Her - Review

Strange looking back now that I thought Her looked like a disaster. That Joaquin Phoenix guy was fresh back from madness. The trailer was just odd. Why would anyone, ever, fall in love with a machine? Not even an android. Some little hipster iPhone of a thing. Nevertheless, I pride myself on watching all science-fiction movies so in I went.

The short story, here, is that Her is perfect in every single way. I mean that. Technically flawless. Masterfully told. I saw the film quite a while ago and was excited to review it until I actually sat down to do so. I found I didn’t want to break it down or talk about it. I just wanted to watch it again. I wanted everyone to just watch it. It speaks for itself better than I ever could.

The sole facet that bugged me at first was the wardrobe. I’d call it “hipster” but concede that’s a moving target. Beltless pants from the 70’s or 80’s. Pastel shirts. What it did in the end was make the future feel warm. Free to use Artificial Intelligence and not conjure images of 2001 or Blade Runner in the audience. Without a bloated special effects budget or LED lights glued to every surface, Her sold me on the idea this was a different Earth. My expectations for “normal” human behavior needed to be checked.

Which led right into a smooth introduction of the A.I., Samantha. I imagine, should one find themselves fortunate enough to have a conversation with Scarlett Johansson in bed, this is what she sounds like. Unguarded. She projects nothing. It is only compassion and sweetness. Objections or apprehensions to machine / human bonding are obliterated in scant words and a minute. It’s no longer “if” Theodore will fall in love with her but why is he’s still denying it. This is the first conversation. In which they exchange names. I was floored.

And I stayed right there for the entire movie. Captured? I went along with every movement, no matter how minor. Their relationship was real to me. It ebbed and flowed according to their desires and moods. I don’t see how anyone could turn in better performances. The whole cast. Far from being a silly concept, I thought this was the perfect scenario to explore so much of the modern relationship. Changes arise organically, without the need for external forces to force a choice on either party. There aren’t any tricks to the plot. Her is way too smart for that.

What’s most impressive is not that Her executed perfectly, but that it reached for something new. To be so confident in an off-kilter concept, to play itself out without concession to skeptics. Truly a beautiful project.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Review

Not even a comic book movie has any right to be as dumb as Guardians is. Had I watched the movie from Zoe Saldana’s lap I’d still complain about it. Yet, that doesn’t matter! The Marvel Fanatics have already, at 5pm Friday, made this some record breaking opening weekend. They don’t read reviews. The people who call this a Star Wars knock-off aren’t going to see it and aren’t reading reviews. For posterity?

Guardians is meant to expand the Marvel Universe. It seems all Marvel movies do anymore is expand. Setup a new “Phase” or character. Credit to those running the studio for seeing, correctly, it doesn’t matter what the plot is. Avengers featured ramping aliens coming through a portal and a nuke nearly going off over New York City. It was monstrously cliché. It was called the greatest superhero movie ever made.

The Guardians juggle a gem of cosmic power, at first for money then because it’s real strong. No, there isn’t anything more to explain than that. No, it’s not symbolic in any way. It’s purple. A big purple guy wants the purple gem so he sends this other, smaller but still pretty large, blue guy to retrieve it. The over anxious Marvel nerd, “talking” in a voice to fill the theater, can tell you why the blue guy is called Ronan the Accuser. Or what the hell a Kree is. But I will save you time and tell you it doesn’t matter.

Another keen insight on display here is that Villains Don’t Need To Have Any Character. Or development. They just need a big, monolithic, spaceship. Made of black stone. Thanos sits on a throne in a field of rocks! Subtle. Our Ronan kills someone within seconds of being introduced. That particular “subplot” is done and over right there. I understand these films are aimed to include children, but as a youngin’, I was quick to understand the dark figure in the dark room wearing dark makeup attended to by darkly robed minions, spouting some nonsense about “wrongs done” to no one, was meant to be the foil. The hammer is an apt choice for him.

The most starling moments of the film were when it ceased to represent any sort of fictional world. I didn’t see aliens, just people in full body paint. Dressed in some stupid costume. And everyone making a complete ass of themselves. Truthfully, I looked away during these moments of intense shame to spare the actor. It was embarrassing for me to be in the theater. To see a movie fall apart like that… Not even the worst of the worst summer blockbuster films have imploded like that. To be dumb not in the service of anything greater. But just to be dumb.

The action sequences were plain, sometimes seeming to be unrehearsed. It was odd, too, to see how little the environment was integrated into the pieces. Everything felt like it was shot in a green room. Just a big, empty, green room. There’s no weight to anything. No imagination given to any sequence. I wouldn’t be surprised if any particular shot was reskinned with X-Wings or whatever the hell else Disney wanted. I could see anyone doing everything the Guardians do.

I’m sure Guardians will be praised and remembered for its humor. This must have been the Funny Committee’s first foray into comedy. The approach is to bookend everything. Throw out a million quips or, if possible, have someone dance. A dumb slapstick moment (see any recent animated feature for examples) followed by a dry observational remark. Maybe two! I found having a ridiculous scene summarized immediately after it occurred with, max, five words, aggravating. The audience I saw it with ate everything up. Barely a flat joke. Chris Pratt did get me a few times despite the low ambition of each bit. If you find teenage boys hilarious, this movie will kill it for you.

I’m trying to understand the popular adjectives slapped on this travesty. “Weird”, “charming”, “unique”. If this is the first science-fiction movie you’ve ever seen, sure! Talking trees are going to blow your mind! Everything felt like a pulpy knock-off to me. It wanted to be B movie but conscious of the fact. It felt like a bastardization of a really great comic book. A 93% on Rotten Tomatoes? As a dumb summer action movie I’d rate Guardians Disappointing. As space-opera I’d call it Abysmal. This is pure Paint by Numbers, Studio drivel. Congratulations on your bajillion dollars. 

X-Men Days of Future Past - Review

The lead up to X-Men was exciting. Not only was there good buzz but this was going to be a reboot, a smart one at that, done inside the universe. Had someone brought intelligence to the X-Movies? Turns out, no. But this one is a lot of fun. Provided you never think of the scientific plausibility of any of it.

Happily, Days of Future Past impresses right out of the gate. FINALLY, it feels like the mutants are up against something that can actually kill them! The rhetoric has always been present but it has, in every instance, come down to mutant versus mutant ideology, played out with a few dissenting mutants versus the larger group.  Fit in or conqueror, be a mutant or don’t, are again played out in shallow form here (offering zero new ideas or arguments the other five movies haven’t used).

The game changer is the Sentinels. They provide real meaning and consequence for the first time in the series. It’s much less the gentlemanly debate and now, more, a mad scramble for survival. The visceral illustration of seeing a robot rip a mutant in half is a more engaging format than stuffy dialogue. A chaotic, crumbling, world fits the X-Men much better than the matching uniforms with one on one matches upon the open battlefield ever did.

This X-Movie is also more realistic on its number of character subplots. New mutants are shown with barely a name, much less the short vignette of past films. Others have howled about the criminal underuse of the series key supports in Days of Future Past. I get that. It was atrocious what they did to Kitty Pride and Bishop might as well not have been cast. I also understand financially and narratively this is Wolverine & Friends, not X-Men. Given the abysmal development of the leads thus far, I’ll applaud a tightening of the belt. I’d rather the X-Verse dig itself out of the hole it’s currently in than adorn the pit with cute branching tunnels.

I didn’t expect much from Quicksilver. His inclusion came late in casting, on top of a mountain of other mutants, and seemed “me too”, being the center of some studio vs. studio power play coming after Joss Whdeon expressed a lot of excitement in featuring the character in the upcoming Avengers 2. Wouldn’t you know, he turns out to be the most fun? In one scene he embodies what I’ve wanted from the series since the beginning. Play with the super powers. Have fun with how these people mock the limits of human ability.

The action, otherwise, seesaws between the incredible and the campy. How many times am I going to watch Magneto vibrate every object in the room for a full minute before he throws something dumb, like a clock, at somebody? His use of a couple ball bearings is a way more fun, interesting, expression of his mastery. Beast jumping through the air? You might as well not have erased the wires for how obvious they still feel. Then we’ll be treated to Colossus supermaning through portals to slam into Sentinels. The unevenness of it strikes me as lazy rather than incompetent. Good ideas are clearly there.

Setting up Mystique as a force unto herself was another one of those good ideas. Ok, her fighting? Let’s stop being critical for a sec. Her fighting is so god damn cool. Matches perfect the style used in X1 through 3. The wild, frenetic, strikes are too fluid for my brain to keep up with. I’d be one of those slack-jawed guards who’s still wondering, after he hits the ground, how her heel got to be there.

The fact that Mystique is the only person concerned with continuity from First Class just makes her even more likeable. While everyone else is droning on about the morality of This and the historical lessons from That, she’s the real, living, center of the film. The grounded perspective. Really, the only person I care about. I’m curious what happens to the other mutants but their journey to philosophical pillar of the universe isn’t why I look forward to the next scene.

Or the next movie. I don’t have a comprehensive spreadsheet for this stuff, but by my count, Days of Future Past fixed all the problems that X3 and Wolverine Origins left. Bravo. It did the smart thing by deviating from established comic book canon, too.

I wish it could get some fresh blood behind the camera. That would really excite me. All the actors are dynamite. Don’t touch a single one of them. But they deserve better. Don’t tell me this is Jennifer Lawrence’s best work. Don’t say Hugh Jackman couldn’t bring a whole lot more to the character. (Ect) They need someone who doesn’t plop the whole franchise on their back. After six X-Films, I think they, and the audience, are owed a little more respect.

The Wolverine

I don’t think of Wolverine in terms of how the story played out or how the action came across; I was captivated by how the film imparts the essence of Wolverine to the audience. It has only intermittently come through in other X-Men films. Wolverine is crassly characterized as a rough, violent, man with a short temper. Sure, he pops his claws here, but now it isn’t fetishized. The camera doesn’t zoom-in and follow the claws around while Jackman screams in the background. I think that’s a superficial understanding of the character. More compelling, richer, and more rewarding is the idea that Wolverine represents the apex of fearlessness, confidence, is an utterly self-reliant individual. It’s what makes me excited to see Wolverine doing things other than gutting a faceless thug in half a second.

The scene I keep coming back to and replaying in my mind (doesn’t spoil anything) is where Logan is trekking back into town from the forest with a giant bear keeping pace with him. To read all the details of scene you have to keep swapping perspectives until the two characters are indistinguishable. It’s not a simple statement that Logan is as strong as a bear and cows them with his presence. It’s that they share the same instincts; knowing the bear is assessing Logan and reading that he’s doing the same off Jackman’s face. Seeing how relaxed Logan is in this element, mirroring the naturalness of a bear in a forest. Wolverine is fantastic because it allows moments like this. It isn’t fate of the world crap all the time.

The action itself was too disinterested in showcasing Logan’s talent. The stabbing is always just out of frame. Maybe that’s so the film isn’t just a montage of people getting skewered. Maybe that footage is being saved for the, rumored, R Rated cut to be included on the DVD. I’ve always felt the brutality of Wolverine, quite apart from most other members of the Marvel Universe, distinguished him as someone more grounded, realistic even. Whereas other characters could spout off their moral qualifications and get away with a tame, kid friendly, blast of energy to defeat a foe, Logan had to be intimate. He doesn’t have the option of hiding behind powers. He’s forced to sees their face, feel their bodies give way beneath his claws, to know exactly how they died when he cuts them, ect. That’s the rationale behind the gruff attitude. He’s earned it. The absence hurts the overall understanding of who Wolverine is.

Viper was sensational. Sauntering back and forth between vulnerable and powerful with perfect confidence. Her powers cross from cool to creepy / gross with similar grace. She is assuredly evil, but isn’t comfortably so. At times it’s hard to consolidate her outlandish attire with the tone and setting of the narrative but if she wants to be a crazy, flamboyant, mutant than I’ll let her have it.

Yukio (the one sent to find Logan) has a silly introduction but gets a rebirth in Japan. She, thankfully, doesn’t try to play a “me too” Wolverine, or act as the comic foil to Logan’s acclamation. Wolverine is so good at letting characters just be themselves. Yukio’s character gradually unfolds. I can’t say exactly when or why but after a while I started missing her. She always brought her own something to a scene. It seems an impossible position to manage being Wolverine’s sidekick but she went beyond by fighting for and winning a partnership with him.

Mariko (the love interest) breaths a lot of life into simple gestures. That’s how she supported the quieter moments of the film. It balloons the limited time she and Logan have together into feeling like an honest piece of life.

Logan’s mutation is too often thought of as a commodity. It isn’t helped when Logan sees his berserker self as somehow implanted. As though there is a Weapon X stored in his body. Able to be healed, cured, or removed. No. Logan is Weapon X. That is a legitimate part of Wolverine’s character arc, though. But there can’t be an actual machine to suck the mutation out of Wolverine. Genetics doesn’t work like that. The plot throwing that out in all seriousness just renders an antiquated quality to the proceedings.

It will sound like a backhanded compliment but I’ll say it anyway: except for the story and action, Wolverine was a good movie, almost a great one.  It survives on excellent characters not being preoccupied with the weaker elements of the film.

Thrice Did The Siren Sing

BRAVE

Take all the essential elements of a Disney film, boil them down to their most basic, boring, dull, then string them along in predictable fashion.

At least Pixar still does animation well.

The Pixar that I first liked was a much subtler beast. The stories were private ones, shared secrets between friends. Cute little oddball ones about talking toys and lost fish. Now Pixar feels like a lumbering giant. Blind. Striking at the most obvious nerves of sentimental connection. They have removed themselves from my company and have taken it upon themselves to lecture me. About all sorts of shit I already know. That’s what makes their current work so galling. Such a betrayal.

You’ve changed Pixar. And I don’t like it.

EXPENDABLES

What the fuck was that? Sly? You’re my boy. I have your back. All these young bloods talk shit about your action movies. Saying how they’re dumb, with bad stunts, and throw away stories.

You just proved right every bad thing ever said about you. Hey though, nice work with all those blood gags. That’s the nicest thing I can say about Expendables 2.

I just… Why? Why did you do that? That film showed a gross lack of respect for yourself, the work you do, the stellar fucking dudes you had in that travesty, and me. But don’t worry about me. I’m embarrassed for you guys.

You don’t have to say “sorry”. Just tell me you won’t ever do that again.

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

We must weep! Out there, someone had a great idea for a movie. They must have gotten too excited about their idea because they told. Told the wrong person. That person, that twat, hollowed out that idea, ruined it. And we got Snow White And The Huntsman. This being the third film of the day, I started to wonder…

Remember when dialogue in movies wasn’t throw away? When you’d remember it?

Remember when the action in movies was exciting? And you’d always imagine yourself doing it like they did?

Remember when the characters in movies were likeable? People you’d love to know more about?

Remember when movies were good?

The American - Movie Discusion

The American kept me in the dark, never giving an explanation for what exactly what was going on. For the most part that's fun. I felt like a genius detective, dissecting each conversation and action to find what this story is about. The story itself isn't so complex that the lack of exposition hurts it. Actually, I would have liked a more complex story, or a new twist. It's impossible for me to tell if it's my fault my fault or the story's. Perhaps I didn't dig deep enough or I lack some crucial experience that is the key stone to identifying and understanding the main character (Jack, George Clooney). Though the story did drag for a while and I could only read so much and so many times into a man drinking espresso.

I think it boiled down to an assassin being lonely. Though I'm leery of calling Jack an assassin as he just makes the gun for his client. But in the opening scene he was quite skilled with his pistol, so he doesn't completely lack a body count. I wondered why assassins have to socially estranged. During the numerous quiet scenes in the film, one is free to pursue all manner of stray questions. Jack is told by his handler (I thought he was) that he should never have friends. Sure sure, he could be found out and arrested, or few people would be comfortable knowing an assassin but maybe there's a way. And then the film shows that way when Jack becomes friends with a prostitute; Clara. And despite their respective backgrounds the relationship is pretty normal if hesitant. Understandable. This is the part that's the most fun to watch. Jack seems like an awkward loner going after the gorgeous woman. Neither talks about what their "career" is and expect the other not to ask. Perfect, it puts them on equal footing but with that thought constantly at the back of one's mind it adds a spice to the courting. These two honest-to-god interesting people getting to know each other. Not the 2-D fashion slaves that comprise the totality of romance movies. Good people. By films end I saw prostitution and assassination as just another job, and was upset everyone (real world and their world) discriminated against them. In fact, I'd be happy to know either or both and count myself fortunate for the experience. Of course it helped that Jack only killed in self-defense and only made the weapon, and also that Clara was gorgeous and didn't engage in raunchy, anything goes anywhere sex. Everything was kept very classy. Easy to get lost in a world where even the "deplorables" are decent people.

But I was left unsatisfied by film's end. It was enjoyable and thought provoking but not to any especially strong degree. It does drag in places. But I don't regret seeing it. I'm not sure if the length if important in creating the right tone and influencing the mind-set of the audience but a shorter film would make me think much better of it. It's one of those stories where your own frustration with it seems to be what it wants from you, to turn that around and say "now you are the main character". Can't help but applaud when one is manipulated so well.

The Social Network - Movie Discussion

The Social Network was incredible. Every scene, every character, was excellent.

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg deserves the most discussion here so let me get to it. My understanding of Zuckerberg prior to the movie was colored by pundits covering big Facebook stories (‘Zuckerberg says privacy is dead’) and the reaction after Social Network was made (That Zuckerberg says it wasn’t true while everyone else said it was). Regardless of all that, I loved Mark Zuckerberg. So focused, so spiteful, yet with such obvious vulnerability. The intensity of his focus is what gives him such a bad name I think. But it was so honest! I mean honest in that he never hid how entirely self-centered he was. It’s obvious he used his friend (Eduardo Saverin) for money. He never pretended to care about the same friend getting into the Phoenix Final Club. A fault seems not be to anymore when the person is open about it, after that it’s up to others how they deal with it. I just love a person / character who knows what they want and goes get it. No nonsense, no compromise. Anyone who tried to stop him, he insulted before paying them to get lost and shut-up. Some of the best scenes are Zuckerberg fearlessly starring down a team of lawyers, telling his own to quiet down, then breaks down the situation, how it’s going to work, what everyone is thinking. That’s a confident man in full control. And the little touches in the scene too! The notepad he’s writing on for the whole meeting, casually flips it up and everyone sees he’s just been doodling. I pumped my fist there. Give it to the fucking man Mark.

Which is how I would categorize the film. The founding of Facebook, sure. But also it’s this new generation coming up, not wanting to slip into the established order, but (one) create the world as they want it. Whether that be a crazy party house in Palo Alto and or reconfiguring the nature of social interaction. But (two) also to defend themselves from ruthless theft of ideas and make sure they as people aren’t discarded. As a creative person constantly worrying about such, worrying about “breaking into the industry”, this movie is heaven. Like a Revenge film. All the people I can’t stand (or will grow to loathe) getting a verbal and financial beating. Embarrassed first. Then slammed. How is Zuckerberg hated? He’s a hero for the new / next generation of people. Look at the Winklevoss twins. Trying to go through the proper channels, getting the older generation (I supposed those in power would be synonymous with older generation) to fight the battle for them. They failed because of it. Nobody cared about them. That older generation just wanted to rob and sell the idea, whoever had it / got it / stole it. As an aside, the Winklevoss twins were hilarious. “I’m six-five, two hundred and twenty pounds, and there are two of me”. Thank you I love you. The morale is if you want it, take it.

Sean Parker was the cautionary tale. Willing to help a fellow young blood and eager for payback. Again, I don’t know how people don’t like him. He made music free. Hero. He’s seen this minefield the older generation has laid out. All the tricks they have and what they think. How they have constructed all the systems of finance and intellectual property to take. He knows they literally have to take on the world. Maybe it’s a statement on Zuckerberg or on the state of the world, but Zuckerberg was already wary of how to proceed with Facebook. Was it only because he didn’t trust anyone? It strikes me as common sense not to trust anybody in business. Brutal world. Justin Timberlake was perfectly cast for the role, with his real life celebrity persona just bleeding a little bit into his character to give him instant notoriety and insider information. So well played.

I misunderstood the ending, at first, for my benefit. I thought Zuckerberg was trying to friend the lawyer woman (who just left). And I thought ‘what a message’. To say despite all Zuckerberg has achieved and been through, that face-to-face poor Mark was still ill equipped to handle a relationship with someone he could care for. But it was also saying that he has changed how personal relationships are handled. His constant refreshing wasn’t pathetic but realistic for how often people check their Facebook page. That the first thing that anyone would do after work or after anything is check their page. The actual ending stirred similar thoughts. Just with a little added detail that even though Erica Albright knew Zuckerberg build Facebook and still didn’t like him, she still had a page. Facebook is inescapable. Facebook is necessary. It’s a pillar of modern social life. I was sympathetic to Zuckerberg’s longing but not especially keen on him attaining his desire. As happy as I was to see him assert his personality completely and honestly I recognize it’s not an entirely agreeable one, and so, as far as fights that are not generational, I’m not very invested in the outcome.

Moon - Movie Review

Moon will possess just enough of your interest to keep you until the end. The whole plot can be summed up quickly [SPOILERS]: A corporation named Lunar, in order to reduce labor costs, clones an employee to run their moon base. Here’s the twist: the clone (the main character) doesn’t know he’s a clone. But when he finds out there is no big meltdown or rage at the morals of corporations or Science or anything. The clones accept it. The go back to work. Really rational and mature of them. I don’t want hysterics but I was a little curious about the how and why of the cloning and just wished the clones were too. Skipping the how and why of plot, the final score is one clone dies (three year life span), one stays on base to run it, and one goes to Earth where the film ends implying some controversy with clones on Earth. That might be interesting.  [END SPOILERS]

What keeps the interest are the obvious homages to the great science fiction films of the 70’s and 80’s. The director cites 2001 and Alien among others in a QA feature on the disk. You know the elements, the robotic helper that is programmed to “save” the crew, the seemingly quiet base located nowhere near anything, the lack of talking, the clear signs of over-stress. Moon just creates these homages empty, not filling in a story.

Moons central science fiction elements are the clones and cloning in the service of lower labor costs. Sterile. But more offensive is that the film doesn’t explore the science or effects of cloning, only gives a surface examination of the psychological effects, and none of the social or political ramifications. That’s why I watch science fiction. Ask an intriguing “what if?” question, then honestly see where it goes. Moon doesn’t even offer a close character study. The clones get over the confusion of there being clones pretty easily, and only refuse to let go of a desire to see the family they know isn’t theirs. Which, what, reinforces the power of love and need for connection? That’d be worse than the nothing. The film does and says nothing.

RED - Movie Review

Red, with Bruce Willis. How can you not love Bruce Willis? Bruce Willis killing people. How can you not love Bruce Willis killing people? He does it so well. But expectations don’t go very well with this movie. It’s solid.

It’s just… When all these great actors / actresses get together, one expects a stand-out film. With everyone building off each other, playing off each other, operating at the top of their game. Here, everyone’s solid. Can’t complain. But I wanted a special movie. Everyone’s in their own bubble and rarely do they interact with each other in a meaningful way. Maybe its respect, everyone giving everyone room to do their thing. But nobody builds or plays off anyone. Marvin Boggs(John Malkovich) as a character demands it. Can’t let someone be crazy all by themselves. Then it’s just weird. It feels like he steps up, does his joke, then sits back down. Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simanov (Brain Cox) have a little banter, over there by themselves, but I don’t remember any lines. Sara Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) does the typical “why am I here?” thing. Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman) is a guy. He does things. Yeah, nothing special. Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has a few very good action scenes then plays normal guy. I don’t have any interest in normal guy. I’d like a character.

I think it comes down to Red being a loose movie. It’s not over-the-top and it’s not serious. It’s in the middle. Potential plot holes are smoothed over with charm and a “just don’t think about it, not important to what’s going on”. Action doesn’t always make sense as far as why it’s happening. What it needed was a stronger reason to exist. Really sell that old versus young theme. Because I’m with them! Loved it when they called Cooper’s (Carl Urban) haircut cute. Loved the old guy (Ernest Borgnine) who was in charge of the C.I.A.’s records just letting Frank take whatever he wanted. Great guy. Just wish they shot young cute guys the whole movie. Wish Malkovich set a Hollywood record for most guns used. More of Victoria telling Sara that if she breaks Frank’s heart she’ll kill her. And Morgan Freeman having a running commentary throughout the whole damn movie. Picking people apart, tons of that wonderful dry humor. That alone would make this movie incredible.


Still. Fun. Just got me wishing for more or a stronger showing.