Saturday, July 30, 2016

47.) Ghostbusters [7/31/2016]

Most thoughts on the movie fall into two camps: 1) this movie was made to advance the feminist agenda by pissing down the throat of my childhood; or 2) this has been the female-lead action movie that will shake the very sexist foundations of Hollywood. The first reaction stems mainly from men with fragile gender-identities who could not fathom that anything as sacred as Ghostbusters could be redone by some damn uppity women (probably demanding fair pay for equal work) and still be watchable. Instead, the very idea of a gender-swapped remake/reboot/re-imagining is just further signs of how emasculated America has become, where men are cuckholded by the very entertainment franchises they used to hold dear. What would be next? A black Spider-Man? 

I really wanted this movie to be so good that I could cram its genius down the throats of these crying man-babies. The first Ghostbusters was great, and it should be remembered as such. But this movie in no way tried to replace it or erase it. I hesitate to call it a remake, or even a reboot, as this story is not a rehashing of the first, nor does it continue that story in any way. Instead, it re-imagines what it would look like if ghosts invaded New York today.

And it did a fine job doing it. Honestly though, for as much as I wanted this movie to succeed so that these hideous trolls who chased Leslie Jones off Twitter would be forced to eat so much crow, the movie was just okay. I hope it gets a sequel, because I think the potential for a truly great movie is there, and the cast (particularly, as most people agree, Kate McKinnon) was pretty good. Unfortunately, here they were a bit too beholden to nostalgia (Dan Akroyd's cameo, for example) and too focused on the origin story of the Ghostbusters, which is true of a lot of origin stories: they are just not that interesting.

What is remarkable about this movie is how the female leads were portrayed. Quietly, this movie did subvert the typical tropes of a female-lead ensemble cast. There was no romantic competition, no cattiness, and they managed to save the day despite a number of men getting in the way. The women were smart, and funny, and charming, and they were brought together not by their mutual respect for each other. That sort of representation is necessary in Hollywood big-budget films, and the way the little girl behind me lit up when Kate McKinnon was on screen made all the less-good parts of the movie fade into the background.  

Thursday, July 28, 2016

46.) Star Trek: Beyond [7/27/2016]

I was put off by the second installment of this rebooted franchise, so I went into this film with low expectations. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised. ST:B managed to recapture the swashbuckling experience of the original series while not giving into to nostalgia worship (as the last one did). It was fun, toyed with the fringes of exploration, and had space magic. All good things.

That said, Jeremy Lin, director of the Fast and Furious movies may not have been the best choice. The film hit a lot of the same notes (namely, the importance of family), and there were a lot of fun space vehicle chase scenes. But, there was also, for no explicable reason, a motorcycle chase scene which raised more questions than it answered. 

All in all, for a summer action movie, one could do worse than this.

Monday, July 25, 2016

45.) Captain Fantastic [7/25/2016]

Remember when, in college, a friend of yours might have read Emerson or Thoreau, and they started talking loudly about moving into the wild and finding the authentic self? This movie explores what that might actually look like, if said friend went on to marry and have six kids. There is something both insufferable and charming about Ben's parenting style (played by Viggo Mortensen). He runs his kids through the woods, makes them do extensive calisthenic drills, climb mountains, recite great books, hunt, and--most importantly--reject mediocrity. While it gets tiresome listening to him drone on about the ills of capitalism and the downfall of mankind, you can see he loves his kids, and in turn, they have grown to be honest, well-read, considerate children.

When his wife dies, and he must return to society, the well-worn fish-out-of-water narrative begins, and the ending was hardly surprising (no spoilers here). Still, it was an interesting exploration of how any ideology, when drawn out to it's natural conclusion, will ultimately fail under scrutiny. Similarly, it makes a compelling argument for allowing children access to the harsher aspects of reality, like death, sex, and politics.

Viggo Mortensen was great; the cast of kids, most of whom I don't remember seeing in anything, were great; the movie was predictable and gave a much happier ending than I would have thought Ben's ideology would have allowed, but all in all, I rather enjoyed it.

44.) The Infiltrator [7/20/2016]

I had gone in thinking I would see the new Independence Day...movie...but seeing as my movie-companion is moving to Germany soon, he suggested seeing something that might be better. I think the exact wording was, "We should see almost anything else tonight. What about that new Bryan Cranston movie?"

I am a sucker for crime procedurals, and especially so for true-life crime films with a focus on the actual, nitty-gritty day-to-day operations of running a crime sting (see also, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Most Dangerous Man, which are both similar films, but about spy craft instead of police procedures). I am also a sucker for post-Malcolm in the Middle Bryan Cranston (I was a fan of his earlier comedy stuff, but more so his every-man dramas). So off we went.

This might have been the best decision we made that evening. This film was great: tense, well-acted, good character arcs. I can buy that some people would think it's slow, and for a movie with Mexican drug cartels and undercover police officers, there were very few shootouts (possibly none--for that see Sicario or the hundreds of others that glorify the violence inherent in the so-called War on Drugs). Still, watching Cranston lure these dangerous men into a trusting relationship was nerve-wracking. He could have died so many times, but by luck and good senses, he managed to survive not only that ordeal but nearly a decade more similar assignments.

If you like movies that don't shy away from the realism of solving crime (think: real-life The Departed), then this is for you. If you prefer something with Jason Bourne in it, then you might want to wait until what seems like his "Greatest Hits" clips-show is released later this summer.

Monday, July 18, 2016

43.) Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates [7/18/2016]

I got from this movie what it promised: a stupid summer comedy with beautiful people filmed in paradise. I watched it thinking that most of the actors were better than this, particularly Anna Kendrick (though I did rent Get a Job a few weeks ago, and that, too, was really bad; maybe she doesn't make good decisions...) and Aubrey Plaza (I'm not sure what accent she was going for, but it was clear she was trying to shake the deadpan-style by which she has so far buttered her bread).

I will say this: Anna Kendrick made Zac Efron seem like more than a box full of old newspapers with a really pretty face. So that was, at the very least, surprising.

42.) Swiss Army Man [7/13/2016]

This was a weird movie about death, garbage, and the way humans interact with both. It was at times agonizingly heartbreaking and genuinely hilarious. Had it not been for the last ten minutes which undercut the whole conceit of the film, it would have been an early contender for Best Film (not unlike Grand Budapest Hotel, a prior strange Summer film which gained a lot of critical attention). As it stands, I really liked the film, but left wishing it was ten minutes shorter.

The real take-away is that Daniel Radcliffe is the real-deal. Paul Dano has been good in a few movies, but this was the first time I was genuinely impressed by Daniel Radcliffe. He might get a few considerations for this come award season.

Monday, July 11, 2016

41.) Sing Street [7/10/2016]

There is a genre of movie that exists somewhere between a musical and a drama--a sort of extended music video, in which the characters are part of a band, they write music (which often deals with the lives of the songwriters), and the narrative strings together these songs in a loose story. See also: Once, Begin Again, and August Rush. Sometimes, the whole thing holds together (Begin Again, School of Rock), sometimes the music is so good it doesn't matter (Once), and sometimes the whole thing is just bad (Song One, August Rush). Sing Street is the third music-video movie from John Carney (Once and Begin Again) with the songs coming from the UK synth-pop of the 1980s set against a backdrop of Dublin, which was under a pretty severe economic depression and faced a drain of citizens fleeing to London. 

This movie was pretty great. The songs were great, the story was well-developed, and the kid actors were surprisingly nuanced. It helps that Gary Clark an Glen Hansard (also from Once) helped to write the songs, giving them a distinct Irish-pop feel. It certainly doesn't need to be seen at the theaters, but I would recommend Sing Street to anyone looking for a feel-good movie with some awesome tunes.

40.) Tarzan [7/3/2016]

To be honest, this movie was doomed from the start. There really isn't a way to make a Tarzan narrative that isn't a little bit racist. The idea that a white man from privilege could be raised in the jungle among savages (both animal and human), but still rise above that to fit into the British aristocracy is going to have racist undertones. Pitching it so that Jane is the daughter of an English teacher literally colonizing Africa doesn't help. Having him go back to be the white savior to restore the African tribesman to their freedom (something they seemed incapable of doing themselves), doesn't make it better. Giving him a black sidekick who hates slavery and having the central narrative circle around freeing slavery helps a little, but still has tinges of racism in suggesting that, without Tarzan, everyone would still be slaves.

This movie was already digging out of a deep, problematic hole, made all that much more deeper by Alexander Skarsgard's cardboard-cutout-like acting abilities. The CGI looked bad, Margot Robbie and Samuel Jackson could do little to save the flailing mess. And it was boring. I couldn't even enjoy hate-watching it like Gods of Egypt. It was just not worth the time--the time to write it, the time to make it, or the time to see it.

39.) Neon Demon [7/3/2016]

Like Drive and Only God Forgives, this was a moody, atmospheric, minimalist movie, this time interested in feminine identity and the fashion industry. While Elle Fanning looked the part of a supermodel, it was never quite clear what made her so amazing. It seemed like people just looked at her and saw something special, new, and different, but it was never clear what that was. This might have been the point of the movie, and how the male gaze finds value in things which are not that great, but I think that Fanning is no Ryan Gosling (the lead actor in the above two movies who carried the films on the silent, brooding shoulders).

It was, like all of Nicolas Winding Refn's films, both incredibly well shot, beautiful to look at, and immaculately scored. There was the characteristically violent denouement, as well, but this movie, ultimately, left me flat, largely because the acting paled in comparison to his other films.

38.) Free State of Jones [6/21/2016]

I like Civil War stories, and Free State of Jones does a lot to complicate the racist South narrative, shedding light on the inherent economic inequality of the Confederate Army. This movie tries to show that not everyone in the South was racist. There was at least one guy who fought against the slavery issue from south of the Mason-Dixon line, even marrying a freed slave once the war was done.

The film, though, was sprawling and unfocused, covering almost all of Newton Knight's life from the middle of the war until he died, well after Jones was established, then reabsorbed, and then turned back into a racist hotbed of contempt, running Knight and his friends to a different city in Mississippi. In the end, it became less about equality, both racial and economic, and more about the heroism of another white man in the battle for slavery. And that is a tired narrative.

37.) The Lobster [6/17/2016]

I am a huge fan of weird, minimalist narratives, so this one had me hooked from the trailer. The story could best be described as "magical realism" or "light science fiction." It concerns characters who can't find love, and as such enroll in a program at a hotel which will either find them companionship or turn them into an animal (hence, The Lobster). There is a rival group of single individuals living in the woods that terrorize those seeking companionship. Colin Farrell, who gave an incredible performance, lives with both camps, exploring the nature of love, relationships and sacrifice. I highly recommend this beautifully weird movie.

36.) Me Before You [6/10/2016]

I'll admit that my recent foray into disability studies has influenced my viewing of this movie. With that in mind, there are some spoilers ahead.

It would be nice if, in even a few movies, the central character who suffers from a disability doesn't die by his (or in the case of Million Dollar Baby, her) hand. The "suicide is a noble release" narrative is both problematic for the characters and a problematic message for those currently living with disabilities. That said, Emilia Clarke is hard not to like. I think this movie can best be described as a bad story, told in a mediocre way, with incredibly adorable actors.