movie review

SXSW Film

| cgkinnett

sxsw

Hello lovelies! This past Friday (3/10/17) saw the start of SXSW Film and thanks to my wonderful boo thang, I got a badge! Quite the splendiferous and exciting thing! In case you are unfamiliar, South by SouthWest (never spelled out like that) is a festival that encompasses beaucoup amounts of areas. In addition to Film, there is Music, Interactive, and Gaming and they are all all kinds of fun. Being the film nerd that I am, getting to go to all of these screenings and premieres has been so fun. I am extremely grateful. So, all that being said, what follows was my weekend!

Friday was opening night and the new Ryan Gosling/Rooney Mara movie Song to Song. I got off work at 5 and rushed to pick up my badge ($8 for parking that lasted 3 minutes btw) and over to the Paramount (if you’re ever in Austin for anything, you should go check out the Paramount. Austinite tip: bring a jacket no matter the season!!!). By the time I walked to the end of the line I had gone five blocks. I asked a volunteer where she thought the cutoff in the line was going to be…I was one block and a courtyard behind who she projected. (I later found out she was pretty spot on.) So I left with a plan: go get dinner and come back for Alien.

This time I arrived two hours early and sat in line with a couple of reporters from Brazil; the publication they work for is Omelete, check it out!  So we chatted for a while and ended up sitting together to watch the film. That is one thing that I have really loved about this whole experience; getting to sit in line and chat with strangers and then share a really cool experience with them right then and there. So we get in and sit down and out comes Ridley Scott, Catherine Waterston, Danny McBride, and Michael Fassbender. They Q&A for a bit and goof around and then like 15 minutes worth of clips were shown! It looks pretty similar to Prometheus stylistically. There’s some creepy stuff (sorry for using such a vague word, terrible, I know). For starters, this is a colonizing mission so everyone is spoused up making for some stressful situations no doubt. There was also this cool “commercial” for your very own David (if all robots looked like Fassbender, would you be okay with robots? Hmmmm). Afterwards, the original was shown. I left about half way through to get some sleep in prep for Saturday.

Bright and early the next morning, I arrived at the Austin Convention Center and was number two in line for American Gods. While Neil Gaiman wasn’t there himself, he did record a message to introduce the first episode. While I have read other titles of his, American Gods is not among them. It was really cool to watch it right after he set it up for us. The episode was an hour and some change and did a great job setting up this world in which we are going to see gods, old and new, and how they are existing and still meddling in society today. Ian McShane and Ricky Whittle do a great job at leading the story and the whole cast is just phenomenal. After hearing the writers and producers talk I think that fans of the book and new fans as well will find this to be a really well told story. Plus Gaiman is doing some of the writing!

While waiting in line for this one I sat with this wonderful woman Patty. I know not her last name nor if I am spelling her first right. What I do know is that sitting in line with her and all the others I met this weekend allowed me to learn not only about where these strangers came from but also other things that they experienced at the festival that I had not. For instance, Patty told me about this panel she went to that was about the new frontier of law in space. How cool is that?!

After this, I made my way back to the Paramount and got in line for Small Town Crime. A real shoot ’em up movie, Small Town Crime features John Hawkes, Octavia Spencer, and Anthony Anderson. Billed as a thriller, Hawkes stars as an alcoholic former officer who got kicked off the force for reasons you’ll have to find out on your own. He finds an almost dead woman on the side of the road and what happens from there, as he tries to help police find those responsible. It was a really great movie with a nice steady pace and a great storyline. However, it seems to sway in tone pretty frequently. Regardless, I would recommend checking it out. The only downside of the experience had nothing to do with the movie…it was pouring the whole time I stood in line for this one and so my jeans were soaked up to the knees. SOOOOOO COLD!!!

Finally, I rushed over to 6th Street for a tapping of the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. This was another line where I spoke and sat with a franger (like that? I just made it up. Friend and Stranger). She taught English abroad which is a fantasy of mine! Getting to hear all about her two years in rural Japan was fascinating. The podcast was good and Bob Odenkirk was among the guests but ultimately it ended up being five guys, one girl, and all white. Wasn’t too impressed or stoked about this…considering where we were, it wouldn’t have been hard to get a more diverse panel of comedic guests. But whatever.

My last day to report on was Sunday. I realized at the end of the day I had made it into a documentary themed day. This time I was accompanied by my friend and line buddy Amanda. Fist up: Muppet Guys Talking which took us into an informal setting with five of the originals swapping stories about Jim Henson and talking about all their different voices. My favorite part came during the Q&A with all of them afterwards (hosted by Robert Rodriguez) when they each talked about how they workshopped their characters together. Hearing the origins of Miss Piggy and Gonzo, just to name a couple, was just beyond cool.

The lettuce of the day was a documentary shown at the Ritz about this man who chose to be homeless. I have very mixed opinions about this one and was really glad that I saw it with a friend so as to discuss it afterwards. The first act of the doc introduced us to Dylan who is an attractive 20something white male. He gets money and food and nice conversations when he approaches people. He is ungrateful occasionally. He does goes about his life not answering to anyone or having any real responsibilities. It is interesting how he is initially presented to us. Why choose this life? Why do this when there are people that really don’t have any other choice but to be homeless? Then in the second act, we meet his father and learn that there is a bit more to the story. Dylan is an alcoholic and was once addicted to hard drugs, on top of this he suffers from schizophrenia. He was kicked out of his house as a teen and began his life crossing the country and going on what was portrayed as adventures. Living a life that does not seem at all typical of the average homeless story. He would get invited into people’s homes and receive rides to places. I can’t help but wonder what his travels would have been like if he looked differently. It was a tale that unraveled in an interesting way and still has me thinking about it today.

Last: the piece de resistance! Bill Nye the Science Guy!!!!!!! I waited in line for this one for three hours and was proudly number one. This period of time allowed me to take a nap and prepare myself not to fall asleep in what I knew was going to be a really good piece. Bill Nye: Science Guy is a documentary which focuses on global warming and what Bill has been up to for the last few years in fighting climate deniers and creationist goons. It was an insightful piece which showed the behind the scenes Bill; the man who is worried about the health of his brother and sister who share a genetic disease of which Bill shows no signs. We see his frustration at the Ark Project which shows dinosaurs and humans existing together. But we also see his need for notoriety and that sense of not wanting it to ever disappear. All of these pieces of his life come together for a really interesting watch. The audience questions which he took after were so heartwarming. Almost every person started their question with a thanks to Bill for getting them into science and helping them learn and understand. No matter what you say about the man, his passion for science and educating the minds of the future makes him one hell of a human.

All of that happened over the course of two days and three nights! I was understandably exhausted Monday night. There are a lot of really cool events happening during the work day during the work week so I’m not sure what all I will get to see throughout the next couple of days. Saturday however is the premiere of Life and you best believe I will be trying to see Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively in person!

The moral of all of this is: talk to strangers, remember a jacket, and always leave time in your schedule for waiting in line.

All aboard the live action train

| cgkinnett

 

I grew up with an extensive VHS Disney collection; it was my first library. As an adult, I am able to recognize all the racism and innuendos but it’s hard not to still wish upon a star or live by the problem free philosophy. Despite the terror of an old lady giving you poison apples and a mad lady putting you in a coma, there was the enchanting notion of being a princess and having a tiger for a pet. The dark storylines juxtaposed with the happy songs make for instant classics.

A couple years ago, Disney released Maleficent which, if you think about it, was the first in the trend. While not an exact retelling of the animated film, it gave us more context on the protagonist Aurora faces in Sleeping Beauty. More of an origins story, Maleficent starred Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning and grossed $758 million worldwide.

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When the live action announcement of Cinderella came, I was skeptical. Not everything needs a remake. However, I was pleasantly surprised after I came out of the theater. Not only did I only have minor critiques (see said critiques here) but I actually found it enjoyable. The movie did really well in both domestic and foreign markets garnering a total of $543 million dollars. Shortly after this success Disney announced their plans to bring another title to the live action big screen.

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The Jungle Book seemed like such a huge undertaking that I was sure this time they wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Talking animals are usually pretty cringe worthy. But as the news of the cast steadily rolled in over the next year or so, I started to wonder if there was something to it. Surely all of these amazing actors wouldn’t attach themselves to the project if it were hokey. Man was I wrong. The Jungle Book was the best of the remakes yet and grossed just shy of a billion dollars worldwide!

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This added an insane amount of fuel to the fire that has become live action. After The Jungle Book’s massive success Disney announced plans for a whole slew of titles to be released over the next five years and a slew if definitely not an exaggeration.First, Beauty and the Beast will come to theaters. This is being hyped beyond belief with nothing but stills and a few seconds long teaser released so far, with Emma Watson playing Belle. Then, Cruella is getting her own film and so is Tinker Bell. Dumbo is getting a new take from the mind of Tim Burton (I really don’t understand how this is going to happen but maybe this will be better than his Alice movies). And just this past weekend it was announced that Guy Ritchie will be at the helm of the Aladdin film. This is another stumper in that Genie is so heavily associated with Robbin Williams and the recreation this character is hard to imagine. Also this weekend it was announced that the script for The Lion King now has a confirmed writer. We can only hope that titles like Aladdin and Mulan won’t be whitewashed and will reflect their characters and cultures appropriately.

I really enjoy that my doubt has been proven wrong thus far but these are pretty lofty goals they are setting.

disney_characters_by_ficklestix

Midnight Special

| cgkinnett

The movie opens even as the production logos are still occurring with a voiceover of an Amber Alert being broadcast on TV.

Fort Worth, TX

8 year old male

white

Pan to: said white 8 year old sitting on the floor of a hotel room, under a sheet, reading Superman comics (intentionally done as these two films opened at the same time or funny little coincidence?). He seems perfectly at ease with his surroundings; not panicking or frantic as one would imagine a kidnapped child to act. When Alton (Jaeden Lieberher who got his start alongside Bill Murray in St. Vincent) is asked if he’s ready to go, he proceeds to the car with the men we assume are his captors. As they drive off into the night, the music hauntingly swells and it is apparent that we aren’t even close to knowing the full extent of what’s going on.

I went into Midnight Special without being too sure what I was about to see. Despite having watched the trailer and reading the synopsis a handful of times I was still unable to put in my own words what the movie was really going to be about. When this happens I’m even more excited for a film regardless of whether it turns out to be worth it or not.

As the film begins to unfold we are introduced to two additional threads of the narrative. First, there is a church which exists on The Ranch (think YZF/ The Fundamentalist and include all the terrible hair styles). These folks, led by Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard), believe that Alton is their link to God who has been communicating to them a day of reckoning. Then, there are the federal agents who have been monitoring The Ranch and are very interested in the “predictions” Alton has told the good sheeple which are taken as the Word and turned into sermons. Two agents are our main liaisons to the government’s involvement in the story: FBI agent Miller (Paul Sparks) and Homeland Security agent Sevier (Adam Driver). These men are trying to understand not only the church’s involvement but also the unexplained phenomenon that seem to follow in the wake of Alton, his father (Michael Shannon), and their Texas Ranger turned personal bodyguard Lucas (Joel Egerton).

The race to reach a specific location at a specific time is what moves the plot along and eventually leads to the different threads being sewn into one quilt. Most of the action takes place at night since Alton’s otherness causes sunlight to freak him out. As a result the visual tone of the film is very dark and blue with the score adding tension in all the right places. Being that I had no idea what kind of ride this was going to be, I really enjoyed the journey and the plot points (for being sci-fi) didn’t seem too far fetched. The revelation of who/what Alton is was very interesting and the reveal at the end was, again, interesting. I have a great deal of trouble with the ending of many sci-fi films; they always seem to let me down a bit. I enjoyed this journey however which is as much about a family sticking together (the above mentioned fellowship is joined by Kirsten Dunst as Alton’s mother) as it is about the kid’s powers. The point of mom and dad being there and helping you through anything hits home when Alton tells his dad that he “doesn’t have to worry anymore.” To which dad replies, “I like to worry about you. It’s part of the deal.”

Midnight Special in copyThe movie is slow to unravel, giving you just enough information after one point is explained to hook you again with another head scratcher. The entire cast did a really good job, in particular Michael Shanon (who I feel could play a really good Christopher Walken should the world ever need a bio pic on the old man….or maybe just his younger brother in some gritty drama) and Jaeden Lieberher who’s calm and composure add to the eeriness of his character. I’d suggest you go in without any thought of thinking you know what’s going to happen and just let the story take you on this ride. Overall I’d say Midnight Special was a pretty good flick, a solid B.

I still, however, don’t really get how the title works into movie outside of the end credit song being “Midnight Special” by Creedence Clearwater Revival but oh well…

Black Mass

| cgkinnett

Despite the fact that today is Thursday and not yet the weekend, I still wanted to contribute to the opening numbers with my [not so] measly  $11.50. The showing was sold out and the atmosphere in the theater was excited as the lights went down at the Alamo Drafthouse on 6th Street.

Black Mass, directed by Scott Cooper, is the story of James “Whitey” Bulger and features an all star cast the likes of which haven’t been seen in a mafia movie set in Boston since, well, The Departed in 2006. Where the Scorsese flick alludes to a Bulger type figure in Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of well established mob boss “Frank Costello,” Black Mass is the telling of the events that lead to Bulger’s rise to power in the Boston area known as Southie.

Bulger, played by Johnny Depp, is an incredibly chilling figure who is not to be trifled with. Even before he becomes the towering figure that history now knows him as. His crystal blue eyes pierce you even as an audience member. The mannerisms adopted by Depp are truly telling and as the movie progresses, you are able to tell when Whitey is about to do something “bad.” I believe that this performance is what will bring Depp back into awesomeness and out of his Burton spiral.

But I digress.

John Connolly’s (Joel Edgerton) task force at the FBI is cracking down on the mafia presence in Boston in the late 80’s and in so doing decides to make an “alliance” with his friend from the old neighborhood, Bulger, who has juicy information on the “Italians.” A group of people who are more talked about than shown on screen. What could go wrong? Connolly gets in waaaaay too deep and his blind eye towards Bulger and the mobster’s curiously clean slate begins to raise some eyebrows with the higher ups. Murder and mayhem ensue. I lost track of the body count. After a while however, the plot became so transparent that it was almost irritating. Whenever a problem arose Bulger’s first and only solution was murder. These actions are what makes him a great psychopath but not a good main character and it is because of this that the movie was so predictable. The story itself is told as Bulger’s posse (all rounded up and jailed) divulge their secrets about their finished  leader. They are aged out and defeated. The movie ends with stills detailing all of their sentences. (A cop out technique as bad as narrating in my book.)

As a whole the movie was just okay. Definitely not the be all end all that the previews made it out to be. I give it a 3.9 out of 5. The pacing was good and the writing was fantastic (quite a few really funny moments) but the score was incredibly cheese and the plot was transparent in a not so good way. Plus, points way off for Benedict Cumberbatch’s atrocious attempt at a Boston accent.

Poor Sherlock.

 

Home

| cgkinnett

I went to the movies again today and yes, I saw another kids movie. I’ve been excited about Home since learning about it via last years’ Comic Con. Created by DreamWorks, Home is a colorful and vivid tale about trust and love and forgiveness and open-mindedness. The Boov have come to Earth (and renamed it Smekland) and taken over. The humans are relegated to patches of land and it seems like everything is okayish; that we and the Boov are coexisting. And then we meet Tip (voiced by Rihanna) and her cat Pig and realize that all is not right.

Tip’s mother Lucy (Jennifer Lopez) has been abducted and Tip has no idea which human designated area she’s been taken to. Cut to Oh (Jim Parsons) and the fact that he is The Boov that never does anything right. Ever. All he wants is to throw a nice “warming of the house party”, all he wants is for everyone to come and have fun. Sure, maybe it was bad of him to send the Boov’s mortal enemies the address of the party, thereby alerting said bad guys to the Boovs location. But he didn’t mean to! It was an accident! Now on the run, Oh agrees to help Tip find her mom and along the way the two (plus Pig) learn a lot about each other and what it means to be Boov and what it means to be human.

This movie was so funny that I had tears in my eyes multiple times. I was afraid that it was going to be one of those movies that jams all the funny bits in to the trailers but my oh my, it did not disappoint. Everything is whimsical to the Boov because everything on Earth is new and unknown, they don’t know how to properly adapt the English language and dancing is a terrifying and confusing concept. These elements, coupled with the outrageousness of the story and the lessons in love and friendship make for a great coming of age/quest film. There was multilevel humor, something very important in animated movies.The writing is very sharp and I loved the Boov’s straightforward way of talking. By the end (or maybe the middle) you grow to like the Boov, I mean they’re so cute how could you not, and begin to forget that they invaded Earth.

To give a little background info, this movie is based off the book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex and was optioned by DreamWorks for adaptation. Before last year’s awesome animated wonderment Mr. Peabody & Sherman there was a short showing the Boov in their hunt for a new planet and all the uninhabitable ones they encountered on their way to Earth.

DreamWorks has stepped up their game with this one. I give it 5 out of 5.