"The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part" review

Everything is not quite awesome but delightfully diverting nonetheless.

Crapshoot 2018 Movie Review Special: Fifty Shades Finished

The only successful tool in the arsenal of abstinence.

"Logan" review

An experiment gone horribly, horribly right.

Lightning Round: Present Tense

Firing thought for films past, present, and future.

The Great Gatsby review

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel about the decadence of society and the unhealthiness of chasing the past has made its 2013 big screen debut after a brief delay brought on by a busy holiday movie season. Bahz Luhrmann’s take on “The Great Gatsby” undoubtedly provides a lot of food for thought but how much of that is attributed to actual quality storytelling is something that I struggle to ascertain despite being adapted from a novel heralded as an American classic.

Tobey Maguire portrays protagonist Nick Caraway who, in a framing device through which the story is being narrated, seeks therapy for depression, regaling his doctor with the story of his summer in New York of the year 1922 and eventually writing about it as therapy. His story covers the meeting of his good friend Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and how their friendship has enlightened him on the darker and more tragic elements of the human condition.

Luhrman’s sensibilities are applied both full force and yet with a surprising amount of restraint counterproductive to his stylization. This weird sense of direction may sound like a contradiction but in practice, his techniques serve to give the film a unique flavor where his bombastic style can fit, while allowing the story to breathe and develop organically after pulling back on the bells and whistles to focus on the movie’s themes of human nature’s abuse of upper-class status.

“The Great Gatsby” has a lot of unique ideas going for it. The framing device which effectively makes Caraway a cipher for the late Fitzgerald puts a unique spin on the original story and even allows Maguire to stretch himself a bit more in terms of his range, going back and forth between the courteous, young, wide eyed, and idealistic protagonist of the story that he is perfectly casted for and a slightly older, damaged, and more cynical Nick that asks him to a little bit more than his career has typically asked of him.

DiCaprio continues to impress as with almost every role across his career, with a charismatic yet complex and multilayered performance, which at this point, isn’t even news anymore.

Additionally, Luhrmann’s affinity for modern pop music treats the film better than one would think. Occasionally, a background scene occurs that can distract if you focus in on it but the actual scenes in which they exist serve to generally benefit the story’s build up of lavish and decadent lifestyles in such a way that can connect the film to modern audiences. This works to varying extents but the experimentation is commendable nonetheless.

While the novel focused more on the detriment of decadence to society, this film spins it into a different direction. Luhrmann’s take on the material is ultimately about the hollowness of lavish lifestyle; a study of the idea that at any given time, the carelessly living upper-class is caught between the pursuit of greed and self gratification at the cost of others, or using their assets selfishly for what may have once been good intentions.

“The Great Gatsby’s” backbone, namely its fascinating study and execution of its source material’s themes and history, is solid and thought provoking enough to cover up the fact that there’s a general sense of hollowness about the film that’s rather difficult to place my finger on.

Despite the film’s use of effects, beautiful camera work, large sets and locales, and general sense of style, the world feels oddly empty and devoid of life. This goes beyond a feeling of low population which is not necessarily the case; Carrie Mulligan’s performance as Daisy, Gatsby’s object of affection and obsession feels so bland and phoned in that she overshoots the characters intentional shallowness.

The layers of complexity seem to have been ultimately saved up for Maguire and DiCaprio exclusively, who have a solid chemistry together and collaboratively distract from the fact that the remainder of the cast performances are merely of workman quality.

“The Great Gatsby’s” sense of style becomes something of a double edged sword in this regard, as the first half of the film, ignoring the quirks of the source material’s interpretation, quickly succumbs to the issue of style over substance, despite how impressive said style is, which creates a massive sense of whiplash when the film slows down towards its final act, which does bring the story full circle but still feels oddly disconnected from the bombastic first half.

The greatest enemy of “The Great Gatsby,” contrary to what one may believe, is not its contemporary stylization but ultimately its unevenness. I definitely give it a full recommendation and undeniably enjoyed it but I’m still struggling to determine whether or not that is because of its own legitimate quality. Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” is an admirable effort but due to its makeup, may be more of a fascinating film than a good one.


7 Out of 10

Satoshi Kon Month: Perfect Blue

 
 
As February comes to a close, I come to the final work that I’ve chosen to cover by famed anime film director Satoshi Kon. All month I’ve talked about Kon’s ability to use surreal imagery to explore human nature and as he continued his career, he slowly but surely came to perfect his method of storytelling. His directorial debut however, was noteworthy in not only showcasing his potential but what the things that he would soon improve on in hindsight. Don’t misunderstand me, I absolutely adore his first film but it does have more than its fair share of differences from the rest of his work. How so, you ask? Let’s find out and wrap up my tribute to one of Japan’s finest directors by taking a look at the launch pad for his career, “Perfect Blue”.

Popular pop idol singer Mima Kirigoe has received much praise for her abilities in the entertainment arts, not only being a good singer but showing potential as an actress. Seeking to break out into an acting career, Mima leaves her group for a role on popular direct-to-video drama series “Double Bind”. Although things start optimistically, the camera shy Mima soon begins to crumble under the pressures of performing, which culminates in her hallucinating about her pop idol self demanding her to return to singing. In addition, she has also found an online diary of her life that she hasn’t written but is too detailed to be written by somebody else, begging the question of whether or not somebody is truly posting about her life without her consent or if she is subconsciously writing what she feels.

I have to say for a 13 year old animated film, “Perfect Blue” holds up exceptionally well. Technically speaking, the animation of the film still looks as great now as it did back then by any standards. The crisp and realistic movement animations combine with the dark, unsettling lighting of the movie to not only serves to fully immerse you into Mima’s world but make her descent into madness that much more disturbing as you not only experience it firsthand but feels as if your watching it happen to yourself.

The spectacular sound editing adds to the atmosphere of every moment. The music is tense when Mima is under pressure, the sudden stops in sound bring everything to a standstill for more contemplative moments, and despite a few instances of overacting at in the very begin, the voice work ranges from solid to stellar throughout the film. Mima’s sense of panic feels genuine as does the care that her manager has for her as she suffers from the stress of her shift in career along with the many other performances.

Mima’s ever growing pressure and concern over public image that is pushing her over the edge is demonstrated by the film’s editing to make almost every scene after she starts her acting job seem like an illusion. By doing this, the film regularly subverts the expectations one can come up with at the moment by immediately contradicting it, making the film hard to decipher until its climax, which is so tense and nearly horrifying that you’ll be up right and glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes of the movie. Unfortunately, this can lead to some confusion when first watching the film. In doing this, it somewhat sacrifices the overall quality of the initial viewing for rewatchability but it ultimately resonates powerfully nonetheless.

“Perfect Blue” is a fantastic character study that only gets better with subsequent views. Although Satoshi Kon would improve his filmmaking ability in the years to come, his creation of one of the greatest thrillers ever made, animated or otherwise, was a spectacular kick off to his career. He was an underrated genius as far as I’m concerned and he will be sorely missed.

CrapShoot 2011: Jonah Hex

Watching “The Last Airbender” was like crossing an event horizon that I hoped to never see in my life. When I started this week, I went in hoping to have fun poking at bad movies but all I’ve been treated to so far is bland animation and a cinematic travesty that I am convinced has shaved two years off of my life expectancy. Maybe I’ve been beaten into submission by the horrors of M. Night’s career killer and I’ll freely admit that watching an Uwe Boll movie probably would have been an improvement over subjecting me to that nightmare again. That said however, I find myself shocked and pleasantly surprised to find that the film of the bunch that I expected to spit the most venom at has so far been the most enjoyable of the week. Every element of “Jonah Hex” was calculated for me to hate it; a non-superhero story and character amped up to be over the top to appeal to the lowest common denominator, period inappropriate music despite imagery clearly designed to evoke the feel of a western, Megan Fox acting. Despite all of this, I had an undeniable amount of fun with “Jonah Hex”.

Based on the DC comic book character, “Jonah Hex” features the titular character, portrayed by Josh Brolin, on a quest for revenge against Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), a confederate Civil War veteran that killed his family after disobeying an order to burn down a hospital. The twist; Turnbull is a member of an anarchist cult planning a convoluted plot to plunge the United States into chaos through the use of an impossible war machine.

The key to accepting “Jonah Hex” is to accept the nature of “Jonah Hex”. “Jonah Hex” just may possibly be the dumbest movie that I have come across in recent history and applaud it for that. Jonah speaks to the dead because he almost died, sure. Horse mounted rail guns, why not? An implausible doomsday weapon that puts the mechanical spider from “Wild Wild West” to shame, god speed. This movie is so gloriously stupid that it makes Michael Bay films look like high art. The saving grace of its lack of logic however is that Jonah Hex never takes itself seriously for one second. It’s cheesy but not lazy or pretentious.

A good deal of the enjoyment stems from the surprisingly solid performances of the cast. It’s a shame that the film took the path that it ultimately did (For which I blame the director’s approach and blatant Hollywood influence) because Josh Brolin actually makes for a fantastic Jonah Hex, being dry, sarcastic and angry with just a hint of remorse that make the character himself so compelling. If Warner Bros. ever decides to reboot this property and do it right, I wouldn’t mind seeing him reprise his role. Although John Malkovich’s performance is ultimately forgettable, his Irish sidekick played by Michael Fassbender steals the show whenever he’s onscreen. You can tell he had fun with his role. And of course Megan Fox is Megan Fox. I’d complain about her bland acting but at this point, if she’s decided to spend her career being nothing but eye candy, I’ve given up on expecting more from her.

Clocking in at only 80 minutes in length, “Jonah Hex” is less than 10 minutes over the required length to be a theatrical release. This may be a technical flaw but I truly appreciate its brevity as watching such poor direction and executive mandate over a screenplay that was actually solid probably would have worn on my nerves after a while.

Ultimately, “Jonah Hex” is a fine textbook example of junk food cinema. It is by all means a bad movie and at a time in which studios are finally beginning to treat comic book adaptations with some integrity, it promotes a regressive image that makes me thankful that it was such a huge financial bomb at the box office. That said however, I had genuine fun with it and as far as failures go, it is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining mishandlings of any source material that I have ever seen. And for that, I salute it.

6.5/10 

CrapShoot 2011: The Last Airbender

I sit here at my keyboard speechless, as I write of my experience with what may possibly be one of the most horrendous cinematic abominations that dares to call itself a movie. I am in genuine shock; not since “Battlefield Earth” have I seen a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster fail so spectacularly to tell a story, visually wow or just flat out entertain on every conceivable level possible. How the man that directed the phenomenal “Unbreakable” managed to adapt such a travesty out of one of the best cartoons of the last decade continues to just baffle me but somehow M. Night Shyamalan has managed to create in his adaptation of the critically acclaimed “Avatar: The Last Airbender” a film so god-awful that it should be preserved, studied, and dissected in film classes in lessons of what never to do when telling a story.


“The Last Airbender” is set in a fantasy world in which the civilizations of ancient Asia (or what is supposed to be Asia) are split into 4 groups that each worships a different element of nature: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. The titular character, Aang, is the last of his people, the Air Nomads, who held a mastery over air and were wiped out by the power-hungry Fire Nation. Shortly before their invasion, Aang learned that he was the most recent airbending reincarnation of the Avatar, a human being capable of mastering all 4 elements and tasked with keeping the peace between the nations, thus the world. Upon the discovery of his destiny, Aang flees before he could receive his training, overwhelmed by the responsibilities that lie ahead of him. Through means that go unexplained however, he somehow gets frozen in an iceberg for 100 years, only to be found by South Pole Water Tribe members and siblings Katara and Sokka who have lived under the oppression of the ruling Fire Nation their entire lives. Together, the group seeks to accomplish the poorly defined goals of the plot that will somehow lead to the restoration of world peace.


This paragraph long synopsis may be one of the hardest things that I have ever had to write because it somehow contains more depth and detail about the story than the entire length of the movie itself. “The Last Airbender” is like being told a spoiler-free plot synopsis of the first season of the cartoon; it gives you enough to know what the point of the story is but fails to give you any of the character development, emotion, twists, revelations, action set pieces, or humor that is actually necessary to make a story satisfying. Never once does this movie truly define the personalities of the actors’ characters, tell you what is supposed to be the goal or motivation of the characters, tell you how they reach certain points and conclusions, or simply give you a reason to care about them. I had to frequently stop the film for entire minutes on hand to rant and rave against the gaping plot holes and inconsistencies that seemed to pop up every minute and a half.


For example, one scene involves Aang, Katara and Sokka being captured by Fire Nation soldiers and imprisoned in a prison camp composed primarily of earthbenders. The earthbenders are completely surrounded by their natural element; why didn’t they revolt against the soldiers before? Furthermore, it is only after this scene that Aang makes the revelation that he must master all of the remaining elements, beginning with water. If he didn’t already know that, where the hell was he even traveling to begin with? I’ve read crappy internet fan fiction with more consistency than this movie.


Every performance is bland and stilted, from newcomer Noah Ringer as Aang to rising stars Nicole Peltz and Jackson Rathbone as his travelling companions. Even real talent like Dev Patel and Shaun Toub, whom I adore in “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Iron Man” respectively, can’t help but go between stoic and overacting thanks to the piss poor material that they are given. The costume design and lame fight choreography only help to further dig the hole that this movie finds itself in within 15 minutes of its opening. It doesn’t help that the casting of the movie is all over the place, such as the main water tribe protagonists and their grandmother conveniently being the only Caucasians in a tribe of Eskimos (Hollywood White-washing or director incompetence? I believe that it’s a little bit of both). Watching convention cosplayers give a stage performance of fight sequences without wiring would probably look more convincing than any scene of this movie.


Even the special effects are highly unremarkable. When the bending doesn’t look like unconvincing CGI, it lacks the speed, impact or fury to really feel like an attack that was meant to hurt somebody. Special mention to the dull grey barely visible wind effect on the airbending and the pathetic flames of the fire bending that look like they can extinguished by turning on my bedroom ceiling fan.


I was ready to dislike this one, I was ready to watch a film that was more than likely going to be utter garbage and I was more than ready to type up a scathing review afterward but I could not have prepared myself for what I just sat through no matter how hard I tried. I knew there were some stinkers on the list that I have lined up but I am now officially walking away with battle scars on my very soul. “The Last Airbender” is so light on actual content and substance that it makes cotton candy look like a steak dinner by comparison yet makes 90 minutes feel like almost 3 hours.


It is not simply a bastardization of a terrific source material but the final nail in the coffin for M. Night Shyamalan’s credibility as a filmmaker, an embarrassment that every actor involved is dying to put behind them, and is far beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the worst theatrically released movies that I have ever seen in my life and I feel dumber for having sat through it. Don’t suffer my fate and avoid it like the plague. After watching this, I feel that I now have to rewatch the series, despite pulling what I had intended to be a final viewing of it last summer, just to remove the bad taste from my mouth. All I can do is pray that this is as low as it gets.


1.5/10

CrapShoot 2011: Alpha and Omega

Ah, the animated classics of 2010. Toy Story 3, How to train your Dragon, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Alpha and Omega, all excellent… hang on a minute, one of these does not belong but which is it? Imaginative tale of living toys coming to term with the success of their life mission and what to do with it accomplished, touching fantasy about a boy and his pet that is shunned by society, the hero’s journey of a young owl with some of the best animation ever seen, or bland and generic star studded road trip comedy about 2 wolves that fall in love over the epically long course of 2 days? So help me god if any of you single out the owl movie I will track you down and show no mercy.

All joking aside, there are many of you that apparently have not heard of or seen “Alpha and Omega” as the film just barely made back its low $20 million budget in its theatrical run. Although I can easily understand why the marketing played a big role in sinking this movie, its actual quality didn’t exactly help matters either. “Alpha and Omega” plays on the road trip and rom-com clichés of every film, animated and live action that has come before it. Kate (voiced by Hayden Panettiere) is a hardworking duty bound alpha wolf forced to work together with Humphrey (Justin Long), a lighthearted wisecracking omega from the same pack, in order to return home to after being captured by wildlife preservers for a national park. Does that synopsis sound rather soulless to you? I assure you that it had more heart than this movie.

It may seem like I’m dodging the question of how bad “Alpha and Omega” really is. And in all honesty, I am, because this movie is ultimately the worst kind of bad a film can possibly be; dry, mediocre, and just flat out boring. This movie does not miss a beat, painfully performing every possible trope of animated films to a T, from dance numbers, to excruciating music numbers, all coupled with a plot that is lacks any true drama or danger to it. The voice cast does the best with what they have to work with but that is unfortunately not much as there is not a single stand out performance of the film. Okay maybe that’s not true; there is one performance that stands out for disappointing reasons. The voice of rival wolf pack alpha male Tony, voiced by the late Dennis Hopper. Poor Hopper, I can only imagine that he must be spinning in his grave right now having died knowing this is the final performance that he left us with. A major player in such classics as “Easy Rider” and “Apocalypse Now” leaves the world of the living with a phoned in performance in bad kids flick. Unfortunate.

The humor is weak, the plot is entirely predicatble, and the animation shifts back and forth between unique stylization and cheap motions over a static background. I can not by any means say that “Alpha and Omega” is a good movie but I do appreciate one aspect of it. It’s stupid, bland, it’s pointless, and many other things. It is not however, awful. Despite all of my previous criticisms, the film is somewhat saved from my wrath by the bittersweet fact that its filmakers clearly aimed low with their goals. As grating as it may be to see such a bland piece of work, it lacks some rather annoying tropes of modern day animated films such as popculture refferences and gratuitous soundtrack placement. It makes no pretentions of being for an audience older than 10 and I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that that was the intention. Even so however, with the last 3-4 years being so stellar for animated movies, from the major blockbusters of “Bolt” and “How to Train Your Dragon”, to the ambitious storytellers such as “WALL-E” and “Up” to the incredibly underrated “Legend of The Guardians” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, I can’t help but wonder why this one couldn’t have tried at least a tad bit harder so that I could at least give it points for trying.

“Alpha and Omega” may work best as a weekend rental if your young one is looking for something interesting to watch but if they have not yet seen any of the movies that I’ve mentioned above, I’d highly recommend those before even browsing this. Still, it was far from the worst family film that I’ve seen of 2010’s releases, as the rest of the week will soon reveal.

5/10