The Reel World

“What if I forget you?”

Ever since Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear rocketed onto the big screen in 1995's Toy Story, Pixar has assembled a wonderful stable of unforgettable characters. Ironically, one of the animation studio's most memorable creations is a blue tang fish who probably wouldn't remember you. Besides being a dazzling and heartwarming family classic, Finding Nemo was also one of Pixar's biggest hits. (Technically, it's actually the biggest.) So while it's a little surprising that it took 13(!) years for a sequel to swim into our lives, the fast and funny Finding Dory proves to be a completely worthy follow up.

When it comes to titles from Blizzard Entertainment, I was always more into the Starcraft and Diablo franchises. I played World of Warcraft (WoW) for a small period of time when it became a popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), but my interest in the game quickly died. The aesthetics were a little too cartoony for my liking, plus, you paid for a subscription. Regardless, I am just one fan of Blizzard: WoW caught on like wildfire. I still know people who are playing the game to this day. The question, however, is whether or not this franchise would make a great cinematic adaptation. I will admit that I am not an expert on the Warcraft lore, by any means, but I know enough about popular culture and its many fandoms to look at this film objectively.

Sitting in a theater, you are always treated to interesting pre-screening conversations. More often than not, they are being led by fans of the source material. Here are samples of some of the conversations I overheard:

Since The Conjuring was released back in 2013, I can’t help but love what James Wan brought to the film; it’s that perfect film to put on during a stormy night.  Whether you are a believer in the paranormal or not, the life story of Ed and Lorraine Warren is interesting I’d imagine for skeptics, and for us believers, well, their day-to-day life seems downright terrifying.  Hearing how The Conjuring was going to be James Wan’s last horror film (after all he went on to do Furious 7) this seemed criminal to me, because he seemed like the one working director who had seemed to master the craft of creating a horror film.  Now Wan has come back to tell the next terrifying tale from the Warren’s case files with The Conjuring 2, and in the process has I believe has left his mark on the horror genre with perhaps the best haunted house film to date.

For fans of the first film, you may remember that it ended with Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) getting a call to investigate the Amityville house. This is where the new film picks up as the Warrens with other investigators are investigating the home to see if there was something paranormal inside. (For those unfamiliar with the Amityville story, I highly recommend spending some time on YouTube and checking out some of the documentaries about not just the mass murder that took place but also about the Lutz family that moved in after.) During the investigation Lorraine has an encounter with an evil entity that delivers an ominous warning to her.  Following this investigation, the Warrens become worldwide celebrities as experts in the field of paranormal investigation. It’s with this attention that accusations are made against them for being frauds.

A Bigger Splash is a remake of a 1969 French film called La Piscine (The Swimming Pool) starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, and Jane Birkin. It was popular in its time and was challenging and mysterious but will not register in the memory of modern moviegoers. A Bigger Splash retains the same sense of adventurous storytelling and compelling ambivalence. A Bigger Splash stars Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series and the new “M” in James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre), Tilda Swinton (a remarkable character actress who is different in every film), Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Greys) and Matthias Schoenaerts (Far From The Madding Crowd, The Danish Girl). That cast is dynamic by itself, and they are used to maximum effect. Ralph Fiennes, especially, is absolutely outstanding. He has never played a part like this before. His character could be described in many ways, because his moods shift radically.

Harry Hawkes (Fiennes) is a manic and effervescent record producer (The Rolling Stones and Mick and Keith are named-dropped). Marianne Lane (Swinton) is vacationing with her lover, Paul De Smedt (Schoenaerts). She is a famous rock star and is recovering from throat surgery. Paul treats her with love and devotion as she rests at a beautiful Mediterranean beach villa. Her ex-husband and former producer, Harry, descends on a plane and calls her without notice. He brings a formerly neglected and precocious daughter, Penelope Lanier (Johnson). Marianne seems very happy to see Harry, but Paul expects their peace and quiet will be totally unsettled. Harry is overwhelmingly charming and fun-loving, almost excessively so. His energy is almost off the charts at times. A true highlight is when Harry takes some boring bossa nova off the record player and changes to The Rolling Stones Emotional Rescue which Harry says he produced. Harry then starts to do a full-scale extended and uninhibited imitation of Mick Jagger’s dancing in the living room. It is an insane and electric sequence, but it is one of many that contribute to a long and slow build of indefinable tension.

Growing up I was obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series; it was the Saturday morning cartoon I just couldn’t get enough of.  When I couldn’t watch the cartoon, I’d be playing with the toys and eventually the video game back in the original Nintendo console days.  So when the movies came out, my parents had no choice but to take me to see them.  Back in those days we had the turtles in rubber suits; as a kid the experience was fun but still just not as good as the cartoon.  As I got older, well, those original films seem to hold up less and less, and when the news came that an updated version of the film would be coming out I got a little excited, that is till I saw the trailer for the 2014 film.  Sure, it had elements from the cartoon, but it just didn’t look inspired; it just looked like a generic kids’ film with passable CGI. The result was simply a blunder, and I would have thought the days of seeing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie were numbered.  But here we are in 2016 with the new film Out of the Shadows ready to hit the big screen, and, folks, it’s been nearly 30 years in the making, but FINALLY we get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie we’ve been waiting for.

Stepping in to fill the shoes as director is Dave Green. He’s relatively a newcomer in Hollywood, but it’s his vision I believe is responsible for the success of the film.  His previous film Earth to Echo is simply a wonderful kids’ adventure film that captures the energy of the 80’s Spielberg films, most notably ET.  Well, he carries that love for the 80’s into this new installment of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise and injects so much life into it, my inner ten-year-old was cheering with glee over this film.  This is just about the closest I’ve seen an animated series come to life on the big screen and manage to retain what made the animated series so much fun.  This isn’t a film for grownups; instead this is a film that targets the ten-year-old in all of us, the one who doesn’t question logistics of flying manhole covers, talking brains, or humans transforming into hulking beasts.

The Lobster could easily be in contention for one of the weirdest movies you’ll ever see. It’s certain to be the weirdest movie of this year. It isn’t weird in a pointless or flashy way. It isn’t weird just for the sake of being weird. It is low-key and tastefully filmed. It seems to fit comfortably in the tradition of absurdist or surrealistic comedy/drama. If you are familiar with the works of Kafka or Bunuel or Beckett or Pirandello or Ionesco or, more recently, Charlie Kaufman, you’ll understand the nature of absurdist cinema. Of course, Rhinoceros by Ionesco, Metamorphosis by Kafka, or Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs are examples of people who transform into animals or insects. The Lobster does not attempt to portray these transformations very literally, although we do see animals representing people throughout the movie. The comedy is gentle, but insane and relentless in its constant twisting of logic. You won’t always laugh out loud, but your mouth is likely to be agape half the time. The film is built on a long collection of purposeful inanities drolly presented. It creates an alternate reality which is gentle in presenting its bizarreness and violence.

David (Colin Farrell) has been dumped by his wife, which forces him to go to a resort hotel with his brother, who is now a dog. David has 45 days to find a mate from the inhabitants of the hotel who are also without partners. If he doesn’t complete the task of finding a mate, he will be turned into the animal of his choice. In David’s case, that would be a lobster, which he chose for various logical reasons. In fact, David almost seems resigned to the fact that that will be his fate, and that’s fine with him. David’s reasoning, along with everyone else’s in the hotel, is faulty. The main difference is that David seems content and resigned to his fate.

“Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!”

Since Disney has taken over The Bullpen at Marvel, they have had an unprecedented run of successful comic book superhero films. During that same time DC/Warner has had trouble finding a direction for their cinematic universe. But the Marvel titles still in the hands of other studios haven’t shared in that run of good fortune. Sony finally had to relinquish control of Spider-Man, and Fox has followed disaster with disaster with The Fantastic Four. The single exception to that rule has been the Fox handling of The X-Men universe. Since Bryan Singer’s 2000 hit the series has had some ups and downs, but the box office verdict has generally been good. Since the series was revived with prequels in 2011, we’ve enjoyed two solid X-Men films sporting a younger cast. Spin-offs with Wolverine and Deadpool have added to the Fox/Marvel winning combination. But it seems the X-Men can fight end of the world events but can’t seem to quite get the hang of third movies in trilogies.

Alice Through The Looking Glass is the sequel to Alice In Wonderland. Alice In Wonderland is a proven blockbuster of all time. It is part of the billionaire club in total box office gross. It is number 23 on the all-time biggest films list with a total box office of $1,025,500,000. It is obvious then that a sequel would have to be made. Alice in Wonderland was a Tim Burton film, his biggest in fact. Needless to say, Lewis Carroll’s creation is a time-worn classic favorite, but neither movie is very faithful to the books. The fact that this isn’t a Tim Burton film is actually a big deal. There doesn’t seem to be anyone talking about why he didn’t include Burton. Burton is always very busy, and he is one of the producers of the film. The director this time is James Bobin. Nobody important. He directed some television and two Muppet movies. Sounds just like the kind of person the corporate heads at Disney can control to turn out product. I’m sure Tim Burton is someone who insists on total creative control, and that means Disney can’t have control. And Disney now is the biggest octopus in Hollywood with control of the Marvel universe and Star Wars. If a film makes over a billion dollars a sequel is required as soon as possible, but it has been six years since Alice In Wonderland came out. It sounds like the corporate hotshots got impatient to get some product out.

Alice Through The Looking Glass brings back all of the cast members from Alice In Wonderland, including the late Alan Rickman. Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, and Mia Wasikowska are the main stars, with Sasha Baron Cohen joining the cast. The scriptwriter Linda Woolverton has returned as well. But I think the film lacks the guiding finesse of Tim Burton. Tim Burton is not the strongest director in the world, but he does have a unique vision. It is obvious this film tried to graft Burton’s vision onto the director Bobin’s work. The CGI effects are stunning, of course. That isn’t enough to make a satisfying film. A film should be created with a clear and pure artistic vision. This film seems all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Johnny Deep’s Mad Hatter is front and center. The Hatter has descended into a life-threatening depression because he can’t get over the death of his family. Alice (Wasikowska) tries to wrest control of time from a character literally called Time (Cohen) in an attempt to bring the Hatter’s family back alive. It is not in any way something that resembles the original stories by Lewis Carroll.

Writer/director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) has a way of writing flawed characters who manage to leave more lasting impressions than the films they populate. But where he shines is when he can thrust these flawed individuals into the confines of a detective story. Most people grew their fondness for Black and his quick-wit dialogue when he first penned Lethal Weapon, but for me it goes back to The Monster Squad and The Last Boy Scout, where I found myself becoming a fan even in my early years of film watching. So is the fanboy in me excited to see what Black brings to the table this time around? You betcha!

In a summer popcorn season filled with comic book movies, sequels, and other films targeting the teenage demographic, it’s nice to have an action film that harkens back to the good old days (the '80s and early '90s) for a fun action/comedy romp that has a foul-mouthed edge.

Hollywood has a long-running reputation for doing films about the little man taking a stand against corporate greed.  Not only does everyone seem to like an underdog story, but when a story comes along where the everyday blue collar worker gets to go head to head against pharmaceutical companies, or Wall Street in general, it’s a no-brainer this could have commercial appeal.  Films like Mad City, John Q, and last years The Big Short are all films that seem to have an influence on Money Monster, but what would it bring to the table?  With Jodie Foster (Little Man Tate, The Beaver) at the helm and with George Clooney and Julia Roberts leading the cast, this was a film that grabbed my interest, but following the release of the trailer, I felt I already saw the entire film in a matter of three minutes. Or did the film have a few surprises hiding up its sleeve?

From the moment the film starts, it wastes no time getting the story rolling as we meet Lee Gates (Clooney), a flashy over-the-top host of a stock market show.  Lee is everything you’d expect him to be, living in the world of Wall Street trading; he’s a brash egomaniac who thrives on greed.  It’s easy to see that it’s his personality that is driving his director Patty Fenn (Roberts) into taking a job at another studio. Clooney and Roberts have a great onscreen presence together. We don’t get a lot of time where we get to see them share the same camera space, but nevertheless these two pull off their relationship as we see them interact in the hustle and bustle of working in live television.