The Reel World

It is widely believed that the early 70’s was a great renaissance for American film. Part of the reason for this is that society was in upheaval, and the studios had lost their way trying to understand the American public. Young filmmakers were allowed to come in and do what ever they wanted. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't, but there was real freedom in the anarchy of the times. Then movies like Jaws and Star Wars changed the industry again, and the money managers were back in control. Today, the studios run things based on formulas and templates. There are still interesting independent films being made, but they are strictly treated as fringe dwellers.

I Smile Back is a throwback to an old style 70’s classic drama in all its raw power. There are lots of interesting things to say about what's happening here, but the big focus is the startling and attention-getting performance by Sarah Silverman. Silverman is well known as a comedian, and through that medium it was always obvious that she was bashing against the limits of what was acceptable and expected. Her subject matter was confrontation and abrasion, which she subverted through her charming good looks. It was always obvious she needed to branch out and explore beyond the somewhat limited confines of comedy. In I Smile Back, she has succeeded in an astonishing and spectacular fashion, but I really don't want to focus only on Silverman's performance. Everything she is doing is completely in sync with the style of the movie and the story that is being told. It is a harsh and raw exploration in every way. It is the story of a suburban Westchester housewife but without any Hollywood phoniness in its depiction. Music is used very sparingly. Scenes are constructed around awkward moments. All the cliche elements that we have seen in this type of movie have been stripped away. The connection to many 70’s movies is an unpolished feel we just don't see much anymore.

"You have got a tricky day ahead of you."

And this is going to be one tricky film to review. It's safe to say that Daniel Craig peaked as James Bond with Skyfall. Sam Mendes was the man who figured out how to make Craig work in the part. The secret wasn't in the classic images of Bond's past but in the future. Instead of trying to mold Craig into Bond, Mendes molded Bond into Craig. It was the right thing to do as long as Daniel Craig was going to continue in the role. With Mendes repeating as director and John Logan from Gladiator and Penny Dreadful fame handling the script, expectations were through the roof for this one. That is before Craig himself toured the interview circuit complaining about playing James Bond. I believe there was a reference to a hot poker in the eye being preferable to reprising the role again. Now I've seen Spectre twice, and I don't believe Daniel Craig has anything to worry about. I suspect the next film will sport a brand new James Bond. And indeed, I think this film proves it's time for a change. Let the speculation games begin.

“It's like five minutes before every launch, everyone goes to a bar, gets drunk, and tells me what they really think of me.”

During the final act of Steve Jobs — which is less of a biopic and more of a three-act performance piece inspired by the visionary Apple co-founder — the movie winks at its own gimmicky premise. The cheeky reference to the film's rigid, laser-focused structure is appropriate given that Jobs obsessively measured the design his own products down to the millimeter. The result is a movie that wonderfully mirrors its protagonist: Steve Jobs is enthralling, endlessly imaginative, and kind of exhausting.

That's Rock the Kasbah with a K. It was probably decided to do that spelling so as not to be confused with the hit song “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash when googling. The movie is about a down-on-his luck music manager who goes to Afghanistan on a U.S.O. Tour. There is a great scene early on when the aforementioned manager visits his daughter by sitting outside her window as she lectures him that there are no casbahs in Afghanistan. It's a perfect metaphor for a character who has obviously screwed up his life so much that he can't even go into his ex-wife's house. The music manager, Richie Lanz, is played by Bill Murray and may be his best comedy performance in years. Murray is famous for not having a manager, publicist, or agent, so it's funny seeing him playing a low-rent version of all three. The film was written by Mitch Glazer (Magic City) who had a big hit years earlier with Murray called Scrooged. It is directed by Barry Levinson, who had a long string of big hits in 80's and 90's like Diner, Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man, Bugsy, Sleepers, and Wag the Dog and has gone on to producing a lot of television. Levinson's more recent films have been a bit bizarre. The Humbling (2014) with Al Pacino, What Just Happened (2008) with Robert DiNiro, Bruce Willis and Sean Penn, Man of the Year (2006) with Robin Williams, and Envy (2004) with Jack Black and Ben Stiller are all examples of ambitious projects that had tilted, offbeat sensibilities which had trouble connecting with audiences. Rock the Kasbah might seem like that kind of project as well, but it turns out that a crazy combination of elements has mixed together surprisingly well.

I say that this is Murray's best comedy performance in years, but it also might be one of his most nuanced and fully-developed as well. Murray's screen appearance have been erratic and full of variety, as if he's busy living life and movies are something that he just squeezes into his schedule. There have been a variety of types of roles from clearly dramatic like his portrayal of F.D.R. in Hyde Park on Hudson and Olive Kitteridge (for which Murray just won an Emmy) to roles in just about anything that Wes Anderson or Jim Jarmusch put out.

The best way to win a war is to use the element of surprise. Another way is to be brutally and remorselessly ruthless. Neither one of these tactics are something a law enforcement agency is naturally disposed to do. Criminals will always have the upper hand, because they know the law enforcement agencies of the United States are supposed to operate within the bounds of law and rules. That dilutes the potential pool of surprise tactics and also completely limits how ruthless you can be in fighting an enemy. Anyone who knows anything about the Mexican and South American drug cartels knows there is no limit to their barbaric ruthlessness. How can you win against them? One answer appears to be to employ motivated consultants. Find people who know what the game is and know how create plausible deniability. This is not fair fight, so you can't fight fair. Put mercenaries out there to do a job, and don't ask questions about what they are doing.

Sicario is a film that bears some resemblances to the Oscar-winning film Traffic including sharing Benicio del Toro as a co-star. Sicario is far more focused on in-the-field drug battles and only peripherally deals with the politics.

In 1979, Ridley Scott taught us that in space no one can hear you scream. More than 35 years after Alien established him as a top directorial talent, Scott has slightly amended that statement to read “in space no one can hear you…blast disco music and binge watch Happy Days.” These lighthearted coping mechanisms — used here to deal with a truly horrifying and hopeless situation — are strong indicators of what you’re in for with The Martian, which is both brainier and much funnier than your average space epic.

“Mark Watney is dead.”

I don’t know about you, but whenever the Twin Towers pop up in any movie made or set before 2001 — usually it's a quick cameo during an establishing shot of NYC’s iconic skyline — I feel a pleasing flash of recognition…immediately followed by a queasy bit of dismay. The best thing about The Walk — arguably even better than the extended high-wire spectacle that gives the movie its title — is that the World Trade Center is lovingly granted a starring role alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Unfortunately, director Robert Zemeckis’ film visibly wobbles on the way there and makes a truly extraordinary real-life story feel like a little too familiar.

“If it works, it will be the artistic coup of the century.”

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials causes a great deal of confusion for me. First, I have to figure out how it is different from two other YA (Young Adult) phenomenons, Divergent and The Hunger Games. It's not that it's that hard to tell the difference between them, but there are so many nagging similarities for me that watching the three series in succession would become a difficult experience. It doesn't help that Maze Runner II has so many tropes from so many different movies that it is somewhat overwhelming. More than overwhelming, it is absolutely confusing. Adding to the confusion, this new installment of Maze Runner no longer has a maze.

In the first film, our young protagonists were trapped in an isolated meadow surrounded by gigantic walls. The walls could be mechanically manipulated to allow access to deep mazes. By the end of the first film, many of the clueless teenagers had escaped out into a barren and harrowing dystopian landscape. That's where the second film picks up. It is derived from a series of books which promise future editions such as The Death Cure, The Kill Order, and The Fever Code.

At this point, the most shocking M. Night Shyamalan-related twist would be for the director to make a movie that people actually enjoyed. (The “M.” stands for “maligned,” right?) Hopes weren't exactly high when it was announced Shyamalan — who was once fated to become either “the next Hitchcock” or “the next Spielberg” — would be dabbling in the fading found footage genre. So imagine my surprise to find that The Visit — a broad, nutty mix of comedy and horror — is the director's loosest, most playful effort since Signs. It's also his first (subjectively) non-terrible flick in about a decade.

We meet a harried single Mom (Kathryn Hahn) as she prepares to send her two children on a week-long trip to meet her estranged parents. Becca (Olivia DeJonge) is a 15-year-old aspiring filmmaker who decides to document the experience of meeting her grandparents on camera; she also wants to find out the reason Mom had a falling out with them. Tyler (Ex Oxenbould) is a 13-year-old freestyle-rapping, germophobic goofball who enjoys undercutting his older sister's self-seriousness. The pair take a train to the rural Pennsylvania town where their mother grew up and are met at the station by Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), who take the kids back to their dilapidated farmhouse.

History of man is defined by war. And war is defined by the men who fight it.”

Well, it is definitely more high-tech than the 2007 version, but is that necessarily a good thing? That’s what you are here to find out in this reboot to the popular video game of the same name (minus the Agent 47 part, that is). Rupert Friend is Agent 47 in this updated version, and I will say that despite my initial upset feelings about the recasting of the character, he does an excellent job as the highly motivated and proficient assassin. As far as reinvention goes, I was pleased with this despite it being theoretically ridiculous in some areas, but hey, isn’t that what fantasy is anyway?