This movie had the same tone and feel as The Wolf of Wall Street, and that is not meant to be a compliment. Much in the same way that Scorsese's film focused on a reprehensible jerk who dragged everyone down with him, War Dogs focused on David Packouz (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), two young dudes who were making money hand over fist by supplying the US military branches with their munitions by bending (or outright breaking) several international laws.
I think, like Wolf of Wall Street, we were supposed to find something cool about these gun runners, driving a truck load of handguns through Fallujah and buying up second-hand arms out of Albania, but either both actors lacked the charisma to pull-off a convincing anti-hero or, more likely, both of these asshats were insufferable. In one particular scene (frequently shown in the trailer), they should have died, but it was only through sheer luck and a military helicopter that they survived. This can be tolerated if the characters have some compelling backstory to suggest that such recklessness has purpose. Neither of the gun-runners had anything redeemable in their lives. When David eventually has a change of heart and tries to get out, I didn't care. When they went to jail, I didn't feel it was tragic, but instead found deep catharsis in idiots getting their comeuppance.
Bradley Cooper was good, but merely window dressing on a really flat, grossly cynical movie that made no attempt to critically engage with the complexity of the subject matter.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
55.) Operation Chromite [8/19/2016]
On a spectrum of movies which try to re-frame discussions of famous moments in history, Operation Chromite--the Korean-made movie with actors speaking in English, Korean, and Russian, and subtitles in both English and Korean--falls somewhere between the very good Anthropoid and the quite terrible Stalingrad (which, I think, is still available on YouTube in it's entirety for free, if you have three hours to blow on a terrible movie).
Blessedly, it was a movie made by Koreans, so the Korean actors really got to shine, and Liam Neeson, playing a guy giving his best impersonation of Liam Neeson playing Douglas MacArthur, phoned in a performance which, at best, was an amalgamation of all John Wayne's characters. Still, since Saving Private Ryan, which did not shy from the gritty realism of war, I have troubles getting into films where a heroic character is shot multiple times and doesn't just crumple into a ball. Like a lot of war films from the 50s and 60s, this was clearly an attempt to valorize a national symbol of heroism, and the characters on which the movie was based deserve some respect for essentially allowing the UN forces to gain a foothold in Korea. That said, what they did was heroic enough. Their actions didn't need to emphasized by an overly dramatic score and prolonged highly-emotive scenes (complete with a teary-eyed goodbye scene to one of the soldier's babies, in which the soldier confidently ensured he would be back after the fighting, before he went off and died).
In the end, there isn't enough out there about the Korean resistance in American history, so that was nice to see. Also, the white guy didn't come in an save a bunch of inept indigenous people, bring his superior intellect and firepower to save the day. Instead, MacArthur needed to wait until the Koreans provided the opportunity for the UN forces to make landfall. The decision to film each character speaking in their native language was a nice touch, instead of having everyone speak in some accented English. Again, it was much better than Stalingrad, but still a far-cry from some of the better war movies out there.
Blessedly, it was a movie made by Koreans, so the Korean actors really got to shine, and Liam Neeson, playing a guy giving his best impersonation of Liam Neeson playing Douglas MacArthur, phoned in a performance which, at best, was an amalgamation of all John Wayne's characters. Still, since Saving Private Ryan, which did not shy from the gritty realism of war, I have troubles getting into films where a heroic character is shot multiple times and doesn't just crumple into a ball. Like a lot of war films from the 50s and 60s, this was clearly an attempt to valorize a national symbol of heroism, and the characters on which the movie was based deserve some respect for essentially allowing the UN forces to gain a foothold in Korea. That said, what they did was heroic enough. Their actions didn't need to emphasized by an overly dramatic score and prolonged highly-emotive scenes (complete with a teary-eyed goodbye scene to one of the soldier's babies, in which the soldier confidently ensured he would be back after the fighting, before he went off and died).
In the end, there isn't enough out there about the Korean resistance in American history, so that was nice to see. Also, the white guy didn't come in an save a bunch of inept indigenous people, bring his superior intellect and firepower to save the day. Instead, MacArthur needed to wait until the Koreans provided the opportunity for the UN forces to make landfall. The decision to film each character speaking in their native language was a nice touch, instead of having everyone speak in some accented English. Again, it was much better than Stalingrad, but still a far-cry from some of the better war movies out there.
54.) Emily and Tim [8/18/2016]
I wanted to like this movie. It was a small release with some great actors (Thomas Mann from Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls, Zozsia Mamet from Girls, Kal Pen from a number of good things, including the first Van Wilder movie, Olympia Dukakis, Andre Braugher and Phylicia Rashad). The metaphorical conceit of the movie was clever: six different sets of actors are used to tell the story of one marriage to show that these themes (love, loss, betrayal, etc.) are universal.
Unfortunately, this never got off the ground. The script was not great (despite being adapted from what the credits told me was an award winning author--same said author wrote and directed the movie), and the actors had no chemistry. I was surprised at the outset that I was the only one in the theater when the movie started; by the end, I was less surprised. There are better romantic dramas out there, with more clever narrative techniques and better directing.
Unfortunately, this never got off the ground. The script was not great (despite being adapted from what the credits told me was an award winning author--same said author wrote and directed the movie), and the actors had no chemistry. I was surprised at the outset that I was the only one in the theater when the movie started; by the end, I was less surprised. There are better romantic dramas out there, with more clever narrative techniques and better directing.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
53.) Edge of Winter [8/17/2016]
Holy hell was this a dark film. Joel Kinnaman plays Eliot Baker, a divorced father of two, who takes his kids on a spur of the moment trip to middle-of-nowhere Canada (in the middle of Winter) to shoot guns and learn how to drive. Things take a turn for the worse as Eliot, who struggles to hold his own life together, realizes his kids are going to move away soon. What follows is a series of increasingly bad ideas Eliot uses to hold his crumbling life together.
I hadn't read much about this movie before going to see it, and I was really pleased I took a flier on such a small film (only one theater in the suburbs is even playing it). It was a great, tense movie about family, masculine identities and terrible decisions.
I hadn't read much about this movie before going to see it, and I was really pleased I took a flier on such a small film (only one theater in the suburbs is even playing it). It was a great, tense movie about family, masculine identities and terrible decisions.
52.) Anthropoid [8/12/2016]
As an American, most of what I learned about World War II involved the big highlights: invasion of Poland, capture of Paris, bombing of London, America's entry into the war, and the eventual end of the war. The histories we learn here are skewed towards the Allies involvement, and often glosses over the horrors of the Western Front and the involvement of other countries like Finland or, in the case of Anthropoid, Czechoslovakia (or what is now the distinct countries of the Czech Republic and Slovokia). Evidently, a whole year before invading Poland, the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, murdering thousands of Czechs in Prague. Sadly, the Allied countries of Europe could have prevented the occupation, but fearing war, they allowed Hitler to invade and claim the valuable industrial resources.
Anthropoid focused on the only successful assassination attempt of a high-ranking Nazi official to happen during the war. Two operatives from the government in exile parachute into the countryside around Prague, and lay out a risky plan to assissinate Reinhard Heydrich to an uncertain assembly of active resistance agents. The film follows the operatives as they go about doing their spy-craft: collecting data on Heydrich, evading the SS, and eventually performing the assassination. Of course, nothing goes as planned, but I won't spoil the ending of the film.
This was a really interesting, well-done movie about a horrendous moment in history. It's hard to say I liked the movie, considering the situation, but I was glad to have seen it: good actors, good story, well-told.
Anthropoid focused on the only successful assassination attempt of a high-ranking Nazi official to happen during the war. Two operatives from the government in exile parachute into the countryside around Prague, and lay out a risky plan to assissinate Reinhard Heydrich to an uncertain assembly of active resistance agents. The film follows the operatives as they go about doing their spy-craft: collecting data on Heydrich, evading the SS, and eventually performing the assassination. Of course, nothing goes as planned, but I won't spoil the ending of the film.
This was a really interesting, well-done movie about a horrendous moment in history. It's hard to say I liked the movie, considering the situation, but I was glad to have seen it: good actors, good story, well-told.
51.) Pulse [8/11/2016]
I honestly didn't expect much out of this movie. I saw very few advertisements for Pulse, it had no real actors of any note in the leads (the lesser of two Francos and one of TVs Scream Queens), and it looked squarely aimed at people who use SnapChat. Plus, the summer is not known for surprising indie hits. But, I was bored and the movie seemed short, so I went to the late showing on a Thursday, thinking I would be alone in the theater.
I was genuinely surprised, though, by the end. Granted, the movie was not amazing, but it was surprisingly enjoyable, and Dave Franco and Emma Roberts were pretty good in it. Still, the premise was clever: people could win money playing a crowd-sourced version of Truth or Dare which was often heavy on the dares. Vee (Roberts) was bored with her life and decided to become a "Player" in Nerve rather than a "Watcher," the first of many ham-fisted metaphors for living life. At first, the dares developed along a fairly believable difficulty curve, until Vee was asked to guide Ian (Franco) on his stolen motorcycle through the streets of New York as he was blindfolded. From there, it rapidly became more unbelievable as the writers showed little understanding about how the internet works and mankind devolved into a sort of Lord of the Rings meets Gladiator mentality. The end message was disappointingly cliched, and I am surprised the "End" title didn't come with a question mark.
Still, for 40 minutes, it was an interesting movie and had a neat concept. It was worth a watch if you have a soft spot for teen movies or science fiction with a poor understanding of the internet.
I was genuinely surprised, though, by the end. Granted, the movie was not amazing, but it was surprisingly enjoyable, and Dave Franco and Emma Roberts were pretty good in it. Still, the premise was clever: people could win money playing a crowd-sourced version of Truth or Dare which was often heavy on the dares. Vee (Roberts) was bored with her life and decided to become a "Player" in Nerve rather than a "Watcher," the first of many ham-fisted metaphors for living life. At first, the dares developed along a fairly believable difficulty curve, until Vee was asked to guide Ian (Franco) on his stolen motorcycle through the streets of New York as he was blindfolded. From there, it rapidly became more unbelievable as the writers showed little understanding about how the internet works and mankind devolved into a sort of Lord of the Rings meets Gladiator mentality. The end message was disappointingly cliched, and I am surprised the "End" title didn't come with a question mark.
Still, for 40 minutes, it was an interesting movie and had a neat concept. It was worth a watch if you have a soft spot for teen movies or science fiction with a poor understanding of the internet.
Monday, August 8, 2016
50.) Jason Bourne [8/8/2016]
I thought the Jason Bourne franchise was done when the fourth installment, starring Jeremy Renner, Ed Norton, and Rachel Weiss, went off the rails by turning the spies into chemically engineered super-soldiers not too different from a gritty, juiced-up version of Captain America. I disliked Bourne Legacy so much that I went home and watched the original three movies the following afternoon.
Jason Bourne, the fifth installment featuring the return of Matt Damon and Julia Stiles, was not that bad, but it was a far shade paler than the first film. There, we are given these touching moments of character development where Bourne starts to stitch together his identity with the help of Maria (Franka Potente). There are long moments where no one is punched, and the audience comes to care about Bourne and root for his redemption.
All of that is gone. The movie is a cobbled together messy of action shots spliced with people looking aghast in disbelief that they are again tracking Bourne in relation to some sort of black-ops logistical nightmare. All the standard tropes of the Bourne franchise are there: grizzle old man with no regard for ethics or laws, an upstart woman who sees the good in Bourne (and the badness of those around him), a woman who can speak to Bourne and tame his feverish nightmares, an killer asset who speaks little and kills without remorse, a car-chase scene filled with a Keystone-Cop-esque police pursuit, and even a fight scene where the assailant has a knife and Bourne kicks his ass with a house hold item (this time a pot inexplicably found in a drainage canal). In the end, this felt more like a clips show, TV's version of a Greatest Hits album, than an actual movie, but they certainly left it open for a sixth one. Maybe that will just be several steady-cam shots of Bourne appearing behind people without saying anything.
Jason Bourne, the fifth installment featuring the return of Matt Damon and Julia Stiles, was not that bad, but it was a far shade paler than the first film. There, we are given these touching moments of character development where Bourne starts to stitch together his identity with the help of Maria (Franka Potente). There are long moments where no one is punched, and the audience comes to care about Bourne and root for his redemption.
All of that is gone. The movie is a cobbled together messy of action shots spliced with people looking aghast in disbelief that they are again tracking Bourne in relation to some sort of black-ops logistical nightmare. All the standard tropes of the Bourne franchise are there: grizzle old man with no regard for ethics or laws, an upstart woman who sees the good in Bourne (and the badness of those around him), a woman who can speak to Bourne and tame his feverish nightmares, an killer asset who speaks little and kills without remorse, a car-chase scene filled with a Keystone-Cop-esque police pursuit, and even a fight scene where the assailant has a knife and Bourne kicks his ass with a house hold item (this time a pot inexplicably found in a drainage canal). In the end, this felt more like a clips show, TV's version of a Greatest Hits album, than an actual movie, but they certainly left it open for a sixth one. Maybe that will just be several steady-cam shots of Bourne appearing behind people without saying anything.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
49.) Suicide Squad [8/7/2016]
For a movie whose advertisements are bathed in neon punk iconography, this was a dark, gritty, rain-filled, incoherent mess. The largest issue was character development, which is tricky with an ensemble cast. Margot Robbie deserved a better Harley Quinn (though she was good as Harley Quinn, if problematic). For all the hubbub about Jared Leto's method acting, he was barely in the movie, and when he was he was hardly as menacing as the rumors about his off-camera behavior. I didn't care about the relationship between Harley and the Joker, which can charitably be described as "glossed over" in the film. The other characters might have had motivations, but I didn't notice them. One character was literally brought onto a helicopter with no introduction and then was dispatched just as quickly, but I think I was supposed to know who he was.
I could go on: talk about all the rain, the agonizing 10-minute-long slow motion shot near the end, the overly emotive score, the terrible dialogue, the mystical characters who were immune to bullets and missals, but not a bomb, and so on. The fact of the matter is that DC just doesn't make good movies, and Suicide Squad was just another in a long line of evidence to suggest as much.
I could go on: talk about all the rain, the agonizing 10-minute-long slow motion shot near the end, the overly emotive score, the terrible dialogue, the mystical characters who were immune to bullets and missals, but not a bomb, and so on. The fact of the matter is that DC just doesn't make good movies, and Suicide Squad was just another in a long line of evidence to suggest as much.
48.) Gleason [8/6/2016]
There is no way for me to be objective about this movie. Steve Gleason, the former special teams player from the New Orleans Saints and current face of ALS, has done a tremendous service for those suffering from the disease that claimed the life of my father. This documentary of Steve's life tracked the development of the Team Gleason, his non-for-profit organization serving the ALS community. His first goal was so simple, but it was tremendously impactful. When Medicare and Medicad stopped covering speaking devices for those with ALS, Steve's organization set out to provide one to everyone who needed it. He used his fame to also put pressure on politicians to extend public funding for such a necessary medical device. Furthermore, inspired by his own two-week trip through Alaska, Team Gleason organized adventure excursions for wheelchair-bound people suffering from ALS, such as a hike up Machu Picchu.
More than just dump a bunch of information about the good works the foundation does, though, this documentary, like The Theory of Everything, humanizes an extremely difficult disease. Steve and his wife had a child shortly after he was diagnosed, and Michel was left to care for a newborn and her rapidly deteriorating husband (a nice visual juxtaposition: as their child developed new skills and abilities, Steve lost his). There were no perfect heroes in the film: Steve grew testy and sullen as the disease progressed and his wife had the lightness and her optimism slowly ground out down.
Steve is still alive, and his organization (linked below) is still doing great work. I am not sure who would like this movie, but I loved it.
http://www.teamgleason.org/
More than just dump a bunch of information about the good works the foundation does, though, this documentary, like The Theory of Everything, humanizes an extremely difficult disease. Steve and his wife had a child shortly after he was diagnosed, and Michel was left to care for a newborn and her rapidly deteriorating husband (a nice visual juxtaposition: as their child developed new skills and abilities, Steve lost his). There were no perfect heroes in the film: Steve grew testy and sullen as the disease progressed and his wife had the lightness and her optimism slowly ground out down.
Steve is still alive, and his organization (linked below) is still doing great work. I am not sure who would like this movie, but I loved it.
http://www.teamgleason.org/
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