RUN ALL NIGHT

RUN ALL NIGHT
GRADE: D
Starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Common
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Rated R (violence, profanity)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs


It is very likely that the most depressing moment I will ever have as film critic came as I was watching Run All Night and realized that the presence of Liam Neeson in a film, like Nicolas Cage and Gerard Butler before him, now all but guarantees a bad film. In all three cases these are actors I once admired, but Neeson stands out far above the other two. Neeson gave a brilliant performance in what I consider to be the best film ever made (Schindler's List), and until recently could be counted on always to rise above even his weakest material (okay, maybe not Clash of the Titans) and make it watchable. But his string of action films has definitely worn out its welcome.

Neeson stars as Jimmy Conlon, an ex-mobster who has an at best estranged relationship with his adult son Mike (Joel Kinnaman). Mike not only has the stereotypical "You were a bad father and you were never there for me" issues with his Dad, there are the "You were a cold-blooded killer" issues on top. The only real friend Jimmy seems to have is Sean Maguire (Ed Harris), a former partner in crime (literally) who has now become a respectable businessman.  But Sean also has a son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook), and Danny is a violent thug. When Danny tries to kill Mike, Jimmy has to kill Danny. And because Sean has seen Road to Perdition and knows that the Irish gangster movie code says that when your best friend kills your no good son you have to kill him, the film becomes a chase, with Sean's goons trying to kill Jimmy and Mike.

All of the this might have at least made for a serviceable shoot-'em-up, but dramatically it's tired to the point of complete exhaustion, and director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously made the forgettable Unknown with Neeson) alternates between limp and hyperactive (including the worst transition shots I've ever seen). Neeson and Harris are solidly professional in their roles, but uninspired. They deserve better, and so do their fans. Even Common feels wasted. Joel Kinnaman, on the other hand, is my choice as the least interesting screen presence since James Belushi. With every line he spoke I found myself wishing Channing Tatum was playing the role (even the Tatum of his early films, when he couldn't act).

Ultimately, Run All Night is just plain boring. There's nothing aoriginal or interesting, the drama doesn't work, and the action isn't fun. It's one 1 hour and 54 minutes long, but it feels like it runs all night. It's rater R for violence and profanity.

CINDERELLA

GRADE: A
Starring Lilly James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Screenplay by Chris Weitz
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Rated PG (parental death, mild peril)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

Cinderella is not a film I was anticipating with much eagerness. The truth is, I have enough issues with romantic fairy tales to write a 10-volume series of 700 page tomes on the subject, and feel in their own way they are often more damaging than something like 50 Shades of Grey. In addition, I consider Disney's current game plan of remaking its animated classics as live action films a genuinely horrifying prospect. Finally, as both a writer and a feminist I consider Cinderella herself the worst protagonist in the history of fiction, someone who never takes a single action of her own and idealizes helplessness and waiting to be acted upon. I tell you all of this because it's important that you understand how unlikely it is is for me to be telling you that Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella is a sublime enchantment that will likely make my list of the best films of 2015.

Lily James of TV's Downton Abbey stars as Ella, a sweet young girl whose beloved Mother (Hayley Atwell, Marvel's Agent Carter) passes away, leaving Ella's father (Ben Chaplin) grieving, and eventually remarrying the austere Lady Tremaine (two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). Form here the story plays out in a traditional manner, with the cruel stepmother and bratty stepsisters forcing Ella (who they nickname "Cinder-Ella" after seeing her covered with ashes) to do all of the work and generally have a miserable life, until they are all invited to a ball thrown by the Prince (Richard Madden).

What's so amazing and joyous about Branagh's film is first that it manages to add a great deal of depth and humanity to the story beyond what any other version has (including, in subtle ways, making the heroine more proactive and self-actualized) and that it does so without becoming winkingly revisionist or betraying one of the most beloved stories in history. This is Cinderella, and it's Disney's Cinderella, but it's also a film that stands on its own, never feeling like a mere retread of the animated classic. Branagh and his team have, visually and technically, painted a beautiful picture, and Branagh, screenwriter Chris Weitz and a first-rate cast give it the kind of vivid dramatic life that Branagh's better Shakespeare adaptations had (and in fact stick to a far more classica, less self-consciously Hollywood style than some of his later ones did). James and Madden are both delightful as the respective romantic icons, making us fall in love with both of them, and adding a layer of genuine feeling that goes deeper than insipid "love at first sight" cliches (this is a Cinderella who wants to go the ball to see a friend, not because she dreams of being rescued by a rich Prince she's never even met). The always exquisite Blanchett adds pathos to Lady Tremaine, showing us the pain of a woman who has suffered great loss and lived with knowing that she was never truly loved by her second husband (Ella's father). Helena Bonham Carter is back to being a good kind of quirky as the Fairy Godmother, and Derek Jacobi is gives an excellent turn as the King. Even the mice are well represented as non-speaking characters (though some of the other animals get a chance to speak in an unexpected and quite clever way).

In his recent films as a blockbuster director-for-hire, Branagh has curbed the self-indulgent excesses that lead to his downfall as an auteur (thank heaven he's developed enough humility to know he's far to old to play the Prince), but we're also seeing in some of them a distinct touch of his unique creative vision, and it's even more plainly on display here than it was in Thor. Make no mistake, Branagh, not Disney, deserves the credit for taking what could have been a soulless exercise in profit-mongering and turning it into an engaging, enchanting film that reminded even me how joyous a romantic fairy tale can be in the hands of someone with true sensitivity. It's a beautifully rendered work of art with a lot of heart at its center, and with the perfect amounts of visual splendor, characters we truly care about, drama, humor and even a dash of adventure, it's a movie movie, exactly the sort we go to a theater to see.

Cinderella is rated PG for some mild adult themes (such as the death of Ella's Mother) but is suitable for all ages.

CHAPPIE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: D
Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman, Yolandi Visser and Ninja
Screenplay Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
Directed By Neill Blomkamp

Rated R (Violence, Profanity, Vulgarity, Drugs)


Director Neill Blomkamp's films are hardly for everyone's taste, but in the past he has undeniably showed a unique vision, with ultra violent but strangely thoughtful science fiction such as District 9 and Elysium.

His latest film, Chappie, is not nearly as violent as those two, though it does carry an R-rating and feature a lot more violence than it's add campaign suggests. Unfortunately, it's not thoughtful, either. In fact, Chappie may be the dumbest science mainstream science fiction film I've seen in a while.

Chappie tells the story of a robot who is designed as a member of the robotic police force in Johannesburg, South Africa (which is the center of all civilization in every Neill Blomkamp yet barely even exists in any other movies, suggesting that just maybe we should find a happy medium.). Dion Wilson (Dev Patel) has had great success creating these robots, much to the chagrin of a co-worker, Vince Moore (Hugh Jackman), who has created his own robots that are controlled by human via remote (Vince doesn't trust machines because they don't have souls.).  But Dion has bigger palns than just making automatons. He wants to create artificial intelligence. But problems arise when Dion's intelligent robot is stolen by gangsters.

This movie is a painfully forced rehash of everything from Short Circuit and Robocop to Blue Thunder, and the only thing in the film we've never seen before is Yolandi's haircut. And while we are on that subject: as if Blombamp's films wasn't self indulgently South Africa-ccentric enough, why on earth (specifically, Johannesburg) did he think it was a good idea to make a movie set in the near future and cast the rap-rave duo Die Antwoord as characters baring their own names? They are not without presence, but they are also irritating as hell and if you know who they are, it's very intrusive. (A news report with Anderson Cooper as himself is also a bad choice.).

It's good to see Dev Patel in a lead, but he seems like the bastard son of Newton Crosby and his weird Indian sidekick Ben in Short Circuit. But at least he fares better than Hugh Jackman, who plays like the bastard son of Crocodile Hunter and Flash Thompson from Spider-Man, with a touch of religious zealotry thrown in for good measure

The extremely talented Sharlto Copley does to motion capture and voice for Chappie, but Blomkamp seems to have neglected the "move like a robot' element in directing him. It's a very energetic performance, and he does succeed in giving Chappie a sense of humanity, but he's also too frenetic and unfocused. This is as blatant a case of director falling so in love with his star that he forgets to direct him as I've ever seen, which is sad.

In the end, the best that can be said about the science of the film is that it's not quite as stupid as Transcendence, and neither the dramatic elements or the action really work. But on the bright side, they are both better than the comedy, which is consists mostly of "Hahahaha! Baymax just said the F-word!"

But Sigourney Weaver still looks great, which is the only level on which this movie makes you at all excited for Blomcamp's new Alien franchise movie.

PAUL'S OSCAR PICKS

by Paul Gibbs

For the second year in a row we have a close Oscar race that's difficult to call. Last year, for me there was a very clear choice, and happily the academy actually picked it as Best Picture. This year is harder for me to make my choices on who should win, because circumstances kept me from seeing some of the nominees, and because my personal favorite, The Grand Budapest Hotel, doesn't stand a chance of winning. But I'm still offering my picks for who will win, and who I would choose.

BEST PICTURE: 

Winner: Birdman
My Vote: The Grand Budapest Hotel (but I'll be happy with either Birdman or Boyhood).

BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
My Vote: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman 
 its
BEST ACTOR:
Winner: Michael Keaton, Birdman

My Vote: Michael Keaton, Birdman
This one is the toughest choice for me, because potential spoiler Eddie Redmayne was superb in The Theory of Everything. But in the end I was even more impressed by Keaton's raw, honest emotion than by Redmayne's physical transformation.

BEST ACTRESS:
Winner: Julianne Moore, Still Alice

My Vote:  Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
I missed Still Alice, so I'd pick Jones, who to me gave The Theory of Everthing its heart.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: JK Simmons, Whiplash
My Vote: Edward Norton, Birdman
Again this is based in part on having missed the front-runner.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Winner: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
My Vote: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Birdman
My Vote:  The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Screenplay Adaption:
Winner:  The Imitation Game
My Vote: The Theory of Everything
(Another case of missing the likely winner)

Best Cinematography:
Winner: Birdman
My Vote: Unbroken

Best Film Editing:
Winner: American Sniper
My Vote: American Sniper

Best Animated Feature:
Winner: Big Hero 6 
My Vote: I really can't choose between Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon 2

 

 

 

 


  

MCFARLAND, USA

GRADE: B+
Starring Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Carlos Pratts, Ramiro Rodriguez
Written by Chris Cleveland & Bettina Gillois and Grant Thompson
Directed by Niki Caro
Rated PG (mild profanity)

Disney's latest feel-good formula sports movie mostly sticks to the tried and true conventions of the genre, but a strong cast lead by sports movie Hall of Famer Kevin Costner makes it a good one, with engaging character and just enough beneath the surface for those of us who don't really care about sports and want to be able to say "it's not really about (insert name of sport I don't care about here)".

Set in 1987 and "Based on a True Story", McFarland, USA stars Costner as Jim White, a high school football coach whose temper has gotten him fired from multiple jobs, forcing him to settle for a job as an assistant football coach and P.E. teacher in the small town of McFarland, California. McFarland is a dirt poor community with an almost exclusively Latino population, and White and his family stick out like . . . the only white family in an almost exclusively Latino community. While Jim isn't an out and out racist, he is the sort of privileged middle class white guy who automatically assumes a group of Hispanic youth in a parking lot belong to a gang, and drives away as fast as he can. He quickly decides this just a place to rehabilitate his reputation, then he and his wife (Maria Bello) and two daughters are out of there. But of course things don't go as planned, and Jim (nicknamed "Blanco" by his students) quickly loses his position on the football team, but keeps teaching. When he notices that the hard-working boys of the community have a talent for running very fast, he comes up with the idea to start a cross-country running team.

The plot plays out in routine sports/teacher movie fashion, with Jim recruiting the kid with the troubled family life, the fat kid, the hoodlum, the kid who smiles all the time, etc, and as they surprise everyone with their talent and tenacity, they learn some lessons about life. All of this could play as too corny to tolerate, but it doesn't, because director Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country) puts enough emphasis on character to make us care, which is what  makes or breaks a movie like this. Costner couldn't been more in his element here, and he effortlessly carries the film on his shoulders with a natural, assured and mature performance.  The mostly unknown supporting cast delivers as well (especially Carlos Pratts as Thomas, the star of the team), and while it's kept very low-key, the racial and class subtext makes the film feel considerably more relevant than it otherwise might, and its portrayal of Mexican-American culture is nicely respectful instead of patronizing. It also manages to mostly avoid feeling like a "white savior" movie, with the kids emerging as strong characters who don't really seem so much "saved" by Jim as working with him.

It's difficult to review a film like McFarland, USA, because on paper it sounds too corny and formulaic to work. But on screen, the emotion engages you and pulls you into having a great time. It's a movie intended for family audiences that want an old-fashioned "clean", feel-good, inspirational film. It's Disney with a capital D. It's not ground-breaking or edgy, but it's solidly entertaining, and even more cynical audience members might find themselves pulled in against their will. It may not be truly great drama, by the final reel most will drop their misgivings about formula and predictability and just get swept up in rooting for the underdog and wiping away some tears.

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: B+
Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong and Michael Caine
Screenplay by Jame Goldman and Matthew Vaughn 
Based the comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Rated R (graphic, bloody violence, profanity, sex and sexual references, racial slurs)

Someone is finally doing Tarantino better than Tarantino.

Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick Ass, and X-Men: First Class serves up a spy movie that is easily the most skillfully executed R-rated action comedy -thriller since Inglorious Basterds, and features a spectacular and intricately choreographed fight sequence that rivals the "Crazy 88" sequence in Kill Bill.  If Vaughn does not get a solid place on the A list after this, there is no justice. In terms of pure skill, this is one of the impressive pieces of filmmaking I've seen in quite a while.

But be warned, it's the most R-rated movie I have seen in a while,  and if the movie has a failing, it is 
is that it either lacks a sense of when it pushes the boundaries of taste too far, or is simply a bit too smug about reveling in it's ability to do so.

Based upon the comic book by Mark Millar (Wanted), the movie begins in 1997. While on a mission in the Middle East, secret agent Harry Hart (Firth) is unable to prevent the death of one of his fellow agents. Feeling guilt, he personally delivers a bravery medal to the man's widow and young son, saying that if they ever need help they should call the phone number on the back of the medal and deliver a coded message.

17 years later the boy, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), is now jobless and in his early 20's. When he gets into trouble with the police after stealing and joy riding a car, he remembers the medal and calls the number on the back. He is quickly released and met outside the police station by Harry, who introduces him to the world of the secret agency that he and Eggsy's late father work for: the Kingsmen. Meanwhile, Reginald Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), an eccentric billionaire, is meeting with world leader to discuss a bold new scheme.

Another Kingsman agent, Lancelot, who was inducted during the mission shown in the opening, is killed on a mission to find the missing scientist James Arnold, creating a vacancy for a new agent. Harry proposes Eggsy as a candidate and together with other young hopefuls, including a girl named Roxy, he is enrolled on the training program designed to weed out the unsuitable until only one candidate remains. The training is overseen by Merlin (Mark Strong), a senior Kingsman.

In addition to the top notch direction, Egerton makes a huge impression, showing an abundance of presence and charisma, and this role is a delightful change of pace for Firth, who is surprisingly good in the fight sequences.  Jackson is very funny, even if his character seems like Mr. Glass mixed with his villain from The Spirit, mixed with Bill Gates and Steve Urkel.

But the violence level is really unbelievable, and while it is kept very cartoonish most of the time, it occasionally becomes unexpectedly disturbing, particularly in a sequence involve a small child in peril, and there is certain element of taking jokes that have already reached the "very tacky but funny" point and pushing them even further.  In that sense the movie is like an amusement park ride: you feel thrilled and sickened at the same time, and you manage to leave feeling like you have had a great fun and been assaulted at the same time.

JUPITER ASCENDING

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: B+

Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, James D'Arcy,
Written and Directed by Wachowskis
Rated PG-13 (some violence, sequences of sci-fi action, some suggestive content and partial nudity)

First thing's first. If you are expecting a mind bending, cerebral experience like the The Matrix that makes you wonder about the nature of reality, you will be disappointed with Jupiter Ascending. 

This movie has no pretense about what it is: it's really just Flash Gordon by way of The Wizard of Oz with a healthy dose of Soylent Green thrown in. It's pure B movie, silly, campy space fantasy, not to be confused with science fiction.

It's also a lot of fun.

 Unknown to Earth's residents, life on Earth and countless other planets has been seeded by Alien royalty  for the purpose of harvesting the evolved living creatures once they reach a state of perfection in evoltuon, in order to produce a type of youth that allows them to live forever. When the matriarch of the House of Abrasax, the most powerful of the alien dynasties, dies her children Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Kalique (Tuppence), and Titus (Douglas Booth) are at war over the inheritance. Eventually a new heir comes to their attention: Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), an unsuspecting, Earth-living, unlucky caretaker of other people's homes.  Jupiter encounters Caine Wise (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered interplanetary warrior, who came to Earth to reveal that her genetic signature makes Jones royalty and heir to Earth. Meanwhile, he has to protect her from Balem, who put a bounty on her head and would rather harvest Earth than lose it to Jones.

This is all really just an excuse for action and special effects, but it's really good action and fantastic special effects. Every time I started to get annoyed with the flimsiness and hokey quality of the material, Channing Tatum would use his anti-gravity speed skates and I'd think "Ah, who cares if it makes sense? Pass the popcorn."

I used to be one of Tatum's most vocal detractors, but I have to say, he's really come into his own and makes a strong, charismatic lead in this film (not unlike Keanu Reeves did for the Wachowski's.). I wish the character had been more fully developed, but that can't be blamed on Tatum in the least. The chemistry between him, Mila Kunis and Sean Bean is very strong and they do a great job of driving this movie. The villains are more of a mixed bag: Middleton offers little more than added sex appeal, and Booth (Shem in Darren Aronofsky's Noah) is given a flimsy character. But Eddie Redmayne, fresh off of his Oscar nomination for The Theory of Everything, is all over the place, speaking in a voice that is so soft and raspy that one can't help but think of the "low talker' on Seinfeld, except for when he gets angry, and then he turns into '90's Gary Oldman. I suppose the main goal is to make him seem creepy, and I can't deny that he is, but it's more than a bit overdone.

There is also a bit of a feeling that the film has been trimmed down to be as streamlined as possible, with all of the plot holes and confusion that usually comes with such a choice.

Still, the fact remains that Jupiter Ascending knows exactly what it wants to be a fun, campy space opera that evokes both the old serials of the '30's and the silly space flicks of the '60's and '70's-  and it succeeds spectacularly.