THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER Review

On the surface it would seem this latest incarnation of a familiar property was made both only for financial gain (or so they thought) and with the old-fashioned mindset that sequels must be bigger in order to be better. What is more frightening than one possessed girl? Two, right? Fortunately, this isn't exactly the line of thought eclectic (to say the least) writer/director David Gordon Green was following when making this decision. Rather, this decision is all about choice as choice is what informs the whole of this first in an intended trilogy of new Exorcist films.

Opening with an earthquake in Haiti that forces Leslie Odom Jr.'s character to choose between the survival of his wife and the life of his daughter, the film is keen to emphasize the role of our moral agency in this life and how seriously we take responsibility for our choices is just as important as the choices themselves. The way Green and co-writers Danny McBride, Scott Teems, and largely Peter Sattler weave this weight of responsibility and the constant questioning Odom's Victor Fielding has regarding the choices he's made and is confronted with making throughout the course of the film lend the otherwise familiar template of the exorcism movie some necessary weight, especially considering the lineage of William Friedkin's original.

While that original film saw both Jason Miller's Father Karras and Ellen Burstyn's Chris MacNeil grappling with their faith in the face of this possession, Green and co. have smartly updated not only the location of the film from Washington, D.C. to Georgia, but also the role of church and faith in what I feel I can safely assume is presently a more secular America than in 1973. In doing so, we have Fielding who is or has become an absolute non-believer in the wake of his wife dying. Fielding's daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett), who is now thirteen and friends with Katherine (Olivia O'Neill) has a mother and father (Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz) who are very much ingrained in a community church and seem genuinely convicted in their beliefs (I lowkey kind of loved Nettles' performance in this as she lends a certain credibility to the southern protestant persona that is often easy to dismiss). When the girls disappear after school one day to secretly attempt to contact Angela's dead mother, they naturally conjure the unwanted spirits/demons that then begin to possess their bodies.

THE AGE OF ADALINE Review

Time is fleeting. We all know this just as we know time is the one thing you can't get more of. What then, would you do if you were granted an eternity? As with almost everything in life the speculation of possibilities is always greater than the reality and it turns out the same would be true of immortality, at least according to Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively). While these are the big questions posed in the film, what makes it all the more fascinating (as with any film spanning generations) are the dealings in where we're going and where we've been and who we are because of it. Adaline has a perspective that will forever go unmatched and because of that she finds it hard to connect with anyone in the present world, much less those who are the age she continues to look. With that mindset it is her observations that I, personally, would find to be the most interesting aspects to come out of this curse disguised by a blessing in vanity. This is highlighted in sort when we are treated to Adaline never encountering anything new, but instead always having a history to reference; even in something as seemingly insignificant as a park bench. The weight of contemplation, the effects of time never slowing down and the regret that will forever tinge our minds if we continue to in fact contemplate it all rather than experience our actual life seep into the consideration of what we would do were we in Adaline's position. Such lines of thought would seemingly make the exploration of having a power over time the most engrossing and while Adaline certainly hints at such themes, the main narrative ends up focusing on the one guy that is able to diminish our titular characters extensive perspective enough to make her love him. This looked to be a problem given the high concept would inevitably be squandered on a typical love story, but the larger ideas of how old we are not dictating who we are come through well enough that I can't complain too much.

INTERSTELLAR Review

Where does one even begin? To describe a film as ambitious and overwhelming as director Christopher Nolan's latest is to take on as daunting a task as Nolan likely felt in making sure the science of his script was accurate. I don't know that anything I say in this review will perfectly capture the way I'm feeling about Interstellar because honestly, after three days of thinking, I'm still not sure I know exactly how I feel about it or what I think. I know that I was fascinated by it, I know that there is so much going on within it that I will need to see it again to feel I even somewhat understand it and I know that no matter how much I want to be able to say I either decisively adored or disliked the final product that kind of ruling won't come down until I've had multiple viewings and allowed plenty of time to pass. In this age of instant gratification where first weekends determine whether you are a success or failure, Interstellar offers an experience that demands to be contemplated, debated and seriously considered before ever giving anything close to a defiant verdict. I will admit to my initial reaction being that of pure awe while somewhat corrupted by the fact there were facets that didn't thrill me as much as others; sequences where the film felt it could have been trimmed or was a little too scatterbrained in contrast to the more precise scenes where Nolan is clearly in control of his spaceship. Ambition is key though and that is the one thing Nolan is never short of. Always pushing the limits, not only visually, but within the story, this time backed up by science that places the events of the film within the realm of real possibility. We are asked to make a few exceptions in how far we are willing to go with all we see being steeped in reality, but unlike some issues of the past Nolan and his screenwriter brother Jonathan have crafted dimensional characters that are able to keep the sentimentality in check. There is never a moment where the film regresses from not being one hundred percent about the actuality of the situation at hand and the facts that support it, but it is able to take into consideration what we cannot explain or fully understand and how that might indeed factor into what is best for the characters outcome. It is a genuine mix of heart and facts that meld together over the course of three hours leaving you bewildered, haunted, alarmed and mystified to the point you may not be able to swallow everything you just took in, but will certainly be able to appreciate the intent.

New Trailer for Christopher Nolan's INTERSTELLAR

At the screening I attended of Godzilla last night I was almost as excited for the movie as I was the fact the new trailer for Chris Nolan's latest was attached. In that trailer we are taken just further than the teaser that was delivered last December took us. There is plenty of new footage here and the main focus of it is the relationship between Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and his son and daughter. The trailer gives away little in terms of plot, but plays up the idea the poster introduced last week with its tagline that reads "Mankind was born on Earth. But we were never meant to die here.” We get a few shots of Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck who I'm going to venture to guess are the adult versions of McConaughey's children which already makes the idea of the last line in the trailer all the more engaging and possibly all the more heartbreaking. Beyond that I won't pretend to know more than I actually do as I love how Nolan continues to leave much to the imagination with his trailers. The only other information as far as plot is concerned derives from a synopsis that states the film is about "a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations of human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage." This is easily the film I'm most anticipating this year and if the reason put forward in any of my previous comments doesn't explain why maybe the cast roster will. Besides McConaughey, Chastain and Affleck the film also stars Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Timothée Chalamet, and Matt Damon. Interstellar opens November 7, 2014.

DRAFT DAY Review

Since first catching a glimpse of the trailers for Draft Day a few months back I pretty much dismissed it as the least in a line of attempts by Kevin Costner this year to prove he still had the ability to anchor a film. While he's made a notable contribution in what many would agree were the best moments in last summers Man of Steel he has since not been able to really anchor a box office success where he was closer to the forefront of the action and the marketing. It is unlikely we will see another incarnation of Chris Pine's Jack Ryan where Costner served as a strong crutch and Three Days to Kill was more or less Costner trying to prove he could be Liam Neeson if people wanted him to be and while that flick likely turned a better profit than it will ever receive credit for (and has still yet to open overseas) audiences still seemed to be on shaky ground as to whether Costner is still that "face on the poster" kind of star that could usher a film into general audience favor and while the outcome of Draft Day's box office run will likely be mediocore at best it is at least reassuring to know that this is the better of Costner's two leading roles this year and that there is some real investment here not only because it serves to function as one big commercial for the NFL but because there is genuine drama to be had in the dynamics of a teams general manager and every other point of contact that is to be made throughout the course of what is no doubt the busiest day of these guys year. As its title would suggest, Draft Day takes place over the course of twenty-four hours and in that seemingly short time span writers Rajiv Joseph (a short list of TV credits) and Scott Rothman (no previous writing credits at all) are able to evoke a multitude of storylines and layers within those stories to give us a game of politics with a backdrop most of the movie-going public is at least vaguely familiar with. It mostly goes without saying I didn't expect much from Draft Day, but as the film nicely paces itself and builds up to its final scene I became increasingly intrigued in the outcome of these characters lives and couldn't help but to wonder how Costner's Sonny Weaver Jr. might find a way to please everyone and despite the fact the bow is tied a little too neatly in the end I would be lying if I said Sonny and his movie didn't satisfy me and instead actually exceeded any expectations I might have held for it.

Teaser Trailer for Christopher Nolan's INTERSTELLAR

There is something so ambitious and so grand about the way Christopher Nolan thinks of his films and like the theme of the trailer re-iterates it seems that is something often forgotten in the world of Hollywood. Things have become such a machine, such a factory with a product line spitting out the same thing over and over that the majority of the time even big, tentpole movies feel like just another cog in the machine rather than something truly special or exceptional. It seems Mr. Nolan is keen on getting this point across and hopefully changing that perception, but on his own terms of course and in this case it concerns a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations of human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. That is all we've heard in terms of plot synopsis and the trailer does little to give us any further indication of story, but instead relies on the philosophical narration of our assumed protagonist Matthew McConaughey. As with anything Nolan does, I'm more than intrigued and this trailer is specifically designed to elicit the interest of those who don't know anything about the film or that it even existed. This is easily the film I'm most anticipating in the new year and if the reason put forward in any of my previous comments doesn't explain why maybe the cast roster will. Besides McConaughey the film also stars Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Timothée Chalamet, and Matt Damon. Interstellar opens November 7, 2014.