In the early morning of January 1, 2009, Oscar Grant III was fatally shot by the BART police at the Fruitvale station in Oakland California. The picture opens with actual cell-phone video of the killing taken by a bystander. It’s a compelling start to a story that I am very familiar with living in the Bay Area. What happens in the 24 hours leading up to that fateful encounter, is the subject of this heartbreaking chronicle.
First time director Ryan Coogler’s film is important because it upholds that an innocent life is something to hold sacred. On the surface Oscar was nothing special. He was just an ordinary man. Actually some could even contend he was much worse. Not an exemplary member of society, we see him as a liar, a cheater, a drug dealer, unemployed and as an ex-con. He also has a wife, a daughter and a mother – all of whom he loves dearly. Actor Michael B. Jordan does a good job at portraying Oscar Grant. We are drawn to him despite the fact that he is flawed. He is human. You care for this man. That is what makes the drama so effective. His loving relationship with his daughter (Ariana Neal), girlfriend Sophia (Melonie Diaz), and mother (Octavia Spencer) help humanize a man that might be viewed as merely a criminal at first glance.
Knowing how this ends actually gives weight to these dramatized events. When his mother encourages him to take the train because it’s safer than driving in traffic, the conversation resonates more. We get a glimpse of a passing BART train in the background one moment and the image is particularly haunting. Occasionally, director Coogler pushes too far. A scene where Oscar bonds with a well-to-do white man on New Year’s Eve feels like massaging the audience. See he likes white people! None of that is necessary because the ultimate message of injustice is unmistakable. Coogler shows that it’s not required for Oscar to have been a paragon of virtue for his life to have value. The point is that he had a right to live.
What went down in the East Bay Area early morning New Years Day in 2009 should have never occurred. Fruitvale Station covers a life needlessly destroyed by the people entrusted to protect it. The system failed. Through the course of one day we get a snapshot of Oscar Grant. The events, as presented here, will inspire anger, frustration but mostly sadness over a spirit recklessly taken away. Writer/director Ryan Coogler’s drama does not set out to deify this man. Oscar isn’t a saint, but he certainly isn’t a monster either. What keeps coming through each vignette is that he was human. His existence had purpose because he had a soul. In Coogler’s small-scale portrait, we get the presentation of an individual unfulfilled. A powerful film about an American tragedy.
For those keeping track, this the sixth installment in the X-Men film series and picks up where #3 X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) left off. In it our fearless hero the Wolverine–a.k.a. Logan–is confronted by the past as he experiences hallucinations of Jean Grey as well as the Nagasaki bombing of 1945. There he reflects back on a Japanese soldier he saved. Yashida is now a CEO dying of cancer and wants to return the favor with an interesting proposition.
Ever want to know more about the people who sing backup vocals on your favorite hit songs? No? Well to be quite honest, neither did I. Or so I thought. That’s the beauty of this documentary. 20 Feet From Stardom takes a subject of vague interest and makes it captivating. On display are the contributors that rarely get mentioned, save for the microscopic print of the liner notes on an album. It’s a fascinating watch. 20 Feet From Stardom doesn’t purport to tell the story of all supplementary vocalists. What it does do is delve into a sampling of the prolific talent that has been harmonizing on songs you’ve loved for years but never knew who sang those secondary parts.
When The Conjuring was slapped with an “R” rating, the producers couldn’t have bought better publicity. Setting out to make a PG-13 film, the picture earned the more restrictive classification, not on account of blood, gore, swearing, or sex – but because it was simply TOO SCARY to get anything less. The decision to leave things as they were worked. It had the highest debut for an original R rated movie ever. Even taking inflation into account, it still ranks up there with record holders like The Sixth Sense and What Lies Beneath. I must profess the strategy worked on me. Anticipation levels were off the charts and I was primed and ready to be scared out of my wits. To be honest, I found PG-13 fare like The Ring and Insidious to be far scarier. Of course such an assertion is highly debatable as it rests entirely on personal tastes. That’s not to say The Conjuring isn’t satisfying. It’s a smartly told, well acted tale that earns its scares legitimately.
She shot the wrong guy! – Me
They don’t get dumber than this. It has a primitive story (robots vs. monsters), explosive special effects and game actors willing to say or do anything to get a laugh. You’ve got to give Guillermo del Toro credit for persuading Hollywood to indulge his fanboy urges. He combines monsters, er uh excuse me Kaiju, robots, an international cast, a huge budget ($190 million!), and throws it all against the wall to sees what sticks.
When we last saw Felonious Gru, former super-villain, he had adopted three adorable orphan girls: Margo, Edith, and Agnes. They’ve formed their own surrogate family as he’s settled into a life of blissful domesticity. However, when a secret laboratory somewhere near the Arctic Circle, is lifted and taken by a large flying magnet, The Anti-Villain League (AVL) calls Gru out of retirement so he may help solve the case by thinking like a criminal. This is the basic outline of the tale, but Despicable Me 2 is a much more relaxed affair than its predecessor. The storytelling isn’t centered on advancing plot but rather focused completely on earning laughs. It’s almost Zen-like in its approach to humor.
Fast Film Reviews 