A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Review

As with Johnny Cash prior to James Mangold's 2005 film, Walk the Line, I had no close affiliation with or personal connection to Bob Dylan prior to seeing Mangold's latest musical biopic, A Complete Unknown. After seeing Walk the Line I wanted to not only consume as much of Cash's music as I could but learn as much about he and June Carter's life and the time around which the movie was based as well as what happened after. All of this to say, the question of whether A Complete Unknown would be successful or not was then going to naturally rest upon how invested I became in the life and music of Dylan post-screening. Maybe it’s because I had more time on my hands as an eighteen-year-old in 2005, but while I certainly enjoyed Mangold’s adaptation of Elijah Wald’s “Dylan Goes Electric!” book - admire it even for many of its choices - I don’t know that I feel as compelled to go down the long and winding road that is both Dylan’s biography and discography. Or maybe it is simply that Cash had a more charismatic personality and was therefore easier to be drawn to as is exemplified by a scene-stealing Boyd Holbrook in this film. Dylan is of course a more enigmatic figure, and Mangold seems to have understood this and that his approach to the respective films made about each of these men would need to be as wildly different as the men themselves.

It is notable in this genre that A Complete Unknown features neither of Dylan’s parents in any capacity - roles typically utilized in the first act to not only propel our aspiring protagonist out of their comfort zone, but who continue to serve as motivation to remain as disconnected from the life they knew as a child and on becoming as famous as they need to be in order to have earned themselves their own biopic. There is no such device in A Complete Unknown, the first sign Mangold is breaking from a tradition he helped instate and the first indicator he is catering his storytelling to his subject even as his filmmaking remains the handsome, sturdy, and reliable type that looks to modestly enlighten and wholly entertain while offending only those who've already claimed I'm Not There as the only necessary Dylan feature. It is the understanding of this objective that helps define Mangold's successes (and some of his shortcomings) here, as his job is not to necessarily demystify but capture the essence of this mysterious and often difficult individual so that a new generation might come to understand why Dylan became so important to the young, noisy activists of the sixties as well as to remind that same generation that "there was a time when the old songs were new."

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Review

To no one's surprise James Mangold - a man who has made solid films across multiple genres - does well to craft a loving and honorable homage to Steven Spielberg. There is no broader a canvas on which to paint to Spielbergian strengths than an Indiana Jones adventure and Mangold does his best to utilize Spielberg's trademark sentimentality along with his own brand of sturdy and assured filmmaking concurrently for the purposes of, if nothing else, ensuring Harrison Ford's titular character is given a properly satisfying farewell. Though Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may not reach the heights of the first or third entries it's a far more enjoyable film than the second and a much more gratifying experience than the fourth which is to say this follows two stone-cold classics as the third best film in the franchise; nothing to scoff at, especially given the star of this action film made it as a seventy-nine year-old. 

It is to the point of Mr. Ford's age that Dial of Destiny (and yes, I do think there could have been a better subtitle for this movie even if I'm not yet sure what that is yet) finds its true meaning beyond the chase for the MacGuffin and besides the establishing of supporting players that might continue this franchise elsewhere should Disney decide to do so (they shouldn't). That is to say, said titular MacGuffin is very purposefully made an agent of time manipulation in order to construct a story around not only the pursuit of artifacts and the pedigree and recognition that may come with as much, but more to emphasize the inability to go back and alter our regrets or act differently given a longer perspective. After the flashback-based opening set piece we are introduced to an unhappy Dr. Jones in 1969, a man out of time who doesn't even pretend to understand where he fits into the modern world or how optimism continues to exist. Indiana Jones is not who he once was no matter how much we or he would like him to be and dealing with this harsh truth and tackling it head on is largely what gives this fifth film that comes to us some forty-two years after Ford first donned the fedora the endearing quality that delivers on both the genuine entertainment and sincere send-off it delivers.

THE PREDATOR Review

I was born in 1987 or the same year the original Predator was released. One might think this means something more or that it's led to some long-standing connection I feel with that John McTiernan movie, but it doesn't and hasn't. I say this more to point out I was too far behind to now have any nostalgic or appropriated affection for that movie. In fact, I've only seen Predator once before in preparation for the 2010 re-boot, Predators, and while the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick certainly makes for an enjoyable enough action movie it certainly didn't hit me the same way in 2010 as it likely did those who were in their late-teens to early-twenties in 1987. For me, it was fine, goofy fun and very much a product of the time in which it was made. And while 2018's The Predator will rank miles below that original for those who adore it and place it on this pedestal of action perfection, which I admittedly can't dispute given the credentials of my birth, The Predator is also perfectly okay. There is a lot going on and it wants to do more than its hour and forty-seven minute runtime dares to contain, but at the heart of the issues with the film is the fact the movie itself doesn't seem to know what its heart really wants. Does this mean there is nothing beating within the core of this movie? Does it mean there's no pulse? Not necessarily. There is so much going on that it kind of creates the illusion of this pounding sense of energy and tension, but energy doesn't always equal an understanding or coherence. There are numerous players playing different games, following several different arcs, but none of them thread together to form a satisfying whole despite countless efforts to present a facade that it does in fact do so. The Predator puts on that it knows what it is, but taking in the execution presented it seems the movie only has ideas of what it wants to be. Writer/director Shane Black knows he wants to make a bloody, irreverent, and fun action movie but for one reason or another everything Black throws at the audience feels like both disparate and sometimes desperate attempts to play to what the masses want never landing a single of the many things as well as he's proven he could have.

First Trailer for THE PREDATOR

I was never a huge fan of Predator, but most of this lack of affection derived from the fact I was born to late to really enjoy the testosterone-soaked brutal action movie it was during the heyday of testosterone-soaked brutal action movies. I did eventually go back and re-visit both the original and that 1990 sequel before seeing 2010's Predators though (which I remember liking more than I expected). That being said, I never bothered with any of the AVP titles given they came out in '04 and 07' which was before I had any interest in either franchise. Personal history aside, this latest attempt to re-boot the Predator franchise comes from writer/director Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) who starred in the original 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-vehicle before going on to write massive hits like Lethal Weapon and Last Action Hero before and eventually moving into directing his own films. 20th Century Fox is clearly hoping that the hiring of Black contributes to the nostalgia factor it is also counting on to pull fans back in for a new film in a franchise that is now thirty-plus years old. And while having never personally been a huge fan of these movies it's not hard to understand the appeal and I look forward to seeing what a unique voice like Black brings to this kind of movie. Black's last film, 2016's The Nice Guys, was a fantastic little slice of a seventies buddy action/comedy, but it only made $62.7 million worldwide on a $50 million budget despite starring "names" like Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. The Nice Guys is the kind of movie that would have flourished in the nineties when the movie star on the poster was everything, but in a world dominated by IP's and familiar brands it makes sense the studio would have Black return to his roots and try his hand at something proven that could use a little bit of fresh inspiration. As far as the trailer goes, this looks like what one would expect as far as a summer sci-fi movie goes, but I expect the film itself to be a lot less typical than what this first piece of promotional material suggests as the Predator films have a history of being rated-R and filled with a little more blood and guts than your standard PG-13 summer blockbuster. The Predator stars Jacob Tremblay, Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Alfie Allen, Thomas Jane, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, and opens on September 14th, 2018.

LOGAN Review

It's disappointing. Tragic, even. All those struggles and all that time invested in trying to make the world a better place and this is what they have to show for it. This is what it's all come to. There is a sweeping sorrow to Hugh Jackman's swan song as The Wolverine, but much like its brutal, bloody, and exceptionally R-rated violence, this tone feels justified and necessary. Necessary not only in the aesthetic sense of what is befitting to Logan's world, but necessary in that tragedy always was the way of the world for Logan AKA James Howlett, so why might his conclusion be spared such tribulations? Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for our titular mutant LOGAN is another tale in which our protagonist is pulled into a conflict in which he bears no responsibility in creating, but that his storied past has somehow served as an influence and thus he is then unwillingly pulled into the scenario. This time things are different though, as before and in the many movies we've seen Jackman portray Wolverine the character has always been reluctant, but ultimately unable to deny his true and selfless heroism. He couldn't help but to care, couldn't help but to stand up for the little guy and what he felt to be right, but in LOGAN Wolverine is a much more broken man than we've ever seen him before. His extended past is beginning to catch up with him and we can see that he's tired of playing this role, he's tired of being the hero, of feeling the responsibility to save the day and that he's essentially forcing himself to not care any longer, but rather focus on the task at hand-a task that sees putting himself and an old friend first. In the midst of all this is the centerpiece that is Jackman's final turn as the adamantium clawed mutant making this grief and misery and pain all the more palpable. Jackman so embodies the character at this point though, it's hard to imagine he has a hard time slipping into even the worn and weathered skin of his alter ego at this stage in the game. And while it is Jackman's (presumably) final turn in his most iconic role that is rightly at the center of what makes LOGAN so emotionally rich and narratively compelling there is plenty going on around him that builds the film up in these ways and make it a genuinely thrilling end of an era.

Final Trailer for LOGAN Starring Hugh Jackman

And so, here we are. The final trailer for the final Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie. Sixteen years after the original Bryan Singer film that arguably launched this wave of super hero domination we are still experiencing and Jackman is putting on the claws for what is said to be his final time. Jackman has gone from a thirty-two year old unknown Australian actor to the now forty-eight year old grizzled face of the entire X-Men franchise. Not a bad way to leave a legacy considering outside of maybe Robert Downey Jr. that he's the actor most associated with a respected for playing a comic book character as best as anyone else ever could. With Logan, Jackman and director James Mangold (Walk the Line) who collaborated on 2013's solid if not troubled The Wolverine have collaborated once again to tell the final story in Jackman's Wolverine arc that will seemingly center around the Old Man Logan storyline from the comic books. To note how far comic book movies have come since Jackman first played this character is to note that X-Men came out in the dead heat of the summer of 2000 surrounded by only the likes of Mission: Impossible II as its closest competition while also being a year where a Mel Gibson rom-com finished within the top five highest grossing films of the year. We will receive Jackman's swan song as the adamantium-clawed mutant at the beginning of March. I'm not complaining though as this final trailer we've received before the film makes its debut is staggeringly epic and makes the film itself look damn incredible. I was excited before, but now I can hardly wait. I've always been a little averse to Mangold's chosen aesthetic as it feels rather generic, but there is some beautiful imagery on display here as well as the chosen song, like in the teaser with Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt," is used to ground the film with a more singular mood and it works. This time around Mangold and co. use Kaleo's "Way Down We Go," to great effect and if you haven't seen the video for the song check it out here. Logan also stars Patrick Stewart (reprising his role of Professor Charles Xavier), Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Boyd Holbrook, Doris Morgado, Sienna Novikov, and opens on March 3rd, 2017.

Teaser Trailer for LOGAN Starring Hugh Jackman

And so, here we are. Sixteen years removed from the original Bryan Singer X-Men film that arguably launched this wave of super hero domination we are still experiencing and Hugh Jackman is putting on the claws for what is said to be his final time. Jackman has gone from a thirty-two year old unknown Australian actor to the now forty-eight year old grizzled face of the entire X-Men franchise. He has also become something of a movie star in his own right as he's made solid projects outside the spandex universe, but Wolverine is (or was) his bread and butter and he's had no problem admitting that for some time. With Logan though, the actor and director James Mangold (Walk the Line) who collaborated on 2013's solid if not troubled The Wolverine have come together once again to tell the final story in Jackman's Wolverine arc that will seemingly center around the Old Man Logan storyline from the comic books. To note how far comic book movies have come since Jackman first played this character is to note that X-Men came out in the dead heat of the summer of 2000 surrounded by only the likes of Mission: Impossible II as the closest competition while also being a year where a Mel Gibson rom com finished within the top five highest grossing films of the year. We will receive Jackman's swan song as the adamantium-clawed mutant at the beginning of March. What this says about the state of modern cinema and the regularity of blockbuster-size products is likely a discussion for another day, but as for this first glimpse at Jackman's final go around as Logan things are looking pretty dour. Though, admittedly, not as dour as I was initially hoping. There is simply something to Mangold's chosen aesthetic that feels too generic where the song choice here, Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt," is used to make up ground for the lack of mood in the visuals. That isn't to say the film looks bad-not at all-there are some great images here I was just hoping for something a little more distinct given the circumstances. That said, this looks like a sprawling adventure and I'm optimistic Jackman's tenure as Wolverine will go out on a high note. Logan also stars Patrick Stewart (reprising his role of Professor Charles Xavier), Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Boyd Holbrook, Doris Morgado, Sienna Novikov, and opens on March 3rd, 2017.

MORGAN Review

It's beginning to feel like a trend. This thing where the first hour or so of a film is really promising before deciding to devolve into a predictable and ultimately disappointing piece of genre filmmaking. Directed by Luke Scott (son of Ridley Scott) Morgan is familiar and yet for at least the first forty minutes or so is a nicely paced and well-executed look at a premise we've seen many times before, especially in the last few years with the likes of Ex Machina, Lucy, and even this past summer's Stranger Things to a degree. Each of those pieces of entertainment analyze cautionary situations of man attempting to play God and in Morgan we find another group of scientists hoping to craft a certain genetic code in order to build a specific type of life form that will fit their specific needs. There are numerous amounts of ideological and ethical questions that can spring from such situations and thus what made the aforementioned Ex Machina so engaging last year, but while Morgan seems intent on following a similar pattern if not setting its titular experiment in a different set of circumstances it quickly dissolves into little more than a ridiculous action romp that would rather spill blood than explore ideas. It is always easier to revert to a formula rather than continue on a prompt into territory where ideas might become revealing or genuinely insightful. Naturally, this requires more thought and investment on the part of the writer and though Morgan is the product of a singular screenwriter in Seth W. Owen it feels, especially in the hurried second half, as if the film was put together by a committee who found the first half to be too boring and trying for modern audiences and thus forced Owen and Scott to infuse their contemplations on artificial intelligence and the difference in demonstrating and actually feeling real emotions with a high body count. This isn't even necessarily an issue were the film to still give due diligence to the larger ideas it clearly has on its mind, but at a slight ninety minutes it feels as if Morgan is forced to choose between being a thinking person's film and a strict action movie and by splitting those categorizations right down the middle it isn't enough of either to excel as one or the other.

First Trailer for Ridley Scott-Produced MORGAN

When your dad is the director of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and The Martian it probably isn't hard to get a movie made and thus is likely the reason we now have a trailer for what is Luke Scott's, son of Ridley Scott, first feature film. Luke has so far made one episode of a television as well as a short, but he did work on the second unit for his father's sprawling biblical epic, Exodus. From a script by Seth W. Owen, who has an equally impressive list of credits (which isn't much if you're not keen to the sarcasm), the younger Scott has made his feature film debut with a movie that follows Kate Mara as a corporate risk-management consultant who has to decide whether or not to terminate an artificial being's life that was made in a laboratory. While this central conflict is certainly interesting the trailer can't help but to inspire thoughts of the recent onslaught of A.I. inspired material we've received. With the likes of Ex Machina and Lucy turning out to be rather fantastic or at least interesting there is certainly room for Morgan to further explore this territory in fascinating ways. The story also has shades of Mary Shelley's most classic of monster stories in Frankenstein as the titular character is created in a lab with her creators subsequently coming to question whether or not they've made the right choices. While the film looks consistent in style and tone what makes it stand out more than anything is its rather exceptional cast. Hot off her turn in the terrifically reviewed The Witch Anya Taylor-Joy takes the title role and seems to be channeling Saoirse Ronan via Hanna while she gains support from the likes of not only Mara, but Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti. While I may be somewhat pessimistic given the film comes from a case of nepotism Morgan looks to be a solid enough September film that I'm curious to see if it might rise above the archetypes of its genre. Hit the jump to check out the full trailer.

JANE GOT A GUN Review

Life is complicated. Even more so in the old west. Natalie Portman's passion project, Jane Got A Gun, wants to remind us of this and ultimately that what we perceive as good and bad aren't as easy to differentiate between as most would like to believe. What was even more complicated though, was the long and tumultuous road it took to get this project to the big screen. After several pre-production delays that included original director Lynne Ramsey exiting the project on the same day shooting was scheduled to begin it was difficult to see how the film might come out unscathed. Pair this with the exit of star Jude Law and a roster of other actors including Bradley Cooper coming in and out for the role that was finally filled by Ewan McGregor and you have what is sure to be nothing short of a downright catastrophe. Eventually though, director Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) took over the reins and enlisted the help of his Warrior star Joel Edgerton to what now, having seen the film, is a wholly serviceable and often times even compelling western that hardly shows any of the scars it garnered along the way. From a story and script originally crafted by Brian Duffield (Insurgent) it seems that once O'Connor was brought on board that he utilized both Edgerton (a writer and director himself) and Warrior screenwriter Anthony Tambakis to punch up the script and it is here where we find the first of many things to admire about the film. From the opening moments, set in dusty 1871 New Mexico, as Portman's titular Jane tells her daughter a bedtime story it is made clear the position of the three main characters in the story and where they fall into the plot while not making it clear where they might fall into one another's lives. This structuring of mystery around each of our main characters and their past and how they might intertwine with one another is what hooks the audience and while the first twenty or so minutes may seem to drag and ostensibly be vague for no other purpose than being vague the film hits its stride within the first half hour and from there briskly unravels a heartbreaking narrative of love, loss, and the will to do what it takes to keep on keepin' on.

Full Trailer for JANE GOT A GUN Starring Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman's passion project, Jane Got A Gun, had a long and tumultuous road to the big screen after several pre-production delays that included director Lynne Ramsey exiting the project on the same day shooting was scheduled to begin. This was followed by the exit of star Jude Law and a roster of rotating actors coming in and out of the project including the likes of Bradley Cooper for a role that was finally filled by Ewan Mcgregor. Joel Edgerton also stars as his Warrior director, Gavin O'Connor, took over the reigns from Ramsey and has seemingly guided this project to something that looks to be more than serviceable given the many hiccups along the way. In this first full trailer for the film we are given an extensive look at both the story the film is telling and Portman's titular outlaw. Naturally, this film will stand out for being a western in and of itself given the genre isn't exactly thriving at the moment (unless you're Quentin Tarantino), but more is the fact it features a female in the lead role competing with every other skilled male gunslinger that populates the wild west. There is no doubt Jane Got A Gun will pass the Bechdel Test when it opens on January 29, 2016. Noah Emmerich, Rodrigo Santoro, and Boyd Holbrook also star.

RUN ALL NIGHT Review

Run All Night is one of those fractured tales. The ones where each individual element is suspect to have greater implications than we might recognize upon introduction. The ones where we know how things must go and yet it is still able to somehow deviate from expectations allowing for the core proceedings of the familiar story to feel fresh. In essence, Run All Night feels much like a perfect storm of ideas and contributions from parties that have a similar goal in mind while each bringing something unique to the table. Obviously the biggest of these contributing factors is the presence of star Liam Neeson. Neeson has made a habit of annually presenting us with a run of the mill action flick that revels in B-movie territory and can be rather hit or miss, but most of the time are entertaining enough. I despise the Taken sequels yet have enjoyed his collaborations with Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Non-Stop) as well as his excursions with Joe Carnahan (The Grey) and Scott Frank (A Walk Among the Tombstones), respectively. And while Neeson may still do his best work when he shows how eclectic he can be (The LEGO Movie) I always look forward to what his collaborations with Collet-Serra have to offer. Compared to their previous efforts Run All Night is much less mainstream and more in the vein of a different era. Whereas Unknown and Non-Stop were both polished and perfected to squarely fit into a genre Run All Night is dirty and grimy and while it fits into a certain type of film, it doesn't necessarily adhere to any one set of expectations. Expectations are key with this type of film though and I realize that. Call it what you will, whether it be that we have tapered expectations for these Liam Neeson actioners now or that this is a case of the film being so much better than the initial black sheep facade it was presented to us with that I'm over-compensating; either way, I really enjoyed myself as I sat and witnessed Neeson get more even than he's ever gotten before and might even call the film pretty great if it holds up under future viewings (which will definitely happen).