"Passengers" Review

Early previews for Passengers made it look like an intriguing successor to 2001: A Space Odyssey. With "America's sweethearts" Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt leading the cast, and The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum behind the camera, Sony had all the makings of a crowd-pleasing Oscar contender not unlike last year's The Martian.

The finished product is about as far removed from all of that as possible. Sure, Pratt and Lawrence have chemistry, but the script goes completely off the rails with a third act so contrived that it all but sinks the entire production. In this case, "S.O.S." might as well stand for "Save Our Story."

Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer who awakes 90 years prematurely on a mission to colonize a distant, earth-like planet called Homestead II. He spends a year playing basketball, setting high scores on a space-age version of the "Just Dance" video game, and confiding in Arthur (Martin Sheen), an android bartender and the only friendly face Jim has to interact with. After all that time in solitude, and a brush with death, Jim decides that he needs human company.

Lawrence stars as Aurora Lane, a writer from New York City. Together, she and Jim must find and fix a malfunction that threatens to destroy their spaceship and take the lives of 5,000 colonists.

For about ninety minutes of its barely-two-hour run time, Passengers is a perfectly passable movie. It's neither flashy enough to measure up with a blockbuster like Rogue One, nor is it intimate enough to pass for an indie in the vein of Duncan Jones's Moon. Pratt proves that he has the charisma to carry a film on his own; the first 30 to 45 minutes or so are arguably the film's best. From this point, Passengers continues to skate by based on the chemistry that he and Lawrence share. Then something happens to remind you that there's actually a plot at work. The solution to the central conflict is literally placed in the protagonists' hands, and the rest of the film plays out as safely and predictably as one could imagine. By the end, you'll feel as though you've just sat through the ultimate male fantasy, and then you'll ask yourself how in God's name a certain actor received billing for his role in this film.

I think the overall message of the film is something along the lines of "love the one you're with." That may be clear, but there has got to be a better story to tell with this concept. To be totally honest, Michael Bay's The Island comes to mind as something of a favorable example of the his & hers "fish-out-of-water" tale. Pratt and Lawrence remain as likable as ever, but they need a vehicle that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator.

D+

"Collateral Beauty" Review

Collateral Beauty comes from an original screenplay written by Allan Loeb (21, Here Comes the Boom). Based on the trailers, you'd think this was inspired by some Dickensian novel ripe for favorable comparisons to A Christmas Carol or even, at the very least, to Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life. Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) helms a tear-jerking soap opera of a film about coping with loss that is well beneath the abilities of its talented cast. Collateral Beauty is so corny and so blatantly Oscar-baity that even the third act twist does little to rescue it from insipidity.

Having said this, Will Smith hands in what may be his finest performance to date as Howard, an advertising executive struggling to get over the death of his six-year-old daughter. His personal relationships have withered as a result, threatening his stake in his business and leaving his colleagues (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Pena) scrambling to find a solution. Howard copes by writing and mailing letters to what he claims are life's three most crucial absolutes - Love, Death and Time. "We long for love, we wish we had more time, and we fear death," he says.

To pull Howard out of this funk, Whit (Norton), Claire (Winslet) and Simon (Pena) hire three struggling stage actors - Brigitte (Helen Mirren, as a struggling stage actor? Seriously?), Amy (Keira Knightley) and Raffi (Jacob Latimore) - to portray Death, Love and Time respectively. They are tasked with confronting Howard and coaching him through the grieving process, trying to get him to see the beauty of life's gifts. But the one who finally gets Howard over the hump is Madeleine (Naomi Harris), a counselor who heads a support group for parents of deceased children.

All this sounds fine and fun and innocent enough until you figure out that all the characters only speak to each other in platitudes. Every line of dialogue in Loeb's script feels like either an empty quip or some emotional speech. The film tries to say poignant things, but it just comes off cloying. Real people don't talk this way, and that, to me, feels like the wrong way to approach a film with a subject as sensitive as the death of a child. Michael Pena works in a handful of funny moments, but they're not enough to save the movie.

Collateral Beauty is designed to make you cry in the same mindlessly cornball way as beach literature. One way or another you'll feel drained by the end - either of emotion or sanity. In this case, it may be both.

C- (For Will Smith's performance only)

My Day with Film (Saturday, 12/10/16)

Saturday, 12/10/16

Dear Diary,

Today I watched two films at home that I rented from Redbox - MIKE & DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES and HELL OR HIGH WATER. What can I say? I have diverse taste.

MIKE & DAVE was a truly terrible movie. Anna Kendrick is the only reason this unfunny mess was tolerable. HELL OR HIGH WATER has been getting loads of Oscar buzz, and I just saw it for the first time. It's a solid western crime drama, but there's nothing particularly special about it. Not a bad film by any stretch, just certainly not worthy of consideration for awards that are supposed to go to the most outstanding cinematic work of the year.

I reviewed NOCTURNAL ANIMALS today too. You can read that piece here.

Honestly, after this week full of movie trailers and news, I don't mind a day where my interactions with the world of cinema are limited.

Might watch a Christmas movie tonight. I can't decide between THE NIGHT BEFORE or SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT.

Did I mention I have diverse taste?


Until tomorrow,

BC

"Nocturnal Animals" Review

Nocturnal Animals is the second feature film from fashion designer Tom Ford (A Single Man). It's based on a novel called "Tony & Susan" by Austin Wright, who was professor emeritus of English at the University of Cincinnati. The movie is about a troubled art gallery owner named Susan (Amy Adams). Her relationship with her husband (Armie Hammer) isn't so great, and the tension between them is exacerbated by their careers. One day, Susan receives a transcript for a novel written by her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). Although Susan left him in a horrible way twenty years prior, Edward still seeks her feedback. The novel's violent, emotional story is played out on-screen with Gyllenhaal as the main character Tony, Isla Fisher as his wife Laura, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the troublemaking Ray, and Michael Shannon as the scene-stealing Detective Bobby Andes. As Susan is drawn deeper into the novel, she begins to perceive it as a symbolic tale of revenge against her.

Walking out of this film afterwards, I felt stymied to a fault. Several scenes in this film are conceived and executed with all the skill of a film school freshman. The moments that Susan inhabits also feel like an extended advertisement for Ford's fashion line. He seeks to shock the audience right out of the gate with a provocative living art display and then proceeds to drench the ensuing scenes in ego and pretension. It isn't until Susan starts reading the novel that the film gets interesting. "Nocturnal Animals" is played out for most of the running time as a manifestation of Susan's mind as she reads. This part of the film delivers a taut, suspenseful crime thriller that stands out from most of what I've seen this year despite, again, Ford's "film school" execution. A movie only needs so many scenes where the sound is removed and replaced by heavy breathing or voiceover.

This is a very bleak story of love and revenge and violence, so I welcomed Shannon's surprising performance as Detective Andes, the cop assigned to Tony's case after Ray and his buddies terrorize Tony's family on the highway. Andes is a man with nothing to lose; he's at the end of his career, dying of lung cancer, and clinching to his sanity by a thread. Shannon nails all these beats and manages to deliver a turn that's endearing, intense and unexpectedly funny - often all at once. Out of every movie I've seen this year, Shannon as Andes might be my favorite performance by an actor in a supporting role.

I've heard some criticisms about the ending of the film which is part of why I said I left "stymied." At first you think it ends in a very odd place, and you curse Ford for supposedly curtailing the emotional climax of the film. Then you sit and think about it a few different ways until it hits you, and it's amazing. Still, there are some unanswered questions regarding Susan and Edward's daughter that would be spoiled if I got into. Perhaps I need to see it again.

Overall I enjoyed Nocturnal Animals. It's saved by Michael Shannon and the story he inhabits. The rest of it is just extremely stylish and nothing more. Gyllenhaal and Adams turn in solid work, though neither operate at as high a caliber as we've seen from them before. This year alone, Adams is ten times better in Arrival. I think the film is worth seeing if you're into crime and revenge thrillers. Ford's style is unique in and of itself, and thus Nocturnal Animals stands out from many other films of its ilk. The man just needs to dial back his ego next time.

B

"La La Land" Review

You often hear people criticize films by saying "They don't make 'em like they used to." Well, I think Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) just filled that void.

La La Land is a musical-comedy-romance-drama about coming to terms with your dreams. It shares DNA with many of the classic Hollywood musicals, specifically Singin' In the Rain and Meet Me In St. Louis. Anyone who has ever been in love, aspired to something great, or felt the pain of defeat should experience a deep connection to this film.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play aspiring artists; he, a jazz musician named Sebastian who dreams of opening his own club and she, an actress named Mia who dreams of hitting it big. They are drawn to each other by their passion for their respective endeavors. As success begins to mount for them both, ensuing circumstances threaten to tear Seb and Mia apart.

One of the best things about La La Land is that it has its feet planted firmly in nostalgia while also delivering something that feels fresh. By its very nature, La La Land isn't as white-knuckle engaging as Chazelle's prior effort, Whiplash. I think Whiplash is the superior film, but that doesn't mean that La La Land isn't something special. From the opening musical number - "Another Day of Sun," in which commuting Angelinos relieve their road rage by dancing and singing all over a gridlocked freeway - you can tell this movie is going to be something special. The story doesn't boil down to an easy, familiar resolution either. I won't spoil anything, but if you come out of this movie feeling depressed, you need to go back to the box office, buy a ticket to the very next show, and watch the whole thing again. You missed the point.

Stone and Gosling deliver performances that all but secure Oscar nominations, if not wins. They're no Astaire and Rogers; "A Lovely Night" feels like two average people took one dance class and decided to go shoot a big tap-dance number. Having said that, Gosling and Stone's chemistry is as close as Hollywood currently has to those classic duos of yesteryear.

The production design by David Wasco is also quite wonderful. With so many iPhones and Toyota Priuses used by characters throughout the production, (there's a great gag at the valet kiosk when Seb and Mia leave a party in the Hollywood Hills) it's clear that the story takes place in the present day. However the sets and costumes maintain that vintage "Hollywood" feel at the heart of Chazelle's story.

Lastly, I have to mention the incredible original soundtrack by Justin Hurwitz. The marquee tracks "City of Stars" and "Audition" are likely to go neck-and-neck for all the Best Original Song awards this year. "Another Day of Sun" and "Someone In the Crowd" are peppy, toe-tapping ensemble numbers while "A Lovely Night" is reminiscent of classic Broadway duets. "My Time of Day" from Guys & Dolls immediately comes to mind.

You'll have done yourself a disservice if you miss out on La La Land this year. I'm not certain that it's the best film of 2016, but it's up there and is all but assured multiple Oscar wins - including Best Picture.

A

My Day with Film (Sunday, 12/4/16)

Sunday, 12/4/16


Dear Diary,

I didn't get to watch THE GAME last night, and probably won't tonight. THE WALKING DEAD is on, and it's also the season finale of WESTWORLD. I'm planning to watch those tonight.

Earlier this past week, I wrote about how Universal shared a 16-second teaser for the new MUMMY reboot starring Tom Cruise. That teaser ended with a line that said "Trailer Sunday." At the time writing, I have yet to see the full trailer. I suspect it will be online sometime tonight, possibly alongside Sunday Night Football on NBC.

The big topic I came across today today was this article from Elle Magazine about Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando conspiring to rape Maria Schneider for a scene in LAST TANGO IN PARIS.

Bertolucci and Brando conceived the idea of Brando's widower character, Paul, raping Schneider's Jeanne with a stick of butter on a whim. The scene wasn't in the script, and allegedly, Schneider had little to no warning before they shot it. Now many are expressing their disgust towards Brando with some saying that his great legacy - which includes essential classics like THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW - is forever tarnished, if not completely ruined.

Here's my personal dilemma with this issue: back in 2007, Schneider herself told the Daily Mail that no physical harm ever took place on the set. According to the actress, all the sex scenes were simulated. Brando never forced himself on her at any time; she just felt as though she had been manipulated by her co-star and director into doing something that she didn't agree to in her contract. To me, that doesn't sound at all like "sexual assault," which implies a physical altercation. The damage here was more psychological. Still, the fact that Brando and Bertolucci conspired to do anything without considering the interests of Schneider is terrible. Many of the film's viewers could also probably argue whether or not Schneider's natural reaction in the scene is any more convincing than if she'd acted as if it were scripted. This is a shitty situation, but for me, it doesn't affect the way I feel about Brando's work in APOCALYPSE NOW, THE GODFATHER, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, ON THE WATERFRONT or any of the remarkable films he's done. How could it? These are separate films each with separate circumstances, and it's never been a secret that Brando was difficult to work with. I've personally never seen the man as a role model, so this news simply all but confirms that for me. Tim Molloy wrote a nice, clear-headed piece for The Wrap about this whole thing which I encourage you to check out here before denying yourself a re-watch of ONE-EYED JACKS.

Until tomorrow,

BC

"The Love Witch" Review

Just when you thought the time of year for Midnight Movies was over and Oscar bait was poised to take over the cinemas, writer/director/Jane-of-all-trades Anna Biller delivers what is likely to be the year's last, best late-night gasser. In fact, if it wasn't for the sheer unbridled lunacy of The Greasy Strangler, The Love Witch would be 2016's best case for a future cult classic. I saw the film late on a Monday night and was the only soul in the auditorium. I can only imagine how much fun The Love Witch would be on the big screen with a raucous midnight audience.

The Love Witch is about a gorgeous young woman named Elaine (Samantha Robinson) who practices witchcraft. She uses spells to get men to fall madly - even fatally - in love with her. The film's entire gag is that it's made to look like one of those gaudy Technicolor melodramas and pulp stories from the 1960s. Intricate, handmade sets and costumes, washed-out lighting, and intentionally cheesy acting (in this case) are the tools of Biller's trade. Although the joke wears a bit thin in a few scenes, it's difficult not to find yourself totally captivated by the time the credits roll. I couldn't help but laugh every time the production design around Elaine's character oozed '60s and '70s style only for her friend Trish (Laura Waddell) to make a call from her iPhone and drive around town in her 2015 BMW M3.

Performances from both Robinson and Gian Keys as Detective Griff Meadows in particular sealed the deal for me. Both know precisely what is expected of them and fit the material beautifully. Robinson is as enchanting as any of the screen sirens of the period that the film spoofs. Keys's clean, chiseled "movie-star" look is also reminiscent of the classic B-movie heroes. Biller couldn't have picked a more perfect specimen to fit this role. Keys IS Griff Meadows. He and Robinson are perfect foils in this "Battle of the Sexes" - the seemingly perfect man versus the seemingly perfect woman. Who's will could possibly triumph?

Elaine and Griff don't get together until later in the film, but undoubtedly the story picks up steam when they do. It builds to a surprisingly thought-provoking climax as it pertains to pathological narcissism, personal fantasies, and gender politics (particularly the fragility of manhood).

It seems that this is the first time Biller's work has gotten anything close to mainstream exposure. I had never heard of her prior to this film, but an investigation of her back catalog suggests that The Love Witch isn't her first rodeo with the '60s melodrama thing. Her previous work appears inspired by that of Mario Bava, Ed Wood and William Castle to name a few. It will be fun to watch Biller's career unfold from here as The Love Witch signals the arrival of a confident new voice in genre cinema. The best thing about this movie is that it knows precisely what it is and what it needs to be. As long as you're able to buy into Biller's shtick, The Love Witch comes recommended.

A-

"The Light Between Oceans" Review

M.L. Stedman's best-selling romance novel comes to life in an evocative film from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines). While occasionally melodramatic, The Light Between Oceans boasts stellar performances, a riveting story, and the best cinematography this reviewer has seen in 2016.

Michael Fassbender plays Tom Sherbourne, who is selected to be the keeper of the Janus lighthouse off the coast of Western Australia. He falls in love with Isabel (Alicia Vikander). The couple marry and live together at the isolated lighthouse. After a tumultuous turn of events, Tom and Isabel find a rowboat adrift in the shallows. On it are a dead man and a crying, newborn baby girl. When they decide to take the child in rather than report it to the authorities, Tom and Isabel open a Pandora's box with consequences neither of them are prepared for.

The Light Between Oceans is a film in three, possibly four, distinct parts. The first is your classic romance; the second raises the stakes with the arrival of the baby; the third gives us the consequences of Tom and Isabel's decision; the fourth is a satisfying epilogue. I can understand how some viewers might find these proceedings a bit slow. In many ways, The Light Between Oceans is a big cheesy romance. But it's so much more than that. Cianfrance has always paced his films deliberately, and if you're patient, you'll be rewarded by the performances and the visuals at the very least.

Fassbender and Vikander are wonderful in their respective parts. These are two of the best film actors working today, and I expect them to be in contention for awards at year's end. Rachel Weisz rounds out a rock-solid supporting cast.

Visually, this is a positively resplendent film. Cianfrance has gone on record saying that he sought to make "a John Cassavetes movie in a David Lean landscape." It isn't particularly colorful, or stylized, or what have you. The rocky island on which Tom and Isabel live is evoked in dim, grey tones. It feels slightly gothic that way. Cianfrance and DP Adam Arkapaw also lean heavily on extreme close-ups during some of the more dramatic, interpersonal moments. Maybe this contributes a bit too heavily to the whole "melodramatic" critique, but I think it services the performances quite well. This is a film that wears its emotions on its sleeve, and the performances and camera work meld beautifully in order to support that.

Even if you're not a fan of sweeping Hollywood romances, give The Light Between Oceans a shot. There's enough going on here that it should deliver something for everyone - cinephiles, romantics, bookworms, and all who appreciate engaging stories alike.

A-

"Me Before You" Review

The recent New York Times bestselling romance Me Before You is now a major motion picture! Author Jojo Moyes pens a script for first-time feature director Thea Sharrock. This is one of those rare movies that really reaches out and surprises you. What many may write off as another sappy romance akin to the banal works of Nicholas Sparks will be pleased to find a thoughtful, engaging love story that isn't afraid to dig into serious themes. Me Before You knows its place and offers a very competently crafted romantic "dramedy" for the masses, complete with corny Ed Sheeran tunes.

The story follows a young woman named Louisa (Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke), or Lou for short, as she tries to make a life for herself in a small English town. Seemingly trapped by her duties to her family and fitness-junkie boyfriend Patrick (Matthew Lewis, a.k.a. Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter movies), Lou takes a new job as caretaker to a young paraplegic man named Will (The Hunger Games' Sam Claflin). Their relationship is rocky at first, but Lou's goofy demeanor soon melts Will's icy façade. The pair begin falling for each other as their lives careen towards a refreshingly atypical conclusion. Just when I thought I knew exactly where this was heading, Moyes pulls the rug out in a way that really makes it a near-perfect resolution. You'll cry happy and sad tears at the same time.

Moyes takes precious care to explore the physical and emotional effects of paraplegia on both the victim and the people around him. These themes are handled with grace; something that distinguishes Me Before You from its counterparts. Nothing about the scenes discussing Will's condition, his feelings about it, or his health care treatment feels outside the realm of reason. Obviously some creative liberties are taken, but it all looks and sounds like something that could've easily happened in real life. There's no doubt it likely has before.

Because of the way Moyes explores how love itself might look when one of the partners is paralyzed, she keeps the story from ever feeling blatantly saccharine. However, the film could've avoided undue sappiness altogether by nixing the Ed Sheeran and OneRepublic music. Sharrock places a couple of melancholy Top 40 hits in places where the emotional beats already work fine. There's no need to beat a dead horse with Ed Sheeran.

Performances are terrific. It's great to see Clarke successfully carry a project that isn't Game of Thrones. Everyone loves her because of that show anyway, and to see her inhabit a hot mess like Lou makes her all the more endearing. If I didn't already have a crush on Emilia Clarke, I definitely have one on her as Lou now. Lewis provides valuable minutes as Pat, too. You love him cuz he's Neville Longbottom, but you hate him at the same time for being a massive douchebag. His comedic timing is on point in a production where nearly all the humor lands anyway. We also see veteran British thesps Janet McTeer and GoT's Charles Dance as Will's parents, whose chemistry is about as strong and interesting to watch as Clarke and Claflin's.

Surely your enjoyment of Me Before You will hinge entirely on how receptive you are to romantic comedies/dramas. I don't mind a good one myself, but I remember thinking the marketing for this movie looked atrocious. I'm glad to be proven wrong. It occasionally wreaks of mainstream pandering, but this is about as well-constructed as these movies come. Grab a date, see Me Before You, and let the last nail be put in Nicholas Sparks' coffin, if it hasn't already.

B+

"High-Rise" Review

Filmmaker Ben Wheatley's controversial and highly-anticipated thriller High-Rise is finally here for us common folk to behold. It's based on a J.G. Ballard story once believed to be "unfilmable." Though Wheatley's aspirations are certainly commendable, the film feels like something of a missed opportunity. It comes off like a bastard cousin to the oeuvre of Stanley Kubrick. In all honesty, it probably could've been a masterpiece in that guy's hands.

The concept of the story is that an architect named Mr. Royal (Jeremy Irons) has designed four high-rise apartment complexes, each complete with a public swimming pool and supermarket. Unbeknownst to the residents, however, each high-rise houses a different social experiment of Royal's own design. The film smartly explores only one. There are so many supporting characters that the narrative feels pretty bloated as it is; this would only be exacerbated if more characters in the other towers were introduced. The main protagonist in this dystopia is Dr. Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston), a university psychiatrist. He acquaints himself with a colorful cast of characters, including love interest Charlotte (Sienna Miller), the unstable documentarian/lothario Wilder (Luke Evans), and Wilder's wife/other possible love interest Helen (Elisabeth Moss). They are our main lens into life on the "lower floors" of the high-rise. They contend with the likes of Royal and the bourgeoisie around him on the upper floors. (In case the class warfare thing wasn't clear, these folks regularly throw parties where everyone dresses as 18th-century nobility.) As Royal's experiment reveals itself, the lives of everyone on the lower and upper floors descend into chaos.

Wheatley has a talent for setting up striking images, of which there are plenty here. The problem is that he doesn't always allow them to breathe, with edits placed just a tad too short for us to fully process what we're seeing. This translates to how the story is handled as well. With so many characters on so many different tangents, Laing is something of a letdown as a protagonist. He's supposed to be the audience's window into this world, and he's never given any relatable qualities. The most normal-headed character in the bunch turns out to be Toby (Louis Suc), Charlotte's son, but he's given precious-little screen time in order for him to be a satisfying presence for the audience in this dystopia. That said, Hiddleston gives a committed performance as Laing and continues to make a case for being my new favorite actor. It's simply through misguided filmmaking decisions that the story's complicated sociopolitical and socioeconomic themes don't resonate with as much force as they're meant to.

Perhaps the best thing about High-Rise is the production design. It exists on a retro-futuristic plane circa 1978. The architecture, cars, costumes and hairstyles all work for the time but also never feel out of place in moments where the period is meant to be less obvious. The set dressing is also impeccable, from the penthouse decked in white, to the lived-in feel of the Wilder family flat, to Laing's manic grey-scale painting day.

All in all, High-Rise leaves us with the wrong kind of uneasy feeling. The film didn't force me to think about how its themes resonate in my own world so much as it got me thinking how they might have if Kubrick had made it instead. There are some excellent pieces here, and it's truly unlike anything else out there right now, but some of Wheatley's decisions ultimately render High-Rise a missed opportunity that's hard to recommend.

C-

"Sing Street" Review

Irish writer/director John Carney (Once) follows up his 2012 feature Begin Again with yet another rip-roaring, soul-soaring, heartwarming love story. This is Sing Street.

Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is a 15-year-old boy living in mid-'80s Dublin. His parents (Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy) are often too absorbed in money and fidelity issues to give Conor, his older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) and sister Ann (Kelly Thornton) the love they deserve. Facing tough economic times, the parents decide to move Conor to the real-life Synge Street school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. There he faces down bullies and a fascist headmaster who forces him to go barefoot because he doesn't own dress code shoes. One day after a confrontation with a bully, Conor meets Darren (Ben Carolan), an ally and aspiring businessman. As the two walk off school grounds at the end of the day, Conor spots a beautiful girl named Raphina (Lucy Boynton) on the stoop across the street. He tries to impress her by saying that he needs a model for his band's latest music video and that she would be perfect. With few resources and even fewer friends, Conor decides he needs to make the gig legit by actually starting a band good enough to record an original song by the weekend.

The rest, as they say, is rock-n-roll history.

The film gets its name from that of the band Conor forms; the boys all attend Synge Street School, so "Sing Street" feels like a natural re-appropriation for such a group.

As he's proved with his previous films, Carney knows how to craft an engaging love story. This one feels decidedly fresh for a couple of reasons. The first is that it never seems like Raphina is an unobtainable object, like a princess locked in a faraway tower. She's practically another member of the band. The second is because their story never feels schmaltzy, and even when it dabbles in that territory, it does so with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek as exemplified by perhaps the coolest scene of the film. One day while playing in an empty gymnasium, Conor imagines a music video for one of the band's songs "Drive It Like You Stole It" which takes place during a 1950s high school prom like the one in Back To the Future. The idea is for Raphina to walk into the prom, have the crowd part, and the two of them run off into the moonlight together.

This is of course what Conor really wants in real life - for the two of them to run off and be together. It isn't necessarily a fantasy for him, which is why it's such a stellar, heartbreaking artistic expression on Carney's part to bookend that colorful scene with the band in the cold, grey gym after school with just a handful of offbeat backup performers. In truth, it's actually an incredible self-contained music video that Carney masterfully weaves into the fabric of the story.

It should go without saying then that Carney's script and direction are first-rate, and his original songs live up to that as well. "The Riddle of the Model" is a solid tribute to New Wave acts like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode, while "Drive It Like You Stole It" could be one of the top songs of the summer if it got radio play in the U.S.

Acting performances across the board are wonderful, with Reynor standing out as Conor's brother Brendan. He brings a crucial sense of "been-there, failed-at-that, but-that-doesn't-mean-you-have-to" gravitas to the character which reigns in, but also facilitates, the controlled chaos that Conor, Raphina and Sing Street represent. You'll leave wishing this guy was your big brother.

Truly everything about Sing Street (from the catchy songs to the terrific acting, to Carney's smart, funny script and assured direction) works in conjunction with everything else, and nothing feels half-assed. Sing Street is the perfect feel-good film to kickstart the summer season. This is one of the most complete and all-around solid films I've seen in some time. It certainly earns a spot near the top of my "Best of 2016" list so far. '

A+

"Demolition" Review

Demolition is the new film from Jean-Marc Vallee, the director of Wild and Dallas Buyers Club. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper.

Fans of the Gyllenhaal can expect another great performance, and the film overall is quite good despite reveling in one too many clichés. This is a much better movie than his other latest, Southpaw.

Gyllenhaal stars as Davis, a man struggling to cope with the death of his wife Julia (Heather Lind). 

Davis works for his wife's father Phil (Cooper) at a high-end investment bank in New York City. He has a life most of us can only dream about, yet he feels almost completely dead inside. He claims that Julia's death and the subsequent - and quite literal - dismantling of his marriage is the first time he's "felt something" in years. At the hospital mere minutes after Julia dies, Davis buys a pack of peanut M&Ms from a vending machine. The one and only thing he wants for himself in the event of his wife's death are these M&Ms, and they get stuck in the machine. He writes a series of letters to the vending company which come across as confessional diary entries more than official complaints. Davis's letters catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Watts), and the two form an unlikely relationship. Davis befriends Karen's young son Chris (Judah Lewis) who is going through an identity crisis of his own. The three serve as positive influences on each others' lives in ways none of them expect, and they help pull each other out of their respective ruts.

Demolition is in keeping with Vallee's recent work in that, like Wild and DBC, these are stories centered around distraught protagonists who find catharsis in unique ways - be it dismantling one's multi-million-dollar home by hand, hiking 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, or selling drugs to AIDS patients.

At times it feels as though Demolition can't quite balance the mix of sweet and sour in Davis's life, but I think it works because the cast is just too good. All across the board, we feel for these characters precisely how we're meant to. Is it corny that Davis buys a backhoe off of eBay and has it delivered directly to his front door so that he can tear down his own house? If it was any other story or any other character, absolutely. But these grand, goofy gestures are so in tune with Davis's character that the hokey stuff is easy to accept. Bryan Sipe delivers a fine original script which this reviewer was shocked to find was not based on previously published material. It feels like an adaptation of a New York Times bestseller. Whichever elements are pastiched from other films/stories seem to fit Gyllenhaal and Vallee just fine.

B+

"Knight of Cups" Review

Terrence Malick's long-gestating feature, Knight of Cups, has finally been released theatrically in the United States. Though nobody can ever fault the visual splendor of Malick's work, some of his late stuff can be hit-or-miss from a narrative standpoint. That's essentially the case here. 3-time Oscar winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shoots the hell out of this thing, but Malick's script makes it unclear exactly how our protagonist evolves or the precise message we're supposed to take away from his journey.

The film chronicles a period of several years in the life of a Hollywood screenwriter (Christian Bale) as he undergoes an existential crisis alongside his decrepit father (Brian Dennehy), deadbeat brother (Wes Bentley) and six different women. With abundant voiceover and striking visual language, Knight of Cups is likely as close as we'll ever get to Malick's 8 1/2.

That's not a bad thing, per se. Malick is arguably as distinctive a cinematic voice as America has today, but patrons unversed in his style may find themselves in too far over their heads to make sense of what he's trying to say here. For those willing to let visual poetry wash over them, however, Knight of Cups offers a veritable Roman bath of experimental imagery wrapped inside a non-linear dramatic structure. For this reviewer, Knight of Cups falls somewhere in the middle. Malick's storytelling style is hard not to admire, especially in today's corporate blockbuster culture. But it's equally difficult to reconcile that the emotions we're supposed to feel as an audience go largely unrewarded as Rick (Bale) careens across L.A. from one adventure to another. In the end, he still feels like the same disconnected prick he was at the beginning. Should we really buy the idea that he's ready to start his life over? Is that not what he's been trying and failing to do for the entire film? Perhaps Malick's real message is the folly in all of this and, in turn, offers a critique of the Hollywood "reboot" itself in the sense that nothing really changes no matter how many times you start over. After all, at one point Rick is tapped to write a screenplay for "the next big Hollywood smash." Can it really be as cynical as all that?


B-

"Gods of Egypt" Review

Gods of Egypt is an action/fantasy film from director Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) and stars far too many miscast actors - including Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites, Geoffrey Rush, and "Game of Thrones'" Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Even Chadwick Boseman - one of the film's two ethnically appropriate actors - is forced to try on a British accent to woefully awkward avail. Elodie Yung is the only hope for accurate representation as Hathor, the goddess of love. She's great, and the rest of the cast are as good as they can be even if it is difficult to take anything, or anyone, from this bonkers production seriously.

Regardless of the talent involved, this kind of casting really isn't okay. Perhaps Gerard Butler is an easier sell as the lead of a blockbuster action film than, say, a guy like Naveen Andrews (Sayid from ABC's "Lost"), but that's the problem. Would the general public reject the film if Naveen were in the lead role? Somehow I doubt it, as long as the film's decent. Gods of Egypt offers a small handful of mindless pleasures, but let's just say the whitewashing is only the beginning of this film's problems.

The story kicks off when the angry god Set (Butler) usurps Horus (Coster-Waldau) on the day of his coronation, blinds him, and banishes him to exile. Set takes up the throne and rules by fear, pain and darkness. A mortal thief, Bek (Thwaites), seeks Horus's aide in a bid to save the woman he loves (Courtney Eaton) from death under Set's watch. This alliance between god and man begets an action-packed journey in which the heroes encounter several other gods of Egyptian legend, including Ra (Rush), Thoth (Boseman), Hathor (Yung) and Anubis (Goran D. Kleut) among others.

It looks and sounds a lot like a corny Clash of the Titans setup, but it actually ends up being a decent plot for a popcorn flick with little expectations.

It's important to realize that this tale is rooted entirely in fantasy and that none of it is meant to be taken as a serious interpretation of Egyptian history or folklore - however you like it. Some audience members at my screening found it easier to see past the whitewashing by acknowledging this.

On that note, the fantastical adventure of a film like Gods of Egypt demands spectacular set pieces and rich visuals. Some of the fight scenes are pretty intense, but the CGI landscapes and settings in which the action takes place look atrocious. For a film with a budget north of $140 million, you'd think they could afford cleaner green-screen rendering. Some sequences look so bad that they may actually be incomplete, including a scene where Bek and Zaya (Eaton) escape Set's palace by chariot and also in a later scene where Bek and Horus face two giant cobras in the deserted garden.

Gods of Egypt tries desperately to be a worthwhile diversion but lacks the heart to be considered "good" mindless entertainment. The message is a bit too iffy in the end. Combined with all the film's other glaring issues, as such it's certainly possible to find better "mindless entertainment."

D+

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" Review

From Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, comes the next bloody bastardization of history - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The film is an adaptation of Jane Austen's famous novel about romance and decorum between upper and lower classes during the time of the British Regency. The big wrinkle is that the country is overrun by the undead. In addition to being trained in the ways becoming of wifely young ladies, Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) and her sisters are highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Their suitors - Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley), Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth), and Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) - are all military brats equally skilled at zombie-killin'.

Despite their incessant, well, "pride" and "prejudice" towards one another, I'd still want all these folks on my side during the apocalypse.

The only "lovable loser" who may not be of much service besides cracking wise is Parson Collins, played by Doctor Who's Matt Smith. Each character is relatively consistent with the manner in which Austen originally wrote them, although Smith's version of Collins is made out to be the jovial scene-stealer. Smith seems to have a bit of fun with the idea of a clergyman searching for a wife and plays the role with a bit of sexual ambiguity that the preview crowd found endearing.

Despite relatively strong characters, the story doesn't always support them. It often dabbles too far into either Austen territory or Romero territory, thus ultimately feeling imbalanced. The Austen stuff feels almost too much like a Lifetime Original Movie adaptation, but the zombie action is exciting and often just violent enough to be satisfying. Hardcore gore-hounds will probably be displeased, but again, there's a surprising amount of blood and entrails for a PG-13 film.

Unless you were a fan of Grahame-Smith's book, I wouldn't rush out to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in theaters. Worthwhile only as a Redbox rental for this year's Halloween sleepover.

C-

"Anomalisa" Review

Few storytellers tap into the complexities of human emotions with more honesty than Charlie Kaufman. With Anomalisa, he returns to the screen for the first time since 2008's Synecdoche, New York, now pulling double duty as writer/co-director with Duke Johnson.

From the poster above, it's easy to tell that Kaufman's new film is well-marketed with superlatives that make it sound like a life-changing masterwork of modern cinema. An Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature all but seals its status as the can't-miss puppet show of the season. While Anomalisa offers much more dramatic nuance and understated comedy than your typical Punch & Judy sketch, the film's stop-motion pleasures only take it so far.

By the time the credits rolled, I felt unmoved albeit mildly entertained.

The story follows Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis), a customer service guru who has just traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to speak at a conference. Despite having a successful, bestselling book and a loving family back in Los Angeles, Michael struggles with the mundanity of his existence. To him, everyone looks and sounds alike (all ancillary characters, male and female, are voiced by the same man - Tom Noonan). Everyone, that is, except Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh), a seemingly insignificant woman who turns out to be the one person able to give Michael a fresh perspective. She's an anomaly in his mundane life; "anoma-Lisa," as he agrees to call her.

Questions are left frustratingly unanswered in the end, and it appears as if the events of the film don't really change Michael as much as we're lead to believe the whole time. Maybe that's the message, that temporary solutions are rarely the real answer. Or perhaps the final lesson really is that "there is no lesson" - something that Michael himself alludes during the film. Either way, that's kind of a ballsy message to try and get across in a film, but either way it didn't quite work for me. It's really a far more depressing piece of work than I expected.

Cincinnati natives especially should chuckle at the way Kaufman pokes fun of the city, especially the chili and the zoo. Being from that area myself, the jokes about both are pretty spot-on. That's really where Anomalisa shines. Its humor comes from the relatable nuances of Michael's day. It takes him five tries to get the card key to work to his hotel room, regardless of what rush, or lack thereof, he's in. He takes a ride in a cab where the driver won't shut up about things to do and see in the city.

Kaufman has always had a talent for creating vivid, almost fantastical, worlds that either mirror our own or exist within them. Anomalisa's sense of humor serves the world-building quite well, as we've all come to expect from Kaufman.

The voice acting is also strong, as is the technical, stop-motion wizardry from Johnson. I think this story is actually quite effective with puppets - especially the aspects regarding the Fregoli syndrome and certain moments when Michael begins to question his own identity. That said, it's still a story we've seen many times before, even occasionally from Kaufman himself (see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or the movie Her from frequent Kaufman collaborator Spike Jonze).

While Kaufman and Johnson deserve some props for creating such a vivid world filled with nuance and sleight humor, there's nothing from narrative or emotional standpoints that makes me want to rush out and recommend Anomalisa to everyone. Even though this film is meant to be smart animation for adults, my money is on Pixar's Inside Out for the Oscar. It navigates the complexities of human emotions more accessibly and therefore more effectively.

C