WISH Review

This is the one you guys decided to have it out with, huh? The completely inoffensive, abundantly charming homage to Disney Animation Studios’ one-hundred-year history that also means to continue to push the boundaries of what constitutes a Disney princess further? I'm convinced there is a small (yet loud) and clearly influential sect of the internet whose entire purpose is to get as ahead of the narrative as possible and establish whatever direction they'd like to sway public opinion toward just to see if it sticks. For some reason, Wish was immediately dubbed lazy and unoriginal by hordes of people on TikTok (a format for micro shorts and ads) who picked apart the first clips of songs released from the film for no other reason than to say they supposedly weren't as good as songs from two years ago made for movies with different tones and objectives than this one.  

So, first, in the context of the film each and every song here works as intended which is to say, really well, with "Knowing What I Know Now" being a certified banger in the vein of classics such as "I'll Make a Man Out of You" and "I've Got a Dream". Further, the titular track of "This Wish" would be a standard Disney classic circa any other time in history. It, along with the whole of the story that doesn't stray far from your standard fairy tale pillars (young girl experiences longing and/or ambition and, in a manner of speaking, absolves the kingdom in which she lives from an evil sorcerer), are majestically rendered through a combination of the animation style and the style of that aforementioned music. The animation is in and of itself a combination of 2D watercolor background paintings (a homage to classic films dating all the way back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and cutting-edge CG that emphasizes the hand drawn look that ultimately creates both a very modern and very retro aesthetic simultaneously.

First Trailer for DARK WATERS Starring Mark Ruffalo

In case you thought you were suffering from some strange case of déjà vu where there was a new trailer out for a movie with the same title as a random horror flick you're pretty sure you saw over a decade ago starring Jennifer Connelly then be confused no more as that was Dark Water while this new trailer is for a movie called Dark Waters! Emphasis on S! This also isn't a drama/horror/mystery based on a Japanese film that spawned from the countless Japanese-inspired horror films of the early aughts thanks to Gore Verbinski's Americanized version of The Ring, but rather this is a straight-up legal drama based on the true story of an attorney (Mark Ruffalo) for DuPont Chemical who discovered that his company was poisoning the residents of a small town for over forty years. Naturally, Ruffalo's Robert Bilott must do what is right and stand up to the evil corporation even if it means losing his job, his reputation, his family or in other words-his entire sense of livelihood, but to go to bed with a clear conscience is of a top priority and Dark Waters looks as if it will provide a very compelling set of actions that will at least lead to what we can hope is Bilott's clean conscience at the end of the film. All of that said, this is also the new film from Academy Award-nominated director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, I'm Not There, Carol) and while I've always been more lukewarm to his films as opposed to critics more my senior it's also not hard to recognize the filmmaker's penchant for putting his own, interesting twist on certain types of stories or genres and hopefully that will be the case here. Focus Features has certainly packaged this as a movie with an important message and as a movie any viewer would benefit from seeing if not necessarily for the entertainment value, but for the information around this story that it's bringing to a wider audience and yet-as far as Haynes' work goes-this looks fairly straightforward; a legal thriller where the little guy must risk it all to stand up to the evil corporation. And while I'm sure there's more to the film than what this first trailer indicates, I'm curious as to just how much of an imprint Haynes will leave on this one. Dark Waters also stars Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, Bill Pullman and opens in limited release on November 22nd, 2019.

TIFF 2015: SICARIO Review

There is something exceptionally startling about director Denis Villeneuve's approach to his rather subtle character examinations. Neither Prisoners or Enemy did anything to necessarily expand our minds to the way we work as humans, but they called often dismissed thoughts and qualities to the surface. With his latest, Sicario, the director is once again examining the human condition under the most stringent of circumstances and once again he puts our nerves through the ringer. Having more than enjoyed both of Villeneuve's previous studio efforts (I've yet to see Incendies, but clearly need to) and anticipating his latest if not based on his previous work, but for the trio of stellar actors he recruited to execute this feature I walked away from Sicario with a stunned respect for how what was being said was in fact stated. Brutal beyond measure, unflinching to a fault and featuring an extremely serious tone balanced by a slight comedic performance from Josh Brolin, Vileneuve has crafted a film that is not wholly concerned with plot as much as it is the examination of the complexities of these people who are trapped in a world convoluted beyond their comprehension that only continues to go around in circles. Sicario is by no means a masterpiece of the genre as it does tend to lose some of it's steam in it's middle section, but it more than makes up for it with a chilling conclusion and a tension throughout that is something akin to unshakable.

SELF/LESS Review

What do you say when everything you've just witnessed is as down the middle as you could imagine? There was an undercurrent of suspicion, hope, and possibility given the sheltered release date that strive to place Self/less as alternative programming. It seemed, if nothing else, like a safe action bet in the vein of Safe House to mainstream movie-goers with added credentials of Ben Kingsley and director Tarsem Singh (The Fall, Immortals) for those more invested in current cinema. Singh is known for insane and typically crazily creative visuals, but all of those touches are for the most part absent here as Ryan Reynolds tries once again to prove that he can be good in a dramatic role. Ultimately, we are taken through a few action beats and little more. When the most unique aspect of a Singh picture is some of its editing choices, one has to wonder what brought him to the project and what made him choose this traditional and standard approach to the material rather than adding his own flourishes. Whatever the reasoning might have been, what the director delivers with the final product is a perfectly fine piece of entertainment that operates in the sci-fi/action genre but does little to expound on it's rather interesting premise. It eventually devolves into a series of chase scenes. The first hour or so of the film had me going along with it as we are given the outline for the somewhat complicated main idea. What would you do if we were able to manufacture immortality? The question is posed up front and in our main character falling victim to the possibilities of such promises Singh expertly paces (again, thanks to some nice editing choices) the first half of the film to methodically execute the questions that would naturally arise around such power. Singh then sets up the possible avenues for where the remainder of the film might go. It is the choice of writers David and Alex Pastor to go the route of the bad guys hunting down their rogue experiment that damns the film from becoming more than just that middle of the road movie. Self/less certainly had potential but out of nothing more than laziness and wanting to avoid more complicated, thought-provoking territory that potential was squandered on a film that will be easily forgotten.

First Trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s SICARIO

It must be Thursday as the trailers continue to show up though I'm not sure why Lionsgate decided to release the first trailer for the latest from Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy) today. Given there's not much to attach it to this weekend I'm guessing we'll see it before Terminator Genisys in a few weeks in hopes of getting people into the film this fall given the action aspect, but given this is coming from Villeneuve I expect it to be a lot more than the standard drug cartel/action flick. Coming off its well-received premiere at the Cannes Film Festival it was not only Villeneuve's direction that garnered praise, but the exceptional cast as well as the cinematography of Roger Deakins and the script from Taylor Sheridan (Sons of Anarchy). The trailer presents a tense and lawless world that slings Emily Blunt's novice police officer from Tucson across the border to Mexico where violent warfare is constantly erupting. With a pair of mercenaries by her side Blunt's character is enlisted to try and help track down a cartel high on the totem pole and hopefully add a win to the FBI's war on drugs. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro co-star as the mercenaries and members of a government task force with Del Toro seeming to have a deservedly showy role here. Sicario will open on September 18th in limited release before expanding wide on September 25th which is similar to the Prisoners release date two years ago. With the nationwide expansion date the film will open opposite the Nancy Meyers comedy The Intern, Hotel Transylvania 2 and the Kate Beckinsale-fronted horror film The Disappointments Room. Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

First Trailer for SELF/LESS

I've always been on the fence when it comes to director Tarsem Singh. One thing that has always been clear though is that the guy has a keen eye for terrific visuals. If anything I've been waiting for him to pair his visuals with a story that might elevate each other instead of one standing so far above the other. With his latest, Self/less, there might be a shot at this happening as this looks to be an intense psychological science fiction thriller that deals not only with some big themes and questions, but even greater implications. My hope here is that Singh is able to overcome the typical pratfalls of such a premise that this trailer so boldly hits. Given the hook that deals with a wealthy, powerful man dying from cancer (Ben Kingsley) who decides to transfer his consciousness into the body of a younger, healthier man (Ryan Reynolds) we already know things will only remain as expected for so long before things go wrong. Where the film can really take off is the conspiracy elements that deal with where this younger, healthier body comes from as well as in the science of how two minds might cross paths with one another. The big idea here though seems to be in the idea of what immortality really means and its questions of actual worth as one of the stand-out lines here says that “immortality has some side effects.” Beyond my hopes that writers David and Àlex Pastor are able to match Singh's visuals with their story is the fact that Reynolds seem to be trying to configure something of a career rejuvenation as of late. Time will tell if this project helps or hinders that mission. Self/less also stars Matthew Goode, Michelle Dockery, Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber, Derek Luke and opens on July 31st.