NEW REVIEW: "The Intouchables" (2011)

MRMOVIESETC REVIEWS:

“The Intouchables” (2011)

Wow, a film that cracks light-hearted jokes about a disabled person? How have all copies of this not been burned yet?

*** 

I don’t really have the patience or the temperament to answer those questions without going on a long-winded rant, so I’ll just skip all that. What I will talk about, though, is how “Intouchables” is witty, sometimes even hilarious, and you should absolutely watch it sometime as long as you do not mind the whole subtitles thing.

Although, besides the fact that it’s comical and smile-inducing throughout its entirety, that’s not really the most interesting thing about it; rather, it was the film’s approach to the subject material at hand that gives makes it enjoyable. What I mean by that is the fact that Directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano opted to make the film so straightforward and focused on the two main leads that, despite all the potential baggage both of them carry that could have easily come into play, they conversely decided to stay away from that temptation to the degree of making the movie feel like an introvert shying away from confrontation.

Forgive my going on a small side street here, but this is where I often struggle from a critiquing standpoint, because I cannot count how many times I have scored against a film’s decision to avoid those opportunities, from where I sat at least, was a failure to explore new areas of depth in the screenplay; sometimes to the degree of getting a little pissed off. In the case of “Intouchables”, however, I find myself giving all of that a pass since the formula works, with a big credit going to the two leads riffing beautifully off of each other, and the directors sticking to their guns and saying, “Hey, we want this to be a (dark-ish) comedy with a feel good vibe, so let’s just do that.” Alternatively, I would have been fine if it had taken a few of those darker avenues along the way, but like I said, it worked even if the screenplay isn’t that deep, so no necessary need to fix it.

Story-wise, Omar Sy plays Driss, an ex-con whom is fresh out of a six month stint in prison, and he needs to prove he’s been applying for employment so he can receive some benefits from the government. One of the places he stops at is a live-in caregiver position for a wealthy, middle-age hotel owner named Philippe (Francois Cluzet), who is wheelchair-bound due to being paralyzed from the neck down. Driss makes it clear throughout the interview process that he absolutely has no interest in working there and that he only wants Philippe’s signature on his parole document, and perhaps an intimate encounter with Philippe’s extremely attractive assistant, Magalie (Audrey Fleurot), whom he makes a few passes out before leaving. Much to his surprise, Philippe offers Driss the job on a probationary basis at first, because he sees Driss as somebody incapable of offering much in the way of empathy, which is exactly how he wants to be treated versus being coddled and spoken down to like a helpless child from formal caregivers.

At first the relationship is awkward because Driss says pretty much everything that comes to his mind without filter, whilst Philippe still has that proper etiquette and his high society friends that cannot help but remind him how much of a mismatch Driss is to the environment and surely he must be making a mistake. As these things go, the two develop a strong bond and go on their share of one miscellaneous adventure after the next with humorous exchanges and results. More importantly, again, while the film often pretends that the pressures of the outside world do not exist in a way that they almost always would, it does do a pretty good job with the character development for both Driss and Philippe. For instance, Driss helps Philippe come to terms with the deeply-rooted insecurities and resentments of his disability, and Philippe helps Driss understand that he’s not a one-dimensional guy that has a serious knack for mentoring and the arts. Sure, this is something has been done in film countless times, but the cast’s buying in is what makes this one worth investing time. Besides, it’s always interesting to see the barriers of two good-nature individuals with cocky dispositions get worn down at the will of one another’s viewpoints or antics.

Speaking of which, both Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet are brilliant in this film. It’s one thing to be good, great, or award-notable, but it is a whole other thing entirely to appear effortless, and while that may not always equate in the same manner as, say, an Oscar nomination would, these kinds are genuinely my favorite. Watching these two on screen, you would think Sy and Cluzet have been best friends for years much like the two real life men the characters are based on. Hell, half of the movie could have been Driss and Philippe sitting in a room discussing politics and I would still be sucked into it.  I also talked about how Driss had a particular interest in Magalie, well, this continues off and on, and while it comes across as sleazy at first, Magalie starts playing the game, and they are some of the funniest scenes - at Driss’s expense.

Of course, I’m not going to lie to you and say the film is perfect. There’s some intermittent dialogue between Driss and Philippe, mainly by about sex, which is derivative compared to any you-name-it comedies and felt far below each’s threshold, and a few scenes of mini-conflicts, one involving suicide,

that were resolved rather easily. I mean, it’s one thing to not explore or shrug those to the side, but if addressed, there should be at least some effort and difficulty added to the equation. Just my two cents.

Overall, could “Intouchables” have tried to go a bit bolder with the material? Sure. Although, to do so, it would have created an entirely different film with an entirely different atmosphere. I can’t help but think my mind is going to ponder what could have happened in that scenario, but nonetheless, I cannot hardly complain seeing as “Intouchables” made me smile for nearly two hours. I certainly recommend it, especially if you’re needing a break from what passes as comedy these days or the onslaught of depression Hollywood is convinced the world needs.

“The Intouchables”: 8/10

NEW REVIEW: "Searching" (2018)

MRMOVIESETC REVIEWS:

"Searching" (2018)

SHORT VERSION:

Believe the hype. 

LONG VERSION:

For as much as I love horror, drama, and comedy, I have a special place in my heart for a good mystery movie; in particular, the ones that can find that fleeting balance between making the gears turn in your head enough that you want to beat the story to its own conclusion, but at the same time knows how to be fun and allows you to sit back to enjoy the unfolding. The biggest challenge for the filmmakers is that this is probably one of the most formulaic genres in the gambit; where the First Act is going to have your disappearance, kidnapping, murder, etc., the Second Act will have the loved one or other interested party following the breadcrumbs, and the Third will have the plot come to a head in a conclusive or ambiguous way. 

I'm sure there a few miscellaneous choices in between, but the two main roads to really choose from here are either "Will the story build to an epic and satisfying climax?" or "Will this be more about the journey rather than the destination?" In a way, "Searching" is a little bit of both, though I guess it would lean toward the latter. Regardless, what Writer Sev Ohanian and Writer/Director Aneesh Chaganty have accomplished is easily one of the best, if not the best, in the genre since "Prisoners" back in 2013, and I would go as far as to say this not only tops that one, but should easily fit in many Top 10 lists at the end of this year. This is one hell of a good film.

As far as the story goes, "Searching" revolves a recently widowed father, David Kim (John Cho), and his teenage daughter, Margot (Michelle La), as both of them are trying to lead semi-normal lives a few years after David's wife, Pamela, succumbs to lymphoma after a lengthy battle. Despite the traumatic shake-up, David and Margot's relationship seems pretty level; that is until Margot leaves to go to a classmate's house for a study group late into the evening and never returns, leaving nothing but a few missed calls and Facetime notifications on David's phone that serve as a quick nod to the audience that "Yes, something definitely bad as gone down." After David is able to narrow down whom the other teenagers were at the study group, he soon finds out that Margot is not as social as he thought she was, and after attempting to look at her social media and discovering that they are all blocked from public view, he goes down the internet rabbit hole of twists, turns, red herrings, and secrets, along with the aid of local detective, Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing). 

That's really about as far as I can or am willing to go, but it covers the basic gist. 

On the surface, this may all sound like a run-of-the-mill flick that is trying to pander to both the social media-heavy younger demographic and to the paranoid phobias of their parents, which, in a way, is true; however, Chaganty shot "Searching" in such an intelligent way that it puts the audience in the shoes of David mostly from a First Person point-of-view as if everyone were to feel they were in on this search, and what they would do next when something David tried ended up failing. Yes, this is a tactic that's been attempted recently in horror to mixed results, although this has tackled it the best so far. Better yet, the film also had the wits about it to not put this perspective in overkill mode by having just the occasional scene here and there where it pans away from a laptop monitor or a phone screen to show the characters moving around in their environment. It's an extremely effective method across the board that helps create true feelings of dread as David digs up more and more secrets that Margot had been hiding, yet they were secrets mainly to him as the uncovered facts had been all over the internet for anybody to see should they be looking for it. 

After the film ends and everything starts to sink in, it becomes more impressive yet that the success of the whole story falls almost exclusively on Cho, La, and Messing to sell it. It was easy enough in the beginning to be on David and Margot's team after the tragedy that they had endured, although that alone often cannot carry a feature all the way to the finish line, so it's up to the actors to keep that connection alive. Michelle La has such an innocent and timid sweetness to her that it's impossible to not want the best for her, and John Cho turns in what is likely his best performance to date as a father that teeters back and forth from focus to near-implosion and back again. Not to mention the importance of his character's affiliation and banter with Messing (also a solid performance) that helped generate some of the key tensions as the case unravels. 

I could nit-pick a few minor issues that either nearly blew the lid of the whole thing just by trying to be a bit too clever, and an incident where David makes a poor judgment call that could be feasible for somebody under incredible emotional distress, but wasn't carried out with quite enough finesse to feel like anything more than a plot device that gets dismissed without any real ramifications. Come to think of it, if it had gone the way one would expect it to, that could have created a different angle that potentially made things intensify even further. Still, the writing had plenty more tricks up its sleeve that the film quickly recovers without any real damage done.

Overall, I think that's the most I can go into "Searching" without giving up the farm, so to speak. This is a solid and highly entertaining thriller that seems to have gone relatively unnoticed and criminally under-promoted. It's slick, perfectly paced, and to alleviate some possible concerns, I should also note that this is not some preachy bullshit about a dull or doomed generation. Sure, it illustrates some of the frightening possibilities that come with the technology at hand, but the goal here was not to condescend and instead treat people as smart enough to know the threat.

As I mentioned in the short version up top - Believe the hype. I cannot think of any reason why you would regret seeking out a copy of this and giving it a shot. I cannot recommend it enough.

"Searching": 9.5/10

NEW REVIEW: "Ralph Breaks the Internet"

MRMOVIESETC REVIEWS:

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" (2018)

"Then I have to assume you made a deal with an underwater sea witch,
where she took your voice in exchange for a pair of human legs!"

"No! Good Lord, who would do that?"

You know, I guess I should be glad for the fact that it's only on rare occasion where legitimate concerns spawned from a film's initial couple of trailers end up coming true. Aside from the whole (pretty hilarious) "Bunny Pancake" thing that came out pre-release, all the others promotions for "Ralph Breaks the Internet" felt a little bit off, and that is not something I can say I have felt about a Disney Animation release since before "Tangled" back in 2010 when Disney was riding the Pixar wave hard due to their own solo releases prior to that being relatively uninspired. I wouldn't even say it was the plot progression that bothered me at the time because, while nothing outstandingly clever, if "Wreck-It Ralph" were to have a sequel, it makes decent enough sense to have the theme go from complete eye candy nostalgia to modern day relevant with the heavy movement of the gaming world transitioning to online platforms. In fact, as curious as I was to see how a character like Ralph would adapt to that type of change, and where I thought the whole "Breaks the Internet" was going to spin off from, something about the whole project just felt hollow to me that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

As it turns out, "Ralph" ended being a somewhat odd experience in that it was rich and playful in all the areas I wasn't expecting, and disappointingly flat in areas that seemed to me like easy wins the writers (Phil Johnston and Pamela Ribon, respectively) opted not to take for some reason. The end result is this rather mixed bag of hits and misses that serves as one of that last big Disney releases, sans "Mary Poppins Returns", before turning the page to 2019's enormous slate that could be either amazing or equally as mixed.

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" takes place six years after the original and finds Ralph and Vanellope basically where they left off - best friends that continue to do what they do in their respective Fix-It Felix Jr. and Sugar Rush arcade games, then after the doors are closed at night, they meet up and spend about every possible moment together shooting the breeze or goofing around in other games as part of their everyday routines. One day, when Ralph gets the impression that Vanellope has grown bored of Sugar Rush, he sneaks in during business hours to carve a new track for her to race on, which she loves, but the kids playing the game become baffled as to why they can no longer control her racer, and the custom steering wheel controller breaks. Normally this would not be a huge deal, except that the manufacturer of Sugar Rush has been a few years out-of-business now, and cost of the replacement part on eBay far exceeds what the game is worth and thus forces the arcade's owner, Litwak, to sell the game off for parts leaving all the characters within completely homeless.

By lucky chance, Litwak also so happens to be introducing wifi to the arcade for the first time, so Ralph and Vanellope capture the opportunity to infiltrate the internet and find that replace part for Sugar Rush. Unfortunately for them, what they thought was a game to win the steering wheel actually turns out to be a bidding war - a war that they win - for the small fee of $27,001 that the duo has twenty-four hours to claim or the bid is lost. 

Growing more and more desperate, Ralph and Vanellope accept a shady task from a pop-up store that will pay them the funds that they need if they can steal a car from a violent racing game called Slaughter Race (think Twisted Metal) that belongs to the game's primary "boss", Shank (Gal Gadot). During their escape, Vanellope begins to fall in love with the game, as it is exceedingly more suited to her personality, to the degree that she begins not to care about the money or going back home. Ralph then starts to see the writing on the wall, and after becoming more clingy than before, their friendship experiences its first straining hardship.

I won't go too much further as it could cause some spoilers; however, I will say this was one big point of the movie that annoyed me and still continues to do so as I continue to reflect on it. See, it appeared as though Vanellope's crafty driving skills were to create an easy escape out of Slaughter Race until they get caught by Shank at the last minute, resulting in their surrender. Shank then tells them that there are better ways to make money online than stealing, and just like that, the whole thing gets dropped. I know this is Disney, and this is something that needs to be seen rather than attempting to adequately explain, but that came across to me like a cop out. Vanellope and Ralph were already risking their lives, why not let the danger and mischief continue a bit longer so the life lesson could be learned rather than simply told? I realize that Vanellope is in the midst of developing an admiration for Shank, yet this compromise was just too easy when it could have easily made for better material than what was to come next.

To make matters worse, the alternative that is offered to them is easily the biggest misstep of the entire movie - Ralph making dopey viral videos in the land of BuzzzTube (guess they couldn't get that YouTube logo check) because "Likes" translate to cash. Sure, Ralph's clumsy, ogre nature makes for an easy and comical target, and of course the whole gag is to poke fun at modern culture's need to be entertained by stupidity and cute cats all day long, but all that attempted subtext is NOT Wreck-It Ralph. The tonality and gesture is a transparently hollow beating of the square peg in a round hole in an effort, or lack thereof, to add twenty or thirty minutes on to a plot too thin to stretch to an almost two hour length and remain compelling. By the time that was over, a big chunk of the Second Act I should add, I wished things were back to the good old days of stealing cars since that had some entertainment value that kept things moving.

Thankfully, once the film gets back on track and focuses on the aforementioned friendship ripple in the once blissful pond, everything finally comes together in what is an enjoyable Third Act that I certainly didn't see coming and might scare the pants off some of the younger crowd; even if some of it felt like it was paying a bit too much homage to a certain "Matrix" sequel. Nevertheless, it is during this climax that a bulk of the heart the movie was hinting at the entire time is captured, and once it hits the heartstrings, it makes the swerving journey up to that crossroads point feel a little more worthwhile.

Now, I did just knock on some failed subtext that the filmmakers tried to pass off as naked opportunism to look hip, but that's not to say they failed at it across the board. Initially, I was kind of bothered by the fact that the animation in "Ralph 2" somehow didn't seem a vibrant and alive as a Disney film normally would, and then I started to notice how it came off as purposefully plastic with all the brand names and famous website logos plastered all over everything, thus making it feel so sterile that it was borderline gross. Maybe I'm way off the mark, but I'd say that sounds like fitting commentary, wouldn't you? C'mon, not everybody would admit it, but if the internet had a taste, it'd be salty roadkill. 

When it comes to the two main characters themselves, I was also pleased at how much arc each one still had to offer after the completion of the first film. Granted, the plot scales are tipped towards Vanellope in this one, and while I do believe Ralph was underutilized with some painfully lazy dialogue at times, he was still left with enough personal growth to really put some sting in that Final Act that I mentioned before. That being said, I am not sure there was enough on either side that made me jump and say, "Yes, goddamn it, we really needed this sequel!" I suppose that can be said for most sequels, but you know what I'm getting at.

Overall, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" isn't too bad. Decent - I'll call it decent. I know I harped on the negative probably more than I intended to, especially since there were plenty of shining moments to enjoy. For instance, I thought for sure the whole "Oh My Disney" bit where Vanellope meets all the Disney princesses was going to be certainly painful; turns out, Disney actually can make fun of themselves, and the results had me rolling. Easily one of the highlights of the entire feature. Fix-It Felix Jr., while barely in this film because he didn't need to be, had some golden moments as well that parents will for sure appreciate. Additionally, there's a nod to Fortnite in there that was apparently cool. I didn't get it, because I don't play the fucking thing, but there's also that.

There has also been some negative talk regarding how the First Act felt rushed, but personally, I don't really agree. The nice thing about a sequel like this is that the main characters, their relationship, and the world around them is already so well-built that the writing doesn't need to spin it wheels or go back in time to establish what everybody going to watch it is already going to know. Spend a little time getting reacquainted with them, and then move on. I felt it worked and moved at the right pace.

I do wish that "Ralph 2" would have stayed truer to itself and its roots than trying to appeal to all the major sensibilities of its target audience. This is a film that seems to suffer some from an identity crisis in what could have otherwise been a solid follow-up. I did like it enough that I will certainly give it another chance or two just in case I happened to miss something. Even then, it's unlikely that I will see it as anything other than inferior to its predecessor, though that isn't to say it's a bad time at the cinema.

"Ralph Breaks the Internet": 6.5/10

OCTOBER-THON V Quick Reviews - Part 1

 Greetings, Film Fanatics!

With the first ten films in the books for October, I wanted to put out a quick review on each as time won't allow me to get too in-depth if I want to get to at least thirty-one in for the month. I am going to release them five at a time, so you're not left with a novella.

I will say that this first leg of the marathon has been less of a bang and more of a whimper, but unlike previous years where I would blend the familiar with the unfamiliar, this year I decided to do all titles that I have yet to see before or films that I haven't seen in so long that I barely remember them. Hopefully the risks will start to yield some rewards.

Now, with all of that out of the way, let's dig in!

#1: "THE OPEN HOUSE" (2018)

As far as premises go, one can do much worse than "The Open House". It doesn't lend itself to any big sparks of creativity, but I can get behind a faceless antagonist that uses open houses as perfect places to hide while potential buyers shuffle in and out without much notice being paid by the realtors. Having just gone through the home buying/selling process, I felt a plot like this was almost too fitting. The set piece of the big, isolated home in the mountains with a creepy cellar additionally worked to the film's advantage, except that is exactly not what ended up happening.

I want to say there was a much grander idea at play here from Writers/Directors Matt Angle and Suzanne Coote, and then that idea was hacked to pieces by the studio for budgetary reasons, because the flow and all the various character nuances make no sense. Characters appear and disappear, act multiple shades of strange, but none of that has any impact on the story or its climax. Also, while I doubt strong lead performances could have saved it, Dylan Minnette and Piercey Dalton are really phoning it in here, which suggested to me that even if the final cut of "Open House" did indeed not complete the vision of Angle and Coote, the actors still didn't buy into it. It's the kind of bad that's not even worth getting upset about, as there were not enough positive impacts to make it any kind of memorable.

3/10


#2: "MOTEL HELL" (1980)

I think my biggest surprise with "Motel Hell" was how restrained it turned out to be in terms of violence. Given the poster art and concept, I was expecting it to be dripping with '80s cheese and gory bliss; instead, the film relied much more on implications of bodily mutilations and coasted on the performances of the main cast. Of course it's goofy in more ways than not, though that's what it made it such a good time.

There's really not much more I can say about it. If you enjoy some '80s horror, I highly recommend it.

8/10


#3: "MOM AND DAD" (2018)

"Mom and Dad", a.k.a. "Pornography For Parents of Teenagers and I Dare Any of You to Deny That With a Straight Face", has almost a beat-for-beat spoof feel of "Dawn of the Dead" in a way that, for a while, is kind of awesome. Obviously, as one might automatically and justifiably assume, the film's success is going to rely heavily on Nicolas Cage and his - shall we say - Cage-isms. He does venture in cringe territory when his leash gets a little too much slack, but overall he is curiously fun to watch in ways that only he can. Sadly, the film unravels quickly when it begins to run out of ideas. A plot predicated on cartoon violence should really take that idea and just run with it with increasingly over-the-top antics; however, the pace comes to a screeching halt at the end of the Second Act when the narrative attempts to justify the sudden bloodthirsty attitudes of the parents, and unfortunately it never truly recovers. By that point, I really couldn't get reinvested and left feeling mostly "Meh". Fingers crossed that "Mandy" turns out to be much better.

4.5/10


#4: "DEMON HOUSE" (2018)

Sometimes I wonder why I keep subjecting myself to Zak Bagans and all of his bullshit. Logically, I imagine it's because his show "Ghost Adventures" is the most popular and accessible, and I have a deeply rooted desire to see some actual evidence of the paranormal. Believe me, I'm as healthily skeptical as the next guy, but I am open-minded to the possibility of things we cannot yet explain, and sometimes ghost hunting does offer ever-so-faint hints of that realm. Yes, I realize that the allure of "Ghost Adventures" isn't Bagans, since his charisma is somehow painfully less entertaining than standing in line at the DMV, so I wasn't at all surprised when his supposedly three-year pet project film about his investigation of a house haunted by a goat man he saw in a dream turned out to be complete unsubstantiated garbage littered with his robotic narration and re-enactments of what he supposedly saw instead of any records that he could at least try to sell as legitimate. Hell, there was even a segment of a priest's voice recording of an exorcism that had nothing on it other than, basically, "Ok, here goes..."

Unlike "The Open House", this is the kind of bad that bothers me, because Bagans has to know what he is selling, and I am willing to bet he makes a hefty price tag in the process. Normally, I would try to find something, anything, positive to assess a point or two towards, but there's really nothing redeeming about this. This film both objectively and subjectively pissed me off.

0/10


#5: "THE BROOD" (1979)

Even though I wouldn't call "The Brood" one of Cronenberg's greatest achievements, I do have a soft spot for its more "out there" yet straight forward approach to body horror that I can only imagine raised a few eyebrows nearly forty years ago; not to mention that the final cut was supposedly toned down a bit from his original version. I also enjoyed its different brand of storytelling where, in a way, feels like it is starting right in the middle of the Second Act where character introductions are limited and demon children start appearing fairly quickly as the overarching narrative and character dialogues slowly unravel the mystery in the background in a way not often seen in modern cinema anymore. It doesn't always work as smoothly as it should, especially as a bulk of the characters are not allowed to break outside anything two-dimensional; although, the climax can make you forget all of that in a hurry.

"The Brood" is definitely stylish for its time, and at a slick ninety minutes, it doesn't over stay its welcome. That being said, a little more depth could have gone a long way.

7.5/10

MRMOVIEETC'S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2016 - PART 2

Greetings, Movie Fans!

Alright, now to bring this list to a close for another year.

Here are the final five films from my Top 10 of 2016!


5. SING STREET

Musicals today may be a lot different than they were during the Golden Age of cinema when romances and dramatic-comedies would break out randomly in professional song and dance choreography. Not to make light of those films, it was called the Golden Age for a reason, but the cost to make a film these days being what it is and most classic musicals never clocking in under two-and-a-half hours, it makes sense to have music that's integrated into the overall story structural rather than as a flashy diversion. If there's one director that has this new perspective down to a science, it's John Carney. After breaking into the limelight with the outstanding "Once" back in 2007, and his not-quite-as-good follow-up "Begin Again" from 2013 that showed Carney could handle a much bigger budget and cast, he returns back to his simpler craft with "Sing Street", an absolutely excellent tribute to 1980's punk rock. What's even more impressive is that while Carney made sure to bring in some heavy-hitters like The Cure, The Jam, and Duran Duran, a bulk of the musical numbers were originally made specially for the film. It was obvious to me that "Sing Street" was a winner when it had me smiling from beginning to end. Highly recommended!




4. DON'T BREATHE

Nothing draws me into a horror film faster than when it makes a mission out of rolling up its sleeves and delivering relentless suspense like a cold pair of hands grasping firmly around your neck. Stephen Lang continues to beg the question as to why he is still so underrated in these roles, the moral ambiguity forced upon the audience was a genius way of keeping up engagement, and the classic rundown house in a decimated neighborhood served as the tasty frosting on the cake. I have heard some say that activities that went down during the Third Act left them jarred and out of the said suspense that got them there in the first place, but from this angle, having that in the film brought even more gravity and terror to the circumstances rather than simply having the characters escape or not escape. Just when I thought the home invasion sub-genre had become more or less exhausted, Fede Alvarez breathed life into the medium and certainly leaves me excited for what he has coming next.





3. ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

While "Rogue One" may not answer any questions as far as the future installments of Star Wars and the direction that they are taking the overall story arc for the new trilogy, it does answer two very crucial ones just the same: Yes, Star Wars does appear to be in good hands with the Disney Empire (pun intended) when it comes to turning out high quality films, and most importantly, filled the biggest plot hole that has plagued "A New Hope" since its release. Not bad for a single installment in a franchise with perhaps the loftiest expectations in Hollywood. Honestly, it would have been plenty if "Rogue One" had passed as worthy supplement material for Episode IV, and not only did it do that, but it is a feature that I feel will be a standout moving ahead. Terrific action sequences, capable casting, and just enough winks to the target audience to create exciting word-of-mouth, "Rogue One" made me feel like the kid that used to watch the original trilogy on a regular basis back on VHS. I couldn't ask for much more than that.







2. KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

How the hell is Laika not a household name by now? You know a movie is great when it can blow you away with its imagination and immensely impressive stop-motion animation, and simultaenously piss you off when nobody went to see it and it barely re-cooperated its budget. Seriously, Illumination can rake in hundreds of millions of dollars this year on a lazy hack-job, but "Kubo" goes by mostly unnoticed. There are no words.

Ok, end of rant.

Laika already had me hooked from the get-go with "Coraline", and then "ParaNorman" only solidified the studio as a legitimately talented bunch of filmmakers. To attempt to describe what makes "Kubo" such a great movie, outside of an addicting story and score, would be doing it a grave injustice. Do yourself a favor and go watch it already.



And finally, my favorite film from 2016 is:

...

...

...

...

...

...

1. HUSH

All Hail, Horror!

It's about goddamn time.

Naturally, "Hush" does draw many comparisons to "Don't Breathe" and vice versa, and perhaps there is a level of exploitation at play in both films with the "victim" being physically disabled, although the screenwriters mapped it all out in a tasteful enough way by not making those characters helpless, so it would be rather difficult to levy a complaint against it. What was so smart about "Hush" is that while Maggie was entirely deaf, the audience could still hear her movements and thus making her attempts at survival that much more suspenseful. Lean and well-crafted, not only was "Hush" my favorite film from 2016, but also one of the biggest surprises. Netflix doesn't always score with its original material, though if this is the type of horror they plan on churning out, count me in!



I hope you all enjoyed my Top 10 Films of 2016 list!

For more movie reviews, news, and announcements, please do check out my A Journey Through Film Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pg/A-Journey-Through-Film-897875193561061/about/?tab=page_info)

Thank you for reading!

-MRMOVIESETC

MRMOVIEETC'S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2016 - Part 1

Greetings, Movie Fans!

The time has finally come to reveal my ten favorite films from 2016. As I alluded to in my Top 5 Most Disappointing List (if you have not checked that one out yet, please do so!), this was a tough list to put together this year. Don't get me wrong, that's a wonderful problem to have. I would much rather painstakingly comb through a long list of nominees, weed them down to 10, and then struggle to put those in a satisfying order as opposed to having two or three clear-cut winners with the rest being used as glorified filler.

I thought about putting all ten here at once, though that could admittedly get a bit lengthy, so I am going to split the list in half. 

Now, with plenty of material to go through, let's do this thing! Here are the first five films for my Top 10 of 2016:

10. THE JUNGLE BOOK

Perhaps once in every other blue moon, a remake so good will come out that it's not only a genuine pleasure to watch, but somehow also manages to improve upon its own source material. Case in point, I present you Exhibit A: Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" - an awe-inspiring visual spectacle that few others off the top of my head have managed to pull off successfully, and that's only the beginning. There's no debate that the original 1967 animated feature had plenty of qualities to love about it, including but not limited to, some very colorful characters and infectious song writing. It's also highly recognized as one of the final movies Walt Disney saw through before he passed away, so despite its numerous flaws like occasional recycled animation and a noticeable lack in plot, the original "Jungle Book" has always gotten a pass. What made this new imagining so smart is that Favreau and his crew of filmmakers recognized these issues and filled in the blanks by adding considerably more depth to the story, some darker themes particularly in regards to Shere Khan's character arc, whilst still remembering what made the original fun in the first place. The green screen effects are noticeable in rare instances, though outside of that, it is nearly unbelievable this whole thing was made in a Los Angeles studio and not the lush jungles of India. Highly recommended!

9. THE NEON DEMON

Full review still to come so I'll approach this a little more sparingly, but what I will say is that the new Nicolas Winding Refn's stylish horror-thriller is a immersive combination of dizzying and subtle visuals, a jarring '80s style score, purposefully understated acting to perfectly match its themes, and last but certainly not least, a certain level of grotesque that chills to the bone. We all know there are some films out there that have quickly polarized audiences and critics alike for one reason or another, but after finally get to watch them, it is hard to understand as to why or what the big deal was. "The Neon Demon", on the other hand, polarized its audience and it's completely understandable; this movie is not for everybody. I'd be willing to wager that even those with a casual interest will find their patience put to the test, but for fans of Refn's previous work and those that are up to the challenge, they might find a lot to love here, too. 

8. THE VVITCH 

Speaking of divided audiences, no other horror movie this past year came close to effectively doing just that quite as starkly as "The VVitch". It is rather ironic in its own right considering that the film starts off with pitchforks and exile, because it takes a brave soul to assert to a crowd of horror fans that it deserves to be recognized as a great film. However, before I'm asked to pack my bags and get out of town, allow me to say that I absolutely recognize and appreciate the naysayers side of the story - a lack in truth in advertising. The initial trailers gave the impression of a dark and dirty scarefest set during the glory days of Salem, and what we got alternatively was a slow-burning, Gothic tale drenched in religious zeal and paranoia. Now, I will not agree to the proclamations that "The VVitch" isn't horror at all, because that only makes me wonder if the same movie is being talked about. The creepiness is consistently lingering beneath the surface of this film, and with the aid of some wonderful directing by newcomer Robert Eggers, this was a superbly atmospheric piece of art. I have since then gladly added this to my collection and look forward to watching it again in the future.

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

A better Avengers film than "Age of Ultron"? Definitely. A Captain America sequel that surpasses "The Winter Soldier"? Unfortunately not. Be that as it may, "Civil War" was nonetheless one of the best blockbusters of the year, and now that 2016 is all said and done, the king of the summer movie slate and a satisfying ending to Cap's trilogy. Despite some of the apparent flaws of "Civil War", is anyone really going to contest how just how kick-ass that airport fight scene was? If anything, it should keep the faithful MCU masses intrigued as the familiar chapters of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor appear to be coming to an end in the near future after the conclusion of "Avengers: Infinity War", and the Universe as a whole starts to move into more unfamiliar territory with Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and The Inhumans. Outside of that, there's not a lot to say here. It's an action-packed thrill ride filled with Hollywood superstars that look all-too-natural in their respective roles by now. Chalk up another win for MARVEL.

T-6. ZOOTOPIA & MOANA

Yes, that's right. Every once and a while a Top 10 list gets a cheat, and this is mine. Despite being too very different films from Disney Animation that I highly enjoyed, I could not for the life of me pick one over the other. I loved the characters and social commentary from "Zootopia", and was equally impressed by the music (yes, I feel it does rival "Frozen"), animation, and lore from "Moana". Due to the spacing of their releases, I have had the benefit of seeing "Zootopia" multiple times now, while "Moana" I've only seen once, so a winner could edge itself to the top over the coming months when"Moana" gets its bluray release, though I certainly do not anticipate much of a change. Both collectively prove that creative irons are still burning hot at Disney, and I believe there is every reason to think this winning streak is going to continue for quite some time yet. 

I hope you enjoyed the first half of my Top 10 list! Please stop back to see final five titles!

-MRMOVIESETC

TOP 5 MOST DISAPPOINTING FILMS OF 2016

Greetings, Movie Fans!

As you can see, I did not get around to these lists last year. I was late getting to a vast amount of titles from 2015, and by the time I did I deemed it to be far beyond an acceptable deadline; in a way, that kind of sucks because there were easily enough great films from last year to make one. Who knows? Perhaps I shall one of these days.

Moving on . . .

So, hey, how about that shit-show of a year we all called 2016, huh? Not to make light of anybody passing away from this world, but I honestly would not have been shocked if Vegas had started taking bets on "Who's It Gonna Be Next?" in Hollywood (or did they?). Regardless of how long one's particular grieving period is, over time we all start to recognize that, even though it's not always easy to see, there was good to go with the bad. Outside of yet another mediocre summer blockbuster run (I say "summer", because in Hollywood it is about nine months long now), 2016 had a pretty impressive and enjoyable catalog. Impressive enough, in fact, that my Top 10 for 2016 was one of the most difficult ones I have put together in quite some time.

HOWEVER, you see the title here, so before counting down to the gold, first comes the obligatory sewage bath.

To be clear, and as I have stated in the past, these are not likely the worst films of 2016; far from it, I'd be willing to wager. I'm sure there are some real gems out there that movie-goers wouldn't even use the theater tickets as toilet paper. You see, those types of films are the ones my gut instinct tells me to stay away from, so I rarely end up seeing the year's garbage. That being the case, my "Worst" list each year comes from films that I felt could have and should have been decent movies, only to just, well, not be, at all. For me, those kinds of movies are significantly more painful to the cinematic soul than films that suck so bad you can almost get a laugh out of the whole deal.

So with that brief introduction out of the way, it is time to let the fun begin!

Here are the Top 5 Films from 2016 that, to me, were the Most Disappointing:


5. LIGHTS OUT

Horror movies are finally starting to get exciting for me again. There are some fresh new faces making their way onto the scene that actually "get it", and by that I mean can take a modest or low budget and turn it into something more than mind-numbing and shameless cash-grabbing crap. 2016 had one of the best-looking lineups so far this side of 2010, and "Lights Out" was looking at first to be one of those. I want to feel bad for putting this film on the list at all because it was not all terrible; the acting was decent, the story was lacking yet passable for modern horror, and the big baddie had some due credit for being creepy enough. The major flaw that derailed the whole feature for me is how quickly obvious it became that there were no smaller ideas or diversions to back up the big rule the movie set for itself - the lights are going to go out and bad stuff is going to happen, most likely from behind *insert jump scare here*. The saddest thing of all is there were a few glimpses of some really cool avenues to explore, but by the time the film started to do that, it was over and too late for any real redemption.



4. INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

I know, I know - how could this be considered disappointing? How could something that was clearly dead long before it crash-landed have had nearly enough positive expectations to end up on this kind of a list? Well, there is that "nostalgia" word that gets thrown around a lot. I will gladly admit that when the news first broke and the first few images of "Resurgence" started to appear that my pulse picked up a few paces. Let's all be honest with each other here, while the first "Independence Day" is one the purest definitions of junk food for the heart and mind, it is so blissfully "'90s" that it cannot help but come up in almost any conversations surrounding that decade of film. Hell, I mean, sure, it has started to show its age in some places in terms of special effects, though for the most part, it still holds up very well; and knowing how far that technology has come the past twenty years, I could not help having some optimism for the sequel, especially with Emmerich returning to helm. Nevertheless, all that anticipation was flushed in an impressive hurry once it was revealed that a certain original cast member wasn't going to make it because he was busy making a hardly less shitty movie coming out that same year, followed shortly after by a plot that looked to be effortless and dumb even compared to most new blockbuster standards. So, needless to say, when I finally got around to seeing "Resurgence", my Bar of Hope was set just above the moldy cellar floor, and by some cruel act of the cosmos, this tub of boiling feces still somehow managed to trip over said bar and face-plant into the concrete. Literally, the only good thing I could come up with to say about this thing is that, yeah, the alien CGI did look pretty cool, but not one thing more. I could try to touch on the big pieces of the bad side, though I think it might be faster for you to just watch it; though, seriously, don't watch it if you've spared yourself this long.


3. THE INFILTRATOR

I acknowledge that crime dramas revolving around drugs and drug families have been done to absolute death over the years, however that does not mean that these films cannot be good if they have all the right pieces.

Let me check the list on that:

1. Director Brad Furman - credits include "The Lincoln Lawyer" (I have heard decent things) and "Runner Runner" (Uh oh. Red flag.)

2. Stars include Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, and Benjamin Bratt. (Should easily make up for #1)

3. Set in the 1980s during the reign of Pablo Escobar. (Neat!)

Hey, two out of three, I like those odds! Wish I knew ahead of time that ratio turned out be Furman's bad movies versus good ones. Ugh, I am still stumped to this day with the level of talent lent that "Infiltrator" turned out to somehow be one of the most boring watches I would have all year. The cast, to their credit, did try to make it work, but with a script and plot that was so achingly by-the-book that I could have called out loud what was going to happen and when, that is a crystal clear sign that the filmmakers did not have the wits about them to take advantage of what they had. Honestly, there's just no excuse.


2. SUICIDE SQUAD

Remember that aforementioned actor that was too busy to return to the "Independence Day" series?

Well . . .

Nothing seems to strike doubt into the hearts of movie-goers these days faster than terms like "re-shoots", or such phrases as "Rated R downgraded to Rated PG-13", or "Warner Bros. fronting another live-action DC Comic adaptation." All joking aside, if there was one film that Warner honestly could not afford to fuck up this past year, it was "Suicide Squad", and yet, here we are, so good on ya, WB. My initial thought after the final credits rolled was something along the lines of "Eh, you know, it could have been worse", and I absolutely hold that to still be true, even with the ever-collecting evidence over the past few months suggesting that if all slicing and dicing the studio morons had done prior to release didn't happen that the end product still would have fallen short of anything spectacular, because David Ayer has proven to be competent as both a writer and director. At the end of it all, we may never know what Ayer's true vision was for "Suicide Squad", though that hasn't stopped the rampant conspiracy theories that Warner Bros. is paying him to lie because they fucked up. Regardless of all that, what we got stuck with is a clearly manipulated mess that should be have been chock-full of interesting characters and backstories, and a blast to watch in general, but instead ended not being any of those things. I believe my maintained intrigue throughout was to see if it would somehow still finish cleanly, or go down in an epic ball of flames. Sadly, neither one of those happened, and the result is another DC disappointment that will likely be forgotten in no time at all.


And the #1 Most Disappointing Film of 2016 is:

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1. THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS

I feel I said more than enough in my full review, so I'll simply boil it down to this:


Biggest. Misfire. In. Recent. Memory. 

I will still defend that "Pets" is still barely good enough for the youngsters to get something out of it, but I am likely not going to leap at the opportunity to join them. To be honest, this movie pisses me off more with each day that goes by. To have a sure thing set on your lap and unabashedly waste it in order to get by on the bare minimum of cute animals and one-liners makes me want to boycott Illumination altogether (if only I didn't have a cursed soft spot for "Despicable Me"). Given their competition, it dumbfounds me how they thought getting away with something like this was remotely feasible, yet economically speaking, they totally did get away with it, so what the hell do I know? I mean, other than the sure sequel I'll be happy to skip?


Thank you all for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this list of roasts and will return for the actual Top 10 good stuff!


-MRMOVIESETC