Dwayne Johnson appears to be a pretty busy guy. In addition to the HBO series Ballers about to enter its fourth season, Johnson puts out a couple or more films a year. We're not talking about small independent films, but rather huge high-budget and big f/x films. Next year will see Jungle Cruise and Jumanji 2,  following with San Andreas 2, Suicide Squad 2, Black Adam and a remake of Big Trouble In Little China, all arriving in the next couple of years. This year saw Rampage, which comes to home video next week. It's a busy life for Dwayne Johnson, who appears to have dropped "The Rock" from his name. I sure hope it didn't hit anyone on the head. Now he's starring in Skyscraper, which shamelessly combines elements of Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. In Skyscraper, Johnson shows us that he's intent on hanging around for a while... this time from 220 stories high.

This time around Johnson plays Will Sawyer, who used to be a SWAT team member until his last mission turned on a bad call and left him badly burned and with a missing leg. 10 years later he's recovered from the burns and is married with two kids to the nurse who took care of him back when he was injured, played by Neve Campbell. He runs his own security company and is about to get the biggest break of his second life. Another injured member of his old team, Ben (Schreiber) works for a wealthy Hong Kong building designer and gets Will the coveted job of certifying the building’s security and safety protocols for the insurance underwriters. He's just about to finish the job when he discovers there might be some grudges from his bad call, and there are absolutely some grudges against billionaire builder Zhaoa Long Ji (Han), and some nasty players have used him to disable the fire supressant system and set fire to the 96th floor. It's not just his honor at stake now. He's been framed as the culprit, and his family is still in the building.

In 2010 there was a little film called Winter’s Bone that came out; it didn’t make a splash at the box office, but it was one of the critical darlings of that year.  For many it was the first time people got to see Jennifer Lawrence on screen, and it’s safe to say it is because of that film she is the star that she is today.  I remember first seeing Winter’s Bone and being so floored by the film I immediately watched it again, and I had to know who it was that had directed the film. Debra Granik was the woman responsible for the film. It was a name I had never heard before, but it was one I’d be on the lookout for in the following years. Though she did a documentary between projects, it seems the wait is finally over as Leave No Trace is about to hit the big screen.

Will (Ben Foster) and Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) are father and daughter who are living off the grid in a park on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.  When we first meet the pair we get a glimpse into their day-to-day life as they forage for food and practice hiding in their environment.  It’s in these opening scenes we get to see the happiness these two share while living in this beautiful, lush, green sanctuary, and we can almost understand why someone would want to choose this lifestyle.  Whenever the pair is in need of supplies they trek back into the city, where Will stops off at the VA  hospital for his check up and receives his medication.  Will turns around and sells his pills to nearby homeless veterans, and with that money he buys groceries and supplies with his daughter.  It may not be a perfect life, but it’s clear that Will and Tom are happy with how things are.

So the director had my undivided attention until he went completely sideways. I mean, I was engaged; I was feeling the message behind the film. I found the characters to be original and the things that they had to say were unlike anything I had seen in recent years. Not to mention that opening scene was the perfect way to bring the audience into this world; and then it all came crashing down. Despite this disappointment, Sorry to Bother You remains among one of the most creative cinematic experiences that I had this year. I wanted very much to love the film, but sadly I can’t say that. I liked it a lot, especially the first half. It is the kind of film that was likely the gem of the film festival circuit. The number one slot of box office will be out of reach for it, though.

The movie is centered around Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield, Straight Outta Compton), a directionless young man who has yet to find something that matters to him. He lives in his uncle’s garage, and he is struggling to find work.  Needless to say, he does not have a lot of hope, with the exception of his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson, Creed), a talented artist and revolutionary who brings sunshine into our lead’s otherwise dreary world.  Eventually he finds work as a telemarketer, but he has trouble keeping his customers on the line. You all should understand; what is your number-one response when someone tries to sell you something? It is only when he receives a tip from a co-worker to use his “white voice” that things begin to turn around for him. Suddenly, he begins to rack up sells left and right, causing him to quickly rise through the hierarchy of the company.