They Live

Okay, I’ll say it.  I submit that John Carpenter's They Live is not a very good movie.  It’s not a disaster: it features a great premise, a tight screenplay, and a stable of solid supporting actors. 

But those laudable elements can’t help They Live conform to anything like a pattern for a good movie.  It has low production values, a cheap synth soundtrack that will put you to sleep, a simplistic political viewpoint requiring next to no thought, and a wooden lead performer.

Everyone may love star Roddy Piper in Hell Comes to Frogtown, but I didn’t buy him here.  He comes across like an amateur, desperate to remember his lines and hit his marks, and I never once believed that his character was an actual human.

Yet, They Live really does get the most out of its premise.  It features great monster design, some iconic imagery, and more than enough chuckles to keep things light as you watch TV.  I don’t know how much media you consume; even though They Live isn’t very good, however, you may want to put this one on the menu.

Captain America: Civil War, The Heat, The Nice Guys, Sicario

Friends, I've been taking a break from flying to work on a special project.  No flying = fewer nights in hotel rooms, pecking away at my keyboard.  Still, here are some short notes on some films I've seen these last few weeks.

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War features a battle between different factions of The Avengers, the team of superheroes we in the audience have come to root for over the course of Marvel’s films.  It marks the first time I’ve ever felt conflicted watching one of these superfights, and that is a remarkable achievement.  In this fight, nobody’s evil; nobody wants to kill anybody; everyone just wants it to stop.

It's heartbreaking.

“Heartbreaking” isn’t a word I’d ever expected to write in regards to a superhero movie, but there it is.  Civil War presents us with an “everyone’s right” scenario that forces noble people into a conflict they don’t want and that can’t be resolved with a simple, “Old Man Withers is the real villain here” reveal.  That’s the stuff of heartbreak.  Well done.

The Heat

The Heat is a simple buddy-cop comedy elevated by sharp writing and the significant talents of Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock.  It’s laugh-out-loud funny, moves right along, and practically begs for a sequel.  Sign me up.

The Nice Guys

Shane Black can do no wrong.

Sicario

Sicario stars Emily Blunt as an FBI agent with PTSD.  She’s in the middle of a major counter-drug operation, however, so she doesn’t have time to deal with it.  This leaves her accruing more and more damage as the film progresses, lending a harrowing shading to an otherwise unremarkable film about ultraviolent cartels and the agencies who combat them.

Odds and Ends

The Bounty

The Bounty tells the story of H.M.S. BOUNTY, Captain Bligh, and the mutiny led by Fletcher Christian.  It features a delightful, Vangelis synth score, magnificent overacting by a young Mel Gibson, and a glacial pace.  If that sounds like your cup of coconut water, have at it.

Ricki and the Flash

Ricki and the Flash tells the story of an aging would-be rock star in a San Fernando Valley cover band, the ex-husband and children she left behind to pursue her dreams, and the year when the chickens come home to roost.  It’s solid material, anchored by a powerhouse Meryl Streep performance, some subtle work from Kevin Kline, and even a solid turn by Rick Springfield in a supporting role as Ricki’s lead guitarist and love interest.

This is the kind of character study that depends utterly on its star, and it will surprise no one to find that Ms. Streep is entirely up to the task.  She makes us want to watch her even when we don’t like her, and want to watch her even more as or perceptions begin to change.  Truly, this actress Can Do No Wrong.

The Salvation

Hey, do you like Westerns?  Do you like Mads Mikkelsen and Jonathan Pryce?  Me too, but I’m sorry to report that not even Mssrs. Mikkelsen & Pryce can save this Western.

The Salvation is your basic revenge tale, with Mikkelsen going after the thugs who do away with a couple of barely sketched out characters named, I think, “Wife” and “Son.”  Things spin out of control, there’s a showdown, blah blah blah.  The movie looks cheap, the villain lacks complexity, and the whole thing is a drag.  If you’re really in the mood for a Western, go watch Open Range again, instead.

Let Me In

Let The Right One In is a brilliant, Swedish take on the modern vampire story.  Let Me In, the American remake starring Chloe Grace Moretz, lacks the beauty and subtlety of the original and exchanges it for ugliness and plodding literalism.  Stay outside.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a triumph of storytelling and technical filmmaking.  It’s beautiful, engaging, age-appropriately scary, and entirely convincing.  We loved it.

Trouble with the Curve

“Hey, Alex.  Whatcha watchin’?”

“Trouble with the Curve.  Clint Eastwood plays a salty old baseball scout whose eyesight is going.  Amy Adams is his daughter.  She works for an uptight law firm, has issues with her dad, and has a boyfriend who is clearly The Wrong Guy.  Justin Timberlake just showed up; he’s going to be her new love interest and win her heart from The Wrong Guy.  I’m not sure whether it’ll be before or after she works things out with Clint and quits her job at the firm.”

“Oh.  How far along are you?”

“About ten minutes.  I know where the movie’s going, but that’s ok.  A movie like this, it’s all in the execution.”

And I’m happy to report that Trouble with the Curve executes very nicely.  Featuring a supporting cast led by John Goodman and some of the best character actors in the business (Ed Lauter, George Wyner, Bob Gunton, Matthew Lillard, Robert Patrick, etc.), this by-the-numbers family drama succeeds on the basis of its unobtrusive direction, solid production values, and excellent performances.  It isn’t flashy, but it looks nice, covers the bases, and gives us an excuse to spend ninety minutes or so with a bunch of good people who are trying to do the right thing.  Heck, it even features a “roadhouse” scene in which Adams and Timberlake try to convince us that they can’t really dance.  

This film played out just as I thought it would, but it did so with satisfying professionalism.  If you’re tired of watching computer animations of demigods punching one another, you can’t go wrong with Trouble with the Curve.

Wild

Wild tells the true-ish story of  Cheryl Strayed, a troubled woman who sets out to through-hike the Pacific Crest Trail and, in a sense, wipe her personal slate clean.  It’s wonderful, not just for the effective and deft way it tells Strayed’s internal story, but for its depiction of the experience of backpacking the PCT.

As it happens, I grew up in town just off the PCT, a trail that runs all the way from California’s Mexican border to Washington’s Canada border.  Every spring, through-hikers would descend on my town, standing in line to pick up packages at the post office, hitching rides to the store, and generally catching their breath before heading on up the trail.  I, personally, have logged more miles than I can remember on the trail, both backpacking and working on maintenance projects as part of various Eagle Scout projects.  In other words, like Wings of the Navy, Wild tells a story about my personal world.

And it nails it.  When she begins her journey, Strayed has no idea what she’s doing.  She makes all the rookie mistakes: she overpacks, she fails to field-test her gear before starting out, she buys the wrong boots, and so on.  As a guy who has also made all of those rookie mistakes, the first act played (for me) like a horror movie: what disaster would this character bring upon herself next?  But slowly, across the miles and with a little help along the way, Strayed figures it out.  She sheds all the crap that isn’t doing her any good.  She learns how to take care of herself.  She finds her strength.  The film goes from horror-show to powerful character study, and before we know it we aren’t watching a movie about a woman walking in the woods, but about a woman walking out of her past.

This is powerful stuff, aided by a keen eye for technical detail, a genuine affection for the PCT and its through-hikers, and sure knowledge of what it’s about.  Wild is worth the trip.

Wings of the Navy; Kung Fu Panda 2

Wings of the Navy

Wings of the Navy is an odd duck.  Narratively, it isn’t particularly interesting: young flight student earns his Wings of Gold.  Historically, however, it’s the best.  Filmed in 1939, Wings of the Navy features extensive sequences shot aboard NAS Pensacola, FL, and NAS North Island, CA.

So what?  Well, the film spoke to me.  As a naval aviator who has spent a significant amount of time both in Pensacola and North Island, I loved seeing how the bases have changed, and how much they’ve remained the same, over the years.  The sea walls?  Still there.  North Island’s blimp hangar?  Still there.  Many of Pensacola’s buildings and hangars?  Yep, still going strong.  Further, Wings of the Navy features many, many scenes of Grumman F3Fs and Consolidated PBY Catalinas in flight.  What a wonderful historical document!

So, is Wings of the Navy a great film qua film?  Nope.  If you’re interested in aviation history, however, it’s a must-see.  I am, it was, and I’m glad I did.

Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 is every bit as colorful, touching, and exciting as its predecessor.  I loved it.

Catching Up

I've been clobbered at work, so I've been putting blogging on that back burner.  That said, here are a few things I've seen over last several weeks.

Big

It’s funny how time changes one’s perspective.  The first time I saw Big, I was 20.  I sympathized with the Tom Hanks (CDNW) character.  The last time, I was 47.  I sympathized with his mother, traumatized over the loss of her missing son.  And so it goes.

Deadpool

Deadpool won me over in the opening credits, when it named the writers as “The Real Heroes” and the director as “Some Overpaid Jerk.”  The film irreverently kept the laughs coming for 89 more minutes after that, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Spectre

It has been a month or so since I saw Spectre.  I barely remember it.

Ex Machina

Ex Machina is one of the best films of its year.  It does everything good science fiction should do, and it provides rich fodder for conversation.  I want to see it again.

Zootopia

I laughed all the way through Zootopia.  Then again, I’m an easy laugh.  Thing is, my kids loved it, too.  So I’m calling it a winner.