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Movie Review ~ The Gift

The GiftThe Gift, rated R
*** ½

This psychological thriller stars Jason Bateman as Simon and Rebecca Hall as his wife Robyn. They have just relocated from Chicago to Simon’s hometown in Southern California where Simon has accepted a promising new job with a security systems firm. They purchased a new home with a beautiful view as they hope to leave the sadness of Robyn’s miscarriage behind in Chicago and get a fresh new start. Robyn struggled with addiction to prescription medicine after the miscarriage and is fragile emotionally.

As the couple is shopping for their new home they run into Gordon, or ‘Gordo’, played by Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), who also wrote and directed the film. Gordo and Simon went to high school together, but Simon doesn’t appear to remember him in an awkward scene. Gordo overhears the couple’s address in the store and shows up at their home uninvited when Simon is at work. Each time he shows up at their home he leaves a wrapped gift at the front door. Robyn is kind to him and invites him to have dinner with them. Gordo seems socially uncomfortable but returns the favor, inviting them to a dinner party at his home.

Jason becomes increasingly irritable around Gordo, and tells Robyn that they used to call Gordo “Weirdo” (the original working title of the film), in high school. He decides to set boundaries with Gordo, telling him he doesn’t want him to stop by their home any longer. That changes the relationship between Gordon and Simon.

But Robyn, still struggling with the effects of the miscarriage and the addiction to prescription medicine is afraid to be in the home by herself during the day. Her only friend is neighbor Lucy (Allison Tolman). Alone by herself during the day Robyn hears noises. Is someone in the house? Cinematographer Eduard Grau effectively gives us Robyn’s view of the hallways of the empty home as we sit on the edge of our seat waiting to see if someone is indeed in the house. And now their dog Bojangles (named after the song “Mr. Bojangles”), goes missing. What is going on?

As time goes on, Robyn suspects that Simon and Gordo have more of a history than Simon is telling her. What she finds out drives her further away from Simon. What else isn’t he telling her? Does she even really know him? And there seems to be little Simon won’t do to advance his career at his new firm.

The film is rated “R” for a significant amount of adult language, including the misuse/abuse of God’s and Jesus’ names several times. It features themes of fear, bullying and revenge. The Bible passage Psalm 7:14-15 plays a role in the film. Edgerton, Bateman and Hall are all excellent in their roles. Edgerton’s writing is sharp, and it’s hard to believe this is his first major film as a director.


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Movie Review ~ Ricki and the Flash

Ricki and the FlashRicki and the Flash, rated PG-13
**

If Meryl Streep isn’t the greatest actress of our generation, I don’t know who is. The 66 year-old three-time Oscar winner returns as the leather-clad Ricki Rendazzo (formerly Linda Brummel), who abandoned her husband, daughter and two sons years ago to pursue her dream of rock and roll stardom.

The film is directed by Jonathan Demme, who won the Oscar for directing 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. The film is written by Diablo Cody, who won the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for 2007’s Juno. The story is loosely based on Cody’s real-life mother-in-law who has been singing rock and roll for many years.

The film also stars Kevin Kline as Ricki’s ex-husband Pete, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988’s A Fish Called Wanda. While the film includes plenty of star power, it doesn’t add up to a great movie.

Ricki has not been a part of her children’s lives for years. She is fronting a bar band – Ricki and the Flash – featuring guitarist and sometime boyfriend, the likeable Greg, played by rocker Rick Springfield. She works as a checker at Total Foods in California, is broke and has declared bankruptcy. She is called home to Indianapolis by Pete (now remarried to Maureen, played by Audra McDonald), when daughter Julie (Streep’s real-life daughter Mamie Gummer) is dumped by her husband for another woman. Julie is depressed and suicidal when Ricki re-enters her life. Although Julie accepts Ricki’s re-entry into her life fairly quickly, her sons are not so welcoming. One son is engaged to be married and was not planning to invite his mother to his wedding, and the other son, the obligatory gay character in the film, is not at all happy to see his mom.

The film contains far too much of Streep singing with Springfield and the rest of the Flash. It’s not that her singing is bad, it really isn’t. But there is far too much of it included in the film. Overall, though the film has some good messages about the importance of family despite making bad decisions, it is mostly a downer and overall disappointing.

The film contains some sexual activity outside of marriage and adult language, including the abuse of God’s name several times.

Note: Streep and Kline previously appeared together in 1982’s Sophie’s Choice, while Streep was pregnant with daughter Mamie, who portrays Streep and Kline’s daughter Julie in this film.


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MOVIE REVIEW ~ Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Mission Impossible; Rogue NationMission Impossible: Rogue Nation, rated PG-13
****

The fifth film in the Mission Impossible series over nineteen years with Tom Cruise is also my top film of 2015 thus far. It is an exciting, well-made film right from the incredible opening scene, which will remind you of an opening sequence from a James Bond film. The film includes deception and betrayal, action scenes featuring car and motorcycle chases, a fight high above the stage of an opera, a scene underwater, beautiful scenery from London, Vienna, and Casablanca, a strong cast and a score featuring the familiar Mission Impossible music.

Cruise, who looks great and shows no sign of aging at 53, returns as Ethan Hunt. He and the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) team – Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell – continue to pursue the Syndicate, an international rogue organization. In the opening scene Tom Cruise as Ethan climbs on the outside of a flying airplane (an Airbus A400M) without the use of special effects or a stunt double. At times he was suspended on the aircraft 5000 feet in the air. Cruise who tends to do his own stunts was injured 6 times during the making of the movie.

But back in the United States, the IMF is shut down by CIA Director Hunley (Alec Baldwin). Brandt then becomes a part of the CIA. Ethan is in London pursuing Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris. This will be the last IMF mission, as Hunley is now pursuing Ethan. Rebecca Ferguson plays a major role as the British Ilsa Faust. Throughout the film you don’t know whose side she’s on. She’s working for Lane, but seems to help Ethan at times. Can she be trusted?

The film is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects in 1995, and has worked with Cruise in last year’s excellent Edge of Tomorrow, 2012’s Jack Reacher and 2008’s Valkyrie. The previous film’s (Ghost Protocol) director Brad Bird turned this film down to direct the boring Tomorrowland (big mistake). In fact, each of the five Mission Impossible films have had different directors.

The film earns it’s PG-13 rating from the violence you would expect in a Mission Impossible film. There is no sexual content and minimal adult language. It’s the perfect summer film to enjoy. Highly recommended!


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MOVIE REVIEW ~ The Wolfpack

The WolfpackThe Wolfpack, rated R
***

This documentary is directed by Crystal Moselle. It won the 2015 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, and is most likely unlike any story you’ve ever seen before.

Moselle ran into six young men (the Angulo brothers, nicknamed the Wolfpack), wearing dark suits and sunglasses, on a New York City street. She asked them about their story which is told in this film, mostly through the boy’s own words.

The director found out that the boys had rarely been allowed to leave their family’s four bedroom apartment in a public housing complex in New York’s Lower East Side. One of the boys tells her that sometimes they would be able to leave nine times a year, sometimes only once.

The boy’s parents (Oscar and Susanne) met in South America. Oscar, their abusive father, doesn’t work, and distrusts the outside world. The boys were taught by Oscar to avoid others and stay indoors. They are homeschooled (it appears effectively), by Susanne, who talks about the bad socialization in schools. The father, a devotee of Hare Krishna, gave all of the children Sanskrit names, and they all have grown their hair very long.

Having their apartment as their entire world, the boys spend their time watching popular films (they have a collection of some 5,000 films), such as Pulp Fiction and The Dark Knight. They then creatively recreate the films in their apartment. We see some footage of that, along with some film from their childhood. Later in the film we see the boys, now between 11 and 18 years old, start to venture out into the real world and attending their first film in a theatre.

In many ways this was a heartbreaking film to watch. It’s hard to imagine these children living almost their entire lives in their New York City apartment. One wonders why their mother allowed this to happen. Although five of the boys are no longer on speaking terms with their father, they seem to have a close bond with each other.  We can recommend this film if you want to see young men triumph over adversity with their creative imaginations.

The film is rated “R” for adult language.


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MOVIE REVIEW ~ Paper Towns

Paper TownsPaper Towns, rated PG-13
**

The title of Paper Towns refers to a trick that mapmakers use – they will insert fake places (called copyright traps or paper towns) onto their maps to make sure no one is copying them. The film is directed by Jake Shreier, and is adapted from John Green’s 2008 Paper Towns and by The Fault in our Stars (also written by Green) screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.

The film stars Nat Wolff as 17 year-old high school senior Quentin in Orlando, Florida (Wolff also portrayed Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars, which made $307 million internationally). His two best friends are Radar (Justice Smith) and Ben (Austin Abrams).

Quentin has had a crush on neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman, played by Cara Delevingne, ever since her family moved into the neighborhood. The two were inseparable when young, but have grown apart as Margo has gotten more popular. She’s now the most popular and mysterious girl in school. In real-life, Delevingne is also one of the highest paid models in the world. Shailene Woodley from The Fault in Our Stars, was originally cast as Margo, but had to drop out due to the clash of filming schedules with Insurgent.

After taking Quentin on an all-night vengeful adventure through Orlando (which she tells him will be the best night of his life), Margo suddenly disappears and leaves behind clues as to where she might be. She has always liked mysteries and clues, and has run away five times before. As a result, Margo’s mother isn’t concerned about her, but Quentin is, even though they had barely talked for nine years. He believes he knows from the clues he has found where Margo is. Time for a road trip just before Prom. Tagging along for the unplanned road trip are Ben, Radar and his girlfriend Angela (Jaz Sinclair), and Margo’s former best friend Lacey (Halston Sage), who’s worried about what might have happened to Margo.

The movie kept my interest and didn’t necessarily go the way I thought it would. The film shows the friendship of best friends Quentin, Ben and Radar, who will soon be going their separate ways to different colleges. It also includes some brief male nudity (played for laughs), a lot of teenage sexual dialogue, the abuse of God’s names several times, along with some adult language.

The movie was filmed over five days in the Skybrook neighborhood of Huntersville, NC (North of Charlotte) in mid to late November 2014. The author, John Green, who also serves as executive producer, makes a cameo as the voice of the shotgun-wielding father of Chuck. He states about his books, “Basically, I wanted a different definition of “paper towns” for each section of the book, each representing a different way of Quentin imagining Margo. In the first part, he’s viewing Margo very one-dimensionally. She’s paper-thin to him; she is nothing but the object of his affection. In the second part, he’s seeing a girl who’s half there and half not–so he’s thinking about her with more complexity but still not really thinking of her as a human being. In the final part of the novel, his complex imagining reconnects him to her, albeit not in the way he might’ve hoped.”


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Movie Review ~ Ant-Man

Ant-ManAnt-Man, rated PG-13
****

The twelfth and latest of the modern Marvel superhero films is directed by Peyton Reed, and it’s a good one. The story begins back in 1989 with Dr. Hank Pym (a young looking Michael Douglas) in a tense meeting with Tony Stark’s dad (John Slattery), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who will be recognized as “Agent Carter” from Captain America and Agent Carter, and Mitchell Carson (Martin Donovan). Dr. Pym, the founder of the company that bears his name, has possession of a red vial containing the Pym particle (a shrinking technology) that he developed, and SHIELD wants it badly.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is just out of San Quentin State Prison for his cat-burglar work. His old cellmate Luis (Michael Pena), offers to let him stay at his apartment. Scott doesn’t want to go back in to prison. Instead, he wants to get a real job, so he can have more time with his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). Cassie and his ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer), now live with Paxton (Bobby Cannavale) a policeman. But with Scott’s record he’s finding it hard to find a legitimate job.

Dr. Pym developed an Ant-Man suit that when used with the Pym particle is extremely powerful. But he doesn’t want his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly from Lost), with whom he has a strained relationship, to put it on because of something that had happened years ago. So Hank recruits Scott for a job that will involve putting a stop to Darren Cross (Corey Stoll from House of Cards). Cross is an old protégé of Pym’s, and Hope’s boss. He’s about to make billions on a weaponized “Yellowjacket” suit that uses Pym’s technology. He wants to make an army of Yellowjackets, and his buyer, represented by Carson, is an organization called HYDRA.

We loved this movie. It was creative, fun, and with Paul Rudd and Michael Pena it was also very funny. It does include about a dozen profanities that are certainly not necessary, and the expected violence that Marvel films contain.

Don’t forget to stay through both sets of the credits following the movie.

See this short video of how Downtown Disney is promoting the film with tiny billboards.

 


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Movie Review ~ Minions

MinionsMinions, rated PG
***

This hilarious prequel tells the early story of the popular banana-loving, yellow Minions from the Despicable Me films (Despicable Me 3 is due out in the summer of 2017).   The film is directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin, and follows (with narration from Geoffrey Rush), the Minions’ evolution from single-celled organisms to little creatures whose only goal is to serve the most despicable masters they can find throughout history – from T. Rex, Dracula and Napoleon – they are always looking for their next boss. But somehow, despite their best intentions, their bosses always meet tragic ends. And after the battle of Waterloo, the Minions are sent into exile. Without someone to serve they fall into a deep depression in the frigid Antarctica.

Finally Kevin has a plan. Kevin, Stuart and Bob (all voiced by Coffin), will leave the rest of the group in Antarctica to find a new evil boss for the group to serve. Their search takes them to London and New York in 1968, where they meet the Nelson family (featuring Michael Keaton and Allison Janney as the parents) on their way to Orlando for a villain convention. Kevin, Stuart and Bob catch a ride with them in hopes of finding a new villain there to serve.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-moving and funny film which features music from the late 1960’s from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Turtles and Donovan. The Minions also get to sing a few songs from the era as well.

Sandra Bullock voices Scarlet Overkill, who we found underwhelming as a villain. Jon Hamm voiced her husband Herb, whose character was more enjoyable. Jennifer Saunders voices the Queen.

Tip: Stay in your seats through all of the ending credits for more fun.


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Movie Review ~ Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying GirlMe and Earl and the Dying Girl, rated PG-13
***

This film is based on the 2012 novel by Jesse Andrews (who also wrote the script), and is directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. It was a big hit at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. It is creative, quirky, and never seems to do what you expect it to do, which was refreshing.

The film is primarily about Greg (Thomas Mann) and his senior year of high school. Greg serves as narrator throughout the film. He recognizes different “nations” (groups) of kids in his class, such as jocks, stoners, theatre dorks, etc., something we can all relate to. His plan is to be casually friendly to all, but a part of none of them. He’s there, but not really. He’s just trying to survive his senior year by being off the radar – invisible. He’s insecure and thinks he’s ugly.

The only classmate who really knows him is his only true friend Earl (RJ Cyler), who provides comic relief (as well as much of the profanity) in the film. They have been best friends since kindergarten, though the socially uncomfortable (hard not to be in high school) and self-centered Greg refers to him as his co-worker, unwilling to even call him his friend.

Greg and Earl love old movies and have made forty or so parodies of them with titles like A Sockwork Orange. The parts of the film showing their awful films are funny and creative.

Greg’s mom (Connie Britton) asks, more like tells, Greg to go visit Rachel (Olivia Cooke) a girl from school he is familiar with, but doesn’t really know (because Greg doesn’t really know anyone except Earl). Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia, and he is told to go cheer her up. He doesn’t want to go, but he does to get his mom off his case.

Greg is greeted by Rachel’s mom Denise (Molly Shannon) who lustily hugs him, and has a drink in her hand in almost every scene in the film as she tries to deal with her daughter’s illness. Rachel’s parents are divorced, and her father, who is now deceased, was never a big part of her life. Greg doesn’t really want to be there, and Rachel doesn’t want him there – and thus starts their relationship.

The relationship between Greg and Rachel is awkward at first, to say the least. As her illness progresses and she loses her hair from the chemotherapy they slowly become friends. For perhaps the first time, Greg focuses his attention on someone other than himself.

I found myself emotionally relieved when Greg tells us that Rachel will survive – she won’t die. So will they become boyfriend and girlfriend, get married and live happily ever after? Sorry, I’m not telling. That would be called a spoiler.

Nick Offerman plays Greg’s father. He is a strange character always at home in a robe offering Greg and Earl exotic foods. Katherine C. Hughes plays Madison, the hot girl at school that Greg has a crush on. The film features a creative animation every time she talks to Greg. Jon Bernthal plays Mr. McCarthy, a history teacher that Greg and Earl eat lunch and watch movies with in his office each day.

The film includes a fair amount of adult language and sexual dialogue, and the characters unfortunately abuse God’s and Jesus’ names a significant number of times. Rachel’s family is Jewish, but you don’t see their faith impacting their lives in any way.   Much of the inappropriate language comes from Earl, but I thought he was an excellent example of what a friend should be.

I appreciated the uniqueness of this film. There were many details, such as camera angles that I appreciated. It’s not a perfect film, and parts will be offensive to some, others depressing, but it’s also a film that will impact you, and you’ll want to talk about afterwards with those who have seen it with you.


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Movie Review ~ Max

MaxMax, rated PG
** ½

Max is a military dog. I thought he was a German Shepherd, but was actually a Belgian Malinois. Max has been trained since he was a pup to serve as a military dog by Kyle Wilcott (Robbie Amell). Max would serve the Marines in Afghanistan by going ahead of them at Kyle’s direction to search out weapons and bombs.

When Kyle is killed in an attack, Max is sent home. He is suffering from the loss of Kyle and PTSD; he’s considered unfit for duty and is going to be put down. The Wilcott family – military veteran father Robbie (Thomas Haden Church), mother Pamela (Lauren Graham), and younger son Justin (Josh Wiggins), who loves to ride his bike with friends and also makes money by selling illegally downloaded and copied video games, agree to take the traumatized Max in order to save his life. Justin, who is not close to his father, is told by him that he will have responsibility for the hard to handle dog, who seems to recognize that Justin is the brother of his former handler. Justin also gets help from his best friend Chuy’s (Dejon LaQuake) cousin Carmen (Mia Xitlali), who Justin immediately takes a liking to.

Tyler (Luke Kleintank), Kyle’s friend and former squad mate who survived the battle that Kyle was killed in, returns home. He tells Kyle’s family that he suffered injuries from the explosion that killed Kyle, and thus why he was sent back home. Soon he is hired by Robbie at his storage locker business. But both Kyle and Robbie have secrets. Kyle’s secret will lead to a major plotline in the film.

The film kept our interest, was entertaining and well-made. It’s a film that will appeal to a lot of young boys (there were a number in the showing we attended) and dog lovers. The film shows a family trying to stay together after the grief of losing a son and brother. The family does seem to have faith, particularly mother Pamela. The film will pull on your emotional heartstrings and contains some violence, both between people and dogs.

The film is directed by Boaz Yakin, who directed the 2000 film Remember the Titans, starring Denzel Washington. The film is dedicated to military dogs and their handlers, about 26 of each have been killed in battle in the past decade.


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Movie Review ~ Inside Out

Inside OutInside Out, rated PG
*** ½

In the latest film from Pixar, we meet eleven-year old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias). She’s a happy girl, living in Minnesota with her parents (Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Lane), and enjoying her life with her friends and playing hockey, which she is passionate about and has been playing since she was very young. But when the family moves to San Francisco for Riley’s Dad’s job, life changes for Riley. She has to deal with a different (older) home to live in, no friends, her father preoccupied with his new job, sleeping on the floor because the moving van is either lost or very much delayed and a new school.  Kinda reminds you of the children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”.

Through Riley’s emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Louis Black) we get an inside look at Riley’s reactions to all of this change in her life in this very creative and enjoyable film. The five emotions monitor Riley from a master control board at “Headquarters” inside her mind, all competing to control her reactions to life by turning knobs on the board. Riley’s memories are encapsulated in color-coded balls (like a small bowling ball). If it is a good or joyful memory, the ball may be yellow, but if Sadness touches the ball it will turn blue. There are also floating islands in Riley’s emotional world that depict things such as family, hockey and friends.

As we follow Riley to her first day in her new school we see how her emotions can quickly go from joy to sadness, the two dominant emotions in the film. When something happens to Riley’s core memories, the film really kicks into gear.

The film was written and directed by Pixar veterans Ronnie del Carmen and Peter Doctor. I thoroughly enjoyed it, finding it creative and entertaining. I think the film will be enjoyed by ages eight and up. Viewers younger than that may not be able to follow the storyline. Inside Out is a fine addition to the impressive list of films from Pixar (Toy Story, Cars, Up, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, etc.).

A Pixar short, Lava, preceded the main feature. It is about a male volcano in the middle of the ocean that longs for love, singing a love song throughout its lifetime, hoping that a female volcano will answer his call. Honestly, where do they come up with these ideas? Regardless, it’s enjoyable and I think you’ll love it, so get there early enough to see it.