REVIEW: The Walk: The IMAX 3D Experience

MOVIE
The Walk

CAST
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Charlotte Le Bon

RATING
PG

RELEASE
September 30, 2015 (IMAX 3D)
October 9, 2015 (WIDE)

DIRECTOR
Robert Zemeckis

STUDIO
Tristar Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 3 minutes









STARS
****










REVIEW:

Back when movies were first invented, they were considered to be something of a novelty and was meant to be an experience.  Nowadays, films are made to tell stories and show off performances, visual designs, a great script, or anything else you can imagine.  It's rare when somebody says that going to the movies is an "experience" rather than something more common.  In the case of Robert Zemeckis' latest film "The Walk," an "experience" is the best way to describe it.  The movie tells the true story of Philippe Petit, an eccentric and larger-than-life French performer who, in 1974, assembled a crew and successfully performed a high-wire act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  A documentary about his grand (and illegal) act called "Man on Wire" came out in 2007, but this tells the story in a more narrative fashion.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Petit, and without sugar-coating anything, it's the best performance of his career thus far.

Once you get past the French accent which, personally speaking, I didn't mind as much as others, this is Gordon-Levitt as his highest form. The character of Petit is a likable and extraordinary man who wakes up every day with a passion burning deep in his heart, and JGL captures that attitude with precision. I would bet he would have gotten a nomination for Best Actor for his performance if the competition wasn't as fierce as it is this year. Yes, he is THAT good. Ben Kingsley has a great little supporting role as Petit's mentor, and the rest of the cast works very well as an ensemble. Charlotte Le Bon, in particular, stands out from he other supporting actors, as she is simply delightful and engaging on screen. Her chemistry with Gordon-Levitt is very enjoyable to watch, even when they're not exactly seeing eye to eye with one another. All in all, there isn't a single bad performance featured in this movie.

Probably the most attention given to this movie was for the visual effects and the use of 3D. There is a reason for that, though: both are out of this world. It's pretty easy to tell that the majority of the film was shot on green screens and soundstages, I will admit.  Take that away, though, and it still feels like the characters are in New York looking at the Twin Towers, and when Petit is walking between the towers, you feel like you're right there with him. The 3D increases this feeling strongly, and that alone makes me believe that it is necessary to pay the surcharge and see this in 3D. There are several "pop-out" moments featured during the movie, but the 3D is necessary because of the added feeling of immersion given.

Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne have together written a well-paced, funny, intense, and overall engaging little caper that never dragged or made me bored.  Regarding the actual directing done, this is Zemeckis at his finest.  Everything felt so tightly knit, and everything felt necessary to what was presented in my eyes.  Nothing felt out of place or had the need to be cut out in my eyes.  The last time I felt this type of love for a Zemeckis film was "Forrest Gump."  That might sound hard to believe, but you just have to see this film to see maybe what I'm talking about. It's a true shame that this didn't do as well as other 3D movies that came out around the same time, as this is 2015's definition of the term "movie magic" to me.

I never expected this to be a surefire awards contender, but the fact that barely anyone gave this movie a chance makes me upset inside.  Maybe one-day people will see this masterful piece of work and realize that this was meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible.  Speaking of which, seeing this in IMAX 3D was such a surreal experience.  Everything about this movie is perfection, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it.  "The Walk" is a work of art in my eyes and is a beautifully crafted love letter to film fans, high-wire enthusiasts, the grand city of New York, and the Twin Towers of World Trade Center.  In fact, I'd say that this is as close to a perfect tribute to the buildings and those the world lost on September 11, 2001, as we're ever going to get.

ME WITH "THE WALK" DIRECTOR, ROBERT ZEMECKIS, AND STAR OF THE FILM, CHARLOTTE LE BON, AFTER A SPECIAL NYFF PRESS SCREENING/FAN EVENT FOR THE FILM ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2015!!!!!!

REVIEW: Bang Bang Baby

MOVIE
Bang Bang Baby

CAST
Jane Levy, Justin Chatwin

RATING
NR

RELEASE
September 19, 2015 (NYC)
November 10, 2015 (VOD)

DIRECTOR
Jeffery St. Jules

STUDIO
Random Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 29 minutes









STARS
**









REVIEW:

Well, I'll give "Bang Bang Baby" credit for something: it's extremely original.  At the same time, though, it's also extremely weird and absurd throughout.  This is a sci-fi musical dramedy that takes place in Canada circa early 1960s.  The movie stars Jane Levy from the "Evil Dead" remake along with Justin Chatwin from Showtime's "Shameless" and character actor Peter Stormare.  Levy plays a lonely teenager named Stepphy, who dreams of becoming a singer, as many girls do.  She ends up winning a singing competition that would require her to go to New York City, but her alcoholic dad refuses to let her go.  Stepphy's fate changes though when a musical idol of hers just happens to cross paths with her when his car breaks down just near her home.  As if things couldn't get stranger, a mysterious chemical leak happens that begins to give the townsfolk a series of bizarre mutations.

While the film itself takes place in the 60s, the vibe, look, and sound of the soundtrack feel as if they're more so from the 50s.  The sets, for example, are very nice visual treats for the eyes.  However, they give off a feel as if they're confused about what period they're trying to represent.  It got annoying at times to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to take place around the same time as something like movie/musical "Hairspray" was set.  Speaking of the soundtrack, it's overall pretty mediocre.  There are some songs, particularly the film's opening number "Juniper Lane," that are quite catchy and very well done.  Others, though, are not as good and didn't have quite as much of a flowing rhythm as others did.

The casting choices in the movie are all over the place.  On one hand, you have Jane Levy and Peter Stormare giving pretty solid and believable performances as their respected characters.  On the other hand, you have Justin Chatwin and David Reale giving mediocre to awful performances.  Chatwin seems to be trying too hard to channel his inner Elvis and in trying to do so becomes a very hollow, irritating, and one-dimensional character.  Granted it seemed like that was the filmmaker's intentions with this character, but the way he was executed was rather poor.  As for Reale, I guess you can say he's the film's main antagonist.  It's one thing for a character to be menacing and unlikable, but if you have your villain be so irritatingly annoying that you're not given the chance to be genuinely afraid of him or even have him be something of an interesting character, then there's a problem.  Every time Reale was on screen my insides twisted and I had a couple of minor headaches merely because of his presence in the movie.  Chatwin is a talented actor, and I'm sure Reale is too, but here they do not deliver enjoyable performances whatsoever.

As an aspiring filmmaker, it hurts to bash on a film from a first-time feature director/writer.  It hurts even more because I could see so much passion that went into making this movie.  It's very clear from watching this movie that writer/director Jeffrey St. Jules loved what he was making and created this from a place of true energy and imagination.  In fact, it was because of this passion I saw that I even gave "Bang Bang Baby" a second watch, something I rarely do for newer-released films.  That second viewing only made me dislike what I saw even more, sadly.

If this was supposed to be a comedy at parts, I never laughed.  If this was supposed to be a drama where the audience is meant to sympathize with the characters, I never felt so much as a twinkle of that until the film's third act.  The ideas and concepts featured are interesting ones, but, unfortunately, they all just felt like an odd mixture of things that never fully meshed together to make something good or great.  "Bang Bang Baby" may appeal to a select few people out there.  After all, it did win the "Best Canadian First Feature Film" award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.  Unfortunately for this writer here, the movie didn't connect or become something more than a bunch of cool ideas/concepts.  If you're a fan of fresh and original material, I'd honestly say give this a watch merely because of how much creativity went into it.  As a movie-lover, though, I can't say that this is a good movie worth your time, unfortunately.

MINI-REVIEW: Sicario

MOVIE
Sicario

CAST
Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro

RATING
R

RELEASE
Setpember 18, 2015 (NY/LA)
October 2, 2015 (WIDE)

DIRECTOR
Denis Villevenue

STUDIO
Lionsgate

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 1 minute








STARS
***1/2










REVIEW:

Director Denis Villevenue has tackled some fascinating and haunting subjects in his films, with his two most recent works "Prisoners" and "Enemy" receiving mass acclaim.  With the movie "Sicario," Villevenue tackles yet another fascinating and haunting subject: the drug cartel.  Emily Blunt is the main focus of the movie, playing an FBI agent recruited by a small sector of the Department of Defense to help maintain control and possibly end the war on drugs between the US and Mexico.  This is a movie that is grand in scope, yet the story and characters make it all feel enclosed and more intimate.  Cinematographer Roger Deakins shot this movie beautifully, with some of the imagery featured on screen being more haunting than any horror movie to have come out this year.  Composer Johann Johannson creates a looming and beautiful score that helps give the movie one hell of a depressing vibe to it.  Taylor Sheridan, a writer best known for his TV credits including "Sons of Anarchy," created a gloomy and sad world along with fascinating characters, some more flawed than others.  Villevenue brings his directorial flare to this story, and though this is my least favorite of his films, his style is clearly present and he brings his A-game to the film.

The performances, particularly from the three leads, are all quite stellar.  Everyone brings everything they have to their roles and altogether make up an incredible ensemble cast.  As much as I'm praising this movie, there were some problems I had with it.  When the movie drags, to me it really dragged.  Sometimes it was effective, yet other times it wasn't.  There were some points where the movie as a whole got a tad confusing and hard to follow.  Luckily I was never fully lost from the general story.  The biggest problem I have with the movie is a subplot involving a corrupt Mexican cop and his family.  In my eyes, it didn't need to be in the movie at all.  Had it been omitted entirely, I don't think the movie would have been as slow, nor do I think the quality of the film itself would have been affected negatively.  If anything, I might have enjoyed the movie more had this subplot not been in there.  Despite the gripes I had with it, it's hard to deny how intense and gripping of a film "Sicario" is overall.  It's an intense, well-acted, and well-made movie that is never happy in the slightest.  Although movies are usually supposed to be an escape from our worries and make us feel good, it's important for filmmakers to challenge us and make us feel gloomy and upset over something that's actually happening somewhere else in the world.  For that alone, I would highly recommend checking this one out.

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Freeheld

MINI-REVIEW: Everest: The IMAX 3D Experience

MOVIE
Everest

CAST
Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
September 18, 2015 (IMAX 3D)
September 25, 2015 (WIDE)

DIRECTOR
Baltasar Kormákur

STUDIO
Universal Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 1 minute






STARS
***










REVIEW:

Climbing Mount Everest takes courage, strength, and lots of equipment.  Even with all of the necessary requirements, though, things can still go awry on the world's tallest mountain.  "Everest," from director Baltasar Kormákur, tells the true story of one such event.  In 1996, a group of climbers on an expedition to the top of the mountain ended up facing a severe snow storm that tests them all in more ways than one.  The beginning was slow, having the film itself take a bit before becoming investing.  The ending of the movie, ironically enough, is very rushed and wraps things up too quickly for the audience to fully process what just happened.  Having said that, I would still recommend checking out "Everest."  The acting work is strong all around though Jake Gyllenhaal is severely underused in the movie, the visuals are stunning, and the 3D is very good.  It's not necessarily worth paying extra for "The IMAX 3D Experience," but the 3D is a lot better than most post-converted movies to come out these days.  I can't say this is something one should rush out to see, but if it's still playing in theaters around you, or if you're just looking for a beautiful 3D movie to watch just for kicks, then this is one that I'd say is worth seeing.

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REVIEW: Black Mass

MOVIE
Black Mass

CAST
Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton

RATING
R

RELEASE
September 18, 2015

DIRECTOR
Scott Cooper

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 3 minutes





STARS
***1/2











REVIEW:

The main inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," Frank Costello, was famed Boston Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger.  In the time since that film was released, there have been two films about the life of Bulger that have come to the silver screen.  The first was a documentary entitled "Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger," and the second one was a narrative feature from director Scott Cooper called "Black Mass."  The latter is what I'm here to talk about today.  "Black Mass" stars Johnny Depp as Bulger, and the film depicts how he became an informant for the FBI and soon began to use them to get to the top of the Italian Mafia.

People have been saying that this is Johnny Depp's "comeback" to good roles though I'd honestly disagree.  While his recent choices have either involved acting in Disney adaptations, playing absurd characters in either micro-budgeted indies or Tim Burton movies, and starring in some critically panned films, I don't think he necessarily "left."  Having said that, this is hands down the best work Depp has delivered since his portrayal of "Sweeney Todd."  His green contacts get distracting at times, but other than that Depp loses himself as Bulger and plays this sadistic gangster madman with grace and menace.  The rest of the cast as a whole is very good though one performance I'm going to address is Joel Edgerton's as FBI agent John Connolly.

Edgerton is a great actor, and maybe an even better writer/director, as shown in his work on "The Gift."  Looking back on this movie and the performance he gives in it, though, there are problems present.  His performance overall is not bad, and I don't blame what I'm going to be criticizing entirely on him.  First off, the Boston accent Edgerton uses throughout the movie felt forced and exaggerated.   The second big problem I have with Edgerton, and this I'm mostly going to be blaming on the writing, is that his dialogue gets repetitive.  In fact, his dialogue gets so repetitive to the point where you can make a drinking game out of every time he references how he and the Bulger brothers grew up together and are from "Southie."  The third problem I had with him, and this could be blamed more on the director, is that his character became too much of an annoying and whiny baby when it came to talking to other characters about seeing the current predicaments happening his way.  Joel Edgerton gives a fine performance, but the material and direction given to him made it hard to take him seriously 100% of the time.

Other than what I had to say about Edgerton's character, I honestly have nothing else negative to say about "Black Mass."  Johnny Depp gives one hell of an amazing performance and makes the movie his playground.  Everyone else does a fine job, and the story that they're in is very interesting to watch.  There are some bits of dialogue that don't hit as hard as others, but the screenplay as a whole it pretty top notch.  I haven't seen any of Scott Cooper's other films, but I could tell here that he understood how to make a striking and flowing gangster biopic.  I doubt this will go down as one of the best gangster films of the modern era, but "Black Mass" is undeniably a strong and engaging movie that flows smoothly and never bores.





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MINI-REVIEW: Cooties

MOVIE
Cooties

CAST
Elijah Wood, Alison Pill

RATING
R

RELEASE
September 18, 2015
(LIMITED/VOD)

DIRECTOR(S)
Jonathan Milott,
Cary Murnion

STUDIO
Lionsgate Premiere

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 36 minutes







STARS
***








REVIEW:

The concept for the horror-comedy "Cooties" is a strong one: a zombie epidemic occurs when a poisoned chicken nugget starts turning children who haven't gone through puberty yet into ravenous, cannibalistic monsters.  The staff at a local elementary school get wrapped up in the middle of all of this, and together they must fend for their lives and possibly stop the virus from spreading anywhere else.  As I was watching this movie, I found myself digging and enjoying everything happening on screen.   Reflecting on it afterward, though, I started to notice the flaws that I didn't initially notice.  There are characters and certain jokes here that are set up and shown but ultimately have no purpose to the story whatsoever.  For example, a character will be shown doing something, yet they won't serve any point of being in the movie until the very end.  The middle of the film drags at times, making it feel more like 105-120 minutes than 87 minutes.  That reminds me; the movie should have been a lot longer than it was.  The ending of the movie comes so abruptly and feels incredibly rushed.   Plus it seemed only to have one purpose: to set up for a sequel that may never even get made.

It might sound like I have a lot more cons to say than pros, but as a whole I do see this as a solid little movie.  The blood and gore featured were incredibly well done, there are plenty moments of humor that are hilarious, and the cast is pretty damn great here.  Everyone seemed to be having a fun time making this, allowing the audience and myself to have a fun time with them.  There's one pretty meta joke at the beginning the film that got a pretty big laugh out of myself and the other members of my audience.  I can see "Cooties" having the potential to become something of a cult classic down the road.  Unfortunately, it's hard for me not to notice the flaws that took this down from being a great movie to just a plain old good movie.  "Cooties" had more good elements than bad, but at the end of the day it's hard not to notice that this could have been something a lot better than it ultimately ended up being.

REVIEW: Queen of Earth

MOVIE
Queen of Earth

CAST
Elisabeth Moss,
Katherine Waterston

RATING
NR

RELEASE
August 26, 2015 (NY/VOD)

DIRECTOR
Alex Ross Perry

STUDIO
IFC Films

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 30 minutes








STARS
*1/2











REVIEW:

Every once in a while, there is a movie that comes out that I simply can't understand why other people enjoy it.  "Queen of Earth" has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and has received constant praise from fellow colleagues of mine.  I wish I could see what they see in this indie drama-thriller.  The movie comes to us from writer/director Alex Ross Perry, who made a movie last year called "Listen Up Phillip" that I never got around to seeing.  Elisabeth Moss from "Mad Men" plays Catherine, a damaged woman who is dealing with her boyfriend breaking up with her and, soon after, the death of her father.  She ends up staying with her best friend Virginia, played by Katherine Waterston from "Inherent Vice," at her lake house for some much-needed relaxation.  From there shenanigans ensue, and the realization that they've been drifting apart for so long slowly comes crawling upon them.

I'll give the movie some credit and say the acting was fine, and the cinematography is solid.  Having said that, every single character in this movie is so unlikeable, and not in a fascinating or entertaining way.  Every single character in this movie, and the cast is very small mind you, are absolute swine.  The things they say were so vile and irritating that I could believe that the dialogue came straight out of their asses.  Not to mention, at times it seemed like the characters had bipolar disorder in which their moods and attitudes change so abruptly.  To be fair, a portion of the movie is told through flashbacks, but even when it's in the modern day setting everyone's emotions were all over the place.

It's fine when movies try to have flawed and unlikable characters in a psychological storyline.  Llewyn Davis in "Inside Llewyn Davis," for example, was a flawed individual who clearly wasn't a great guy, yet was constantly captivating to watch thanks to great writing and a great performance to go with it.  The way this movie showcased its characters felt very pompous and melodramatic in my eyes.  There are also points where it's hard to get a grasp on what's real and what's happening inside someone's head.  Again, movies can make wonders doing this, but here it felt like a desperate attempt to show off the "talents" of the writer/director and be super artsy.

The editing is very odd at times, particularly with its absurd fetish to cut to black.  Random and awkward scene cuts also seem to be this movie's best friend.  Alex Ross Perry can direct a movie fine,  and I'm sure his other movies are good (hopefully), but this film's screenplay felt so grim and so full-of-it that I kept getting more and more frustrated as the movie went along.  Not to mention, it seemed like there were moments that were supposed to be funny, but rather these parts came off as awkward and bizarre.  I got sent a screener for this movie a while back and watched the movie via my laptop.  Despite the movie being only 90 minutes long, it took me 2 and a half hours to sit through this.  That was mainly since I kept pausing it in order to process what the hell I was watching and control the slow-rising rage boiling inside me from this.

As I said before, I'm in the minority in regards to this movie.  If you're a fan of the films of Alex Ross Perry, then chances are you will like this.  If you like psychological studies of really unlikable characters, again you may like this.  "Queen of Earth" just wasn't my cup of tea, for lack of a better term.  Then again I did enjoy such critically panned films as "Pixels," "A Million Ways To Die In The West," and anything else that can come to mind, so my opinion may not be just on this.  If you want to see the movie, go ahead and see the movie.  You may enjoy it, and I would be really happy about that.  People shouldn't go into movies expecting them to suck.  That might explain why I enjoy so many movies and dislike so few of them.  Sadly, this is one of those few I dislike.  In my eyes, "Queen of Earth" is a self-absorbed, vile and overly-artsy indie that feels like it's saying and doing more than it is.

MINI-REVIEW: Turbo Kid

MOVIE
Turbo Kid

CAST
Munro Chambers,
Laurence Leboeuf

RATING
NR

RELEASE
August 28, 2015 (LIMTIED/VOD)

DIRECTOR(S)
Anouk Whissell,
François Simard,
Yoann-Karl Whissell

STUDIO
Epic Pictures Group

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 33 minutes







STARS
***3/4









REVIEW:

Films like "Turbo Kid" scream "cult status" simply by their existence.  This particular film, brought to us by French-Canadian filmmaking group RKSS, takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of the year 1997.  In this world, water is scarce, and survival is everything, a la "Mad Max: Fury Road."  Munro Chambers plays a loner kid who, while trying to survive, also happens to be a big fan of the comic book hero Turbo Rider.  After meeting up with the eccentric Apple, played by Laurence Lebeouf, "The Kid" ends up discovering equipment that will allow him to become just like the Turbo Rider.  Using these powers for justice, The Kid plans to stop the maniac running the town, played by Michael Ironside, before any more damage can be done to others.

Aside from obviously paying homage to "Mad Max" with its post-apocalyptic water-scarce desert setting, the filmmakers behind this also show a true love for 80s exploitation/Grindhouse movies and the use of practical effects.  In fact, this has some of the goriest and most inventive deaths in any movie to come out this year.  Even if Gore isn't your strong suit, most of, if not all of the blood and guts poured out of victims and onto the screen are played for laughs.  These three filmmakers clearly show a passion for what they're making, and it's obvious from every scene that they're having a blast every second of the way.  Aside from the pacing being off at times, this is an insanely fun homage to campy 80s movies.  Imagine if the apocalyptic setting of ‪"Mad Max‬," the quirkiness of ‪"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," a hypnotically synthetic 80s-esque soundtrack, and the ultraviolence of an exploitation film were all thrown into a blender; this is the protein shake that would come oozing out.  Grab a bunch of friends together along with a giant tub of popcorn and experience this retro indie as soon as you can.  "Turbo Kid" might not be for everyone, but it's hard to deny how inventive and ridiculous this movie is overall.

MINI-REVIEW: Straight Outta Compton

MOVIE
Straight Outta Compton

CAST
O'Shea Jackson Jr.,
Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell

RATING
R

RELEASE
August 14, 2015

DIRECTOR
F. Gary Gray

STUDIO
Universal Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 27 minutes






STARS
***3/4












REVIEW:

Musical biopics are something of a common trend now.  There are memorable ones, like "Walk the Line," and more forgettable ones, like "Get on Up."  It seemed almost inevitable that a musical biopic about N.W.A. would come our way, especially since Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have been talking about making this for a while.  Well now, we have it, and it's appropriately given the title "Straight Outta Compton."  For those who don't know, the group N.W.A. was famously made up of the lyrics of Ice Cube, the production of Dr. Dre, and the rapping swagger of Eazy-E.  These three men made headlines throughout their careers together, causing much controversy in the government just as much as on the streets.  Their mission was to tell it as it was, and songs like "Straight Outta Compton" and "F*** The Police" surprisingly still hold up to this day, especially considering the recent events to have happened in this country.  While one might expect that the film would have ended the moment N.W.A. broke up, director F. Gary. Gray decided to keep the story going.  While that makes the film nearly 2 and a half hours long, it continues the story that manages to stay fascinating and bittersweet come the film's conclusion, depending on how you see it.

The three leads playing Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell are all pretty damn great in the movie.  Each one adds a sense of depth and reliability to their characters and make them all very engaging to watch.  The style of the movie itself is gritty and realistic, giving the audience a rough "slice of life" and showing that the late 80s and early 90s though the culture has changed, are shockingly similar to things that happen today.  F. Gary Gray was something of an ideal choice to direct this, as his visual flare and his previous experience with Ice Cube help him tell a great story altogether.  The film as a whole drags at times, and there are certain elements that could have been cut out, but as a whole "Straight Outta Compton" is a strong, gritty, and entertaining look into the cause, effect, and aftermath of one of the most controversial musical groups in history.






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REWIND REVIEW: Mistress America

MOVIE
Mistress America

CAST
Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke

RATING
R

RELEASE
August 14, 2015 (NY/LA)

DIRECTOR
Noah Baumbach

STUDIO
Fox Searchlight Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 25 minutes







STARS
****









REVIEW:

"Mistress America" re-teams Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig for their third time over the course of five years.  Regarding tone and characters, this is very similar to "Frances Ha," though this one is miles better in my eyes.  "Mistress" is about a young college freshman in New York, played by the adorable Lola Kirke, who ends up under the wing of her eccentric and outgoing soon-to-be stepsister, played by Gerwig.  Being a college freshman in Brooklyn myself, this story really connected with me on many levels.  In many ways, I could see myself in the shoes of Kirke's Tracy, being alone and unfamiliar to this world far bigger than she might have anticipated.  At the same time, I could see myself in Gerwig's Brooke, having the passion of pursuing large dreams and attempt to make the world around her, well, her bitch.

Not only is the movie relatable and poignant, but it's also extremely funny.  This film may have the most consistent amount of laugh-inducing jokes in a movie all year.  Baumbach and Gerwig go back to the roots of the old-school screwball comedies of the 1930s-1950s with its jokes.  In fact, there are so many jokes thrown in per minute that it's kind of hard to get them all on a first viewing.  That's how funny this movie is.  The second half of the movie alone, which mostly takes place in one setting, has more laughs than any other comedy to have come out this year, and maybe even last year too.  It might just be that I love this type of humor, but I was laughing hard consistently.  If you're not a fan of old-school humor and are more a fan of shock-humor or really raunchy jokes, then this might not be the film for you.  There are some raunchy jokes here, but they don't make up the movie's entire sense of humor.  Take that for what it's worth.

Greta Gerwig as always shines and gives a lively and energetic performances, making herself out to be the next big indie "it" girl of the modern era.  Lola Kirke, whose most known role prior to this film was a small role in David Fincher's "Gone Girl," is also quite terrific in this movie.  She has this lovable "girl next door" look and attitude to her performance, which is enhanced by an adorable little lisp she has.  However when she brings on her sex appeal in certain scenes in the movie, my god does she bring it.  I can honestly see Kirke becoming something like the next Shailene Woodley or Jennifer Lawrence if the right cards are handed her way.  These two have terrific chemistry together, which work even better when they're in scenes with their fellow cast mates.  The second half, in particular, is where every single joke hits hard, every performance is great, and every bit of dialogue entertains.  I'm not going to spoil exactly what goes down during this section of the movie, but when you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about.

In case you couldn't tell, I love this movie.  Every note in this movie hit with grace to me, and for 84 minutes I was under complete control of Baumbach, Gerwig, and co.  Not only is this a great comedy and a relatable story about adjusting to a new life in a new place, but it's also a rather beautiful story of two strangers whose bond becomes bigger than the one that their parents are about to share together.  We have all had that special friend who not only shares common interests but just simply "gets" you.  They understand how your mind works and want to follow every move you make or help you on the path of righteousness.  This bond is what Brooke and Tracy share in this movie, and in my eyes, it's the best love story of 2015.

Because of school, and laziness, to be honest, this review has been in the draft stage for the past few months, so sadly this can't be experienced in the theater at this time.  However, it did just come out on Digital HD and should be on DVD very soon.  Do yourself a favor and just see this movie.  It can be with friends, family members, people you don't know, or even just yourself.  Either way, this is a movie that deserves to be seen before the year runs out.  "Mistress America" is a sharply written, expertly crafted, and perfectly paced comedy that has the funniest and possibly most relatable dialogue and story this year has seen.

ME WITH THE CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR OF 

"MISTRESS AMERICA," NOAH BAUMBACH, AFTER A SPECIAL SHOWING OF THE FILM ON 

AUGUST 21, 2015!!!!

REWIND REVIEW: While We're Young

MOVIE
While We're Young

CAST
Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts

RATING
R

RELEASE
March 27, 2015

DIRECTOR
Noah Baumbach

STUDIO
A24

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 37 minutes






STARS
***3/4










REVIEW:

In between working with his co-writer/female lead/muse Greta Gerwig, filmmaker Noah Baumbach made a little film called "While We're Young."  This is the story of a married couple in their 40s, played by Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, who begin to feel full of life and youthful again after befriending a younger and more free-spirited couple played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried.  It's easy to pass this off as yet another movie that has people reminiscing about the "good ol' days," but Baumbach takes this concept and adds in a surprisingly relatable story-arc about people striving to make it to the top no matter the cost.  The script is well-written, Baumbach's direction is on point, and every actor delivers a strong performance.  Adam Driver in particular steals the show in every scene he's in.  If you haven't seen "While We're Young" yet, then definitely seek it out and give it a watch.  It is slow and weak at times, but everything great about this movie makes up for that.