The Reel World

In 2010 there was a little film called Winter’s Bone that came out; it didn’t make a splash at the box office, but it was one of the critical darlings of that year.  For many it was the first time people got to see Jennifer Lawrence on screen, and it’s safe to say it is because of that film she is the star that she is today.  I remember first seeing Winter’s Bone and being so floored by the film I immediately watched it again, and I had to know who it was that had directed the film. Debra Granik was the woman responsible for the film. It was a name I had never heard before, but it was one I’d be on the lookout for in the following years. Though she did a documentary between projects, it seems the wait is finally over as Leave No Trace is about to hit the big screen.
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So the director had my undivided attention until he went completely sideways. I mean, I was engaged; I was feeling the message behind the film. I found the characters to be original and the things that they had to say were unlike anything I had seen in recent years. Not to mention that opening scene was the perfect way to bring the audience into this world; and then it all came crashing down. Despite this disappointment, Sorry to Bother You remains among one of the most creative cinematic experiences that I had this year. I wanted very much to love the film, but sadly I can’t say that. I liked it a lot, especially the first half. It is the kind of film that was likely the gem of the film festival circuit. The number one slot of box office will be out of reach for it, though.
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Earlier this summer, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was turned upside down in a snap. Avengers: Infinity War was the culmination of 10 years worth of origin stories and world-building. That blockbuster featured (almost) every MCU hero in the galaxy, universe-spanning stakes, and an unforgettable cliffhanger. So you can excuse Marvel for scaling things back (waaaaay back) with its next entry. Of course, any superhero flick that came immediately after Infinity War was going to feel small by comparison, so who better to take on that task than the tiniest hero of them all?
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“This is the greatest s— show on Earth!”

The First Purge arrives in theaters a little more than five years after the (lowercase) first Purge rampaged into moviegoers’ consciousness as a nasty bit of R-rated, summer blockbuster counterprogramming. The movies are obviously quite popular, but I’ve never felt that any of them fully lived up to the killer concept at the center of this franchise. Unfortunately, that still holds true for The First Purge, which had a chance to deviate from the established formula in a variety of interesting ways, but ends up playing a lot like The First Three Purges.
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“Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?”

By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can’t please all of any film’s diehard fans, and it’s hard to continue to deliver on the formula’s expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original. That’s certainly all been true of this franchise. When Jurassic World set all kinds of box office records three years ago, it appeared that those entrusted with this franchise had found a way to turn it around.
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“You’re not good…you’re super.”

For a while, it honestly felt like Disney/Pixar was messing with us. When The Incredibles swooped into theaters in 2004, it was simultaneously one of the best animated/action/superhero movies I’d ever seen. Plenty of people shared that opinion, so a sequel seemed like a no-brainer. That’s why it seemed like a cruel joke when we got not one but two forgettable Cars sequels before The Incredibles got a chance to suit up again. Guess what…the wait is officially over!
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“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. A beautiful day for a neighbor. Could you be mine?
Would you be mine?”

Anyone who was a kid from the 1960’s to the 1990’s and beyond recognizes Mr. Rogers and his Neighbor Song. The man defined children’s programming for television, and he did so from a small studio tucked away in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania for almost 40 years.
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“It’s not just for profit. It’s for revenge. It’s a twofer.”

Hollywood has been making a greater effort these days to add some diversity to their film casts. From minorities to women, this has been a year of unprecedented changes in the makeup of so many films. One of the new trends in this effort is to remake/re-imagine/reboot an already established franchise with a gender-switched cast. The results have been somewhat mixed. The female Ghostbusters film was a complete disappointment. And while it might be easy to blame the female cast, the issues go much deeper than that.
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There has been so much hype around Hereditary since its debut at Sundance that by the time I got to watch it, I didn’t believe it was possible to live up to this hype. For months I’ve followed this film, hearing it being compared to The Exorcist and being proclaimed the scariest film of all time. I read these things and all I can think is they are simply setting this film up for disaster at the box office, because it’s hard to believe a film could ever be this good.  Personally, The Exorcist is my favorite horror film. It’s stood the test of time, and while for audiences of today the film may not seem so scary, for me it was the notion of how it could all really happen that got under my skin.
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“Plenty of people out there to patch up the good guys…”

We’ve definitely gotten more than our fair share of movies and TV shows focusing on the lives of heroic doctors who heal common folk. Heck, even superheroes have someone like Night Nurse to tend to their more serious nicks and bruises. But what about less savory fictional characters…aren’t big screen bad guys entitled to quality health care too?! Hotel Artemis, the star-studded directorial debut of screenwriter Drew Pearce, answers that question with flair and the appropriate playfulness.
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When it comes to Paul Schrader, I feel the argument can be made that he is the greatest American screenwriter.  I know it’s a bold statement, but when you look over his credits that include Taxi Driver, Rolling Thunder, Hardcore, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and so many others, I feel there just isn’t anyone out there who can compete.  Lately, though, he’s seemed to have had a difficult time recapturing that greatness. There has even been a part of me that has felt that perhaps I should give up on hoping he’ll crank out one more great film and simply appreciate the filmography he’s delivered us cinema fans over the years.
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This grouping from Film Movement has been my favorite to date. The theme that ties these films together is what I would label as “art as process.” Each film revolves around the philosophies of making, practicing, refining, and reflecting upon one’s own art. Featuring one narrative and two documentaries, this grouping really foregrounds the importance of the messiness when it comes to process. In order to be a true artist, a true expert in your craft, you can’t be afraid to get messy: to fail before persevering. My Art, The Paris Opera, and Conduct! Every Move Counts each share an appreciation for failure and the seeds of success it plants within aspiring artists, both young and old.
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So Negative excellently exemplifies the importance of respecting a person privacy as our main character finds himself inadvertently drawn into a world of spies and drug cartel all thanks to the act of snapping a simple photo. Katia Winter and Simon Quarterman star as this duo thrown together and forced to rely on one another to survive. This thriller takes a minute to build traction, but still manages to entertain. However, winter tends to be very monotone and soft-spoken, so you will need to have to volume up to catch some of her dialogue.
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“A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…”

Yes, those lines open this Star Wars story, because the filmmakers want to be sure you know what you’re watching. This is Star Wars. Just in case there was anyone at all in the audience who had no idea they just bought a ticket to Star Wars. If he were dead, George Lucas would be rolling over in his grave. Instead, maybe he’s just having some restless nights with little sleep. It is Star Wars. And that means there will be a droid as a main character, space battles, and some good old fashioned one-reel-serial-days adventure.
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“So dark. You sure you’re not from the DC universe?” 

I’ve said many times in these pages that expectations can kill. That might have been more true for Deadpool 2 than any other film I’ve seen since the re-launch of Star Wars. The first movie didn’t push boundaries. It obliterated the boundaries and kept on going. Fans had certainly been ripe for a raunchy R-rated superhero film, and the box office for Deadpool certainly proved that out by bringing in nearly a half a billion bucks. For a superhero film that might seem like small change, but for what was essentially a comedy, it was awesome money and demanded a sequel before the first run was over at the multiplexes
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It’s an actioner with good special effects, and the setting for the flick is outstanding, but Breaking In is just another robbery-gone-bad film at the hands of a very upset mother.  Much like Kidnap where Halle Berry goes berserk because her son gets taken when her car is stolen, here Gabrielle Union turns into a determined killer mom to get her children free from robbers. Unfortunately there’ve been several movies with a similar plot, but in case you haven’t seen one, this movie should keep you on your toes.
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This Melissa McCarthy film flew completely under the radar for me, with me only hearing a few whispers about it. Ironically, I expected to see her in more films following the conclusion of Mike and Molly. Oh well, Life of the Party will have to suffice. Though it was not as entertaining as The Heat or Spy, it had its moments and exudes the charm that McCarthy has become famous for. I’m sure many of you are like: a movie about going back to college? it’s been done. Not by Melissa McCarthy.
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“Goodtime Charlie’s got the blues.”

Every once and again a film comes along that you can’t quite find the right label to describe. It doesn’t want to fit in any particular genre or category. Andrew Haigh appears to be the kind of director who thrives on that kind of a film. He received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for 45 Years, and while I don’t expect there will be any Oscar notice for Lean On Pete, it’s the kind of film that deserves more attention than it’s likely to get, including at the box office.
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“Thanos Is Coming…”

Whenever a filmmaker is doing a middle film in a trilogy, or merely a film that’s intended to be a companion film in a series, they often talk about attempting to capture The Empire Strikes Back. For years it’s been the standard-bearer for anyone trying to end a blockbuster with a cliffhanger knowing it might be years before the ending is resolved for the audience. That’s harder to do today than it was in the 1980’s. I often say that the only thing wrong with instant gratification is that it simply takes too darn long. The Avengers: Infinity War is exactly that kind of film. It ends with huge elements left up in the air, but at least we’ll only have to wait a year for its resolution.
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I’m going to go ahead and say Super Troopers is without a doubt one of my favorite comedies of all time.  Sure I know many will disagree with me, and that’s fine.  Since I first saw their film back in 2002 when I got the DVD I was always excited to see what would come next from the Broken Lizard comedy troop.  There was Club Dread which induced a few chuckles as they tackled the slasher genre, and then they had Beerfest which was pretty funny but simply didn’t hold up to their performances as Vermont’s Highway Patrolmen.  The antics from the first film are simply classic to me, and the film is something I manage to quote from on a weekly basis amongst friends and when I hear that someone has managed to go all these years without experiencing the film it’s something I feel the need to remedy immediately.
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Captivating, creepy, and chilling, the supernatural thriller Truth or Dare takes you on a never-ending journey of death.  Much like other horror films that have perfected the formula for surprise and contagious emotional terror, this film has it all bundled tightly and calculating to transfix the audience into believing. If you saw the films It Follows, The Ring, and the Final Destination series, you’ll relive the sensations those films made way beyond leaving the theater.
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Brad Anderson is a television actor who has puttered around that industry going back to David Simon’s Homicide: Life On The Streets and The Wire. This is pretty much his first feature film opportunity in the director’s chair, and Beirut certainly shows that he has a lot of talent… as a television director. No question the chops are there, but the framing and pacing of Beirut suffers from a kind of small thinking that fails to keep one’s attention for very long. He hasn’t learned how to take advantage of large set pieces and exotic locations to expand the experience for his audience. Some will believe I’m talking about action or the kind of cheap thrills that sell tickets, but that’s not exactly my point.
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Bold and incredibly compelling, the movie Chappaquiddick is a “tell all” with a lot of authority.  Much like last year’s The Post, it tells its story pulling no punches, playing out the characters and holding nothing back.  Although I’m familiar with the incident, many of the facts were clouded, squashed, or lost due to current events at the time.  If you liked The Post, then here’s a film that will enlighten you and make you cringe. In 1969 about one year after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy while he was touring for votes to be nominated for President, his brother Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) was already thinking about his chance at the highest position in America. On the fateful night of July 18, however, things ran amok, taking him out of any chance for the Presidency. 
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You might call me jaded, but I am pretty disappointed by the state of horror movies. It’s not just the last few years. The truth is I haven’t seen 10 really good horror movies in over a decade. Now that I’ve had a chance to see A Quiet Place, that number isn’t going up. A Quiet Place is not a really good horror movie. It ends up making a lot of the same mistakes that filmmakers think define a horror film in the modern age. It relies too heavily on jump scares and characters who do some of the most idiotic things, thus placing them in a somewhat self-created dangerous situation. But I will make the argument that A Quiet Place is still a pretty good horror film because of a rather clever and unique concept and a filming process that allows us care for these characters more than the usual horror film red shirt fodder that too often leaves me rooting for the monster in a Darwin-like weed-out-the-gene-pool kind of way.
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Like so many others, when I read the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline I simply fell in love with the nostalgic ride through the 80’s, all thanks to the virtual reality world called The Oasis.  From start to finish it was a book filled with pop culture references that would make film and video game geeks squeal with delight, and it was no surprise that the book was a hit and would be turned into a film.  There were only two names I could think of that could ever come close to making this film a reality: Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg.  With Spielberg involved, he was the only person I could imagine that had the clout to get all the licensing rights needed to pull this adaption, but still the biggest question I had was does Spielberg still have it in him?
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