PATRIOTS DAY Review

One goes into Patriots Day with a certain expectation of what they believe will be delivered to them. We're all familiar with the story. Heck, if you're of legal age to see an R-rated film in theaters (meaning this one) then you were at least fourteen when the Boston Marathon bombing happened on April 13th, 2013. There is this expectation that the film will take us through these events we're already familiar with adding the caveat of getting to better know some of the individuals involved. When it becomes apparent what director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon) is doing though, it's not difficult to realize this is going to leave a greater mark than expected. With Patriots Day, much like with his previous two efforts with Mark Wahlberg, Berg has crafted a narrative around recent history that could very easily have been a kind of simple procedural; taking us through the day's events step by step and doing little more than adding a personal aspect to a story the whole world has already heard, but rather than allow this lack of time or perspective to hinder his film Berg allows this immediacy to relate to who he knows will make up his audience in stirring, emotional ways. There is a tinge of jingoism that builds throughout the film and becomes what is probably too obvious by the time Berg tags his film with interviews with the real life people we've just seen portrayed on screen, but that doesn't mean it isn't effective. It's a bit much, extreme even, but it works in the films favor more than it doesn't. It is in how much Patriots Day ultimately moves its audience not by simply taking us through the moments, but rather by expertly crafting a narrative around key individuals and bringing each together until they are tied in unison; some in expected and others in genuinely surprising ways. It is not so much what is being conveyed, but how the context of such moments is set-up and carried through that make the emotional heft of this thing as great as it ends up being-and it can be a tough one. The film does have its shortcomings-mostly in that it fails to better characterize its antagonists instead painting them as monsters, and deservedly so, but with no insight into their mentality or personal justification we are led to believe we should lump them into the Muslim stereotype that has become associated purely with terrorism. This stereotype can certainly prove true, but if you're making a whole movie around the reactions to these guys actions then we need a slightly more perceptive take on them. The movie also runs just a tad too long. At two hours and thirteen minutes Patriots Day begins to show its running time in the third act when the momentum slightly stalls and we feel the otherwise expertly structured film unravel just a bit.

Teaser Trailer for PATRIOTS DAY Starring Mark Wahlberg

While Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon just hit theaters this past weekend (I'll be catching up with that one tomorrow) the actor/director duo (who also worked on Lone Survivor together) have already completed their next project together and are once again working within the realm of a tragic true story that turned average human beings going about their everyday lives and jobs into heroes. Patriots Day recounts Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis's actions in the events leading up to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the aftermath, which includes the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists behind it. Three years removed from the marathon bombing and I can still remember exactly where I was when the news started pouring in about the events taking place at an even that was intended to bring unity and spirit to the city that was taken advantage of as an opportunity to diminish both such goals. In this rather somber first trailer we are mainly treated to a run through of Wahlberg's Sgt. Tommy Saunders as he goes about his routine before leaving for duty on April 15th, 2013. This first look is clearly meant to elicit the American spirit of the piece with more American flags popping up here than a Michael Bay flick while the trailer is scored with a piano version of "America the Beautiful" that resonates in an effective way when paired with the vague images suggesting the real terror that took place that day. While Lone Survivor was on of the best films of 2013 in my opinion and despite the fact I can't yet speak on the quality of Deepwater Horizon I'm inclined to be excited for what Berg and Wahlberg will deliver here as they seem to have tapped into a specific niche of their own that they find both interesting and artistically fulfilling. We'll find out if they can keep their streak alive when the film begins its awards-qualifying run on December 21st. Patriots Day also stars Michelle Monaghan, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Wolff, Michael Beach and expands wide on January 13, 2017. 

THE DARKNESS Review

If one tends to keep up with things such as what type of films studios or production houses make or acquire it is possible to be excited for a film based solely on the people backing it. Whether it be the ever-reliable A24 or Megan Ellison at Annapurna Pictures if either of these studios are attached to an upcoming release I tend to be interested solely because they make interesting and diverse choices in the movies they choose to release. In the realm of horror-especially smaller, more independent horror-there has been one name that has risen above the rest in recent years and that would be Blumhouse Productions run by its founder and CEO Jason Blum. The guy has had a pretty strong track record as he's been behind some of the biggest recent horror franchises including the Insidious and Paranormal Activity films, even resurrecting M. Night Shyamalan's horror career last year with The Visit, but that isn't to say there haven't been a few stinkers along the way either. Every genre has them, but horror somehow seems to suffer the most. With The Darkness Blum and co. have, for some strange reason, decided it was a good idea to give the guy who's directed two Wolf Creek movies a nice enough budget to cast the likes of Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell in a screenplay (written by director Greg McLean and a couple of Shane/Shayne's) that is more than happy to go through the obligatory horror movie check list and mark off every cliché imaginable. The Darkness is a bad movie. There are no if's, and's, or but's about it-it flat out sucks and there is hardly anything to redeem its many, many shortcomings much less being worth anyone's time lest they might waste it on this schlock. Even worse, this outright terribleness is apparent right from the get-go. For some reason actors like Matt Walsh and Jennifer Morrison (who I assume are generally busy people) agreed to show up for what couldn't have been more than a two day shoot to capture what is the set-up and a handful of expositional dialogue in such strained and phony ways that there was no denying the quality of what was to come. When ones dialogue can't even be conveyed believably by someone as incredibly endearing as Walsh, there's a problem.

TIFF 2015: BLACK MASS Review

Director Scott Cooper has always had a knack for creating atmosphere. With only two feature films under his belt he has established quite a distinctive voice, but unfortunately his films have begun to deteriorate in quality as he goes along as well. I really kind of loved Cooper's 2009 debut that won Jeff Bridges a Best Actor statue and even found the consistently depressing Out of the Furnace to be a strong if not exceptional entry, but Black Mass is by far his least satisfying film yet. It's not for a lack of trying as there is clearly a large amount of effort that has been put into this production. The period setting is especially well rendered and Johnny Depp's lead performance as James "Whitey" Bulger almost single-handedly saves the production from being a complete loss, but even he can only do so much. It is impossible to talk about Black Mass without talking about the state of Depp's career and how badly he needed this to be both a critical and commercial success so as to reestablish himself as the "movie star" he was pinned as after Pirates of the Caribbean and while I'm sure the film will make a fine amount of money (not a huge amount, but fine) this will in no way place the actor in the "return to form" category many were already deciding to call ithis. What it is is a fine showcase for a talented actor to do what he does best and with as showy a role as this is Depp certainly delivers. It is all the factors surrounding this performance that don't live up to their potential with the main problem being screenwriters Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth not finding an interesting way to adapt Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill's book.

COP CAR Review

Cop Car opens with a shot of newly constructed houses in a newly developed subdivision that all look like one another. There is a sense of freshness to the distant, static shot, but then it is followed by something more interesting and dynamic. Isolated trailers, convenient stores that don't bear corporate brand names and barren country roads where telephone poles still line the way. In short, we are quickly disconnected from any kind of familiarity and brought to the ground level that is the wonderment of being inside the mind of a prepubescent boy. Actually, there's probably a slight bit of puberty that has begun to alter Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison's (Hays Wellford) body and minds, but no doubt less than they'd own up to. The two boys are presumably running away from what we come to understand are rather unspectacular home lives, but of more importance is the fact they are competing in an exchange that consists purely of curse words, working it's way up from the likes of "penis" to the "f" word. Harrison refuses to say what society deems the worst of these words despite Travis employing multiple peer pressure tactics telling us all we need to know of the two boys. It is when Harrison and Travis stumble upon an abandoned cop car ten minutes into the film that things begin to come together. Director Jon Watts (who's done plenty of television work and will helm the Spider-Man reboot for Marvel Studios) works from a script by himself and co-writer Christopher D. Ford (Robot & Frank) and in establishing all we've already put together by the time the titular vehicle is introduced we have a strong sense of apprehension about where things might be going. Watts eases the audience into this strange, time-warped landscape of severe austerity while making the terms of our environment clear. In both the aesthetic and mentality of our lead characters we are transported to an age where one's outlook on life and subsequently the life they lead and the circumstances they find themselves in by the end of the film are of a certain simplistic nature, but simple doesn't always mean sunny.

New Trailer & Posters for BLACK MASS Starring Johnny Depp

Black Mass, the third feature from director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace), is one of my most anticipated films of the fall. It was recently announced the film would have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival as well as make an appearance at the Toronto International Film festival shortly before it's wide release date. While the first trailer teased the seeming sinister performance of Johnny Depp, this latest trailer highlights the thick plot of the film. Depp plays gangster Whitey Bulger who is the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston and just so happens to be the brother of a state senator (Benedict Cumberbatch). Bulger became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf while still conducting himself in all kinds of horrible ways. Simply put: I love movies like this-the ones that are now slight period pieces, crime sagas with a tone you can smell just from reading the synopsis or seeing stills along with a cast of great talent playing the story to its highest potential. I was a big fan of Crazy Heart and was on the loving side of Furnace when it came and went quietly at the end of 2013 and so, if nothing else, I look forward to what Cooper has to offer next and it looks as if he has plenty to work with. Cooper knows how to elicit an atmosphere and in attempting his first period piece, that will be key to the critical success of the film as well as hopefully its commercial prospects. Black Mass also stars Sienna Miller, Joel Edgerton, Juno Temple, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll, Adam Scott, Peter Sarsgaard, Julianne Nicholson, Jesse Plemons and opens on September 18th.

First Trailer for BLACK MASS Starring Johnny Depp

Black Mass, the third feature from director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace), landed just outside my top ten most anticipated films of the year, but if this first look is any indication it may well be one of the best of the year. While this is clearly just a teaser of what is to come it clearly knows where its strengths lie and that looks to be the sinister performance of Johnny Depp. Depp plays gangster Whitey Bulger who is the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston and just so happens to be the brother of a state senator. Bulger became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf while still conducting himself in all kinds of horrible ways. Simply put: I love movies like this-the ones that are now slight period pieces, crime sagas with a tone you can smell just from reading the synopsis or seeing the still above and a cast of great talent playing the story to its highest potential. I was a big fan of Crazy Heart and was on the loving side of Furnace when it came and went quietly at the end of 2013 and so, if nothing else, I look forward to what Cooper has to offer next and it looks like he has plenty to work with. Cooper knows how to elicit an atmosphere and in attempting his first period piece, that will be key to the critical success of the film as well as hopefully its commercial prospects. Besides Depp the film will also feature Benedict Cumberbatch, Sienna Miller, Joel Edgerton, Juno Temple, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll, Adam Scott, Peter Sarsgaard, Julianne Nicholson and Jesse Plemons. Black Mass opens September 18th.

R.I.P.D. Review

R.I.P.D. desperately wanted to be a franchise. It will never happen, but man did it want to be. What's been done here is director Robert Schwentke (RED) decided that instead of sticking with the last obscure comic book adaptation he made and successfully turned into a hit (which coincidentally opened against this film) he would go on and make another one with the hopes that he could push another three or four films out of it and be set for the rest of his career. It makes sense and they obtained all the right parts to make R.I.P.D. a flashy summer bonanza. We have the two big name leading men, we have a large enough budget to pull off some serious action scenes and CGI and they have source material that in some corner of the globe has a fan base that might appreciate it while also riffing on plenty of other, very successful, summer blockbusters before it. Why this didn't work at all though seems to be from a lack of any kind of faith in the project. Though, the studio shouldn't have been surprised by its final product as this comes to us courtesy of the guys who wrote such things as The Tuxedo, Aeon Flux and Clash of the Titans. What exactly were they expecting? They wanted a mindless actioner that told the familiar story of a buddy cop film where the older, experienced cop gets a rookie partner and they fight at first and can't stand one another only to have that relationship blossom into something special by the end of their first adventure together. That, with Men in Black-level genre elements thrown in. It is an easy comparison to make, but that is essentially what R.I.P.D. is. Take out the aliens and replace them with dead people, take out the government and replace it with God. Simple as that. Hire a few studio writers and a director who was able to make a profitable enough hit with his previous potential franchise-starter and you have all the ingredients, right? The failure of this film presents solid proof that the system doesn't always work and the calculated way in which these studios try to push new franchises down our throats doesn't pay off when you're trying too hard and R.I.P.D. is trying way too hard to be something it didn't have to be.

First Trailer for R.I.P.D.

I'm all for goofy genre mash ups and supernatural comedy sits fine with me, but I have to be a little curious as to why Universal has waited so long to debut the first trailer for their summer action flick R.I.P.D. which stars Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges as two deceased crime fighters who are trying to protect the earth from evil souls who haven't left yet. The premise sound silly? The trailer looks a little silly, but that seems the intended tone here so I will reserve total judgment. It is easy to make comparisons here to Men In Black (young rookie partnered with veteran know it all who have to fight crime against the dead rather than aliens at the discretion of the human race) so I will. Like MIB what is either going to make this a stand out, fun summer film that spawns a franchise or break it is likely the chemistry between the two leads. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith were a gold mine and while Jeff Bridges more than has my attention in anything he decides to do the fact Reynolds is cast as his cohort here makes me feel like this will be more Green Lantern that Curse of the Black Pearl. I reference the Pirates movie for the fact that it came out of nowhere in the summer of 2003 and surprised audiences by how good it was and surprised studios by how much money it made thus the reason we now have three more of them. There always seems to be that one film every now and then that will break through the sequels and super hero movies in the summer and become a surprise hit that will eventually have sequels that aren't such surprise hits in the future summers. Will R.I.P.D. be THAT movie of summer 2013? I don't know, but I'm still betting on Pacific Rim and putting this in the most likely to disappear from theaters within a month category. Think I'm being a little harsh? Check out the trailer after the jump and let me know what you think. The film also stars Kevin Bacon, Mary Louise-Parker, Stephanie Szostak, Marissa Miller, and James Hong and was directed by Robert Schwentke’s (Red). R.I.P.D. opens in 3D on July 19th.