The Reel World

There are certain things that are obvious to some of us, and nobody wants to talk about them. All people are full of weaknesses that they then try to deny exist. People are people, but some people think they are better than other people. It seems obvious that we should all try to get over our hatred and be more accepting of all our differences and see how much alike we all are. Black or White is an important movie that comes in the form of a fun and heartwarming melodrama. The movie navigates through very murky and unexplored waters and comes out the other side triumphantly. There is no reason that these waters are unexplored except for the fact that everyone thinks everyone else is racist but never looks at themselves. There is lots of very ugly and violent racism, and then there is subconscious racism. The subconscious racism is harder to deal with.

Most people are guilty of this, because we all tend to put ourselves in smaller and smaller categories.

"The thing that haunts me are all the guys that I couldn't save."

I have to admit I was a little skeptical that Clint Eastwood followed up his directing stint on Jersey Boys as quickly as he did to shoot American Sniper. The former was far from one of his better efforts, and he looked increasingly out of his element by the time it was said and done. He jumped into his preparation for American Sniper almost immediately, and the results could have been...underwhelming. Instead Eastwood hit his target with the kind of profound impact I don't think I've seen from him since Unforgiven. Unforgiven won a Best Picture award, and deservedly so. American Sniper has been nominated, although Eastwood himself has been snubbed in the director category. It's a long shot to win, of course, but this is one that most certainly deserves your attention.

While writing up this review the Oscar nominations are going to be announced in a few hours and for Foxcatcher, any nominations it receives will be yet another footnote in this films journey as it widens its release to a larger audience.  Ever since director Bennett Miller won best director at Cannes in 2014 for the film Foxcatcher has become one of the most buzz worthy films of 2014 with a trio of actors that have had more than their fair share of  praise for their performances.  But is it a film worthy of all its acclaim or is this simply award show fodder for a film no one will remember a year from now (looking at you The Artist)?

The film centers around Mark Shultz (Channing Tatum) an Olympic wrestling champion who lives in the shadow of his older brother David (Mark Ruffalo).  Though the two brothers share their love for the sport that seems to be the only similarity you’ll find between the two.  Where David is well spoken family man, Mark seems to be only driven to wrestle and manage to one day live a life outside his brother’s shadow.  The jealousy we see portrayed against David is more than simple brotherly rivalry, after all David seems to rake in all the cash with personal appearances and has a family, whereas Mark struggles through making speeches to elementary kids for a few bucks.  So it becomes no surprise that when John du Pont (Steve Carell) approaches Mark about joining team Foxcatcher, Mark seizes the opportunity to make a name for himself.

“We negotiate, we demonstrate, we resist.”

Early on in Selma, Martin Luther King Jr. succinctly summarizes his preferred method for affecting change during the Civil Rights Movement. The film then proceeds to effectively dramatize each bullet point in that mantra. Selma sometimes looks like the typical “Great Man” biopic and it is very much a period piece rooted in a specific time and place. But the film still manages to feel alive and relevant today by embracing the deeply humane — and deeply human — spirit of Dr. King's righteous work.

“I need to know what you are worth when I leave you nothing.”

These are the parting words that Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is left with from his dying grandfather.  At first these words may seem a bit harsh but after the more time we spend with Bennett we start to understand the grandfather’s intentions.  The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 film with same title, follows Bennett along his downward spiral as his gambling addiction drags him down to the point where death is imminent, yet death seems to be the escape Bennett so desperately craves.  In other words this is not exactly the film you watch to get into the holly jolly spirit of the holidays.

It took a while for Hollywood to finally venture Into the Woods. On one hand, the delay isn’t surprising given that the popularity of live-action musicals at the box office has ebbed and flowed many times since Woods made its Broadway debut in 1987. Then again, the story’s free-wheeling mash-up of Grimms’ fairy tale characters fits perfectly with the current obsession with shared cinematic universes. As a result, Disney — which has a storied past with fairy tales, and a lucrative present with cross-platforming popular characters — seems like the perfect landing spot for an Into the Woods movie.

“Be careful what you wish for.”

Well, it’s that time of year when the studios make that extra push for awards season, and with Angelina Jolie at the helm directing her second film, Unbroken is the kind of film where after one viewing of the trailer you just know this is Oscar bait.  I love this time of year, and I love seeing the best of what the studios have to offer, but sometimes these films with high hopes just don’t deliver as expected.  Unbroken takes us on a journey through the life of Olympian Louis Zamperini (Jack O’ Connell) from his early years as a troubled child on through his torturous years as a prisoner of Japan during World War 2. The front portion of the film jumps from Louis as a soldier and working inside a bomber to flashing back in time to what inspired Louis to become America’s fastest high school runner.  Having Louis reflecting back on his early years is understandable while his plane is taking fire, but the scenes we flash back to just don’t seem to have any real connection with the story, but seem to only serve the idea of putting action in the front half of the film to get the viewer’s attention.  As the film progresses, and the flashbacks seem to suddenly cease.  If this jumping back and forth through time isn’t too jarring, what turns out to be most off-putting is the film’s script.  Even with Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country For Old Men) as well as Richard LaGravenese (The Horse Whisperer) and William Nicholson (Gladiator) sharing writing duties, what seems to work best for this film is when the characters are saying little to nothing at all.

Very little attention is paid to Zamperini and his journey to receive a medal in the Olympic games in Germany. Instead most of the film focuses on the physical and mental abuse Zamperini endures from the moment his plane crashes into the Pacific on through the punishing time he is prisoner in a detention camp.  Fellow soldiers come and go throughout the film, but the one constant, and in my opinion the most intriguing character in the film, is that of The Bird (Mutsushiro Watanabe), a ruthless commander of the detention center Zamperini first arrives at.  It doesn’t take long to see that all The Bird wants to do is break Zamperini’s spirit, but as we know by the title of the film, this man just can’t be broken.

- “There she is, our little orphan Annie.”

- “I'm a foster kid!”

"Will you follow me, one last time?"

It's time to say goodbye to Middle Earth, at least from a cinematic perspective. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies marks the last time we shall see Peter Jackson's version of Middle Earth. Sure, Ian McKellen has told us he wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of a return. I would. There is certainly enough work from Tolkien to support future adventures, but the rights to anything beyond these books belongs to the Tolkien estate. To say they are not very fond of Jackson, New Line, Warner or the six films themselves would be an understatement. There is great animosity there, and no amount of money is going to change that.

When it comes to the modern epic, director Ridley Scott is the go-to guy to pull off the sprawling and mega-budget storylines.  From Gladiator to Kingdom of Heaven, Scott has constantly proven himself behind the camera in executing tales with lavish sets and battles involving hundreds to even thousands of extras.  With the release of Exodus: Gods and Kings, a retelling of the Bible story where Moses frees the slaves of Egypt, Ridley Scott would seem the perfect choice for this film.  Unfortunately this is a Bible story that is sure to anger religious scholars and put some general audiences to sleep.

Let me jump ahead and say I’m an unapologetic fan of Ridley Scott; this is my favorite working director.  From his early work like Alien, Blade Runner and Legend on into his later films like Gladiator, Matchstick Men, Black Hawk Down and Prometheus, he has entertained me for years.  But lately I feel he’s been swinging for hits but missing more than he has delivered.  Last year’s release of The Counselor was a misstep that should have been a knockout hit but instead just was a disappointment in many ways, which brings us to Exodus: Gods and Kings and its frustrating retelling.