Archive for September, 2017

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Posted in Action, Adventure, Comedy, Thriller with tags on September 30, 2017 by Mark Hobin

kingsman_the_golden_circle_ver22STARS3I believe 2015’s Kingsman: The Secret Service was fine. I gave it a marginal recommendation but I wasn’t shouting my praise from the rooftops. I won’t rehash my thoughts but you can read them here. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the sequel to that hit. It stars Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, and Colin Firth. Yes you read the right, Firth is back. Mild spoiler if you haven’t seen the first film, but it shouldn’t have been possible for his character to appear in another film. This kind of underscores the screenwriters’ relationship with logic and reason: we don’t give a flying fig as to what makes sense. Director Matthew Vaughn is back as well and he’s co-writing the screenplay once again with Jane Goldman, the identical team that wrote the first. Given that this features the same cast and crew, it makes sense that The Golden Circle is equally enjoyable.

Matthew Vaughn’s aesthetic is to take the spy thriller, à la James Bond, and subvert it with sarcastic gloss drenched in nihilism. Let’s give credit where it’s due first. Both movies are based on the comic book series Kingsman, created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar. It’s a category already known for absurdity but Vaughn takes it a step further. He doesn’t present the genre seriously. He’s a cheeky adolescent-minded rascal that gets his kicks through shock value. One’s pleasure is going to rely on how much you share his point of view. Those who delight in parody will be captivated. Moviegoers searching for depth won’t find it here. Expect well-choreographed fight sequences, extreme violence, vulgar discourse, and far-fetched gadgets. It’s a silly overblown hyper-violent fun fest that entertains as it plays. Yet it quickly evaporates from the mind a week later.

I’m already halfway through my review and I haven’t even mentioned what the story is about. The capricious details of the plot are merely an excuse to present random acts of mayhem but I’ll elaborate. It’s a year later and our superspy hero Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) must do battle with Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), a billionaire drug lord looking to decriminalize her enterprise by bullying the United States into legalizing drugs. She’s an over-the-top personality who commands a couple of robotic dogs while championing a love for campy 50s style. She obtains the names and addresses of everyone in the UK Kingsman organization. You may remember that the undercover headquarters of the team of spies was housed as a society of Savile Row tailors. The film opens with a major attack from rejected Kingsman recruit, Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft). Virtually everyone is eliminated leaving only Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong) left. Oh and his mentor Harry Hart (Colin Firth) who has apparently survived. Nothing is what it seems. The dead can be brought back to life. This is essentially a cartoon after all. In their quest to save the world, they discover U.S. allies and meet agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal). Together they join forces and attempt to stop the villainous Poppy Adams and her evil plans.

If you subscribe to the mantra that bigger is better, then The Golden Circle may just be what you crave. As far as action is concerned, director Matthew Vaughn is always operating at 100%. There are fight scenes galore and they feature enough brutality to highlight 3 or 4 spy films. There’s a cast of new stars in this too. Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges all show up. Each has a varying degree of involvement. Julianne Moore is in it so much that this could have been called “The Poppy Show.” She might even have more screen time than Taron Edgerton. Conversely, Channing Tatum is in it so briefly that if you use the restroom during his scene, you might miss his appearance. There’s a lot going on here. The mere sight of Elton John is enough to elicit at least a few chuckles. At 2 hours 21 minutes, it is overstuffed. It starts to wear out its welcome before it’s over. However, there’s still a great deal to enjoy. It doesn’t break any new ground, but if you’re looking for a louder, more expensive spectacle, then you’ll be comfortably entertained.

9-21-17

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Mother!

Posted in Drama, Horror, Mystery with tags on September 20, 2017 by Mark Hobin

mother_ver5STARS4“World in My Eyes” was a hit song by Depeche Mode back in 1990. The lyics are notably apropos in this context. “Let me take you on a trip” it began, but these words could just as easily been uttered by Darren Aronofsky. He approaches the movie landscape in very much the same way. His cinematic vision is to take the viewer on a trip through a heretofore unexplored world. Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan – these are not easily digestible films. His latest is Mother! It’s also an idiosyncratic foray through style right down to the lowercase ‘m’ and exclamation point that usually delineates the title whenever it’s in print. (Not here though. I’m still going to capitalize the title of a film.)  This drama might be his most bizarre and from the online discussion, perhaps the hardest to like. Nonetheless, I found this bold excursion a captivating decent into insanity. It’s such a gradual progression that I was unprepared to where he ultimately took me. It’s not an easy trip but it is a fascinating one.

WARNING: This is the type of movie that plays better the less you know. Conversely, the more you read, the less befuddled you’ll be. With that said, I certainly won’t explicate the chronicle in detail. I don’t believe there is a definitive explanation anyway. I’ve heard several interpretations and honestly, they all have merit. Besides, this is a film review, not a thesis. Yet Mother! is just the kind of achievement on which you could write a dissertation. As such, to review it properly, I will make allusions to other works that may take away some of the mystery. If you prefer to go in cold (and you like the same movies I like) then stop reading now and just go see it, because this earns my recommendation.

Mother! tells the story of an unnamed couple who are refurbishing a Victorian mansion in the countryside. He (Javier Bardem) is a poet and his wife (Jennifer Lawrence), is a homemaker. She is the mother of the title, renovating the home and making it beautiful. Their tranquil existence is soon disturbed by the arrival of a man (Ed Harris) looking for a place to stay. He thinks their home is a bed and breakfast. The poet is accommodating and mother defers to her husband’s wishes. The next day, the man’s wife shows up also looking to stay. Their presence is an irritant to the mother but the poet seems to welcome their company. Apparently, the strangers are fans of the poet’s writing. Nevertheless, they impose a possessive influence over their home. Their occupation becomes even more irritating when the two sons of their guests show up as well. From there, things begin to deteriorate rapidly.

Mother! initially, unfolds like a play with the four principals forming sort of a Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? quartet in the first half. Jennifer Lawrence is the doting wife. Javier Bardem is her distant, moody husband. At first, he is suffering from writer’s block. He’s seemingly insensitive to his spouse’s objections to these intruders. Things only get worse as his character becomes more and more celebrated. He takes and takes from his wife in a way that makes the observer uncomfortable. Yet Jennifer Lawrence continues to acquiesce to her husband’s wishes. Her doe-eyed demeanor may irritate viewers who judge her behavior through a feminist lens. I was reminded of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Ed Harris is a bit of an enigma as the man that enters their life. Michelle Pfeiffer is deliciously entertaining as his inquisitive wife. She asks intrusive questions, then makes herself at home with a familiarity that is vexing.

Mother! is a production that gets under your skin and it’s meant to be troubling and confusing. Aronofsky’s longtime cinematographer Matthew Libatique creates an unsettling vision for his protagonist. Jennifer Lawrence is frequently shot in close up. Other times the camera follows over her shoulder for 360 degree shots that put us in her shoes. The camera feels permanently attached to her. We see her point of view as she makes her way throughout this living space. Her disorientation is our own. In the first half, the setting is bereft of vibrant colors. The environment is gray and washed out, but as things escalate the hues steadily grow more vivid. Interestingly, there is no music. Initially, composer Jóhann Jóhannsson did compose a score. However, Aronofsky ultimately decided a lack of musical cues was preferable. Instead, the pair worked together in creating what they called a sound design. The absence of musical cues obfuscates our perception. How are we to feel? Without the score, it forces you to rely on Jennifer Lawrence’s character for narrative direction.

At a superficial glance, Mother! is a horror film, but it’s not scary in the classic sense. It’s unsettling. Like Roman Polanski’s Repulsion or Rosemary’s Baby, it reveals the painful undoing of a woman and her psyche. Even the film poster recalls the latter work.  Although as things devolve it’s clear there are larger issues at play. What begins as spare and spartan becomes dense and elaborate. An orderly tranquility is replaced by a surreal nightmare. The narrative transforms into a Hieronymus Bosch painting come to life. The pastiche of images gets a bit chaotic but it’s never less than a visually arresting work of grandeur. Mother! is a rich tapestry of images that will haunt your dreams. A blazing inferno is the very first image and it ends in a similar fashion. In between, we get a beating heart that bubbles up in the toilet bowl, a sickly man with an open wound, and floorboards that ooze blood. Everything converges in a chaotic finale that will leave some viewers exhilarated while others will jeer the screen. Mother! doesn’t “play well with others.” As a narrative, it’s socially ill-tempered. It’s also a meditative examination open to analysis.  It’s ideologically abstract enough to allow for many interpretations. Therein lies the genius of this tale.  It’s something to see with other people so you can discuss. It’s a cerebral experience and one that I appreciated for its audacity.

09-14-17

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Patti Cake$

Posted in Drama, Music, Uncategorized with tags on September 14, 2017 by Mark Hobin

patti_cakesSTARS4Allow me to sing the praises of a film nobody saw. I’ll play a little defense first though. Patti Cake$ doesn’t present an original plot and chances are if you’ve seen any showbiz tale, you’ll know where this is headed. I could summarize the premise with a sentimental slogan: rags to riches, a triumph of the spirit, follow your dreams. Take your pick.  They all apply. Even the hip-hop milieu doesn’t really make this unique. Hustle & Flow and 8 Mile did this too. That still doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. We already know pizza tastes good and yet we still keep eating it. It’s all about the ingredient and Patti Cake$ is made from dope fresh ingredients.

A New Jersey woman seeks fame and fortune as a rapper. As Patti Cake$, one of her many aliases, this heavyset white girl comes from humble beginnings. She’s a bartender at the local watering hole. Actress Danielle Macdonald is the arrival of an exciting new talent. As Patricia Dombrowski, the Australian actress slips into the role of this American girl like she’s lived it all her life. Patti has a facility for rhyming. She is a naturally charismatic performer. An impromptu rap battle in a parking lot is a lively game of one-upmanship. Her vocal defeat of a bully in a war of words is truly rousing. It’s fun to watch this plus size talent put one over on her critics. We truly care about her and that’s perhaps the key component as to why this film is so successful. She also can rap with style and skill throwing down beats with the facility of a pro. You never question her authenticity as an artist.

Patti is surrounded by an appealing cast. Her best friend is Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay). His announcement of her entrance over the loudspeaker at the pharmacy where he works is an amusing bit. He calls her Killa P but her local haters call her Dumbo, a cruel shortening of her last name. Nihilist punk performance artist Basterd, the Antichrist (Mamoudou Athie) unexpectedly becomes a member of their inner circle later on. He conveys a lot by saying very little. There’s also Patti’s mother Barb. She often drops by the bar where Patti is working.  She always has a few shots and then she sings for the patrons. New York cabaret performer and comedian Bridget Everett plays a part that invites both admiration and pity.  You see she also once had dreams of being an entertainer as well.  Barb has a great voice but her musical sets usually end with her in the bathroom, head over the toilet bowl.  Barb’s mother, who Patti’s calls Nana, lives with them as well. She’s memorably portrayed by Cathy Moriarty, who was Vicki LaMotta in Raging Bull.

There’ a reason why these inspirational stories keep getting made. When they’re good, they inspire the soul. Patti Cake$ has heart, joy, and emotional heft.  This is simply a heartwarming story about woman becomes a rapper. The tale is predictable, but it’s done as well as any I’ve seen detailing this kind underdog tale. A key element is the music. The songs are fantastic. Her rag tag group of friends come together to make her debut CD, yes a CD, this girl is old school. The film does a great job at showing the creative process. The way the songs come together is very organic. Even her grandmother has some input. “PBNJ” is the standout cut but “Tuff Love” is the climactic song that underscores an emotionally poignant finale. I will concede rap may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, it’s difficult not to get caught up in this young woman’s journey. There’s something rather affecting about this unassuming hero. It’s hard not to root for the longshot. I was really taken by Danielle Macdonald as this young woman. I hope to see much more from this remarkable actress.

8-31-17

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It

Posted in Drama, Horror with tags on September 9, 2017 by Mark Hobin

itSTARS2The sentimental nostalgia for the childhood age has often been romanticized to edifying effect in the movies. Take a group of charismatic kids in a small town and have them bond during the summer united over a common objective. They’re linked by their “loser” status and a distrust of adults that don’t support them. The Netflix TV series Stranger Things mined this construct recently. Certain classics like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, and Stand By Me, did this incredibly well. The latter, appropriately enough, was also based on a story by Stephen King. Other films do this really badly, which brings us to the latest Stephen King adaptation.

It is a chronicle frustratingly lacking in substance. Who or rather what “It” is, is kept somewhat ambiguous. There isn’t any explanation as to how he came to be. He simply exists. He appears as a circus clown named Pennywise to six-year-old Georgie Denbrough (Jackson Robert Scott) when the paper boat he’s floating sails down the gutter. The clown peering from the sewer as a set of glowing yellow eyes. It’s an effective image and the most creepy bit in the whole doggone story. Soon after little Georgie goes missing. His brother Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) ends up leading a gang of outsiders who go in search of the missing boy. As it shuffles along, each child will each have their own encounter with Pennywise.

The youngsters aren’t personalities so much as archetypes. There’s Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), the overweight boy, Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), the hypochondriac who believes he has asthma, Richie (Finn Wolfhard) the foul mouthed one who wears glasses, the Jewish kid Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) and the lone girl, Beverly ( Sophia Lillis), on whom Eddie has a crush. Homeschooled Mike (Chosen Jacobs) is the only black kid. He’s the last to join the group when the gang saves him from local bullies in a rock fight. These seven misfits eventually band together and refer to themselves as “The Losers Club.” It’s sad that each one can so easily be reduced to a physical trait but that’s the depth of characterization this screenplay affords us. The story lacks the desire to slowly develop characters with nuanced personalities that engender our sympathy.  Interestingly three people (Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman) are credited with this adaptation.

There’s a good reason that the title is denoted as “It” and not “Him” for Pennywise is actually a shape-shifting entity that manifests itself as whatever scares you most. For most of the adventure, we get the clown, a part embodied by Bill Skarsgård that also relies on CGI and sonically enhanced vocals. At various times, the creature becomes other things: a headless boy, a creepy painting come to life and a rotting leper that chases Eddie. One particularly bizarre scene has Beverly’s own hair pulling her toward the sink drain as she is covered in an eruption of blood that coats the bathroom. A roomful of blood recalls The Shining. That was scary. It is not. For all his shape-shifting tendencies, we rarely see Pennywise kill anyone which makes him pretty ineffective. Tim Curry’s portrayal in the made for TV movie is iconic at this point. Bill Skarsgård’s version, by comparison, is sorely lacking.

It is a fable about children. So if you can’t be frightening, why not go for the emotion? Set in 1989 in the town of Derry, Maine, the setup would be the perfect setting for a PG rated nostalgic amalgamation of amiable moppets who triumph over a bad clown in an uplifting tale. Except it’s an R rated trudge through the muck of very real world evil. The little ones are surrounded by a distressing lot of sociopaths with behavioral disorders. The town bullies are disturbingly sadistic. Their leader Henry (Nicholas Hamilton) carves his initials in Ben’s portly stomach. The parents are either apathetic, callous or abusive. Beverly’s father is prone to lustful advances that suggest he is a pedophile. A leering pharmacist makes lascivious comments toward the same girl. If only Pennywise the clown was half as scary as the congregation of adults in this community. What a collection of reprobates.

It is supremely unfocused. Apparently, Argentine film director Andrés Muschietti thinks more is more. This dismal account is a disorganized jumble of stock characters and situations. The developments are strung together loosely without the willingness to captivate the audience. As a result, the vignettes just feel like an assemblage of horror cliches haphazardly thrown together. The narrative lacks the patience to allow the plot to slowly evolve organically – a key component in establishing an engaging story.  It becomes an episodic sequence of “so this happened and then this happened” and on to the end. As a result, this so-called “scary movie” never becomes anything even remotely terrifying.

Where It truly works best is in the humor department where the jokes do add a much-needed levity. A running gag involving boy band New Kids on the Block is very funny. Unfortunately, the laughs are a temporary respite from a mostly dour tale. It is a really ugly film. A stridently R rated, kid cussing, blood gushing mess with innocent children at the center. The juxtaposition makes you feel dirty. I get that it’s supposed to detail unpleasant things. It’s a horror movie. But even the scariest flicks contrast all the negativity with a glimmer of optimism underneath. The saga fails to gives us enough hope. I wasn’t scared but the atmosphere did make me feel icky though. I wanted to take a harsh shower when I got home to scrub off the contamination.

09-07-17

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Good Time

Posted in Crime, Drama, Thriller with tags on September 6, 2017 by Mark Hobin

good_time_ver3STARS4Good Time doesn’t waste any time getting started — although it begins quietly enough. Nick Nikas (Benny Safdie) is in a therapy session with a psychiatrist (Peter Verby). He has an intellectual disability, but the doctor’s series of questions have an unnecessarily patronizing tone. Just as the discussion gradually causes Nick to get agitated, his brother Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson) bursts into the room and takes him away from the environment. Next thing you realize, the two boys are robbing a bank.

Good Time is a production that feels alive. It’s a dynamic experience of dialogue and mood. A dark electronic soundtrack is provided by Daniel Lopatin, better known as Oneohtrix Point Never. If you need a descriptive reference point, think Vangelis’ work on Blade Runner. Hand-held but steady camera work by Sean Price Williams reinforces an immediacy to the proceedings. I was so immediately immersed into the world of Good Time that the moment the opening credits finally began flashing across the screen, they felt like an interruption. I was fully engrossed in the crime thriller from the get-go.

Good Time is a powerfully constructed character study from brothers Josh and Benny Safdie. The latter of whom portrays the aforementioned Nick. The Safdie brothers are rising talents amid the indie film scene of New York. Despite their still relative anonymity in the mainstream, they have a slew of credits to their name. I was surprised to learn this is actually their fourth movie. Their output also includes numerous shorts as well as the documentary Lenny Cooke. Good Time is the follow-up to their 2014 drama Heaven Knows What. You are forgiven if you’ve never heard of it. That feature showed in a mere 14 theaters at its widest distribution.  Granted they aren’t household names like the Coen brothers yet, but given their flair for telling a captivating story, that distinction would seem like an eventual inevitability.

Robert Pattinson is perhaps forever linked to the Twilight series, but with Good Time, he does more to make you forget the role of Edward Cullen than he ever has before. He looks offbeat – gaunt with sunken eyes and pasty skin.  He sports ragged, greasy hair.  First it’s brown, then dyed blonde.   He acts different too. His rabid performance as Connie Nikas is an actor reborn as a personality motivated by an all consuming devotion to his brother. When their bank heist goes awry, Nick is arrested while he is not. Connie’s focus becomes raising bail for his sibling so he can get him out. What follows is the personal odyssey of an individual that encounters one setback after another. The narrative is driven forward by the sympathetic objective of a desperate criminal with cunning street smarts.

Robert Pattinson is mesmerizing as Connie. He propels the adventure, but his interactions with other people are key. Connie’s frenzied desire to free Nick from jail has a galvanizing effect. Connie is a user and his loyalty to brother Nick inspires his manipulation of other people. This brings us to the supporting cast, an ensemble almost as engrossing as the lead protagonist. There’s Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) as his girlfriend, Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) as a night shift Security Guard, Taliah Webster (in her film debut) as a helpful teenage girl, and Buddy Duress (the Safdie brothers’ own Heaven Knows What) as a fellow criminal who is inadvertently ensnared into Connie’s plight. All of these people become enmeshed in his turbulent web of emotional desperation. Connie Nikas may not be someone to admire, but he’s someone with which to be fascinated.

8-26-17

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