Outside business may have kept the theater away from me but it won’t keep me away from the theater.
A lot has happened in the past month, almost too much to keep up with, so rather than become hoplessly buried under a backlog of content, inspiration has given me a mental kick in the pants to experient a little with content delivery.
5 Films, 5 Days, and recalling one from earlier in the month. Not much time or space so, Let’s get started.
The Martian
Ridley Scott reminds audiences of his mastery of scope and attention to detail along with a skilled propensity for characterization through subtleties of action by ironically doing the opposite of the grand productions he’s become famous for.
Matt Damon’s performance carries a 2 hour and 20 minute production that should have been brimming with gut-wrenching tension but is instead light on its feet, allowing the danger of the scenario to speak for itself while highlighting the resilience of the human condition by depicting a man’s struggle to survive in the face of astronomically dim odds along with the triumph of human spirit over self preservation that formulates into the plan that will hopefully lead to his rescue.
While the lighthearted tone of “The Martian” does stand in the way of the film grappling with heavier questions that could have made it an even better film, the impactful performances of its entire cast and high quality production design, combined with a brisk pace that reaffirms the stakes without beating the grim reality of Astronaut Mark Watney’s into the audience’s head to a point of submission, result in an excellent feature that is tense without resorting to cheap thriller tactics and uplifting without feeling saccharine.
Crimson Peak
“Crimson Peak” has found itself to be the unfortunate victim of extreme mismarketing.
Although billed as a traditional horror release of the season, the film is more of a classical ghost story, featuring a plot focused firmly around mystery and thriller trappings, while merely using an element of the supernatural as a device through it explores the dark side of human nature that we all fight to keep hidden from the world, despite its refusal to leave us and the inevitability that we must all face it head on in some capacity, whatever form it may take. Edith Cushing’s journey to discover the figurative and literal skeletons in her husband’s closet continuously reminds the audience that it’s not a “ghost story” but a “story with ghosts in it.”
Guillermo Del Toro directs an excellent cast, sharing a powerful chemistry with one another that clearly knows just the right tone that is needed to make the material breathe the way it needs to. He additionally manages to utilize colors and translucent effects in evocative ways, conveying more subtlety through mere visual direction than can ever be expressed by dialogue fed to viewers by the admittedly excellent actors and actresses.
Del Toro’s passion for genre works is evident in every frame of the film and his revelry in stylistic trappings proves to be “Crimson Peak’s” greatest strength and weakness.
While the film is oozing with subtext and interpretive character motivation, the movie’s own objective is a little less clear. The complexity of the connections and interpretations that can be made throughout the film can occasionally border on labyrinthian but to both its credit and detriment, no assertions or hints are made towards any particular interpretation of its material, lending itself to something of a disconnect between the humanistic nature of the character motivations and the otherworldly catalysts that get the plot rolling.
The film will not work for everyone but despite somewhat murky spots of storytelling and a need for length trimming, it’s slowly becoming one of my favorite horror films of recent history the more I think about it, despite some heavy flaws, representing a sort of character driven narrative I love that the genre has been starved for in recent history.
Jem and the Holograms
Similarly to its titular optical lighting effect, “Jem and the Holograms” features something of a definitive structure that looks loosely solid and tangible to the naked eye only to show itself to be completely hollow and lacking in all forms of substance upon contact.
If I may take a slightly contrary viewpoint, there are a lot of elements of the film’s modern interpretation of an exceedingly 80s cartoon that weren’t necessarily bad ideas in theory. Exploring the concept of identity in the internet age, what celebrity status means for yourself and the people you impact, bringing the power and artistry of music back though crossing over with less mainstream conduits, etc.
Unfortunately, with a lack of any sort of real budget or production talent, the attempts to reach out to the common diverse folk of the YouTube generation come across as pitiful, condescending, and outright laughable due to ill-conceived execution and a revelation of just how out of touch these producers are with the very audience that they’re attempting to pander to.
The end result sees a cast of talented people wasting time and effort to unintentionally disgrace a dated but beloved property while offering a glimpse into the frustratingly sexist world in which the franchise’s parent company Hasbro, seems to operate in; one where “G.I. Joe” can get a second big budget sequel despite lacking any general public enthusiasm and where “Transformers” budgets can get bigger to produce more bloated productions that are beginning to use said money less effectively to rake in billion dollar box office takes but the more femininely focused franchise can’t seem to get a tenth of either of the aforementioned budget amounts in order to hire passable writers.
This movie is everything that it is “rebelling” against and makes 2 hours feel twice as long.
Sicario
The discovery of rotting bodies in a cartel safe house in the middle of Arizona set the stage for a cerebral crime thriller that focuses less on the politics that perpetuate the Mexican Drug War and more on the philosophical reasoning that keeps it going in its current state.
Sicario has all the trappings of a powerful film about current events that should make it profound to experience but difficult watch. Yet, unlike other films highlighting the height of human depravity in an environment that designed to breed the worst in people, I found myself not repelled or apathetic to the plight of characters giving their lives to fight a futile battle but entranced by the ethically and moralistically complex views and tactics employed by the cast to fight something that is slowly becoming an uncombatable force of nature.
The intensity of the danger plotted by the film betray a more thought provoking discussion about how far we’re willing to cross lines to establish order and what happens if it can’t be achieved despite all of the sacrifice that has been made.
Its brilliance is carried by the phenomenal performances of almost every cast member, including Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro, who should see Oscar nominations in their future if there’s any justice in this universe, and gorgeous camera work that takes full advantage of its settings scenery in a brief and condensed narrative.
There may be 2 months left to come but the competition they have in “Sicario” alone is stiff.
Steve Jobs
Similarly to an old beloved friend that has seen you at your best and worst, “Steve Jobs” isn’t happy to celebrate the brilliance of a man that was a true mastermind while still calling him out for being an asshole that doesn’t deserve nearly the amount of credit that he receives.
Despite a screenplay that assaults the readers with dialogue a little bit too fast and furiously, Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin’s look at one of computer science’s greatest hype men breaks down a narrative of his life into and elegantly streamlined yet exceedingly complex and humanizing feature that plays out like an intense three act play in the best way possible.
Jobs may have been responsible for a lot of morally questionable manipulation but similarly to the effect that he had on the computer industry, the man and his relationships were not as simple as they seem. His ego was divisive and his impact on technology may be debatable, however Michael Fassbender’s depiction of a man that is earnestly attempting to make history no matter how many relationships he has to sour to make it happen, despite all of his disgusting tendencies that hold him back and how desperately others want him to be a better version of himself.
Regardless of one’s perceptions of who Jobs ultimately was, the film takes the best and worst of him as a person and uses it to powerful narrative effect in a character study that doesn’t seek to absolve him of guilt but simply understand what drove him and what his endgame was. On this front, it succeeds with flying colors.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Of course it wouldn’t be Halloween without yet another no budget dud from a series that stopped entertaining 2 sequels back and stopped carrying itself with dignity even longer ago.
While I’ve never claimed to be a fan of this series I do always admit to holding a certain admiration for what that first film was trying to accomplish. Everything “Paranormal Activity” attempted to earnestly do 6 years ago has now been reduced to self parody.
The complete lack of genuine thrills, likeable characters, decent acting, story, or effort in general have been long lasting complaints about the series that don’t change here and would be redundant to repeat. Instead, I’ll end this little blitzkrieg of movie madness and wish you all a very Happy Halloween by simply conveying to you how insultingly lazy this film is and why I desperately hope that it is the “final film” as advertised despite not only failing to answer questions but raising even more questions while ending on a cliff hanger.
“Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” is essentially being advertised as “the Paranormal Activity movie where things actually happen, instead of 2 hours of nothingness.”
They don’t even get that right. Not only is it the same film as the others but it’s actually less eventful than 2 other movies in the franchise. Between this and “Jem and the Holograms,” Jason Blum can take the $16 I’ve paid him this week and shove it.
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