WICKED: FOR GOOD Review

Let’s set the stage: thirty years after the original Gregory Maguire revisionist novel was released and just over twenty years after it was adapted into a musical stage play we have the conclusion of the two-part film adaptation of the musical that frames the Wicked Witch of the West in a more sympathetic if not less cynical light than was created by original Wonderful Wizard of Oz author Frank L. Baum and made infamous in the 1939 film. The Wicked Witch of the West, known as Elphaba Thropp in the world of Wicked and portrayed by Cynthia Erivo in the films, is as complex a character as any story might hope to have at the center of it. She is made an outcast, a revolutionary, along with clearly being one of the most inherently powerful beings to exist in her fictional world…why not use such an arc to explore multiple themes or craft it as a metaphor for any point in history - or period to come - in which shallow dictators weaponize our differences in order to ostracize those deemed as threats when simply different than the preferences of those with power? Especially poignant now, yes?

Such timeless ideas and such ongoing debates will seemingly never lose their potency but this was also the chief challenge presented to director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) who was not only tasked with bringing this story and these hugely revered songs to life through the medium of film but with finding a new way into this story that had been seen by millions the world over. Chu never lost the strong point of view instilled in Maguire’s work but the main point of content with “Part I” is that it didn’t consist of a strong directorial voice; it created a world, built the foundation of this central relationship yet none of it felt especially personal or powerful (or tangible) despite the dispersal of several totemic tunes. Whether more invested in the second half of the story himself or simply a result of finding his footing and becoming more comfortable/confident as production went on (assuming they shot somewhat chronologically), Chu’s flourishes as a filmmaker help make Wicked: For Good not simply the more interesting act from a narrative perspective but the more compelling and impressive case for said themes and ideas that will obviously (and unfortunately) never lose said potency.

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS Review

Sixteen years removed from Michael Bay’s original foray into live-action robots in disguise and if one were to only watch that initial film and the latest from Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) they would be accurate in feeling like we haven’t come nearly as far as the journey has felt. There would be more to it than meets the eye if you will. As the interim between these two films has offered four sequels and a spin-off though, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts doesn’t feel so much redundant as it does refreshing; the franchise growing from the humble reset that was Bumblebee while never allowing itself the arrogance of believing it takes anything near two hours and forty-five minutes (yes, that’s the actual runtime of 2014’s Age of Extinction) to tell what would easily be a three episode arc in the cartoon. 

Rise of the Beasts is, for all intents and purposes, another Transformers film where the thing a bad guy needs to complete/destroy/take over has somehow made its way to earth and the stranded autobots must help a couple of humans who’ve become tangled in the intergalactic mess defeat the antagonist and save the world. The film adheres to these familiar archetypes while executing them in clear and endearing ways. This is especially true when it comes to the action sequences as well as the human characters. Both Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback are so appealing with Ramos lending his effortlessly cool aura to the tone of the film while Fishback infuses things with a certain amount of gravity that feels more authentic than put upon. The New York-based nineties setting doesn’t hurt either as Caple and his set designers go all in on the pop culture references, specific car models, and of course - the soundtrack. Wu-Tang, Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, and LL Cool J tracks all drop at opportune times, enhancing the procedural nature of the plot points and invigorating the vibe again and again.

I CARE A LOT Review

I Care A Lot is the type of film that knows exactly what it is and what it means to be from the very first frame. Healthcare workers divvy up monotonous rows of medications into small plastic cups intended to keep their targets as much in check as they do healthy. The first piece of dialogue is a woman's voice seemingly calling the viewer out, "Look at you. Sitting there," she says as she goes on to explain how the idea of "playing fair" is a joke invented by the rich to keep everyone else poor. All of this accompanied by the immediate needle drop of Death in Vegas' 1999 track "Dirge" or what is another word for a "sad song", an elegy. Writer/director J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) pushes all the way down on the syringe releasing every facet of his technique into the bloodstream as quickly as he can. From that first moment the tone is fully engaged and every tool Blakeson has at his disposal is being used to elevate the story being told; the film is firing on all cylinders. The difference between I Care A Lot and most films that begin with such promise though, is that it sustains its nasty yet overwhelmingly engaging tone throughout its nearly two-hour runtime. By the end of that runtime one is bound to be both satisfied as far as viewing experiences go, but also somewhat overwhelmed not simply by the lengths the narrative decides to venture, but the implications of our lead character's, the anti-hero in many respects, course of action. It is this course of action, this central scheme that Rosamund Pike’s Marla Grayson has cooked up, that provides much of the propulsion and confidence the film displays throughout as one would require such attributes to pull the type of legal Olympics off that she does here. While the tone is enjoyable - delectable even - and we, the audience are having a blast watching these people do these terrible things there is no escaping the fact that afterward, once the credits have rolled, we're also somewhat appalled at the fact we did enjoy this level of duplicity so much. 

How real and damaging the effects of what the character of Marla Grayson is doing here are the reasons Blakeson has chosen to employ that all-knowing and judgmental narration, why he uses bold, primary colors in both setting and wardrobe to heighten the world in which his film takes place, and why he utilizes Marc Canham's electronic-heavy score to give Grayson's actions an edge that, while understanding she's an inherently evil person, still makes her seem cool. It's the age old question of why we root for the bad guy, the villain, and often times it's because we can recognize their flaws in our own, but even Marla Grayson would tell you her only flaw is being too ambitious and too driven and that she finds no fault in doing whatever it takes to get to the top. It's not that these qualities aren't relatable or are the reasons we aren't sympathetic to Grayson come the end of the film, but it's how far she's willing to cross the line in order to make her ambitions a reality that separates the human being from the truly despicable.   

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Review

In the first scene of writer/director Martin McDonagh's (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) new film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Pierce (Frances McDormand) drives past three billboards that are falling apart on an old road outside the titular small town she lives in that no one has used since the freeway opened. Hell, the last time a company even utilized the billboards for actual advertising was Huggies in the mid-eighties. Due to the contemplative look on Mildred's face we know the inciting incident is set to occur at any moment, but more important is the fact we take in the appearance of Mildred. Her hair is down, her clothes rather casual, and while Mildred never seems like she was ever the kid of woman to get too made-up, she looks to be in a certain place in her life that, while not peaceful, is one where she's come to terms with the reality of her situation. You see, Mildred's daughter was murdered a year or so prior to the beginning of the film and the investigation by her local police department seems to have waned over time-Mildred stating she hadn't heard a peep from them in at least seven months-prompting her to take matters into her own hands, but not in the manner of a revenge fantasy a la The Punisher or a recent Quentin Tarantino flick, but more in the vein of calling out those responsible for seeking her daughter's killer and rapist and holding them accountable for failing at their civil responsibilities. If you've seen the trailers you know Mildred does this by renting the three aforementioned billboards to send a very clear message to the Ebbing police department, calling out Police Chief George Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) in particular. Once Mildred goes through with this though, her look changes and, in turn, so must her mentality. No more does Mildred ever look as casual as she does in that first scene. No more does it feel as if Mildred might ever be at peace with what has occurred in her life. Rather, from the end of this scene on through to the end of the movie Mildred pulls her hair up into a tight ponytail, the back of her neck now shaved as if to say she has no frills about what she's doing. Never again do we see her in public with her hair down or her wearing anything resembling khaki or flannel, but rather Mildred only wears her industrial work uniform and bandana. This outward exterior that takes no crap from no one is key to her surviving the ramifications that come from her actions and the complexities she didn't expect as a result of those actions. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri takes on this exterior as well, but don't be fooled as this is one of the most brutal, funny, dark, sad, and best movies of the year.

THE BOSS Review

Melissa McCarthy is more or less unstoppable. She is a movie star unlike anyone else at the moment and in a few years will likely look back on 2015-2016 as her prime years of output thus the reason we are not only being treated to another McCarthy/Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat, SPY) collaboration this year in the Ghostbusters reboot, but also have the second offering from McCarthy and her producing/directing/writing husband, Ben Falcone, in The Boss. Taken simply as a follow-up to their last directorial effort, 2014's Tammy, this is a huge leap forward in terms of quality. It was a strange transition of sorts as Tammy was the first project where McCarthy used her much-earned name above the title to pull some strings and make a project that would seemingly be close to her heart. This could only signal that the comedy and story would be something that was carefully cultivated by the husband/wife team and would certainly come across with more of an edge and better developed characters than most comedies these days, right? One would think so, but for all the optimism I held for Tammy McCarthy and Falcone let me down in the toughest of ways in that not only did it not make me laugh, but the entire affair felt pointless. And so, when I caught wind that McCarthy and Falcone would get the opportunity to make another movie off of Tammy's $100 million worldwide haul on a $20 million budget I didn't expect much. Maybe it was those tempered expectations that led to the more enjoyable experience I had with The Boss, but I have to believe the overall improvements in every aspect had more to do with this than grim assumptions. There is real structure to the story, actual punch lines to (most) of the jokes, and character development that felt due more to the storytelling than the improvisational skills of the actors. In short, The Boss feels like an actual movie. It may feel like a picturesque romantic comedy in its aesthetic with raunchy male anatomy jokes thrown in for good measure, but an actual movie nonetheless.

First Trailer for THE BOSS Starring Melissa McCarthy

Apparently Melissa McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone, wanted to follow-up their multi-award winning Tammy with another outlandish character study that was also intended to be named after the main character, which would have been Michelle Darnell in this case, but given the less than glowing reception, but still bankable success of the film ($100 million worldwide on a $20m budget) it seems Universal took a note out of Warner Bros. misstep and allowed the husband/wife writing/directing team to have free reign over their material as long as they had final say on the title which has now been re-branded The Boss. After the fantastic work that McCarthy turns out with director Paul Fieg it is always somewhat disappointing to see her return to lesser material and even more disappointing that this lesser material comes from her own mind with what one would imagine would be her best collaborator. Instead, Tammy is by far her worst film as the headlining star and this first trailer for The Boss doesn't give me much hope that this follow-up will be much better. The premise is pretty solid and the supporting cast is nice (so was Tammy's), but the trailer essentially gives away the entire film only eliciting a few chuckles along the way. It's probably too optimistic to think McCarthy and Falcone crafted a script and character that provided some kind of social commentary on tyrannical leaders with too much money that would come out in a timely fashion, but hey! I guess we'll see. The Boss also stars Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Kathy Bates, Kristen Schaal, Timothy Simons, Margo Martindale, Cecily Strong and opens on April 8, 2016.

PIXELS Review

This is not your yearly dose of Dennis Dugan's Adam Sandler if that's what you're thinking. No, as big as Pixels looks in its marketing it actually is on the big screen. There seems to have been no expense too big, which includes flawless special effects, big action set pieces, legitimate craftsmanship and, unfortunately for Sandler, the hiring of quality actors to play opposite him that only stand to make him look all the more lazy. While this isn't your typical Dugan/Sandler fest in the vein of Grown Ups or Jack and Jill it is still Sandler phoning it in, doing what he's done every summer since about 2002 when Mr. Deeds more or less set him on a patterned course. There have naturally been deviations both in his comedy and into more serious territory since then, but the comedian always returns to his safe zone and delivers exactly what he believes his teen and contemporary audiences want from him. There is too much going on in Pixels for this to count purely as another Sandler bomb though and fortunately Pixels won't be judged on the immediate reactions of modern critics looking to dismiss the movie because of a single component before even walking into the theater. It is sometimes shocking, the vitriol which is spewed in Sandler's general direction, but I admit the majority of it is well-founded. With Pixels though, it will be the children of today who truly define what role this film will play as part of our pop culture society. In case you are unfamiliar with the name Chris Columbus (and no, not the Italian explorer) he is the guy that brought to life some of my generations favorite childhood films whether they be both Home Alone 1 and 2, Mrs. Doubtfire or even the first two Harry Potter films. Columbus has a knack for tapping into what makes kids enlist their truest sense of wonderment and he seems to have modernized that technique here while still remaining true to the decade that gave him his start. I'm not saying Pixels is as good as anything else in Columbus's filmography, but I am saying kids will love this movie and likely champion it through their teenage years and into their twenties as a haze of nostalgia will keep their love of it intact.

First Trailer for PIXELS

While Men, Women & Children along with The Cobbler were expected to be something of beginning to an Adam Sandler renaissance they proved non-starters when both received less than flattering reviews at last years Toronto International Film Festival with The Cobbler showing up on Amazon Prime last weekend to almost no ones awareness. So, what exactly does Sandler have to do to rejuvenate his officially fading career. Sure, the Grown Ups films have made solid returns and actually pushed the Sand Man to do his first sequel ever after the likes of That's My Boy and Jack & Jill tanked, but where Sandler has really found success  as of late was with his voice work in Hotel Transylvania. While he has already finished work on the sequel to that 2012 smash he is returning to live-action films aimed at children in director Chris Columbus’ latest film. In what they seem to hope will capitalize on the appeal of Wreck-It Ralph this latest attempt to capitalize on nostalgia revolves around a group of 80's arcade game champions who are called upon to help defend Earth from alien invaders who misinterpreted those classic arcade games as a declaration of war. Regardless of what this film might be jumping on the bandwagon of I can't help but to be both excited and hopeful that this is the one that finally puts Sandler back in somewhat good graces. Pairing Sandler with the likes of Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) is an inspired choice and the two would seemingly have the right mix of mentalities to pull something like this off perfectly, plus the supporting cast that includes the likes of Peter Dinklage, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, Brian Cox and Kevin James doesn't hurt either. Pixels opens in theaters on July 24, 2015.

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Review

Everything about our comic book movies that we receive these days are dictated by what works in others and what has become outdated, but when it comes to the X-Men films they are the ones who set the trend of what has now been flourishing (for the most part) for nearly fifteen years. With their latest installment they continue to be able to change with the times while also sticking to their roots and using what has come in the past to influence the relationships between the characters and make the impact of the events that occur in the latest installments all the more powerful. I was a big fan of First Class three years ago as it was able to give the series a much needed fresh start after the perceived misstep of The Last Stand (which wasn't ALL that bad) and the definite blow that was X-Men Origins. Not only was the series getting a fresh start, but it was also a chance to see what has always been the core of the franchise, the relationship between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, blossom and become the iconic battle of ideologies that guided each of the original X-Men trilogy films. In saying that the X-Men films continue to adapt to the current climate of superhero films is to reference how this latest installment, which is technically the sequel to First Class, incorporates the idea of continuity and world building. The idea to bring in everyone from past films, essentially creating an all-star roster for an embodiment of everything the past films have been leading up to is the new niche studios are pushing after the success of not only The Avengers, but the Fast & Furious films. The X-Men have always been an ensemble though so their way of putting a spin on this approach is to connect the original franchise with that of the First Class world and in doing so have created a universe where every X-Men film that has been made can co-exist in the same space (except for maybe Origins, but that bears little matter here) and in that regard Days of Future Past doesn't quite feel as spectacular or as epic in scope as it probably should, but it is still highly entertaining and more satisfying on a level that leaves us with a film that will resonate with us the more we watch it rather than becoming less impressive over time because it's nothing more than empty spectacle.

First Trailer for X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Bryan Singer kicked off the super hero film wave way back in 2000 and even as the super hero genre has become its own and still thrives, arguably better than it ever has, Singer's X-Men crew have been through several ups and downs together, but have not re-grouped entirely since 2006's The Last Stand where director Brett Ratner took over and things only went downhill from there. In 2011 though director Matthew Vaughn re-invigorated the mutant franchise with his take on the origin story of the two distinct leaders of the mutant revolution: Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Erik Lensherr aka Magneto (Ian McKellan). The film was both critically and financially successful which of course means a sequel, but this isn't like any other sequel. Singer has now returned to the world he began and has combined both his cast and the First Class recruits to tell a time altering story that has Hugh Jackman's Wolverine sending his consciousness back to 1973 so that he might help a younger Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender). The suspected villain in all of this is Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage) who may or may not be constructing large robots that look eerily similar to sentinels. The trailer delivers more than I expected, but with a quieter, darker tone than I've seen in any of the previous X-Men films. I absolutely loved the first X-Men and X2 is still arguably one of the best super hero films ever made which only garners more excitement to see what Singer has done with a cast and scale as large as this one. X-Men: Days of Future Past also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Omar Sy, Halle Berry and opens in 3D May 23, 2014.