Review: JOY

     The whole gang is back together! Like old times! But the big problem is that maybe they wanted to be together so much that the "project" didn't matter.
     This "gang" is writer/director David O. Russell and stars Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper. This is their third film together after The Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. Those films were huge successes. Russell got back in Hollywood's good graces (where was he between I Heart Huckabees and Playbook?), Lawrence won an Oscar, and De Niro was back in decent films. But with Joy, their latest collaboration, it almost feels like a shell of a film, as if these people just wanted to work together again they'd come up with any excuse. Russell wanted Lawrence to star so he thought the idea of a female-driven film would be ideal...and because Russell is now known as a loose, on-set filmmaker more than a set-in-stone, follow-the-script-exactly type, maybe he didn't think he needed a great script. Maybe Lawrence wanted to star so bad and get a leading role in her friend's film that she didn't care about the quality of the script. And the dominoes fell and were left with Joy, a film with an intriguing premise that doesn't really go anywhere rewarding or interesting. It feels like we're short-changed when it's done. And that's a problem.
     I've mopped floors a billion times and have never even heard of The Miracle Mop. But apparently years ago it made a poor, divorced woman rich. This is that story. And it's a good, Rocky-esque plot. Lawrence is a child with a big imagination but ends up a failure. She's broke, has a lousy job, divorced with kids, living with her parents and ex-husband. Then she finally comes up with a new idea and decides to become a business woman, which turns out to be incredibly difficult. She finally gains success on a new TV channel, QVC, and the rest is history (I guess it is...I've never heard of this woman...though I admit I've never watched QVC...and a classic mop and bucket has always worked good enough for me).
     The best aspect of Joy (and Playbook) is the family dynamic. De Niro is hilarious in this. Add a Spanish singer ex-husband living in the basement, a soap opera addicted mom that falls in love with the Haitian plumber, and an evil half-sister, and the drama is fun, chaotic, and entertaining to watch. After a half hour, though, the film ends up being a business woman on a mission trying to sell a mop and this never becomes more interesting than it sounds (and it sounds dull, right?).
     Perhaps a documentary would have been more interesting. Russell attempts to make this out to be a film exploring a person fulfilling and going after their dreams, which may have worked if there was more here. The film is slight, bare, and ends up at its rich/success finish way too fast. The idea of being children with fantastic dreams only to end up middle-aged 9 to 5ers stuck in the quagmire of life is, obviously, prominent in a lot of films. That this woman got out of her rut and become a success story is nice, but do we care? We could. We should. But unfortunately we don't.
     Russell has made some good films in the past (Three Kings will always be his best), but Joy just feels like a thrown-together, vanity project...a reason to get together with old friends.
     There's a scene in American Hustle where Bradley Cooper is in an office after a victory and he's over-acting and show-boating and he's hilarious and the scene is kinetic and fun and wild. There's more energy to that one scene than in the entire film Joy. And Cooper's character and performance in this is kind of how the film ended up: Cooper is restrained, tired, and just there.
     Joy is entertaining in spots and De Niro and Lawrence give good performances but it's way too plain. It's forgettable, forgotten. ** (out of ****) 

Review: STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS

     Today at work I looked out the window and it was raining but it didn't matter because I was excited. I had tickets for the new Star Wars movie on opening night and I couldn't wait. And this reminded me of a long time ago, January 1996, the day From Dusk Till Dawn came out. I was stuck in Biology class and looking out the window and it was raining but who cares because I was excited. I had tickets to the new Tarantino/Rodriguez vampire movie on opening night and I couldn't wait.
     Obviously, the first Star Wars movie with the original cast in thirty two years is a bit of a bigger deal than a cheesy, B-horror movie is...but that feeling of being excited to go to opening night of a movie you can't wait to see and already having your tickets and dying for the time it starts to finally come is the same. And how often does that happen? Maybe there are sixteen year olds these days just as excited for movies like The Avengers. But for the generation that went to see the original Star Wars movies in theaters as kids...how many times do you get this excited to see a new movie? It's a rare and special event. And I'm glad to say that the new film, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, is not a letdown. It is not better than any of the three original films but light years better than the three awful prequels.
     When it was announced that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill were going to be back, fans went ape-shit. And, surprisingly, it's the new actors that steal the show. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are awesome in this. They're tough but believably human, have great chemistry and are hilarious and entertaining together. Creating new characters that you actually want to go on a journey with in the Star Wars universe is the one big step this new franchise needed and succeeded at. They even introduce a new droid, BB-8, who almost steals the show.
     The script, by Michael Arndt, Lawrence Kasdan, and J.J. Abrams, is terrific in one sense because they know what worked in the past and have basically re-made the original Star Wars with an Empire-esque ending. There really isn't anything new here, and that's okay. We have a young, new character that learns that they have the power of the force. There's the bad-guy empire with a Death Star. There's the good-guy rebels. There's family strife. There's light-saber duels and Jim Henson-style real puppets and fighter-jet action scenes and the classic, original score and opening scroll.
     It is kind of cool to see Han Solo and Leia and Chewbacca and R2D2 and C3PO back, albeit their scenes are more nostalgia-good than actually good. The only bad aspects of the film are some lame special f/x (an octopus monster? ugh...a wise, small creature/woman voiced by Lupita Nyongo that's just silly...and an Emperor-like old man villain that should have just been played by a real, old man) and a plot that gets a little stale in that good guys get captured and escape not once but twice!
     But this is a new film and thankfully the new faces are the highlight. J.J. Abrams does a good job in creating a very cool looking film with some good action scenes and some good drama and emotion. The villain, played by Girls' Adam Driver, is adequate at best (his cross-light saber is a lot more menacing than he is), but the film is a lot of fun and well structured enough that you still want to see what happens to him and how his story plays out.
     The ending is a cliffhanger in the best sense. You do want to see Daisy Ridley again and John Boyega again and Oscar Isaac again. You want to see more of this world, more of the unfolding story, and you can't wait to have another adventure with all of them again. And while it's not a great film nor a new, bold classic like the originals, it's still a worthy continuation of a classic franchise. ***

THE TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2015

1- STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: Yep, a new Star Wars films comes out in about a year. The first trailer already hit and while it's early of course it looks amazing. JJ Abrams has yet to make a great film but he's certainly capable of making a more entertaining one then any of the prequels. Plus...the old gang is back. One of the most anticipated films ever.

2- THE HATEFUL EIGHT: Quentin Tarantino's last film, Django Unchained, was mediocre. And certainly Tarantino will never make a film as good as Pulp Fiction again. But this one is intriguing; a dialogue-heavy Western about bounty hunters and a captured killer stuck at a trading post during a blizzard. The cast has Kurt Russel and Samuel L. Jackson among others.

3- SPECTRE: Sam Mendes is not a good Bond director (see Skyfall). But any new James Bond film is a welcome sight. This one stars Christoph Waltz and Batista as bad guys.

4- MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: Looks awesome. And George Miller always brings the crazy (see Babe: Pig in the City or any of the Mad Max films). Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star.

5- CRIMSON PEAK: A Victorian horror film from Guillermo Del Toro. Yes.

6- UNTITLED CHRISTMAS EVE PROJECT: Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in a film co-written by Evan Goldberg about a gang of old friends seeking the ultimate NYC Christmas house party. Should be entertaining and hilarious, right?

7- BLACKHAT: Michael Mann is back, finally, with a computer-hacker/action picture. I love most of his films (Collateral was weak). His pictures are always the best looking around and they're visceral and exciting and raw. It comes out in a few weeks. A good start to the new year.

8- JURASSIC WORLD: Well this is basically the first Jurassic Park if the park was up and running. Chris Pratt stars. Colin Trevorrow, who directed the awesome Safety Not Guaranteed, is at the helm. Should, at the very least, be a fun summer romp.

9- THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2: Well it'll have more action then part one. It all ends here. Hopefully it'll hit all the right notes. And that last line of the book is right up there with, "Well, I'm back," from The Return of the King for most perfect end notes.

10- THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: The first Avengers was loud and dumb but entertaining. This one features a killer robot. It'll make a billion dollars but at least with Joss Whedon in charge it'll be better than those Transformers films.

 

THE 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2014 REVISITED

1- SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR: There are only two sections of this film that are based on stories from Frank Miller's comic book and it shows. "A Dame to Kill For" is, really, the only watchable section of the film, an entertaining, vicious yarn. I guess they couldn't get Clive Owen to reprise his role? The rest of the film is an awful mess. Will Robert Rodriguez ever make another good film? Been awhile. *1/2 (out of ****)

2- THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: The best film I've seen from 2014 so far and Wes Anderson's best since Rushmore. It's so precise and intricate. The set design, the timing, the score, the acting...are all spot on. It's also stylish as all hell, sad, beautiful, whimsical, funny, and super-entertaining. A masterpiece. ****

3- INHERENT VICE: Hasn't come out in Philly yet.

4- UNDER THE SKIN: The trailer is awesome. The movie has some cool, bizarre shots to it but ultimately is just a head-scratching disappointment. The book, by Michel Faber, is better (and more coherent). *1/2

5- INTERSTELLAR: Unfortunately the two hour set-up leads us nowhere intriguing. The tidal wave planet is, realistically, the only good aspect of the film and that was given away in the trailers and is only ten minutes long. There's so much wrong with this film and so little right. The McCounaghey-trapped-behind-the- bookcase scene is definitely one of the worst and silliest things ever put on film. *1/2

6- THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN: It's the worst Hobbit film...but so was the third Lord of the Rings. There's a huge hour and a half chunk between action set pieces that is just total filler. But the action scenes are fun. **1/2

7- THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1: Read the review below. **1/2

8- THE RAID 2: The best action film since Hard Boiled. It's literally insane. ***

9- INTO THE WOODS: Haven't seen it yet.

10- GODZILLA: Okay...why is Godzilla a good guy? All I want is to see him destroy cities. Instead we got Godzilla fighting monsters and being a hero. There's some cool special f/x sequences but it's mostly a misfire. **

THE BEST FILMS OF 2014

1- THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

2- A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT

 3- BOYHOOD

 4- WHIPLASH

5- NYMPHOMANIAC

6- INHERENT VICE

7- THE BOXTROLLS

8- PALO ALTO

9- THE RAID 2

10- THE ROVER

Review: THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1

     Remember when it was announced that the final book in the series, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, was going to split into two films? Remember how dumb that seemed? First off, it wasn't even the longest Harry Potter book and every one was only one film. Second, if any book needed to be two films it was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which was stuffed to the brim with story and ended up a mediocre, rushed film. But the cash-grab idea caught fire and we soon saw the fourth Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, broken up into two films, a Hobbit book adapted into three films, and now Mockingjay, a relatively short 400 page young adult novel, turned into two films. When will this end? I'm guessing as soon as people see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. The reason is quite simple: this didn't need to be two films. There's actually barely enough of anything for one compelling film. And what you definitely do not want is an entire film that is all build up with no pay-off. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1 had some big action set pieces that made it at least entertaining. Breaking Dawn Part 1 had some big moments including a girl getting married, deflowered, and becoming a vampire. Mockingjay Part 1 is all set-up. It's like a prologue, an appetizer. It is not something you want to go out of your way and pay $11.50 or whatever to see. It will leave you wanting more, yes, obviously, but also unsatisfied and feeling a little bit ripped off. Not to say that it's a bad movie. It's good in spots. It's just missing too much to feel like a real movie.
     If you read the books then you know that this third and final book is perhaps the best written but also the most depressing and the least entertaining. The reason it's my least favorite book in the trilogy is because there's no Hunger Games in it. Even though pitting kids against one another on live TV is a rip-off of everything from The Running Man to The Lord of the Flies to Battle Royale, the excitement, brutality, and drama of the games were what made the first two books and two films so compelling. The third book and film is post-games. It's the lowly rebels of this futuristic society versus the big, powerful, evil city The Capital and its God, President Snow. Mockingjay Part 1 features Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, growing accustomed to her life in the underground District 13 and watching as a war breaks out all around her. All of the usual players are back, although Philip Seymour Hoffman and Woody Harrelson are the only two entertaining and interesting ones. Hoffman gives a laid back, playful, convincing job. Perhaps it's because he's dead that his greatness is amplified, but he really does save this film from being a paint-by-numbers dystopian sci-fi flick like Divergent. It doesn't help that Jennifer Lawrence seems to only be a good actor when she's not being serious, Julianne Moore is practically playing a piece of cardboard, and Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale, is about as engaging as a rock.
     With so little to work with the film is surprisingly never dull and it does look good. There's some nice apocalyptic shots of destroyed, crumbled cities, a good quiet shot of Gayle and Katniss by a rushing river, and a very cool but eerily similar shot of soldiers dropping down into a city that's reminiscent of a shot in Godzilla earlier this year. But the director, Francis Lawrence (who, unfortunately, was the one that ruined Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by adding a metropolis and Will Smith, among other atrocities), and the cinematographer, Jo Willems, have saved the best scene for last. The last shot, with a character strapped down in a white room on a white bed and thrashing wildly while Katniss peers sadly through the window, is solemn, unflinchingly sad, and not what you expect from a mega-budget popcorn film. It's a terrific final shot. And while it's a great final five seconds, what we all really wanted was something more, at least one great action set piece, a bigger chunk of story, something. Otherwise, what's here leaves us mostly
unfulfilled. **1/2 (****)
    

Review: 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

If I was a twelve year old boy and somehow got in to see this film I'd probably think it was the greatest film ever made.
What is it with really late sequels? Anchorman 2 just came out a mere nine years after the original and now 300: Rise of an Empire hits eight years after 300. 300 made a ton of cash, spawned an entire parody film and a TV show that featured slo-mo slicing and dicing ancient warriors with special f/x environments. But a new one is here, finally, and it lives up to expectations. There is tons of action with spurting blood and booming, thunderous drum music and hordes of armies and slo-mo dismemberments. This is, pretty much, the ultimate guy's movie. Blood and tits. I'm happy.
The first film was based on an awesome Frank Miller comic book that was loosely based on a presumptious true story about three-hundred Spartan warriors that held off an enormous Persian army thousands of years ago. This new film is also based on a Miller comic book but he hasn't finished it yet so as of now the credits saying the film is based on Xerxes by Frank Miller may be confusing to those surfing Amazon.com looking for it.
The plot sort of shrouds the original film's plot in that this new film is both a prequel and a sequel. Themostikles is the good guy, a proud Athens warrior leading his rag-tag army of supposed farm hands against Artemisia's legion of battle ships heading for Greece. While the lonely 300 are busy dying elsewhere up the coast, Themostikles goes to sea to fight and save his country.
The action scenes are pretty wild. This is, more or less, a modern Grindhouse film. The dialogue, characters, and plot are all seriously inept but the action is visceral, blood-soaked, incredulous, and certainly entertaining if you're a fucking sicko. Limbs fly, blood spurts in geysers, spears impale. It's wholesome fun.
The best part of this film is the action of course, but Eva Green as the super evil Artemisia is on fire here. What a villain. Even during sex she's only capable of hate-fucking. She isn't over-the-top, but she definitely revels in her witch-like she-bitch role.
The film was shot on green-screen sound stages, but it does look incredible. For such a dumb, violent film there is some really beautiful imagery here, especially the scene underwater after a fire bomb has destroyed a Greek ship and we see all of the lifeless bodies in the water amidst the splinters of wood, the weapons, the swirls of blood.
The sequences between the thunderous, visceral action scenes are very dull and borish, but the film is an entertaining popcorn spectacle that is, really, exactly what you might expect. If you're not a twelve year old boy then this might just be bloody fucking stupid tripe but you have to admit either way that it certainly packs a punch. ***