For western lovers, Hell or High Water is a pretty decent modern-day western. Chris Pine and Ben Foster play a couple of brothers in rural Texas. Pine is an upstanding man who is facing losing his ranch to the bank, and Foster is his law-breaking brother. The two start robbing local banks to save the ranch, getting Texas Ranger Jeff Bridges to swoop in and hunt them down. A lot of heart in this one, and fine acting all around, and particularly by Bridges. The movie received critical acclaim and while I thought it was certainly well acted, I couldn’t quite get behind the scenario. Still, certainly not a bad film by any stretch and it is enjoyable.
Captain Fantastic started great, petered out by the end, but is still a satisfying indie film for lovers of the genre. Viggo Mortensen plays Ben, a father of six raising his kids in the wilderness. He and his wife scoffed at conventionalism and are raising the kids to be brilliant intellectuals, athletes, and survivalists. His wife however has recently killed herself after a long battle with depression, forcing her estranged parents to reach out to Ben about his lifestyle choices and how they ultimately affect the kids. Funny, heartfelt, and supremely unconventional, I almost think it doesn’t go far enough and some good plot elements go unexplored. Still, a very well made film with a strong cast of both recognizable and new faces.
Film history is full of sequels that should never have been made, and Independence Day Resurgence is the latest. Lets not fool ourselves and think the original was some great piece of thoughtful storytelling, but at least it was entertaining. The new installment has more characters but ultimately a more heavy handed approach, and is awfully boring for an action film. In a nutshell, the aliens return (bigger and stronger than ever!) and Earth has to band together to take them down before we are all destroyed. The actors just seem to be going through the motions and in the last 30 minutes, you’ll just be waiting for the end. Unfortunately it sets up for yet another sequel. Hopefully this bomb prevents a new one from seeing a green light.
For me, coming from a suburban predominately white neighborhood, Kicks is another one of those eye-opening, life-assessing kind of movies. It follows a young black teenager trying to fit in in a society where your status is based on the clothes on your back and, most importantly, the shoes on your feet. He buys a pair of expensive Nike Jordans off the street, most definiately stolen, but when he is jumped and robbed of them, he goes on a quest to get them back. I can’t relate to the adventures he and his friends go on, which are much more dangerous than the shit I got into as a kid, and probably very realistic for what faces our inner city youth. A sharp film with a lot of complex layers involved.
Sad to admit I never read Dahl’s The BFG as a kid, but I did enjoy this new movie. For starters, it is a masterpiece visually, with vibrant colors and state-of-the-art computer enhancements that blend seamlessly. The story is great too, about an orphan girl who discovers giants are living not too far away. Most are mean and eat humans, but one, which she labels the Big Friendly Giant, protects her, and learns the courage to stand up to the others along the way. Great film for kids, but warm-hearted adults will like it too. Plenty to like!
Other People is a charming film, with a sad plot for sure, but leaves you feeling more good than depressed in the end. The underrated Jesse Plemons plays David, a comedy writer who returns home from NY to be with his dying mother (Molly Shannon in a tremendous role). He is gay and has long been estranged from his father because of it, and sort of brushes off his younger sisters to deal with his own grief. It is a heartfelt film, as the mother fades slowly as the movie goes on and others react to her and her family in a situation where no one ever knows what to say. There are several subplots that are explored well, and the movie features outstanding acting by Plemons and Shannon. There is also geniune laughs injected to keep the film from getting too dark.
What followed was a series of movies that all I could do was shrug at. All decent films, but nothing that stands out as great. Florence Foster Jenkins is a biography of an opera singer in the early 20th century. She was a terrible singer, yet thought she was great due to people lavishing over her for her money and her support of the arts. Meryl Streep plays Florence, with husband portrayed by Hugh Grant. You feel for Florence a bit when she realizes at the end that she isn’t as good as everyone has been telling her, but I never connected enough to care that much. I just pegged her for a spoiled rich girl that always got her way her entire life.
Goat is about two brothers close in age, both in college. Older brother Brett (Nick Jonas) is a popular student on campus, a member of the highest regarding fraternity. Younger brother Brad (Ben Schnetzer) is an incoming freshman trying to find his place. Brad is beat up badly just before school starts and fights the reputation for not having stood up to his attackers, and also tries to get out from his brother’s shadow when he goes out for the same fraternity. It shows a lot of the hazing Brad goes through to get accepted. Some intense scenes, and strong acting, but still overall sort of an “eh” film.
Southside With You is the final of the average movies. This one is the story of the Barack & Michelle Obama’s first date. Really the film is just like reading a biography, with all their personal history told in dialogue as the two converse throughout the day. There’s nothing you can’t read online. An interesting concept, but not a great movie. If you wanted to really know about their past, you can just read a good biography.
Allegiant is the third, and possibly the final, film in the Divergent series. The team from the first two films (Shailene Woodley, Theo James, etc) are back to continue the fight against the government, this time in the form of people outside the dystopian Chicago. The film seems like it takes a left turn from where the first films were going, and has the same (or worse) young adult feel. I like the whole dystopian future genre so I mostly enjoyed it, though the constant childish tense music grew tiring. The film did poorly at the box office, so the supposed finale of the series is in limbo. I might just have to read the books to see how it all ends.
Jons Movie Takes 