Star Wars: The Force Awakens

the-force-awakensI thought it was done just about right… very entertaining & added to the greater Star Wars story. I don’t think Star Wars needs something earth-shattering, it’s just supposed to be fun adventure/fantasy. Sure, it could have been a little better in places, but there was more right than wrong with it.

I read that JJ Abrams tried including Luke in more of the script, but his character was so strong that he basically took-over, and you didn’t care about whatever the other characters were doing. I guess I could see that. I do wish they’d given him at least one line at the end, like “I’ve been waiting…” or something. It would have made his appearance more memorable. Another interesting result of “Luke at the end” – It seems the next movie will almost have no choice but to pick-up right where this one left-off, which is different from any of the other sequels –all the rest of them had years in-between… hence the “screen crawl” at the beginning of each movie.  So what will the screen crawl on the next movie say? I suppose there are always some details to fill-in.

While the main plot points were a bit borrowed or predictable, that’s true with 90% of all movies… and there was enough new stuff in the movie to keep things interesting. In addition, this movie mostly served to introduce a bunch of new characters. There just wasn’t a lot of room/time left to do anything else too major. That said, perhaps they could have invented some new kind of way to destroy a planet – perhaps a “creeping doom” that was like a disease which consumed planets. And the rebels would have to figure out how to stop it. Maybe an idea for the next one? Anyone listening?

I thought the end of the movie was a bit rushed… my guess is stuff that got cut to get the running time down, as the studio has a financial incentive to keep it to a certain length.

Finally – I’d really like to know why C3PO’s arm was red… He mentions it, but then it was left totally unexplained!!! WHY!!?

Wild

WildI have a bit of a rare perspective on this, as I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail myself… a few years after Cheryl Strayed did. Because of this, I was focused on a different character – the PCT itself. There’s a lot the movie gets right about the PCT – some of the scenery, the other hikers, and the challenges along the way. But there was just too much ‘wrong’, and that kept me distracted the whole way through. Right at the start, we see Cheryl trying to set up her tent near the start of the trail. But, she’s not at the start of the trail, she’s at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon – 2000 miles from the start of the trail. So, instead of watching Cheryl Strayed, I’m watching Reese Witherspoon… and wondering why they filmed this scene where they did. This kind of thing happened frequently through the movie, and kept pulling me away from the story (another example is a view of the landscape in Northern California, which is clearly Southern California – would it have been that hard to get a stock shot of Mt. Shasta?). I realize that when you shoot a movie, you have to make some practical compromises. But it would not have taken much effort to get some of these details right, and that might have made the movie amazing, instead of just decent.

Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the SheepAardman studios has put out a lot of superb stop-frame animation over the years, but this might be their best ever. Shaun the Sheep is a simple story – perhaps the simplest of stories. It’s lighthearted and fun throughout, and will only bring you smiles. But, it’s done just brilliantly. Essentially this is a silent film – not one word of dialog is spoken. There are a few mumbles, but that’s it. It takes quite a bit of storytelling to pull that off. I had the feeling that I was watching years of meticulous work crammed into the space of 90+ minutes, and it showed. Each scene could stand on its own (and in fact much of the movie was made of previously released scenes). The whole thing was just utter joy.

Pacific Rim

Pacific RimIf you want to see giant robot-mechs battling giant alien creatures, this is your movie. But, don’t expect anything else. It’s great at what it is, but that’s pretty much all it is. Oh well, sometimes that’s all you want to see. Eye candy isn’t worthless, and it’s not easy to produce well – there’s a lot of skill and artistry involved. Not every movie has to catch you on an emotional level. Sometimes you just want to see the world burn.

Unbroken

Something was broken with this movie. I almost hate to admit it, because I respect Angelina Jolie, but the directing was well… lacking. The story was told very straightforwardly (and technically sound), but I always had the feeling that these were actors standing around acting. I didn’t feel transported into the movie – like I was standing right there with them. Instead it was more like: this happened, then this happened, then that happened… all with perfect lighting, the perfect angle, and makeup & costumes that looked like makeup and costumes. Maybe the book kind of ruined this for me. The book was compelling – any movie would have a difficult time living up to that. Oh well, it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great.

Elysium

ElysiumI was expecting elegant, grand, deep… But instead it was a lot of shaky-cam and borderline camp. Maybe they blew their budget on the stars, and didn’t have any left for… well, the movie. It did have its moments, but there was so much more potential in the concept. I’m kind of glad I just happened to see this on a hotel TV for nothing, on a night when I had nothing better to do.

I Am Big Bird

I Am Big BirdAll about the man inside Big Bird. I never really gave it much thought – that there is a human inside there, not only operating the bird, but playing the part too – walking, talking, improvising. And I suppose the fact I never thought about it says a lot about how good he is. What kind of a person could do this for 40-some years? Well, a guy like Caroll Spinney. When I first started watching this, something seemed a bit “off” about him, but as the movie progressed, he grew on me… and I suppose you’d have to be just a little odd to be a good Big Bird (not that there’s anything with being odd). Surely, a documentary like this is going to present a positive picture, but that’s fine – and who’s to say it isn’t 100% accurate? Anyway, after all those years in the suit, he deserves a bit of adulation – well done Caroll.

The Martian

The MartianFinally… a science fiction movie that treats its audience like the smart adults we are. Finally we get a hero whose struggle isn’t against his own personal demons, but just against a hostile environment. There’s no stupid love story, no family crying at home about how they miss daddy, no people doing stupid things because they have some emotional baggage, no illogical plot points… instead, we’re left with a movie that’s certainly fantasy – and fantastical, but just on the right side of plausible. Sure, there are a few technical issues glossed-over (like how his plastic bubble fix to the habitat could not have come close to withstanding the pressure it needed to). But these were not central to the plot.

I think most movie-makers in Hollywood simply aren’t very scientific. They’re in the movie business, they’re all about art and emotion. I hope they “get it” with a movie like The Martian – there’s a huge demand for geeky smart stuff. Please make more.

Tim’s Vermeer

Tim's VermmerAn inquisitive inventor/engineer/entrepreneur turns the art history world on its head with his theory about how Johannes Vermeer created his master works. He makes a very compelling argument, and goes to the extreme length of replicating not only a Vermeer painting (The Music Lesson), but the entire live scene as Vermeer saw it, which involves building all the items in the scene from scratch.

He postulates that Vermeer painted using a setup of mirrors & lenses. This setup enabled Vermeer to produce paintings that have a unique photographic quality. The argument is compelling. Not only was Tim able to create an impressive painting with no previous experience, but all kinds of ancillary evidence is presented as well – such as how Vermeer’s paintings have many qualities unique to photographs.

The documentary rightly addresses the question of “what makes an artist great?”. If Vermeer used this method, that makes him no less visionary & talented. Instead, it adds to his genius – he was able to come up with a system so impressive, it remained secret for hundreds of years. As the movie rightly explains: art, science, engineering… they are not separate fields. To be a good artist, you need a broad base of knowledge about materials and techniques. I have to wonder, if Tim was able to create a pretty good replica with no experience… what might a talented artist be able to produce with these same tools? Perhaps a body of work like Vermeer’s.

As for the documentary itself… It’s done by “Teller” of Penn & Teller fame, and it’s about as impressive as Tim’s painting. The style, pacing, storytelling, and shooting are all spot-on. It was a joy to watch.

Foxcatcher

foxcatcherBased on the true story of how creepazoid gazillionaire John DuPont (of the DuPont family) “adopted” US wrestling for a time in the mid 1980s. There’s not a lot of money in wrestling (the real kind, not the entertainment kind), so when a weirdo with money builds a state-of-the-art wrestling center on his estate, it’s an offer too good to reject. Of course, things go from weird to creepy to unhealthy to dangerous in a one way spiral of madness. DuPont has created a fantasy land disconnected from reality. He pines for the approval of his aloof mother, and wants desperately to be “someone important”. Instead, he’s just a rich fool… Deep down, he knows this, so he fills his life with distractions and tries to buy his way into relevance.

Like most movies based on a true story, this one takes liberties with how things actually happened. But the essence of the actual events and characters is there. It’s a dark movie from start to finish. Even the somewhat lighthearted moments are tense. If I had any complaint, it’s just that the sound is too quiet. I realize it was like this purposefully – to help set the mood (and it worked), but on a purely practical level, I need at least a little volume to be able to hear what’s being said.

The acting was all excellent all around. Steve Carell deserves a gold medal for his portrayal of DuPont. I get the heebee-jeebee’s just thinking about it.

The Deep (Djúpið)

the-deepI’m a sucker for Icelandic movies… but this one stood on its own as a “good movie that happened to be Icelandic”. It had a small town feel that is quintessentially Icelandic – where you get the sense that everyone is part of a large extended family.

The movie is a little-known true story about the improbable survival of a fisherman, who has to swim many miles to shore in ice-cold waters after his boat sinks. Most people succumb to the cold after 20 minutes, but somehow he survives.

Perhaps the best part of this movie was the way it didn’t overdramatize the story – it just told the story. The hero wasn’t some kind of super-human, just really lucky by a quirk of genetics. And perhaps best of all, the events of the story don’t really change his essence. In his darkest moments, he makes a deal with God that if he survives, he’ll finally go talk to that girl he likes. But, he never follows through. Why? Because his character was simply like that. That made the movie true to me.

Hannah

hannahWhile this did have decent moments of action & “reveals” (where you learn some secret about the main character and are all like “ooh…”), in the end, the whole concept just wasn’t believable. I’m not sure how that could be fixed without it becoming a whole other movie though. If you like this kind of movie, it’s worth a watch, but don’t have massive expectations.

Prometheus

prometheusLoved the opening shot at Dettifoss, Iceland… but the rest of the movie was one giant “huh”?

This is the rare case where I didn’t really like the movie, but would still like to see a sequel, just so they can make some sense of the whole thing. Maybe this is a “sunk cost fallacy”, but I’ve already invested about 2 hours into this thing… Maybe after 4, it’d be worth it?

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

night-at-the-museum-2Ok, I admit it… I watched this. I honestly don’t know why. And as I’m writing this about two years after I saw it… I can’t really remember it. It was the kind of thing where halfway through, I wish I could have turned to myself to say “hey, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be cleaning the crud out of your toenails or something?”. Ya, I probably should have done that instead.

I suppose the only reason you might want to watch this is if you’re just dying to know what happened the characters after the first movie. Ya…

Man of Steel

man-of-steelI saw this in a theater in Manila. After waiting far too long as the only foreigner in a giant snaking line, I got to the ticket gate and discovered there was assigned seating. This was why the line moved so slowly – each moviegoer weighed their options. I just picked something near the back – I was only looking to kill a couple hours, and didn’t really care. I entered the theater only to realize that the seating diagram was backwards – I’d unknowingly picked a seat right at the front of the theater… this wouldn’t do. So, I did what any good American would – attempted to fix the situation. I got back to the ticket office, explained the problem, and was confronted with confusion – they had no process to fix a seat. “no problem”, I offered, “just sell me another ticket”. I was willing to blow another $5 due to my stupidity. But, they wouldn’t have that… they had to figure something out. After much discussion, and a visit from the manager, I had a new ticket. Wonderful.

So, I got to my seat in the back of the theater, and was settling in… when someone motioned that I was in their seat. No, I said, my seat is “4D”, see? An usher came over. “Oh”, he said, “You’re in 4D on the other side”. Seriously? There were two seats in the theater designated 4D? (and presumably two of every other seat). There are lots of letters and numbers… they couldn’t pick unique combinations for every seat? Oh well, I finally made it to the other 4D… And watched the movie while the person in front of me spent the whole time texting on their phone. This whole fiasco was more entertaining than the actual movie – I can’t remember any of it… but I do remember the absurdity of finding my seat. Maybe they should make a movie about that instead.

Taken 2

taken-2I watched this in the middle of night on a rambling bus heading north on the Philippine island of Luzon. Headlights from the oncoming traffic illuminated the shapes of my fellow passengers in a stroboscopic effect. The Air Con blasted my forehead relentlessly – I was unable to control it. So, I rested my head on my pack and stared down the narrow center pathway, where Taken 2 was playing an on a tiny, blurry CRT screen, with barely readable subtitles. The movie was more unbearable than the bus ride.

Taken

takenMaybe it’s just me, but I just can’t take Liam Neeson seriously as an action hero. I suppose the movie was entertaining for all the usual reasons, but as it went on, it was just too ridiculous to take very seriously. It relied on incredible coincidences that just had me rolling my eyes, saying “come on!” rather than enjoying the movie.

Oz the Great and Powerful

oz-the-great-and-powerfulBut what I really want to know… is how did Oz turn into a showman in the first place. Did he come from a dysfunctional family? Was his father mean? Why? What happened to that guy? And where did Oz come from? Why is the wicked witch so wicked (oh, there’s another story about that I suppose). Why are the munchkins so small? What is their history? Why do they like candy? Who built the yellow brick road? So many questions I need to know the answer to!!!!

Jack the Giant Slayer

jack-the-giant-slayerI really thought this was going to suck… and it mostly did. But, there were enough good things to make it at least watchable.

But, just once, I’d like to see a big action/special-effects movie end with a battle of wits & not brawn. This movie almost did it with the whole crown thing, but still we had to have a big battle with giants smashing stuff up.

Cloud Atlas

cloud-atlasAnother original, interesting, thoughtful movie. Sure, it had its slow moments, but all-in-all, it worked both as a concept and in the nuts-and-bolts of plot, acting, script, directing, etc. It did take a while for me to get into it, but after a couple rotations of the story, I couldn’t wait for the next cut.

9

9Wow. It’s so hard to make a movie that’s wholly original, and trusts the intelligence & attention of the viewers. This was a real joy to watch unfold… the joy was in the discovery of the story. Nothing is explained, you have to learn it all along with the characters. And even then, it doesn’t make much sense, but you have to accept it anyway. This movie is the dream I hope to have when I close my eyes each night.