Month: December 2018

Film Review: ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL (USA 2018)

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Deadpool 2 Poster
Trailer

Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.

Director:

David Leitch

Writers:

Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin

One has to know what this film is all about as well as what DEADPOOL2 is all about before heading out to watch ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL.

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL is a PG-13 version of DEADPOOL2  with no ‘fuck’ word used though other ‘f’ words (that could substitute for the fuck’ word) are allowed.  When the film opens the action anti-hero DEADPOOL is in Fred Savage’s bedroom explaining the story of the film to him.  Fred Savage is one of the most famous child actors in America with his TV series “The Wonder Years’ aired for a long time.  Non-Americans might not be that familiar with Fred Savage.  This segment is intercut with DEADPOOL2 the film.

With DEADPOOL2 too released less than a year ago, watching ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL becomes too familiar.  The story, jokes and surprises in the plot are no longer effective.  DEADPOOL2 was great (see review of DEADPOOL2 attached below) but watching ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL was boring and a chore.  After all the original was supposed to be R-rated so removing the adult portions of the movie is undermining the original’s purpose.

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL is close to 15 minutes longer with all the additional scenes put in.  The Fred Savage segments are not that funny either.  It is my Christmas wish that no other major studio will re-issue a super-action hero hit film with additional footage.  ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL does not do it for me.  It might be different if one has not seen the original.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCf03KXyzIg

(Film Review of Deadpool2)

DEADPOOL 2 arrives 2 years after the first DEADPOOL, the 11th film in the X-Men film series.  The important question on everyone’s lips is how this film fares with regards to the first DEADPOOL and the recent Marvel films like BLACK PANTHER and AVENGERS INFINITIY WAR.  Well, it is different and notably raucously hilarious. Co-written by star Ryan Reynolds himself who did a bit on his own character’s dialogue, there are lots of swearing, so be prepared to be hearing lots of vulgarities like “fuckshit”.

DEADPOOL (Reynolds reprising his original role) is the wisecracking Marvel Comics mercenary with accelerated healing but severe scarring over his body after undergoing an experimental regenerative mutation.   He forms the X-Force, a team of mutants, most of which hilariously die while unsuccessfully parachute landing in an attempt on the job to rescue Russell (Julian Dennison), a boy Deadpool befriended while in prison.  Foremost in the story is the character of Cable (Josh Brolin) a time travelling cybernetic mutant soldier who wishes to kill Russell.  It should be noted that DEADPOOL 2’s humour is in the extreme, from fake opening credits to ridiculous subplots to senseless dialogue.  To the credit of everyone making this movie, it actually works.  It took me a while to get into the film’s groove, admittedly a full 15 minutes or so (I initially hated it, thinking it all too silly, but the tactic grows into you quickly and the effort is soon appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.)  The laugh-out loud jokes are too many to innumerate but there are prize one like the inside joke on Disney’s Frozen (since Disney has recently bought over Fox) and a running joke that makes no sense on the progress of dubstep.  The soundtrack that includes two new songs: “Ashes” by Céline Dion and “Welcome to the Party” by Diplo, French Montana and Lil Pump are especially inventive.  Those who have seen/heard “Ashes”, released as the lead single on May 3, 2018, along with a music video of the vocalist singing the song will still be laughing.

Star Ryan Reynolds is perfect as the hilarious Deadpool.  He makes the character including the dialogue he wrote.  He was given large creative control over this film after the success of the first one that resulted in the leaving of the original’s director Tim Miller due to artistic differences.  Josh Brolin plays Cable marvellously, as Brolin does in all his roles.  Brolin was also in the last recent Marvel film AVENGERS INFINITY WAR playing the main villain Thanos.  Fortunately, the makeup of Thanos results in Brolin hardly recognizable or that would have been a problem with Brolin being in two Marvel stories.  Familiar characters from the first DEADPOOL like Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Karan Soni as Dopinder, the taxi driver, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al (the fake opening credits has her listed as the film’s cinematographer) and T.J. Miller as Weasel, Daedpool’s best buddy bartender who has absolutely no loyalties are in the sequel.  Miller is good in this movie but was almost removed from the film due to alleged sexual misconduct and calling in a fake bomb threat during the movie filming.

DEADPOOL 2’s looks very expensive with great CGI and special effects.  The fight scenes are particularly stunning with humour always present.  Action and hilarity mix well in the funniest of the Marvel franchise.

Make sure to stay for the closing credits as they include a few extra scenes including surprises such as who is listed playing “Vanishing Man.”  The film also sets up for the next continuing film X-FORCE which may or may not be a direct sequel to DEADPOOL 2.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86RtevtfrA

Film Review: Mowgli (USA/UK 2018)***

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Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle Poster
Trailer

A human child raised by wolves must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.

Director:

Andy Serkis

Writers:

Callie Kloves (screenplay by), Rudyard Kipling (based on the stories of)

Stars:

Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch

MOWGLI is a curiosity piece, a non-Walt Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK.  Made by Warner Bros and and slotted for release in 2016 the same time as Disney’s live action THE JUNGLE BOOK, with both films based on the Rudyard Kipling stories, MOWGLI was delayed two years and in the meantime got bought over by Netflix.  After an initial November release in the theatres, MOWGLI can presently be seen on Netflix.  Needless to day, watching it on the big screen in 3-D is optimal, as expressed by director Serkis himself.  MOWGLI is a quality film like many of he new Netflix originals these days, the most notable being ROMA which is also playing and likely to be nominated for Best Foreign Film.

The story runs along the same lines as the animated Disney’s 60’s full length cartoon and its 2016 live action version.

MOWGLI begins with the appearance in the jungle of Kaa (Cate Blancette), an Indian python seer, watches as Shere Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), a crippled Bengal tiger, breaks jungle law by hunting down a family of humans, with only the child escaping.  Bagheera (Christian Bale), drawn to the scene, rescues the man-cub, Mowgli (Rowan Chand), and takes him to a family of wolves being raised by Nisha (Naomi Harris) and Vihaan (Eddie Marsan), only for Tabaqui (Tom Haollander), Shere Khan’s hyena follower, to find the boy before he is chased off.  They take the infant Mowgli before the wolf council and Akela (Peter Mullan), the pack leader, to decide his fate, with Bagheera buying his life with a kill and Baloo strong-armed into agreeing. Shere Khan arrives to kill Mowgli, but Akela stops him, saying the boy is now a member of the pack and forces Shere Khan to leave, but not before the tiger vows to return.

The story goes on with Mowgli discovering his own kind (the man village).  The climax is the fight between MOWGLI and There Khan.  Kaa intervenes to save Mowgl near the end.

Serkis’ versions the most serious of all the JUNGLE BOOK film, undoubtedly.  There are scenes where carcasses are eaten.  The animals like the slimy python, Kaa look incredibly real and therefore scary – perhaps too scary for children under the age of 10.  A few sentimental hogwash segments like Nisha telling Mowgli that he belongs, no matter what others say, could have been dispensed with.  The film is also too playful for adults.  One wonders the target audience of the filmmakers.

The time gap between Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK and MOWGLI helps.  For one, many would have forgotten the main story- and if not at least a few key plot points.  

Netlflix buying the film from Warner Bros. is likely a good thing as this gives the film a different distribution, be in cables subscribers.  The chance of losing money on this one is less as well.  The cost of production is not listed but it must be up there in the millions, as the film’s special effects are exceptional.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB1KTG-O1V0

Film Review: MORTAL ENGINES (USA/NZ 2018) ***

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Mortal Engines Poster
Trailer

In a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive, two people meet in London and try to stop a conspiracy.

Director:

Christian Rivers

Writers:

Fran Walsh (screenplay by), Philippa Boyens (screenplay by) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving

Christian Rivers (who began his career working with LORD OF THE RINGS helmer, Peter Jackson) makes his directorial debut with an expensive $100-$150 million, no-holds barred blockbuster, MORTAL ENGINES based on the young adult novel of the same by Philip Reeve.

There is a lot of background concept to take in as the film begins.  The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, ravaged by a “Sixty Minute War”, which caused massive geological upheaval.  To escape the earthquakes, volcanoes, and other instabilities, a Nomad leader called Nikola Quercus (known as god Nicholas Quirke by the time of the book) installed huge engines and wheels on London, and enabled it to dismantle (or eat) other cities for resources. Think Transformer cities like Studio Ghibli’s HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE come to life.  If you admire the mechanical special effects of the TRANSFORMER movies, the effects here will blow you away.  The technology rapidly spread, and evolved into what is known as “Municipal Darwinism”.    Because scientific progress has almost completely halted, “Old Tech” is highly prized and recovered by scavengers and archaeologists. Europe, some of Asia, North Africa, Antarctica, and the Arctic are dominated by Traction Cities, whereas North America was so ravaged by the war that it is often identified as “the dead continent”, and the rest of the world is the stronghold of the Anti-Traction League, which seeks to keep cities from moving and thus stop the intense consumption of the planet’s remaining resources.

When the film begins, the predator City of London is after a small mobile mining town called Salthook, constructed to fold itself up like a hydraulic steampunk Transformer and drive away at the first sign of danger.  London is a monster of a predator city compete with artifacts  like St. Paul’s Cathedral and The London Eye.  Salthook is captured and it inhabitants consigned to low level jobs while given the basic necessities.  The dystopian future offers lots of metaphors for today’s Trump-era America which the script by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens indulges a little.

The audience is quickly introduced to the hero of the story, a rather hard-working geeky, but by no means unattractive, Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an apprentice at the Museum of London, specializing in the technology of “the ancients” (people of the 21st century).  An ancient artifact is at one point revealed humorously to be two minions.  The villain of the piece is Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), a vaguely populist authority figure with an unusual interest in collecting rusted 21st century power sources to build a special weapon in order to rule the world.  Nothing will stop him including murder.  His innocent daughter Katherine (Leila George) slowly learns the truth about her father after a young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) emerges from a crowd of refugees to kill him.

The film goes nowhere from here but continue with chases and battles culminating in the climatic battle of London vs. the good guys.  A welcome breather is introduced in the form of notorious outlaw, Anna Fang (Jihae).  Karen actress John has the great acting skill of providing one expression while wearing those stylish shades that survived all the battles of the world.

As MORTAL ENGINES go, it is an exceptionally well conceived CGI movie, top marks in looks and special effects.  But too much of a good thing can even lead to boredom.  Think the extended sequence of King Kong destroying New York City in Peter Jackson’s KING KONG.  One must know when to stop and tone down a little.  MORTAL ENGINES is spectacular in its first 20 minutes in structure, look and story telling but at the film’s 90 minute mark, one knows that the epic battle is about to take place which means another 30 minutes of film running time to trudge through.

One has to admire at least the immense and difficult effort of visualizing the dystopian YA novel on screen.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsFc2gguEg

Film Review: MARY POPPINS RETURNS (USA 2018) ***** Top 10

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Mary Poppins Returns Poster
Trailer

Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael’s children through a difficult time in their lives.

Director:

Rob Marshall

Writers:

David Magee (screenplay by), David Magee (screen story by) | 3 more credits »

Stars:

Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw

MARY POPPINS RETURNS begins with a song-and-dance number in the early morning of London where the fog is still on the ground.  A street lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wore the music for HAMILTON) brings the audience into the spirit of things.

Set in 1930s London, which is the time period of the original novels by P. L. Travers, the story follows Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer), who are now grown up.  Michael is living with his three children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson) and housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters), in the house on Cherry Tree Lane.   After Michael has a personal loss, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) comes back into the lives of the Banks family.   No details on how Michael lost his wife.

The songs are ok for the first half and turns lively and catchy in the second half.  The Sherman Brothers who wrote the songs for the original POPPINS have music credits in this one.  None of the songs in the original are sung in this one, but a few chords of “For a Spoonful  of Sugar”, “Feed the Bird” and ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite” can be heard on the soundtrack.  A song “Trip a Little Light-fantastic’ reminds on of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.  The musical number with the lamp-lights runs similar to the musical number performed by the chimney sweeps on the rooftops in the original.

A few magical segments brighten up the story.  The three children go on wild adventures like into the bathtub with Mary or into rotating ornament.  The grownups disbelieve and the children point to Mary Poppins.  “Mary Poppins never explains.”  These are the same words uttered in both movies.

A bit of romance is inserted in the story between Jack and Jane – not too much, just a hint for artistic purposes.

Emily Mortimer was the special guest present at the special screening.  She praised director Rob Marshall forms vision and one can see his vision realized in the picture – from the imaginative musical numbers to the impressive magical adventures.

The film contains three super cameos.  The first is Meryl Streep playing a Mary Poppin’s cousin, Topsy. With a thick Eastern European accent with coloured hair, bright rags and pearls and necklaces, her musical number is one lively inspiration that turns the film at its midpoint from mediocre to excellent fare.  After Streep’s appearance, the film goes uphill right to the heights of the floating balloons at the film’s end, the balloons given by Angela Lansbury, the balloon lady breaking out in song.  Lansbury has been in a magical musical Poppins type hit years back, the memorable BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS.  But the best cameo of all is Dick Van Dyke, aged masterfully playing Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of Mr. Dawes Sr., who he played in the first film.  Julie Andrews turned down the offer of a cameo.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS arrives 54 years after the original Julie Andrews musical.  It is a long but worthwhile wait.  It is indeed good to feel like a child again.  

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3jsfXDZLIY

Film Review: BIRD BOX (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Bird Box Poster
Trailer

A woman and a pair of children are blindfolded and make their way through a dystopian setting along a river.

Director:

Susanne Bier

Writers:

Eric Heisserer (screenplay), Josh Malerman (novel)

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich

It had to happen after the box-office phenomenon of John Krasinski’s A QUIET PLACE – a female version of a horror dystopian setting of a film that could alternatively be called A DARK PLACE.  In BIRD BOX, the characters are not allowed to see or contact a virus of some sort that would kill them.  The protagonist is a female and so is the director, Dane Susanne Bier who has made a few acclaimed foreign films.  She brings structure, insight, craft and emotion into an otherwise run of the mill futuristic film.

BIRD BOX is an American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Susanne Bier and with a screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman.

The script is radically different from Malerman’s novel.  Quite a few incidents have been omitted like the wolf attack or simplified like the sister’s death.  The ending is softened to a happier one.  So as not to give off a spoiler, one should read the book (or the summary available on wikipedia) to discover what real horrors took place in order for the survivors to live in the sanctuary.

So what is the reason behind this end of the world scenario?  In Alfred Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS, a  hysterical woman offers her theory while customers are held up at a gas station bar.  In BIRD BOX, one character offers his educated sounding theory to those held up in the house.  But another calls him out.  “And where do you work?  In a  grocery store?  Then he claims he is writing a book on the end of the world while getting all his research from the internet.  Another satirical moment occurs when the crazed John Malkovich character that he will make the end of the world great again.

The film follows a young woman (Sandra Bullock) who, along with a pair of unnamed children, (called boy and girl, for reasons made apparent in the film) must make it through a forest and river that includes rapids, blindfolded to avoid a supernatural entity that takes the appearance of its victims worst fears and causes them to commit suicide.  The film is called BIRD BOX because the woman carries a box of birds – the birds immune to the epidemic, supposed to be able to warn them and guide them to safety.  As the journey unfolds (with title indicating the number of days on river), flashbacks, set in the period 5 years earlier explain what happened prior to the woman and three children before being left to their own devices.  As the time period closes in to the present, the story gets a little confusing though not difficult to discern with a little thinking.

Before the 3 are left by themselves, there is a period where the woman and a few others  are held up in different places that include a house and a grocery story.  The group is played by a variety of known and excellent actors that includes Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, BD Wong, Sarah Paulson and John Malkovich.  This is the film’s best segment. They argue vehemently with each other as to what to do.  This potion is reminiscent of the excellent original 2000 Spanish film, Alex de la Iglsia’s LE BAR (THE BAR), where an assortment of characters are held up in a bar while a disease is occurring outside and they cannot let anyone in for fear of being contaminated.

BIRD BOX is to be commended as an excellent dystopian futuristic film with strong female content and ethic diversity.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2AsIXSh2xo

Film Review: VOX LUX (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Vox Lux Poster
Trailer

An unusual set of circumstances brings unexpected success to a pop star.

Director:

Brady Corbet

Writer:

Brady Corbet

Stars:

Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy

VOX LUX is a depressing life story of a pop artist that is credible and realistic by writer/director Brady Corbet aided by the spirited performance of Academy Award Winner Natalie Portman and by Jude Law who plays her nasty and suspicious manager. 

As in her Oscar winning BLACK SWAN where she plays an artist in the form of a ballet dancer, Portman now plays pop singer/dancer who has risen to fame despite seismic, violent circumstances.  Still she spirals downwards but there is a silver lining in every cloud.

The film begins in 1999 with teenage sisters Celeste Montgomery (Raffey Cassidy, last seen  in THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER) and Eleanor “Ellie” Montgomery (Stacy Martin), surviving a seismic and violent tragedy.  The tragedy unfolds like a shock, and therefore will not be revealed in this review to prevent a full movie experience.  Director Corbet  clearly has the intention of this effect for his audience.  The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of catastrophe.  This launches their  singing careers.  The sisters draw the attention of a passionate manager with no-name (Jude Law) and are rapidly catapulted into fame and fortune, with Celeste as the star and Ellie the creative anchor.  By the film’s second half, the film shifts to a 2017 setting. The now 31-year-old Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mother to a teenage daughter of her own (again played by Raffey Cassidy) and struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence (again not revealed) demands her attention.

VOX LUX is the name of one of Celeste’s album.  The life of Celeste follows the route of many a singer/songwriter (like Amy Winehouse) whose documentaries have already been seen by many.  The story of a star’s downfall (as in the recent A STAR IS BORN) is a depressing all too familiar one that many will avoid, especially during the festive season.  But director Corbet inserts an lively entertaining dance number at the climax for the purpose of lifting spirits.  It works!

The film is narrated by Willem Dafoe (immediately recognizable) who has been doing a lot of narrating recently since DO DONKEYS ACT?  The voiceover is supposed to put the story into perspective and keep it there as opinions can change.  Like DO DONKEYS ACT? Defoe put-on touch of sarcasm into the proceedings.

Despite the sombre nature of the film’s material there are a few bright moments.  One is the message that has an aside.  During Celeste’s down period, she says to her audience: “This girl will never go down!”   Director Corbet also inserts a very lively dance sequence during the film’s climax which showcases Portman’ versatility as an artist.  Yes, this girl can sing and dance.

Because of the shocking incidents affecting Celeste’s life, her ups and downs and the parallel rise of her daughter’s singing career, VOX LUX feels a bit disjointed.  But director Corbet knows what he is doing and brings his film to a satisfying conclusion at the end.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdVqr4hmZU

Film Review: THE GO-GETTERS (Canada 2018) ***

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The Go-Getters Poster
A deadbeat drunk and a junkie hooker join forces to take on the city, each other, and their own personal shortcomings while trying to scam $98 for bus tickets out of town.

Director:

Jeremy LaLonde

Writers:

Aaron Abrams, Brendan Gall

Stars:

Aaron Abrams, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Kristian Bruun

THE GO-GETTERS is a pretty nasty movie.  It is meant to be so.  Well, life can be so, but a nasty movie is normally not taken in as well by audiences that feel good crowd pleasers.

According to the press notes, this is the genesis of how it all began.  “Our writers, Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, first started writing this as a pissing contest to see who could make the other laugh the hardest,” says director LaLonde (How To Plan An Orgy In A Small Town, Baroness von Sketch Show). “After years of people loving it but saying the project was too risky, it was passed along to producer Jordan Walker, who loves edgy material, and he passed it along to me. It was always written for Aaron to star, and we were lucky to get Tommie-Amber Pirie, who brought her cuss-filled A-game every day.

Owen (Aaron Abrams) is a social non-starter, jobless, homeless, reduced to sleeping on a mattress in the boiler room of his disgruntled brother Kevin’s bar, and down to his last five dollars.  One day, while smoking the remnants of a cigarette he picked up off the street, he meets Lacie (Tommie-Amber Pirie), a hooker still wearing the hospital gown she was given when she was treated for a drug overdose.

She promises him a hand job for a few bucks that he fools her that he has.  When things do not work out, they do still hang around, creating a hate love but mainly hate relationship.  They eventually decide to get enough cash to go to Brockville to to get out of Toronro and take over the house in Brockville currently occupied by Lacie’s grandmother so that they can live there.  But it is not easy for a quarrelling couple who hate each other so much to bring in $49 for the train fare to Brockville.  They argue their way through schemes they have to beg, borrow or steal (but mainly steal).

There are a few good pissing contest segments like the one where the two catch a cab in rider to rob the driver.  A few of the nasty segments like the glory hole scam gets too nasty for comfort.  The audience will likely not take any sides either – the two characters being equally repulsive.  The film has a neat plot towards the end coupled with a cameo by Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson.

One last unforgettable film with such a fighting couple is Alex de la Iglesia’s PERDITO DURANGO (DANCE WITH THE DEVIL) which centres on a serial killing couple played by Javier Bardem and Rosie Perez.  The cocaine sniffing Bardem picks up the Perez character in a bar saying: “this is my lucky day.”.  “This sure isn’t mine,” is her reply.  That film reached dizzy heights which THE GO-GETTERS unfortunately does not achieve.

But THE GO-GETTERS aims low and never pretends to be a remarkable film.  A lesson in life is subtly sneaked into the story which lifts the film up several notches.  Nastiness is the aim of this couple relationship story where feel-good and crowd-pleasing are replaced by scramming, shouting and insults resulting in an overall nasty but not necessarily awful film.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/244558998

Film Review: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (USA 2018) ***

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Poster
Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his reality and crosses paths with his counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.

Directors:

Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey | 1 more credit »

Writers:

Phil Lord (screenplay by), Brian Michael Bendis (Miles Morales created by) | 6 more credits »

Stars:

Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld

With three directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman and two writers, Phil Lord and Rothman (not to mention a total of 140 animators), it is of no wonder the new Spider-Man movie, an animated one at that is all over the place, a venue that anything and everything can happen at one time.  Which is hard to follow.  In this age of cellphone, internet and gaming technology, younger folk will be able to appreciate more of what is whizzing past on the screen that the older moviegoer.  I was not too  impressed.  The film is produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo that directed the LEGO MOVIE and after that the incomprehensible LEGO spinoffs that I hated.  SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE was initially more than 2-hours long then edited into a trim 90-minutes, the normal run ing length or an animated feature.

As if there are insufficient directors and writers, it appears that one Spider-Man is not enough.  Drawing parallels from the super action hero movie GUARDIANS OF THE GALXAY, more here are needed.  In fact a character runs similar to the Groot character in GUARDIANS, Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham, a cartoonish dwarfism version of Spider-Man.  Peter Porker is he funniest of all the spin-off pier characters.

The premise involves Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) who becomes Spider-Man after bitten by a spider.  To be racially and political accepted in films, Miles is of his Brooklyn upbringing, half-Puerto Rican and half-African-American background, and the fact that his family is still alive, with that family dynamic being central to the film’s story.  Spider-Man crosses a parallel universe and teams up with the Spider-Men and Spider-Woman of those dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.

The other  Spider-Men in the film include Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker (Spider-Man), Miles’ reluctant mentor, a disheveled version of the heroJohn Mulaney as Peter Porker (Spider-Ham), Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy (Spider-Woman), a “free-spirited” superhero.

Nothing much else in the story but lots of animated action sequences, if one likes that sort of thing.

At least the animation is impressive.  Aaron Davis, the animated Mahershala Ali character who is Miles’ uncle looks almost exactly like the red actor Ali, and so do a  few more characters.

If you have not had enough of Spider-Man and his cronies after this film, there is another Iive action Spider-Man opening in the near 2019.  Soon there will be Iive action and animated Spider-Man movies running in parallel every year. 

Critics have so for far praised SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, which went n to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at the next Golden Globes 2019.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg52up16eq0

Film Review: HAPPY AS LAZZARO (LAZZARO FELICE) (Italy 2018) ****

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Lazzaro felice Poster
Trailer

This is the tale of a meeting between Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is often mistaken for simple-minded, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination. Life in their … See full summary »

Director:

Alice Rohrwacher

Writer:

Alice Rohrwacher

Stars:

Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Luca Chikovani

Winner of the Best Screenplay Prize at Cannes this year, this sweet surreal tale of a simple villager Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo) is tough to make sense of or understand.  But it is one of the most entertaining foreign films to reach North American screens this year.

The name Lazzaro could have been chosen from the name of Lazarus who was risen from the dead by Jesus in Christianity.  In the story Lazarro falls from a cliff with the audience thinking him dead.  Lazarus rises again and climbs back up the hill after a wolf sniffs him out

The film’s plot involves oppression, politics, folklore and fantasy.  The centre of the piece is Lazaro.  Lazarro is a likeable youth who works very hard in the tobacco fields.  He does exactly what he is asked to do, never complaining.  Everyone likes Lazzaro.

The film’s setting is an estate called Inviolata, Italy isolated since 1977. 54 farmhands work on a tobacco farm in a sharecropping arrangement, where they are constantly in debt and thus unpaid.  The farm is run by the notorious Alfonsina de Luna, “Queen of Cigarettes”. Lazzaro is a worker on the farm who dutifully follows every command given to him by the marquis and the heads of the estate. Tancredi, the spoilt son of the Queen of Cigarettes is a marquis who befriends Lazzaro.  Becoming disillusioned with the cycle of exploitation on the estate, Tancredi decides to defy Alfonsina by faking his own kidnapping.  Tancredi and Lazzaro set out in the wilderness and ditches, where they write a false ransom note with Lazzaro posing as the kidnapper.  They imitate a wolf’s howl to make contact with a wolf roaming the countryside; Tancredi also warmly suggests they could be half-brothers, since Tancredi’s father was a womanizer.  Lazzaro takes the idea of their brotherhood seriously.

Director Rohrwacher.’s storytelling is compelling and she has her audience’s full attention – no doubt about the fact.  At the one-hour point, she dishes out a plot twist where Lazzaro falls from a cliff and presumed dead.

When Lazzaro awakes many years later, he is unaged and wanders into Inviolata, which is long abandoned and being raided by robbers.

As if this is not enough too hake up the audience, a voiceover tells the folk tale of a wolf that grows old and leaves the wolf pack to steal chickens from the village.  The villagers try to capture the wolf but are unable to.  How is this tale tied to the film’s story?  There is a wolf in the film’s story.  There are a lot of other instances that requires the audience to put on their thinking caps.  This is what mesmerizes the audience and keeps attention from waning,  In short, HAPPY AS LAZZARO is a mesmerizing and fascinating film.

The pleasure of Rohrwacher’s is simple.  Like Lazaro, there is no need to worry about the world or what is happening but just to be content and happy.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQUOYO1tow

Film Review: BEN IS BACK (USA 2018) ****

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Ben Is Back Poster
Trailer

Director:

Peter Hedges

Writer:

Peter Hedges

Stars:

Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance

Peter Hedges, tHe writer/director of the new family drama cum thriller BEN IS BACK rose to film fame with the successful WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?  BEN IS BACK tells what happens when Ben, (played by Peter’s son Lucas Hedges, last seen in BOY ERASED and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA) the drug addict son of the family returns home for Christmas against the advice of his worker.

His mother Holly (Oscar Winner Julia Roberts) is the only one standing up for him.  Neither her new husband Neal or Ben’s sister think it good idea for the unannounced Christmas visit.

It is either Ben making Christmas right or making the biggest f***ing mistake.

The script plays on whether Ben’s intentions on staying clean are genuine.  Mother Holly has already warned her son that she is keeping her eyes and checking in him 24/7 and one mistake and she will send him packing to rehab.  The film offers many opportunities for hm to be slipped drugs and director Hedges nor makes it clear to Holly or the audience whether he got some or did not.  This is the fun part of the film – being in the dark and in suspense as to waits going on.

Ben’s past acquaintances will not leave him alone either.  When the family returns from a Christmas Cantata, the family home is broken into and their dog Ponce (played by Nigel) missing.  Ben takes off with Holly to find the dog.  He ditches her to find his supplier (when he was dealing) to get the dog back but not until doing one last job.

Hedges ties in the thriller element into the family drama.  The tactic works wonderfully with the audience tense and glued toothier seat while always on the side of Holly and Ben.  Hedges knows how to connect his audience to both the characters and the story.

The script contains one flaw when Ben goes back to drug usage at the end, which is believable as no one can give up a bad habit including smoking and substance abuse.  Ben overdoses.  One would think that being a dealer would know the safe dosage of cocaine (no to mention he was given only a baggie) that would never overdose.  One can only guess that the overdose segment was inserted for the purpose of artistic dramatization.

The film is aided by two Oscar worthy performances.  Julia Roberts is so good by just sitting it the car looking scared and confused.  Her anger dialogue is also well-written allowing her to show her acting prowess, her character hen breaking out into then use of many ‘f’ words.  Hedges is also excellent keeping the advices int he dark as to his true intentions.  They make the movie.

The script also works entertaining set-pieces into the story.  The segment with Ben’s sister at the Christmas Cantata singing “O Holy Night’ is beautiful especially when her soprano solo reaches the high ‘F’ note. 

But the film’s best segment is the one where Holly, after discovering drugs on Ben again, drags him to the graveyard, screaming atheism asking whether wants to be buried.  It is a moving and explosive scene and one obviously written (and with success) for artistic dramatization.

BEN IS BACK is a rare family drama tied in with an added thriller element, making it an engrossing watch from start to end.  And the greatest joke on the audience is that the same question at the start of the film “whether Ben is making Christmas right or making the biggest f***ing mistake” is still left for the audience to answer.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7ckCekdGr8