CREED
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington
Starring Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
I love a good sports film that really is not about sports. The Natural ...Good vs Evil/Darkness vs Light. Rocky to prove he is not just a bum from the streets. League Of Their Own...women finding their way in war time. Cinderella Man...surviving during the depression.
Now we come to Creed!! It is wonderful. Close to perfect. How does it work?
Well you have to have Sylvester Stallone be willing to take a backseat. Not only to Jordan but also letting Coogler direct and Coogler and Covington do the writing. By stepping back, Stallone gives maybe his best performance since the original Rocky.
Michael B Jordan here re-teams with Coogler after they did Fruitvale Station together, who, like Stallone, is perfect in this film. He may not get the recognition that Stallone gets in this film just because his character is angry and seems to always keep his head down and almost growls. He just does not get the funny and touching lines that Stallone gets.
It is a sports film but it is more of a film about two characters finding out who they are at different stages of their lives and finding purpose.
Exciting (The boxing match), Funny (Cloud), even touching (The last scene on the art museum steps). Finally the city!! The city looks beautiful. Philadelphia the city I love.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 for Creed. Close to perfect (That damn silly bike scene??!!). One of the best films of the year. What a great surprise!
ROOM
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson
Screenplay and Novel by Emma Donahue
Starring: Brie Larson; Jacob Trembley; Joan Allen; and William H Macy
TRUCK...WIGGLE OUT..JUMP...RUN!!!
Mom (Larson) has been locked away in a shed for 6 years. Kidnapped. Jack (Trembley) has been with his mom for 5 years in the shed in which he calls ROOM. After Jacks fifth birthday, Ma decides it is time to make a dangerous move to break away from their capture.
The film is real good. It sounds like a depressing film, and at times it makes you feel almost claustrophobic., however it is far from depressing, it is full on inspiring. It shows you the power of never giving up, and nothing is as powerful as a mother fighting for her child and trying to keep him safe physically and emotionally.
For Ma, there is the guilt and fear for what happens in ROOM and what is to come outside ROOM. A great performance by Larson. Sans makeup. Raw. Just the fear and love in her eyes.This is the best female lead performance of the year. It cannot be beat.
Then I come to Jacob Trembley who plays Jack. The film is on his shoulders. His little shoulders and he is amazing. He is in almost every scene. Watching him see WORLD and trying to deal with it (including stairs) is heartbreaking and exhilarating. Jacob is soooo good often just by watching, not saying a word.
Now for the movie itself. This is based on a book and it is 2 hours and I felt it was too short. I felt once out of room we were rushed through little pieces of their lives in WORLD. I wanted more of Jack talking to grandma (Another great performance in this film by Joan Allen) about life in ROOM and his thoughts on looking back at ROOM. How Jack adapted to Friends. How Ma assimilated into her new world. I even wanted to know more about the female police officer. William H Macy as Grandfather came and went. I wanted the movie to slow down a bit. Maybe because the actors were so good I fell in love with them and I, as the viewer, grew attached, which again is saying a lot about the performances. I wanted more.
4 1/2 stars for ROOM. Trust me...it is not as depressing as it sounds. Yes it can be sad, but it has you cheering and tearing and sometimes laughing. Wiggle out...jump...run... see it.
THE NIGHT BEFORE
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Screenplay by 5 People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Starring: Joesph Gordon-Levitt; Seth Rogan; Anthony Mackie; and Jillian Bell
On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
I will get to the point...except for the church scene, which you see in the trailer, this film is shockingly not funny. Sooooo flat. And as I noted it was written by 5 people!!!
The three leads are just too old to be behaving this way and they come across as pathetic and self absorbed. There is nothing there.
Positives?
Michael Shannon as Mr Green the pot dealer is amazing in this movie!!!!! He steals the film....and yes Michael Shannon is funny!!! Who would have thought????!!!!
Lizzie Caplan......James Franco....Jillian Bell...Mindy Kaling....Miley Cyrus (Yes that Miley Cyrus) are all really good and funny here in their short time on the screen. They get more laughs then the three leads. Problem is, the three leads are in every scene.
1 1/2 out of 5 for this disappointment.
THE DANISH GIRL
Directed by Tom Hooper
Screenplay by Lucinda Coxon
Based on the book by David Ebershoff
Starring Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne
A fictional love story inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
The key word above is "Fictional".
So we have to go with what is in the screenplay.
First lets get the acting out of the way. Two fantastic performances by Redmayne and Vikander. Both picking up well deserved Oscar Nominations.
The problem here is in the screenplay. The screenplay comes across as cold. Cold in many ways.
Einar makes the decision to become Lili, okay fine, but the ramifications of that are never talked about. Meaning the ramifications of their relationship. The decision by doing one thing...destroys a marriage and it is never spoken about or reacted to. It seemed cold. Not saying he should not have done what he did, I am just saying he almost comes across as unstable and selfish by not having the discussion with his wife about their future. Now, because of this it all seems cold and unrealistic and odd. Now I did not read the book, maybe they did have conversations, but I can only go by the film. Yes she is supportive. Yes she loves him and her. She comes across as just as brave as Einar. Still it seems sterile and cold. And because of this the film seems ..odd..and off a bit. It almost becomes a story of a very cold break up....with no reaction.
3 1/2 stars out of 5 for the well acted The Danish Girl
YOUTH (gets released on a larger scale on the 8th of January)
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Screenplay by Paolo Sorrentino
Starring Michael Caine; Harvey Keitel; Rachel Weiz; Paul Dano
A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and his film director best friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.
Pretentious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was sucked in by the trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the sheep that gave this fantastic reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The film goes on and on and on (I left during the credits and somebody was singing...so for all I know it could still be going on). I wanted soooo bad to like it.
This film can suck you in with little bright spots and then it leaves a subject and introduces a new character. Then it moves on again. Then you are sucked by something humorous and then it breaks away to imaginary actors. It has absolutely no rhythm. At one point Jane Fonda come in like she came in from another movie or stage playing Norma Desmond. Don't worry about her character however... like a lot of the characters in this film...it is not important. They move on and on and on to someone else. I am thinking Paolo was trying to be quirky, but it all fell flat.
Good Points:
The spa looked beautiful.
I do think it was Rachel Weiz's best performance in years!
When Caine and Keitel are walking and talking and Caine and Dano are walking and talking it seems pleasant enough.
There are a couple really good moment and some funny moments. Out of the 120 minutes....that will be about 10 minutes.
So we come to critics again. How can this film be getting such good reviews? I go back to the sheep factor. They cannot and will not go against the grain. They think this is so deep and smart it has to get a great review, like all the other critics/buddies write. They forget.....people pay to go to the movies!!!!!!!! They want to be entertained. They want to learn something. They want emotion!! Most moviegoers, not all, don't care about how deep it is with imaginary actors on a hill. Per example: We see over and over again a husband and wife eating and not talking. It is funny at first and then after seeing that scene over and over again it is sad. And then we see this old couple having sex against a tree. And that is the last we see of them. I am sure there is a deep meaning there but....I did not care!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted it to focus on Weiz or Dano.
2 out of 5 stars ...with the two stars being for Weiz and the 10 minutes of entertainment. This is the type of film that gives art houses a bad roll your eyes name. Go to an art house and support small films!! Go see Brooklyn. Room. Carol. Skip this one and watch when it come to home viewing if you must watch. It is a shame, because there is something here about looking back and longing for youth, but this got bogged down by a pretentious script.
As always thanks for your time from the shadows.
Now if you had the misfortune of seeing this here is how I will fix this boring arty mess because I wanted it to work:
Harvey Keitel's movie can go. That along with his film workers and Jane Fonda.
Dano's Hitler can go.....yes he dressed as Hitler.
The couple who do not talk needs to be seen only once.
The pee jokes can go...they got no laughs
The heavy rock star can go with the tattoo on his back
The guy who floats (yes you read that right)
With all this gone. You have an Hour and a half film about two friends (Keitel and Caine) an actor (Dano) a daughter (Weiz)...all staying at a spa for a week and talking about life changes and getting old and longing. Like Before Sunset series. Trust in the actors. Throw in more humor like this line that was in the movie: Weiz-I am great in bed I do not know why he left me. Caine: I know Weiz: How do you know. Caine: Your my daughter. Lines like that were funny. Or a funny video of a modern singer which was ridiculously funny. In other words fine a tone!!
No comments:
Post a Comment