Saturday, February 12, 2022

The Quick and the Dead (1995) [Movies I Want Everyone to See]



I am getting ready this weekend for a Podcast on the LAMB, covering the 1995 Sam Rami film, "The Quick and the Dead". I have just watched it for maybe the thirtieth time and I am so excited to talk about the film again. The movie was one of eight that I submitted to be Movie of the Month on the Lambcast. As host, I get to select the films that the community votes for in my Birthday Month. While it is at least the fourth time I have submitted "The Man Who Would be King" as a MOTM option, I am perfectly happy with the results found here because I clearly love this film.


 Let me point to the two biggest factors that draw me to this movie. First of all, it is a western, and they don't make them much any more. The early 90s saw a brief revival of the genre, lead in part by the fantastic Clint Eastwood  film, "Unforgiven". At the time this was shot, there were a number of other westerns being made and reportedly, costumes became a little sparse. When I was growing up, most of the westerns being released were post modern critiques of the traditional genre. "The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance", "The Wild Bunch", and the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, focused on breaking down the myths of the western, and giving us anti-heroes as our protagonists.  Of course there were television westerns all over the three major networks, and that saturation probably lead to the decline of the film genre. While some of those featured unconventional heroes, none of them that I remember were out right bad guys for us to root for.  Leone and Sam Peckinpah turned shady characters into the stars of their films and ever since, there is a delicate morality to the movies. 

The second major factor that keeps me hypnotized by this film is the performance of Gene Hackman. I have made no secret of the fact that Hackman is my favorite actor. He is not movie star handsome, he is not chiseled like a superhero, and unfortunately, he stopped working in movies in 2004. The thing that he is is talented. He seems to have an instinct for the characters he is playing and the everyman quality he brings to the screen, actually enhances both his roles as good guy and as villain. In "The Quick and the Dead", he is clearly the later. Unlike the brutal sheriff of Big Whiskey, that he won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in "Unforgiven", John Herod, the town of Redemptions usurper king, has no pretentions as to morality and justice. He is a self centered monster who rules with an iron sidearm and an iron fist. More about his performance in a bit.

So those are the two primary draws, but they are not the only sugar bringing this fly to the table. The star and co-producer of the film is Sharon Stone. This film came out the same year as her Academy Award Nominated role in "Casino". She was at the height of her star power and sexual charisma, and she is using it in this movie. There is something striking about a woman in the traditional gunfighter's role that makes it compelling. The film is drawing on her bigger than life persona to turn her character into the person that we most want to see succeed in the story. The fact that her wardrobe flatters her, and she still gets to wear very western garb is visually satisfying in almost every scene. "The Lady" as she is usually referred to as, wears  a her holster and the gun at a slightly different angle. Her style is also just different enough to be noticeable without it becoming an artificial conceit. Slightly forward on her hip rather than low and on the outside.

When it comes to talent and charisma, the film does not run out of steam with the two leads. There are two actors billed after Hackman and Stone who will dominate the masculine acting roles for the next twenty five years. Russel Crowe is making his American film debut with this appearance and he quickly leans into Sam Rami's style and looks the heartthrob that he would become for a decade after.  

The part of Cort, gives him a meaty role that allows him to act as well as engage in the action. He is a reformed criminal who is doing penance for his previous life by taking up the role of preacher and is reluctantly dragged back in to the town by the will of his former mentor and now enemy, Herod. His conflicted participation in the quick draw contest that frames the story is dramatically satisfying without sucking up all the air in the revenge drama that Stone's character is playing out. 

Speaking of heartthrobs, this movie features a young actor, fresh off of his first Academy Award Nomination and just two years away from playing the biggest romantic lead in the biggest romantic movie of the last fifty years. Leonardo DiCaprio, was 20 years old when he played the part of Fee, better known as The Kid, opposite the three other acting legends. He looks like he is twelve, and playing cowboys with the big kids. He does however have a winning smile and a effervescent way of talking that belies the characters desperation to be accepted at the grown up table by his suspected true father, Herod. Of all the actors, he needs the most help with the gunplay required of his part. He manages the bravado of the tricks and the poses, but he just seems slow in comparison to everyone else. 


Cantrell in the background Ace up front.
So those are the stars, but the acting wattage does not really end there. Among the cast are veteran TV character actors like Roberts Blossom, Kevin Conway and Mark Boone Junior. They are grimy character actors who make up so much of the environment of the movie. The personalities that fill in the background are even bigger. Keith David is Sgt. Clay Cantrell, a self described gentlemen's adventurer and shootist. His enigmatic character faces down Hackman both in the parlor of Herod's house and on the street of Redemption. The polite banter that he and Hackman engage in is an opportunity to see the professionalism that the two gunfighters want to project to the world.  Another gunfighter, played by Lance Henriksen, is the blow hard Ace Hanlon. A self promoter who has affectations that mark him as something of a buffoon, including a deck of cards stacked with aces, one for every man he has killed, and boots to die for, Hanlon is a character that enters the film dramatically and exits it too early.

Momentarily I will get to the plot and it's connection to the Leone films of the 1960s, but one actor who appears in the flashback sequences should also be named. A year after his nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise, plays the long ago Marshall of the town of Redemption. His character is the catalyst for the revenge story that Sharon Stone is following. Even though his scene is broken up into bits for the brief flashbacks, he creates a sympathetic character that the audience can see as important to the story arc that Ellen (The Lady) is carrying out. Sinise does the whole scene balanced on a chair and choking. What happens creates a different kind of choking on the part of the audience.

The film's story and the look of the movie, are clearly influenced by Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood. There is an entrance based on riding by the local undertaker as they enter the town, In "A Fist Full of Dollars" Clint tells the man to get three coffins ready, here, the coffin maker speaks and accurately states the height of Stone's character, suggesting he will be ready when her turn comes. The duster she wears is not the same as the poncho that the Man with No Name wears in the Dollars Trilogy, but she does have a scarf that gives a very similar effect in her appearance and both of them seem to favor the same tobaccoist. 

"The Quick and the Dead" is Sam Rami's homage to the spaghetti westerns of the 60s and 70s. There are tense close ups in the build to each showdown. The eyes of the characters are doing so much of the acting in those scenes that we barely notice the rest of the surroundings. Rami cross cuts tightly and the images close in, just as Leone did in so many of his films.  There is a scene in a gun shop in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where Eli Wallach's character Tuco, is examining the guns and clicking through the cylinders. Crowe does the same thing as Herod takes him to get armed for the contest in Fee's shop. Woody Strode, the athlete turned actor who supported John Wayne in Liberty Vallance, and tried to gun down Charles Bronson in "Once Upon a Time in the West" makes his final screen appearance in this film as the coffin maker and the movie is dedicated to him. The most obvious steal is the scene featuring Sinise. Sharon Stone is a much more attractive version of Charles Bronson's Harmonica from "Once Upon a Time in the West". 

For every idea and stylistic flourish that Rami takes from Leone, he brings his own original style to the movie as well. The dolly zooms that he used so much in the Evil Dead films, fit perfectly in several spots in this movie. The gunfighters stand far apart from one another, but we can feel the tension ratchet up as the next shot zooms the opponent in at a weird Dutch angle. 



All of these tricks are needed to help overcome the somewhat repetitive showdown in the street structure of the story. This is a quick draw contest, ultimately to the death, and there are 16 participants so there are going to be a lot of gunfights in the movie that are one on one in the main street of the town of Redemption. When I have seen negative reviews of this film, they often claim that the story is boring because the same event is reenacted over and over. Siskel and Ebert gave the movie Two Thumbs down for that very reason. What people are missing ate the innovative ways each of those gunfights is shot. There are also twists in several of the face offs that make the each contest unique. Additionally, the music themes play up different emotional beats for the fights. Sometimes the score is nearly whimsical and other times it is thunderous. 

Two of Herod's fights demonstrate this. The showdown with Ace Hanlon is slow to develop and then like a whip, the first shot is cracked and then we get a villain's exposition from Hackman that is so condescending, the end is almost a relief to Ace. With Cantrell, we get two extra shots, one that spins his fancy sidearm around after the man has been shot and then the Coup de Grâce, a point of view shot that is disturbing and inventive and new to the genre. The TV critics down play it as grotesque, but let's face it, the deadly combat in and of itself is also morbid. 

Back to Gene hackman for a few minutes. Herod is an egoist who wants everything to go his way. He demands the retorn of Cort to his town, just so he can lord over him the power that he has. He is dismissive of The Lady at first and then tries to manipulate her to his will. At the dinner scene, Ellen gets the drop on him with a small gun under the table, hidden from view. Herod hears the hammer being cocked and responds with a similar sound to dissuade her from shooting. After she blinks, he gives away the fact that he was bluffing with the hammercock sound he produced, using a metal matchbox. He smiles smugly in his victory over her as she retreats. Hackman does these kinds of smiles and small hand gestures throughout the picture.  Before his gunfight with Cantrell, he meticulously files the hammer on his disassembled firearm, to insure it is working properly. Rami tags on a slow motion shot when Hackman is lighting his cigar during a showdown, which accentuates the moment but it is the deliberate manner he uses in a casual way that sells his total control of the situation. Just to add one more element to Hackman's complete command of the part, he looks elegant in all of his costumes, including the sidearms that go around his suit jacket in one scene. 
















In previous posts about the film, I mentioned the music, in fact I had a link up to the theme on YouTube, that seems to have expired for some reason. I have an updated link to a suite of the music here:


It is quite lovely, and it does mirror some Morricone themes from the softer moments of the Dollars films. There is nothing as grandiose as the Theme from the Good ,The Bad and The Ugly", but there are a lot of places where it builds tension really well. Composer Alan Silvestri, who has done scores for "back to the Future" and four of the MCU films, has never received an Academy Award, but his music has received a lot of love from fans, and this is one of the pieces that is maybe not as popular, but it is certainly well matched with the drama of the film. 

Director of Photography Dante Spinotti worked with Rami to get the signature shots that enliven the shootouts, but he has also photographed the plains, town and dingy barrooms of Redemption in a beautiful fashion. The sometimes sepia infused lighting is great for some of the interiors and the early shots. I was very impressed with all of the shots supposedly taking place in the rain, especially the shootout between Ellen and Dread. Spinotti would go on to an Academy Award nomination two years later for "L.A. Confidential". 

There will always be more to talk about on this film. Russell Crowe and DiCaprio should merit some comments of their own. Some of this will be discussed on the podcast, and I will come back and add a link to that when it goes up. For now I am just happy to be anticipating the discussion we will have, the notes that I have just given you, and the fact that a 4K version of the film arrived on my doorstep today, and I am about to watch it again. 
 


 

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Moonfall

 


There is no way around it, this may be the dumbest movie of the year. The premise is silly, the dialogue is stupid and the ultimate explanation will leave you feeling incredulous at the crap that some people might believe. That said, you will probably still have a good time because all of the stupidity plays out in pretty solid special effects at a reasonable pace, with a little humor thrown in now and then and those jokes were intentional. 

Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry are working for a paycheck and having a little fun, and for the most part they play it straight. No one could take this seriously, so the laughs are not unexpected but they may be unintentional. I have not seen "Don't Look Up", but my understanding is that the satire in that film is supposed to make us think seriously about our institutions. This film has no such pretentions. This is presented as a straight drama, but nothing in it is believable. I saw in the credits that there were actual consultants from NASA who advised the film makers, but whatever they said must have largely been ignored.

Let's talk about what is fun in the movie and ignore the idiocy for a moment. For years I joked with my students about the persuasive power of a TV commercial where a Toyota tows a Space Shuttle down the street. If the director had placed a Toyota Tundra in one scene of this movie, it would have amplified the moment ten times over, someone missed a trick here. Even so, it was still fun when a decommissioned Space Shuttle is hijacked to be the vehicle the astronaut rescue team is going to use. Having walked by the building that house Endeavor on my way to the USC football games each weekend, it was a blast seeing the L.A. Coliseum in the background and the streets of L.A. littered with debris. It is also outright hysterical when the gravity of the Moon starts lifting objects off the ground like a tornado.  In fact, the large tree that pins a character to the ground flies up in the air, although the characters do not. The gravity wave is the most interesting visual effect in the movie and it's mixture with the launch of the Space Shuttle looks great but seem preposterous. 
The main reason we go to films like this is that it is safe disaster porn. Unlike the footage from 9/11 or the scenes of the Japanese tsunami, we know what we are looking at is a fiction, and we don't have to feel like ghouls watching a traffic accident as we drive by, because it is not real. The destruction of the cities is vivid with the exception that we don't really see any people dead afterwards. It's just a picture we can look on with mock horror and still sleep at night later. Roland Emmerich has destroyed the planet three or four times before. I think "2012" was more elaborate, "Independence Day" was more fun, and "Godzilla" may actually be more intelligent. Start the popcorn maker, shut off your brain, and don't let your self worth be defined by enjoying any of this, that would be taking it too seriously. 

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

 


When this film first came out, it was well before I'd begun blogging. So this has not appeared on my site before, a circumstance that I am happy to rectify today. This version of "Pride and Prejudice" starred Kiera Knightly, a rising young star who was blessed with talent and an aphorism that is incredibly sexist, but well remembered by me from my early years reading other people's blog pages and comments, "The sexiest Tomboy, Beanpole, on the planet." She plays one of literatures early feminist icons, Elizabeth Bennett, the headstrong and willful woman who will not "settle" for a marriage of convivence.  Her romantic counterpart is the dour Mr. Darcy, who's demeanor hides a decent man with a soulful desire for love, but one that must be contained by the circumstances of the time and the class to which he was born. 

My youngest daughter is a Jane Austen fanatic, and her sister was a fan as well, so when we saw this film in 2005, both of them were in high school and the perfect age for being enamored of the British literature as a result of English classes they were taking. The whole family enjoyed this film and over the years it was a regular spin on the DVD player. It has however been a decade or so since I have seen the movie, and this was the first time since 2005 that I saw it on a theater screen rather than at home. The experience was revelatory. This film is beautifully constructed as a story adaption and it is shot in a manner that displays the kinds of directorial touches that people admire in the best film makers. Joe Wright made a transition from directing television program in Great Britain to making films with this project. It is truly a showpiece for his skills and artistry.

The best examples to show the creativity and eye that made this film are the ball sequences. In addition to showing a complex choregraphed dance routine, the camera follows our characters through the throng and the focus moves in and out on key figures at well placed moments. This is not a result of editing but of camera movement and placement and it was so much more noticeable on the big screen than the numerous times I'd seen the same sequences on a television. There are also examples of the same eye for a beautiful image in some of the lush countryside shots. Elizabeth walking back from Pemberley after accidentally meeting with Mr. Darcy is somewhat reminiscent of the Julie Andres helicopter shot at the start of "The Sound of Music", the camera work from an aerial perspective is clever but not quite as flashy as it was in the musical.  The walk and talk sequence at the Bingley's leased home when Elizabeth is escorted around the atrium room by Bingley's sister while the two of them verbally joust with Mr. Darcy is also a nice flourish that is assured without being ostentatious. 

The cast of this movie is incredibly talented and effectively convey the attitudes of their characters and the story perspective that Austen set up. Mr. Collins is not an evil presence but he is feckless and uninteresting to Lizzie. The rest of the family sees this except Mrs. Bennett who is primarily interested in securing a reliable marriage for Lizzie. Tom Hollander is an average man in looks compared to the actors playing Wickham and Darcy. His mild deliver of his lines is completely appropriate and his obsequious attempts at impressing his benefactor Lady Katherine are very amusing. The two most valuable players however are Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn as his wife. She provides the desperate facial expressions and shrill worrying voice that make Mrs. Bennett a somewhat comical figure. Sutherland, who has never been nominated by the Academy, although he has received an honorary Oscar, plays Lizzie's father with the bemused tolerance of a loving husband and the patient but overwhelmed father of five daughters. Watch the scene where Elizabeth explains to her Father that she really does love Darcy, Sutherland's performance is primarily reacting and his non-verbals in the moment are superb. 

Knightley and her Darcy, Matthew Macfadyen, seem appropriately matched. She is bright and forceful where he is all tense reserve and disdainful looks. They manage the language of the script well and the nuance that they bring to the hesitations and cadence of the deliveries feel romantic in an early 19th Century manner. I know that Colin Firth is a favorite Mr. Darcy among those who love this material, but I thought Macfadyen was a less conventional choice with a bearing that works for the story as it is being told here.Looking back on the Academy Awards for the year 2005, the five films that were nominated, in retrospect seem to be lesser efforts in comparison to this film and some others I could name from that year. Certainly it is a matter of taste and I know that fashion plays a part in the choices that get made. It's unfortunate that the "tea on the lawn" fashion of film making had fallen out of favor to be replaced by social commentary films that have dominated the awards ever since. I think when it comes to artistry, Wright and his terrific cast stand the test of time, and I would happily repeat a theater screening of this movie anytime. 

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

The 355

 


This is exactly the kind of film that opens in January. There is a premise that is easy to grasp, there is plenty of action to try to keep you interested, and the characters are bland enough that you can be okay if they make it or they don't. This is as disposable an action film as you are likely to come across this year. Liam Neeson and Jason Statham have this territory to themselves usually, but there is a reason that their movies succeed where this one merely exists, charisma. Jessica Chastain is a fine actress and she has been in some excellent films, but she doers not have the persona here to make the movie memorable.

I love the idea of female spies coming together to form a team of badass women to save the world. The problem is that the characters have very little personality and the plot is action driven rather than character driven. Diane Kruger is the one agent who comes closest to having a personality that is not simply a stereotype. Lupita Nyong'o is mostly defined by her costume and the technical skills she has, rather than something about her that would draw us in. Penélope Cruz is playing a part that makes no sense from a story perspective and it saddles her with the responsibility of being the obligatory damsel in distress. Bingbing fan is the most conventional character and she only shows up in the last quarter of the film. Sebastian Stan glowers through his sections of the film, and should have been a stronger presence for Chastain to play against.

Basically this is a movie composed of a series of chases, fistfights and gun battles that all go on far too long. Everything is competently done but nothing feels special about any of it. There is more running in high heels than any movie I can think of, ever, and it is noticeable that this handicap does not seem to effect anyone in any way. Chastain has a training sequence where her fighting bon a fides are established, but she seems to just miss an awful lot in some of the early fights, making us wonder if she really is as good as she is supposed to be. The fight she has in a cloakroom for five minutes while the "heist" elements of their plan plays out makes no sense at all, it seems to simply be there so she can show off those skills in an evening dress.

The McGuffin in the story is a piece of technology that slips from one set of hands to another. It is set up as impossible to replicate or alter. The obvious question becomes how is that possible, and no answer really makes sense. The second question is if it is so dangerous, why not destroy it the first chance you get? Again, that would just have shortened the movie. Her is a third question, why not buy it in the auction, like all the bad actors in the world are trying to do? Again, the answer is that we would not have a movie is you did that. Plotting is not deep at all here, every double cross is not really a surprise, every character will be given a moment to shine.

Plenty of spy films have featured effective women characters that are interesting and sometimes the leads in the film. The idea of this movie seems to be to exclude any men from participating in the team work and pander to a specific audience. What ended up happening is that bland characters become even less interesting when surrounded by other bland characters and a lifeless plot. The action scenes are fine but not especially interesting, and the result is a film that I doubt anyone will remember by February. 


Friday, January 14, 2022

Scream (2022)



There are some things that you just don't expect when it comes to popular film. First of all, you don't expect a movie opening in January to be any good. This month is a notorious dumping ground for movies that studios have no confidence in. Another thing that you don't expect is that the fifth film in a franchise will be able to be as inventive as the original, after all, the ideas are all recycled at this point. In a horror film that is especially true, we are likely to have repeated killings, chases and twists that seem to come out of left field. The difference with the "Scream" franchise is that it as always been about more than the horror. The screenwriters have always used the movies to also comment on the genre, the culture and the overused tropes.

In the first sequel, the very notion of sequels is lampooned by creating a movie based on the incidents in the first film. The geek knowledge of the horror movie tropes referred to in the first film, become satire as the second film plays out those tropes while also pointing out that it is doing so. The phrase "Meta" was rapidly becoming synonymous with the "Scream" franchise. The third film in the series shifts the location but keeps the idea of self reference alive by focusing on the "film making" for the sequel to the fictional film based on the original movie. After a decade off, the original screenwriter updates the film by looking at how technology and social media were making the process even more self aware. The first four films were all directed by horror master Wes Craven, the fourth film being his last movie.

So now, a decade removed, it is time for a reboot of the series. New screen writers and directors are taking over, and the question shifts to figuring out how to continue the meta approach to the storytelling, and the answer is right there, acknowledge that this is a reboot but try to fix the things that all the recent resets have screwed up, and make fun of it at the same time. I'd not heard the term "requel" before, but it may be my favorite invented word from the movies ever. 

This new movie follows the script from the originals by starting with a phone call that turns into an attack on a girl, home alone, but then shifts the outcome, she survives in order to bring other characters into the story. So something is different but still the same. The first half hour moves along and I started to lose interest because it was playing out like a traditional film horror story, but somewhere about a third of the way in, there is a brilliant monologue scene, much like Randy's from the original, which takes the film makers, the characters but especially the audience to the woodshed and slaps us silly. Fandom becomes the meta subject here, and for the rest of the movie, the best scenes are those which poke at the fans of the films, especially the fans who are so proprietary of their franchises. If you enjoy the prospect of not only horror fans but Star Wars fans, Super hero film fans and others being roasted in delicious snarky dialogue, this movie will appeal to you. This is a horror comedy that gets both genres right and makes fun of them simultaneously. 

Admittedly, there are some plot contrivances that are hard to swallow in retrospect. The reveal is foreshadowed well and it plays out fine while watching the movie, but looking back, some of it makes little sense. On the other hand, there is a delightful moment at the climax of the film that references another film from a couple of years ago, and the ironic self reference  and awareness of that moment was amusing as hell so who cares if it doesn't necessarily make sense, it does meet our meta-verse requirements for a "Requel".

The legacy cast is on hand to reassure us that this is not going off the tracks like a gender swapped reboot of a beloved classic, but that the film will remain true to the history that has existed up to this point in Woodsboro. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox get to play the same characters they have been in the films up to this point, and their roles are not token appearances. but substantial contributions to the movie. The legacy character who comes off the best in the story is David Arquette's Dewey, who was one of the awkward charms of the earlier films and here gets to finally turn in a performance that is not merely comic relief. Of course how the fandom of the film series reacts will be a big question. 


I smiled at a lot of things in the film, there are Easter eggs for the work of other film makers but especially for Wes Craven himself. Those small moments are nice. Even nicer were the four times that I literally laughed out loud and hard at some of the things being said and a couple of the things being done. If you are a "Scream" fan, this should entertain you while you are watching it. The best review of the movie however is contained in the film itself when that big monologue about horror films is delivered. It judges it self and the film does not come up wanting. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Traditional Top Ten for 2021

 


The usual top ten list for the previous year was split up between theatrical and streaming because theaters were closed and product was sparse. Although everything is still not as it once was, I can say things are better and we return this year to a list of films that were seen for the first time in theaters. There were a number of movies on the list that could be accessed at home, but this site continues to be devoted to an "in-theater" experience for the most part. I may make mention of a couple of streaming products, but most of those were not covered on the site before so there will be no link to a review for them.

Ten Favorite Films of 2021

As I have said in the past, my opinion on the list reflects my reaction to a film, not always it's aesthetic qualities, although those often line up. 

10. The King's Man

I have loved all of Matthew Vaughn's films. Last year I participated in a podcast reviewing his work and discussing with the hosts whether he qualifies as an auteur. You can find that discussion on The Popcorn Auteur at this link: Here. The films in this series have usually been frenetic exercises in action and violence, laced with a heavy dose of humor. "Kingsmen: The Secret Service" is basically an absurdist James Bond fantasy that is well aware that it is exactly that. "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" did what a sequel usually does, expand the universe that it is operating in and adding characters that we will want to see in further entries. "The King's Man" goes in a different direction. In essence it is an origin story of the organization that we were introduced to in the first two films. It is a clever mix of the fictional with authentic history. There are some absurd concepts here, like the idea that Mati Hari seduced Woodrow Wilson, but it is kind of in keeping with the way U.S. Presidents have been portrayed in the other two movies, so it least Vaughn is consistent. 
The film has not received the same enthusiasm from critics and audiences as the first film did, but I found it to be very entertaining and I was happy it finally got a release. The movie has been ready for two years and it finally escaped Covid jail during the recent holiday season. 








9. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up the next phase in their agenda, and that requires new heroes to step in for the departing leads in the Avenger's films. Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow are now off stage. 

The Hulk appears to be semi-retired, but Thor is coming back and the second wave of Marvel Universe heroes are still kicking around. "Shang-Chi" introduces a new character to the films, a sort of magical Bruce Lee character who gets an origin story in this film from the very end of the Summer season. The story is really solid, and we get some characters that will be fun in small does as well as the main lead who is great. The villain in the stury is also excellent, and is played by a respected Asian actor with a long history of good films, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung.

There was a lot of enthusiasm on the Lambcast when we covered this in September. The film also seemed to open the valves a little on the slowly awakening box office. 


8. Nightmare Alley (2021)

I need to include the year of release here because this film is a remake of a noir classic that came out in 1947, and we would not want the two of them to be confused with one another. Admittedly, that is unlikely because the current version is directed by Guillermo del Toro, who has an incredible eye, even though his storytelling skills are sometimes a bit underwhelming. Stanton Carlisle is one of the great Noir figures that actually has crept into the vernacular. Carneys, grifters, psychics and fortunetellers can pick out a fellow traveler when they admit that they are a friend of Stanton Carlisle. In this version, Tyrone Power has been replaced by another handsome face, Bradley Cooper.  


The elaborate production design and incredibly deep cast is used to support a horrifying outcome for a man who we follow and probably root for, but for whom we should have no sympathy. The ambitious huckster manages to think he is the smartest guy in the room, only to discover that there are people even more vile than he and sometimes more clever. I think the film pokes along a little more slowly than is best, but the story still works and the movie looks great. 

7. Nobody

This was a movie that came out of nowhere for me. Prior to seeing a trailer, I had no idea it existed nor any reason to be interested. Once I saw the premise however, I had high hopes that it would be just what the doctor ordered. Theaters around the country were not all open when this film dropped last March. Too many people were still reluctant to go out to a film, but not me. I was ready for this and when it was over I was gassed. This hit every button on my lizard brain and made me so happy, I actually watched it as a rental a few weeks later when I spent an evening back in California with my friends.

"Nobody" is a John Wick style action film with a less than likely badass as the central figure. Bob Odenkirk from "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" doesn't look like an intimidating tough guy, and that is part of the pleasure of this film. He is a guy that people underestimate when they look at him, but know to fear when they learn who he was. The fistfights are not kung fu battles but brutal beatdowns using basic force. The gun battles are stylized, but they are not the elegant special effects works of Matrix style action. This movie was simply the most fun I had at a movie next to one other film on this list. 

6. The Sparks Brothers

At the start of the year, the Edgar Wright film that I would have most been looking forward to was "Last Night in Soho" . I was not even aware that Wright was doing a documentary, much less on a band with a cult following in my hometown and in Europe. Sparks was a band that I was a fan of in the 1980s, but they fell off of my radar for 30 years. Apparently, they just kept making the great, odd music that they had always done. There were projects that went nowhere and albums that did not generate sales, but the creativity never faltered and this documentary shows it.


Wright includes the usual talking heads but spices it up with performances, videos and animation to cover the history of the band in a mostly chronological fashion. The movie is not just informative about the bands travails, it is also entertaining as heck and much of that is provided by the two brothers that make up the band. 


5. Spider-Man: No Way Home

This is getting people back out to the movies, it is setting records for box office and the full theaters seem to be a good indicator that people will come out of their covid induced hibernation if a movie is only available in theaters and it is something people want to see. "No Way Home" is the third Spider-Man centric film to star Tom Holland. Although he appears in three other MCU films, the ones with Spider-Man as the main character seem to harken to the early days of comic book movies when the stories were fun and not just grim exercises in creating worldwide threats. 

We were led to the idea of a multiverse by the animated Spider-Man movie "Into the Spiderverse", just a couple of years ago. This film takes advantage of the concept by dipping into the previous Spider-Man films for stories, villains and some other potential fun. The audience gasp at particular moments in the film, lets you know that this is a movie that is connecting with it's fans. The term "fan service" is often used to deride elements of a film that are designed to pander to the audience, but when used properly, this "service" represents the connection that a franchise has with it's fans and that relationship is an important one for most of us who love movies. 

"No Way Home" gives us a chance to reconcile our feelings about plots that were left dangling in the earlier Spidey films and allows us to reassess those movies and somewhat repair them in our memory. This was the movie that was the most fun that I had in a theater this last year and I look forward to catching it again as soon as I am able. 

4. Ghostbusters Afterlife

Everyone who was waiting for a Ghostbusters sequel which did not suck, finally got their wish in November of 2021. "Ghostbusters Afterlife" had been delayed more than a year and a half by the Covid-19 reshuffling that studios had to do to try and save their projects form theatrical disaster. The really unfortunate part of this is that "Afterlife" was a perfect Summer release, and now it will be a fond memory, but not of sunny days and warm nights spent in a theater. 

The young cast that carries this film is impressive, but even more impressive is that this is a true sequel and not a reboot like the 2016 misfire. The original characters are in the story for just a bit, but it is a juicy bit and it does not take away from what the new cast has done to bring us into the story. Down the road, this may get the most rewatches by me of any film on the list, it is fun and when June gets here, I will be looking for this as a companion to the original "Ghostbusters". 

3. Free Guy

This is an original concept but it feels like a franchise film because it operates in the world of videogames. This is another film that had multiple release dates but finally escaped in the summertime to give all of us a reason to go to the movies. The premise felt convoluted the first time I saw a trailer, but it turns out to be relatively straightforward once you are watching. A video game character becomes self aware in the game he exists in and interacts with a real player to foil a villainous plot. "Free Guy" is an odd name choice, but the character is Guy and it just makes sense. 

Ryan Reynolds proves that he can be his own most valuable player when the material is good. I have not tired of his casual, relaxed vocal style yet. His manner is perfect for a non-playable character in a computer game. This film also has the benefit of the best trailer for a movie this year. See it when you click on the link to the review. 


2. Dune (2021)

A visionary film from a visionary film maker. Denis Villeneuve has made two terrific science fiction films before this, Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival.  The visuals in those two movies were spectacular and they promised a great deal for a revised version of "Dune". This movie lived up to that promise. This is an ambitious film, that is attempting to do something very difficult, translate a book that is full of ideas, into a movie that is more than just the visuals. 

I'm a big apologist for the David Lynch version of the story, but Villeneuve has something that Lynch was denied back in 1984, time. This movie is only part one of a two part film. It is already longer than the Lynch film, and we still have the second half to look forward to. I am not the biggest fan of  Timothée Chalamet, but he manages to be convincing as Paul Atreides, especially in the early part of the story where Paul is supposed to be young and a bit uncertain. 


There is a great cast in this film and we will certainly see more of them in Part 2 when it arrives in two years although the electric Jason Mamoa will be missed as Duncan Idaho's part in the story is complete at this point. Baron Harkonnen is barely used and will be more prominent down the road, and some characters from the book have not even been hinted at in the film so far. 

1. Belfast

When I see a film, I always hope to connect with the characters and share the emotional ride that the story takes us on. "Belfast" is a personal reminiscence of  writer/director Kenneth Branagh, harkening to his youth in the violence torn hometown. While "The Troubles" are a part of the story, the real focus is on the family at the center of the picture. A young boy is confronting the confusing world he lives in while being nurtured by a fiercely stubborn mother, an unwillingly absent father and nurturing grandparents.

The emotions and hopefulness are engulfing, just the way I like. Some may see it as sentimental clap trap, they can take a flying leap. This is a wonderfully acted drama that has more heart and cares more about it's characters than any movie that has come along in a long time. Frankly, it was not even close to being dethroned from my top spot, despite how great some of the other films are. It is small, in black and white and emotionally perfect. The actors are also fantastic. 


Saturday, January 1, 2022

American Underdog

 


There is nothing subtle about this story, nor should there be. While it is not a documentary, it is an accurate docudrama about a real life sports underdog story, the kind that will turn off the cynics in the world but should make sentimentalists everywhere year up in joy. This is a life affirming, dramatic and ultimately inspiring story of a guy who climbed to the highest echelon in his sport, from the lowest point possible. This movie helps explain to people who don't really care much about sports, why it is about so much more than just the score at the end of the game. 

The actor who plays Kurt Warner, is Zachary Levi, who I know mostly from the movie Shazam!, although he has been in a bunch of stuff that many of you will recognize. He is very well cast, having the facial characteristics of the real Kurt Warner without being a doppelganger. He is also a good actor who manages to convey the weaknesses of Warner while also pushing forward his best characteristics. While I was watching the film, I kept thinking to myself that the actress playing Brenda Meoni, his eventual wife, was really good. I thought it was too bad the Awards season handicapping had not included her in any of their forecasts. Then I realized who it was at the end and thought, well damn, there is a reason she was so good. This is not a newcomer but Anna Paquin, who has been doing great work since she was nine years old. She is terrific in this meaty part and she tears into it with great energy.

Football is a frequent subject of movies, and there are lots of inspiring stories built around the game. People who love Ted Lasso but don't like football may see some of the positive vibes of that fictional character in this real life player. Look, we know the film is based on Warner's autobiography and that he and his wife are producers on the film, so it will probably be a lot sunnier than the real experience, except there are some pretty tough experiences in their relationship that are covered by the film. Some people might be put off by the Christian values at the heart of their experience, fearful that they are going to get a sermon rather than a story. Don't worry, those moments that are spiritual in nature are mostly universal, and it never feels like you are being preached to, only that you are shown how the couple's faith supplements the decision making process and lives that they lead. 


Dennis Quaid is listed on the poster but his part is largely as a background character with a few inspirational moments. The third lead in the film is a young actor named Hayden Zaller, he plays Zack, Kurt's special needs stepson who sees thing in Kurt despite the fact that he is blind. Bruce McGill, ia a familiar face who plays the founder of the Arena Football league and the coach/owner of a team that helps nurture Warner to success. For those of you not familiar with arena football, it is a much different set of strategies and there are some significant differences in the two versions of the game. It's nice as a former season ticketholder of an Arena Football team, to see the sport shown this way, it was not degrading but it certainly feels different.  

The directors Edwin and Jon Erwin, have made several inspirational films for the faith=based market, and that is another reason some people might shy away from the movie, but again you should not hesitate. They do a good job showing us the dramatic moments of Kurt and Brenda's lives and they competently recreate the football environment. So if you are up for an inspiring drama based in reality, this is what you are looking for to start the year off on a hopeful note. After the last couple of years, we can use it.