The Reel World

"We just shoot you. Less paperwork."

Most of us like a good heist film. It's fun to watch clever crooks work out complicated plans and then execute them. It's not hard to root for the crooks if they're likable enough characters. With me I almost have a kind of reluctant respect for criminals who are able to outsmart sophisticated systems. There's something about the perfect crime that fascinates a film lover like me. Logan Lucky was one of the better heist films I've seen in years, and I was ready to spend an hour and a half being impressed by ingenious crooked plan that runs like clockwork once again. What I ended up with was a horribly overlong 2 hours and 20 minutes. And the only thing that was running like clockwork was my impatience to get to the end. Logan Lucky was clever and a lot of fun. Den Of Thieves? Let's just say I was not amused.

The film Phantom Thread may be flying under the radar for most cinema-goers, but this little gem is a nice distraction from the big-budget fare that floods the theaters. While I’m a fan of director Paul Thomas Anderson’s earlier work (Boogie Nights and Magnolia), the big draw for this film is the perhaps last cinematic performance we may see from Daniel Day-Lewis, who last collaborated with Anderson in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood. While I have to admit the trailers for this film didn’t inspire much excitement from me, it’s the pairing of Anderson and Day-Lewis I was more curious about. The result is one of the more unexpected film experiences I’ve had in sometime. 

 In 1950’s London, Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) is one of the most renowned dressmakers whom the social elite and royalty seek out.  From the start of the film we get a glimpse into Woodcock’s meticulous nature as we see him go about his morning ritual of getting dressed for the day. He’s an introvert, and at his side he has his sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville) to help attend to his needs and handle the staff and get rid of girlfriends when the time calls for it.  There isn’t much warmth between the brother and sister, but the two certainly work well together as Cyril seems to anticipate her brother’s needs at all times.

"Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires."

You will hear it said several times throughout 12 Strong: For over 2000 years invaders and conquerors throughout history have attempted to bring the mountainous country under a foreign flag. The Russians had been the latest power to attempt to fight there, and in the 1980's that war quickly became their own Vietnam. Such was the plight of the American armed forces after Bin Laden sent planes crashing into buildings on September 11, 2001. It was in that same harsh wilderness, the one that stopped czars, kings, emperors and even gods, where Bin Laden entrenched himself after the brutal attack on American soil. It was there that the first teams of soldiers went to stop his terrorist group from having the ability to do anything like that again. And yes, if we're completely honest with ourselves, to exact a measure of revenge. 12 Strong is the story of the first 12 men who began to fight the war on terrorism on the ground, on horses and with little in the way of conventional warfare resources at their disposal.

The year kicks off with its first major action thriller The Commuter, and it’s a barn burner.  Total action after an introduction to the plot, the film takes you on the ride of your life with surprises on every turn.  If you like gripping films that work on your mind to try and figure out who the perpetrator is and what they want, then this movie should be on the top of your list. And it’s way better than last year’s Murder on the Orient Express. It’s becoming a monotonous routine for Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), a former police officer and now a life insurance agent. He gets up early in the morning, spends only minutes with his wife Karen MacCauley (Elizabeth McGovern) and the children. He then boards the commuter train to his work. Every day, same train, same fellow passengers, and knowing he will be home that evening to be with his family, then the next day do it all over again.

But his life is about to become a rip-snorting wild ride, starting with getting fired from his ten year job because of company downsizing.  Disappointed and knowing it will be tough telling his family, it’ll be a different kind of return trip home. But little does he know how bad it will be.

Several movies have been released over the past three decades that defend the press or show the importance of the media to inform the public.  This is one of them that for the most part does reveal the inner sanctum of one newspaper as it deals with exposing the government for wrong decisions leading to the death of thousands in the Vietnam War. While the script does reveal the sadness of human life losses that could have been avoided, unfortunately the film uses it to glorify newspapers using old news. A platoon starts taking heavy fire in a wooded area, and the body bags start to fill at a high rate.  It’s the Vietnam War in 1966, and Assistant Secretary of Defense Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) has just returned from a bloodbath after an ambush by the Viet Cong. Inserted as a military strategist under the Pentagon’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs John McNaughton, he’s observing the war firsthand.

On Air Force One flying back to the United States, Ellsberg is asked to meet with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood) in the forward compartment. When he approaches McNamara, he’s discussing the war situation with Robert Komer (David Beach). Komer is organizing the Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support program for Vietnam. McNamara turns to Ellsberg and asks him what he feels about the war and if things are better or worse. Ellsberg replies that things are the same, to which McNamara replies that then things have gotten worse.

“You can't get rid of me that easy.”

Elise Rainier was the only casualty in 2010's Insidious, but the character has proven to be impossible to kill. In fact, Lin Shaye's sympathetic psychic quickly evolved into the main character of this low-budget, high-box office horror franchise. Chapter 2 brought her back in spectral form, while Chapter 3 went back in time to show us an earlier run-in with a restless demon. The Last Key goes even further back in time while simultaneously inching closer to the first film. While the series has pretty much run out of interesting ways to scare audiences, this film does explore the connection between real-life monsters and malevolent spirits.

“The worst thing that can happen to you in sports is fourth place at the Olympics. Seriously……f$*& you.”

So I only had a vague knowledge of the name Molly Bloom when I initially heard about this movie. Basically, I knew that she used to organize poker games for celebrities and masters of industry. I even recall hearing about her getting into legal trouble, but the specifics regarding her situation escaped me. I imagine that was the case for many people that don’t closely follow the tabloids. Molly’s Game, the film based on the experience, sheds a great deal of light onto her legal trouble as well as providing an in-depth look into the titular character herself. Narrated by Jessica Chastain, who also stars as Molly Bloom, the film shows her as an intelligent woman with integrity (it’s worth mentioning that certain liberties are taken, even in based on true stories) who finds herself facing a lengthy criminal sentence after being connected to a racketeering case which includes the Russian mob.  Intercut between the circumstances leading up to her arrests and her court case, Molly’s Game provides the audience with every detail they could possibly want about the character. I cannot imagine a better feature directorial debut for Aaron Sorkin.

I suspect that at about this time last year too few Americans knew anything about Dunkirk and the pivotal role it played in the early moments of World War II. In July Christopher Nolan brought his 70mm cameras out to play and we relived the courageous evacuation of over 300,000 British soldiers from their surrounded position just across The English Channel. Dunkirk was an incredible film that will likely take away some Oscars for the year. But what Nolan's spectacle failed to demonstrate was the reason for all of that action. Why were civilian vessels picking up these soldiers? Those questions are answered in Darkest Hour. I suspect that this film might be sharing some of the stage come Oscar night. e two films appeared less than 6 months apart in the cinemas but they make extraordinary companion films. As movie-goers we couldn't have asked for a better one-two punch on a subject a lot of people have been learning more about just by going to the movies.

Gary Oldman looses himself completely as Winston Churchill here. It starts with the clever use of prosthetics that make the unlikely actor look more like the iconic British Prime Minster. How much of his body was a fat suit and how much was pounds put on by the actor ala De Niro in Raging Bull, I'm not sure. But the work on the actor's face hides away the actor and brings out Churchill. But it's not just the look alone that sells this role so completely. It's one of Oldman's finest performances that makes this character so compelling. Winston Churchill was a force of nature and Gary Oldman delivers just that in Darkest Hour.

"You may think, "That thing looks human." Stands on two legs, right? But - we're created in the Lord's image. You don't think that's what the Lord looks like, do you?"

A couple of years ago I talked to Joe Dante about a variety of subjects. One of them was The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Dante along with several other directors like John Carpenter had once been attached to a remake of the Universal classic. I asked him why it never worked out. He told me it was the suit. We agreed that no one could ever improve upon the original design and that the temptation would be to go computer-generated and that would be a bit of a shame no matter what it looked like. Andy Serkis has changed my mind a bit over the years but along came Guillermo del Toro to restore my faith in the idea of a man in a costume, once again. del Torro is a self-avowed fan of the Universal horror films and has thrown his hat into the Creature ring in the past. Universal didn't quite see it then. They had their own Dark Universe plans. Now I've had the chance to see The Mummy as part of the Dark Universe and was instantly underwhelmed. But after seeing del Torro's The Shape Of Water I think it's time Universal took another look at their Creature From The Black Lagoon plans. Bang it here to listen to that Joe Dante chat: Joe Dante Interview.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."

It was exactly 40 years ago that we first saw those words flash across the screen. Star Wars was born, and it has become one of the most enduring franchises in film history. The franchise survived a long drought when it didn't seem likely we would ever see those words again. The franchise survived the throes of George Lucas, who created it all and then went a little rogue when he finally did follow up his iconic trilogy. If The Last Jedi and the two previous films are any measurement at all, the best thing George Lucas ever did for the universe he created was to give it up. Of course, I wouldn't necessarily call $4 billion quite giving it up. Since then he's been a bit critical of the path Disney has taken and feeling somewhat left out of the decision process and has openly shown concern for his child under the Disney flag. And after the soap opera that has become the Han Solo film, the fans were getting a little worried as well. It's still too early to know what will become of that particular journey, but that's next year's concern. For now just sit back and revel in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.