The French Connection Review

For some films it comes easy, the ability to lay my thoughts out as soon as it ends. The words just come flowing out with passion and not always because I loved the film. Sometimes the easiest movies to write about are the ones I loathe, the experiences that push just the right buttons to make me vent. Where the challenge comes in for me are those very good to great experiences that don't quite elicit the over the moon enthusiasm but they also did pretty much nothing wrong either. Thus sums up my the 24 hours between when I finished my first ever viewing of The French Connection and now when I finally told myself, just start typing whatever comes to mind. So here we are.

I keep fighting how to put this contradiction I had with The French Connection into words exactly because it makes sense to me but others may think, what the hell is this guy talking about? See, I somehow found the film deserves recognition for being fast paced and exciting and yet it felt ponderous at times as well. How is this possible? That's the tricky part. See, for much of the run time I was totally invested in the story of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Russo (Roy Scheider) as they attempt to shut down the source of heroin finding its way into the U.S. from overseas, yet some of the cat and mouse the cops are always just a step behind the bad guys stuff felt redundant, as if I was watching a couple sequences on repeat hoping for a different result each time.

A part of me wants to credit these very moments I complain about because they did invoke a sense of realism to the picture, that not everything is high speed and adrenaline fueled and all about good guys getting the job done. Sometimes a good guy can be doing good work and still fall short, but I instead of appreciating this during the actual experience, I found myself waiting for The French Connection to kick it into high gear. The good news? It does so during a final act that is not only memorable, it is masterful, with iconic moments with Doyle behind the wheel chasing down a train speeding ahead right above him and the thrilling sensation hanging over ever frame that nothing predictable is going to happen as the final scenes wind down. I had no idea who would get caught, who would get away and who would make it out alive, and I got lost in the excitement. 

I knew before I ever hit play that the film took home the trophy for Best Picture, but I honestly had no idea what other areas were recognized. It didn't take long for me to think, I sure hope Hackman was in the mix for his incredible performance and sure enough he, too, walked away with the prize. His strange blend of being heroic and yet unhinged, a convincing turn as an obsessed cop willing to do anything to collar his man was special to witness. The music beautifully assists the uneasy feeling of watching "Popeye" Doyle because rather than be a series of conventional pieces that would seemingly "fit" a 70's crime thriller, Don Ellis puts together a really odd, uncomfortable score that haunts and and hints at the ominous possibilities moving forward. Even when I felt those moments of disappointment at the lack of forward movement with the investigation, the score built the tension and rattled my nerves.

Another Oscar winner here is director William Friedkin and to say it was well deserved recognition is an understatement. His craft is so meticulous and on point that it actually almost does him a disservice because by creating such a smooth and fluid experience, it almost feels too easy at times. It's the subtleties that won me over, like the way we as an audience tend to stick with one side or the other rather than frenetically shown both parties in the same sequence. As the cops stalk the streets attempting to be inconspicuous, we see the shady activity from the police perspective. The mouths move but we can't hear the words. The movements feel guilty but we aren't let into what is exact transpiring in the moment. We can only guess and make assumptions based on what we know, which is exactly what the police would really be doing as well when facing such circumstances. We are let into the world of these criminals and their drug operation but only behind closed doors, like we are a fly on the wall watching something unfold that we shouldn't be privy to.

The French Connection is a great film that completely changed the idea of what a cop movie is going forward, yet it didn't hit quite as hard as I hoped. Perhaps it boils down to far too elevated expectations, after years of hearing the title and the praise that accompanies it I expected a greatest of all time experience rather than just simply great. Either way, there is very little to criticize and a lot to love here.

4/5

Mad Max: Fury Road Review

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on a fury road!"

That quote covers so much about this film in such a small amount of words. The death toll elevates, the action is furious and my goodness the movie feels historic. Now hold on, don't roll your eyes at me. Yes you did, I could see you. I know what you are thinking, here he comes with some of that instant reaction hyperbole bullshit, using a word like historic, so let me be clear: no, Mad Max: Fury Road is not one of the greatest films of all time. 

One of the greatest action films of all time though? Yep, I can and will say that without even a fraction of doubt in my body. This is easily one of my favorite genre films ever made. I was battered, bruised and pummeled into submission by the relentless lunacy on display, all while sitting in a leather recliner and sipping a giant soda. I felt physically exhausted by the end of a two hour cinematic experience, and yet that only represents a fraction of why I loved the picture so much. 

George Miller has created an post apocalyptic punk rock masterpiece that left me in awe on numerous occasions. It isn't merely the general concept of the action being cool or non-stop, it's the way the material was handled. The frenzy is directed with such silky smooth confidence that even when the chaos seems completely out of hand, we are able to follow exactly what is happening as clear as day. The set pieces are extraordinary and as imaginative as I have ever seen. I literally said the single word "Wow" aloud to myself on multiple occasions, all while flashing a giant, shit eatin' grin on my face throughout every damn minute. Seriously, when I buy this on Blu-ray, and that's a when, not an if, I may break the player with how many times I am going to give it a spin. Just the thought of being able to dig into some special features regarding how the hell Miller filmed some of these sequences makes me excited for future me.

Despite the praise I laid out above, had it merely been just an action extravaganza I wouldn't be busting out a word like masterpiece. While the intensity of Mad Max: Fury Road is what people will show up for (and I don't blame them one bit), where this films truly excels are those quiet sequences that give us a breather, showcasing some of the finest character development I have seen based on the very small amount of words actually used to achieve it. Charlize Theron deserves an honorary Oscar for her eyes alone, the type of award that would have been handed out long ago during the silent era of cinema, which is rather ironic considering just how modern and loud this puppy is. Her character is named Furiosa and she is a bad ass force to be reckoned with, but in her eyes we get to know her pain. We get to witness her passion. We get to see her soul.

Actually, I can't write this review without addressing another pile of praise that deserves to be heaped towards Mr. Miller and his expert craft of this film. Bless him for truly making a picture that shows how much ass women can kick. She may be too young now, but someday I would be proud to sit my daughter down and allow her to soak in the carnage on display as females are depicted as not just strong, but capable of killing every last mother fucker that gets in their way. Far too often the action genre depicts a woman as a damsel in distress, needing a man to swoop in and save her as she appears weak and fragile rather than courageous and tough. Mad Max: Fury Road gives us women who make us believe they can drop our asses if we try to stop them, and I applaud the hell out of George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris for penning a screenplay that subverts the traditional misguided tropes. 

If you are like me, you saw the overwhelmingly positive critical response to this film and couldn't believe your eyes. I wondered how an action film could be so universally praised, as usually the genre is deemed derivative. I no longer wonder. It is worthy of the accolades. With a musical score that blasts through your body, a brilliantly subtle screenplay that achieves so much by doing so little and quite possibly the greatest action ever put to celluloid, Mad Max: Fury Road is a roaring, thunderous achievement. 

5/5 

Dredd Review

When I was 11 years old, I got a little warm and fuzzy thinking about a man named Sylvester. He was Rocky, Rambo, a Demolition Man and a bit Over the Top, yet despite my NAMBLA level crush on the action movie star I couldn't get excited about his role in Judge Dredd. Even for my young, dumb mind, I wasn't buying what Sly was selling there. I literally saw that movie once and haven't really cared to ever revisit. Stallone has never been the Judge to me.

Now he never will be. Why? Because Karl damn Urban is Judge Dredd. This is one of those rare moments I can say this, but who needs the original when the remake kicks this much ass?

The music pulses. The bullets are piercing. The punches are vicious. The photography dazzles the senses.

Dredd is a blistering, blood soaked movie and I had a blast viewing it, although I was a bit distracted by how remarkably similar much of it felt to the Indonesian slice of action insanity released during the very same year in the United States, The Raid. The premise isn't literally exactly the same and the action is delivered differently, with far less trained martial arts and far more bodies free falling 50 floors to their death, but the concept is all there. The police stuck inside a building run by a drug lord. An offer to the residents to kill rather than comply. The frenzy of gun fire across an open foyer in the center of the complex. All of it felt very familiar, and to be clear, this isn't any sort of accusation of idea or straight up content stealing since I doubt very much that would have even been possible given the timetable of the two films releases. All I am saying is, when you have already fallen madly in love with a strikingly similar experience, it's challenging to do the same with the one that comes second.

This is only a slight dismissal though because really, what a treat Dredd is. If you are a fan of stylized action and hyper-violent fun, you will do no wrong with these 90 sexy minutes of carnage.

4/5

Mad Max Review

If you have seen the trailer for the soon to be released film Mad Max: Fury Road, you have witnessed the onslaught of madness that has me as giddy as a school girl, and with that excitement came the desire to revisit the original trilogy. At first I was captivated by just how damn young Mel Gibson once was, which I know seems like a silly thing to say but for some reason my mind imagines he has always been William Wallace, face painted and a heart so brave. Well, I also think about the real life anger and racism, but I digress. 

It had been probably 15 years since the last time I saw the original Mad Max, so while I had some small familiar snapshots that popped up in my mind I really didn't recall much in terms of tone and pacing. With the imagery of the new film blasting through my brain, I was anticipating the mania, the terror, and the dystopian aesthetic, and while there is a bit of all of those things in Mad Max, it was a much more quiet and measured cinematic experience than I assumed it would be. 

Society is beginning to fall apart in the world originally built by director George Miller, but it isn't complete and utter chaos as of yet, just the start of it trending in that direction. Max Rockatansky is a police officer but he is also a peaceful, happy man, one with a wife and an infant son. When his family is threatened, Max starts to get a little unhinged. When tragedy occurs at the hands of a biker gang, Max transforms into something else entirely. He puts on his leather police gear, jumps into his bad ass car and begins his furious pursuit of revenge. Max has a thirst and the only thing that can quench it is the blood of those who took so much from him. Max is mad.

Mad Max is fast paced and incredibly entertaining, but the film falls short in two ways for me: one, the bad guy gang of motorcycle men just don't feel bad enough. Their actions are clearly deplorable but their on screen personas don't intimidate me the way I thought they would. There is no charisma from their characters, nothing to make them interesting beyond the fact that we know they are evil and we want them to die for it.

The other issue I have with Mad Max is that I actually find it to be too fast paced for me. For much of the film, the story moves at a sublime rhythm and I appreciated the quiet and meaningful moments that developed characters, but then when it was time for the revenge to be dished out cold, the justice delivered by Max felt as if it was moving in fast forward. I wanted to soak in his anger and I wanted to bask in his rage, but instead they cram all of the violence we would actually root for as an audience into about 15 minutes of screen time. It just moves so quickly I felt like I couldn't really enjoy it. 

Despite these qualms, I am a big fan of Mad Max and am excited to revisit The Road Warrior soon.

3.5/5

House of Flying Daggers Review

For many, not seeing a film like House of Flying Daggers would not be considered strange as I would imagine that even at it's peak of popularity, Chinese wuxia cinema wasn't exactly something embraced by a majority. For me though, after over a decade since its release, the fact that I was finally experiencing this exciting and literally colorful movie seemed hard to believe.

I love wuxia. The style, the surreal action, the melodramatic performances that somehow fit the overall tone perfectly. House of Flying Daggers has it all, and while the lackluster storyline leaves plenty to be desired, the costumes, the set pieces, the vivid usage of color and the spellbinding cinematography completely made up for any flaws and created a joyous cinematic experience.

During the final act of the film, I pretty much disregarded the dialogue entirely and simply got lost in how unbelievably gorgeous the sight of snow falling on an aggressively windy day is. The result is pure magic. I know that seems like a major flaw, that the dialogue took a massive back seat to the aesthetic, but the feeling flowing through my eyeballs in that moment can best be described as orgasmic.

I need to seek out other films from this genre I may have missed along the way. House of Flying Daggers isn't a perfect film, far from it actually, but if it were a tub full of water I would bathe in it.


4/5

50 Best Films of 2014 - #30 - #21

On to the next ten, my #30 through #21 favorite films from 2014...

30. The Fault in Our Stars

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a big fan of this film, from the glowing review I wrote when I saw it in the theater last summer to the fact that I included Shailene Woodley in my personal choices for Best Actress of the year recently. I refuse to pretend the tears I shed from this story and the performances that carried it never fell from my eyes. A gut wrenching yet beautiful movie.

29. Selma

An expertly made biopic that nearly avoided all of the traditional tropes that make me roll my eyes at these types of films, Selma gets right what a movie like Unbroken got so, so wrong. Getting punched hurts, unless you get hit every two minutes for two straight hours, which was essentially the narrative of the latter. Eventually you are desensitized to the brutality and you just quit on the experience, where as in Selma, when it hits, it hits hard because it knows just when to land the blows. This is a pretty great and important film.

28. Finding Vivian Maier

A truly fascinating documentary about a eccentric and mysterious nanny who lived a secret, brilliant life as an absolutely amazing photographer. Despite her incredible artistic vision with the camera, she never showed a single picture to anyone, and her massive and breathtaking collection was finally discovered after she passed away. Not only does this film cover her life and her jaw dropping talent, but it asks a pretty important question as well: if someone goes to great lengths to hide something while they are alive, is it fair to show the world after they are dead? Or should privacy extend beyond the length of our lives?

27. Edge of Tomorrow

Easily one of the best surprises of 2014 for me, Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow seemed like a turd when I first saw the trailer, but after catching wind of a whole lot of positive word of mouth I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did. A smart, exciting and fun summer blockbuster, and say what you want about Tom Cruise but no one else could play a role like this so damn well. His personal life and religious beliefs aside, Cruise is still an outstanding talent and he demonstrated that again here, and the chemistry with Emily Blunt didn't hurt matters either.

26. John Wick

An action film starring Keanu Reeves titled John Wick? Well, this is obviously going to be terrible. The premise is what? His dog is killed so he gets revenge? You've gotta be kidding me, what a train wreck...

Much like Edge of Tomorrow, this is another example of why I shouldn't judge a work before I see it. John Wick is smart, intense, ultra-violent fun, and that silly premise about the dog makes total sense when framed inside the narrative. Not only does it make sense, it actually strongly resonated emotionally. Sure, if this was real life I would be disgusted with the type of killing spree he goes on as a result of a pet dying, but this isn't real life. This is a movie, an escape from reality, and inside this world I was rooting for John throughout.

25. The Guest

The Guest is a wonderful blend of neo-noir modern cinema and a completely ridiculous yet fun horror film from the 1980's. Carried by an incredibly charismatic lead performance from Dan Stevens and the perfectly executed vision of director Adam Wingard, this was one bad ass, tasty treat. Oh, and that last act Halloween school dance set piece with a brilliantly utilized fog machine? Absolutely amazing.

24. X-Men: Days of Future Past

I was pessimistic about how this film would turn out, what with the massive cast and ambitious to a fault sounding premise. I anticipated a jumbled, messy narrative. I was wrong. The latest X-Men installment was not only top notch superhero comic book fun, what impressed me the most about this movie was the patience it showed to make sure it told a story first, with the action and the special effects taking a back seat when they needed to. Thanks to this extremely impressive effort, I have no pessimism whatsoever about the follow up due out next year. Bring it on.

23. Calvary

Prior to seeing Calvary, I had heard it was a "dark comedy". This may be true, but I think a much more fair label would be a dark, meaningful drama with some comedy bits sprinkled in to ease the tension and lighten the mood. What Calvary does extremely well is explore the unfortunately twisted and uncomfortable relationship society has with the Catholic church thanks to the many documented cases of abuse, and also the tense nature of the role faith in general plays in our lives today. It's a shame that we have to be cautious of a man of the cloth, but given the track record, how could we not?

22. Enemy

What if you saw your exact double? Not just a person who resembles you, literally your exact twin that has no relation to you in any genetic sense. What would you do? 

I will tell you what you should do: watch Enemy immediately. Beware though, this doesn't play like a traditional film and the ending is both terrifying and utterly confounding.

21. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2013 was a down year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, I had some fun with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, and neither were terrible films by any means, but after the high that was the first Avengers, they certainly felt like somewhat silly and underwhelming let downs. Well, the good news is 2014 turned out to be a banner year for the studio, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier coming first and being just so flat out awesome. After I saw it, I declared it was the best movie yet from the MCU and I stand by that...sort of. At that time it was, but (spoiler alert for the future of this list) a different 2014 release went above and beyond and soared straight to the top.

Next up, I will enter the top 20 of 2014. The image above is from an extraordinary little gem that I never saw coming.

John Wick Review

An important lesson I have learned during the last few years since I began exploring far more cinema than I ever had before is that there is no such thing as a bad genre. It doesn't exist. Men can say they don't like "chick flicks" all they want, but when they say those words they picture a really uninspired and predictable movie that would feature Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. The truth is, a romantic comedy can be a wonderful and brilliant thing when it is crafted by people with actual talent, when it features a remarkable screenplay and the right actors playing roles perfectly suited to their abilities. Woody Allen films like Annie Hall and Manhattan file under the category of romantic comedies, as does Rob Reiner's fantastic When Harry Met Sally and the classic The Apartment by Billy Wilder. None of these amazing works deserve to be lumped into a single group classified as "chick flicks" and ignored by an entire gender, thus the reality is, I never truly dislike a genre but rather specific poorly made films.

The interesting this is, I didn't have this revelation due to the examples above as I have always had a soft spot for a well made romantic comedy. As odd as it seems as I am a 30 year old, the genre I was unfairly claiming to hate as a whole was actually action, as I had grown so damn weary of simply watching people with guns shoot at each other for two hours with no real story or substance to back it up. 

That all changed when I was told to watch the Indonesian action film The Raid: Redemption back in 2012. I likely rolled my eyes and dismissed the recommendation initially, but eventually I gave in expecting to see nothing special, a seen it all before display of bullets and bodies that would have me checking my watch more often than the screen in front of me. What director Gareth Evans did in that film nearly literally blew my mind and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor, and that's when it hit me: I didn't hate action films, I hated bad action films. When a project is placed into the right hands, even a display of bullets and bodies can be spellbinding stuff. 

Early in 2014 I went to the cinema to catch the sequel of that film, The Raid 2, and I fell even more in love with the bloodbaths created by Evans as I felt that the second installment was actually a step up from a first, an action crime drama masterpiece that managed to pull me in with dialogue and then kick my ass back out of the room with its incredible set pieces and choreography. The thing is, even as I was back into the idea of a great action film, I sort of relegated the possibility to those specific works and didn't consider something else entirely could do it for me in a similar fashion. Enter John Wick.

A film I dismissed at first glance, John Wick is just plain awesome. I could try to be verbose and eloquent about why I loved this movie, but truthfully it just kicks so much ass and it was made so expertly with such confidence and gorgeous cinematography that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The premise is incredibly simple: when we meet John Wick, he has just lost his wife to an undisclosed illness, but we quickly grasp it was an anticipated death and not a total surprise when John receives a gift from his wife posthumously, one last way to say I love you, an adorable puppy named Daisy as a companion in hopes to cure his loneliness. 

Three men enter John's home one night in hopes of stealing his car. They kill his puppy. It is totally, painfully heartbreaking. Yet soon after it was impossible not to smile watching this film. You know why?

You don't fuck with John Wick.

These men have taken all that John had left in the world, and thus he will make them pay. It's a beautiful and exciting thing, watching the hyper-violence unfold in such aesthetically appealing locations like a neon lit night club or the peaceful glow of a church. This is the difference between a film like this and one like American Sniper, as it might seem hypocritical for me to judge one for not valuing human life enough and on the other side be celebrating strewn out bodies and pools of blood. When you make a biopic based on real events and a real person, a certain sensitivity to morality and humanity must be conveyed to strike the perfect emotional balance of the narrative. When you make a film like John Wick, just kill every last piece of shit in the room and I will cheer like an idiot. 

It isn't as if I am some sort of monster, in fact I am anything but. In reality the concept of a gun being near me makes me beyond uncomfortable, and I wish people nothing but peace and harmony and happiness and safety. If I were to watch the news one morning and they happened to report on a story about a guy killing hundreds of people as an act of vengeance over a slain dog, I would think well shit, that's a tad overboard. Could anything so awful really be a just response to the death of a single pet?

In this world, the stylish, super cool and most importantly, fictional one occupied by John Wick? It not only felt just, it felt so god damn right. 

Keanu Reeves is awesome, Michael Nyqvist is ridiculous (in a good way), Theon Greyjoy is a friggin' creep and I am officially scared of the Baba Yaga. Watch John Wick as soon as possible.

4.5/5

Robocop Review

When I was a teenager, I wasn't exactly what one would call a "ladies man". I didn't have the confidence, missing opportunities for adolescent romance because the fear of being rejected far outweighed the potential benefits of success in my mind. On some random night during high school I recall watching RoboCop and while I didn't pay close enough attention to the film to truly appreciate the brilliance of the satire (I was likely drunk, high or both), I do recall being captivated by the theme music in the film. I started imagining what it would be like to have it start playing just before I entered a room. I could have been forty pounds overweight wearing a stained t-shirt and pajama pants, doesn't matter, the RoboCop theme would have transformed me into a sexual icon.

It took me being an adult to finally "get" Paul Verhoeven. While I never took this film too seriously, I used to deem that as a flaw of some sort, as if the silly over-the-top performances, advertisements and news segments were unintentionally comical. In my younger, naive mind, I believed that Verhoeven was attempting to craft a super serious action film and got lost along the way. Now that I have had the opportunity to sit down and experience this film with a clear, semi-intelligent mind, I am ashamed of the limited scope of my past film appreciation potential. I can't help but wonder how many films I "watched" during that era had unfortunately soared over my head.

What I once deemed as merely silly, I now admire for being so friggin' smart. RoboCop is everything you could ask for from a science fiction/action film. It has laugh out loud worthy wit, thrilling action sequences, and yet still plenty of warmth and emotional resonance to establish a true connection with the audience. Mastering one aspect only would have still been enough to entertain and earn my recommendation. Had RoboCop been only successful as a brilliantly on the nose social commentary, I would have enjoyed it. Had it been merely an exciting action film with some inspired set pieces, I likely would be able to shut my brain off for 90 plus minutes and reveled in the violence. The fact that Paul Verhoeven managed to balance every possible direction the film could go with seemingly flawless confidence, that is why RoboCop stands today as a 1980's genre masterpiece rather than just another film lumped in the massive group of entertaining but forgettable films that were released around the same time.

Today I live life as a loyal married man, but my desire to claim the theme music as my own remains unchanged. Sure, my days of being an overly horny and lonely teenage male are long over, but the song is simply too fucking epic to ignore regardless. In the near future I will drive to work one morning with it blasting from the speakers in my car, and anyone of importance in the office will take notice. It may not guarantee a raise and a promotion, but it certainly can't hurt, right?


5/5