Kroc. Opening in the mid-1950s, the movie chronicles the unlikely windfall of Keaton’s fast-talking-yet-floundering milkshake salesman after he stumbles upon a novel California eatery that serves up hot burgers while you wait. Instantly enamored with the joint, and its inventive behind-the-counter operations, he talks himself into a partnership with naïve owners Dick and Mac McDonald (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch), and quickly focuses on blowing up the brothers' proud brand through franchising. Soon, however, Ray’s insecurities and ruthless, desperate ambitions bring him into conflict with his unsuspecting new partners, birthing an ugly war for ownership of the fledgling fast food empire.</div>
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While the notion of a McDonald’s origin story may not seem like the most tantalizing of creative endeavors, it’s an ideal project for director Hancock. Since making his helming debut with the 2002 baseball drama <i>The Rookie</i>, he’s shown a unique passion for exploring classic American institutions, from 2004’s <i>The Alamo</i>, to football (<i>The Blind Side</i>) and Disney (<i>Saving Mr. Banks</i>). And while he undeniably lacks the incisive, merciless bite of a true cultural critic, he’s a charming, breezy <br />
filmmaker with a knack for crafting smart, pleasantly involving historical recreations that play well to mainstream audiences.<br />
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<i>The Founder</i> is no different, albeit with a more pessimistic edge thanks to Keaton’s unrepentant protagonist. And although Hancock doesn’t totally villainize Kroc – the movie leaves little doubt that his shameless self-promotion, go-for-broke investments and shady business tactics were crucial in propagating the McDonald’s name – it also doesn’t try to paint him as a misunderstood hero or unorthodox champion of the glorious American dream. No, as portrayed he’s an undeniable selfish bastard, dismissive of his weary supportive wife (an underused Laura Dern), and calculated in his efforts to exploit family values and community pride in order to sell cheap artery-clogging food. It’s too bad the script, by Robert Siegel (<i>The Wrestler</i>, <i>Big Fan</i>), wasn’t a little bit meaner, or interested in really delving into the relentless psychology that drove its subject. As entertaining as the picture is, it’s a little disappointing it never quite strives for the same deep dive analysis as Aaron Sorkin’s not dissimilar<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/01/2010-will-not-be-remembered-as-great.html">The Social Network</a></i> or <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2015.html">Steve Jobs</a></i> screenplays.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r73KNwO89zs/WIrR41oC5DI/AAAAAAAADxg/s1jvRd1onZMZSGvp_zvtUXjQjSdcQFcUQCEw/s1600/founder2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Even if the film’s aspirations are a bit artistically modest, Keaton has rarely been more committed. Speaking in a rat-a-tat Midwestern accent, and grinning like the Cheshire Cat, the actor explodes with over-compensating self-assurance. Whether unloading aggressively cheesy salesman patter directly into the camera, or shooting condescending barbs at Offerman and Lynch’s endearingly sympathetic, yet hopelessly out-of-their-depth, entrepreneurs, it’s a big, showy Movie Star© performance that skillfully propels the narrative and makes even the more mundane inside baseball dealings intriguing. This cinematic version of Kroc is the only guy in the room who truly knows the score, so it’s fitting that the solid supporting players, including Patrick Wilson, Linda Cardellini and an icy B.J. Novak, always seem to be orbiting him without ever quite stealing away the spotlight.<br />
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Watching our lead scheme and manipulate his way into fame and fortune at the expense of his innovative, hard-working colleagues, it’s impossible to ignore <i>The Founder</i>’s regrettably timely and relevant message. Hancock may not break much new ground in telling this very familiar story, but it’s well-acted and highly effective at communicating the ins and outs of McDonald’s journey towards global juggernaut status. And in Keaton’s Ray Kroc, we have a compelling embodiment of crass capitalist opportunism run amuck. Even if we don't necessarily need more of those right now.</div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">3.5 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-4833447429564555862017-01-13T19:53:00.001-08:002017-01-13T20:24:49.472-08:00The Bottom 5 Worst Films of 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">1) <i>31</i> – What in the name of batty ol’ Beelzebub has happened to Rob Zombie? Once considered one of horror’s most terrifically twisted and offbeat rising stars, he’s been on a depressing downward spiral ever since regrettably rebooting <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/09/film-review-halloween-ii.html"><i>Halloween</i></a>. His latest, the completely and hopelessly incompetent <i>31</i> – a dim-bulb film school student’s gore-streaked redneck take on <i>The Running Man</i> or <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2012/04/film-review-hunger-games.html">Hunger Games</a></i> – is awful to the point of being nigh unreleasable. The story, involving a team of carnies forced to survive an underground battle royale against grease-painted psychopaths (headed by a chilling Richard Brake), is merely a lazy excuse for Zombie to shamelessly resurrect ideas from superior past efforts like <i>House of 1000 Corpses</i> and <i>The Devil’s Rejects</i>. Devoid of even a faint glimmer of directorial ingenuity,<i> 31</i> is little more than a crushingly tedious clown show.</span><br />
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2) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS</i></span> – Disney may have posted record-breaking profits and released some great entertainments in 2016, but it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for them. Nope, the Mouse House also churned out this totally unnecessary and grating cash-grab bomb, which vomits forth flatlining origin stories for the Red and White Queen (Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway) and Johnny Depp’s lisping dandy Mad Hatter. Mistaking ugly cyclones of crappy CG and seemingly improvised plotting for charm and whimsy, James Bobbin’s <i>Alice through the Looking Glass</i> makes its mediocre Tim Burton-directed predecessor look like a shining model of inspired cinematic magic for the ages. Tragically, the only legacy this shrill debacle seems destined to leave is being the tragic answer to the trivia question: “What was celebrated actor Alan Rickman’s final movie role?” </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2qmpe2gbTA/WHmfu8h0ZRI/AAAAAAAADwk/d-gWapeRNE48CDNLHvGerRfmfvL3JSuNwCLcB/s1600/inferno-tom-hanks-felicity-jones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2qmpe2gbTA/WHmfu8h0ZRI/AAAAAAAADwk/d-gWapeRNE48CDNLHvGerRfmfvL3JSuNwCLcB/s320/inferno-tom-hanks-felicity-jones.jpg" width="320" /></a>3) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>INFERNO</i></span> – Say what you will about the previous Robert Langdon adaptations, they didn’t feel like the principal creative team was just phoning it in. Such is not the case with <i>Inferno</i>, the shambling Dante and Botticelli-themed artifact-chase starring Tom Hanks and Felicity Jones, which feels like it was assembled with all the passion of a 1990s Time Life books infomercial. Scattershot, artistically apathetic and talky to the point of inspiring the viewer to feverishly daydream about better movies they could be watching, Ron Howard’s third time at bat left zero doubt it’s time for the Dan Brown cinematic universe to be ingloriously left to gather dust for the foreseeable future.</div>
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4) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>COLLATERAL BEAUTY</i></span> – Will Smith really, really needs to stay away from naked high concept Oscar grabs. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson after 2008’s legendarily ridiculous <i>Seven Pounds</i>, which featured an unforgettably bizarre supporting turn by a jellyfish. But no, he only pushed the envelope further in 2016 by appearing in this astonishingly ill-conceived drama about a near-suicidal ad exec whose best friends use elaborate manipulation to convince his company’s board of directors he’s insane following his daughter’s untimely death. And if that sounds utterly reprehensible, the film sure doesn’t seem to know it! Directed with insultingly synthetic feel-good smarminess by<i> The Devil Wears Prada</i>’s David Frankel, <i>Collateral Beauty</i> wastes its all-star cast on an unsalvageable, laughably convoluted story that can’t even coherently explain the meaning of its own unwieldy title. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pDopJpnsfGM/WHmgNC1YqRI/AAAAAAAADws/T18b6GM_jnskEZF0zlPuK8jmu0wLIh6BQCLcB/s1600/Blair-Witch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pDopJpnsfGM/WHmgNC1YqRI/AAAAAAAADws/T18b6GM_jnskEZF0zlPuK8jmu0wLIh6BQCLcB/s320/Blair-Witch.jpg" width="320" /></a>5) <span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><i>BLAIR WITCH</i></span> – As the ageless expression goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Apparently the usually dependable duo of director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, who previously spawned <i>The Guest</i> and <i>You’re Next</i>, didn’t pay close enough attention to the universal disinterest in 2000’s<i> Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2</i>. Maybe if they had, they wouldn’t have wasted their precious time cranking out this hacky found footage stinker, which mostly just rips off the zeitgeist-tapping 1999 surprise smash with far more screeching noise, cheap jump scares and braindead character decisions. Fittingly, however, audiences warded off the spell of <i>Blair Witch</i>, which became the lowest grossing installment yet, even after 16 years of ticket price inflation. Eek!</div>
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Dishonorable Mentions: <span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/03/film-review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of.html"><i>BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE</i></a></span>, <span style="color: orange;"><i>GODS OF EGYPT</i></span>, <span style="color: orange;"><i>INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE</i></span>, <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-teenage-mutant-ninja.html"><span style="color: orange;"><i>TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS</i></span></a><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-teenage-mutant-ninja.html"></a>,<span style="color: orange;"> <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-warcraft.html"><i>WARCRAFT</i></a></span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-82334838647762849682017-01-10T15:41:00.003-08:002017-01-11T20:24:22.272-08:00The Top 10 Best Films of 2016<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgl9dnuB4mE/WHVuxnnslwI/AAAAAAAADvw/YTbpgCDEx_AIr9YdS2PCCXp959qwH60UwCLcB/s1600/sing_street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgl9dnuB4mE/WHVuxnnslwI/AAAAAAAADvw/YTbpgCDEx_AIr9YdS2PCCXp959qwH60UwCLcB/s400/sing_street.jpg" width="268" /></a><span style="color: cyan;">1) </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>SING STREET</i></span><span style="color: cyan;"> – </span><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">2016 probably won’t go down in the history books as one of mankind’s proudest years. And yet, amidst all the cynicism and bad news, this unassuming little Irish musical from </span><i><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">Once</span></i><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"> director John Carney emerged, utterly exploding with wide-eyed optimism, exhilaration and unbridled joy. An enchanting coming of age yarn about a teenage musician’s awkward artistic awakening, </span><i><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">Sing Street</span></i><span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"> boasts a terrific, disarming cast (Jack Reynor, as our hero’s slacker brother, is a star in the making), huge fist-pumping underdog story highs and an infectious all-timer soundtrack loaded with rousing earworm confections. Although there were several remarkably moving films released in the past twelve months, none matched this charmer’s gift for leaving the viewer beaming ear to ear, ready to take on the world no matter the obstacles.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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2) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>MOONLIGHT</i></span> – No doubt about it, Barry Jenkins’ enthralling coming of age triptych chronicling the development of a young gay black man in the slums of Miami was the most beautifully compassionate and deeply human cinematic work of 2016. Utilizing its protagonist’s specific journey to tap into countless universal truths, <i>Moonlight</i> never falls prey to artifice, cliché or cheap sentiment. No, rather it achieves something far more powerful and pure: catharsis. Populated by a wonderful ensemble – with towering stand-out turns by Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris – this is an utter miracle of a movie, humble in its intentions but genuinely enriching for the soul. </div>
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3) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>MANCHESTER BY THE SEA</i></span> – Casey Affleck’s been building up steam for quite some time, amassing an impressive number of sensational performances in predominantly independent fare. Here, in Kenneth Lonergan’s audacious examination of the messy grieving process, he at last earns his place among our current acting titans playing a directionless loner forced to return to his home town to care for his teenage nephew – played by extremely promising newcomer Ben O’Brien - after his brother passes. Keenly observant, raw and frequently funny (no, seriously!), <i>Manchester by the Sea</i> is an intensely touching account of a damaged man waging an exhausting daily battle to come to terms with the wreckage of his past. </div>
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4) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>NOCTURNAL ANIMALS</i></span> – Fashion designer extraordinaire Tom Ford’s wrenching sophomore directorial effort is brutal, unforgettable proof that he’s the real deal. A combustible cocktail of cinematic influences - including Lynch, De Palma, Hitchcock and the Coens - <i>Nocturnal Animals</i> feverishly mashes up Cormac McCarthy-esque neo-western fatalism with despairing upper class ennui to uniquely jaw-dropping results. Unfolding over two parallel tales – one in the real world occupied by Amy Adams’ unsatisfied gallerist, the other a fictional narrative involving Jake Gyllenhaal and a wry lawman played by the brilliant Michael Shannon – that slyly comment on one another, the film sees Ford playing the audience like a piano, masterfully controlling tension and leaving you dazed, captivated and out of breath.</div>
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5) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/05/film-review-captain-america-civil-war.html"><i>CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR</i></a></span> – Never satisfied to rest on its laurels, the Marvel movie machine’s thirteenth (!) production was its best yet; a classic clash of compelling crime-fighting ideals that’s as interested in colorful character psychology as pyrotechnics. Nimbly accommodating a veritable army of all-star icons, including headliners Cap and Iron Man, as well as insect-themed scene-stealers Spider-Man and Ant-Man, <i>Civil War</i> is pure blockbuster bliss fueled by its makers’ unabashed adoration for their vibrant comic-book universe. After seeing similar material done horrendously wrong the same year by the noxious <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/03/film-review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of.html">Batman v Superman</a></i>, this third <i>Captain America</i> adventure once again saw the House of M confidently reminding the world that when it comes to superhero cinema nobody does it better than them.<br />
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6) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>ARRIVAL</i></span> – It’s so rare to encounter a science fiction film that feels truly original and authentic that when it happens it’s impossible not to be swept up in a feeling of revelation. Such was the case with Denis Villeneuve’s brainy and unexpectedly poignant first contact story featuring Amy Adams as a linguistics expert struggling to decode a daunting extraterrestrial language against a volatile political ticking clock. An expertly scripted adaptation of Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life,” <i>Arrival</i> offers a potent blend of engrossing intellectual curiosity and profoundly moving emotional fireworks, and is all but guaranteed for genre canonization in the years to come.</div>
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7) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>ZOOTOPIA</i></span> – Continuing its astounding recent animation hot streak, Disney’s hilarious, sincere and surprisingly sophisticated take on the buddy cop genre doesn’t just cheekily tweak the genre; it also manages to be a clever and involving entry in it as well. Buoyed by winningly multi-dimensional heroes, energetic world-building, laugh out loud gags (the much-hyped sloth scene is bonafide comedic genius) and a message that, sadly, couldn’t be any more relevant, <i>Zootopia</i> represented the best in family entertainment in 2016. Forget <i>Frozen 2</i>, get Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde back on another case, and pronto! </div>
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8) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>LA LA LAND</i></span> – After 2014’s astonishing <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2015/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2014.html">Whiplash</a></i>, helmer Damien Chazelle became one of the most encouraging rising talents in the industry. Even still, though, it’s more than a little dumb-founding how effortlessly playful and graceful this delightful <i>Singin’ in the Rain</i>-inspired musical odyssey feels under his assured guidance. From its bouncy opening freeway dance off, to the magical, wistful final reverie experienced by irresistible leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, <i>La La Land</i> both sweetly honors the traditions and conventions of classic Hollywood song and dance pictures and delicately hits all the right heartfelt notes a modern audience would hope for.<br />
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9) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>THE NEON DEMON</i></span> – A bracing and sobering antidote to <i>La La Land</i>’s dreamy sun-soaked look at the City of Angels, uncompromising auteur Nicolas Winding Refn’s fashion world grotesque-a-thon is one sick and twisted wake up call. Starring a naively innocent Elle Fanning as an aspiring model grasping at fame while triggering predatory instincts in those around her, <i>The Neon Demon </i>takes the director’s repulsively gorgeous brand of synthetic hallucinatory pop filmmaking to its most unsettling conclusion. Thrilling, dazzling and icy, it’s a spellbinder that writhes and sways to its own haunting rhythms, the hell with the consequences. </div>
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10) <span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;"><i>ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY</i></span> – Rarely ever before has calculated franchise retconning been this inventive or exciting! Gareth Edwards’ kinetic prequel to <i>A New Hope</i> does exactly what it should; expanding the <i>Star Wars</i> universe in fresh and interesting ways, adding appreciated shades of grey to its typically black and white morality and delivering wonderfully grand big screen spectacle. The first real examination of war in the series, <i>Rogue One</i> exploits its “men on a mission” formula to spectacular effect, considering the human cost in a series that previously rarely slowed down long enough to do so. By the time the epic slam-bang final act comes to its triumphant conclusion there’s little doubt the force is still very, very strong.<br />
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Honorable Mentions: <i><span style="color: cyan;">DE PALMA</span></i>, <i><span style="color: cyan;">THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN</span></i>,<span style="color: cyan;"> </span><i><span style="color: cyan;">EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!</span></i>, <i><span style="color: cyan;">FENCES</span></i>, <i><span style="color: cyan;">PETE’S DRAGON</span></i>, <i><span style="color: cyan;">THE WITCH</span></i></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-52412786451436072832016-08-16T16:19:00.002-07:002016-08-16T16:37:48.296-07:00Film Review - SUICIDE SQUAD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">Back in May Marvel proved with <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/05/film-review-captain-america-civil-war.html">Captain America: Civil War</a></em> it could skillfully juggle over a dozen major characters without sacrificing storytelling clarity and intelligence. On the flip side, <em>Suicide Squad</em> - Warner Bros. third entry in its increasingly distressing DC Universe mega-franchise – fails miserably to coherently portray its leads’ journey on foot across a few city blocks. This is sadly becoming par for the course for the studio, who have this time assembled a fun, colorful, well-cast batch of antiheroes and tossed them into a tornado of sloppy, shapeless narrative chaos. Like <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/03/film-review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of.html">Batman v Superman</a></em>, this film is so desperate to set up future sequels and spin-offs it furiously forsakes its own enjoyment and overall worth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6qON_fet_4/V7OezUMRhAI/AAAAAAAADu4/nTvuwVOU5l8bzNc-W-NXKt1ekyk-uusbQCLcB/s1600/suicide-squad-assembled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6qON_fet_4/V7OezUMRhAI/AAAAAAAADu4/nTvuwVOU5l8bzNc-W-NXKt1ekyk-uusbQCLcB/s320/suicide-squad-assembled.jpg" width="320" /></a>There’s a kernel of splashy <em>Dirty Dozen</em>-esque genius to the Suicide Squad concept – wherein a taskforce of homicidal marquee supervillains are forcibly drafted into an unwinnable battle – that screams cool. It’s a twist on the comic book picture we haven’t seen on screen yet, and bolstered by endless resources to achieve its wildest ambitions. Too bad, then, this movie’s feverish imagination mostly begins and ends with its flashy, gaudy costuming and temporary tattoo budget. If ever there was an opportunity to embrace the crazy this was it! Did we really need another generic “Stop the boring, vaguely defined villain from opening a sky portal!” story conveyed with all the live-wire energy of Batman doing an open mic night comedy routine?<br />
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Speaking of ‘ol Bats, it’s no coincidence popular members of his legendary rogues gallery dominate, with assassin extraordinaire Deadshot (Will Smith) and vicious vixen Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) sharing the limelight, and the Joker (Jared Leto) periodically popping in from another (hopefully better) movie to boost marketability. The film makes zero effort to convince us they’re on equal footing with their dastardly supporting colleagues, who run the gamut from mildly amusing cartoons – Aussie safe-cracker Boomerang (Jai Courtney), fire-shooting Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and sewer-dwelling reptile Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) – to bland half-finished sketches. No doubt team leader Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara) are fascinating on the page, but here? Not so much. And what’s the deal with Slipknot? Adam Beach’s baddie appears to have been purposely edited out almost entirely, indifferently announced mid-picture with a hilariously speedy bit of dialogue blatantly pasted in during post-production.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0jqYI1U60A/V7Oe6m3BIYI/AAAAAAAADu8/mNtdEwZBrjkGMmE5UtPKVED5oaL3Q_YGQCLcB/s1600/suicide-squad-movie-viola-davis-amanda-waller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l0jqYI1U60A/V7Oe6m3BIYI/AAAAAAAADu8/mNtdEwZBrjkGMmE5UtPKVED5oaL3Q_YGQCLcB/s320/suicide-squad-movie-viola-davis-amanda-waller.jpg" width="320" /></a>So why has this insanely dangerous collection of psychopathic criminals with greatly varying abilities and powers been let out of their maximum security prison cells? Because fearsome government agency head Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, voraciously chewing scenery and spitting out exposition with grim purpose) believes America needs a secret weapon to thwart the potential threat of a Superman gone awry. However, just as her initiative is uneasily approved, vengeful eons-old witch Enchantress - who has body-snatched innocent archaeologist June Moone - escapes and awakens her unstoppable brother Incubus in order to destroy humanity. With the apocalypse fast dawning, Moone’s disgraced soldier lover Rick Flagg is forced into action alongside his disposable “suicide squad,” who are equipped with failsafe explosive devices and more than a little resentful about it. And, if the world being turned into a smoking husk wasn’t enough, ultimate wild card Joker devilishly schemes to free deranged girlfriend Harley from the clutches of justice.<br />
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One can be wholly forgiven for expecting<em> Suicide Squad</em> to be brimming with confidence. Lord knows, the omnipresent advertising campaign has projected nothing but! In reality, though, the film – which was written and directed by <em>End of Watch</em> and<em> Fury</em> auteur David Ayer – clearly isn’t. At all. Over-edited and reshot to death, the finished product bares the sweaty handprints of countless execs terrified of dropping the ball in the wake of <em>Batman v Superman</em>. Characters are introduced multiple times, vanish completely from the picture only to reappear without mention, and are given big climactic emotional beats that land with a thud due to their arcs being cut to shreds. The sporadically engaging first act is almost daringly unhinged; an extended series of mostly disconnected montages scored to a parade of idiosyncratic song choices, hastily scotch-taped together by Viola Davis voiceover. It’s something to behold certainly, and at least hints at a level of manic weirdness that never arrives once the central plot kicks in.<br />
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Given how visibly compromised <em>Suicide Squad</em> is it’s not fair to solely blame Ayer for how rudderless and incomprehensible the whole endeavor is. The film can’t even properly explain why Amanda Waller would form the group, given she’s friendly with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and other formidable heroes are shown to be active. More frustrating is the complete lack of tension and momentum in the plot. There’s no ticking clock and no compelling stakes to drive our antagonistic protagonists forward. You can feel the energy slacken as they wander aimlessly from one uninteresting fight scene to another without a clear mission objective, occasionally interrupted by talky diversions and unnecessary Joker business (the majority of Leto’s scenes as the Clown Prince of Crime – now a glitzy, angsty Scarface-wannabe who’s too silly to be scary – could be easily removed with no ill effect).<br />
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And yet, despite being a superhero spectacle lost cause,<em> Suicide Squad</em> gets two things very, very right; Deadshot and Harley Quinn. Every time Smith and the show-stopping Robbie – whose unqualified success as the fan fave villainess is slightly complicated by Ayer’s long-established misogynistic male gaze – are on screen we’re reminded we are in the presence of true movie stars. In a film over-burdened with dumb, empty posturing, they’re triumphant, exciting and hugely charismatic comic book translations that beg to be featured in a project deserving of their gifts. It’s a hoot to see them overshadow their underwritten co-stars and tangle (all-too-briefly) with Affleck’s Batman! Stop mucking about DC and get it done and done properly!<br />
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Problem is Warner Bros. and DC aren’t exhibiting much interest in cultivating well-crafted star vehicles for their rich staple of icons the way Marvel nurtured<a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/05/film-review-iron-man-heavy-metal-wonder.html"> Iron Man</a>, <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/05/film-review-thor.html">Thor</a>, Captain America and the Guardians. And so we’re left with empty bundles of convoluted connective tissue like this and <em>BvS </em>and expected to care about buying into future chapters. Franchise building only works when the foundation is strong, people. Forget Harley and Killer Croc, the real Suicide Squad is the studio exec team spending innumerable precious days of their finite lives anxiously cranking these artless, unremarkable things out to muted response. <br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">2 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-43177632474685076382016-07-06T18:03:00.002-07:002016-07-06T22:35:36.120-07:00Film Review - THE LEGEND OF TARZAN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">There are two movies aggressively battling for dominance at the heart of </span><i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">The Legend of Tarzan</span></i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">, David Yates’s umpteenth update of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic literary icon. One is a genuinely fun, light-hearted throwback to post-<a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/05/film-review-indiana-jones-and-kingdom.html">Indiana Jones</a> 1990s pulp adventures like</span><i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;"> The Mask of Zorro</span></i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">, </span><i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">The Phantom</span></i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;"> or </span><i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book</span></i><span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">. The other, alas, is a brooding, gloomy, half-realized attempt to channel the gravitas of Christopher Nolan’s <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/film-review-dark-knight-knight-to.html"><i>Dark Knight</i></a> trilogy. These two approaches are so diametrically opposed to one another that the result is a confused, watchable mess with an identity crisis. It wants to swing freely and boldly from vine to vine, yet with heavy weights tied to its ankles.</span></div>
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Like so many misfired blockbusters, the project feels badly compromised by being over-developed. In the works since 2003, <i>Tarzan</i> was passed from director to director, with several writers attached. The final screenplay is credited to Adam Cozad (<i>Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit</i>) and Craig Brewer (<i>Hustle & Flow</i>, <i>Black Snake Moan</i>), and undeniably feels like two very specific visions smashed together. After all, this is a film where multiple characters grimly mourn their deceased children while Christoph Waltz, playing a white suited, moustache-twirling baddie who chokes his prey with a ninja weapon-like rosary, shouts clichés like “Don’t shoot! You’ll hit the girl!” Either angle could theoretically be successful. Together, though? Tonal whiplash city.</div>
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An original tale, culling many elements from Burroughs’ stories, <i>The Legend of Tarzan</i> reintroduces us to famed jungle crusader John Clayton III (Alexander Skarsgård) years after returning to his ancestral home of Greystoke Manor in Victorian London. Living a respected, if stale, aristocratic life, he’s caught off guard when gun-slingin’ American envoy George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) urges him to investigate Belgium’s developments in the Congo. Extremely reluctant to accept the invitation, he ultimately decides to make the journey due to pressure from his wife Jane (Margot Robbie, suitably plucky in her pretty thankless job), who sees the trip as an opportunity to reignite their love affair and help ease the grief of losing their son. Soon after arriving, however, the trio becomes embroiled in a horrendous plot, overseen by King Leopold II’s representative Leon Rom (Waltz), to enslave the native population and dig up a vast diamond fortune. </div>
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Director Yates, who so deftly balanced darkness with wonder and joy in the last four <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/07/film-review-harry-potter-and-half-blood.html">Harry Potter</a></i> entries, would seem the perfect talent to somehow make<i> The Legend of Tarzan</i>’s clashing sensibilities work. Unfortunately he only half succeeds, imbuing the more high-spirited sections with the necessary energy. There’s a lot of welcome goofy and broad material, from set-pieces involving gorilla fights, <i>Jurassic Park</i>-homaging ostrich flocks, crocodile attacks and a nifty mass stampede, to small moments like (<i>Apocalypto</i>-inspired?) surgery via ant pincers, and some solid buddy comedy between Skarsgård and Jackson. These flights of fancy are a genuine kick, and leave one wishing for a version that really sold just how cool it would be to be Tarzan! Who wouldn’t want to pal around with fearsome animals, scamper around treetops and take down cartoonish bad guys in order to save the day?<u><span style="color: #0066cc;"><br /></span></u></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DQJRhvVd-ts/V32o34GI8JI/AAAAAAAADuQ/NJUt5PsFhZE42kcmJlRt4Xl2VcK05qyDgCKgB/s1600/tarzan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DQJRhvVd-ts/V32o34GI8JI/AAAAAAAADuQ/NJUt5PsFhZE42kcmJlRt4Xl2VcK05qyDgCKgB/s320/tarzan.jpg" width="320" /></a>Because, given the picture’s ridiculous $180-million-dollar budget (it was shot a couple years ago in a warehouse and given the <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2010/01/epi-cast-episode-21-listen-to-blue.html">Avatar</a></i>/<i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/04/film-review-jungle-book.html">Jungle Book</a></i> CG treatment), shouldn’t this be an unabashedly exciting family-friendly spectacle? It just makes economic sense. And every attempt Yates makes to try to get dark and somber fails miserably. No one buys a ticket to watch Tarzan mope and refuse to get his groove back, but that’s just what Skarsgård is forced to do for far more time than desired. We can buy Bruce Wayne, and his scary armored alter ego, as a tormented soul. A bare chested, tree-climbing hero in a loin cloth, though? Not so much. No matter how hard composer Rupert Gregson-Williams’s Hans Zimmer-lite score blares into overdrive trying to convince us we’re witnessing the mighty rebirth of a painfully serious superhero. </div>
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There’s also the issue of just how difficult and problematic this mythos is to transport to modern day cinema. Do we truly need another story about a brave Caucasian savior protecting African people? The superior 1999 Disney animated take smartly focused more on animal conservation. Here, though, our protagonist is responsible for thwarting slavery and talking sense into a deceived tribal chief (Djimon Hounsou, in a role so brutally undeserving of his considerable gifts). Making Jackson’s sidekick a fairly active participant in the direction of events helps a bit, however he's still a supporting player and no one on-screen champions him the way they do “the white ape.” The world was a very different place when Tarzan was introduced in 1912, and it’s highly debatable whether this is material that desperately needed to be resurrected in this form. And by making unwelcome stabs at being gritty and grounded, the movie invites more criticism than it might have had had it just been a silly and carefree swashbuckler.</div>
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Maybe we wouldn’t be motivated to ask these types of hard questions if Yates and his team had found a more compelling, thoughtful and artistically satisfying way to drag Burroughs’s brainchild into 2016. This adaptation isn’t an embarrassment (no comparisons are warranted, for example, to the disastrous and porny 1981 Bo Derek star vehicle <i>Tarzan, The Ape Man</i>), it just never really justifies itself. <i>The Legend of Tarzan</i> will probably please those receptive to its campier minor charms, but it’s certainly nothing to beat one’s chest for.</div>
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<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-size: large;">2.5 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-70510217388163877912016-06-29T20:26:00.002-07:002016-06-29T20:39:35.308-07:00Film Review - THE SHALLOWS and THE CONJURING 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-size: large;">We’re two months into the summer 2016 movie season and, so far, the narrative has been one of baffling failure, with costly blockbusters (aside from <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/05/film-review-captain-america-civil-war.html">Marvel</a> and <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/06/film-review-finding-dory_23.html">Pixar</a> franchises) repelling audiences one after another. But look beyond the gossipy disaster stories and there’s been another trend quietly unfolding, which is the encouraging success of skillfully directed, modestly budgeted horror counter-programming. Both Jaume Collet-Serra’s shark thriller <em>The Shallows</em> and James Wan’s spookhouse extravaganza <em>The Conjuring 2</em> deliver in spades the type of clever empty calorie thrills and bracing excitement we’ve been conditioned to anticipate from their infinitely more expensive and hyped competition.</span><br />
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As a filmmaker, Collet-Serra isn’t exactly known for his grand auteurist ambition or innovative storytelling. However, previous efforts <em>Orphan</em> and <em>Non-Stop</em> have proven his worth as a peddler of colorful, imaginative and wildly entertaining trash that twists seemingly simple genre set-ups into something weirder and more unique. Consider <em>The Shallows</em> another feather in his slightly askew cap; an immersive single protagonist survival tale that is one of the few killer shark movies to land closer on the quality measuring stick to <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2010/06/another-summer-in-amity-35-years-of.html">Jaws</a></em> than, say, <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2011/09/film-review-shark-night-3d.html">Shark Night 3D</a></em>.<br />
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Headlined by a very game and committed Blake Lively, playing a grieving young surfer held captive a mere 200 feet from shore by an aggressively territorial great white, <em>The Shallows</em> is an impeccably assembled exercise in ever-ratcheting tension. The Barcelona-born director, operating with a mere 17-million-dollar budget, embraces his limitations by keeping his vicious CG co-lead obscured – a sleek, breaking fin here, a murky shadow there – much the way Spielberg so famously did back in the sunny days of 1975. And, similar to that enduring classic, or 2003’s effective <em>Open Water</em>, anxiety is generated by not quite knowing where the marine threat is from moment to moment. As we watch our heroine battle her way through various minor tasks, such as nasty self-surgery or travelling from a floating whale carcass to a sturdier rock, we’re always on edge, waiting for the leviathan to rise up.<br />
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Of course, this being a Collet-Serra joint, things invariably get pretty bonkers at a certain point. Although this characteristic descent into cartoonishness doesn’t quite work as well here – due to the stripped down, you-are-there nature of the film – as in past endeavors, his go-for-broke dedication to cheeseball overkill is bizarrely admirable. The man is nothing if not consistent. And if he keeps cranking out B-movie fare this fun, technically proficient and well-acted (even Lively’s avian co-star Steven Seagull turns in a stellar performance), his peculiar brand of high-concept craziness will always be welcome.<br />
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While <em>The Shallows</em> helmer has always played on the cheaper end of the studio genre flick system, James Wan – who exploded onto the scene in 2004 with cheapie shocker phenomenon<em> Saw</em> – hasn’t just flirted with the big time, he’s fast become a major player; pulling off<em> Furious 7</em> with style, despite tragic complications, and signing on to captain DC’s <em>Aquaman</em>. But, watching the frequently terrifying, lovingly crafted sequel to his 2013 smash hit <em>The Conjuring</em>, you sure can tell where his warped heart truly remains. Any hack can create a cheap showcase jump scare for trailers to milk. He digs into this superior follow-up like a man possessed, infusing it with enough feverish, pulse-quickening suspense sequences to fuel over a dozen schlocky one weekend wonders.<br />
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Once again drawing inspiration from the true life (entirely bogus) experiences of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (portrayed on celluloid by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), <em>The Conjuring 2</em> tremendously fictionalizes the famous events surrounding England’s late 1970s Enfield Poltergeist case. This scenario, which begins with simple bumps in the night tormenting a woman and her four children, before gradually evolving into possession and unthinkable supernatural chaos, affords Wan a wide variety of hellish scenarios to exploit to their profoundly chilling hilt. As mysterious hands push objects out of darkened tents, chairs travel uneasily across rooms and aged specters leer, scream and leave bite marks, you can practically sense the creator grinning sadistically between the frames.<br />
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What really makes this franchise work like gangbusters – as opposed to Wan’s two genuinely solid but unremarkable <em>Insidious</em> installments – is the grounding presence of Wilson and Farmiga. They’re so thoughtful, warm and compelling that their very human love story is as involving as the ghastly happenings surrounding them. And because we’re invested in them, and by extension the characters they’re fighting to protect (predominantly Frances O’Connor and talented young Madison Wolfe), the building dread and traumatic frights arrive loaded with an impact that’s surprisingly emotional as well as visceral. <em>The Conjuring 2</em> again shows Wan to be a formidable master of the form, a ghoulishly ingenious talent rarely better than when he’s dragging unsuspecting ticket-buyers into the horrible recesses of his most hypnotic cinematic nightmares. <br />
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-size: large;"><em>The Shallows</em>: 3.5 out of 5</span><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-size: large;"><em>The Conjuring 2</em>: 4 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-25743404945410761132016-06-23T20:54:00.003-07:002016-06-25T20:45:34.176-07:00Film Review - FINDING DORY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">Pixar has gotten a lot of flak over the last few years for their increased focus on sequelizing their most popular – and *cough* profitable – brands. And yet, with the huge, bold exception of 2011’s running-on-empty <em>Cars 2</em>, the rest have outdone or, at the very least, honored their delightful predecessors. Both <em>Toy Story</em> follow-ups were widely celebrated and embraced by fans, while the underrated <em>Monsters University</em> prequel brought enjoyable new energy, personalities and off-beat humor to the world created by <em>Monsters, Inc</em>.</span><br />
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<i>Finding Dory</i>, the dubious-on-paper extension of 2003’s <em>Finding Nemo</em>, once again proves the studio knows how to milk a property with creative zest, soulfulness and smarts, if a little less richly so than in the past. Returning writer-director Andrew Stanton (who also masterminded <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/01/top-10-best-films-of-2008.html">Wall-E</a></em>) knows how to tell an involving tale and deliver the required emotional wallop, and here he ups the ante in terms of ambitious action set-piece staging. And although it’s pretty unlikely many will place this entry above its now classic Best Animated Feature Oscar-winning forebear, it does earn its place next to it on the shelf.<br />
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On a visual level, the film is arresting to behold. Vibrant and practically exploding with bright, striking colors <em>Finding Dory</em> captures the same sense of relaxing, tranquil beauty that comes from witnessing the most awe-inspiring of underwater sights. This movie is meant to be seen on the big screen, and it’s also the rare 3D experience that won’t leave you feeling ripped off when you’re tossing your plastic glasses into the recycle bin after the show. There’s an immersive quality to the animation Pixar’s team of artist wizards have accomplished that not only irresistibly draws you into the wondrous setting, but also helps keep your attention rapt during some of the more busy and ultra-cartoony later happenings.<br />
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Tugging at the heartstrings right from the get-go, the picture opens with an effective and adorable childhood flashback wherein the short term-memory challenged blue tang (Ellen DeGeneres as adult Dory, Sloane Murray as infant) is separated from her loving parents (Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton) after wandering off on her own. Unable to remember how to get home she embarks on a scattered and lengthy expedition, forced to depend on the kindness of strangers, all the while travelling farther and farther from her destination. This sad, fruitless journey ultimately draws her to the panicked Marlin (Albert Brooks), as he searches for his lost son.<br />
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Intentionally mirroring their protagonist's brief attention span, Stanton and his co-writers have structured their film with an emphasis on sporadic incident over smooth narrative flow. This approach unquestionably allows for a wider variety of mini-adventures, as both Dory/Hank and Marlin/Nemo head off in different directions, with an abundance of fertile possibilities for comedy and go-for-broke imagination. In addition to Hank’s endless hilarious camouflage demonstrations, there’s also plenty of time for memorable encounters with new series additions such as short-sighted whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), a pair of hooligan sea lions (reunited <em>The Wire</em> co-stars Idris Elba and Dominic West) and a particularly dim loon named Becky. Also extraordinary is a visit to a fish petting pool that manages to be simultaneously nightmarish and totally side-splitting. </div>
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However, <em>Finding Dory</em>’s emphasis on lightning-paced episodic escapades also makes the film feel a bit hurried. Kids will undoubtedly get a rush from its madcap drive, but older viewers may yearn at times for the comparatively more restrained storytelling techniques of superior Pixar efforts such as <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2010/01/best-films-of-2009.html">Up</a></em>, <em>The Incredibles</em> or<em> Ratatouille</em>. Especially once the genuinely moving tear-jerking developments arrive and it feels like the movie’s nervous about allowing much breathing room for fear of losing momentum.<br />
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Because it’s hard, as an adult, to not desire more occasional pauses to appreciate and consider the picture’s compelling and powerful central theme; highlighting the countless challenges placed on those living with special needs. The best section of the film – which belongs in the pantheon of all-time great Pixar achievements – is an extended first-person sequence where a distressed Dory finds herself alone, confused and helpless, and must rely on her own unique coping strategies to talk herself through the situation. It’s scenes like this, as well as the poignant time spent with our heroine and her parents, that reminds us just how magical, essential and matchless the studio can be when they’re firing on all cylinders.<br />
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And, frankly, Pixar’s most fearsome competitor at this point – outside of the extremely odd Disney or Dreamworks miracle like <em>Zootopia</em> or <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2010/04/film-review-how-to-train-your-dragon.html"><em>How to Train Your Dragon</em></a> - is themselves. Having created a procession of modern masterpieces they’ve set a bar that’s just not possible to clear every time out. So although <em>Finding Dory</em> only belongs somewhere in the middle of their priceless catalogue, it’s still a sweet, fun and engaging spectacle that enthusiastically swims along in very, very good company. <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">3.5 out of 5</span></div>
Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-26205566463197419322016-06-16T00:31:00.002-07:002016-06-16T19:16:12.679-07:00Film Review - WARCRAFT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Is there a more fantasy genre-specific term for technobabble? A term to better describe all the multi-syllable mythical and otherworldly names, places, creatures, weapons and so forth that are endlessly name-checked in streams of incomprehensible dialogue? Fantababble, perhaps? Or magibberish? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">That query drifted frequently through my mind while patiently trying to keep up with </span><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Warcraft</span></i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">, Duncan Jones’s visually impressive albeit inexplicably impenetrable adaptation of the insanely popular orc-tastic Blizzard video game of the same name. Rarely in history has a tentpole franchise hopeful been so unwelcoming to the general public, burying the unprepared under an increasingly maddening barrage of bewildering exposition that serves only to deepen the frustrating disconnect. This film doesn’t just refuse to give proper bearings; it smashes your movie-going internal compass under the weight of a swinging war hammer.</span> </div>
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You almost have to admire the picture’s refusal to cater to non-converts. It’s a<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sOweCcSooX4/V2JUqeK3TUI/AAAAAAAADrY/0juhWYxT8yYZPQ4pe8vDtTZ-ANu6yP-MACLcB/s1600/warcraft-movie6-1200x675.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>n undeniably ballsy way to kick-start a 200-million-dollar cinematic property, after all. But this approach – which essentially requires the audience to jump in feet first and just go with the flow - is seriously counterproductive on both a business level (although China doesn’t seem to mind, judging from box-office receipts) and, more importantly, a creative one. If the film can’t plainly communicate to the viewer why the <i>Warcraft</i> universe is cool and original, why would we ever want to see more? And that’s a critical question, given that this inaugural chapter is basically just a confusing cliffhanger prologue to a sequel that will likely never exist.</div>
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It’s a bummer, because Jones proved in his first two features, <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009_04_19_archive.html">Moon</a></i> and <i>Source Code</i>, to have a firm grasp on emotionally rich high concept storytelling with a great understanding of character. We were genuinely invested in Sam Rockwell’s lonely space station crisis, and to see Jake Gyllenhaal break free from his inescapable repeating time cycle. The self-described <i>Warcraft</i> fan, who co-scripted with Charles Leavitt (<i>Blood Diamond</i>), seemed like a good bet to wrangle the game’s convoluted lore into a workable, grounded narrative with compelling heroes and villains. Judging from the results, though, the dense material utterly thwarted him.<br />
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Based predominantly on the first game entry, <em>Orcs and Humans</em>, <em>Warcraft</em> establishes two adventure plots on an unstoppable collision course. On one side is the brave, noble orc chieftain Durotan (Toby Kebbell), a loving husband and father, who reluctantly joins his horde as they follow demonic lord Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) through a portal bridging their own depleted world to the rich, lush realm of Azeroth. Upon emerging, however, the massive mean green armies fast begin raping and pillaging villages, provoking King Wrynn (Dominic Cooper), on the other side, to assemble a team of fighters – including the poor man’s Aragorn Lothar (Travis Fimmel), guardian wizard Medivh (Ben Foster) and his apprentice Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) – capable of leading an aggressive defense effort. As the two factions clash, liberated half-breed slave Garona (Paula Patton, in unfortunate 60s <i>Star Trek</i> Orion body-paint) uneasily weighs which side to pledge allegiance to, unaware of the powerful significance she is destined to play in the outcome.</div>
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In case it’s not evident in the preceding synopsis, this is pretty broad and colorful fantasy fluff that could easily fuel a really fun and exciting yarn. So why is <i>Warcraft </i>solemn to the point of paralysis? Ever trudging forward with grim self-importance, the film stubbornly avoids almost all semblances of humor (with a couple super lame exceptions) and playfulness and instead delivers a sleepy procession of stilted actors delivering jargon-riddled exposition with all the passion of a live encyclopedia reading. If <i>Lord of the Rings</i> was capable of finding considerable room for high-spirited swashbuckling and light comedy, amidst the suffocating darkness of Frodo’s journey, there’s no excuse for the dearth of it here.<br />
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With that said, Peter Jackson’s now classic trilogy also understood the importance of engaging personalities with clear motivations. Simply put, almost no one in <i>Warcraft</i> has a logical objective or inner life. And how then are we supposed to care when not a single character sticks after two hours? It’s not fair to blame the actors for being almost uniformly forgettable and/or bland (minus Kebbell, whose solid mo-cap work is nonetheless dwarfed by his far more memorable <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2015/01/the-top-10-best-films-of-2014.html">Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</a></i> Koba performance), when the screenplay doesn’t give them anything interesting to say and keeps altering their progression to suit the necessities of the fragmented plot. According to reports, Jones was forced to slash about 20 minutes out of the runtime, and it’s obvious; scenes often smash together abruptly with a whole lot of connective tissue seemingly cast into the nether unceremoniously.</div>
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For all of its deficiencies as a satisfying summertime blockbuster, though, <i>Warcraft</i> isn’t a painful or unpleasant sit almost solely due to its technical ambition. Jones may not be able to spin an engaging tale to save his life here, yet he’s nonetheless having a total ball with his budget and effects departments. The art direction and costumes are first rate, and the crazy amount of attention paid to world-building is commendable (this is one unapologetically geeky endeavor). Whereas the human stuff is pretty dire, you can tell the helmer’s heart is with the orcs. Each member is impeccably and elaborately designed, and there’s tangible joy every time the hulking giants start pummeling their enemies or one another. Even if the picture doesn’t set any bars with its CG action sequences, there’s more than enough instances of clever and inventive combat staging to meet genre requirements and then some.<br />
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Considering the stunningly lousy 23-year-long catalogue of video game movies, it’s regrettable <i>Warcraft</i>, with its boundless resources and behind the camera talent, wasn’t the one to break the mold and prove that a great adaptation is possible. Alas, lacking any real heart, momentum or coherence, it never makes a convincing argument for the brand becoming an ongoing silver screen presence. As for Jones there’s no doubt he still has plenty of magic left in him, but hopefully next time he funnels it into a project that casts a spell of enchantment, as opposed to one of disappointment. <br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">2 out of 5</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-25613700216219840982016-06-09T00:00:00.002-07:002016-06-09T00:25:28.677-07:00Film Review - TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G__yt-I4tVA/V1kSBYbqTrI/AAAAAAAADqE/2x2S7vTF4PIa7uQIfsrdBzF0LWcUnvTuwCLcB/s1600/tmnt-out-of-the-shadows-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G__yt-I4tVA/V1kSBYbqTrI/AAAAAAAADqE/2x2S7vTF4PIa7uQIfsrdBzF0LWcUnvTuwCLcB/s400/tmnt-out-of-the-shadows-movie-poster.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="256" /></a><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Unlike its </span><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2015/01/the-bottom-5-worst-films-of-2014.html"><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">noxious sludge-pile predecessor</span></a><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">, </span><i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows</span></i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"> can make the proud claim of not being the worst major studio release of its year. A noticeable course correction and casual retconning of the depressingly successful 2014 franchise reimagining, this sequel, directed by David Green, relentlessly pumps the classic animated series nostalgia gas pedal. Not only are Rocksteady and Bebop on hand to rectify the generation-scarring failed promise of 1991’s </span><i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2014/07/pizza-power-nunchaku-nostalgia_23.html"><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Secret of the Ooze</span></a></i><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">, so are Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman, the Technodrome and the Pizza Wagon (*complete with manhole-shooting play action)! It doesn’t add up to much of a movie, but will undoubtedly sell some merchandise. And let’s not pretend the latter achievement wasn’t the primary creative intent.</span><br />
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Once again returning to his powerful producer chair, Michael Bay’s presence can be felt strongly throughout. As far as some of the slick cinematic style and action goes, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, <i>Out of the Shadows</i> also boasts the tedious half-assed and repellent hallmarks of the <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2014/06/film-review-transformers-age-of.html">Transformers</a></i> franchise (Bumblebee even has a cameo). The plot is seemingly made up after the fact in the editing room, and there’s just enough frat jerk male posturing, awkward misogyny, crass product integration and scatological juvenility to fill out the standard check list. Want to see a giant CG warthog enthusiastically stare down his pants at his altered junk? This is the motion picture for you, my friend!</div>
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As <i>Out of the Shadows</i> opens, the now slightly kinder and gentler green machines are suffering serious morale issues. Confined to their underground dwellings, alongside wise sensei Splinter (Peter D. Badalamenti, voice by Tony Shalhoub), they yearn for acceptance from the humans they protect above. While Leonardo (Pete Ploszek – taking over voice duties from Johnny Knoxville) and Donatello (Jeremy Howard) are willing to make the necessary sacrifice, Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) and Raphael (Alan Ritchson) are going stir crazy and fostering growing resentment towards their brothers’ willingness to continue the lonely status quo. </div>
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Crisis brings them back to the surface, though, when April O’Neil (Megan Fox) stumbles across a conspiracy linking TCRI scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) to the incarcerated – and inexplicably no longer monstrous and, um, dead - Shredder (Brian Tee, replacing Tohoru Masamune). After the heavily bladed adversary is transported to the mysterious Planet X, during a daring prison convoy escape, he strikes a pact with the slimy, sinister alien Krang (Brad Garrett) to collaborate on a plan for Earthly domination. With a potential doomsday scenario on the horizon, the turtles, April and disgraced corrections officer Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) embark on a dangerous scavenger hunt to track down otherworldly technology that will prevent the invading conqueror from entering their realm. Unfortunately, this task is further complicated by the emergence of Stockman’s lumbering experimental animal/human hybrid warriors; the unstoppable rhino Rocksteady (WWE wrestler Sheamus) and his snorting warthog accomplice Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams).</div>
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Among the litany of maddening problems plaguing the previous entry, the most damning was its utter inability to make the title protagonists likeable. Oddly, this had never been the case previously. And although <i>Out of the Shadows</i> hasn’t quite solved the problem it is closer to the right track. The designs are still horrendously unappealing to look at, and they rarely seem to occupy any sort of tangible reality (the movie is so fake-looking it should probably have been 100-percent animated), but the personalities - Donatello in particular - feel more polished, energetic and distinctive. Michelangelo, alas, remains a grating bro-tastic embodiment of Bay-ian id and would benefit from even more toning down. At least Master Splinter no longer looks and behaves like psychotic nightmare fuel, which is nice, and he actually scores a funny or two.</div>
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These Poochie-fied versions of the TMNT are again undone by not being grounded by compelling storytelling. Whereas <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2014/07/pizza-power-nunchaku-nostalgia.html">the 1990 film</a> plunked them into an adventure that was fun, lively, and even occasionally emotional, <i>Out of the Shadows</i> writers Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec strand them in a nonsensical narrative that feels like bad fanboy improv. During Rocksteady and Bebop’s creation we’re informed humans have dormant genes connecting them to various members of the animal kingdom. Sure.</div>
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Apparently content to aspire to the base artistic heights of an old Saturday morning cartoon/toy commercial, the movie often lazily tosses out internal logic with the sewer water. Shredder’s abrupt trip to Dimension X unfolds as if crucial footage was lost after production wrapped, for example, and at one point the heroes fly from Brazil to New York seemingly in minutes. Even worse, the all-important McGuffin quest driving the picture feels ripped out of one of Bay’s cruddy <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/06/film-review-transformers-revenge-of.html"><i>Transformers</i></a> flicks and just consists of characters frantically competing for confusing, vaguely-defined plot points without any momentum or suspense.<br />
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The screenplay does correctly place the turtles center stage, though, with <i>Out of the Shadows</i>’ many supporting figures offering distractions generally more appreciated than irritating. Since no actor is capable of delivering a good performance with material this dire, those who camp it up walk away looking the best. <i>Gone Girl</i> scene-stealer Perry’s turn as the loony Stockman almost (Almost!) persuades us into desiring a Baxter-as-fly threequel, and Sheamus and Williams are unexpectedly enjoyable as Rocksteady and Bebop, who are done about as well as one could hope.</div>
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Fox’s April is more problematic; the actress has an active non-damsel role with plenty to contribute, yet is alternately presented as shameless eye candy in tight tank tops and, early on, a ludicrous Britney-esque schoolgirl costume. That said she has serviceable chemistry with the amiable Amell - whose convincing physicality helps make up for the fact he’s as edgy as <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2008/07/7-days-of-bat-day-4-batman-forever-1995.html"><i>Batman Forever</i></a>-era Chris O’Donnell – and a mugging Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick. As a concerned citizen, it’s also my responsibility to note the immeasurably talented Laura Linney shows up as a nosy police chief, possibly against her will. Future viewings will have to determine whether she’s blinking H-E-L-P-M-E in Morse code.</div>
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Franchise newcomer Green, despite being saddled with a lost cause screenplay, is still head and shoulders above previous director Jonathan Liebesman as far as colorful visuals go. His early action sequences – predominantly the early truck chase and a wildly over the top race down the river rapids of Brazil – are poppy and engaging, and he’s undeniably strong at staging impact shots ready made for trailers and TV spots. By the time the city-shaking climax hits, however, the helmer is totally overwhelmed, delivering a final battle with Krang (barely a character, sadly) that’s the most fragmented and unsatisfying computer effects-driven finale since last summer’s wretched <i><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-bottom-5-worst-films-of-2015.html">Fantastic Four</a></i>.</div>
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As disposably inane and hacky as <i>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows</i> is, it’s nonetheless undeniably aided by the bottom of the barrel expectations established by part one. Hardcore brand loyalists will eat up the non-stop fan service and likely be willing to overlook the soulless cash-in junkiness and Bay-isms surrounding it. As for the rest of us? Better to write off this broken incarnation and wait for the next mutation. </div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">1.5 out of 5</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-72297104355131243112016-06-02T01:41:00.000-07:002016-06-02T19:04:15.312-07:00Film Review - X-MEN: APOCALYPSE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ever since bursting onto the silver screen and ushering in the blockbuster superhero craze in the summer of 2000 Marvel’s X-Men have battled an unending onslaught of formidable and colorful foes. Usually, these battles have generated big thrills for audiences, and allowed the filmmakers to infuse these poppy comic-book morality tales with of-the-moment social commentary and intriguing subtext. <em>X-Men: Apocalypse</em>, on the other hand, delivers a serious game-changer; a big bad who achieves the ghastliest of triumphs in singlehandedly sinking the entire movie around him into a muddy abyss of meaningless mediocrity.</span></span><br />
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Although it seemed like a promising concept to introduce the hulking blue OG mutant as the primary antagonist for this sixth adventure (even Magneto needs a breather occasionally), in execution the character is a complete and total disaster. Somehow managing to render Oscar Isaac – among the most electrifying actors working today – unwatchable, Apocalypse is an abysmal amalgamation of horrendous makeup work and a total absence of personality, compelling motivation or philosophical interest. And, unlike past lame-duck genre villains like <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2013/11/film-review-thor-dark-world.html">Thor: The Dark World</a></em>’s Malekith or <a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2012/07/film-review-amazing-spider-man.html"><em>Amazing Spider-Man</em></a>’s Lizard, this wheezing gasbag is given copious amounts of screentime to bore fans to sleep with endless ineptly written quasi-mystical monologues. A-Narcolepsy is a more fitting moniker for him.<br />
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It shouldn’t have been this way. After Fox drove the franchise off the ever-loving cliff with <em>The Last Stand</em> and <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2009/05/film-review-x-men-origins-wolverine.html">X-Men Origins: Wolverine</a></em>, the one-two punch of Matthew Vaughn’s <em>First Class</em>, and returning series godfather Bryan Singer’s<em> Days of Future Past</em> reignited the brand and opened the door to boundless opportunities. So why does <em>Apocalypse</em> feel so creaky, obligatory and behind the times?<br />
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The sad part is it actually starts off well! After an enjoyably goofy flashback involving the entombing of Isaac’s evil En Sabah Nur in ancient Egypt, the picture engagingly bounces around, reintroducing us to the colossal cast and establishing the newbies. Unfolding in an alternate 1983, ten years (?!) after the Sentinel project-thwarting exploits of <em>Days of Future Past</em>, <em>Apocalypse </em>sees the former teammates scattered across the globe. While Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) focus their efforts on easing the lives of troubled X-kids - such as Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey and Tye Sheridan’s Scott Summers - Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) has embarked on a solitary stealth war against mutant prejudice and Magneto’s (Michael Fassbender) become a quiet family man in his native Poland.<br />
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Fate and superhero movies being what they will, however, things rapidly go awry. Magneto’s peace proves tragically short-lived, fueling a self-destructive quest for revenge. His thirst for vengeance brings him to the attention of the reborn Apocalypse, who enlists him – alongside Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Angel (Ben Hardy) - as one of the Four Horsemen who will aid him in his civilization-ending game plan. After a violent attack on the X-mansion, Xavier and his youthful team, which includes the ultra-popular Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), must band together in order to take down their gravest threat to date.<br />
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As amusingly convoluted as these X-film narratives can be, the modest joys offered by<em> Apocalypse</em> come in the table setting and diversions, not the deadly dull central plot. It’s genuinely fun to watch Cyclops’s mini-origin scene where he learns about his powers, or follow along with him, Jean and Nightcrawler as they escape the school to hang out at the mall (and slag <em>Return of the Jedi</em> for being a typical lousy threequel; a swipe aimed at<em> Last Stand</em> but applicable here). The classic Stan Lee or Chris Claremont eras of comic stories always nimbly balanced high-spirited good times with serious gravitas, and Singer – as he did in <em>X-Men</em> and <em>X2</em>- again strikes that right balance with the youth-oriented escapades and the heavier Magneto/Charles/Mystique material. Even an inelegantly cut-and-pasted section featuring a major cameo you can no doubt guess manages to succeed on pure energy despite being almost hilariously pointless.<br />
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Unfortunately, just as we’re pulled into the lives of these endearing individuals, the omnipresent threat of Apocalypse keeps rearing its head to suck the life out of the proceedings. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg (<em>Days of Future Past</em>, <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/01/the-bottom-5-worst-films-of-2015.html">Fantastic Four</a></em> 2015) never cracks the character and keeps falling back on repetitive lunk-headed dialogue that throws around weighty terms until its blue in the face (pun intended) without actually adding up to anything substantial or interesting. At one point a TV prominently shows an old <em>Star Trek</em> episode, where the Greek god Apollo is revealed to be an alien who was cast from Earth after humankind no longer needed divinity for inspiration, which appears to hint at the film’s thematic objective but yeegads did it dissipate into nothingness in the transition from conception to reality. So instead we’re left with way too many scenes of Isaac gasping, brooding and staring off into space before the big finale.<br />
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Alas, those crossing their fingers for a slam-bang payoff will be disappointed, as the third act is an insufferable disaster. Abandoning all attempts at creating an absorbing conflict, Singer stages a massive multi-mutant war that’s embarrassingly clumsy. Pity this film for opening so shortly after <em><a href="http://www.camvsmith.com/2016/05/film-review-captain-america-civil-war.html">Captain America: Civil War</a></em> because that smash hit’s unforgettable airport throwdown shows up <em>Apocalypse</em>’s Cairo-set climax six ways from Sunday. As the cast strikes silly poses and wages overly-gymnastic wire-fu combat in front of awful green-screen backdrops, in a sea of glitchy CG swirls and nonsense, it’s hard not to feel sorry for the hours of effort that went into pre-shoot training. The helmer, who actually exhibits technical competence earlier when staging a frenzied cage fight and another show-stopping Quicksilver sequence, bungles moment after moment and fails to grasp any understanding of geography or communicating the basic function of each character within the scene. God only knows what direction poor Michael Fassbender was operating under as he hung from a cable grimly visualizing the hokey 1s and 0s engulfing him.<br />
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A strange feature of these pictures has been their ongoing ability to attract stellar talent and then shirk from exploiting it to its fullest potential. McAvoy and Fassbender are again the MVPs, and perform the heavy lifting, yet <em>Apocalypse </em>doesn’t pay off their relationship with the fireworks it demands. Similarly, despite completing a hugely significant arc over three installments, the impact of Mystique’s journey is blunted by Lawrence’s drowsy “Get me outta here!” performance. Of the up-and-coming (read: cheaper) stars Smit-McPhee makes for a fantastically naïve and lovable Nightcrawler, while Turner and Sheridan are charismatic enough to dodge unkind comparisons to Famke Janssen and James Marsden. And, playing the infinitely entertaining Quicksilver, Peters has fast and confidently grown into the franchise’s most invaluable scene-stealer.<br />
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This being an X-Men film, though, there’s always a few mutants given frustrating short shrift, with Psylocke, Angel and Storm drawing dead this time around. If you’re not going to develop three of the Four Horsemen, why bother wasting so much time setting them up? Also, Rose Byrne, reprising her <em>First Class</em> Moira Mactaggert role, is a somewhat baffling addition who initially acts as an exposition machine before assuming the position of a glorified background extra once the world needs saving.<br />
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Despite Singer and company persistently hyping a seventh installment in this continuity, the stiff and awkward <em>Apocalypse</em> signals a desperate need for reinvention and new creative blood. Being the first of the superhero movie mega-properties, X-Men has earned its rightful place in cinema history and maintained an admirable consistency of vision, even when quality occasionally flagged. Yet with the unconventional <em>Deadpool</em>, and in-development <em>New Mutants</em>, aspiring to make the X-verse fresh and exciting again, these films have sadly lost their formerly unique luster. In short, these mutants need to evolve in order to truly thrive again.<br />
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<span style="color: #cfe2f3; font-size: large;">2 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35283519.post-14633256020935173122016-05-26T01:21:00.000-07:002016-05-26T15:04:15.064-07:00Film Review - NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">If nothing else, <em>Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising</em> deserves points for having noble intentions. Whereas 2014’s <em>Neighbors</em> used its riotous Yuppies vs Frat Brats premise to explore the dividing line between the recklessness of youth and grown-up responsibility, this second installment has its sights squarely set on the entrenched misogyny of college party culture and the necessity for gender equality. Very timely subject matter, to be sure, and there’s an admirable amount of anger and witty insight contained within the picture’s rat-a-tat joke structure. Alas, despite having its heart firmly in the right place, this second go-round’s laugh ratio is notably reduced from its predecessor, and the freshness has mostly leaked out.</span><br />
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Pardon me if I’m repeating myself, but comedy depends on surprise to succeed. Familiarity is the enemy, as the goal is to constantly catch the audience off guard. This is why so many sequels deliver weary diminished returns. For every <em>A Shot in the Dark</em>, <em>Clerks 2</em> or <em>22 Jump Street</em>, which expand and push the property into weird and unexpected places, there are a dozen lame recycle jobs like <em>The Hangover Part II</em>, <em>Horrible Bosses 2</em> or – God forbid all that is good and holy in the universe – <em>Caddyshack II</em>.<br />
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Ultimately,<em> Sorority Rising</em> lands somewhere in the safe, albeit unremarkable, middle ground; it at least offers some funny new gags and ideas. The film also benefits from having great established character dynamics to fall back on. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne continue to be an infectiously amusing on-screen couple, and they have big time chemistry with Zac Efron’s dim and directionless aging hellraiser. Throw in some shot-in-the-arm supporting parts for favorites Dave Franco, Ike Barinholtz and Carla Gallo and you’re at least guaranteed a pleasant enough time. Is that really enough to warrant the revisit, though?<br />
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When we’re reacquainted with Mac and Kelly Radner (Rogen and Byrne), they’re proud, if unrefined, parents on the verge of selling their infamous home. However, as the residence sits in escrow purgatory and the prospective buyers begin assessments, disgruntled college student Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz) flees the outdated and “rapey” atmosphere of her campus’s frat and sorority scene in order to establish her own female-friendly party house next door. Operating under the dubious mentorship of Efron’s developmentally arrested Teddy Sanders, the girls fast hurl the Radner’s quiet domestic lives into chaos. With their critical real estate transaction on the line, the married pair are forced back to the juvenile front lines once more against an even more resourceful and crafty foe.<br />
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Perhaps sensing the lingering threat of sequelitis, returning helmer Nicholas Stoller, who shares screenplay duties with four (!) other writers including Rogen, keeps the energy consistent throughout his picture's brief 92-minute runtime, never letting the occasional dud comic beat disrupt momentum. He also stages some impressively creative and effective setpieces, such as a massive tailgate-party-turned-marijuana-heist sequence (complete with shirtless Efron dance number, for those curious) and a repurposed emergency airbag bit, that nail their intended comedic targets and then some. Stoller doesn’t bring the technical panache of, say, <em>Hangover</em> auteur Todd Phillips, but he continues the strong streak of bouncy workmanlike efficiency he brought to memorable past crowd-pleasers <em>Forgetting Sarah Marshall</em>, <em>Get Him to the Greek</em> and, obviously, <em>Neighbors</em>.<br />
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Where Stoller and his team drop the ball, though, is with the new characters. One of the masterstrokes of the first film was creating an authentic connection between the opposing sides and then splintering it. It was fun to watch Rogen and Byrne battle their urge to rebel and be carefree again, and Efron had a compelling arc that ended on an unexpectedly touching resolution. The talented Moretz and her two sidekicks, Kiersey Clemons and Beanie Feldstein, bring everything they’ve got, yet the movie never fashions an interesting relationship between them and the Radners (imagine if the wonderful Byrne had been inspired by their “Girl Power!” call to arms, for example). Instead they’re narratively tied – through credulity-straining circumstances – to Efron’s Teddy and that somewhat unsettling bond just doesn’t gel. And a subplot thematically linking the rambunctious sorority with Mac and Kelly’s parental anxieties about their daughters feels a script pass or two away from working. Had these three actresses, who fight for their right to party with as much comic might as their male counterparts did, been given equally juicy material <em>Neighbors 2</em> might have been a more valuable endeavor!<br />
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Despite its likeable cast, positive messages and occasional glimmers of originality and wit, it’s tough to recommend making the effort to see <em>Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising</em> on the big screen. Back in the golden age of video stores, this would make for primo rental fodder; humorous and breezy enough to entertain, however not substantial enough to feel passionate about one way or another. It all just makes you wish Stoller and his game team of actors had scrapped the easy sequel route and instead dreamed up a new concept genuinely worth running wild and crazy with.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">2.5 out of 5</span>Cam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09945803927538760760noreply@blogger.com0