The Reel World

“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!

"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. Now Fred Rogers is the subject of a documentary by Morgan Neville, who has previously tackled such musical personalities as Keith Richards, Charlie Pride, and Johnny Cash. But Fred Rogers is such a different kind of subject that this would appear an almost impossible kind of documentary to pull off, or at least make interesting. I attended more out of curiosity and fond memories of the man and his show. I guess I was expecting something to speak more to the memories of my inner child than my outward adult. The surprise here is that Won't You Be My Neighbor successfully makes contact with both, and I found this impossible documentary to be one of the most compelling films I've seen in a while.

"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. Now the Ocean's franchise has decided to play in that territory with better results. Ocean's 8 delivers the familiar formula of the Steven Soderbergh remake trilogy of the original Rat-Pack film but with an all-girl heist crew. The film is still a bit of a disappointment in some ways, but it's a much better ride than Ghostbusters by a long mile, and again the flaws have little to do with the cast or the gender-swapped model.

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.  As I came out of the screening of Hereditary and was scribbling some notes down about the film, I realized how desperately I wanted to rewatch this film to get a better grip on it. As more time as passed, I’ve found this movie has stuck with me for the past week for a variety of reasons, and while I’m not ready to call this film a masterpiece, I can say that it is a film that has made an impact on me that I haven’t experienced for some time.

While Hereditary is being embraced as a horror film, the strength of this film comes from the very real family dynamic we see at the start of the film as we watch them as they deal with the loss of Ellen, the family matriarch.  Ellen’s daughter Annie (Toni Collette) Graham is doing her best to keep her emotions in check as she goes through the motions from the funeral service to their return home where Ellen had stayed with them.  Steve (Gabriel Byrne) plays the part of the dutiful husband who does what he can to support his wife while also looking out for the kids. Then there is their eldest son, Peter (Alex Wolff), who is your typical teen who enjoys smoking pot, and then there is Charlie (Milly Shapiro), their daughter, who had a close relationship with Ellen, though it’s a bit difficult at times to see how she is struggling with the loss of her grandmother.  While there are other characters who come in and out over the course of the film, the focus is on the core family unit, which was a smart play.

“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.

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. Paul Schrader, despite having some classic titles to his name is still a writer and a director that isn’t for everyone.  His films typically are dark in tone and typically shine a light onto the underbelly of society that most would prefer not to know about.  It’s his fearlessness in tackling these subjects that has made me a fan of his for years, so when the opportunity to see First Reformed came along, I didn’t hesitate; this was a screening I couldn’t miss.

As the film opens, we get a long shot that pushes in to an old church; we quickly find out the church is named First Reformed.  Inside we meet Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) as he is delivering a sermon to a very sparse crowd of parishioners.  It doesn’t take long to realize that Toller is a damaged man, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  We get insight into the Reverend’s thoughts through his journal entries that he writes and are narrated for us.  Things get moving when Mary (Amanda Seyfried) approaches Toller after a service and requests he speak with her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger), who she fears wants her to have an abortion.

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.

First in the lineup, My Art, is a love letter to the cinema and the overall process of art. Written, directed, and starring Laurie Simmons, the film feels somewhat autobiographical. Perhaps the character, Ellie (played by Simmons), may not be an exact replica of Simmons, but their likeness in age and the film’s message of struggling to maintain relevance in an art scene offer what I would like to consider a personal touch. The way in which Ellie refines her work is by recreating classic films that star herself and two other actors nearing her age, with an old video camera. While I didn’t really fall in love with the film given its pacing, I couldn’t stop thinking about the implications that Simmons puts forward with this simple narrative: the naïve exploration of “new art” through an unconscious use of aging media. For example, Ellie is an elderly woman recreating films that inspired her to become an artist when she was young, but now she returns to that nostalgic feeling with older “new” technology in order to record it (digital video has largely replaced film in many cases, but the digital video camera she is using is old and struggling to find its place, just like her character). So much of the film plays upon this tension that it propels the audience through the pockets of narrative that seem to lag.

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.

All he did was take her picture. This seemingly innocent act, brings Hollis (Simon Quarterman) more grief then could have ever imagined, as later that night the subject of his intrigue shows up at his apartment. Her name is Natalie (Katia Winter) and she is a former MI-5 operative in the process of going into hiding, and she can’t afford to have photographic evidence of her presence floating around. She merely went to retrieve the proof, she anticipated she would have to be a bit forceful to get it back. However, she did not expect the people hunting her to locate her so quickly.

"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. It's a heck of a visual amusement park ride, and the film will certainly entertain. But I have to open by saying it is my least favorite of the Disney Star Wars films to date.

"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. The problem is that raunchy comedies, like superhero films, share the deadly expectation curse. Rarely does a comedy film sequel live up to those expectations, and if you're anybody but Marvel, it doesn't happen often in the superhero genre either. If all of this sounds like it's leading up to a death knell for Deadpool 2, you're right. It does sound that way. Fortunately for us Deadpool 2 manages to escape its fated demise and not only work as well as the first film; Deadpool 2 is better.