Welcome back ladies and jerks, we got a hell of a week for you. Not only was it a surprisingly busy week with me being back at work and all, but I wrote alot of words about a few of these flicks. That’s what happens when I get re-energized. One of those movies is a shit piece though, but in such a unique way that I got excited to write about it. It’s a good week overall, even in the crap. So give it a look gang and let’s see what shakes loose.
Fantastic Four (August 9th, 2015)
Director: Josh Trank
Starring: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell
The Fantastic Four is by far the hardest comic book property to translate to live action. Well, I don’t actually believe it is but based on the 4 attempts to make a successful movie based on the property, you’d believe it to be true. Now having eclipsed The Punisher for most failed adaptations, this new Fantastic Four movie is a monumental failure and is arguably the worst of the attempts. But the saddest thing about it is that I can actually see an interesting, if flawed, movie in there that works as a film if not as an adaptation of the characters. The biggest problem the movie has going for it is that it’s been hacked to shit, and it’s obvious even without the semi public hullabaloo. The movie is way too quick, despite being drawn out for the first 50 minutes. It takes 50 minutes for the characters to get their powers. That’s right, 50. And in those 50 minutes, the movie is all about set up and trying to sell the characters. But the character stuff is all hacked out of the movie with no grace at all. Ben Grimm (Bell) is insultingly an afterthought, barely in the movie and with a laughably slack amount of lines. Johnny Storm (Jordan) gets a little more work than Grimm, but is still surprisingly absent the movie and gets barely any moments to himself to shine or make an impression. Sue Storm (Mara) is given some stuff to do but it’s laughably half assed and cliched. This is really Reeds (Teller) movie, getting the big arc and meat of the story. But that is so rushed and skimmed over, it doesn’t register or work. This is a game cast and they have moments where they work as the characters, but it never gels. For a movie about science, there’s a shocking lack of chemistry in the movie. And with the hack job comes the blatant reshoots, stuff that sticks out like a sore thumb and dilutes the material that’s already there. It’s like they didn’t even try or care that it didn’t fit in with the movie. Just watch out for Mara’s wig that sometimes shows up throughout the movie. Somehow in the chopping out of material, they took out all the events to make the movie propulsive or even minutely thrilling. There’s AN action scene and it’s 5 minutes long. And it’s also the climax. It’s insane how rushed the ending is, feeling like a parody of a comic movie ending. Which ties into an even bigger problem, and that’s Doom. He is the one FUBAR’d out of the whole cast. Toby Kebbel plays him and he coulda been great. He was Koba in Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, so he can play bad well. But even in the not interfered with stuff, Doom was ruined. Because you can see in Tranks version, he was to be a hermit hacker with long greasy hair and a shitty Mens Rights Activist attitude. There’s still a scene of that, but with shitty ADR to brush past it and make him closer to a Doom we can maybe see. But even then, he’s given little to do pre accident that his turn to Doctor Doom is so rushed as to barely even register as a shift. And when he’s Doctor Doom, he’s nothing like the character. At all, on any level. It’s unreal than in this post Iron Man/The Dark Knight world, that a studio can still just not get someone who understands Doom at all. He’s aggressively bad and he shows up to rush the movie to an action ending, and it doesn’t work at all. It’s obtuse to an aggressive point. Fuck, this movie wasn’t good. And it really could have been. It moves quickly enough, where I was shocked it had been 50 minutes till the accident. But aside from the Doom clusterfuck, nothing in this is as embarrassing as The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So there’s that. Hopefully this was so embarrassing for Fox that they give up entirely or at the very least make an arrangement with Marvel like Sony did with Spidey to get the rights back to someone who gets the characters at all. Skip this at all costs, unless curiosity gets the best of you. Sadly, this isn’t the worst movie of the year.
Rating: 4/10
Burying The Ex (August 9th, 2015)
Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Ashely Greene, Alexandria Daddario, and Oliver Cooper
I have come to very much love Joe Dante as a director in recent times. I didn’t grow up in the 80s and, unluckily for me, I was pretty much unawares of his movies for a good long time. Gremlins and his others 80s mainstays were just not on my cinematic menu provided by the parents. But that my be a blessing in disguise, as Dantes movies may be very entertaining for kids, they work even better for adults that can appreciate the mix of Looney Tunes inspired humor with some B movie fare and a cinephiliac level of references. So I can appreciate the tonal rollercoasters of The Howling, Innerspace, and Gremlins. Sadly though, he hit some rough patches after the commercial failures of Gremlins 2 in 1990 and Looney Tunes: Back In Action in 2003. Since 2003, he’s only made 2 feature films. The second has come out this year and I have finally gotten my hands on it. And luckily, the man hasn’t really lost a step.
The setup for the film is simple. Max (Yelchin) is a simple dude who works at a Halloween horror costume shop type place, with the simple dream of being able to open up his own similar place. He also has a girlfriend named Evelyn (Greene) who is really sweet and obviously in love with him. But she’s also super into being green and has strong abandonment issues, so much so that she becomes way too overbearing for Max. But when he decides to break up with her, she dies and he falls into a funk. Some time passes and as he is ready to move on, he starts a flirtation with Olivia (Daddario), a woman who is much better for him. But wouldn’t you know it, Evelyn rises from the dead and forces herself back into Max’s life. It’s a simple enough story of a guy stuck between two women, but with a nice little genre twist.
This may be the smallest movie Dante has ever made. And that is including his Corman days. But even if it isn’t, it’s been a good long time since he’s gone this small in scale. It’s really a movie with 4 characters, the three above and Max’s half brother Travis. And of that, the vast majority is Max in a room with Evelyn. At first dealing with her neurosis’ and then with his zombie stuff. Even with the genre element, this is a much more human and relatable movie than most. For one, Evelyn may be a bit too much for Max, she isn’t some evil shrew. There’s some real pain and sorrow in her character. You can see why she is the way she is, with only a few lines. And she isn’t trying to hurt Max or ruin him to control him. She just doesn’t realize how she makes him feel. And Max isn’t super miserable either, just realizing that they don’t fit. And Olivia isn’t this amazing manic pixie dream girl here to fix Max and make him better. No, she’s just into the same stuff and is just obviously a better fit. It’s simple and makes alot of sense, something that can’t be said for the vast majority of romantic movies. And that works a hell of a lot for me.
What makes the movie right up my alley is not just the obvious horror elements that strike to my core or the aforementioned believable love story at play. No, it’s the tightrope act that Dante plays with tone that works like gangbusters. He’s always been good at this and he’s done it again. Now the movie obviously leans more towards comedy and romance than it does horror, but when it goes that way it leans in fucking hard. I don’t know why, since this is the guy who made the responsible for the PG13 Gremlins, but there’s a point that gets so bloody and vicious that I was stunned. It’s not Eli Roth brutal or anything, but it goes for it. And even within that scene, there’s some humor in it. And it all feels really natural.
None of this would work if he didn’t get a good cast and lost his touch with actors. Yelchin yet again shows that he’s a reliable young actor that can make you root for him. This is a simple role but one that could easily be just really phony, and he makes it work. You believe that he’s a kinda beta horror nerd but that he could also pull in Green and Daddario. Greene gets the hardest role to play and she really kills it. She makes the issues that plague her real without being too off putting, and she makes you feel for her while also wishing her away from Max. It’s also an incredibly physical performance and she’s game. Daddario has the easiest role to play, but she makes it work and is totally charming in the role. And being a Dante film, Dick Miller shows up for a scene. I only mention him in such a minor cameo because it made me really bummed out to see how old he is.
It may seem like I’m calling this film a masterpiece, but it’s far from it. It’s a minor movie, a movie that won’t change the world or anything. It doesn’t reach the horrific highs of The Howling, the humor/zaniness of Gremlins 2, or the romance of Innerspace. The movie is consistent though, humming along at a reasonably enjoyable pace. And the pace is quick, never overstaying it’s welcome and never feeling like it’s missing anything. So it’s a quick movie that never reaches a level of greatness, I kinda really like the film for it’s energy and the style Dante manages to wring out on such a small scale/low budget. And the fact that it uses the zombie stuff for thematic heft, with the relationship with Evelyn being obviously over but sticking around way past it’s expiration date until it gets harmful to everyone involved. It may be a bit obvious, but it’s better than most horror or romance can muster these days. I gotta recommend the film and I’m glad I saw it. Let’s hope Dante can make another handful of movies before he goes. Cause while this may not be the best late career effort from an 80s icon this year (oh look, another Fury Road name drop), it’s a good little piece.
Rating: 8/10
Killers Kiss (August 11th, 2015)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Frank Silvera, and Jerry Jarret
I mentioned last week that I have a weird relationship with Kubrick, but the man is an icon and one of the mainstays of cinema. So it is my duty as a cinephile to get into this mans work and see it all. And I have now seen his first movie, and I really enjoyed it. It’s not some piece of art like he’d go onto make from Paths of Glory on, but it’s an enjoyable little noir flick that he put some style on to make it a unique little thing. The story is about a punchy, over the hill boxer (Smith) getting involved with a beauty (Kane) who is romantically linked with a bad dude. The dude gets jealous and shit goes sideways. It’s simple, and quick as shit. The movie is slightly over an hour long, so it doesn’t have the Kubrick tendency to overstay it’s welcome. The story works well enough, with the movie being more ambiguous with the love story than one would expect. It wraps up a little too neatly with the jealous ex, but that’s fine and kinda of the time. Kubrick shots the movie with some flair, showing off some skills on his first flick. It doesn’t suggest what’s to come, but he isn’t innovating here. Just working within the system. While this isn’t the greatest movie ever, it’s a good enough flick to pass the time. A must see for Kubrick fans.
Rating: 8/10
Interview With The Vampire (August 12th, 2015)
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, and Antonio Banderas
Sometimes, I just don’t jive with a movie and it’s goals. This movie and its take on vampires is just not for me. It’s not a bad movie or anything, but it’s sexualization of vamps and the homoerotic nature of the story just don’t work for me. It’s way too broody and female oriented to sate my bloodlust when I watch a vampire movie. And you can even see a more in line version of what I want out of a vamp movie in Coppola’s Dracula, which is also a romantic movie but is crazy and violent as shit. This is to sedate and kinda pointless, as the ending isn’t an ending but a too be continued that never was continued. Brad Pitt is playing “sexy” I guess, but is really kinda boring. This is easily the worst performance I’ve seen him give. And Cruise is trying to make Lestat an attractive villain but just is way too mannered. Maybe in a post Collateral world he could unleash that side, but I don’t see it at all here. I wasn’t bored watching the movie though, but I felt myself just disconnect from it as it went on. I could suggest seeing it as it might fit your needs, a romantic gothic vampire love story, but for me it didn’t do it.
Rating: 7/10
Straight Outta Compton (August 14th, 2015)
Director: F. Gary Gray
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jason Mitchell, and Paul Giamatti
Biopics aren’t very unique. They’re all usually in the same formula, trying to condense decades of time into a small run time, not usually giving much time to let things sit and breathe while also cutting out alot of stuff. And they usually will cut out some of the more darker and less sexy aspects of the subjects lives. At least the music biopics have good tunes and performances to keep you entertained, even if the narrative ain’t doing it. But sometimes a movie will come along to buck against the norm and bring a freshness with it. And that movie is Straight Outta Compton.
What we have here is a biopic of NWA and the three iconic members of the group. Ice Cube, Dr Dre, and Easy E. We get a glimpse of their lives before the group and how rough it is and unfulfilled they are. And we see what they would bring to the group. Dre’s the producer, E is the business man and hustler, while Cube is the lyrical genius that innovated in the rap game. Within this, we see how Compton is a bit of a war zone with the Police as an occupying force, attacking the black kids for no apparent reason other than having the balls to be black near the cops. All the pressures they’re under from within and outside make them converge and a rap group that changed the world is formed.
This is the first half of the movie and it is easily the best part of the movie and is fucking unbelievably good. There’s a drive, a timeliness and an anger here that just works. Seeing the rough time they have of it is sobering and really fucked up in how it would seem to not have changed that much (I’m saying seem, so shut up with the politics). Each of the three guys you can see why they’d work together and be friends, how they’d contribute but also how they’d come apart at the seams. Cube is too principled to be fucked by E and Jerry Haller. E is to proud and kinda stupid to let anyone else make a decision. And Dre is too wrapped up in making beats to worry about the details in the now. And this time period is the one we spend the most time on, getting into the nitty of it as we see how they changed the world. This half of the movie essentially ends when Cube leaves the group and records the NWA diss track, “No Vaseline”. After that is when things change a bit.
If the first half of the movie was a change up from the normal biopic standards, the second half kinda falls into that trap. It loses a bit of the focus that the first half had, where it had one thing to focus on. But when Cube leaves the narrative expands to focus on these three guys on their own paths, so it jumps around more and doesn’t have one thing to build to. Even E’s eventual fate only really plays into things as a surprise and not an end game for the movie. You don’t see E fucking around with women unsafely, as to make it a point that this is where we’re going. It’s just a twist that signifies the end of the group, egos or not. The second half isn’t bad, especially anything with Cube, but it loses an edge.
The second half may lose some steam in ways, but the movie is still amazing. Seeing the creation of these iconic songs, from NWA and Dre and Cube is great. And that all works because the cast is amazing. They really get to the heart of these guys. And it doesn’t help that two of them are eerily similar looking to their counterparts. Hawkins is the one who looks nothing like his counterpart, playing Dre. It doesn’t hurt his performance, as the kinda naive dreamer caught up in crazy shit. Mitchell though looks almost exactly like Easy E, and he nails the sleazy little work act of E, but bringing real soul and pathos to the guy. He is a tragic figure, not trying to fuck anyone, but being too stupid to really see the truth. But the real star here Jackson, playing his father Ice Cube. And fuck, he looks eerily similar to his dad. And being his son, it probably helped in his performance to see the secret side of the man. And he’s got the scowl of Cube. The intelligence and anger is palpable in the guy, bringing that old innovating Cube back to life. And to round the cast out is Giamatti, playing Haller as a bit of a scheming little thief, but also as a guy who really believes in these guys.
Really, this is a great damn movie. And sure, the second half may fall into the biopic conventions the first half bucked. But when the biopic is telling a story like this that isn’t a bunch of bland white dudes doing some homogenized shit, it makes the conventions work. Cause watching Cube storm a producers office with some bangers and destroy the office for breach of contract or Easy get stomped out by Suge Knight over contract disputes is not something you’d see in Walk The Line. The violence, language and sexuality added to the settings and music being made make this more than a cliche. Focusing on black people and black music and black problems makes things fresh here, bringing some new energy and new storytelling possibilities to the front. And the movie is so good, you don’t even have to like NWA to like the movie. The movie may clean things up a bit, like making Dre and Cube friendlier post break up then they probably were and making E look a bit dumber or just cleaning Dre’s life up completely regarding woman beatings. But that’s what happens when the winners get to write history. Even with that though, we get the dirty side of things. All in all, this is a great movie and one that comes highly recommended.
Rating: 9.5/10
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (August 15th, 2015)
Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Bugs Bunny, and Daffy Duck
This movie is responsible for seriously crippling Joe Dantes film career and it’s reputation wasn’t any better than the box office. And watching it in the midst of this Joe Dante kick I’m in, I’m really kinda surprised it was so disastrous. It kinda reeks of Gremlins 2, where the movie was so meta and zany to really land with people. And while I like it, it kinda has the stink of behind the scenes issues. Some of the stuff with the humans just reeks of studio heads and their notes of what’s “funny”. Some of it works, when it gets meta or they do some “riffing” with the toons. But all the stuff with those glorious animated sum bitches is great. It’s got the old Looney Tunes charm with some Joe Dante goodness. I had a hell of a good time. While the plot is just some kiddie spy stuff, it gets the ball rolling for some good hijinks. Highly recommended for toon fans.
Rating: 8/10
Top Movies
1. Straight Outta Compton
2. Burying The Ex
3. Killers Kiss
4. Looney Tunes: Back In Action
5. Interview With The Vampire
6. Fantastic Four
Top Movies
1. Straight Outta Compton
2. Burying The Ex
3. Killers Kiss
4. Looney Tunes: Back In Action
5. Interview With The Vampire
6. Fantastic Four
- Tom Lorenzo
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