Jeff Mitchell's Top Movies of 2015

  Jeff Mitchell’s Top 20 Films of 2015

20. “Phoenix” - Nina Hoss delivers an unforgettable performance as a wounded concentration camp survivor who undergoes significant facial plastic surgery, but her appearance creates more than considerable complications when she travels back to Berlin after the war to find her husband. This movie took me by surprise

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19. “Youth” - Director Paolo Sorrentino offers a story of two longtime friends - played by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel - who ponder big and small questions under a backdrop of an extravagant hotel in the Swiss Alps.  Sorrentino intermingles stunning visuals and pleasing sounds with intimate conversations, and Caine and Keitel are at the top of the game.

18. “Love & Mercy” - Paul Dano and John Cusack play Brian Wilson in his 20s and 40s, respectively, as the film showcases The Beach Boys’ leader as a brilliant, young musician and a damaged individual under the abusive “care” of a manipulative doctor.  An insightful and well-acted film for Beach Boys fans and non-fans, alike.

17. “Bone Tomahawk” - Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, and Richard Jenkins leave the town of Bright Hope on a perilous journey to rescue some of its citizens from a group of cannibals.   Although this very well-written and acted film does take an exceptionally gruesome turn in the final act, this is a highly engaging and memorable western.

16. “Straight Outta Compton” - Director F. Gary Gray recounts the history of N.W.A, a seminal rap band of the 1980s, in a complimentary and comprehensive biopic of the group’s rise to national prominence, inner financial turmoil and racism the band members faced while growing up and during their stardom.

15. “Shaun the Sheep Movie” - In the most enjoyable animated film of the year, a sheep named Shaun engineers a day off for the flock but inadvertently creates a big problem for the farmer.  The painstaking top-motion animation (from Aardman Animations, the “Wallace and Gromit” folks) is only topped by the totally creative narrative and endearing characters.

14. “Timbuktu” - Director Abderrahmane Sissako presents an unsettling picture of extreme Islamic rule when a small - but forceful - group of ideologues have control of the city.   The main story focuses on a rancher’s tale of woe, but we also see the consequences of others who fail to fall in line.  From the outside, Timbuktu looks like a peaceful town, but looks can be deceiving.

13. “’71” - Director Yann Demange recreates the ground-level street war in the battered and beaten down brick of Belfast between the loyalists (to the UK) and the nationalists, when a young British private, Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell), finds himself behind enemy lines.  Double-crosses and danger seemingly appear on every block in this visceral and effective war movie.

12. “Mississippi Grind” - Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) are a pair of degenerate gamblers who embark on a sooty trip down America’s most famous river to make some bucks.  They form an immediate friendship and share great on-screen rapport, while directors/writers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck make us literally flip a coin to guess if they will win or lose at every turn.  Mendelsohn’s performance deserves an Oscar nomination.

11. “Carol” - Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara) begin a lesbian relationship in the early 1950s, and the two leads deliver electric performances by expressing their characters’ true feelings while also stifling them - and proceeding with caution - due to the more conservative time period.  Meanwhile, director Todd Haynes meticulously captures a 1950s atmosphere as the entire film feels like we stepped into a dreamlike, time warp haze.

10. “Ex Machina” - A 26-year-old programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) - working for a wildly successful tech corporation - wins “a golden ticket” to visit its founder’s (Oscar Issac) home and then meets an artificial life form, Ava (Alicia Vikander), who looks like a beautiful 20-something woman.  Supported by intense performances, writer/director Alex Garland provides an excellent setup for this man and machine encounter with oodles of eerie sci-fi weirdness and thought-provoking questions about humanity.

9. “Brooklyn” - Saoirse Ronan shines in a beautifully-filmed movie about a young Irish woman starting a new life in the bustling streets of New York City while struggling with the emotional pulls of home in County Wexford.  Along with Eilis’ (Ronan) homesickness, writer Nick Hornby pens several amusing and warm moments with her boarding housemates and a new love interest, and with the film’s throwback vibe to pictures of yesterdecade, “Brooklyn” is the most graceful and lovely cinematic experience of the year.

8. “Mustang” - Five sisters - raised by their grandmother - harmlessly play in the Black Sea with some boys, but their uncle responds with massively excessive repercussions in a movie which intimately captures the struggle between child and adult and freedom of expression and oppression more than any other film that I can remember.   The girls respond to their repressive new environment in varying ways, while writer/director Deniz Gamze Erguven organically communicates the involved bonds of sisterhood and heartbreaking moments within emotionally and physically enclosed spaces.

7. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” - In one of the most effective high school stories in long memory, a self-doubting teen (Thomas Mann) befriends a fellow student stricken with leukemia (Olivia Cooke), and the particularly well-written script provides an equally hilarious and affecting journey about teenagers coping with untimely circumstances.  Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon guides the material with a Wes Anderson-like flair, as Mann, Cooke and RJ Cyler (as Earl) deliver especially likable and sympathetic performances while navigating through the clumsy, exposed and thoughtful emotions of youth.

6. “It Follows” - Writer/director David Robert Mitchell creates a horror film masterpiece with a story of a mysterious being who singularly follows an ordinary student through the suburbs of Detroit, MI.  Mitchell’s film offers an obscure late 70s/early 80s vibe with the period’s cars, clothes and living room decors while accompanying the landscape with a synthesizer-filled soundtrack and hand-wringing sequences reminiscent of 1978’s “Halloween”. With its unsettling creepiness and a most original antagonist, “It Follows” brings an intoxicating blend of old-school horror and brand new ideas.

5. “Listen to Me Marlon” - Movie icon Marlon Brando kept his personal life extremely private, but he chronicled hundreds of hours of personal audio recordings as a diary of sorts, and director Stevan Riley pieced together the man’s personal thoughts in a truly amazing reveal over a 1 hour 43 minute runtime.   Paired with photos and historical video footage of movie clips and interviews, Brando - in his own words - recites and reflects his innermost views on his romantic relationships, colleagues, preparation for his most coveted roles, and his painful childhood.  This extraordinary find is easily the documentary of the year.

4. “Wild Tales” - Wild is the definitive word when describing this wonderfully sadistic, sarcastic and hilarious ride into six devilish tales of revenge from the mind of writer/director Damian Szifron. Each story opens without fanfare or opening titles, jumps right into the daily lives of ordinary people, throws them life-changing curve balls, and lets the chips fall where they may. Wholly original and terrifically smart, this roller coaster ride will make you laugh, cringe and also very hopeful none of these “Wild Tales” will ever happen to you. A cinematic home run.

3. “Room” - Brie Larson delivers the performance of year as a young mother living in an uncommonly cramped one-room space with her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay).   The movie initially presents the circumstances of their odd living situation as a confusing puzzle, but eventually the secrets of “the room” are revealed, and the narrative then splits from one incredibly difficult challenge to an altogether different confrontation.  Narrated - at times - by Jack (Tremblay), this raw story expresses the beauty of our everyday world through a child’s voice, and Ma (Larson) professes the feverous bond of mother and child through her actions.

2. “Mad Max: Fury Road” - After a 30-year absence, Mad Max makes a triumphant return to the big screen in a completely enthralling action picture which is far superior to its three predecessors.  Nearly the entire film plays out as a non-stop, mind-boggling chase through a barren Australian wasteland, and the action grabs you by the throat and periodically cuts off your air supply for two hours.  “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is great, but Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star in the thrill ride of the year.

1. “Spotlight” - Led by an outstanding ensemble cast (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, Rachel McAdams, and Liev Schreiber), director/co-writer Tom McCarthy provides a wholly mesmerizing account of a tenacious group of Boston Globe reporters who uncover a widespread Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal.   The journalists bang on figurative locked doors while dozens of Boston players - big and small - carry differing agendas to expose or cover up the sordid details.  McCarthy opens up a world of exemplary journalism practices to the audience and reinforces the importance of the media as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy.  This riveting movie leaves you hanging on every moment and is the best picture of 2015.

Monte Yazzie's Best Films of 2015

Monte Yazzie’s Best Films of 2015  

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

Director George Miller drove this pulsing, bursting, no-holds-barred vehicle into the summer blockbuster scramble and completely destroyed all competitors. Mr. Miller builds an expansive world, without much dialogue, with the assistance of Tom Hardy who plays Max Rockatansky. But don’t be fooled, this film belongs to Charlize Theron. As Imperator Furiosa, Ms. Theron confidently controls the film with stunning screen presence. Mr. Miller executes the film with exceptional style and skill, making “Mad Max: Fury Road” feel more suited for the arthouse than the grindhouse.

2. Spotlight

“Spotlight”, a film about the investigation by the “Boston Globe” into the scandal within the Catholic Church, is a captivating and devastating experience. Tom McCarthy directs an exceptional cast, lead by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, and Liev Schreiber, and narrates a film about investigative journalism in a straightforward manner while also allowing the film to unfold in a thrilling and stunning fashion. It’s a film that never relies on anything more than displaying a group of hardworking people determined to reveal the truth, regardless of how intimidating the impact of the truth may be.

3. Ex Machina

Good science fiction always asks difficult questions. Science fiction cinema didn’t get much better than “Ex Machina”, a methodically structured film with an intelligent narrative directed by Alex Garland. While many of the films that deal with science fiction are cluttered with special effects, Mr. Garland utilizes these tools to build an impressive, beautiful, and emotional artificial being known as Ava, played impeccably by actor Alicia Vikander. “Ex Machina” focuses on relationships between men and women, the advancing world and how it connects with progressing technology, and the trappings and limitations of science. It is an exceptional film that asks difficult questions and allows the viewer to interpret the answers however they choose.

4. Inside/Out

Pixar films have an undeniable emotional quality unlike other animated films. “Inside Out”, a film that takes place inside the mind of a young girl, is an impressive return to form for the company. The narrative is smart and poignant while also being thought provoking, asking questions for both children and adults to contemplate and, hopefully, discuss with one another. The animated world is incredibly unique, the casting of the characters is near perfect, and the story is accomplished in displaying how emotion changes throughout the rough and beautiful parts of maturing life.

5. Me and Earl and The Dying Girl

Experience is an important aspect of adolescence, it has a way of preparing one for the unexpected but also teaching one valuable lessons about people and situations. “Me and Earl and The Dying Girl” is a coming-of-age story with a firm and grounded sincerity. All the trappings of a melodramatic teenage film are here but are instead shrewdly and cleverly implemented under the keen direction of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. “Me and Earl and The Dying Girl” is an emotional experience, though it’s never devastating or heartbreaking but instead filled with heart and passion.

6. Anomalisa

Human connection told expertly through stop-motion animation; “Anomalisa” displayed the pain, loneliness, and despair of relationships and the journey of finding ones’ self better than many films this year. Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson co-direct this film, about a solitary man leading a mundane life who has an unexpected encounter with a stranger, with charm and tenderness. This is a film about imperfect individuals dealing with complicated issues, it’s never easy or simply stated. “Anomalisa” is a challenging, yet heartfelt experience.

7. Sicario

“Sicario” is a fascinating thriller about the war on drugs and the control and chaos that ensues while federal agents fight a faceless foe. It’s a film that lingers in an atmosphere of fear and builds suspense in subtle yet effective ways. Whether the enchanting cinematography by Roger Deakins, which is a visual descent into darkness, or the narrative penned by Taylor Sheridan that displays the bleak disenchantment of the whole situation. “Sicario” is consistently tense and foreboding; it’s a film that drops the viewer in the middle of a frantic and confused setting, and then continues the journey amidst building chaos.  Director Denis Villeneuve is a skillful director and “Sicario” is one of his best films.

8. Brooklyn

Colm Tóibín’s novel, about a strong-willed Irish immigrant living in 1950’s Brooklyn, found its film adaptation from director John Crowley. The story follows Eilis Lacey, a great lead performance from Saoirse Ronan, as she comes to America in search of all it promises. Themes of homesickness, love, maturity, and the identity found in the place one calls “home” are all deftly handled throughout the film. Mr. Crowley paces the film with measured assurance while avoiding the clichés and melodramatic trappings that hamper many dramatic stories like this. “Brooklyn” is uplifting and sincere.

9. The Hateful Eight

In the eighth film from Quentin Tarantino the director takes a group of unredeemable characters and locks them in a shack during a blizzard in post-Civil War Wyoming. The three-hour long epic, released in a special 70mm presentation, displays Mr. Tarantino meticulously building a mystery while also incorporating an interesting amount of social commentary that transcends beyond the time period depicted in the film; it’s compelling to see everything slowly unravel. The film finds further success with stunning cinematography and a beautiful score, composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone. “The Hateful Eight” is Quentin Tarantino self-indulgently doing what he does best.

10. Carol

Director Todd Haynes builds a magnetizing connection of love between two women in the film “Carol”. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara give phenomenal performances as two women drawn to each other in the 1950’s. Their romance is witnessed from the initial blossom, starting as a chance encounter at a shopping counter, to powerful gazes across and next to one another, to the moment of intimacy; everything in their relationship is portrayed with subtle details, emphasizing mannerisms and movements and expressions. It feels in parts like a dream, accomplished through beautiful photography, in the sense that as the feelings grow stronger for these two women so does their release from the constraints of their 1950’s reality.

11. Timbuktu

Director Abderrahmane Sissako constructs a quiet, at times gentle, film that displays the realities of life under Islamic extremist rule with an insightful and skillful hand; “Timbuktu” is striking and uncompromisingly truthful.

12. The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio gives one of his best performances in “The Revenant”, a film that takes painstaking measures to portray nature and humanity in its most raw and pure form. “The Revenant” is a gorgeously composed film with some of the best technical scenes of the year. The silence of nature provides a powerful backdrop for this visceral revenge tale.

13. Straight Outta Compton

“Straight Outta Compton” is the story of the hip-hop collective N.W.A., a group of talented, enraged young men who utilized the power of their words to reflect the emotions and experiences of their world. F. Gary Gray directs this accomplished biopic with a steady hand; the attitude of the actors, the placement of the music, and the design of the environments are all spot-on.

14. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The movie event of the year arrived in theaters, with long lines of people waiting, still waiting, to watch this film. Director J.J. Abrams did not disappoint with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. It’s a film that gives older audiences joyous nostalgic feelings and offers a new generation of fans that memorable movie magic experience.

15. White God

In Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s film “White God”, the enduring trust and love between a young girl and her dog presents a heartwarming tale, until the dog is ripped away and left to survive in the corrupt and hate-filled world. “White God” comes to stunning life with the assistance of near two hundred trained dogs, offering a film that starts as a touching drama and moves into the realms of horror.

Honorable Mention:

• Beasts of No Nation
• Bone Tomahawk
• Chi-Raq
• Creed
• Dope
• Duke of Burgundy
• Labyrinth of Lies
• Love & Mercy
• Mustang
• Tangerine
• Room
• The Assassin
• The Big Short

Joy - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

Joy  

Director: David O. Russell

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Édgar Ramírez, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, and Diane Ladd

You know that self-wringing mop you have or have always wanted to use? It’s called the “Miracle Mop” and entrepreneur Joy Mangano invented it. Ms. Mangano, a college graduate with a degree in business administration, was a divorced mother of three working a variety of different jobs and selling her cleaning invention out of her father’s body shop. After a few years of selling in her local community Ms. Mangano’s luck changed after she pitched her invention to television shopping network QVC. Director David O. Russell, “American Hustle” and “Silver Linings Playbook”, takes on this rags-to-riches story with the help of a fantastic performance from Jennifer Lawrence. While “Joy” may not always display the quality its title describes and becomes rather formulaic very quickly, Mr. Russell puts enough trust in his assemble cast to bring a rather lackluster script to life.

Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is a struggling divorced mother, raising her children, taking care of her purposefully bedridden mother (Virginia Madsen), and offering a basement for her ex-husband (Édgar Ramírez) to live in while he works nights as lounge singer. Room becomes sparse when her father (Robert De Niro) is thrown out by his girlfriend and moves into the basement as well. Joy, pushed over and taken advantage of, unexpectedly finds inspiration to create an invention that could change her, and her families, entire life.

Underdog stories are a familiar narrative trope in films; everyone likes to see admirable characters rise up against the odds, dust themselves off, and charge for the finish line. “Joy” is exactly this though far more mean-spirited and hopeless. Joy is introduced in the film at a bad place in her life, basically losing her job and caring for a family that would rather step over her than help her. The only person rooting and encouraging her success is her grandmother Mimi, a welcome Diane Ladd who fits nicely into the role. Mimi is also the narrator for much of the film, providing insights during flashbacks into how the family has become so dysfunctional but also how Joy has survived her downtrodden journey so far. It’s a grim outlook even when success peeks into Joy’s life.

David O. Russell is very good at writing characters, especially the interactions that happen with other characters. Again, as Mr. Russell has proven with his past films, he succeeds in keeping these characters interesting. What doesn’t work very well is the design of the story; it’s the same overdone and familiar structure of every other rags-to-riches tale, but that isn’t necessarily the worst part. Mr. Russell never embeds any authenticity into Joy’s tragedies in her personal or professional life. Bad things happen and are quickly pushed aside, while this should in some way display the resiliency of Joy’s character it instead feels like a side note, an easy progression towards the looming success that is always within her grasp.

Still, Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic in the lead, her performance displays the highs and lows experienced in the character’s life. Ms. Lawrence has grown significantly as an actor, and it shows in her performance here. Robert De Niro seems at his best with Mr. Russell in the director’s chair, here Mr. De Niro is utilized nicely as a brash father who hasn’t always been the best example for his children. Take for instance a scene where Mr. De Niro gives a scathing and unfeeling speech to his daughter Joy just after she has experienced terrible failure. Bradley Cooper has a smaller role here, playing a QVC executive, but continues to show great chemistry with Ms. Lawrence.

“Joy” is about the dysfunction that exists in our world, whether with family, love, relationships, or, specifically to this film, commerce; it’s dysfunction that many must somehow function through. While “Joy” may stumble on getting this point across clearly, David O. Russell is a capable enough to allow his excellent cast opportunity to make something happen.

Monte’s Rating

3.50 out of 5.00

Joy - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Lawrence delivers ‘Joy’ on the big screen  

Written and directed by:  David O. Russell

Starring:  Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen, Bradley Cooper, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, Edgar Ramirez

“Joy” - “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.  They went out and happened to things.”  - Leonardo da Vinci

For Joy (Jennifer Lawrence), a struggling working mom, she let life happen to her.  Years ago, she skipped college in order to stay home and help her dysfunctional parents (Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen) work through their divorce.   Now she is stressed out at work with a thankless job at Eastern Airlines, and her life is even more frazzled at home.   In addition to raising two young children, her ex-husband (Edgar Ramirez) lives in the basement, her mom (Madsen) coops herself up in a bedroom all day and – most recently - her father (De Niro) needs a place to live and moves into the basement as well.   Other than her grandmother (Diane Ladd) providing emotional support, Joy is the only responsible adult in her family and the center of their universe.

In writer/director David O. Russell’s latest creation, he penned and guided a very entertaining picture with many unlikely turns on a trip for the film’s hero, Joy.   Russell creates a chaotic, but also very funny, set of surroundings in Joy’s home, and the madness is a delightful mess to behold for the viewer.   All families own their own craziness, but in so many cases, “sane” family members simply continue to mire themselves through the daily drudgery, because making change is too difficult.   Joy takes the rare step of attempting to take control of her life.

A high school valedictorian, Joy has always been creative, and just after spilling red wine on a fancy boat, she conjures up an idea for an ingenious product.   The film then takes us on Joy’s journey to bring her invention to market.  Although she would be much better off on her own, she does require some help from her irrational family members.

“Joy” is based upon a real-life person, Joy Mangano, and Lawrence and the entire cast do feel like real human beings.  At the same time, the script feels too implausible to be believed, but because we are so anchored with these individuals, we take Joy’s twisting journey at face value and trust all of it.  That is a sound recipe for intriguing cinema.

The respected ensemble cast also includes Isabella Rossellini and Bradley Cooper, and they play key supporting functions to the story, but despite the rich dialogue and interesting people running in and out of the screen, this is Lawrence’s movie.   She owns Joy and manages shades of doubt, vulnerability, brilliance, ingenuity, and strength.  Her performance during Joy’s long, strange trip completely grabs our attention.  As an example, when the people closest to her say that she is not capable of great things and just an average mom, Joy will grab a gun at a piecemeal target range and fire with the will of a U.S. Marine on the front lines.

Joy is a fascinating film about empowerment and attempting to stake one’s claim in this world, no matter where one originally starts.   It should also not be lost on anyone that Joy is an inspiring role model for women.   Joy not only stopped sitting back and letting things happen to her, she was not waiting for her prince to come either.  Even in 2015, that is a wonderful reminder for us all.  (3.5/4 stars) 

Carol - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Blanchett and Mara offer award-worthy performances in ‘Carol’  

Directed by:  Todd Haynes

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler

“Carol” - As I grow older, I more frequently hear from friends or colleagues, “Remember the good old days?”

Well, I usually refrain from wearing rose-colored glasses when examining the past.  For example, looking back at the 1950s:  the chickenpox vaccine did not exist, southern schools were segregated, tooth fillings were made of mercury, and gay relationships were considered taboo and kept in the closet.

“Carol” – starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara - is set in the 1950s.

The film takes place in New York City, and amongst the bustle of the Christmas season, the below freezing temperatures and the occasional snow flurry, a romantic relationship develops between a wealthy woman in her late 30s/early 40s (Blanchett) and a department store clerk in her early 20s (Mara).   They first meet at the aforesaid department store when Therese (Mara) helps Carol (Blanchett) decide on a present for her son, but she “conveniently” leaves her gloves behind at the sales counter.  When Therese ensures the gloves get back to Carol, she invites her out to lunch as a thank you gesture.

Their time together quickly accelerates from there, and they both feel a pull towards one other, but do not verbally acknowledge it.   Due to her age and experience, Carol drives the decisions on the times and places that they meet, and Therese quietly smiles, agrees and feels happy to be alongside her new friend.   Almost everything about their friendship and budding romance bathes in subtly, and these two talented actresses communicate so much to each other through looks and expressions during routine conversations.

For instance, during their first lunch – which seems initially benign – Carol delicately studies Therese’s movements and says, “Maybe you’d like to come visit me sometime.  You’re welcome to.  At least there’s some pretty country where I live.   Would you like to come visit me this Sunday?”

Therese – with an ever so brief hesitation – then responds, “Yes.”

Although the exchange seems harmless and innocent, there is so much more with the characters’ facial expressions and mannerisms, and we can easily process their unspoken inner thoughts.   The film is filled with many such moments, and Carol and Therese carefully balance expressing their true feelings while simultaneously stifling them due to the day’s forbidden nature of these emotions.

The film’s tones greatly contrast with another recent movie about a new lesbian relationship, the 2013 French film “Blue is the Warmest Color”.   In the 2013 movie, a high school girl Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) enters into her first lesbian relationship with a more experienced woman named Emma (Lea Seydoux).   Emma is older, but very close in age with Adele, and the two women openly express themselves in a highly-charged environment.   The on-screen emotions pour like sizzling lava and crash like piercing thunderclaps, and the actresses offer spirited, believable and engaging performances.

Conversely, Carol and Therese walk a difficult, controlled and subdued tightrope act due to Carol’s active marital status with her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) and the forbidden nature of their loving relationship.    At the time, engaging in such relationships could result in the perceived need for psychiatric sessions.   So, they proceed with caution but do move forward and figuratively dance in their courtship in beautiful ways.

Not only are the performances beautiful, but the movie itself looks gorgeous as well.   Costumes and accessories – like Therese’s multicolored winter hat and Carol’s manicured jackets and well-placed jewelry – stand out and pop.   The details feel rich and sophisticated within the stylish surroundings of affluent households, restaurants and parlors, and director Todd Haynes and cinematographer Edward Lachman were meticulous in encapsulating a 1950s atmosphere.  The movie feels like Haynes and Lachman captured it through some dreamlike, time warp haze.  Every scene does appear crystal clear, but “Carol” carries this magical, visual tone of a nostalgic era that is simply lovely to gaze upon.

Blanchett and Mara – who both earned Golden Globe Best Actress nominations -  are electric on-screen, and the exploration into their new relationship and differences in their characters’ previous experiences are captivating dynamics.    Carol and Therese operate in a time not always welcomed to them, but if they can survive the nature of their current environment, tomorrow could become the good new days.   (3.5/4 stars)

The Big Short - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

The Big Short  

Directed by:  Adam McKay

Starring:  Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

By Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

In 2007 I lived in a suburb of Phoenix, way out in the far West Valley where homes sprung up like weeds in the desert sand. Mortgage brokers couldn’t give homes away. Bad job? Poor credit? No savings? Here’s a house. It was harder to stand on a busy street corner and give out $10 bills. And then one day it all ended.

The newspaper I was with at the time covered those terrible years, back when people used air quotes around the word “recession” and then when they dropped the air quotes entirely as they drove off in a moving van. The sub-prime mortgages, the interest-only loans, the house flippers who extended themselves one house too many. It was like a huge game of musical chairs, but instead of 100 people and 99 chairs, it was like 100 people and one chair — lots of people had nothing when the music stopped.

The Big Short is the story of how and why the recession happened. How American banks were dragged to their knees by hubris, and why they sold the American people down the river to save their own skins. It’s a powerful indictment of greed, capitalism, and the “American way,” which in this context is golden parachutes, profit and satisfying shareholders. If this film doesn’t make you frothing mad, then you’re still not paying attention.

The movie, directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman) and based on a book by Michael Lewis, begins with Michael Burry (Christian Bale), an eccentric trader who stares at market prices the way Rain Man counts toothpicks. From amid vast spreadsheets of information he notices a pattern in how mortgage defaults are creeping upward. Never one to miss an opportunity, he bets against the house market — he shorts it — something that is never done, because the housing market is a constant, it’s like betting against gravity. When he shows up at all the investment banks to place these bets, they almost feel sorry taking his money.

It’s abundantly clear very early that McKay is going to work with all the market jargon and banking terms, and do so with reckless abandon. So he enlists help, including Margot Robbie, playing herself naked in a bathtub with bubbles up to her chin. She lifts a champagne flute and promises to teach us about collateralized debt obligation, credit default swaps and “shorting” the market. It’s sexy and effective, and I promise it actually teaches you about CDOs and the other dirty bombs that sunk the housing market. In other sequences characters address the camera directly and explain to the audience what’s happening and why it’s important. Anthony Bourdain teaches us about junk bonds and how they’re rated while filleting fish, and Selena Gomez explains betting against the market at a Vegas blackjack table. It’s the best economics class you’ll ever take.

Meanwhile, we also drop in on money manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell), hedge fund manager Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) and on two young up-and-coming analysts who want a seat at the big boy table. All of these characters eventually find what Burry finds, what is essentially a doomsday machine built into the housing market. And one by one, they all start to plot how to make money on what they know.

Now, I don’t know if these men (and their composites) are villains in this story, but The Big Short portrays them as innocent financial geeks who discover the terrible secret of the economy and do what they can to profit off it. They don’t keep it a secret, in fact several of them had shared their bets with other bankers, who promptly laughed at them for their faulty investments. Carell’s character is especially convincing as he wanders back and forth between the people who rate bonds, Goldman Sachs (never forget the Rolling Stone line about the company: “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money”) and the mortgage brokers on the ground in places like Florida, Arizona and Nevada. One government oversight worker is so negligent to what’s happening under her nose, she is quite literally blind. As the chips stack up against the housing market, these men watch in horror as their bank accounts grow off the failure of the American economy, and although they are rich, their souls will never recover. If that makes you mad, then what happens to the banks will send you ballistic.

This is a movie we need right now. The recession is over. The Fed is hiking the interest rate back up. Jobs are returning. Wages are stagnant, but all signs are pointing to eventual increases. And just few a years out, it’s already forgotten. Banks are still pushing their way around with no consequences, and they have still not been held responsible for the swindling of the American economy. The Big Short holds their feet to the fire, and it arms the public with their best weapon — information.

The Big Short - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘The Big Short’ stands tall and delivers an entertaining look at financial madness  

Directed by:  Adam McKay

Starring:  Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

“The Big Short” - For anyone who owned stock, participated in a 401(k), was tied to a pension, held a credit card, owned a home outright, or was paying a mortgage, they felt at least some angst during the financial market crisis of 2008.    The stock market crashed, 401(k) values plummeted, credit quickly dried up, and home prices tanked.    Faulty and fraudulent mortgage-backed securities drove the collapse of the aforementioned markets, and it created worldwide economic nightmares.

From a movie perspective, the fascinating and highly informative Oscar-winning documentary “Inside Job” (2010) – narrated by Matt Damon - systematically walks the audience through the major causes of the crisis and then shows the grisly aftereffects.   In “Margin Call” (2011), an all-star cast - led by Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, and Stanley Tucci - tells the tale of one New York City investment firm and its mad scramble for survival during a one-day period of the 2008 collapse.   Both films provide excellent narratives about those panicked days from very different points of view.

“The Big Short” takes another perspective and is a worthy companion piece along with the above two movies.   With a wickedly-smart script, this film grabs our hands and drags us through a winding obstacle course of three stories about investors who took unheard of approaches and bet against the housing market/the big banks/the American economy.  We, the audience, then receive open access to their thought processes and decided actions and watch them try to make their fortunes in the most opportunistic ways.

As the film moves along, talks of mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, AAA ratings, and other Wall Street lingo become massively perplexing.   In order to provide some clarity in an entertaining way, director/co-writer Adam McKay allows some players to break the sacred forth wall.   One character, Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), repeatedly stops his conversations, turns to the camera and translates financial concepts and/or his actions into layman’s language we can understand.  Two other celebrities – playing themselves (who I will not name in order to preserve the surprises) - make cameos and explain similar concepts.   These moments catch us off-guard and ironically generate smiles and laughs while we also watch a meltdown of epic proportions over a 2 hour and 10 minute runtime.

McKay (mostly) drives the narratives at a frenzied pace – and keeps us dizzy - as he continually shifts between the three true stories of experts who bet against the system:

A high-strung fund manager (Steve Carell) makes a massive high stakes deal with Vennett.

Two 20-somethings - who started a capital fund in a garage - recruit a retired trader (Brad Pitt) for big-time investment firm access.

A medical doctor (Christian Bale) - who founded a fund (called Scion Capital) in California and spends his days blasting heavy metal music in his office – bets billions of dollars with several prominent Wall Street investment houses.

These men did their homework and saw the housing market as a paper tiger that was about to be crushed, and the film takes place during these early days of premonition in 2005 through the actual collapse in 2008.    Through this wacky time period, we see the large banks in denial, rating agencies committing fraud and real estate agents feeling drunk with success, and the film “treats” us to smaller moments like a stripper explaining how she owns five houses and a condo via subprime mortgages and millions of dollars changing hands in The Black Horse Pub in England.

The end result is a wacky, confusing, funny, and painfully sad look at big banking greed, and the men who saw an opportunity to bet against that excess.  Carell and Bale rightfully earned Golden Globe Supporting Actor nominations and - along with Gosling - stand out the most from this outstanding cast, but Bale’s work as the immensely-brilliant Michael Burry is the most memorable.   Burry is an impressive number cruncher and clairvoyant, and the movie leaves you with the hope that he will use his abilities to warn us all before the next financial crisis.  (3.5/4 stars)

The Hateful Eight - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

The Hateful Eight  

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Googins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Demian Bichir

By Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

You’ve never seen a western like Hateful Eight, which is neither praise nor pan.

Before we begin there, though, take yourself back to Inglourious Basterds. It had Hitler, Churchill, Nazis, the French resistance, a vile Jew-hunting SS officer, wise-talking GIs, machine guns, bombs, interrogations … everything one could hope for in a World War II movie. Pulp Fiction, a crime movie, had robberies, murders, drug deals, drug overdoses, fixed boxing fights, kidnapping, torture. Kill Bill, a revenge thriller in two parts, had kung-fu, animation, gunfights, swordfights, assassinations. I bring all this up because director Quentin Tarantino really packs everything he can into his movies, and he also boils his genres down to their most basic parts and then he exemplifies those parts with his subversive brand of glee.

Hateful Eight, though, is a western with few of the characteristics that define a western, least of all the adventurous spirit of the West. No saloon brawls, no high-noon shootouts, no horse chases or cattle rustlers, and not even a train heist or bank robbery. None of this is really out of the ordinary for Tarantino, who seems to thrive on taking what we expect and giving us something completely different. But Hateful Eight is not only a letdown as a western, it’s a tremendously indulgent film for the brash director, who likely didn’t hear the word “no” very often when he was pitching it as a three-hour, single-location stage play with overture and intermission and enough mindless dialogue to undo all the goodwill he’s earned from a career of mindless dialogue.

The film opens on a stagecoach as it travels through a blizzard in Colorado. Inside the cabin are bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), John’s latest bounty that he intends to take to a town called Red Rock where she will hang for her crimes. Slowly, amid the snow and wind, the stagecoach begins assembling the cast: there’s the feisty stagecoach driver (James Parks), a former union officer Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), and soon-to-be sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Early scenes take place in the stagecoach as three of the men and Domergue talk about bounties, bushwhackers and a letter from President Abraham Lincoln. This tedious dialogue is neither boring nor interesting, but it fills the cabin of the stagecoach for north of 20 minutes.

With a blizzard bearing down, the stagecoach stops at Minnie’s Haberdashery, where the film will spend the rest of its running time, and where our travelers take refuge inside with Mexican Bob (Demián Bichir), a proper English gentleman (Tim Roth), a weary cow-puncher (Michael Madsen), and Confederate general (Bruce Dern). What happens next would best be described by saying “the plot of Clue.” Men are killed, some coffee is poisoned, and Daisy Domergue cackles with delight as John Ruth questions who is and isn’t who they say they are.

Hateful Eight wasted so much of my time, that I will not to do the same here: the movie is simply far too long. A skilled editor could have his way with this and come out 45 minutes lighter, and the movie would fly. Here, though, it’s so bloated and top-heavy it can never build momentum. Dialogue just keeps rolling out of everyone’s mouth, and so little of it is noteworthy or memorable that it all blends into a monotonous dribble of cowboy talk and frontier banter. Jackson has a great monologue about torturing a confederate soldier — he repeatedly says the word “dingus” which gets some decent laughs during a darker chapter about Union revenge — but these scenes are few and far between.

With so much dialogue, you’d think the characters would have more — you know — character, but they never elevate out of Tarantino’s muck of words. Russell’s bounty hunter has an interesting look and particularly evocative dialect of country words, but he seems lost amid the exposition and mood that are telegraphed within pages of dialogue. Jackson and Goggins do what they can, even as the film ratchets tension around their plight that can only end one way. As characters trade conversations inside the store, amid the shaking of the blizzard and a broken door that needs to be hammered shut, none of it really leads anywhere. By the time the intermission starts, the film is nearly at the two-hour mark and you slowly start to realize that a better movie would have you walking to your car at this point. But Hateful Eight toils onward.

Post-intermission scenes do greatly improve, largely because key sequences from earlier are revisited in Tarantino’s out-of-order style of chapter organization. And while the first two-thirds are largely bloodless, the last third pours the guts, blood and mayhem on thick as all parties turn on one another. Snickering through much of it is Daisy Domergue, who might be the sole salvation in this twisted whodunit. Leigh seems delighted to play the demented little demoness. Russell has some great lines, and his thick porkchop sideburns do justice to his unapologetic ruggedness. Jackson is Jackson, which is way of saying he’s excellent, but I found the 75-plus uses of the N word thrown at his character excessive and entirely unnecessary — Tarantino believes we should take the power from the word, which is admirable but altogether impossible in this context.

I admire Tarantino’s vision, but Hateful Eight simply doesn’t work. Slap any other name on this film and every cowpoke on the range will tell you it’s too long, too wordy and too meandering. But Tarantino’s name is on it, so it’s brilliant — no thanks. He’s showing off here, and for once in his career, it’s not really working like it once did.

The Hateful Eight - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

The Hateful Eight  

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Googins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Demian Bichir

Quentin Tarantino can do whatever he wants. Even if that means releasing a three-hour plus 70mm special presentation of his newest film, “The Hateful Eight”. Mr. Tarantino’s career, eight films with the inclusion of this one, is nothing short of impressive. His films have spanned from bank robbing gangsters, to vengeful left-for-dead brides, to World War II men on mission; Mr. Tarantino’s films have influenced popular culture and have made an indelible impact on the trajectory of filmmaking. It’s been a filmgoers dream come true. Mr. Tarantino is an encyclopedia of film history, from the classics to the grindhouse, and his knowledge of film has always served as a method of influence. “The Hateful Eight” is the writer/director as his most scaled down yet still unrestricted; eight people in one room with a mystery that connects them all. Sounds like a simple premise right? In the hands of Quentin Tarantino “The Hateful Eight” proves anything but simple.

On a snowy journey in post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is transporting the wanted outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) by stagecoach for a meeting with the rope. Along the way Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), also a bounty hunter, waits with three frozen dead outlaws in the middle of the path. Major Warren queries a ride to Minnie’s Haberdashery, a station where he can wait out the oncoming blizzard. Ruth obliges and the group continues the journey. Upon arrival at the station the group meets more people, but something is amiss. Someone is lying about their true intentions.

A bunch of unsavory, unredeemable characters are in a room together under the gleefully self-indulgent manipulation of a writer known for a flourish of discourse and a fascination with bloody and disturbing affairs, how much could go wrong? For the characters everything goes wrong but for the viewer everything, almost, goes right. The composition of the narrative is a whodunit, a mystery akin to an intense poker match where everyone is holding their cards until the last available moment. What the viewer gets is an interrogation, one that moves from freewheeling bar-talk conversation to gun-in-hand threatening, mostly from the character John Ruth, played by an ill-tempered Kurt Russell, who is trying to protect his bounty. Everyone is a suspect in John Ruth’s mind, except Major Warren, played admirable in a leading role by Samuel L. Jackson, who won Ruth’s trust by an association with a famed President. Add in a slew of other wonderfully shady characters, performances by Walton Googins playing a newly appointed Sheriff and Tim Roth playing the executioner/hangman are especially fun, and the plot thickens.

It’s a hard technique to build a mystery, especially at the extensive length fashioned by this script. It would seem that every one of the accomplished actors in the film would get an opportunity to share the spotlight; this isn’t the case even though they all shine during their available time on screen. Mr. Tarantino plants a lot of seeds throughout the film but not all them blossom the way they have in the past. Instead the narrative is filled with other material that overtakes the mystery at the core; political ramblings, racial indifference, feministic inequality, and social confusions are all topics handled straightforward and with the director’s patented violent attributions. While this has potential to weigh the film down unnecessarily, it’s also fascinating to watch Mr. Tarantino operate in this manner.

The legendary Ennio Morricone scores the film brilliantly, providing undeniable tension but also an authenticity that links the film to the past that so clearly influences the motions. The photography is also stunning, both in the vast snowy white of the mountains and within the progressively confining spaces in the haberdashery.

Mr. Tarantino has said that he only plans on making a couple more films then retiring to explore other avenues for his talent to flourish. Whatever platform the director chooses to tell his stories, he will do it utilizing his unique style and approach. If “The Hateful Eight” is a representation of what the future may look like for the director, cinephiles are in for an interesting journey. Quentin Tarantino can do whatever he wants; here he proves that he can do whatever he wants very well.

Side Note: Do yourself a favor and watch this in the 70mm Roadshow presentation, it provides a unique film experience that isn’t readily available anymore.

Monte’s Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

Concussion - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Concussion’ draws some frightening conclusions  

Directed by:  Peter Landesman

Starring:  Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw

“Concussion” - Fourteen years ago, I coached youth football and remember telling a large group of 11 and 12 year-olds, “Football is not a contact sport.  It is a collision sport.”

I also stressed to them, “You don’t want to make contact with your opponent.  You want to blow them up on the football field.”

In director Peter Landesman’s “Concussion”, he tells Dr. Bennet Omalu’s (Will Smith) true story, and how he blew up the safety perceptions of football, and more specifically, in the NFL.   As early as the opening scene, Landesman does an excellent job of establishing setting, tone and characters, and the film’s players (on and off the football field) are placed within a stressful environment in the city of Pittsburgh, a football epicenter of sorts.  With thousands of fans in the stands wearing black and gold and cheering their Sunday heroes, we immediately understand the Pittsburgh Steelers are hugely woven into the fabric of the city.  Conversely, in subdued conference rooms, Landesman features some key one-on-one and two-on-one conversations about the importance of football to the average fan, and just about “everyone in America” is at least an average fan.

Enter Dr. Omalu, a highly-educated Nigerian-born doctor with zero interest in football but serves a dedicated obligation to his patients.  Dead ones.    He is a Pittsburgh pathologist and asked to determine the cause of death of Mike Webster, a Football Hall of Fame center for the Steelers for 15 years.    The good doctor finds something astonishing (and equally frightening) and concludes that Mr. Webster suffered from 70,000 blows to the head over his football career, and it resulted in soul-crushing brain damage.  Dr. Omalu’s conclusions are that football killed Webster and God did not intend for human beings to play this sport.

The film quickly shifts to a David and Goliath story with the doctor playing the former and the highly-established NFL acting as the latter.  Ironically, Omalu casts a stone at Goliath trying to call attention to head injuries, not cause one.  Through corporate influence and power, the NFL retaliates by attempting to discredit Omalu’s findings. With billions of dollars in annual revenue streaming in from fans and corporate customers, alike, this man – who does not even know the game – threatens its very existence.   Through dry boardroom discussions and the use of an occasional blue filter, the film purposely and successfully feels as cold and antiseptic as a morgue’s operating table, because irreversible brain damage is deadly-serious business.  Specific icy accounts - such as one player pulling out his own teeth and gluing them back into his gum line - become effective fodder for the audience.

We do receive some feel-good relief with Omalu’s personal life and his budding relationship with Prema (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), although they suffer through some rocky times due to his fight with the NFL.  Those troubles effectively add to our sympathy for this perceived “outsider”.    Alec Baldwin and Albert Brooks are solid in supporting roles as Omalu’s allies, but there is little depth with the main antagonists within the NFL.  The individual football proponents seem like faceless, thoughtless suits, but in conglomeration, act as one collective corporate menace.   “Concussion” does not work as a traditional thriller, because the gears of this struggle move so slowly, but it is effective as a thought-provoking discovery and a biopic on Dr. Omalu himself.   Smith carries a terrific performance and balances his character’s sharp intellect with equally visible compassion and persistence.    Led by Smith’s work, “Concussion” leaves the viewer – especially a football fan, player or coach - to substantially question his or her beliefs about a beloved sport.   After watching this movie, one might conclude that “blowing up your opponent” does not seem like such a smart idea after all.   (3/4 stars)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

Star Wars: The Force Awakens  

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Jon Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Peter Mayhew, Gwendoline Christie and Max von Sydow

The moment the iconic John Williams theme erupts and the words begin to scroll it will be impossible for any “Star Wars” fan to not be a little excited. No spoilers allowed in this review because “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a film experience that should not be ruined by too much information. Director J.J. Abrams tackles the monumental feat of rejuvenating the “Star Wars” franchise, mixing nostalgia with new characters on a new adventure with skill and confidence while also remaining loyal to the fanbase that will be waiting in long lines for the opportunity to remember why they fell in love with “Star Wars” in the first place. To the achievement of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, it excels and satisfies at nearly every turn.

Episode VII takes place thirty years after the destruction of the Death Star and the demise of the Galactic Empire. Peace has thrived throughout the galaxy but a new dark threat is rising to disrupt order. Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) commands the First Order with the help of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a masked villain who wields a lightsaber. The Resistance is fighting this new evil foe with the help of a rebel pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), a young scavenger living alone on a desert planet named Rey (Daisy Ridley), and a soldier named Finn; the group will do all they can to keep peace in the galaxy.

At the very minimum that’s all you need to know. Mr. Abrams and company have crafted a narrative that delivers a bit of everything for both fanatics and those unfamiliar with the universe. There are numerous moments in the film that seem handcrafted for “Star Wars” superfans. All of the best and memorable aspects of the past six films are utilized in effective and meaningful ways here, offering many nods to the past and establishing small steps that will lead into the future of the continued saga. Still, even though it utilizes clever Shakespearian influences familiar throughout all the films and follows the Joseph Campbell storytelling blueprint from “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, the film never forgets what George Lucas created and what, at its core, it achieves, which is producing that sense of childlike wonder and consistently remaining adventurous and fun.

The film centers around two new cast members, Daisy Ridley and Jon Boyega who both give especially genuine performances. This is an accommodation to their ability as actors but also to the script, which allows the characters both heartfelt and playful moments, each of which are charming and comedic. It is a difficult task for two new actors to remain shining when the shadow of their iconic counterparts loom so intimidatingly. Harrison Ford returns as Han Solo and upon his first moment on screen immediately fits comfortably back into the role, which he hasn’t played for nearly three decades. Add the back and fourth repartee with Chewbacca and, similarly to what Han Solo says in the trailer, you’re home.

The “Star Wars” prequels in some ways tarnished what the original films established. It’s safe to say that J.J. Abrams has given fans new hope with “The Force Awakens”. While the film reintroduces the audience to the world of the past, both the characters and myth left behind, the future isn’t given much exploration, which leaves many obvious questions for subsequent films to answer. But you won’t notice this aspect until you leave the theater and give the film some further thought. That’s an attribute to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” because it is such an experience. It’s a film that gives older audiences the joyous nostalgic feelings from when they saw “Star Wars” for the first time and, even more approvingly, a way to give a new generation of fans the memorable experience of why going to the movies is such a special and magical thing.

Monte’s Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

Youth - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Caine, Keitel and Sorrentino invigorate ‘Youth’  

Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino

Starring:  Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano, Rachel Weisz, Jane Fonda

“Youth” - The title of writer/director Paolo Sorrentino’s new film is a curious one.  His starring leads are 82-year-old Michael Caine and 76-year-old Harvey Keitel, but after experiencing Sorrentino’s beautifully-filmed picture - and some needed time to ponder its contents - the reasons for his chosen title become much clearer.    Sorrentino is a film lover’s filmmaker with a major art-house style, and here, he communicates his narrative by introducing intriguing characters engaging in intimate conversations and intermingles (either before, after or during a scene) stunning visuals and pleasing sounds, including a truly spectacular and surprising opening with a band called The Retrosettes. The end result is a cinematic feast for our senses while simultaneously providing nourishment for our thoughts on a little journey we call life.

The main lives in play in “Youth” are a famous, retired composer Fred Ballinger (Caine) and his best friend Mick Boyle (Keitel) who is a Hollywood director.   Although Mick is working on a new script with a team of young writers, they are both on vacation.  The picture’s third main character is a massive, posh hotel located in the Swiss Alps.  Surrounded by picturesque snow-capped mountains, this gorgeous, secluded place takes an army of people to run it.  Maids, aids, guides, cooks, massage therapists, and musical talent offer their services for the wealthy and prominent guests, and Sorrentino spends screen time showing these laborers working hard amongst the lush grounds, rooms, restaurants, spas, rock climbing walls, and massage tables.   At times the employees and patrons move like a well-orchestrated symphony and other times, the camera focuses on someone sitting or standing in solitude in an open space.

Speaking of a symphony, the main point of conflict in the picture is Fred’s resistance to a request from a Buckingham Palace events coordinator.    He inquires if Fred will perform his famed “Simple Songs” for Queen Elizabeth, but he repeatedly declines due to personal reasons.   Since Fred admits his apathy and reclusiveness, the cause for these “personal reasons” raises our curiosity.  When he eventually reveals the reason, Caine delivers an on-screen moment which stops the audience in its tracks.

Sorrentino offers many scenes with Fred and Mick tracking across the hotel, the nearby woods or the quiet roads along the rolling hills as they recollect on the past.  These exchanges with Caine and Keitel are quietly electric, and their time together - conversing as best friends for 50 or 60 years - is a pleasure to watch.  Talk of their youth sometimes enters conversations, or they give slight recognition to it with a passing smile at a toddler or a look of amazement towards a teenager performing a wheelie on a bike.  Many times, however, the current state of affairs owns much of their attention, such as how Mick’s new film will be his testament, and he calls it “Life’s Last Day”.  On the other hand, Fred’s view is more pessimistic as he misses his wife and views his future as nothing but bland routine.  That is certainly ironic, because there is nothing bland about their current Swiss surroundings.

Other characters who engage Fred are other hotel guests and workers like his dutiful daughter (Rachel Weisz), a highly-successful movie actor (Paul Dano), a famous athlete who is now severely overweight (Roly Serrano), the reigning Miss Universe (Madalina Diana Ghenea), and his massage therapist (Luna Zimic Mijovic).   Together they mix into a brew of sights, sounds, laughs, and tears in a given playground of the rich and distinguished.  No matter the characters’ ages or checking account balances, the movie captures important on-screen minutes of their individual daily lives which tell stories of their internal wonder, passions or regret.  Although we only receive glimpses in many spaces, every individual has much to say.  Through Sorrentino's creative insight and the very impactful performances by Caine and Keitel (and a small hurricane-like entrance by Jane Fonda), "Youth" has much to say too.

Yes, after experiencing "Youth", the reasons for the film's title make perfect sense. (3.5/4 stars)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ from its prequel slumber (A spoiler-free review)  

Directed by:  J.J. Abrams

Starring:  Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Issac, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o

“Laugh it up, Fuzzball.” 

In “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) throws this memorable, hilariously-timed barb at Chewbacca.   With all the dazzling special effects and Shakespearean themes in the series, moments like the aforementioned line remind us that the original three Star Wars movies – at their core - are swashbuckling and fun.

While the Star Wars prequels – Episodes I, II and III (1999 – 2005) - served a noble purpose in telling Darth Vader’s backstory, they certainly lacked the wondrous joy of Episodes IV, V and VI (1977 – 1983).  In fact, except for Yoda’s impromptu lightsabering moment in “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002), the three prequels - arguably - feel downright grim, like one unhappy eight-hour death march to a conclusion we already know.

Now, with director J.J. Abrams at the helm – thirty-eight years after the first film - I am more than pleased to report that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” returns to the exciting and enjoyable formulas of the original movies.   The end result is Abrams delivers a highly entertaining experience for old and new fans, alike, and yes, Star Wars is now awake from its prequel slumber.  This story takes place 30 years or so after the events of “Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi” (1983) and introduces a new group of heroes and villains.   The space baddies are descendants of the Empire called The First Order, and they persist in trying to destroy the Republic and its freedom fighters, the Resistance.   Although three decades have passed, this is an unchanged bad vs. good / Dark Side vs. Light Side fight we have seen in previous Star Wars movies, but the players own different names and faces.

The main protagonists are: an enterprising, young scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) and a “very recent addition” to the Resistance named Finn (John Boyega).  With a playfully-written script and instant on-screen rapport, our two young heroes immediately gel with one another and also with some old friends from the first three movies.   Many of this film’s seminal moments are with these old friends – Star Wars characters from Generation X’s childhood – and at times, their screen presence literally takes your breath away, but make no mistake, Ridley and Boyega shine in their starring roles as well.

They both carry heaps of cinematic charisma, and by starring in this franchise and giving abundantly effective performances, Ridley and Boyega are already ordained as science fiction superstars for the rest of their natural lives.   Hundreds of millions of kids will rightfully want to be Rey and Finn in the same fashion as previous generations pretended to be Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.   Those same children will also feel the opposite towards the film’s main antagonists from The First Order:  a masked villain named Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a mysterious puppet master played by Andy Serkis and a by-the-book lackey with a mean streak called General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson).   Yes, I know Gleeson playing a bad guy does feel a bit strange, but in every other case, the casting is spot-on and also includes Oscar Issac, Max von Sydow and Lupita Nyong’o.  An awfully cute droid named BB 8 also finds itself in the mix as well.  Together, this concoction of characters blend into the Star Wars universe, and the movie wonderfully and organically feels familiar and authentic to us, the audience.

This is no accident.

For instance, the script was written by Lawrence Kasdan who also penned Episode V and VI, and this movie contains many similar (and welcomed) "Laugh it up, Fuzzball" interactions. From a filming perspective, Abrams recently mentioned in an interview with Fox 5 in Washington D.C. that in some cases, they filmed using the same exact camera lenses from the first three films. From a broader perspective, Abrams added that they utilized puppeteers to work with the droids – just like the first three films - instead of heavy reliance on CGI. This, in turn, increases the authenticity of what we watch on screen, as the actors interact with droids on set rather than working with green screen.

The genuineness is important to Abrams, because he also stated that they filmed on location in Abu Dhabi, Wales and Iceland on enormous outdoor sets so the movie would feel authentic, instead of feeling like it was – again - shot in a vacuum of green screen.

The movie does feel authentic, honest and familiar.  Even better, with its serious lightsaber duels, X-wing vs. TIE Fighter dogfights, conversations about the Force, Stormtrooper gunplay, and hilarious quips and one-liners, this nostalgic trip really is the Star Wars movie that fans have wanted for 32 years.

I’ll surely plunk down my $10 a couple more times to see this movie again and again.

Laugh it up, Star Wars fans?  No. Lap it up.   (3.5/4 stars)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

Star Wars: The Force Awakens  

Director:  J. J. Abrams

Cast: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew

By Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

It’s strange how a song, some yellow text and a movie logo just makes everything seem alright in the galaxy. It just feels like home, a warm hearth to lean against in the cold void of space.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, is not the end-all, be-all, the alpha and omega, of cinema history the way the fanboys have been saying. But it is an utterly magnificent retooling of George Lucas’ floundering mega-saga. When Lucas turned his nuts-and-bolts space opera into a toothless CGI-painted joke, the franchise marched toward its own doom, one Hayden Christensen line after another. But Abrams has imbued the first chapter of a new trilogy with a newfound sense of wonder with a convincing cast, a snappy and electric story, and minimal CGI. It’s a coup for the franchise, a drastic course correction, a clean slate, a Mulligan in hyperspace.

The tone is set in the first seconds, in the first line of the famous scroll during John Williams’ iconic score: “Luke Skywalker has disappeared,” it says. The resistance, the side of our heroes, wants Luke to guide them forward. The First Order, the villains, wants to kill him and destroy the last links to The Force, a spiritual power that would likely die with Luke. The resistance has a map that leads to Luke’s last location, but the First Order, the last remnants of the Galactic Empire, attempts to capture it, thus starting the conflict of the current film.

Our players here are Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), a resistance fighter and ace pilot; Finn (John Boyega), a stormtrooper with an awakened conscience; Rey (Daisey Ridley), a metal scavenger with a connection to The Force; and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a practitioner of the Dark Side who has started a one-person death cult that worships the defeated Darth Vader. These characters frequently cross paths in Lawrence Kasden, Michael Arndt and Abrams’ mostly competent, at times clunky, script that includes a crash course on Star Wars lore, complete with shout-outs to holographic chess, 12-parsec space runs and lightsaber genealogy. The film goes to great lengths to establish meta and spiritual connections to the original franchise.

Early sequences revolve mostly around BB-8, a ball-shaped droid that is carrying the secret map to Skywalker’s location. The famous R2-D2 shows up later, but BB, with his cute hiccups and bloops, cements his place in the Star Wars canon long before then. Other franchise staples show up, including Princess Leia, now General Leia (Carrie Fisher); the still-dashing space smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford); Han’s walking carpet sidekick Chewbacca; and gold-plated C-3PO, human cyborg relations. Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon makes a triumphant return in a scene of pure exhilaration as Rey, Finn and BB-8 outrun TIE fighters in a desert wasteland filled with the relics of war from the original trilogy.

Abrams’ world is populated by a huge variety of alien creatures, from snorting elephant-pigs and googly-eyed club owners to noodly space pirates and tin-headed bounty hunters. Many of the characters are made from physical special effects, silicone and moldable foam, and not computer animation. Even the sets are real, which was a big gripe about Lucas’ last movies: they were clinical and lifeless, projections designed, executed and presented from within a matrix of computer programs. Here, though, the world feels real and livable, and it’s populated by characters with souls.

I hate to beat up on Lucas, but Force Awakens improves on every aspect of the prequel trilogy: from the special effects and sets to the acting and dialogue. Those films lost their way very early on, but this one steps forward with sure footing and a nostalgia for the original films. Abrams’ story could use some tweaking, particularly in some areas involving yet another Death Star, the dramatic reappearance of a “sleeping” character, and the state of the galaxy, which is never really explained how or why the First Order maintains so much power in a post-Return of the Jedi universe.

But these minor annoyances are made up for with great characters, lots of them, and all of them wonderfully constructed by the actors who play them. Boyega and Ridley are charmingly well equipped for this franchise, and bring to it a sense of adventure and heroism. And Driver’s Kylo Ren is a terrifying misfit who wields incredible power. He frequently hides behind a Vader-ish mask that gives him a Bane-like chamber for his voice to bounce around in with an eerie bass-rattle. Ford, playing the Star Wars veteran in more ways than one, helps hold all this together with a keen sense of humor; in fact, there are many jokes here, some in very unlikely and warranted places.

The best part of this new chapter is how it contributes to the myth of the Star Wars universe, The Force, and characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker. “It’s true, all of it … the force, the Jedi … all of it is true,” Han Solo tells our reluctant heroes who only know of the events from episodes four through six as bedtime stories and forgotten lore that has been passed down two and three generations. The Force Awakens not only brings Star Wars back for the characters, but for the audience as well. And never before has this franchise felt so alive.

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

Hitchcock/Truffaut Directed by:  Kent Jones

Starring:  Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Richard Linklater, and more

By Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

I first encountered the famous Hitchcock/Truffaut book during a film history course in college. I’ll never forget that it was the cheapest book I bought that semester — I think my used copy was $8, a minuscule fraction to that of my other textbooks, which were usually in the low three figures. All these years later and I still have it, the only textbook that didn’t get sold back at a dramatic loss. The book is a 300-plus-page set of interviews done in 1962 between French director François Truffaut and British director Alfred Hitchcock. It’s not even really interviews, but more discussion as the two directors talk about the cinema and their respective careers. Truffaut, through an interpreter, goes film by film, idea by idea, into Hitchcock’s impressive oeuvre. The resulting conversations, done over a week, are essentially the Rosetta Stone for film because it lays out the language of the cinema — how to edit, how to compose, how to move the camera.

The book, and its continued importance in an age where the average shot is something like a nanosecond buried within Michael Bay spectacle, has been turned into a documentary film with the same name. One of the greatest books on film deserves an equally great documentaries, which is a tall order that Hitchcock/Truffaut doesn’t quite deliver on. The film, although slickly produced and edited, never aims for the same goals as the book. It mostly serves as an appendix to it, with moving pictures and audio of the interviews supplementing the book’s printed text. This is helpful if you enjoy supercuts of clips, but it doesn’t accurately frame the importance of the interviews.

I’m mostly annoyed with the talking-heads approach to this film, and to modern documentaries in general. Martin Scorsese is here, as is David Fincher, Richard Linklater, Paul Schrader and many others. They slather on praise and analysis, but they offer little context. They’re incredibly insightful and knowledgeable of Hitchcock’s style, but they essentially regurgitate how important the book, and by extension Hitchcock’s films, are to the art of the cinema. This has already been established, so show us, don’t tell us. I wanted the movie to teach, and to really get into the nuts and bolts of Hitch’s style. And it doesn’t.

After lengthy clip montages and exuberant sequences of modern filmmakers praising the director, the film does eventually get to deeper aspects of Hitchcock’s cinematic poetry. This largely starts during a section on Vertigo, where camera movement and the film’s diabolical themes are really deconstructed. In one of the more fascinating bits, we watch as Judy returns to her apartment after being remade by Jimmy Stewart’s Scottie character. Scottie is remaking Judy in the image of a dead woman, and Judy has returned with her hair not quite right. “She has stripped but she won’t take her knickers off,” Hitch tells Truffaut in the interviews.

Hitchcock/Truffaut recovers from this point on, diving into Psycho and then into Hitchcock’s role as an innovator of story, plot, effects and pretty much every aspect of filmmaking. If you have no desire to read the book, the film will be entertaining, but it won’t be the education that the book has been for close to 50 years. Do yourself a favor and get the book. It was the best $8 I spent at the bookstore.

Hitchcock/Truffaut - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Hitchcock/Truffaut’ showers us with cinematic insight Directed by:  Kent Jones

Starring:  Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Richard Linklater, and more

When Alfred Hitchcock was 4 or 5-years-old, he was placed in a police station jail cell for a few minutes in order to know what prison feels like.  The end results of this somewhat ghoulish “life lesson” are that Hitchcock developed a lifelong fear of the police and showcased some of his fears and obsessions in his films.  For millions of movie fans, Alfred Hitchcock’s films may not be obsessions, but they are certainly revered.

In the fascinating documentary “Hitchcock/Truffaut”, it looks back at the Master of Suspense’s work through the past efforts of French film director, Francois Truffaut.  Truffaut greatly respected Hitchcock, and in 1962, he traveled to Hollywood and interviewed the man for one week.  With an interpreter and an audio recorder in a modest room, Hitchcock candidly spoke about his craft, philosophies and filmography with Truffaut.  These series of conversations turned into a 1966 book titled, “Hitchcock/Truffaut”, and it became a "Bible" of sorts for various filmmakers.

Director Kent Jones’ movie intertwines the actual audio from those 53-year-old talks along with commentary from several prominent directors.  Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Richard Linklater, and others describe what Hitchcock meant to them and their interpretations of his material.  We are treated to key scenes, and these directors explain the genius in which Hitchcock filmed specific shots and how audiences respond to them.

For instance, Scorsese walks us through a scene from “Psycho” (1960) in which Martin Balsam’s character is killed.  As Det. Milton Arbogast (Balsam) slowly walks up the steps – with the camera directly facing him – in the Bates house, Scorsese says that we all know is “he’s going to get it”, but the camera’s point of view suddenly changes to an overheard shot.  After a second or two, we then see – from above - “Mother” nearly sprinting with a knife towards Arbogast.  Hitchcock thrived on the unexpected, and this sudden (and unexpected) change in camera angles raised the hysteria of the scene.  In fact, in this documentary, Hitchcock’s own voice echoes his desire to expect the unexpected in his films.

He exclaimed, “The audience will say, ‘I know what’s coming next.’  I say, ‘Do you?’”

Of course, this film expounds on the infamous shower scene, but also on the purposely bland 35-minute opening in order to set up the audience for aforementioned shocking moment in the Bates Motel.  Director Peter Bogdanovich (“The Last Picture Show”) recounts how he paid a ticket for “Psycho” in 1960 and witnessed – first-hand - how that shower scene generated long, unprecedented shrieks throughout the movie theater.  Listening to Hitchcock and current filmmakers chew over movies like “The Wrong Man” (1956), “The Birds” (1963), “Vertigo” (1958), “Psycho” (1960), and more is nothing short of pure and unadulterated joy for anyone who loves movies.

The focus is mainly on the movies, however, as we do not learn much of Hitchcock’s personal life and marriage to Alma Reville.  We do not learn too much about Truffaut’s life or work either, but his focus with the interviews and his subsequent book was on Hitchcock, and that is where this documentary spends its time.  Narrator Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and The Butterfly”, “Quantum of Solace”) states that Truffaut’s work paints Hitchcock as “the artist who wrote with a camera”.

With a runtime of only 1 hour 19 minutes, invaluable cinematic facts, quips and insight fly by at such a rapid pace, “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is like any great piece of art, it should be looked over more than once.

In the Heart of the Sea - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

In the Heart of the Sea  

Directed by:  Ron Howard

Starring:  Chris Hemsworth, Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland

By Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

In the Heart of the Sea is a movie inspired by a book that was inspired by a story that was inspired by a real event. The movie is filmed with a vast array of computer effects and in 3D so gimmicky it belongs in 1955. Somewhere in all this is Moby-Dick and the Essex, a ship that fought a giant whale and lost horribly, but good luck finding them.

The director of the movie is Ron Howard, a national treasure racing toward clumsy mediocrity, who must have watched Mutiny on the Bounty, Master & Commander, Cast Away and Jaws only to say, “We should just combine all these films into one.” What he comes up with is robustly flat period piece that just can’t find its groove.

It stars Thor beefcake Chris Hemsworth as early 19th century whaler Owen Chase, a veteran seafarer who is placed as the first mate to the incompetent dollop of blandness Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), whose daddy takes the family name so seriously it’s remarkable he didn’t name his son Pollard P. Pollard. Chase and Pollard are immediately bickering like an old married couple as they set sail to exterminate every whale in the high seas.

The boat and it’s crew is mostly worthless, except for Chase, who is apparently God’s only gift to sailing. In an early scene, the crew clumsily can’t even unknot a line, but then His Beloved, Chase, jumps into action and heroically saves the day with an act that would have likely caused great division within a real crew. The film seems to be acutely aware that Hemsworth is Thor, and that audiences won’t settle for anything less than an angelic choir of hero worshiping in every scene.

As the boat sails farther from Nantucket looking for whales, it eventually emerges in the Pacific, where the horizon is filled with blowing spouts. The men clamber down into smaller boats armed with spears and rope and off they go to harpoon a species to death. One sperm whale takes great offense to this and single-finedly destroys some of the small boats and then turns his attention to the big ship. He harpoons the side with his whale face, collapses the hull with his whale tail, tears the mast off, and then sets fire to the cargo. This is some Punisher-level revenge here with this bloodthirsty whale.

The crew, clustered into three small dinghies, is left bobbing in the water with little food, water and hope as they splash around 2,000 miles from the nearest land. There is hunger, thirst, suicides, cannibalism, more whale attacks, sickness, disease … a laundry list of bad stuff. Their journey, once all about killing, is now about survival.

From a distance In the Heart of the Sea is dazzling adventure movie, about nature’s pitiless contempt of man’s hubris on the ocean. But step closer to the film and it slowly starts to crumble apart. The cinematography, while incredible in scope, is largely CGI shots with phony lens flare and artificial light. Some wide shots are clearly on the ocean in an actual ship, but much of it was composed on a set with green screen, with the largest concentration of water in the bottles that the cast and crew are drinking from. The characters are thinly written, and often are obscured by beards and dirty makeup. They are given story payoffs that aren’t earned, and thrown together with such haste that a junk drawer has better organization. For instance, Chase and Pollard, at odds with each other the whole film, somehow find an admirable resolution with each other. But why? The film comes to a close before it can tell you.

Scenes with a wife establish Chase as a husband and father, but that goes nowhere. And scenes with Chase and his greedy employer are agonizingly forced, and completely unwarranted, but they’re included because the film needed a villain in capitalism and dishonesty — apparently the ocean, the sun, lack of food and water, and a murderous spree-killing whale weren’t enough in the villain department.

Making matters so much worse is the 3D, which never lets you forget you’re watching a movie with a third dimension. Characters reach into the screen to grab bottles, spears poke out over the audience, foreground objects obstruct shots, the ocean is photographed at low angles to accentuate waves and ocean swells, and rooms are crowded with dangling knick-knacks, all in an effort to transport you into the world of the film. It’s shameless 3D, and entirely unnecessary.

One part of the film I haven’t yet told you about is the story device: the tale of the Essex is told by the last surviving crewmember (Brendan Gleeson) to a young Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw), who is determined to gather information for his next book, the great Moby-Dick. I sorta enjoyed these scenes, particularly Gleeson and Michelle Fairley, who plays his wife. But here’s a letdown: these scenes never happened, and Melville only read stories about the Essex.

Ron Howard needs smaller films, more personal films. And when someone suggests 3D or CGI, he should throw the screenplay at them. If he had the ferocity of this whale, there would be no stopping him.

In the Heart of the Sea - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Good performances and special effects keep ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ afloat  

Directed by:  Ron Howard

Starring:  Chris Hemsworth, Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland

Living in present-day Phoenix, one does not have much need for whale oil.  In fact, with a pair of recent documentaries – “Blackfish” (2013) and “The Cove” (2009) – uncovering and presenting the abuse and/or slaughter of marine mammals, I do not have the stomach for any sort of whale hunting.   In 1821, however, the nation consumed much whale oil, because its citizens used it for lighting their homes, and for the folks living on Nantucket Island, hunting these giant mammals is also big business.  Sailing out to an unforgiving sea and pursuing (and killing) these creatures takes an experienced hand, and in director Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea”, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is that person.

Unfortunately, Owen has fallen victim to that timeless phenomenon known as nepotism, and George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) – with his decorated family name – takes command of a new whaling ship, the Essex.   Although at odds, the pair – along with a worthy and anxious crew – sail out to the Atlantic to fill a couple hundred empty barrels with whale oil, but they will find something nobody bargained for, a 100 foot whale who will fight back.

Howard delivers many stunning sights of the Essex on the open ocean, and these moments during the first 75 minutes of the film truly provide awe with serene, sunny days and the unholy churn of brutal storms.   Despite the predictable and routine conflicts between Pollard and Chase – which will obviously cause future problems with the ship – Hemsworth’s charisma and the oceanic visuals keep our attention.    Once the Essex finds troubled waters, CGI constructs of giant waves and wakes take over, and combined with loud crashes, the effects generate angst and worry for the audience.

Matthew (Cillian Murphy) and Thomas (Tom Holland) play Owen’s charismatic allies, provide a sense of appreciated camaraderie and come in handy during the first whaling scene.  Animal lovers will find the hunting and cutting up of the whale truly unpleasant, but the timing of much-needed humor helps us swallow the carnage, like adding a sugar cube to a dose of castor oil.    The storm and early whaling sequences are simply setups for a battle with the previously-mentioned mammoth whale, and this man vs. sea beast battle does not disappoint.   Again, the special effects provide some astounding and dangerous images, but immediately after the battle, the script takes a hard and sudden turn.

Howard’s picture feels like two different movies, and with a 2 hour 1 minute runtime, he is not afraid to take his time to deliver the story (or stories).   The second half is decidedly slower and not as engaging, but it did hold my attention.  It should be noted the new drama for the crew is not 100 feet in length, but, quite frankly, the situation is infinitely more desperate.

Telling this big fish story – 30 years later in retrospect - is a middle-aged Thomas (Brendan Gleeson), and Gleeson’s skill in front of the camera gives this tall tale a realistic view and a true sense of danger.   Thomas’ audience knows - through his authentic apprehension – that his recollection is factual.

It is also factual that “In the Heart of Sea” does have its shortcomings, but its special effects and performances provide enough cover to make it a worthwhile movie experience.   At the very least, one will be thankful that we can enjoy artificial light in 2015 without the use of whale oil.  (3/4 stars)

Krampus - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Krampus’ does not grant enough horror or comedy wishes  

Director:  Michael Dougherty

Starring:  Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner

“You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.”

Decades after first watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, this familiar lyric from the famous song still plays in my head every December.   The Grinch – a brilliant Dr. Seuss creation – carries himself as the ultimate Christmas baddy with some obvious parallels to another holiday villain, Scrooge.   On the hand, after watching “Krampus”, I do not think The Grinch’s or Scrooge’s respective mean streaks can hold an advent candle to the malevolence of this sinister antihero named in this film’s title.    Who or what is Krampus?  It is a shadowy, large creature who sports long, angular horns, drags iron chains, walks with goat or horse-like hoofs, and carries a nasty attitude with bloody and deadly intention.  Say what you want about The Grinch, but he just wanted to take away Christmas, not take away lives.

In director/co-writer Michael Dougherty’s horror/comedy, he features this miserable demon’s descent on a nameless suburban town, but most unfortunately and surprisingly, “Krampus” is not terribly scary nor very funny.    The cast certainly is made up of some talented actors with natural comedic gifts.  Adam Scott, Toni Collette and David Koechner play a nice-guy dad, his well-intentioned wife and a goofy brother-in-law.    The setting is Tom (Scott) and Sarah’s (Collette) beautiful home, and they host Christmas for their family and “close” relatives, namely Howard (Koechner) and Linda’s (Allison Tolman) dysfunctional domestic clan.  Koechner tries to channel the “Vacation” films as he gives his best oafish Uncle Eddie impression, and the kids follow suit.

Dougherty tries to throw this kinfolk toxic mess under one roof for some intentional hilarious moments, but the jokes and associated conflicts just feel uncomfortable rather than funny or interesting. Howard’s twin girls repeatedly refer to Tom’s sensitive son Max as “Maxipad”, and this is one of several examples of caustic behavior that does not generate laughs, but “Oh, wonderful” sarcastic sighs instead.  The script, however, needs to be deliberately harsh, so Krampus has reasons to appropriately deliver “punishment” to naughty girls and boys of all ages.

Not everyone, however, is naughty, including goodhearted Grandma Omi (Krista Stadler) who speaks German to everyone (through most of the movie), but the other family members annoyingly respond to her in English.    Max, his sister Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), Tom, and Sarah are nice enough too, but most of the townsfolk are not.  In fact, in an effective opening scene, we watch dozens and dozens of folks trample, push and punch each other to grab spectacular bargains on Black Friday.   With little Christmas cheer and a very specific “anti-wish”, this antagonist - supported by many evil henchman - feels justified to inflict some painful justice on unsuspecting suburbia.

Regrettably, the proposed tension-filled sequences in which Krampus and his minions attempt to enter local homes and capture or kill all family members – including a 1-year-old baby – seem as synthetic as artificial snow falling on a Hollywood sound stage.   The sets look like the filmmakers quickly assembled them last week, while the chase scenes between monsters and humans feel like a production of the 1980s NBC television series, “Amazing Stories”.   There’s nothing particularly wrong with “Amazing Stories”, but that show’s overall vibe is three decades old.

With counterfeit backdrops and contrived characters, almost everything in the film really feels inauthentic, and in turn, blows up our suspension of disbelief and any chance of real scares (Well, at least for this critic, but admittedly, this movie probably would make my 9-year-old niece jump a bit.).    “Almost everything” is the key phrase, because the family dog does add one genuine moment of humor when he suddenly devours an “edible” gremlin.  In addition, Grandma Omi reflects upon her childhood in a highly engaging, animated stop motion sequence.   While the rest of “Krampus” looks plastic, it truly is ironic that the movie’s rare moment of authenticity comes from its lone animated scene.

Speaking of animation, I am suddenly thinking of a better Christmas story.

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.    (2/4 stars)

Creed - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Jordan and Stallone form a winning combination in ‘Creed’  

Director:  Ryan Coogler

Starring:  Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew

Forty years ago, the name Rocky Balboa wove into the fabric of America’s consciousness and solidified its place with a Best Picture Oscar win for “Rocky” in March 1977.    Of course, the kindhearted pugilist played by Sylvester Stallone spurred five sequels from 1979 to 2006, as his name is now synonymous with Rocky.  Now, at 69 years-old, Stallone reprises his most iconic role, but the focus is on a different name, Creed.   Apollo Creed is Rocky’s most famous opponent, and in 2015, Rocky trains Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), who happens to be The King of Sting’s son.

This is the seventh Rocky film, and my initial reaction – before seeing it – was: “Wow.  Does the world really need another ‘Rocky’ movie?”

While I thoroughly enjoyed the first three films, I found “Rocky IV” (1985) – and his fight with the monstrous Russian, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) - tiresome and manipulative.  Admittedly, I have not seen the fifth and sixth pictures in the series, so, needless to say, walking into “Creed”, my skepticism reached Round 15.  After experiencing the film, however, I am happy and surprised to report “Creed” is a terrifically entertaining picture with wonderful odes to the past while simultaneously moving forward towards a bright future.

Within the first 10 to 15 minutes of the film, we meet Adonis as an adult in present day Los Angeles.  With a brand new promotion at Smith Boardley Financial Group, Adonis knows success in the business world, but his passion is boxing.   Although Apollo died before Adonis was born, this eager Millennial shadowboxes to video clips from his dad’s fights and wants to follow in his footsteps.  So, Adonis heads to Philadelphia, PA with the hope that one man, Rocky Balboa, can train him for the squared circle.

Director/co-writer Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) places Adonis in the gritty streets of the City of Brotherly Love, and soon – after an apprehensive beginning – Rocky shows some fatherly or rather “unclely” love to young Creed and agrees to train him.   Coogler makes some terrific decisions with the story by presenting Rocky and Adonis’ relationship as a positive and loose one.   While Rocky dusts off the cobwebs from his internal boxing training manual, he now has a pupil willing to listen and follow his every word.   They form a reciprocal bond while their age and cultural differences present several light-hearted moments and good feelings for the audience.   For instance, Rocky learns that boxing drills written down on paper can be captured via a cell phone photo and imported to a mysterious “cloud”, and Adonis discovers that his teacher wakes up to 1970’s easy listening blasting on an alarm clock at 5:00am.

The screenplay and Stallone and Jordan’s friendly on-screen chemistry allow the audience to enjoy several “Rocky-isms” while getting acquainted with the apparent heir to the Rocky series.   Adonis even affectionately refers to Rocky as “Unc” for uncle, but their connection is not always handled with kid gloves.   Coogler also includes some trouble between the two.   Although the friction does feel a little mechanical at times, one builds such hope to see Adonis succeed (with Rocky at his side), Coogler makes it easy to buy what Stallone and Jordan are selling.   Tessa Thompson’s character, Bianca, also enters the picture as a friend and potential love interest for Adonis, and they share some quiet and lovely moments.    The film devotes lots of time to build the lead characters’ relationships, and the adequate pacing is refreshing.

Now, with all this talk of training, friendship and love, the movie, of course, does leave plenty of room for boxing matches as well.    I will not divulge the number or the specifics of the fights, but let’s just say the film significantly raises the stakes within a 2 hour 12 minute narrative.   Like any Rocky movie, the fights in the ring offer nonstop action and suspense.   While Adonis clashed with his opponent(s) in the ring, I found myself shifting and jostling in my movie theater seat, and at times sitting on the edge of it.  Jordan looks and moves like a convincing boxer, and Coogler offers some camera angles not typical of any Rocky movie - or any other boxing movie – I have ever seen.  During the matches, Coogler seemingly places his camera just behind, or almost sitting on, the boxers’ shoulders, so the audience has an extremely close and tight peek into each and every punch and block while they circle and fight.

While Creed lands jabs at ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan’s (Tony Bellew) jaw, the close-up camerawork – at times – is nothing short of jaw-dropping.  Coogler’s work within the ring feels truly revolutionary, and I hope that every future boxing movie follows his lead.  While I am on the subject – and perhaps it is unchecked enthusiasm from such an enjoyable cinematic experience – I am looking forward to many future Creed movies.  As mentioned earlier, Rocky movies have lived for 40 years, so perhaps Jordan will put on the gloves through the year 2055.  (3.5/4 stars)