At the Cinema - July 2018

Mission Impossible:  Fallout – 10

Ethan Hunt allows the cameras to follow him and his force for this 6^th installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, this one subtitled “Fallout.”  His motivation is clear.  He must find a bad guy, keep another bad guy whom he captured on his last Mission 3 years ago in handcuffs, save the world from nuclear explosions, and most importantly save those he cares about.  What has he been doing since the last mission?  Apparently, working out.

So, Ethan Hunt’s motivation is clear.  What I can’t figure out is what motivates Tom Cruise.  His desire to put his limbs at risk in stunts involving planes, trains, automobiles, motorcycles, helicopters, buildings, rocks, motorboats, big trucks, little trucks, skydiving, jumping, leaping, climbing, swimming, dangling and even tussling in bathrooms, is nerve-wracking.  All this at the age of 56.   And it’s all done so convincingly that the most unbelievable part of this movie is a 3-minute sprint that he does, chasing a baddie.  It’s a sprint that couldn’t be done by a 20 year old, not even Usain Bolt, or Ethan Hunt training for 3 years with Usain Bolt, not unless there’s been some amazing advances in lung transplants.  Most 56 year olds get winded in a motivated sprint to the bathroom, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.  But, we know that every Tom Cruise movie must include a running scene, although it does appear that the previously-required shirtless scene has finally bowed to father time.

Fallout is superbly scripted and executed.  It’s like a roller coaster ride where you keep thinking “surely that was the biggest incline.”  But it’s not.  Here’s another one.  It all combines to set a new standard for the action movie.  Sure, there’s a better one around the corner.  But for now, let’s just say that the Mission Impossible series has caught and passed James Bond.  Not in quantity.  But in thrills.  Certainly Tom and Ethan can’t keep this up much longer.  I kind of hope they quit while they’re ahead – and this movie puts them way ahead.  It’s terrific. Just choose to accept it.

Three Identical Strangers – 10

This a documentary that I can’t tell you much about, because I don’t want to unravel its secrets.  It’s the true story of triplets separated at birth and adopted by 3 very different families. The three brothers had no clue about their beginnings.  But, they fatefully and accidently find each other and the story is just beginning.  You won’t believe it, and as the story unwinds you will be stunned.  I go to a lot of movies, and I often sit and watch the credits as the audience jumps up and leaves.  This is the only movie I’ve ever been to, where the entire audience just sat there, through the credits, stunned.  Nobody moved. 

I’m guessing you won’t move either.  It will take a moment to digest.  Simply amazing – this is a documentary masterpiece.

At the Cinema - June 2017

Wonder Woman – 8

So close.  Gal Gadot blazes her way through the long-awaited Wonder Woman, and it’s like seeing Sean Connery for the first time as James Bond.  You just know she’s going to be doing this for a long time, and we should be happy.  She’s got that elusive on-screen charisma that is talked so much about, but rarely seen.  The problem is that there are a bunch of producers in the way.  

Wonder Woman is two thirds of a great movie.  It starts with the Wonder Girl backstory of how she was raised on an Amazon island, and that’s the kind of beginning I usually can’t stand – but here it’s enthralling.  Then comes her World War II adventures beside her side kick Steve Trevor, played to the hilt by Chris Pine, including an Ursula Andress type chemistry with the star.  It all progresses nicely until the usual Hollywood overblown special effects conclusion, this time a battle of the Gods that is totally ridiculous and unnecessary.  Too bad, so close to a classic.

Baby Driver – 8

Be careful.  When you come out of this movie your foot may be a little heavy.  Like most car chase movies, this one causes that little adrenaline spike, at least in the males, that says, “yeah, I could do that.”

Baby is a getaway driver and he does it all to music!  He pops in his earplugs and the music blares while he spins and shifts his car.  It’s almost a musical.  There’s a touch of realism in the action, even though most of it is ridiculous, that keeps you on the edge of your bucket seat.  Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are effective evildoers, while Kevin Spacey is just hammy, in support of Baby (Ansel Elgort) and his true love-to-be Deborah (the effervescent Lily Harris).  The movie races in cars, but drops to first gear of clichés when Baby is not behind the wheel, although another star is born in the beautiful Eiza Gonzales who plays Hamm’s partner in crime and life.  There’s a lot of fun here, and I suspect it will be a movie to be watched many times.

The Mummy – 4

On the other hand, The Mummy is a movie best forgotten, and very quickly.  There’s never been a movie that better exemplifies what is wrong with the movies of today.  Box office spectaculars with overblown and meaningless special effects that will play only briefly to the American Audience, then hope to make that ridiculous budget back overseas.  It may be a good business model, but it’s a horrible artistic one.

There are a few good scenes, and Tom Cruise is his usual “running” self, but how Cruise ever agreed to this script is beyond me.  The only other Cruise constant in a movie is he brings along an unknown female of his choosing to showcase, and here it’s Annabella Wallis who emerges as a star of the future.  Meanwhile Russel Crowe, who looks like he has been inflated, plays a Jekyll/Hyde Doctor because I guess this is supposed to be the beginning of a series of monster pictures, to which I’ll simply sum up with “I’ll pass.”

Scanning the Satellite (and the home theater)

A Dog’s Life (2016) – 8

This is as obvious a movie as there can be.  The idea presented in the movie is that dogs come back, their souls reincarnated over and over until they’re back with their original owner.  Well, as a friend of mine often says, “who don’t know that?”  My dog Bella gave me this blu-ray as a Father’s Day gift as if to tell me she’ll be back again. 
As for the execution of the movie, it’s predictable and fine, heartwarming and heartbreaking.  If you like dogs, you’ll probably like this movie.  It will just reaffirm what you already know.  They come back.

Birth of a Nation (2016)–  8

There were big expectations for this movie, but it underperformed when the lurid past of director Nate Parker was revealed.  There are two words for this movie.  Graphic and brutal. This is the story of the slavery rebellion led by Nat Turner, a literate preacher and slave.  Parker plays Turner, and there is not a single punch pulled in the movie.  I often had to turn away from the screen.  I guess everyone should see this movie – it’s certainly well done - but don’t expect to enjoy it.

Fargo –  10

My favorite of the last 3 years has been this FX series.  The latest season was complex and unpredictable.  I think there’s been slight slippage from season to season but it’s still terrific story-telling.  What has made this series so good is that the terrific portrayals of both the good guys and the bad guys each year are brilliant. 

At the Cinema - October 2016

Deepwater Horizon – 9

I was in no hurry to see this movie given the tepid reviews and the impact of the BP oil spill on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.   I was in for a surprise.
The special effects are harrowing and amazing.  I have no idea how the crew survived this oil rig disaster, much less how the actors survived the special effects.  The effects are the driver of this movie, make no mistake.

Kurt Russell is in Mark Wahlberg’s funky bunch for this effort, and they seem to capture the characters.  John Malkovich is the BP bad guy, and you expect him to spit fire.  I have no idea how true the story is preceding the oil spill, but the script pushes all the buttons in setting up the tension.  I learned a lot as the movie unfolded.  For a great companion piece, I’d suggest the pilot episode of HBO’s The Newsroom, which is my favorite TV episode of the last 5 years.  It takes place the day of the oil rig explosion too. 

 

Jack Reacher:  Never Go Back – 8
I’ll admit that I really enjoyed the first Jack Reacher movie and I usually enjoy Tom Cruise movies.  I know there will be a good script and good production.  I also know Tom has 3 rules – Tom gets a lot of close ups, Tom gets at least one running scene, and Tom gets to take his shirt off at least once.  But, once you get past those requirements, you’ll usually be entertained.  The Jack Reacher franchise is a modest one in comparison to many, but it’s no less compelling than most of the bloated ones we see.

Speaking of bloat, it must be said that those closeups of Tom’s face are beginning to reveal a normal person.  Hopefully there are some character roles coming and he ages into the next Gene Hackman or someone like that.

The story of this Jack Reacher has Jack hitching rides back to DC so he can meet the flirtatious lady that succeeded him at his Army post, played by Colby Smolders who can kick a little butt once Jack breaks her out of the brigg after a trumped up charge.  Soon they’re playing parent to a 15 year old and they’re off to New Orleans so they can get into an obligatory Mardi Gras parade chase, several fights, and some serious mystery solving.  The best parts of this two-movie series so far are the fights.  They just seem to be a step up from the standard action movie.  You be the judge.

The Accountant – 8

Christian Wolfe is a math savant.  He and his brother grow up with a military father who prepares them for being the outcasts they will be as adults.  Ben Affleck plays Wolfe who becomes an autistic accountant/assassin for major criminals.  His amazing accounting abilities are the really cool part.  With some all too brief support from Anna Kendrick, with whom Affleck has some real chemistry (but let’s face it – all her costars have great chemistry with her), Ben has to figure out who’s draining a Robotics company of cash.   But as you can guess, once he does, his life is in danger and he must use his physical skills.  Plenty of credible action, a lot of plot twists, and an original screenplay that’s quite original.  Good diversion in the current cinema violence style.

Scanning the Satellite:

Weiner – 10

This is playing on Showtime and I guess I could have found a more timely movie, but I don’t know how. 
This fantastically intimate documentary follows the ill-fated New York City mayoral campaign of the previously disgraced congressman who seems to want to play fool-me-twice with the electorate.  He comes across as a dedicated and vocal public servant who quite simply seems to have at least one screw loose, possibly two.  It wasn’t enough that he’d had to resign from Congress for his sexting proclivities but he actually resumed them while he was on his way to being the mayor of New York City.

Making this even more interesting is the up close look we get at Huma Abedin, Weiner’s (equally infamous to some) wife who has been a close advisor to Hillary Clinton for many years.  How does she come off?  Pretty well I thought; properly dignified, more than embarrassed, and worried about the child she will now raise.  That she would eventually separate from ironically-named Weiner seems obvious from the opening credits.  As the documentary draws to a close, the cameraman who has been usually silent finally asks the question, “why did you let us do this?”  Weiner has no answer.  I do.  Third screw loose.  Goodbye Anthony.  I’d recommend you say goodbye to Carlos Danger too.