Film Review “Youth”

Starring: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz
Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
Rated: R
Running Time: 124 minutes
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars

We’re deep into Oscar season and we’re now being lured by plenty of potential prospects that have “pick me” written all over them. “Youth” has a highly regarded Italian director who has already won an Academy Award. It also features an aged, but at the top of their game, Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel. “Youth” also tackles the cumbersome talks about life, love, and some of the quirky things in between. On one hand, “Youth” is an audio, visual, and acting triumph, but on the other hand, “Youth” is a curious dud.

From the very opening, director Paolo Sorrentino establishes that “Youth” is a bizarre daydream that seemingly takes place in the real world. Fred Ballinger (Caine) and Mick Boyd (Keitel) are two rich, creative pals on an excursion to a Swiss spa. Boyd hopes to find the right amount of inspiration to polish off his latest movie script and withdrawn music composer Ballinger is looking to escape the suffocating demands of people who want him to come out of retirement and perform. There are very real discussions and very real people that intersect these two characters throughout their lavish vacation.

The main plot is diced up and evened out through visually surreal scenes. Some scenes are breathtaking while others haunt our mind, making us wonder what we’re supposed to feel and think. That’s a great thing though. I want to watch a movie that triggers emotions and makes me think about the topics it wants to discuss. But that flip that switched on in my head began to focus in on a lot of what makes “Youth” insufferable.

Ballinger and Boyd spend half their conversations reflecting on mistakes that have come and gone. It’s a universally tragic feeling to realize that as time slowly slips away, the past becomes blurry, but our future, death, becomes all too clear. It’s a difficult subject, that’s been tackled before and “Youth” does a good job reflecting on it, but at a resort filled with other elderly people, it seems slightly misogynistic to only view this wide ranging topic through such a narrow male lens.

The female characters in “Youth” are reduced to simplified stereotypes. Rachel Weisz plays Ballinger’s daughter who comes off as tearfully helpless because she doesn’t know how to handle her divorce. Jane Fonda, who actually adds to the dramatic heft on display, arrives for a brief cameo only to come off as bullheaded, childish, and finally, tearfully helpless. “Youth” then subjects us to a scene where a Miss Universe with heaving breasts walks into the steamy spa waters as Ballinger and Boyd longingly stare on.

Around the halfway point of “Youth”, I began to scrutinize Ballinger and Boyd’s topics of conversations. It seemed that their genuine expressions of remorse from the two came with a bitter price tag, talks of a swollen prostate gland and the disregard of other’s emotions. As much as I wanted to focus on the elegant conversations at hand, I began to feel that the emotions of these two were ultimately empty.

The existential questions of “Youth” are fascinating to ponder, but Sorrentino’s dour outlook seems to tell us that we shouldn’t bother. The lengthy nature of “Youth” seems to tell us that growing old is long, tedious, and filled with better memories than our current predicament. “Youth” left me thinking that all we have to look forward to later in life is what we’ve done with our existence, and the lives we’ve negatively impacted. While visually dazzling, “Youth” will not be a fond memory when I’ve entered my golden years.

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Film Review “Joy”

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper
Directed By: David O. Russell
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 124 minutes
20th Century Fox

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

For many, including myself, Christmas represents that rare time of year that you visit family members on a much deserved day off of work. For some, the holidays are absolutely dreadful and for some the holidays are absolutely delightful. Since some of my relatives read my online movie reviews, I’ll bite my tongue on which category I fall in. But when you get together with your dysfunctional family, try and keep one thing in mind: It could be worse, but it can always be better. Take Joy Mangano’s (Lawrence) family for example.

Living in Joy’s tiny New York home is her loving, caring, and always encouraging grandmother, Mimi (Dianne Ladd). Mimi has always been in Joy’s life, inspiring her to do better and keep that flame of creativity going. Then there are Joy’s two children, a girl and a boy, that she sees that same flame in. Joy holds that trio near and dear to her heart, and couldn’t see life without them. That living situation would be ideal, but her home is filled out with others.

Despite a bitter divorce, her parents are under the same roof. Her mom, Terry (Virginia Madsen) sits in the bed like a vegetable, watching soap operas all day. Her father, Rudy (DeNiro) recently got dumped and is living in the basement with Joy’s ex-husband, Tony (Edgar Ramirez). Those three she could easily live without, considering all three find something new to argue about every day. No matter how strong Joy’s mental and emotional fortitude is the living conditions are obscenely stressful.

What makes Joy strong-willed in her home of horror is her mind. She has a knack for crafting and creating things that come to her mind on the fly. Even at an early age she displayed a creative curiosity, but it was quickly ignored by her parent’s divorced and then buried when her loser husband entered the pictured. Despite being a charming gentleman, he makes for a lazy father and an even more slothful participant in the American workforce. Because of that, Joy attempts to hold up her home on her meager salary at an airline company. Through sheer chance, she comes up with an idea for the Miracle Mop.

In the most unlikely of stories, David O. Russell has found a mix of holiday sentimentality and his own brand of awkward humor in the true life story of Mangano, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. How much of “Joy” is true? Probably about as much as Russell’s last movie, “American Hustle”. Liberties with facts have to be taken and you have to craft something around Lawrence’s Oscar winning abilities. How else could you sell the story of the inventor behind a QVC goldmine to a major motion picture company?

The highlight of “Joy” is watching Lawrence at work. At this point in her career, it’s safe to say that anything she does (besides her cameo in “Dumb and Dumber To”) is going to be thespianism pay dirt. It’s a little tiresome to see Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro once again having to ham it up in a Russell movie, but their sight is welcome and their performances match the eccentric and quirky characters they play. The real gem of the movie Isabella Rossellini, who plays a woman that helps finance and guide Mangano.

By the time “Joy” wraps up, it loses a lot of its emotion because it slowly becomes a commercial for QVC; as long as you’re willing to believe that QVC and other home shopping networks are the good guys in corporate America who support and nurture entrepreneurship. Lawrence doesn’t quite sell that idea, but she helps sell “Joy” as a thoughtful holiday flick. So if you’re looking for an escape or even a way to spend time with your family on Christmas, bring a little “Joy” into your life.

 

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Film Review “In the Heart of the Sea”

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Cillian Murphy
Directed By: Ron Howard
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 121 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

I’m sure like most American children who enter the public education system, there came a point in your schooling that you had to read or were told you need to read “Moby Dick”. It’s a tale of revenge, obsession, and camaraderie, but one I barely remember. I’m actually not certain if I’ve read it or if I’ve ever watched the myriad of movies that have been created in its wake. I guess you could say that’s a same since it’s considered an American literary classic. After watching Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea” I can easily say it’s a shame it’s not going to be a classic.

What immediately separates “In the Heart of the Sea” from other “Moby Dick” tales is that Howard’s film is about the events that inspired Herman Melville’s novel. So say goodbye to the insane Captain Ahab, the curious Ishmael and the stoic Queequeg, and welcome your new narrator, Thomas Nickerson. The story is framed by the aged and rustic Nickerson, played by Brendan Gleeson (and Tom Holland in the past). Nickerson recounts the tale of the whaling ship, Essex, to the aspiring author, Melville (Ben Whishaw).

Despite being from the viewpoint of the young cabin boy, we recount much of the past through the life of Owen Chase (Hemsworth). He’s a young, but experienced whaler who’s attempting to establish the Chase name and put the failed farming past of his father behind him. He’s the first officer of the Essex, but may as well be the leader. Chase scowls behind Captain George Pollard Jr. (Walker), but Pollard scowls back, fearing that Chase’s presence is a threat to his young career as Captain.

The crew of the Essex sails off to warmer seas to find whale oil riches, but come up dry. While recharging and metaphorically refueling in a small South American village on the west coast of the continent, they hear rumors of a treasure trove of whales. There are two problems with this hearsay. The aquatic gold mine is thousands of miles away from land, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The other problem is a disturbing tale about a massive whale with a thirst for man’s blood and an axe to grind.

“In the Heart of the Sea” is one part historical events, one part embellished action sequences, and one part that can only be described as the Donner Party meets the Uruguayan Rugby team. Each part, in its own regard, is very interesting pieces to the cinematic puzzle, but Howard can seem to put them together. It’s a three act tale that handles different themes and tones, but the transitions between them feel unnatural and glaringly bad.

“In the Heart of the Sea” finds entertainment when it relies on the strength of its actors and captures the feeling of isolation amongst the crisp, calm sea. Our character’s plight is diminished by Nickerson’s interjections and Meville’s follow-up questions to the story at hand. As for the monstrous whale that always becomes the focal point of these movies, it’s well handled. It’s a classic man vs. nature, without nature running amok and becoming too unbelievable. In a sea of movies hoping to become Oscar contenders, Howard’s latest movie can only compete at the JV level.

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Film Review “Victor Frankenstein”

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy and Jessica Brown Findlay
Directed By: Paul McGuigan
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 109 minutes
20th Century Fox

Our Score: 1.5 out of 5 Stars

As I type this, we are 24 hours away from a marathon of Thanksgiving food, watching the Detroit Tigers lose, and tolerating relatives we rarely see. The last thing that feels remotely like the holidays is a movie about Frankenstein and his monster. But “Victor Frankenstein”, seemingly scared off by the month prior and all the competition, is out before the holidays to bore audiences instead of terrifying them.

It’s disheartening to see good actors in subpar movies and “Victor Frankenstein” has roped in Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy. Radcliffe plays Igor, who in this retelling is a hunchback because of a enlarged cyst and works in the circus because of his deformity. He has a bizarre and natural knack for medicine and human anatomy. How the picked on “creature” at a circus learns to pop a broken collarbone back into place is beyond me.

This unnatural habit is viewed by Frankenstein, played by a scene chewing James McAvoy. This version of Frankenstein is more like a young kid who had way too much fun making disfigured monsters in his little sister’s Easy-Bake Oven than a mad scientist. While Frankenstein attends school and plots out bringing the dead back to life, Igor, who does not attend school or intends to raise the dead, consistently corrects biological and neurological mistakes that the alleged science student makes.

Stumbling into the picture and further complicating matters is an overzealous, literally and metaphorically, detective and an old crush that Igor has. The eye candy of “Victor Frankenstein” is supposed to spark some humanity in Igor’s character, but it bogs down the pace of the movie instead. As for the detective, he constantly twirls a necklace cross in between his fingers, delivering Sunday sermons when he condemns Frankenstein. It’s the movie’s attempt at stating morals on science, life, religion, and the lines in the sand drawn between them.

But what the writers and director of “Victor Frankenstein” don’t understand is that every theme and bit of morality is in Frankenstein and the inevitable monster he creates. The monster in this doesn’t appear until the end and the big twist on the monster is lame, no matter how much scenery McAvoy chews up and spits at the audience. The values and ethics of the movie are too jumbled for anyone to feel any sympathy.

Much like Mary Shelley’s monster that was created in 1818, this possible reboot is just as cold and lifeless. The reimagining, the retelling, and re-anything needs to stop in Hollywood. “Victor Frankenstein” feels like “Sherlock Holmes” met “Dracula Untold” and couldn’t decide on how to balance the stupid and action in the movie. If you’re looking for a way to punish your relatives for their company this holiday, look no further than “Victor Frankenstein”.

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Film Review “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth
Directed By: Francis Lawrence
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 137 minutes
Lionsgate

Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars

It’s a sad day for diehard fans of the “Hunger Games” series, while people like me will remember it for its long drawn-out speeches about war and the long clarifying conversations about the plot after heroine wakes up after getting knocked out. The conclusion to the much beloved series doesn’t go out with a whimper, but it doesn’t go out on a high note either. The “Hunger Games” movies will end as they started, just alright; nothing spectacular.

“Mockingjay – Part 2” picks up right after the ending events of “Mockingjay – Part 1”. Peeta (Hutcherson) has been brainwashed by the Capitol and Katniss (Lawrence) is in shock that man she once began to develop feelings for expresses hate and displeasure to the mere sight of her. Meanwhile the resistance, made of all the Districts, is planning their final assault on the Capitol. They’re led by the suspicious President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore).

Coin plans to keep Katniss safe and out of harm’s way, mainly wielding Katniss as a propaganda piece, much like Katniss was in the first “Mockingjay” movie. That doesn’t sit well with Katniss who stows away, joining soldiers on the front line as they prepare for an invasion. Her ultimate goal for this final chapter is to kill President Snow (Donald Sutherland) with her own bow and arrow.

The real fun, a block by block journey through the heart of the Capitol while alluding deadly booby traps and fighting creatures, doesn’t come until we trudge through long bits of tediously familiar dialogue. The middle of “Mockingjay” should have come sooner, or at least began the movie. Teasing the inevitable action for half an hour is disingenuous for fans and viewers of the movies, adding to the complaint that the “Mockingjay” sequel is too long. While parts of “Mockingjay” work on a superbly entertaining level, too much of it feels like unnecessary filler.

The excessive length takes away from the main theme of the movie, which is fairly basic: war is hell. For being a somewhat anti-war movie, it seems to solve a lot of its problems through violent conflict and murder. The hell aspect of that statement gives viewers some of the series best emotional scenes. The mature content of how painful and heartbreaking war can be, isn’t explored enough. Its message about how difficult the civilian toll during war can be, on either side of the battle, is sandwiched between expositions, taking away from the gut punch it should be. For a series that prides itself off its adult themes, it seems to misjudge how to present its most interesting topic in its final movie.

Overall, I’m not disappointed that I watched these movies. At times I quite enjoyed them, and I think that the series has multiple, bold adult messages directed at an audience with a young, developing mind. Like the others, I have to praise the acting throughout. It’s the best of any young adult franchise, save for the “Harry Potter” series. At the end of the day though, “Harry Potter” handled the split of its final book into two movies, incredibly well, while “Hunger Games” overcompensated for how much content they had to stretch into four hours. “Hunger Games” is another instance where the story would have been much better off as one impactful final movie than two alright flicks.

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Film Review “The Night Before”

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie
Directed By: Jonathan Levine
Rated: R
Running Time: 101 minutes
Columbia Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Not since “Bad Santa” has a vulgar comedy elicited this much holiday joy. If you’re looking for something besides the network television claymation specials and the obligatory “A Christmas Story” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” showings on TV, “The Night Before” is a much welcome sight at the box office.

While Christmas is sweet like milk and cookies for most, the holidays are a spoiled milk time of year for Ethan (Gordon-Levitt). That’s because when he was younger, his parents passed away on Christmas Eve. There to help pick Ethan up that day were Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Mackie). Like any good (or bad depending on how you view it) friend, they helped Ethan get over the tremendous loss with drugs and alcohol, and thus a tradition was born.

Every Christmas Eve, the three young wise men head out into New York City, do drugs, check out Christmas lights while high, get drunk, sing karaoke, and consume massive amounts of Chinese food. But something has evaded them, the Nutcracker Ball. It’s a mysterious event that takes place in a secret location one day a year, barely known amongst the general populous. Flash forward 14 years later, Isaac is preparing for his first child, Chris is dealing with football fame, and Ethan is dealing with another holiday tragedy. It’s time for one more drunken hurrah for the three, including some stolen tickets to the coveted Nutcracker Ball.

“The Night Before” spikes the eggnog and laces the mistletoe with hallucinogens, but it accomplishes that rare Christmas miracle, of making my Grinch heart grow three sizes. Most holiday movies feel unnecessarily cheesy with their forced warmth, but “The Night Before” has a genuine heart. A lot of that credit can go to Jonathan Levine, who struck pay dirt with Gordon-Levitt and Rogen before in “50/50”, another film that plucked the right heart strings.

What Levine’s movie tragically suffers from is an ADD direction. It feels a bit long as the script hurriedly goes from idea to another. Some of those ideas are a wonderfully constructed laugh riot and at other times those ideas seem like everyone was comfortable settling for a predictable chuckle. Rogen handles the bulk of comedy, while Gordon-Levitt handles the emotion, and Mackie completes the trio by being the bridge and glue between the two extremes.

The three are complemented by a slew of others. There are some shameless appearances by real life stars that feel more forced than natural. But the real gem of the movie is Michael Shannon. Shannon plays a prophetic drug dealer that crosses paths with the three and serves as a spiritual leader for the three, with pot of course. Jillian Bell does a great fill-in as Rogen’s pregnant wife and helps set-up some of the best jokes for Rogen to spike to the audience.

“The Night Before” is a familiar movie, but that’s because it enriches itself with an understanding of what makes a Christmas movie. It takes the plot devices from holiday stories like “A Christmas Carol” and others, but it adds its own flavor to them. Some are more obvious than others while some are clearly used to make that one person in the audience smile. “The Night Before” is a complimentary movie to the upcoming holidays, whether it be to laugh with friends and family or to alleviate the mounting stress we face.

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Film Review “My All American”

Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Finn Wittrock and Robin Tunney
Directed By: Angelo Pizzo
Rated: PG
Running Time: 118 minutes
Clarius Entertainment

Our Score: 2 out of 5 Stars

Sometimes after a come from behind win or a miraculous season in sports, you’ll hear the announcer utter the phrase, “You couldn’t have written a better ending.” Usually the coach or player saying this is describing the improbable odds they faced, but still overcame. Generally I don’t like the line because of how inherently silly it is since some of the best movies are about the impossible. This phrase could have been said during the events of “My All American”, but someone should have written a better script for it.

“My All American” follows Freddie Steinmark (Wittrock). His journey starts in Boulder, Colorado during the 60’s. Steinmark is a good natured Christian boy with aspirations about playing college football for Notre Dame and being drafted by an NFL team. His dreams are consistently hampered by everyone else around him who sees him as too short or too thin to stack up with other players on the gridiron, regardless of how dominant he is under the Friday night lights.

Darrell Royal (Eckhart), the coach for the University of Texas, is given some game tape of Steinmark and quickly recognizes the teen’s massive heart. He sees what we see, a boy who puts his heart and soul into everything and sometimes leaves it on the field. He offers him a scholarship and we slowly watch as Steinmark goes from a wide-eyed college freshman to a legitimate force on the Longhorn football team.

The main problem with “My All American” is the length and the pace at which it moves. The film seems transfixed with reminding us that we’re in the late 60’s and that the Vietnam War, hippies, and landing on the moon, were a thing. It also crams in a Wikipedia entry worth of unnecessary information about Steinmark like his high school sweetheart, his dad’s dreams and aspirations, his partner in crime throughout the whole movie, and a myriad of other things that don’t help the overall message.

“My All American” has the heart and soul we’ve seen in other sports movie, but it doesn’t deliver it in an entertaining or touching fashion. Angelo Pizzo, who wrote “Hoosiers” and “Rudy”, may have written a script that would be best suited as a televised re-enactment of real life events for PBS. It’s so unnecessarily dry at time, its sucks the juices out of the crisp sports sequences and the beauty that was Steinmark’s life. “My All American” feels more like a two hour long advertisement to enroll at the University of Texas.

A little bit of digging reveals that Steinmark was a real person and a genuine human being. The University of Texas still remembers that young man’s time with the football program and the impact he left behind. His story is one worth remembering if every giblet of human endearment and compassion is 100% true. I just wish it was condensed into a “30 for 30” on ESPN so that someone could have trimmed the unnecessary fat and hokey TV movie moments out.

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Film Review “Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse”

Film review by Jeremy Werner
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller and Joey Miller
Directed By: Christopher B. Landon
Rated: R
Running Time: 93 minutes
Paramount Pictures

Our Score: 2 out of 5 Stars

Among the four credited writers for “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”, one must have known what they were doing. One of those writers must have grown up watching movies like “Dead Alive” and “Return of the Living Dead” on late Saturday nights. For every hilarious scene “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” conjures up, there’s at least two or three that don’t even nip at the funny bone.

Ben (Sheridan), Carter (L. Miller), Augie (J. Miller) are the last of a dying bunch, the scouts. Ben and Carter realize that the scouts are the lowest part of the social totem pole at high school. They can’t even get an AV geek to join their ranks. Augie however, lives and dies by the scout code. Ben and Carter are only in it because they’re still friends with Augie and they know it means a lot to him. So Ben and Carter decide to humor Augie for one more overnight in the woods.

Ben and Carter, hoping to salvage their adolescence, plan to sneak out during the overnight and head to a party across town. Meanwhile, an unexplained virus breaks out of a lab, and slowly seeps into town. Within that time frame of our three heroes going out for the night and Ben and Carter sneaking off, the townsfolk are turned into zombies. The build up is expected, but it still takes it sweet time before the carnage starts.

Once the carnage does start though, it seems a bit tame. There are some decent zombie kills, but nothing that hasn’t been done before. As for the jokes, they’re small hits or wide misses. A lot of jokes come too quickly to be enjoyed and those that linger are clearly taken out of someone’s better written script. While “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” is rowdy, it’s not rowdy enough for the full 93 minutes.

For every inspired moment of comedy or gore, there’s a really long waiting time for something to happen. It doesn’t have a strong enough character presence like “Zombieland” to carry the story. It’s hard to relate with teenagers who individually represent horny, courageous, and heartfelt. It’d work better if all three he had these qualities. There’s also a couple of weird loose ends that never go anywhere, like the fact that zombies will sing if they hear their favorite song.

“Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” may suffer from peak zombie in pop culture. We’ve nearly seen it all and while the title is cool, there’s not much else that we haven’t seen in other movies. For those looking from the bleak pessimism of “The Walking Dead” this weekend, “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” may come as a pleasant surprise. For seasoned horror and zombie fans, it’s disappointing this couldn’t have been more.

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Film Review “Jem and the Holograms”

Starring: Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott and Hayley Kiyoko
Directed By: Jon M. Chu
Rated: PG
Running Time: 118 minutes
Universal Pictures

Our Score: 1.5 out of 5 Stars

I’m not the target audience for “Jem and the Holograms” and in fact, you may not be the target audience either. If you are under the age of 15, understand things like social media and Youtube, and like poppy rock music, then by all means go see “Jem and the Holograms”; you’ll love it. As for those hoping to relive their Generation X childhood or be reminded of those Saturday morning cartoon watching days in the late 1980’s, you’ll be disappointed.

“Jem and the Holograms” comes from director Jon M. Chu, who’s been stuck directing movies for niche audiences. Chu has two “Step Up” movies and a pair of Justin Bieber flicks under his belt and they aren’t necessarily fodder for the general populous. For those who are the clear target of Chu’s previous movies, they eat it up, but “Jem and the Holograms” is difficult. It seems to be caught between entertaining an audience with feelings of nostalgia and a millennial crowd that doesn’t have nostalgia yet.

Jerrica (Peeples) lives with her sister Kimber (Scott), two cousins and her Aunt Bailey (Molly Ringwald). Jerrica lost her father at a young age and only has fleeting memories left of him. She’s a shy, but talented girl who on a sporadic whim, records herself singing a tune she wrote. She immediately feels embarrassed that she threw on a wig along with thick pink eyeliner, and sang something personal under the moniker, Jem. She quickly asks the tech-savvy Kimber to delete it from their digital camera. Kimber secretly doesn’t.

Realizing Jerrica’s talent, Kimber uploads the video to Youtube. The acoustic, soulful song quickly garners millions of views, likes, and the attention of music industry leader, Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis). In the digital age where there are no secrets; Raymond sees the marketability of a cultural mystery. Everyone wants to know who “Jem” is and Raymond is ready to market the hell out of that question.

At times, “Jem and the Holograms” is narratively confusing. It fluctuates between glossing over character building and expanding upon unnecessary plots. Honestly, the characters would be a lot more relatable or interesting if we knew more about them. It would also help if we knew the ballpark age of the girls. The quartet has no trouble dropping out of school to pursue a music contract without the consent of an adult or the input of their aunt, if they are in school. Sometimes it makes about as much sense as a Looney Tunes short. It’s one of those movies that you’re better off not applying logic to.

Chu’s direction feels lazy as he incorporates Youtube and Instagram videos to reflect the alleged tone of a scene or the feelings of our characters. There’s also a lot of cringe worthy scenes, including one where Jerrica glances too long at a naked, with nothing but a towel, manager by the name of Rio (Ryan Guzman), that’s in charge of watching the girls. It really becomes unsettling if you begin to wonder how old Jerrica is and how old Rio is since it looks like he wouldn’t be carded when ordering a beer at the bar. Like I said…you’re better off not thinking about it…or seeing this movie.

When “Jem and the Holograms” isn’t stumbling around at an embarrassing pace, there are some genuinely good moments. The music is pretty good considering the musicianship in this movie is a complete facade. Juliette Lewis chews enough scenery that I wondered if she was going to eat the screen. It also helps that it has a decent message about individualism and possibly teaches some of the younger viewers about unflinching acceptance for others who are just simply different. The only problem is that that message comes in by the end and doesn’t ring as loudly as the music.

Overall, “Jem and the Holograms” is a visually unoriginal mess that feels more like an insult to the TV show it’s based off than it does an honest reboot. Despite my trashing, it’s an alright movie for the young ones to see. And I’ll admit that the right eye, the right ideas, and the right director could have made a movie that’s worthy of regenerating interest in a 30 year old TV show. But it appears like the masterminds at Hasbro, who own Jem, realized the best way to cash in on old merchandise is a shiny new package without any fresh content.

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Film Review “Goosebumps”

Starring: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette and Odeya Rush
Directed By: Rob Letterman
Rated: PG
Running Time: 103 minutes
Columbia Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

It’s difficult for me to talk about “Goosebumps” without talking about the popular book series that exploded in popularity in the 90’s, especially when I’m a product of the 90’s. Having owned over 20 books as a kid and reading through all of them, some of the multiple times, it’s safe to say I owe a lot of my current tastes in horror, sci-fi, and humor to those books. What R.L. Stine managed to do in that short lived series was spawn scares, laughs, morality, and even a hint of something sinister. He breathed creativity in the lives of thousands of children. While the movie is far from reinventing the “Goosebumps” wheel, it does respect its source material, and by doing so, spawns an entertaining funhouse flick.

Zach (Minnette) and his mom have just recently moved to Greendale, Maryland. Both of them are escaping the hustle and bustle of New York, as well as an unspoken tragedy. Zach’s assimilation into school is difficult since his mom is the new vice principal and he seems generally disinterested in his new surroundings. The only thing to catch his interest in a sea of hormones is the mysterious Hannah (Rush) and her equal mysterious father, played by Jack Black. Zach develops a crush on Hannah, and at the same time, suspects that something menacing is going on next door.

Those suspicions grow as he hears screams next door. It even gets to the point that Hannah’s father refuses to acknowledge Hannah’s existence to other people. So while Zach’s mom chaperones a dance, he breaks into Hannah’s home. Inside he finds a book case with “Goosebumps” manuscripts. In fact, every “Goosebumps” manuscript. The typescripts are mysteriously locked up though. Zach quickly finds out why, as well as the fact that Hannah’s father is none other than the author of “Goosebumps”, R.L. Stine.

“Goosebumps” plays like “Night at the Museum” with monsters. All of Stine’s creations come to life and literally leap off the pages once the books are opened. Creatures, beasts, and mischief-makers spring to life and instantly, wreak havoc on the quiet rustic town of Greendale. Just like “Night of the Museum” did with group of oddballs, “Goosebumps” finds charm, laughs, and relatable warmth with its characters. The only thing burdening the legitimately good story within “Goosebumps” is the hectic pace at which it’s told and a lot of loose ends that never get resolved or explained.

Usually Jack Black would be chewing scenery and being raucous, but he manages to split up his best traits into various characters. He delivers a steady performance as Stine, who’s coping with the fact that he needs to deal with some inner demons. The side of Black that we’ve seen in “School of Rock” and “Tenacious D” are considerably mild, but still active in the voice work he provides for Stine’s monsters, Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy and Invisible Boy.

As a result of reading too many “Goosebumps” books and watching too many “Twilight Zone” episodes, I spotted all of the movie’s twists. A lot of that can also be attributed to my critical nature before stepping in the theater. That’s because I was ready for my childhood memories to be trashed on for a quick buck, but thankfully I was wrong. The mix of writers, who’ve worked on everything from “The People vs. Larry Flynt” to “American Horror Story” managed to find the sweet spot that cradles nostalgia and nurtures originality.

What “Goosebumps” does really well though, is create a story that manages to wink at “Goosebumps” fans, but also spin a story that’s understandable for someone who knows nothing about the book series. Kids, actual children and those young at heart, who are looking for a fun scary movie they can sink their teeth into, are in for a real Halloween treat with “Goosebumps” If the creators behind this movie were looking to dust off the books and reboot the series, they’ve succeeded.

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Film Review “99 Homes”

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon and Laura Dern
Directed By: Ramin Bahrani
Rated: R
Running Time: 112 minutes
Broad Green Pictures

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Rick Carver (Shannon) casually stares at the corpse of a man who has just committed suicide. His look of disgust isn’t because of the blood or gore he’s staring at, but how much it’s going to cost to clean it up. Carver is the embodiment of the greedy industrialist stereotype we’ve come to expect in movies, but there’s something more to Carver. He’s covetous in a very threatening way, but once that icy stare of his fades away, there’s an understandably human side to him.

Carver expertise is real estate. He’s found out every backhanded way to make money off the company he represents, the U.S. government, and the people he’s foreclosing on. He’s sadistically smart on how he handles himself in front of people he’s evicting. Everything he says is cold and calculated. Shannon brings an air of hostility to Carver without having to raise his voice. He also knows that what he does makes him hated. So he conceals a firearm, ready and willing to get it out if need be.

The latest person to cross an unfortunate path with Carver is Dennis Nash (Garfield). He’s a home builder by trade, but he’s without any homes to build in the Florida landscape. He lives in his childhood home with his mom, and his only son. Nash is the only legitimate revenue stream since his mom simply cuts hair out of their home. Nash is out of options, legally and financially. That’s when Carver comes knocking. Carver has an answer for all of Nash’s tears and angry outbursts as he has only two minutes to pack up everything and get out.

Nash is a guy who’s made a lot of bad choices and good luck has stayed far away from him. So it’s very ominous when Carver offers Nash some cold hard cash to clean out a home. The hardworking skill that Nash displays impresses Carver. Carver formulates a plan in his head, which “99 Homes” slowly reveals. Carver’s motives are inherently selfish, but reasonable. So Carver offers Nash more and more jobs, and sadly, Nash believes he has finally came across the good fortune that’s alluded him for long Nash’s reasoning for working for the man who kicked him out of his home is clear, he wants to create a comfortable life for his son.

“99 Homes” is the best performance I’ve ever seen from Garfield and it’s equally matched by Shannon, who’s displayed this kind of acting prowess in the past. Shannon and Garfield masterfully display their characters true nature through body language and without uttering a single word. Laura Dern adds to the mix with her performance as Nash’s mom. There aren’t any other standouts in terms of acting in “99 Homes”, but being able to watch Garfield match the performance he did in the “Social Network” is refreshing after the unwanted Spiderman movies.

Writer and director, Ramin Bahrini, provides a riveting story, albeit one that feels a bit stale. I’m not saying that there aren’t people like Carver still lurking around, but this feels like a story that would be more interesting right after the 2008 house marketing crash. What Bahrini does do to keep “99 Homes” from simply being an outlet of social commentary, is pump up an engaging drama with relevant dialogue. While the housing market crash will inevitably be a thing of the past, “99 Homes” finds a more intriguing story in how the incorruptible can be corrupted and how the corrupted are looking for a little virtue to hang their hat on.

 

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Film Review “Sicario”

Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro
Directed By: Denis Villeneuve
Rated: R
Running Time: 121 minutes
Lionsgate

Our Score: 5 out 5 Stars

From the first gunshot to the final frame, “Sicario” takes hold of that trepidation in the pit of your stomach and doesn’t let go. At times, it shakes that anxiety in your guts violently. At other times, it merely plays with it like a kitten. “Sicario” is a two hour intense ride through the battlegrounds of the Mexican Drug War. “Sicario” is merciless and unflinching in its perspective of the drug trafficking currently taking place at the United States southern border.

The film opens with Kate (Blunt), leading a mixed group of federal agents and local police in the raid of an Arizona home. What these law enforcements agents are looking for horrifically becomes clear once they discover the bodies of people in the walls of the home. It’s stated halfway through the film, and it’s actually a sad real fact, but raids like this are becoming more common without any end in sight. If anything, they’ve only gotten worse. Kate’s work is professional, clean, and by-the-books.

Her work attracts the attention of Matt (Brolin). He doesn’t seem important since he’s the only one in a meeting of law enforcement leaders and officials wearing civilian clothes. Matt wants Kate for a special assignment into the heart of Mexico, but he won’t reveal too much to her. Matt is clearly scheming and things are even more ominous for Kate as the stoic Alejandro (Del Toro) enters the picture. His arrival is unquestioned and without introduction, leaving Kate deeper in the dark. Along with Kate, we follow foreshadowing breadcrumbs cautiously, because just like her, we know there cannot be a good outcome.

Once everything comes to fruition and everything is revealed, it’s a fairly basic story. But with the right cast, the right direction, the perfect balances of themes, and blending all those together is what makes “Sicario” one of the best movies of the year. The exciting bliss we watch in “Sicario” comes down to director Denis Villeneuve. Without Villeneuve’s vision or his willingness to mold and shape “Sicario” into something more we would have been left with a run-of-the-mill action movie. Instead, Villeneuve has put together a slick, chilling thriller.

Just like in “Prisoners” and “Enemy,” Villeneuve is becoming a master of dread. Villeneuve harnesses a dense soundtrack, echoing our fears about what’s ahead, and buries it under unsettling close-up. Villeneuve has an eye for gorgeous establishing shots and has a keen instinct about what puts us on the edge of our seat. “Sicario” cleverly unnerves us as we closely follow characters that are armed to the teeth and ready to fire off some deadly shots.

Del Toro, Blunt, Brolin, and everyone else is spot on. Del Toro, like he usually does every once and awhile, reminds us why he’s an Oscar winner. Just his icy cold stare speaks miles about what kind of man Alejandro is. Blunt perfectly encapsulates Kate’s lone wolf strength at the beginning, but nurtures that slow grip of fear that inevitably paralyzes Kate. Meanwhile, Brolin handles Matt like an average Joe who has every little detail plotted out behind his childish quips.

The final thing that makes “Sicario” undeniably good is the ethical questions it asks. They’re proposed in a very unique way. “Sicario” bluntly states the first part of the question while letting the viewer ponder what the second half is. You may not know you were asked a question once the movie is over because you’ll still be frozen in its grasps. But once you leave the theater, you’ll definitely have something to ponder. And if history is any indication, along with Kate’s story, you won’t like the answer to that question.

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Film Review “Everest”

Starring: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa and Thomas M. Wright
Directed By: Baltasar Kormakur
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 121 minutes
Universal Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Often times in disaster movies, the power of nature is mocked or built up like some supernatural phenomenon. “San Andreas”, “Volcano” and any Roland Emmerich movie are prime examples of nature needing to be deadlier than it already is to captivate an audience, but the director and writers of “Everest” have realized something very few know. Nature is already a disturbing mystery that doesn’t need to create 100 foot high tidal waves or to spawn volcanoes in the middle of a sprawling suburb to have a profound impact.

“Everest” follows along the events of a deadly 1996 Everest expedition, that’s been the subject of many documentaries and books, and it was most likely a news firestorm when it happened. I was only eight at the time so my memory banks were being dedicated to learning fractions and the plot line to rudimentary cartoons. So if you remember this incident, you know there’s not going to be a happy ending and in all fairness, that’s what makes a disaster a disaster.

Competing expedition groups are traversing the world’s tallest mountain. Each group is made up of individuals with their own personal accomplishment to achieve. Rob Hall (Clarke) heads up Adventure Consultants while Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) heads a team called Mountain Madness. The groups are armed to the teeth with oxygen tanks and supplies. The journey, as expected, is a difficult one, but the real problems arise once they reach the summit.

The cinematography of “Everest” is nothing short of breathtaking. While most disaster movies rely heavily on CGI to make the unbelievable more believable; “Everest” uses CGI to make the believable even more bone chilling. Tension is so sparsely used that when it bubbles up, it’s acute. Knowing that the icy hands of death are ready adds to the suspense, especially for someone like me who had no previous knowledge of the events unfolding in this movie.

As for the true story aspect, my research reveals that “Everest” is fairly faithful. The most unbelievable moment of the movie for me was actually the most truthful to the actual events. So maybe that says something about film creators before who’ve abused the title of “based on a true story.” “Everest” has the emotional heft, but not the narrative weight to really convey a powerful message.

Its basic attempt is to have you shed a tear, but a better planned attack would have you leaving the theater pondering the existential meaning behind the deaths of these people. The articles I’ve looked up on the matter have raised questions that “Everest” never asks. In some regards, “Everest” is an expensive and star studded TV movie, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. In that light, “Everest” is sentimental storytelling at its finest. But I wouldn’t mind a message about the common man thinking he can trump nature with plastic oxygen tanks or how we just shouldn’t mess with things we’ll never understand. But as far as biographical disaster movies go, “Everest” has set a remarkably high bar.

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Film Review “The Visit”

Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 94
Universal Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Has M. Night Shyamalan set the bar so low for his movies over the past decade that anything above mediocre is seen as good? That’s a legitimate question I had to ask myself after leaving “The Visit” because I was generally shocked. I couldn’t remember the last time I had left a Shyamalan movie with positive notes to tell. So now a new question must be asked. Has Shyamalan redeemed himself for a decade’s worth of awful movies? No. But “The Visit” is a good start on that road to absolution.

It’s a real trick these days to come up with a new way to tell a found footage movie and for it to make sense. Becca (DeJonge) has an interest in filmmaking and plans on making a documentary for her mom (Kathryn Hahn). The documentary being made by the aspiring teenage filmmaker involves herself and her young brother, Tyler (Oxenbould), visiting their never before seen grandparents. All she knows is what her mom tells her. Becca’s mom says when she first became pregnant with her, an untold incident happened and the family members parted ways, never to speak again. But unluckily for them, the grandparents reached out to them online and wanted to see the grandkids that they’ve never laid eyes on. Sappy documentary gold.

Despite her hesitance, Becca’s mom allows them to go spend the week at the ol’ farmstead. Everything seems normal enough with their grandparents, Nana (Dunagan) and Pop Pop (McRobbie). The elderly couple once had their own individual careers, but moved on from that. Now they take care of a farm and volunteer at the area hospital. Nana has a knack for baked goods and Pop Pop seems like an old fashioned man who keeps busy maintaining the rustic farm. It’s only until their imposed bedtime of 9:30 at night do things really take a turn.

As each day passes, more and more troubling signs crop up and they become more severe as the week goes on. What seems like simple “grandma and grandpa are old” problems slowly unravels into something far more disturbing. As anyone growing up and staying the weekend with their grandparents know, there’s always some weird things that we don’t get that our grandparents do. But when the kids find Nana naked clawing at the walls at the dead of night, these disturbing incidents begin to imply something more sinister.

What Shyamalan has finally done, after a lot of trial and errors, is abandoned the way too serious tone for an engaging mix of laughs and scares. Someone must have told him that one of the best ways to scare an audience is to lull them into a state of safety by making them laugh. Nearly every jump scare is sandwiched between jokes, and those jokes are hits or misses, but I’m more hits than not. Without that chuckle, our defenses aren’t dropped and we instead focus on some of the weaker qualities of the movie, which “The Visit” is not without.

What made Shyamalan such a household name after the “Sixth Sense” was his trademark twist, the ability to tug at the heart strings, jump scares, and Lifetime movie jokes. He’s brought all that back, but his heartfelt message gets lost in the mix and doesn’t land as well as it should. What really helps sell the terror is Dunagan and McRobbie. Both turn in spectacular performances as the borderline senile and sincere grandparents to the children who seem captive by choice. Bonus points are also given when your child actors aren’t nauseating to listen to or watch.

“The Visit” has perfectly blended comedy and horror, but it finds an even balance. It doesn’t take long for an audience to laugh at silly old Nana before clinching the arm rests when she tells Becca a story that could easily be an allegory for hiding bodies at the bottom of the lake near the home. It’s definitely an odd feeling to give a recommendation for a Shyamalan movie, especially when speaking in the present tense. The much joked about director has finally realized that maybe the best way to win an audience back over is to include them in on the joke.

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Film Review “We Are Your Friends”

Starring: Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski and Wes Bently
Directed By: Max Joseph
Rated: R
Running Time: 96 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Unlike a lot of my male cohorts, I’m willing to admit I like Zac Efron. I think he’s very talented, but he’s been stuck with fodder that simply wants him shirtless and smiling. But I’ll admit those are two qualities that go hand-in-hand with his likeability and charm that he radiates on screen. Maybe Efron’s charm was just the right amount for me to enjoy the shoddy script that inhabits “We Are Your Friends”.

Cole (Efron) is an aspiring DJ, hoping to break out in the electronic dance music scene. He’s talented, but bogged down by his gang of friends which play like a trashy version of Vincent’s from “Entourage”. Mason (Jonny Weston) acts like his scumbag manager, but only maintaining the scumbag part. As for his other two friends, Squirrel (Alex Shaffer) and Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez), they’re relegated to mop up duty as simplistic drug dealers who are occasionally called upon to shift a subplot in a different direction.

All four have their own personal dreams and goals, aspiring towards a grand life. They all appear to have delusions of grandeur, but it’s never really explained why they feel like they’re life is building towards a life of fame. Cole’s trio of friends are so underdeveloped, you sometimes wonder why Cole would bother clinging to a bunch of lowlifes. The lack of details in Cole’s gang plays in later when the movie asks you to care.

But because Cole is genuinely the only one of the group with talent, he’s the only one that seems to move forward with his aspirations as he catches the attention of an already established DJ, James (Bently). James continues to live off a couple of one hit wonders, simply playing music that caters to his inebriated audience. Seeing the chance to try something new, James becomes a mentor to Cole, but the mentor role is complicated when Cole falls in love with James’ voluptuous live-in assistant/girlfriend/sex doll, Sophie (Ratajkowski).

Most of “We Are Your Friends” is predictable. It times it comes off as cheap when it steals a lot of music biography elements, but when it wants to it manages to handle a few things differently. At a certain point, Cole is told to find his own voice instead of using other people’s music samples in his work. I’m assuming this is advice director Max Joseph was told, but unlike Cole, he can’t follow that advice. Joseph appears to pick out his favorite clichés, weaving them in. Visually though, Joseph has a wonderful style when he wants one. He turns multiple scenes into music videos while adjusting the audio levels to match blasts of music with the adrenaline and the lows of sound with the raw emotion.

The ups and downs, like the music our main characters plays, are tolerable or repulsive, depending on your age. “We Are Your Friends” is definitely a movie catered towards Millennials that appreciate EDM and the scene, much like a Baby Boomer who watches a documentary on Woodstock. So maybe Efron’s charm isn’t what has me recommending “We Are Your Friends”, but maybe it’s because of my age and because I have yet to crest outside its target audience.

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