THUNDERBOLTS* Review

Like many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately, the heroes of Thunderbolts* have felt unfulfilled. Yelena (Florence Pugh), Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Red Guardian (David Harbour) don't have much in common besides the loneliness that being assassins, science experiments, and super soldiers has led them to yet somehow (and somewhat ironically) this shared strand of abandonment is what brings them together. This film in particular finds itself at a crossroads of a moment where the MCU is both trying to redefine itself as well as figure out what direction it goes after being lost in the void of content inundation that has occurred since Endgame. Again, not unlike this band of "disposable delinquents" who are unclear where they fit into the grand scheme of things in a post-blip world where the Avengers are no more, Thunderbolts* seeks to carve a new path forward by essentially attacking the anxieties of the heroes, and by default - the fans, head on. The good news is that this is a strong step in the right direction. 

I’m sure there's a solid analogy to be drawn around how once and current Disney CEO Bob Iger, in the Valentina Allegra de Fontaine role, tried to lock these characters that debuted under Bob Chapek (sans Bucky) away in a Disney vault somewhere but ultimately decided to reverse psychologize by pushing them to the front of the next phase in a Guardians of the Galaxy/Suicide Squad-style team-up that he then sells as “the first and best example” of the studio’s new focus on quality over quantity, but I don’t know that I have the energy to investigate beyond those surface parallels. The point being, it feels pretty bold to make the biggest issue your biggest cash cow is facing not only the main theme of your Avengers re-brand, but the villain itself as Eric Pearson (a Marvel vet) and Joanna Calo (a frequent TV writer) more or less literalize the depression and loneliness these characters (and by extension, the audience members) are feeling through the existence of Lewis Pullman’s Robert Reynolds character. What Pearson and Calo’s screenplay does so deftly though, and I’m sure it is aided by director Jake Schreier’s execution, is how clearly and directly it addresses these subjects without ever making it feel heavy-handed.

OVERLORD Review

Here’s the thing about Overlord: I saw the trailer so many times I felt like I knew the movie back to front before I even walked in. It was one of those things where I’d notice something different or pick up on something new every time I saw the trailer to the point that when I realized the actual feature was opening this weekend it wasn’t that I didn’t necessarily care to see it, but I definitely felt indifferent about buying a ticket to a movie I didn’t expect to gain anything more from that I hadn’t already been conditioned to expect from the trailer. I tell this aspect of the story to lend a little perspective on why Overlord then ultimately came to be something of a pleasant surprise. In expecting a certain level of craft, care, and creativity I low-balled my expectations and was more than happy to find out I was wrong when the film kicked off and immediately kicked into high gear with a level of energy that was infectious. Stranger even, the opening of the film is the same scene that opens the trailer, but while there is the expectation of this being a full feature rather than a short preview there is also something to the altered pacing, musical accompaniment, and/or character dynamics that immediately plays into the level of investment one is willing to give no matter how much they think they know. This is a long way of getting around to saying that, despite the initial indifference through which it had to battle, Overlord is a movie that does very well at what it's built to do. It’s not an exceptional film that says something new or even anything terribly interesting about life or the psychology each of us project on its meaning, but as a movie that sets out to combine the terror of war with the terror of a zombie apocalypse and roll those into a somewhat hackneyed, but fully aware camp fest-Overlord accomplishes everything it could hope to and then some.

INGRID GOES WEST Review

Writer/director Matt Spicer and his feature directorial debut, Ingrid Goes West, nail it. For a long time. For most of the runtime, actually, Spicer and his film nail exactly what he and it are going for. In every detail the script supplies or that drips from Aubrey Plaza's inherently mocking facade into what the actress applies to the titular character Ingrid Goes West is as sharp as it needs to be in order to achieve this kind of sardonic satire it's going for in each of every one of those aforementioned details. That Spicer and co-writer David Branson Smith are able to craft an interesting narrative from the seemingly simple idea of exposing those who live their lives striving to create the appearance of another kind of life on social media is encouraging first and foremost, but that through this they are able to utilize that premise to support and point out all the obvious and sometimes dangerous/creepy aspects most might not consider when posting to Instagram makes the mockery that much funnier due to the fact it's so true. As with many an inspired tales, Ingrid Goes West begins strong by highlighting some of these little truths to what is not necessarily an exaggerated effect, but maybe more frightening is that depictions of Plaza's Ingrid trying to figure out the best phrasing for an Instagram comment are so accurate they need not be exaggerated, but more just held up in front of us in order to realize how trivial and silly it all really seems. Ingrid Goes West understands this semblance of effortless cool is indeed serious business to some though and with that it doesn't so much talk down to the intended audience it desires to simultaneously mock and enlighten, but rather Spicer and Smith's screenplay comes around to the inevitable (yet encouraging) conclusion that to be your own cool is the coolest cool there is. This is exemplified through a particularly hilarious and exceptionally performed character named Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) who comes into Ingrid's life at a crucial time and provides the kind of real, tangible, human interaction her life and being so badly craves-even if Ingrid herself doesn't realize this for much of the film. That it takes Ingrid so long to understand the simple epiphany the film eventually has would be rather testing did the majority of the movie not land so precisely on how exhausting it can be to keep up these kinds of fronts that feel obvious in their fraudulence, but are so convincing in their execution they may as well explicitly state that one should feel inferior. That Ingrid Goes West ultimately lands on the non-revelation it does gives this hard and fast social commentary an otherwise disappointing last act.    

First Trailer for TABLE 19 Starring Anna Kendrick

While Fox Searchlight as a studio has become more broad in its releases since the early days of its inception it is still nice to see the logo pop up in front of smaller fare that one hopes will be good based on its promising premise and cast. This could all be true of director Jeffrey Blitz's dramedy, but that January release date sure doesn't help much. Given we are getting the trailer in the midst of summer I was hoping we might see the film release a little earlier, say late September/early October, but while I can't seem to find any reason not to be excited for the film there will always be that release date during what is Hollywood's typical dumping ground month that will hang over its head until I inevitably see the film late in the first month of 2017. Only adding more to the optimistic side of this news though is the fact Table 19 was written by the Duplass brothers who, if you aren't familiar with the name, have been producing quality independent work for the better part of a decade now. The basic premise is catchy: a group of people who barely know the bride and groom find themselves assembled together at what amounts to the reject table at a wedding. Led by the charismatic Anna Kendrick who once dated the brides brother who is now the best man this ensemble comedy looks as if it will tap into some of the small caveats of the wedding ceremony that serve to expose how ridiculous the larger spectacle of such a day can be overblown and ridiculous-especially when you're nowhere near the level of bliss the bride and groom are. That Blitz has helmed episodes of Parks and Recreation, The Office, and the well-reviewed, but quickly cancelled Review is encouraging and only adds to my hope that this could be a truly funny comedy that just happened upon the misfortune of a release date typically occupied by trash. Table 19 also stars June Squibb, Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, Amanda Crew, Tony Revolori, Wyatt Russell, and opens on January 20th, 2017. 

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! Review

"There's a party down on the corner, do you want to go? They got rhythm, a little blues, and a whole lot of soul. I don't care what you've got to say,  you're comin' with me anyway. We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time." So go the words of Huey Lewis and the News' 2001 song "We're Not Here for a Long Time (We're Here for a Good Time)" and while Richard Linklater's latest film takes its name from the more appropriate Van Halen track from 1980 the writer/director is echoing the same sentiments as Lewis and his News were in their song. One of the many characters in Linklater's entertaining ensemble even throws out the familiar saying at a moment when we're discovering the drastic steps he's taken to recapture his more idyllic past. An idyllic past is mostly what Everybody Wants Some!! is really about, though. The ability to escape and live in an existence, at least for a period of time, that feels like the perfect mix of being care-free and celebrating that freedom by partying as consistently as possible. This window of unattached existence is what Linklater seems to have deduced brings out the most natural form of who we are meant to be as human beings. In experiencing this type of freedom by simply existing we are allowed to pine for that period of time the rest of our lives as most will go on to conform with the societal structures expected of them. Thus, our idyllic past is created with the key being it must remain that idyllic high point without any attempt to recreate such memories because we all know real, genuine fun can't be commonplace. It can't happen every night and the same thrills remain intact. If humans were to live forever as the characters in Everybody Wants Some!! do over the course of this three-day weekend we'd likely live half as long and grow tired of the emptiness drinking and promiscuous sex with many anonymous partners would eventually bring. And so, what Linklater is slyly conveying is that of a cherished time in his own life; memories that inform the man he is today with the added acknowledgment that it can't last forever, but it's beyond critical to drink in when that time arrives.

COLD IN JULY Review

I've yet to see any of director Jim Mickle's previous work, but while Cold in July certainly presents an intriguing case it doesn't necessarily compel me to seek out with anticipation what the filmmaker does next. I was pulled into the world of 80's John Carpenter by the obvious aesthetic influences and soundtrack choices that give the film a certain edge of cool. There was also the fact I was just finishing Dexter when I first glimpsed the trailer and so I was immediately interested in anything else Michael C. Hall saw fit to dip his talents in. What is strange about the film though is that it so eagerly wants to be all of these different things that it ultimately fails to satisfy in any one goal. This incohesive palette is due both to the tone that is implied in certain moments, while the bigger issues are with the story that draws its influence from a novel by Joe R. Lansdale. The period details are on point, the first half of the narrative engages us completely offering an interesting perspective not often seen in movies labeled as action thrillers and its cast is more than up for the job as supporting players Sam Shepard, Don Johnson and Vinessa Shaw each contribute to positive attributes of the experience. Still, as it trudges through the middle section looking for a place to go and then only includes our intended hero in the finale out of a sense of obligation Cold in July feels more manufactured cool than effortlessly stylish. It is what could almost be called style over substance with the intention of that cliché being part of the fabric, but even that doesn't fairly sum up what the product as a whole delivers to its viewers, no matter where they fall in terms of love for cinema. To the untrained eye this is middle of the road action fare that suffices well enough in the blood and gun department that it works as a solid rental. To the more casual viewer this is something with ambition that clearly strikes a different chord than the more electronic, hard-boiled modern action thrillers we see in the cineplexes while to someone who is conditioned not only in the trends of studio and independent fare but to specific filmmaker style and the accomplishment of movies within their own intended goals this is a film that does indeed purchase a lot of ambition in the beginning, but doesn't evenly spend it throughout.

22 JUMP STREET Review

With sequels these days there has come to be a feeling of such necessity that we have therefore come to experience many sequels complacent with simply re-hashing the original. 22 Jump Street is aware of this and especially in the genre of comedy. Most comedies, be it The Hangover, Rush Hour or The Nutty Professor are typically made with no greater ambition than making people laugh and maybe gaining a following once they hit home video, but I can't imagine any of them expected box office success resulting in a second chapter. This was apparent in each of the sequels to the aforementioned comedies, but the second chapter in this Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill collabo not only knows it is a college movie that pays homage to the kind of National Lampoon mainstays (as well as a barrage of other comedic references), but a sequel that subverts sequels. They realize the expectation that everything is supposed to be bigger, more expensive looking, and louder which is why they choose to open this one with a big, fast action sequence. While the heart of the film still deals with the on-going relationship between Hill's Schmidt and Tatum's Jenko the real story of the film is not the one in which these two repeat the same undercover work as last time, but instead how the film goes about commentating on the way studios operate these days and what happens when they run into road blocks and disagreements. In order to set-up the last act of the film our boys are confronted with the issue of having no money left in their police budget, which is to say they've spent it all on that opening chase sequence, upgraded sets and a bigger scope. Lucky for us the third act also helps the film break from the mold of the first film in which it was so eager to repeat so as to not venture outside the safety net of success. Returning directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The LEGO Movie) understand that everything is funnier the first time around and that the jokes aren't as sharp the second time. They understand audiences think they'll not only be looking for the same things, but wanting them. The truth is, despite the fact audiences think this way, they will leave the theater disappointed if that's what they're given because it wasn't more than they assumed it would be. In responding to these inherent wants and needs Lord and Miller have crafted a film that both meets initial expectations and then bursts through the traditional sequel curse by giving us what we didn't know we wanted until it was served up fresh.