Steve Jobs Review

It's unfortunate that no one gives enough of a shit about me to watch a film about my life, because if my mundane existence could result in box office gold, I would want Aaron Sorkin to write the screenplay. The guy is just so gifted with dialogue.

When The Social Network was released, I recall talking to people who seemed baffled why anyone would want to watch a movie about the guy who started Facebook. "Who cares?" they said, with no interest in wasting two hours of their lives on the story of Mark Zuckerberg. Over five years after the release of that film, it stands as one of my ten favorites of all time. Why? Well, to be fair, plenty of reasons working together harmoniously, but without the words of Sorkin still bouncing through my mind after all this time it wouldn't be the masterpiece that it is.

The same thing happened with Steve Jobs, although in this case I think the problem isn't solely a lack of interest in the subject. This time it has a lot to do with that feeling of redundancy since just two years earlier the film Jobs was released with Ashton Kutcher playing the lead role, and that picture was received very poorly. So when acclaimed filmmaker Danny Boyle decided to take on the story and try to craft something far more extraordinary, which Jobs posthumously deserves considering how iconic of a figure he has become over time, I think people shrugged and figured they had already seen it done and it wasn't very good. Why do it again?

Well, I can give you a few reasons why. The tight, confident direction of Boyle. The incredible lead performance from Michael Fassbender who has become one of the finest actors working today. The excellent supporting work from Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterson that, along with Fassbender, deliver the terrifically written words with perfection.

Those words are it though. Those are the key. Sorkin did it again. 

Prior to watching this film, I already knew the whole story of Steve Jobs. I knew he was a genius who along with his partners helped change our world forever. I knew he was flawed as all of us are, a man who rubbed many the wrong way and even hurt those closest to him during his rocky and fascinating career. I didn't really care if what I was witnessing didn't serve as any sort of informational revelation for me, nor did I care if the script took liberties with his life in order to tell the smoothest and most compelling story. Showing an exact replication of these events is far less important than doing what is necessary to capture the essence of who he was and why we should give a shit. 

Thanks to Boyle, Sorkin, Fassbender, and everyone else involved in the production of this film, along with Steve Jobs himself, I gave a shit for two straight hours. I find so many films like this to be stale and familiar, but when Sorkin pens them I end up devouring every word and wishing I could have seconds. The decision to focus on three separate product launches and what was happening in his life at those times was such a wonderful way to break free of what so often plagues the straightforward, predictable storytelling of a traditional biopic. 

You may think you don't give a shit about another Steve Jobs story, but see it anyways. You may be surprised by how great it is. 

4.5/5

The Duke of Burgundy Review

Who knew the sexiest, most erotic piece of cinema this year would revolve around a character that studies butterflies and moths for a living? 

Sort of like Fifty Shades of Grey except utterly spellbinding and engrossing rather than awful, The Duke of Burgundy is a gorgeous film that flows with elegance and ease despite being about very little and involving punishment as a means to achieve sexual pleasure. The story revolves around two women, Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna) and Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen). Evelyn works as a maid in the home of Cynthia and when the cleaning does not meet her standards, punishment ensues.

A lesbian romance involving bondage gear taking place in a lush setting manages to feel humorous when you consider the rather mundane circumstances that would lead to their sexual satisfaction. Evelyn eventually seems to be scripting out these situations to the point that you can feel the boredom seeping out of Cynthia, but she obliges anyways because she can still see the thrill in her lovers eyes. My words cannot adequately express just how fascinating it is to see a couple attempt to achieve intimacy by one locking the other in a large trunk at night, only for each to then sleep alone. 

Directed by Peter Strickland, The Duke of Burgundy truly soars because of its aesthetic and the hauntingly brilliant imagery that brings some delicious artistry to a seemingly simple work, in regards to the surface narrative at least. Also, none of this works without a fantastic pair of performances from the leads and that is exactly what we get, as no matter how unusual or unsettling their relationship gets, it never feels phony or just trying to push an envelope for shock value. Regardless of what you may consider to be normal or abnormal, sexually speaking, we witness both passion and disconnect, pain and pleasure, sadness and sensuality and it always feels honest and believable, even at its most absurd.

A sublime combination of my ideal teenage dream and a swarming insect nightmare, I could bathe in The Duke of Burgundy again right now. With our current landscape of television and mainstream film seeming to make attempts at pushing sexual boundaries as a means to shock and titillate with little to no storytelling value, it's so refreshing to see eroticism utilized so effectively in such a meaningful way. 

4.5/5

Sicario Review

Eleven times. Roger Deakins has been nominated for the cinematography Oscar eleven times and is yet to win. Through his brilliant lens we have seen Andy Dufresne experience freedom in the rain. The pure evil of Anton Chigurh lurking in the shadows. A neon glow illuminating James Bond in Shanghai. The flashing lights of a squad car ominously cast over the windows of a suspicious motorhome. Eleven times and nothing to show for it. 

It isn't that Deakins always fills our eyes with images of pure beauty that make us feel like we are speaking to God through his photography (think Lubezki's work on The Tree of Life). It's not his job to make every color pop and every frame sizzle with electricity. It's to shoot what best suits the material, and Sicario is a perfect example of how perfection doesn't always have to be perfect. The gritty textures of the sets, the way the dust lingers in the air. The spectacular night vision sequence or the way light (or the lack of) makes an already claustrophobic setting feel even tighter and more terrifying. 

I have no idea if Sicario will be Deakins first Oscar win. Sadly I doubt it. Eventually, though, the man needs to hold the damn trophy. His work is breathtaking because of how it functions as almost a vital character that makes the story go. It's very talented people like Deakins that make good films great.

Another one of those really talented people is director Denis Villeneuve, a man who is not only yet to make a bad film, he is yet to make even just a good one. The brilliant craft of a horrifying truth in Polytechnique. The balance of a culture rooted in hatred yet a relationship rooted in love in Incendies. The anguish of missing children and just how far a parent will go to bring them back in Prisoners. The mind melting intrigue of a man who spots his exact twin in a film during Enemy, and now Sicario. A drug cartel action thriller bursting at the seams with tension, a film so unnerving it literally ended up being an edge of your seat experience as with each passing minute I leaned in a bit more. I became more immersed, my mind racing to figure out what might happen next. My body twitching as each bullet explodes from its chamber.

Throughout his career thus far, every stroke of the brush by Villeneuve has made me swoon. I might be guilty of getting too worked up by a hot new filmmaker impressing me once, only to end up recognizing his limitations going forward, but what we have here is five feature films and five home runs. I don't need a cast or a plot synopsis or a trailer to convince me to see the next Villeneuve film. Just tell me when and where and I will be there, expecting nothing short of extraordinary.

Sicario tells the story of an FBI agent named Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) who is hand picked to join a government task force lead by a man named Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). They have been assigned the difficult and ultra dangerous job of bringing down a Mexican drug lord named Manuel Diaz. Along with Matt's mysterious partner Alejandro Gillick (Benecio del Toro), their first stop is Juarez, Mexico, and the brutality of that region is on full display, including a masterfully filmed sequence involving their caravan of SUV's getting stuck in a traffic jam, with any car around them potentially filled with men armed and ready to kill.

The screenplay from Taylor Sheridan wastes very little time with exposition, instead always moving forward and living in the present rather than the past. We find out some backstory of characters but it is handled swiftly, only painting the picture we need without overdoing it and thus the film never drags. It's a tight and focused script that suits the amazing visceral experience from Villeneuve and Deakins, and all mixed together it makes one of the best films of 2015.

The message of Sicario is a simple but important one, and it is the answer to the following question: who is winning the drug war? What Sheridan and Villeneuve are portraying is the truthful answer. No one is winning and no one will win. The drugs and cash are still flowing and the bodies are still piling up no matter how many hours are put in by the authorities trying to stop it, and the only hope we have is to contain the problem rather than eliminate it.

"You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is the land of wolves now."

A tense, exhausting cinematic experience that you absolutely need to see. Sicario is outstanding.

5/5

When Marnie Was There Review

On Sunday, September 1st 2013, the legendary genius Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement from filmmaking. Now 75 years old, we obviously knew this time would come eventually. As a huge fan of his though, it still hurt. Anticipating a new work by Miyazaki was one of those things I took for granted, like he would always be there to give me a brand new warm cinematic hug every few years. 

Miyazaki was the rock star face of the operation, but Studio Ghibli still released some absolutely brilliant films by others, including some of my favorites like Grave of the Fireflies and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya from Isao Takahata and The Secret World of Arrietty from Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Not to worry then. Even without the master, Ghibli lives on!

Or maybe not...

On August 3rd, 2014, the studio announced they were halting production entirely. They used the word "temporarily", but it's hard not to fear that the doors will remain closed. 

So it is possible that their final film has been released already. That film is When Marnie Was There, and as I sat down to give this one a spin I couldn't help but wonder, what if the last work Ghibli ever puts out is a disappointment? Sure, we will always have the classics, the films that fill me with wonder and have a way of striking an emotional chord in me that most modern animated work cannot, but I really wanted to feel that magic again.

Shame on me, really. I should have never been worried at all. When Marnie Was There is another hand drawn beauty from a studio that has created so much essential cinema over the years. The story is of a 12 year old girl named Anna who is struggling with some emotional pain over elements of her past that hurt her deeply, and after an asthma attack brings her down while at her school her mother decides to send her to stay with some family in a picturesque seaside town for the summer to get away from it all.

Shortly after arriving in this rural town Anna spots a mansion across a marsh and after going over to investigate it, she discovers it is abandoned. That night she dreams of a beautiful young girl living inside that mansion, sitting quietly as an old woman brushes her hair. Only then does Anna realize that the home may not be abandoned after all. 

As expected from a Ghibli effort, When Marnie Was There features wonderfully layered characters dealing with actual emotions, as it is clear there is a darkness that haunts Anna and it can be quite jarring yet honest to hear a 12 year old loudly declare her hatred for herself when the memories consume her. She never felt loved or wanted or important or pretty until she meets Marnie, and their friendship is both a fascinating puzzle to piece together and a warm and inviting relationship that is easy to root for. Beautiful to look at as well as in its ability to tell a complex yet accessible story, especially considering how well it appeals to people of all ages like most Ghibli work (kids, don't watch Grave of the Fireflies), this film is another treasure by the masters of animation.

I want the studio to come roaring back with more gorgeous films like this and I selfishly want Miyazaki to change his mind and craft one or two more masterful films as well, but if this really is it for Ghibli, what a brilliant run it was. When Marnie Was There may never be considered a masterpiece like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, but it still should stand proudly along side all of their other wonderful achievements. 

4.5/5

The Hateful Eight Review

You can tell how much I love a Quentin Tarantino film by the size of the smile plastered across my face throughout. When the man is at the top of his game in regards to inventive set pieces, bold ideas and ingeniously clever dialogue, I can't stop grinning. Even though the end results are grotesque, the moment during Reservoir Dogs when Mr. Blonde turns on K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70's and "Stuck in the Middle with You" comes blasting out of the speakers, I am filled with glee. Pulp Fiction is an absolute masterpiece of cinema and pretty much every scene is perfect, but I can't go a week without randomly saying "Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead.". The opening scene of Inglourious Basterds is so insanely incredible, a masterclass of building tension through dialogue and performance art, and the basement bar sequence is executed so wonderfully it is difficult to believe.

Quentin Tarantino. So many great films. So many smiles. 

With the release of his 8th feature, appropriately titled The Hateful Eight, I had no idea what to expect. I had caught wind of the good, as many people had labeled it yet another masterpiece. Then there was the bad, those who find his act tired and frankly can't understand the praise that gets tossed in his direction. Finally, the ugly, as quite a few people including a friend of mine literally booed the screen after the final frame disappeared. I love work that polarizes because the opportunity to walk into a theater knowing the rather thin line between admiration and abhorrence is in play. What side would I fall on?

Strangely, I am disappointed to say....neither.

The Hateful Eight is neither a masterpiece nor is it a shameful failure. The performances are on point for a Tarantino script, delivering lines with the darkly comedic timing and enthusiasm necessary to make the song of his desired tone sing. The score by the legendary Ennio Morricone is wonderful and fits the deliciously sinister vibe of the picture like a glove, but I found myself troubled by how seemingly underused it was as such long stretches of the movie are carried only by dialogue and nothing else. The cinematography is gorgeous during the outdoor sequences, but I can't be the only person who finds it odd that a film advertised to be seen on the biggest screen imaginable ends up playing far more like a stage play than a spectacle as a vast majority takes place inside a single location. The scope of the picture managed to feel occasionally huge but far more often limited, and as much as I did eat up the concept of a disturbing and claustrophobic game of whodunit I guess I just hoped for a bit more. 

The part that troubles me more than anything in the end is that I really wasn't smiling very often during The Hateful Eight. Nor was I cringing. I was just watching and in the end I have trouble believing that much of what I saw will stick long term. The dialogue featured the unique to Tarantino wit, but none of it felt like it was destined to be iconic like the stuff he used to write. The violence is as gruesome and brutal as advertised but all of the death sort of felt worthy of a shrug of the shoulders rather than any sort of big reaction one way or the other. Heads exploding and blood vomiting and bullets shredding through bodies and yet my reaction to everything I was seeing was pretty much ho hum.

I know I am painting a pretty grim picture but the truth is, The Hateful Eight is a good film. It just isn't a great one. The performance of Walton Goggins is inspired, and if that name means nothing to you then that means you didn't watch the fantastic television series Justified and you should change that. Goggins often times stole the show on that program and he without does again here. If he opened his mouth, whatever he said was probably my favorite piece of that moments puzzle. A big twist moment that takes place later in the film is really well done and adds, ahem, another layer to the story, but I wasn't nearly as impressed as I should have been because I kept thinking about how Tarantino pulled the exact same move during that essential first 20 minutes of Basterds as well, only even better then. 

That's just it really. Had The Hateful Eight been one of the first few films ever released by Tarantino I would probably be over the moon about it, but at this point perhaps his style is just started to show a bit of wear and tear with my sensibilities. Even when this movie was at it's best, I felt like I had already seen something similar and my mind would wander to those works rather than stay focused to the new tale he is telling. No ears cut off, no Vincent and Jules banter and nothing close to Shosanna's jewish vengeance.

The Hateful Eight is a good film that feels destined to live in the shadows of greatness. 

3.5/5

Room Review

The isolation. The claustrophobia. The circumstances. Room is a horrifying yet completely gorgeous film experience, one that was enhanced because of my lack of knowledge regarding, well, anything. I literally knew nothing beyond that it had something to do with a young woman, a child and a room. I didn't know who they were or why they were in the room. I honestly didn't even know if the tone of the film would be optimistic in nature or filled with anguish and pain, and the answer to that turned out to be, a lot of both.

Room strikes a sublime balance between a warm heart and a gut punch, and I experienced both frequently throughout. The driving force behind the movie is the performance of Brie Larson, one that will almost certainly receive the recognition it deserves; an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actress. She is astonishing as a woman raising a child in less than ideal circumstances, a human being that is often times on the brink of total mental collapse and absolutely no one could blame her for this. 

The supporting performance from child actor Jacob Tremblay is also beyond admirable, but the Jack character provided the only hiccup for me during an otherwise overwhelming and inspiring piece of cinema. The boy is 5 and has had a very unfortunate childhood to say the least, and I found some of his dialogue to be a tad tough to swallow because it felt a bit contrived, written oh so perfectly to make your heart melt rather than just allow it to happen with words that felt more authentic. It isn't an issue throughout and it doesn't even come close to ruining a great film, but the fact that a few times I felt like I was being manipulated to care ended up being enough to stop Room from being one of the masterpieces of 2015. That's okay though. Being a great, emotionally draining and touching movie isn't so bad in the end. 

Room made me want to go outside and lay in the grass and look up at the sky for a bit. Appreciate the wonder above and recognize that we all take our opportunity to do that for granted, to see the clouds or the stars or the sun or the moon and remind ourselves how big and beautiful the world can be. 

4.5/5

10 Worst Films of 2015

2015 was a wonderful year for cinema and I still have so many potentially great films to see before I put out my best of the year list. It's impossible for me to catch up with all the award worthy work released so late in the year by the beginning of the new year, so typically sometime in February the top 50 of the year will be rolled out.

The worst though...I can only hope I am done with that. If anything I watch over the next few weeks actually ends up being a bigger disaster than the ten films listed here, I will be severely disappointed.

So I can comfortably say, here are the ten worst films of 2015:

10. Poltergeist

It's essentially the exact same movie as the original, only bad this time. Really, really bad. Across the board bad. Frankly, I don't really remember anything good about it. Even as a Sam Rockwell fan, I've got nothing. A waste of time and money, people seem to get offended when a remake makes changes, I get offended when it doesn't change enough. Why watch the same movie, only made worse? Give me something to make it a memorable experience or else it is just a lazy attempt at using the title to make some fast cash. 

9. Monsters: Dark Continent

I loved the original Monsters so much. The sequel? A terrible follow up completely lacking the thematic subtlety of the original, taking the idea of the "monsters" occupying the Mexico - U.S. border and moving it to the Middle East. Soldiers celebrating destroying those "monsters"? Painfully on the nose. Just a seen it all before war film with some giant creatures tossed in.

8. Chappie

I can barely remember 2009 and the reaction I had to District 9. Perhaps I need to revisit it soon to remind myself of the potential I saw in Neill Blomkamp. Actually, it was beyond just potential: I was so damn excited. I thought for sure we were witnessing a truly exciting new voice in science fiction cinema, the type of director that you wouldn't even need to watch a trailer to buy a ticket to his next work. The name alone would suffice.

Elysium wasn't very good, but it all hit a new, awful low with Chappie, a film so tonally strange and awkwardly unlikable that it's hard to put into words what the experience of witnessing it was like. I would love to believe that Blomkamp will wow me again someday and renew my faith in his vision, but right now it's impossible now to consider the man a one hit wonder. 

7. The Wedding Ringer

Ah, what a way to start the year. I can only hope 2016 gets off to a better start than 2015. See, The Wedding Ringer was the first film I saw in 2015, which is a shame. The reason it is ranked here rather than farther down the list, when things go from ugly to embarrassing, is because it is merely bad rather than offensively bad. This movie didn't do anything memorable. It's just painfully unfunny and features a performance from Kaley Cuoco that makes me sincerely question whether she just phoned it in here for a paycheck or if she has zero talent at all. It was like she was reading all of her lines off a cue card just to the side of the camera.

6. The Cobbler

Fun fact: this is not the worst Adam Sandler driven film on this list, and I didn't even watch that The Ridiculous Six thing on Netflix over fear of a bottom ten riddled with redundancy. 

Another fun fact: the director of this film is Thomas McCarthy, who previously crafted The Station Agent, which is a wonderful movie, and may have made the film that wins Best Picture this year with Spotlight. Given this information, I don't know how The Cobbler happened. I don't want to know, actually. I will just try to forget about it and move on.

5. The Loft

So these married bros all have a key to this loft, and it's the place where they take the women who aren't their wives to bang in secret. One winds up dead there. It's a real whodunit! 

For me, very early on, it's a real who gives a shit. Painfully bad script and performances, it is impossible to care about the story enough to even notice when they finally reveal the elusive answers no one was waiting for. 

4. Pixels

I promised you more Sandler! You knew it was coming!

I also could have put the same fun fact above with The Wedding Ringer regarding Josh Gad, but I didn't because no one really gives a hoot about Josh Gad. You may not even know who he is. He's the guy who did the voice of the snowman in Frozen. 

Yes, Peter Dinklage is also in Pixels. He is amazingly talented. He is wasted in a piss poor film like this.

The premise at least could have ended up resulting in a fun film, video game characters coming down to destroy Earth and thus champion level gamers have to step in to save the day. Nothing about Pixels is fun. It's just a head scratching waste of time.

3. Unfriended

My number 3 worst film of the year is bound to make a few peoples best lists. To each their own. I have come across those that want to throw bouquets at the feet of Unfriended because of the unique way it goes about delivering its narrative. Cool, I guess. Here's the thing though: regardless of whether or not it has been done before doesn't mean it should have been done. It's like 90 minutes of watching shitty teenagers with apparently no parents Skype each other to death. They just argue and scream and say dumb crap, and while I was watching I kept thinking, if these turds were in the room with me I would run out screaming after a couple of minutes, and not because of the horrific deaths. As soon as they opened their mouths I would be in my car crying, begging for forgiveness from whatever God I offended to deserve hearing it.

In case you were wondering, I specified no parents because these are high school kids who talk about homework like it's a school night, and yet when they are literally screaming for their lives and dying brutal deaths no one even shows up to try to help. No one. Perhaps their elders are just extremely deep sleepers.

Do watch the kid jam his hand in a blender on repeat though. Brilliant prop comedy executed to perfection, I couldn't stop laughing.

2. Fifty Shades of Grey

I kept hearing about these books. What a big deal, these pornographic novels. I certainly wasn't going to devote the time to read them, but a film adaptation, sure. I can get all sexy with the whips and chains and whatnot. Let's do this. 

So boring. They found the two people with the worst chemistry imaginable and decided to tell a tale of sexy romance about them. It was like watching two pieces of cardboard trying to hump each other. The performances are dreadful, the writing is ridiculous, and honestly I think the most egregious thing about this film is that nothing about it is sexy or even really all that scandalous. Every other scene is him rubbing her with an ice cube and her making a little squeak sound. The most pornographic noise going on during these parts was the rhythm of me punching myself in the groin over and over to make sure that part of my anatomy had not died from the experience. 

1. Mortdecai

So on the one hand, fuck everything about this movie.

On the other hand, fuck me. I'm the one who watched the whole thing. Well, almost, I do think I may have checked out with a few minutes to spare, but at that point the damage was done and it was a self inflicted wound. I didn't have to do this to myself. No one should. 

During every second of this nightmare I was wondering if comedy had died. Not so much the genre, but inside myself. Perhaps because of Mortdecai I would never be able to laugh again. My entire life would be like those images of sad, weepy clowns. Example below.

Just don't watch it. Be better than me. 

Well, that's it. Those are the worst films I witnessed that were released in 2015. As I said earlier, it will still be a bit before I start to unveil the films that deserve admiration from the year, as I still have so much to see during the next month. I will make sure to have it all posted before the Oscars are handed out though, so make sure to check out my 50 favorite films of the year. There will be some surprises on the list and also some that are not so surprising (I love Star Wars).