Battle of the Sexes

And once again Hollywood is handing us yet another film based on a true story replete with problematic yet colorful characters smack dab in an era that was as controversial as it was tumultuous. Why so many projects based on true stories? Not sure, but with "Battle of the Sexes" how could fiction get any stranger?

 

In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women's movement, the 1973 tennis match between women's world champion Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-men's-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the Battle of the Sexes and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough) developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis courts, sparking discussions in bedrooms that continue to reverberate today.

 

Others to round out the cast are Natalie Morales as Rosie Casals, Sarah Silverman as Gladys Heldman, Bill Pullman as Jack Kramer, Alan Cumming as Cuthbert 'Ted' Tinling, Eric Christian Olsen as Lornie Kuhle, Fred Armisen as Rheo Blair, Jessica McNamee as Margaret Court, Austin Stowell as Larry King, Billie Jean's husband, Wallace Langham as Henry, Lewis Pullman as Larry Riggs, Bobby's son, James Mackay as Barry Court, Margaret's husband and Martha MacIsaac as Jane 'Peaches' Bartkowicz.

 

This was well executed by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Little Miss Sunshine" '06, "Ruby Sparks" '12) plus videos and shorts. These filmmakers were amazingly able to extract those quirky personalities out of Carell and Stone playing the lead roles so well that you thought you were watching the real personalities. Their films are eclectic films and I find it refreshing when unoriginal and banal are the order of the day. It was brilliantly written by Simon Beaufoy ("Among Giants" '98, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" '08, "Slumdog Millionaire" '08, "127 Hours" '10, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" '13, "Everest" '15) plus others and TV. This is a writer one can't pigeon-hole hence the resume, which I find an asset. His ability to write a well thought out, cohesive script is amazing and this screenplay follows suit. There were a couple of small places of slowness, but otherwise this storyline soared. The fact that Beaufoy has garnered an Academy Award (for "Slumdog Millionaire"), proves he has what it takes to write a powerful script. Who knows, with this film, he might be looking at another Oscar nomination come that time.

 

When it comes to very powder-dry comedies, this is one that excels. Sure there are dramatic moments in this, but as one continues to watch this film, the characters are so over-the-top that the story leans to that comedic formula. Although not a film for everyone, this is certainly a well-crafted movie that delineated, will please those that are film affictionatos.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                  Rated: PG-13                                    122mins.

 

 

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Franchises! Franchises! Franchises! What is an avid moviegoer to do? When "Kingsman: The Secret Service" ended, I assumed that a sequel couldn't be made and be strong at all. So much for assumption. After viewing "Kingsman: The Golden Circle", I can see why they would create a sequel, however in some ways it wasn't necessarily needed.

Eggsy (Taron Egerton), Merlin (Mark Strong) and Roxy (Sophie Cookson) return to action with the rest of Kingsmen when their headquarters is destroyed by a villainous corporation known as the Golden Circle. Faced with the challenge of defeating a formidable opponent, Poppy (Julianne Moore) with no home base, the Kingsmen discover an allied organization of spies called Statesman headed up by Champ (Jeff Bridges), a US entity whose cooperation reaches back to the founding of their own agency. The two groups must join forces to save the world where millions of people are hanging in the balance.

Others to round out the cast are Colin Firth as Harry Hart, Edward Holcroft as Charlie, Channing Tatum as Tequila, Pedro Pascal as Whiskey, Halle Berry as Ginger, Tom Benedict Knight as Angel, Elton John as Himself, Calvin Bemba as Brandon and Thomas Turgoose as Liam.

This was delineated well by director Stephen Vaughn ("Layer Cake" '04, "Stardust" '07, "Kick-Ass" '10, "X-Men: First Class" '11, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" '14). Even though this filmmaker doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience, what he does have is solid and somewhat eclectic. What made this next installment somewhat easier was that he didn't have to find those emotions to get his actors to convey since they were in the first installment. Characters such as Champ (Jeff Bridges), Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger (Halle Berry) started from scratch as far as the director is concerned. This was actually the challenge. It was written by Jane Goldman (""Stardust" '07, "Kick-Ass" '10, "The Debt" '10, "X-Men: First Class" '11, "The Woman in Black" '12, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" '14, "The Limehouse Golem" '16, "Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children" '16) and Vaughn ("Stardust" '07, "Kick-Ass" '10, "The Debt" '10, "X-Men: First Class" '11, "Kingsman: The Secret Service" '14) based on the comic book, "The Secret Service" by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. By their very resume, these two writers are practically a team. This is wise because it allows for better writing when there is familiarity. They have bounced ideas off of one another in many past projects, which makes a screenplay easier to create. Even though the creative team is the same and will be for "Kingsman 3", which has already been announced, this wasn't quite as polished as its predecessor in that the script jumped around a bit and it was a bit slow in places--it could have been cut about 10 minutes in its running time. I know there was a plethora to cover in this installment, but some areas of storyline were hammered a bit too much. Don't get me wrong, I did like this film, especially some of the new characters--Pedro Pascal as Whiskey and Channing Tatum as Tequila. It will be interesting to see what these writers come up with on "Kingsman 3".

Even though the writing could use a bit more polish in this, the stunts, editing and visuals were absolutely stunning as were the supporting cast. The one thing I like about this franchise is that it's incredibly entertaining which makes for a great popcorn flick.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                       Rated: R                                   141mins.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie

Most of the time sequels, prequels, franchises and the like drive me crazy, especially when Hollywood goes down this rabbit hole time and again. When I saw the first trailer for the original "The LEGO Movie", I felt it looked inane and wouldn't give it the time of day. However when I decided to finally go see it, I was stunned how well it was written not to mention it was visually stimulating. I was hooked, so when "The LEGO Batman Movie" came along, I thoroughly enjoyed that one as well. Next? "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" was entertaining along with be cutting edge.

 

Six young ninjas Lloyd (Dave Franco), Jay (Kumail Nanjani), Kai (Michael Pena), Cole (Fred Armisen), Zane (Zach Woods) and Nya (Abbi Jacobson) are tasked with defending their island home called Ninjago. By night, they're gifted warriors, using their skills and awesome fleet of vehicles to fight villains and monsters. By day, they're ordinary teens struggling against their greatest enemy: high school.

Stunned by everyone for being the son of an evil warlord, Garmadon (Justin Theroux), Lloyd seeks to defeat him with the help of his fellow ninjas, but even though they are experienced warriors, their ability to be true ninjas need work. So they ask Master Wu (Jackie Chan) to show them the ropes of what it takes to be the ninja that is in all of them, otherwise conquering Garmadon will deem fruitless.

 

Others to round out the cast are Dave Burrows as Fuchsia Ninja, Alex Kauffman as Ninja Computer and Olivia Munn as Koko.

 

This was creatively directed by Charlie Bean (TV and shorts), Paul Fisher and Bob Logan. Considering the lack of experience in the director's chair, these filmmakers were able to bring out the sardonic humor and expressive emotion out of their actors to bring these characters to life. It was well executed by writers Logan, Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Jared Stern and John Whittington based on a story by Hilary Winston, Logan, Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman. With all the writers in this, the story did get a bit bogged down and there were a couple of places of slowness. Usually when there is more than two or three writers on any production, there tends to be problems--too many hands in the pot. Otherwise this story was, as usual, powder dry in its humor and cleverly written as with the other installments of this LEGO franchise. The visual effects and main titles both designed by Animal Logic were incredibly well thought out and, of course, made this production worthy on the large screen.

 

As an animated flick, this is the quintessential popcorn film replete with satirical humor, action, adventure all with a fun storyline. There's no message, nothing controversial to bring the audience down, so if you like well executed fluff, this is the film for you. And who doesn't like LEGOS?

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                Rated: PG                                 102mins.

mother!

As with other genres, the genre of horror can have many layers, such as a horror film about a killer demonic clown as opposed to a group of people in a remote house dealing with each others extreme issues and insecurities. I believe that the scariest horror film is one that deals with a scary story as opposed to dealing with horrific creatures hence the next film which is a horror suspense thriller titled "mother!".

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil and peaceful existence.

A couple, Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and Him (Javier Bardem) are in the process of renovating a beautiful Victorian home in a rural area mostly so Him can have quiet so he can get his inspiration back from being a world renown writer. All of a sudden, an uninvited couple, Man (Ed Harris) and Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) arrive and as their quirky personalities come forth during conversing with Mother and Him, Man and Woman's two sons, Younger Brother (Brian Gleeson) and Oldest Son (Domhnall Gleeson) arrive upset to find out that their father, Man has changed his will. Since Man is dying of cancer, the two are rather distraught about it. As things go from bad to worse, the experience troubles Mother, and Him seems troubled but taking the turmoil much easier than Mother. Needless to say, things even get worse as Mother witnesses her house becoming a war zone with no way out.

Others to round out the cast are Jovan Adepo as Cupbearer, Amanda Chiu as Damsel, Stephen McHattie as Zealot and Kirsten Wiig as Herald.

This was directed by the very eclectic and consummate Darren Aronovsky ("Pi" '98, "Requiem for a Dream" 2000, "The Fountain" '06,  "The Wrestler" '08, "Black Swan" '10, "Noah" '14). Between the incredible talent of Lawrence and the multi-layered emotions that this filmmaker was able to extract out of Lawrence was astounding. This was conveyed through Mother's perspective of all that was going on before her eyes, and the way that Aronovsky shot this seemed that she was the only sane individual in the house even though she was falling apart in the process. It was equally well written by Aronovsky (The above list and "Below" '02, "The Wrestler" '08) plus shorts. One thing can be said for Aronovsky is that his ability for originality. In this day and age of franchises, sequels, prequels and reboots, this gives the audience that much needed something new to sink their teeth into. Hey, who's kidding who, this definitely puts the 'W' in weird. It's beautifully crafted however it's a disaster story wise. This film starts tranquil and, slowly but surely, spirals into a frenetic, confusing, scary storyline. It had a couple of slow places in script, but was cleverly written and directed. What is intriguing is that no one has a name, but rather they are cast what they do. Even though the film was centered around the Mother character, Jennifer Lawrence's performance was absolutely stunning-- possibly could see a nod come Oscar time.

This is not for the mass audience appeal, as with most of Aronovsky's work, but if you love studying film: directing, writing, acting, even the intriguing sound design by Craig Henighan, this film fits the bill. This is a film about love, devotion and sacrifice and all these are played out as Lawrence is engulfed in all that is going on. Go see this if you dare!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                    Rated: R                                   121mins.

American Assassin

I may have mentioned in other reviews that espionage/spy films have been a Hollywood mainstay for decades, however since 9/11, they have been produced exponentially. Between "Body of Lies", "November Man", "Kill the Messenger", "Zero Dark Thirty" and the like, these types of films have been made aplenty. So to add to that ever growing list, we have "American Assassin" in the offing.

 

Twenty three-year-old Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) lost his parents to a tragic car accident at the age of fourteen, and his girlfriend, Katrina (Charlotte Vega) to a terrorist attack just as they were engaged. Seeking revenge, he is enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) as a black ops recruit. Kennedy then assigns Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) to train Mitch. Hurley reluctantly accepts the task, but soon together he and Mitch will later on investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets. The discovery of a pattern in the violence, leads them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent to stop a mysterious operative intent on starting a world war in the Middle East.

 

Others to round out the cast are Shiva Negar as Annika, David Suchet as Director Stansfield, Taylor Kitsch as Ghost, Shahid Ahmed as Adnan Al-Mansur, Yousef Sweid as Khaled, Joost Janssen as American Operator, Trevor White as Dr. Frain, Scott Adkins as Victor and Michael Wildman as Orion Instructor.

 

This was intensely and decisively directed by Michael Cuesta ("L.I.E." '01, "12 and Holding" '05, "Tell Tale" '09, "Roadie" '11, "Second Sight" (TV movie) '13, "Kill the Messenger" '14) plus TV which is based on the novel by Vince Flynn. The way he used the quit editing in conjunction with the photography really emphasized the frenetic feel of the film. Obviously this is familiar territory for this filmmaker, so it probably wasn't as much of a challenge as with other projects. It was effectively written by seasoned writers Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. Not only do they have much feature film experience, but TV as well which makes this a chilling storyline. As with Cuesta, all of these writers have dramatic espionage work to their credit which makes them perfect in what they do. What makes this plot work is the fact that Mitch goes in totally confident bent on bringing these terrorists down with decisiveness, determination and without fear. Most recruits usually go in with apprehension and a certain amount of fear, but Mitch looks at it as simply a job--certainly wanting to get the guys that killed his fiancé, but at the same time calculating. And other than a couple of slow spots in script, this was clearly an effective story.

 

If espionage films are your thing, you'll be in film heaven, but even if they aren't, the chemistry between Keaton and O'Brien are intriguing enough to be worth the price of admission. It has a realistic feel, however it's also a great escape popcorn type film as well.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated: R                                    111mins.

 

Beach Rats

As the summer film season has waned, it is time for the independent market to attempt to showcase their films that have deemed quality so they can continue to produce their respective films. The 'rights of passage' films have been played out on the silver screen for quite some time now and with that, we have "Beach Rats" in the offing to ponder and study.

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie (Harris Dickinson), an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family, mostly his mother, Donna (Kate Hodge) and a toxic group of delinquent buddies. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup online sites for older men. When his chatting and web-camming intensify, he begins meeting men at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman, Simone (Madeline Weinstein). As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desire, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences. Through this process that Frankie must take, he with have to endure, fear, anger, confusion, frustration and desperation in order to keep his head above water at all.

Others to round out the cast are Neal Huff as Joe, Nicole Flyus as Carla, Frankie's younger sister, Frank Hakaj as Nick, David Ivanov as Alexei, Anton Selyaninov as Jesse and Harrison Sheehan as Jeremy.
 
This was exquisitely well written and directed by Eliza Hittman ("It Felt Like Love" '13) plus shorts. You know this is interesting when it won awards at the Sundance Film Festival. So with that, I simply had to see what the hubbub was all about. This is the quintessential delineated character study well dissected by Hittman. Where she truly shines is in her ability to direct. The multi-layered, three-dimensional emotional instability Dickinson conveyed was stunning and truly believable, and this is fine directing at its finest. The writing, although was well played out, had some slow areas that sort of hanged in places, by otherwise this story was compelling and one could really feel the pain this young man was going through. You could cut the confusion and frustration with a dull butter knife, and the more he attempted at correcting his situation, the deeper the water he was approaching into. Hittman doesn't have a ton of experience, but this will certainly open up more doors to produce more films in which to showcase her abilities to create.

As I've mentioned in other reviews, you aren't seeing this for the entertainment package as much as for the craft of the film. Could Dickinson receive a possible Oscar nod come that time. Not sure--it's a bit too early to conclude, but his performance was so convincing that it definitely has Oscar written all over it. This is not made for the mass audience appeal, but when and if you see this, it will make one cringe considering all that happens to this guy.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                              Rated: R                                 98mins.

It

I must admit that the horror genre isn't one of my favorites, but after viewing "It", it somewhat changed my mind. Certainly it isn't like the typical 'slasher' film I'm used to seeing, which is a good thing, but I fear that when I go to any horror flick, it's going to be a "Friday the 13th" or "Nightmare on Elm Street".

In a small town in 1989 Derry, Maine, seven bullied kids including Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Ben Hascom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis), Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Cleff) known as the "Loser's Club" discover that a malevolent force is preying on the local children. When they realize that the town's adults can't protect them, they band together so they can destroy the monster, an ancient clown called Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard).

Others to round out the cast are Nicholas Hamilton as Henry Bowers, Jackson Robert Scott as Georgie Denbrough, Bill's younger brother, Stephen Bogaert as Mr. Marsh, Beverly's father, Jake Sim as Belch Huggins, Logan Thompson as Victor Criss, Owen Teague as Patrick Hockstetter and Stuart Hughes as Officer Bowers, Henry's father. 

This was eerily and tightly directed by Andy Muschietti ("Historias Breves 3" '99, "Mama" '13) plus shorts. His ability to extract the correct amount of emotions given the particular scene was executed extremely well. He put the creepy element in these characters for sure. It was creatively written by Chase Palmer, Cary Pukanaga and Gary Dauberman based on the novel by Stephen King. Although Dauberman certainly has the lion's share of the experience here, it is a team effort from Palmer and Pukanaga which makes this a collaborative effort. It was a bit long-in-the-tooth--it could've been a two hour running time, but I realize that character development has to be established which made it more forgiving. And there were a few things that were questionable in why did a certain character do this or that, but humans can be fickle beings. Given that this genre isn't one of my favorites, this film was tight, cohesive and well thought out. It was a reboot of the 1990 film which was based in a 1960 setting so this being 2017, the new time period was 1989. The production values were designed well, specifically the special FX makeup which was designed by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. Even the visual effects predominantly designed by Rodeo FX and sound effects actually enhanced this film.

Considering this film was based on a Stephen King novel, this film couldn't go wrong. Even though the horror genre isn't a favorite of mine, with all objectivity, King is certainly a master writer. This is not a slasher film, but rather an intense thriller presented as a cat-and-mouse game between this evil, demonic clown and these kids, and with that it's all about who's going to win.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                  Rated: R                                     134mins.

Back to the Future

Throughout film history, there have been a certain number of movies that are considered timeless: "Jaws", "Cabaret", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Star Wars", "Nine to Five", "Rollerball", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and many others. These films are films that can be seen time and again and never tire of them. Another one of those films is "Back to the Future", so when Universal Pictures decided to re-release it, I had to view it, since the last time I saw it was during a retrospective back in 1989.

 

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a typical American teenager of the eighties, accidentally but inadvertently was sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean 'time machine' invented by a slightly mad scientist, Dr. Emmett 'Doc' Brown (Christopher Lloyd). During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, mishaps occur, so Marty must make his parents George McFly (Crispin Glover) and Lorraine Baines (Lea Thompson) somehow meet and fall in love so he can get back to the future. Between Doc and Marty can they team together to see that Marty's folks meet and subsequently fall in love or do things get worse and they're left to pick up the pieces?

 

Others to round out the cast are Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, Claudia Wells as Jennifer, Marty's girlfriend, Marc McCure as Dave McFly, Marty's brother, Wendie Jo Sperber as Linda McFly, Marty's sister, George DiCenzo as Sam Baines, Lorraine's dad, Frances Lee McCain as Stella Baines, Lorraine's mom and James Tolkan as Mr. Strickland.

 

This was directed by iconic director Robert Zemeckis ("Used Cars" '80, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" '88, "Back to the Future II" '89, "Back to the Future III" '90, "Death Becomes Her" '92, "Forrest Gump" '94, "Cast Away" 2000, "The Polar Express" '04, "A Christmas Carol" '09, "Flight" '12, "The Walk" '15, "Allied" '16). The frenetic energy of both Marty and Doc Brown was pure genius which kept the film moving and this is amazing directing. It was brilliantly written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale in that when time travel is the premise of any film, it has a tendency to get bogged down with confusion and so many time paradoxes that the storyline seizes to make sense. However, these two masters of script writing were able to weave an incredibly original story with paradoxes, but ones that the audience could grasp a hold on to and understand. There are writers today that cannot master this caliber of screenwriting. And with their subsequent sequels Parts II and III, this was a quality trilogy that will please any audience. Along with fine directing by Zemeckis, his music composer, Alan Silvestri writes a score that simply tells this story with clarity and finesse.

 

This is the quintessential popcorn flick replete with adventure, action, humor, quality writing, directing and acting. This is a fun, rollicking roller coaster ride, and if you haven't seen this on the large screen, hit the multiplex--you will not be disappointed. This re-release is one that is as entertaining this time around as it was in 1985.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                    Rated: PG                                       116mins.

 

Leap!

As we're ending the summer movie season and entering, what I like to call it, the dead zone for films at this time, we end it with a light, whimsical, fantastical, animated film simply called "Leap!". Usually the season ends with a bang releasing one last big-budget film, but Hollywood chose otherwise. I personally believe this was a prudent idea so as to ease us into that dead zone lasting approximately a month or so.

 

In 1879 France, a young orphan named Felicie (Elle Fanning) dreams of becoming a ballerina. She and her best friend Victor (Nat Wolff) soon run away from their orphanage in rural Brittany to Paris, where she passes herself as someone else so she can enroll in the prestigious dance school, Grand Opera House as a pupil and subsequently compete for a chance to be a prima ballerina. Felicie ends up in a rivalry competition with another young girl, Camille (Maddie Ziegler) for a position in Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" with a famed ballerina only to end up in mortal combat.

 

Others to round out the cast are Carly Rae Jepsen as Odette, Mel Brooks as Luteau, Kate McKinnon as Regine, Shoshanna Sperling as Nora, Joe Sheridan as Director of Opera, Terence Scammel as Merante/Postman and Elena Punkleman as Rosita.

 

This was whimsically and beautifully directed by Eric Summer ("Valentine" (TV movie) '03, "Jamais 2 sans 3" (TV movie) '09) plus TV and Eric Warin (short). The characters are rich, alive and emit their respective emotions with just the right amount of finesse. Obviously Summer has the lion's share of the experience here, but this will certainly give Warin that learning experience to take with him to another project. It was creatively written by Carol Noble, Laurent Zeitoun and Summer based on an original story by Summer and Zeitoun which is based on an original idea  by Summer. What makes this work is that the characters are geared toward the kids, but the locales and the classical way this production is conveyed woos the adult audience, so it becomes a crowd pleaser with a mass audience appeal. However, at the same time, the premise by Summer, isn't overly original: one character has a dream of bettering themselves, so they take someone they trust on this trek to encourage them only to have obstacles in their way to reach that ultimate goal. We have seen this before, but I find it forgiving, because sometimes we need predictable to escape into. I will see another Summer film anytime.

 

This film says a lot if you're looking for a fun and entertaining movie. It has music, dance, humor, romance and adventure all rolled up together. And although it has predictability, it will still be enjoyable for all to see. Grab the popcorn and revel.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                    Rated: PG                                    89mins.