Remembering Peter Bogdonavich (1939-2022)

DISCLAIMER: I'm only posting this here because Instagram had a 2,200 character limit and I wanted to share my full thoughts on Peter Bogdonavich's passing somewhere.  See the condensed Instagram of this post here, if you're interested. I might start posting again, I might not, just go into this expecting it to be a one-time thing.  Thank you all for sticking around.  - Zach

One of my fondest memories growing up went like so: it was a rainy evening in the Marsh household sometime in the mid-2000s, so my sister and I gathered in my parents' bed with them and watched a movie.  That movie happened to be What’s Up, Doc?  To this day I can still hear the sound of Barbra Streisand’s calm demeanor oozing out as Ryan O’Neal’s frustration with her character continues to escalate throughout the movie.  Note to self: give What’s Up, Doc? a much-deserved rewatch soon.  Little did I know that I had just seen my first Peter Bogdonavich movie.  Fast forward to 2018 when I attended the following events: the first was a 35mm screening of Orson Welles’ final film The Other Side of the Wind at the New York Film Festival.  Among the panelists in attendance for the post-screening Q&A were Martin Scorsese, Frank Marshall, and, you guessed it, Peter Bogdonavich.  You can find at least part of the panel on YouTube (side note: to the people at @FilmLinc @TheNYFF, please release the entirety of the panel on your YouTube page if you recorded it. I’d love to watch it all again) One of the things that stands out to me from that event is just how dead-pan and funny Bogdonavich was.  His delivery was very dry but man was he a funny guy.  

The following day I got to see some of that again, this time up close and personal, thanks to the amazing people at the Quad Cinema.  The team over at the Quad arranged a screening series celebrating Bogdonavich’s long career, and I ended up attending a screening of arguably the most infamous film of his career, At Long Last Love, where he did a Q&A after the film.  I deliberately chose to sit in the front row just so I can be as close to this guy and his gloriously dry sense of humor as possible.  Needless to say, that’s exactly what I got.  After the Q&A I had to try to meet him, and so I did.  In between the times where people were getting pictures with him (he never smiled in any of the pictures, which is kind of hilarious to me and probably contributed to why I didn’t ask for a picture with him) he and I were chatting it up a bit.  I had to bring up the story about What’s Up, Doc? to him, and I think, in his own way, he appreciated that.  I’ll be honest here: I was probably annoying him a bit at some point with my persistence to talk while he more than likely wanted to keep to himself after the screening, but all in all he was a very chill and nice individual.  I remember asking him if he had any advice for me because I was in pre-production on my thesis film at the time, but I don’t remember exactly what he told me.  Seeing how I was the last person from the audience in the theater with him while he and his assistant/handler/publicist went to sit at the back of the auditorium, I wished him well, thanked him for his work, and went on my way.

Here’s what I can say about Peter Bogdonavich: he was never a perfect person, and reading about and listening to podcasts about him will not portray him in the most positive of lights.  I wasn’t there for any of that, and neither were most people.  It doesn’t excuse his actions as a person, but that’s not how I’m going to choose to remember him.  In case some of you didn’t know, I used to be a freelance amateur film critic in my early teens, and it’s because of the love and passion for films I had when I was younger that not only got me there but helped me get to the place I am today.  I’m a firm believer that critics can become very successful filmmakers if that’s what they want to do.  After all, people who write critically about movies would probably understand a thing or two about how to make decent-to-good films.  Peter Bogdonavich started out as a film critic before becoming a filmmaker, and while he wasn’t the first to do this, he was definitely one of the first names I noticed when I discovered the small group of critics-turned-filmmakers.  My nostalgic love for What’s Up, Doc? helped Bogdonavich become an inspiration of mine.  

Getting to witness this brilliant filmmaker’s dry whit in person two days in a row is something I’m going to hold onto for as long as I possibly can going forward.  Hollywood has lost one of its most influential voices today, and I mourn along with many others out there.  Peter, thank you for all that you’ve done to contribute to the film industry.  Thank you for tolerating my “Zach Marsh-ness” when I met you back in 2018.  And, most importantly to me, thank you for giving my family and me some strong belly laughs during a rather gloomy day in South Jersey all those years ago.  I’m forever grateful for that day, and I hope you have yourself a long and good rest.  

Rest in Peace, Peter Bogdonavich.

I'm covering the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival!

Hey all,

It's been a long time, hasn't it?  I hope all of you have been very well.  You might be wondering what have I been up to.  Well, I've been focusing more on my studies, and this year happens to be my senior year of college.  I'm currently working on my Senior Thesis Film, among other things.  I'm still seeing movies, as you might have guessed, and if you're wondering what I've seen and what I've thought of what I've seen, you can check out my Letterboxd page and follow me on there to keep up with every movie-related thing I'm up to.  Speaking of movie-related things, as the title of this article says, I'm covering the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival this coming weekend!  What is the Urbanworld Film Festival, you may ask?  Well, it's a festival that's been around ever since 1997, and it celebrates the diverse voices in the world of Film, Music, and Television.  They, as their website says, "fight tirelessly to expand the definition of “urban” beyond ethnicity to include sensibility, culture, and proximity."

I attended one of their film events last year, which was the New York premiere of the film "Marshall" starring Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad, among other familiar faces.  Despite some snafus that I, unfortunately, had to endure that night, I could tell that the festival was run with as much love and care as they could give.  They were as accommodating to me as they possibly could have been, and to that, I strongly appreciate it and thank them and their workers for their generosity that night.  When I applied as a press member for this year's festival, I honestly didn't think I would be approved.  After all, I haven't written fully on this blog since 2015, and I haven't written for We Live Entertainment since 2016.  And yet, here we are.  I don't think I'm going to be covering a whole lot of the festival, but the stuff I am planning on covering I'm very excited about.  Check back in throughout the next week or so to see reviews and recaps of some of the events I'm going to attend, one of which includes the New York premiere of director Steve McQueen's ("12 Years a Slave") new film "Widows," which boasts an incredible ensemble cast lead by Viola Davis and Liam Neeson.

I hope you guys enjoy what I end up writing for my coverage, and I thank you all for reading my stuff over the past nine years.  If you would like to know more information about Urbanworld, check out their website at www.UrbanWorld.org.  If there's anything playing at the festival that you'd love to see me cover, let me know in the comments!  If you're in the New York area and plan on attending the festival, let me know what you're seeing!  If you see me at one of the screenings, don't be a stranger and come say hi!  Again, thank you to everyone for reading my reviews, as poorly written as they might have been,  and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the films and events I attend this weekend.  I may decide to start writing more reviews on here again, but don't hold me to that, as my workload is very busy these days.  Hope you're all having a great day/great week, and I wish you all the very best.

Sincerely,
Zach

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Flower

MOVIE
Flower

CAST
Zoey Deutch, Kathryn Hahn

RATING
R

RELEASE
April 20th, 2017 (Tribeca)
March 16th, 2018 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Max Winkler

STUDIO
The Orchard

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 30 minutes






RATING
8.5/10

*DISCLAIMER: This review was written in April of 2017 during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival for ScreenComment.com, and has since been reposted here to my original blog*

REVIEW:

On the surface, Max Winkler’s directorial debut “Flower” looks and feels like any other coming-of-age teen dramedy to come out in recent memory. However, looking at how great the films in this new wave of teen films have been, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Zoey Deutch stars as Erica, a girl who gets joy in life from hanging out with friends, having a fun time, and blackmailing unsuspecting men with the power of oral pleasure. All is great in Erica’s life, but things begin to take a different turn when Luke, the son of her mom’s boyfriend is let out of rehab. Joey Morgan plays Luke, a mentally unstable and overweight young man with a lot of demons resting under his skin. And with a plot involving a potential sexual predator from Luke’s past coming into the mix, things get more complicated than anyone could have imagined.

From the opening scene, it’s clear that Erica is a nasty woman, and not the kind that people would vote in as our next president. She’s a bitch, long story short, and the film acknowledges this despite us having to like her in the end. With any other actress, it might have been hard to do that, but Deutch is having so much fun being such a crazy and awful teenager that her charisma draws the audience into liking her. Her chemistry with all the cast members, particularly with Kathryn Hahn, who plays her mom, is great as well. Hahn’s performance on its own is yet another example of how strong of an actress she can be. It's easy to compare her work here to her character from last year’s summer breakout smash “Bad Moms,” but there’s a lot more pain and struggle here, all of which comes out at the beginning of the third act.

I’d say that Deutch is easily the standout out of the cast, but the real surprise comes from Joey Morgan. Morgan is probably most notable for “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse,” which, for lack of a better term, isn’t the most intelligent and profound of teen-centric films. Luke is the heart and center of “Flower” as a whole, being both the catalyst for all of the forthcoming events and the most complex out of everybody else. His growth as a character feels incredibly satisfying, especially with Erica by her side. Though the outcome of their bond feels extremely odd and strange, it makes sense how they got there, and I believe the film earned that moment. I will guarantee you, though, that it will turn people off and possibly even question what they thought of the entire movie as a whole.

I haven’t even begun to scratch some of the other active elements this movie possesses, including the hilarious and fun supporting performances from Dylan Gelula, Adam Scott, and Tim Heidecker, to name a few. I also haven’t mentioned how effectively funny and moving the script, co-written by Winkler, Alex McAulay, and Matt Spicer is. “Flower” has a lot of strong things going for it, and as a whole, I think it very much succeeded both as a comedy and drama.

The third act takes an unexpectedly dark turn culminating with a rather bizarre conclusion that, as mentioned before, may very well make or break the film for people. The movie drops in quality for me once that act kicks in, but because of how strong the first two acts are, as well as the performances and the screenplay, I still recommend “Flower.” There are many other teen coming-of-age movies I’d recommend seeing over this, including Deutch’s other recent teen drama “Before I Fall,” the highly overlooked “First Girl I Loved,” and another film playing at Tribeca called “Saturday Church.” Like I said, though, I’d still give “Flower” an enthusiastically positive recommendation. Zoey Deutch’s fiery hilarious yet sophisticated performance alone makes the price of admission worth it.

 

FESTIVAL REVIEW: Super Dark Times

MOVIE
Super Dark Times

CAST
Owen Campbell, Charlie Tahan

RATING
TBA

RELEASE
September 29th, 2017 (LIMITED)
October 3rd, 2017 (VOD)

DIRECTOR
Kevin Phillips

STUDIO
The Orchard

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 40 minutes







RATING
8.5/10

*DISCLAIMER: This review was written in April of 2017 during the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival*

REVIEW:


It’s a rarity when movies have a character with the name “Zach.” It’s even more of a rarity when “Zach” is the name of a film’s lead character. When I was reading the synopsis for “Super Dark Times” and saw my name as the central protagonist, immediately I took interest. As it turns out, there’s a pretty great movie surrounding my majestic, underused name. Set in, as the press notes state, “mid-90s suburbia,” this movie revolves around two best friends, Zach and Josh. The two spend a lot of time together shooting the shit, swearing, and talking about girls. One girl in particular, named Allison, has caught the eyes of both guys, with Josh being more vocal about his crush. One day, the two boys are hanging out with a couple of other friends of theirs, and all is going just hunky dory. And then, shit hits the fan. Tragedy occurs! Blood is on thy hands! So the rest of the film deals with the aftermath of what happens on that fatal afternoon.

What I admired so much about “Super Dark Times” is how it portrays the different psychological effects it has on Zach and Josh. The two respond to what happened that day in ways that are both understandable and incredibly believable. The two actors playing Zach and Josh, Owen Campbell and Charlie Tahan, give genuinely human performances that, being the central core of the story, elevates the entire film from good to great. Elizabeth Cappuccino delivers strong work as well as Erica, with her chemistry with the boys, again, being incredibly believable. Their relationship together is very similar to a romantic subplot in the 2013 indie “The Kings of Summer,” yet this movie manages to take that type of subplot and make it feel fresh once again. The film wouldn’t work as well as it does, though, if it wasn’t for Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski’s dark and intense screenplay, as well as Kevin Phillips’ eye for getting the best performances out of these actors and telling such a powerful story.

It’s not a perfect movie by any means, with the lack of intelligence from other characters when trying to put two and two together being questionable, as well as how the opening scene doesn’t feel necessary to the story when thinking back on it. That being said, I was both on the edge of and pressing back into my seat throughout this movie. “Super Dark Times” is, as the title suggests, super dark. The performances are stellar, the script sharply written, and the film well-directed as a whole. For his feature film debut, director Kevin Phillips has crafted an intense, relatable, and fascinating look into the teen psyche from multiple subjects. Elements of “Donnie Darko,” “Stand By Me,” and “The Dirties” are scattered throughout, but I can see this becoming something of a new cult classic along the lines of those films. If you’re attending the Tribeca Film Festival currently, attending another festival this is playing at, or if it ends up coming to a town near you when it’s eventually released, I’d highly recommend going and checking this out. You won’t come out of the film feeling good, but you will come out feeling incredibly satisfied, tense, and maybe even horrified.

REVIEW: Atomic Blonde

MOVIE
Atomic Blonde

CAST
Charlize Theron, James McAvoy

RATING
R

RELEASE
July 28th, 2017

DIRECTOR
David Leitch

STUDIO
Focus Features

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 55 minutes





RATING
9/10









REVIEW:

At this year's SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, two action films duked it out for the love of those attending the world-famous festival.  The first of those films was Edgar Wright's "Baby Driver," which I found to be a fun movie with a decent chunk of flaws that kept me from loving it.  The second film was "Atomic Blonde," the Charlize Theron-starring flick based on the graphic novel "The Coldest City."  Both films are different in story and tone, and both have their fair share of flaws.  Contrary to popular opinion, though, I have to say that I enjoyed "Atomic Blonde" a whole lot more.  For those who don't know, "Atomic Blonde" takes place at the tail-end of the Cold War, just as the Berlin Wall is coming down.  Charlize Theron plays MI6 Agent Lorraine Broughton, and Broughton is sent undercover to Berlin, Germany to both investigate the murder of a fellow agent, as well as obtain a list containing all the names of double agents.  Because this is an action movie, expect a lot of blood and combat between Lorraine and everyone who gets in her way.

Before anyone's panties get twisted and accuse me of being crazy and wrong for liking "Blonde" more than "Baby," let me point out again, I don't think either are perfect movies.  In fact, there are points where "Blonde" is a much inferior film to "Baby."  For example, even though I found the story and characters to be more interesting in the former, the intelligence of some of the characters, particularly our lead, is very questionable at times.  Without spoiling too much, Broughton is made out to be an intelligent badass, and yet the film makes it pretty clear in telling you who the real double agent is early on and why you shouldn't trust him or her.  And yet, Broughton still manages to trust them despite having been deceived by them at least once already.  For a character who is otherwise very intelligent, she could be very naive and dumb as well.  It's because of this that the film also suffers from being pretty predictable at certain points.  Not too predictable where it irritated me or anything, but enough where it became noticeable and slightly glaring at times.

So yeah, that's all I got.  That's everything negative I can say about the movie.  I had a blast with "Atomic Blonde," plain and simple.  If you thought Charlize Theron was a badass as Furiosa in "Mad Max: Fury Road," she somehow managed to surpass herself on the badass meter.  The dedication to her physical performance is quite admirable, and even if you might have problems with her British accent's consistency, I was able to let go of that because of the amount of commitment she had to the role, among other reasons.  James McAvoy is just as fun as he always is playing the charismatic David Percival, someone who consistently keeps you asking yourself whether or not you can trust him.  Everyone else in the supporting cast, from John Goodman to Eddie Marsen to Sofia Boutella all have their moments to shine, and all overall deliver solid performances.

The strongest tool the movie has is director David Leitch.  Having co-directed the wickedly awesome "John Wick" previously, Leitch manages to tell a captivatingly interesting and entertaining story, as well as incorporate some impressive-as-hell action sequences into the mix.  There's an action sequence that happens at the end of the second act that is meant to simulate a single take.  While it's obvious where the cuts are in the scene, the fact that it doesn't take away from the sheer brilliance of the sequence (which lasts about 10-15 minutes, by the way) really says something about Leitch as a director.  The choices of colors in certain set pieces, as well as the stellar music choices, add to the cyberpunk neo-noir vibe Leitch is attempting, and successfully, pulling off.  If anyone had any worries about Leitch being the director of the upcoming "Deadpool 2," "Atomic Blonde" will throw all of them away.

Like I said before, "Atomic Blonde" isn't without its flaws.  I know some who had more problems with it than me, but hey, it's all about taste, I guess.  While the soundtrack and the action sequences were pretty good in "Baby Driver," I found the soundtrack and action sequences in this movie to be much more captivating, inventive, fun, and exciting.  The editing in "Baby" is infinitely better than the editing in "Blonde," but as I said, "Blonde" kept my interest and adrenaline flowing more so than "Baby."  It might not be fair to compare the two films to one another, but considering they're both R-rated action thrillers with unique soundtracks and talented directors that happened to both play at this year's SXSW Film Festival, I'd say it's fair enough.

So overall, I found "Atomic Blonde" to be a thrilling and fun action/spy thriller that kept my eyes glued to the screen all the way through.  Charlize Theron kicks ass, the soundtrack rocks, the action itself ranged from awesome to jaw-dropping, and the story kept me invested enough to want to continue following Lorraine throughout her endeavors.  With some of the action sequences that take place during the film, particularly the aforementioned 15-minute single take scene, make this flick something that deserves to be seen on the big screen.  I cannot wait to see this movie again, and I really hope I'm able to see it on the biggest screen possible with the loudest sound out there.  Whether you think this is better or worse than "Baby Driver" is up to you, but regardless, both are worth seeing on the big screen.  This one just grabbed me more, I guess.

REVIEW: The Greasy Strangler

MOVIE
The Greasy Strangler

CAST
Michael St. Michaels,
Sky Elobar

RATING
NR

RELEASE
October 7th, 2016 (LIMITED/VOD)

DIRECTOR
Jim Hosking

STUDIO(S)
FilmRise,
Drafthouse Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 33 minutes







RATING
9.5/10











REVIEW:

There is nothing that is, was, has ever been, and maybe never will be quite like “The Greasy Strangler.” This film, coming to us from director Jim Hosking, is a love story at its core. There’s a female love interest in there, but the real love comes between the father and son leads. Big Ronnie, played by Michael St. Michaels, is a man who demands grease in and on everything, and his son Braydon, played by Sky Elobar, complies with his father’s wishes so he doesn’t get evicted. Janet, played by Elizabeth De Razzo, becomes the target of affection for Braydon, and pretty soon Big Ronnie as well. And to think, I didn’t even begin to mention how Big Ronnie transforms himself into “The Greasy Strangler,” a grease-drenched humanoid monster hell bent on killing and strangling anyone who dares to defy him in some way.

In case you couldn’t tell, this might not be a movie that’ll appeal to everyone. "Greasy" is the type of offbeat dark comedy made for a very particular crowd of individuals who like the weird and obscure. Think of it like this: if you’re a fan of Tim & Eric, “The Eric Andre Show,” or pretty much anything that plays on Adult Swim after 1 am, then chances are you’re going to like what the grease is cooking. “The Greasy Strangler” is crude, disgusting, vile, and unapologetic in its execution, that’s for sure. But at the same time, it’s also hilarious, lovably odd, intentionally tedious, cheesy, and a whole lot of fun depending on who you are. I know people who absolutely despised this film, and I completely understand why. Based on my personal tastes, though, I thought this was something of a stroke of genius.

Director Jim Hosking has had his fair share of success in the world of short films, most notably for his segment in “The ABC’s of Death 2,” “G is for Grandad.” “Greasy” is his feature-length debut, and it shows in every single scene how much love and dedication he has put into this piece of insanity. It’s clear that he intended to make a modern-day exploitation B-movie with this, and that’s exactly what we get here. Every scene showcases disgusting imagery, from someone eating eyeballs to another dipping a hot dog in one hell of the nasty tub of grease, so if you’re squeamish at all, then this might not be for you. It’s almost as if Hosking challenged himself to outdo himself in gross factor with every passing scene, and for the most part, he succeeded. And yet, through all of the depravity and obscenities presented, there’s this sort of intelligence that oozes out of this movie’s pores.

Hosking, along with co-writer Toby Harvard, wrote the story and dialogue in such a way where things feel incredibly self-aware. There are several moments throughout the movie that are intentionally tedious, and even though in theory these scenes should overstay their welcome, they’re written with expertise and cleverness that they just keep getting funnier and funnier as they go along. Other scenes, where things abruptly end for no specific purpose, compliment these other moments ever so perfectly. It also helps that most of, if not all of the movie, have immensely quotable and ridiculously bizarre lines that will help this stick with you long after the credits end. Hell, I haven’t been able to get “Bullshit Artist” and “Hootie Tootie Disco Cutie” out of my head ever since my initial viewing of the film. I have now seen it twice, and it’s one of those things that benefits from a second viewing in my eyes. Long story short: Hosking and Harvard’s script is tasteless and completely bonkers, yet more intelligent and memorable than one could have ever expected.

Another factor in the film’s self-awareness comes from the cast members. Michael St. Michaels hasn’t had any major acting roles before this, but it’s hard to tell that from how good he is as Ronnie. Not only is he clearly having the time of his life playing this crazy older guy and the greasy persona he puts on throughout the story, but he also comes off as undeniably likable despite playing such a deviously monstrous person. Like with the script, Michaels’ performance is intentionally hokey, making him all the more entertaining. In fact, all of the acting in this movie is deliberately mediocre, which ironically makes the performances even better.

One of the first thoughts that came into my head after I first saw this was “Tim & Eric,” and that comes mainly from Sky Elobar’s performance. There’s this deadpan and awkward nature he gives off throughout that makes his character Braydon as funny as he is earnest. Being not the most attractive individual adds to a lot of the visual humor, but it’s in Elobar’s delivery that sells the character. This guy can turn an already unerotic sex scene into an absolute laugh-fest. Hell, he can even make phone sex more painfully awkward and side-splittingly funny than anyone could have ever imagined.

The person who probably gives the least “bad” performance in the movie is Elizabeth De Razzo. As Janet, Razzo gives her all by going fully nude, along with partaking in some of the most awkward and jaw-dropping sex scenes in motion picture history. “Game of Thrones” is tame compared the sex scenes featured here. While a lot of her dialogue is cheesy, her delivery is the closest to being “realistic” compared to her co-stars. This isn’t a criticism in the slightest to her or her fellow actors, but rather a compliment to her for being able to keep it straight (or as straight as anyone could be) while saying and doing really odd things. The rest of the acting is even cornier than the three leads, which help to both add to the camp-factor of the movie and the memorability of some scenes.

When I say this movie isn’t for the faint of heart, I mean that in every sense of the phrase. What we have here is easily the grossest, vilest, and most depraved film to come out this year, and that’s saying something considering we had a movie come out that featured an animated food orgy just a couple of months back. Along with insanely disgusting imagery being present throughout, there’s also a lot of male nudity from the two male leads. Both schlongs are prosthetic, and both are used to quite hilarious lengths (pun intended), but if that irks you at all, then I don’t even know that you could ever be fully prepared to see this. And as you might have expected from both a low-budget indie and a homage to exploitation films of the past, the practical effects look as corny as they are brutal. I mentioned some examples of gross imagery before, and believe me when I say that those aren't the most disgusting things shown in the film. These effects are done not just to disgust the viewer, but to also have us laugh at the insanity that’s being presented throughout this movie.

It’s funny how this and another Sundance hit from a first-time writer/director came out on the same weekend, the other one being Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation.” Both films are not easy to sit through, but this one is less accessible to an extent. “The Greasy Strangler” requires a special taste in films in order to enjoy fully. I know quite a few friends of mine who would love this, and I know just as many who would despise this. Regardless of your overall thoughts on the film if you end up seeing it, I guarantee you that it will be hard to forget it. If you’re like me and love these type of obscure indie “midnight movies” that go all out and push any boundaries one may have, then absolutely seek this one out. This is a cult classic in the making, and I really hope people manage to find it and embrace it in all of its greasy nature. I’ve seen “The Greasy Strangler” twice now, and I can’t wait to see it a third time. It’s disgusting, depraved, shocking, crude, and I had an absolute blast with every second of it.

ME WITH ACTORS MICHAEL ST. MICHAELS, SKY ELOBAR, AND ELIZABETH DE RAZZO AFTER THE NEW YORK PREMIERE/AFTER PARTY FOR "THE GREASY STRANGLER" ON OCTOBER 3RD, 2016.

REVIEW: Brooklyn

MOVIE
Brooklyn

CAST
Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
November 4, 2015 (NY/LA)

DIRECTOR
John Crowley

STUDIO
Fox Searchlight Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 52 minutes







STARS
***1/2









REVIEW:

One of the hottest titles to come out of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival was John Crowley's "Brooklyn."  The movie stars Saoirse Ronan as a young Irish girl named Ellis who decides to immigrate to America and start up a new and hopefully more successful life.  Ellis initially feels homesick as most people would.  However, her sickness is immediately cured when an Italian man from Brooklyn named Tony, played by Emory Cohen, enters her life and becomes the center of her romantic infatuations.  From that brief plot description, it's easy to brush this off as yet another romantic film that caters to the hormone-injected teen girls of today.  Despite the film having typical romantic cliches that have been done time and time again, "Brooklyn" manages to stand out amongst other romantic tales coming out these days.  It does so by being an emotionally moving, fantastically acted, gorgeous looking, and overall downright charming drama that, while it's not perfect, is very much something that audiences everywhere can and will enjoy together.

Saoirse Ronan is an actress I've always enjoyed seeing in movies.  Whether it's playing a supporting role in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" or the title character in "Hanna," Ronan always gives it her all in her performances.  As Ellis, she not only gives a great performance, but she also shows off a rawer and more emotional side that was quite refreshing to watch.  Granted I haven't seen her Oscar-nominated work in "Atonement," so I can't judge off of that film.  Considering this is pretty much Ronan's film, though, I think it's safe to say that she held her own and gave a commanding and investing performance.

The first 30 minutes or so of the film show Ellis' struggle not only in America but her journey coming to America itself.  These scenes were all very good, but they didn't quite grab me as much as I would have preferred.  It wasn't until Emory Cohen's Tony came into the picture that the quality of the movie not only raised, but leaped high up in quality.  Not only does Cohen give an exceptionally likable and charismatic performance, but the chemistry that he has with Ronan is unbelievably charming.  Every time these two were on screen together, even if a scene was more dramatic than others, I had a big smile on my face because of how well these two got along.  Their romance never felt artificial or written, but rather as if we were watching a documentary about the sweetest couple around in 1950s New York City.  Their romance to me is the glue that kept the film as a whole together.

About halfway through the film, a tragedy occurs which causes Ellis to go back to Ireland.  Back in her native home, she meets another young man named Jim, played by Domnhall Gleeson.  The reason this film fell short for me from being fantastic is because of Gleeson's character.  Don't get me wrong, the performance is strong, and it's nice to see Gleeson in so many movies right now.  My problem with his character is that, frankly, he didn't feel integral to the plot whatsoever.  It seemed like his only purpose was to create a romantic conflict between Ellis and Tony, thus creating a love triangle.  I never once felt invested in him as a love interest, and I just felt that he was kind of unnecessary to the movie as a whole.  If the filmmakers wanted to create a conflict that would persuade Ellis into moving back to Ireland, they could have made up a better than excuse instead of relying on another romantic partner to seduce her.  Gleeson gave a solid performance, but his character didn't feel needed in my eyes.

"Brooklyn" isn't anything we haven't seen before regarding storytelling.  Not just because this type of story has been done countless times before, but also because this film is based on a book of the same name by author Colm Tóibín.  However, screenwriter/fellow author Nick Hornby gives the story more substance and creates likable and relatable characters that we as an audience care about and enjoy watching.  John Crowley animates the screenplay to life by helping his actors deliver great performances and showing a visually beautiful look at 1950s New York.  The second half felt too much like an artificially created conflict for Ellis, and Domnhall Gleeson's presence felt unneeded, but at the end of the day Brooklyn is a charming, well-acted, beautifully shot, and well-made film that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser to everyone who sees it.

REVIEW: Youth

MOVIE
Youth

CAST
Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel

RATING
R

RELEASE
December 4, 2015 (NY/LA)

DIRECTOR
Paolo Sorrentino

STUDIO
Fox Searchlight Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 58 minutes






STARS
****










REVIEW:

Films like Paolo Sorrentino's "Youth" are something of a reminder of living life to the fullest and accepting the inevitable truth: we are all going to grow up and die as time goes on.  Michael Caine's Fred Ballinger and Harvey Keitel's Mick Boyle are two longtime friends who decide to retreat to the Swiss Alps for some much-needed relaxation.  Ballinger's daughter/personal assistant Lena, played by Rachel Weisz, tags along with the two as well.  Fred is an acclaimed composer/conductor with no intention of getting back into the game due to "personal reasons," despite the Queen of England's request of having him perform for her.  Mick is a renowned filmmaker who brings his team of writers along with him to finish the screenplay for what he thinks will be his "last important film."  Lena is married to Mick's son though the relationship is on the fritz.  She resents her father and has a lot of emotions bottled up within in regards to the way he took care of her.  Actor Jimmy Tree, played by Paul Dano, is also staying at the hotel while he tries to prepare for his latest acting job.  Everyone at the hotel ends up reflecting on their lives in some way, shape or form, and it's in these reflections that the movie hits heights that I didn't expect it to hit.

It's easy to pass this off as nothing more than an "old people" movie due to its two leading men.  The film itself is so much more than that.  Sure the prime focuses are Caine and Keitel's characters, but the movie features many other characters, both old and young, who are in the Alps to relax and have some fun.  It isn't just about two older men looking to vacate and admire the life they've lived.  The movie, rather, is about how a group of people staying at a beautiful hotel in a beautiful part of the world find their ways of reclaiming their youthful spirits and feel, well, young.  Sorrentino captures this essence powerfully and delivers a superb film chock-full of laughs, drama, and well-crafted characters with precision and grace.

Veteran actors Caine and Keitel give two of the best performances of their decade-spanning career in this movie.  Not only do the two share some incredibly funny and very poignant scenes together, but their character arcs separately are very fleshed and have a lot more substance than one would expect.  One scene that stands out, in particular, involves a heated discussion between Caine's Henry Ballinger and a representative for the Queen of England.  On paper, it could seem that the emotions coming from the characters aren't very authentic, but the way Caine pulls off his performance in this scene allows the scene to work wonders and adds quite the amount of depth to his character.  Keitel's final scene in the movie is also quite poignant to encounter.  Without spoiling anything, both of these scenes are incredibly emotional and somewhat subtle, making the overall outcome of what happens in them stronger and more effective.  Another veteran actor, Jane Fonda, has a small role in the movie, and she too is very good in her bit part.  Having said that, the performance Fonda gives feels like nothing compared to the incredible work Caine and Keitel give here.

Two performances that aren't quite as great as the former two but still deserve mentioning are the ones given by Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano.  Weisz's portrayal of Ballinger's daughter Lena is raw and relatable.  In a sense, anyone could see themselves in her shoes because of her life getting washed down the drain.  Everybody knows what it feels like when it seems everything that could go wrong is going wrong, and yet the main source of all of this is unknown.  Paul Dano's Jimmy Tree is in a very similar spot actually, as he wants to venture off and become a more versatile actor but is only recognized by fans for playing a robot on a TV show.  Both characters on the outside may seem self-centered and unlikable, but as the movie goes on it's shown that they're complex characters with a lot more realism than the surface may show.

Aside from a couple of things not being explained well, mostly involving the final scene of the movie, as well as a rather horrible green screen effect used towards the end, there isn't anything else negative to say about Youth.  There are people out there who won't enjoy the film as much as I did, as there were people who booed the movie at its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival.  Some may even complain that it drags and it feels like something catered towards the 55+ crowd.  To me, this wasn't made solely for a specific age group: this is a movie for people who want to know how to "live" again.  Being cooped up in a room doing nothing but eating food and watching Netflix shows can get boring, and "Youth" is something of a reminder to get off your ass and live life to the fullest.  Another movie that came out this year, Noah Baumbach's "While We're Young," had this identical effect.  Although, I do feel like this film emulated this better.

Paolo Sorrentino has crafted one hell of a moving movie.  The acting is incredible, and the chemistry between Caine and Keitel makes a lot of the scenes they share work wonders.  The cinematography is stellar and so damn gorgeous to look at, especially when the camera focuses on these long shots of the mountains and scenery of the Alps.  Sorrentino's script is chock full of sharp humor and incredibly heartbreaking/poignant moments that make this hit closer to home than one may expect.  His direction as well gets the best performances out of his actors and gives him the ability to tell this great story with ease.  Fox Searchlight may be campaigning this for Awards Season this year, but it seems like their main focus is on John Crowley's "Brooklyn."  While "Brooklyn" is more digestible and is a very well made film on its own merits, "Youth" has more of a subtle and raw quality to it.  That, to me, makes it a much stronger and more impactful piece of work  It might not appeal to everyone, but to me, "Youth" is a wonderful look at people regaining their youthfulness while dealing with the fact that death and growing up is inevitable.

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.

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

The Revenant

Spectre

Steve Jobs

Bridge of Spies

Our Brand Is Crisis

The Last Witch Hunter

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.

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

The Martian

Crimson Peak

The Walk

The Jungle Book

In The Heart Of The Sea

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.





PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Our Brand Is Crisis

Creed

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.