"Trumbo" Review

Trumbo is a biographical drama film directed by Jay Roach that tells the story of renowned 1950s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who led the movement to end the Hollywood blacklist of many screenwriters and actors during the height of the Cold War and the subjugation of the United States Communist Party. A champion of worker's rights and a strong proponent of the First Amendment, Trumbo was an influential figurehead in easing tensions between Hollywood and the Communist Party, essentially breaking the tension down from the inside through aliases and some sneaky screenwriting. With Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston in the titular lead role, the film also includes Elle Fanning, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg, Diane Lane, and John Goodman in supporting roles.

I'll be honest; I didn't have a whole lot of interest in this film upon its announcement. I'm a bit weary of Hollywood biopics in general, as they all seem to succumb to the same general list of genre pratfalls, even though there have been several of significant quality released this year (Straight Outta Compton being the best example). I was interested in the cast and general subject matter, but the trailer made it seem a bit ham-fisted in its message and the lack of prestige among the crew made me skeptical how well they could put it off. In recent weeks, however, it's been nominated for an unexpected number of precursor awards in the wake of Oscar season, and audience reception has been largely positive, so I decided to check it out.

Let me first talk about inarguably the best aspect of the film - the performances. Bryan Cranston is a powerhouse actor that is only now making a huge break to film (although he gives an understated but brilliant supporting performance in Best Picture winner Argo from a few years ago), and it shows in this film. He commands the lead role, copying not only the quirks and speech patterns of Trumbo, but adding a dash of character to him as well. Cranston is consistently convincing behind his bushy (and later curled) mustache, and he's simply a pleasure to watch on screen.

His costars are also great. Helen Mirren gets less screen time than I expected given her Oscar talk, but she still illuminates the screen with personality as journalist Hedda Hopper. I was actually very surprised with Elle Fanning's performance as Trumbo's oldest daughter, as she manages to convincingly play three significantly different ages with minimal makeup work. And I still can't decide if Louis C.K. is a bad actor or if I've jut watched too much of his TV show. Every line of dialogue in every movie he's been in since his big break (i.e. American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, and this) just sounds like him in his show, which I've admittedly watched every episode of at least three times. That said, it was fun to watch him, and his character is likable.

This movie has a very brisk and fun tone. Every scene is slickly edited, performed with energy, and underscored by hoppy jazz music. The costumes and sets are bright and fun, and Trumbo especially (true to his real-life counterpart) leads a cast of almost cartoonishly entertaining 1950s Hollywood stiffs. John Goodman, despite his limited screen time, is most notable for his reliably fun over-the-top performance (that baseball bat scene in the trailer is just as fun as it looks).

And therein lies probably the biggest and most glaring issue with the movie - I think it wants to be bigger and more "stick-it-to-the-man" than it actually is on the whole. The movie brings up some great political points (while being decidedly non-political), and each scene is fun to watch and has enough sharp wit and punchy dialogue to fit in a comic book, but the sum of its parts is not as effective as I think it could've been. It runs a little long and puts a little too fine a point on its fairly in-your-face (albeit essential) message, which it feels the need to repeat in ways more numerous than creative. I think a better edited script and a more seasoned director could've not only sewn great performances and lots of fun moments, but also added a real cerebral thematic element to the film and make it as a whole more effective.

Trumbo is by no means a must-see, but it's a fun, punchy, and sporadically thoughtful statement on expression, freedom, and American values that is elevated by its performances, the Oscar discussion around which is worthy. Its awards success doesn't surprise me.

Grade: B

A Few Updates / Mini-Reviews

The year is coming to an end, and my hectic school semester is over, so I've had some time to relax at home, but unfortunately some computer business and general laziness has kept me from writing any substantial blog posts. So, to clear up that and some other things I'd like to address, I have three main points I'd like to get out of the way below.

1) Where are the reviews of all the movies I saw before I started this blog?
I have quite a bit of catching up to do with reviews of movies I've already seen this year. Even with limiting myself to films I've seen in theaters this year, I've had a lot of backtracking to do that I still haven't done yet, and this has clashed with the pretty solid amount of movies I've gotten to see since starting the blog and with my school work loading up at the end of November. With the exception of a few movies that I'd really like to talk about, and probably will write whole reviews of in January when the frequency of good movies dies down, I don't think I'll have the time to write about all of these in a timely fashion while also getting in all the movies that are still coming out, and I just don't think there's much interest for most of them.

To save my ass and make myself feel good, though, at the bottom of this post I've provided short "mini-reviews" of the rest of the films I've seen this year, providing my positive and negative points along with my grade. I hope this'll satisfy people who were curious as to my opinions on different films of 2015. Movies marked with an asterisk (*) are ones I plan to write a full review of in the near future.

2) Where's my Star Wars review?
If you were wondering, yes, I've seen the new Star Wars movie. Twice. And I'm seeing it again this Saturday. And again next week. And again in January. I have my share of thoughts on this movie, but there's a lot to unpack with this one, and it's a huge release. I love Star Wars, and I want to be sure of myself and really get this shit right. I promise to have a full review by year's end.

3) When can you expect a top 10 of the year list/commentary on the Oscars?
I give myself until a day before the Oscars to catch up on the movies of the previous year that I missed and compile my top 10 favorites list, which means something of that nature can be expected around the end of February. It's a little bit late, I know, but I alternate between living in boring Maryland and a section of Philadelphia that doesn't have as thriving of a film scene as I'd like, so sometimes it takes me a while to get to every movie I want to see. Also, if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gets until the end of February to decide which movies they liked the best, then I think I should be extended the same grace.

As for Oscar/awards stuff, that will come. I plan on doing a recap/reaction blog post for the Golden Globe Awards, which are on January 10th, but the more interesting post to look out for will be my reaction to the nominees for the Academy Awards on January 14th. This year in particular is an interesting one to come in on, as the nominee predictions seem to be almost entirely up in the air this year to a degree I haven't seen before. I'll also post my reactions to the winners at the end of February/beginning of March, but that might come a little later since actual movies come out at that time. January is a slow and pretty uninteresting time for movies generally, so I'll have more time to talk about other stuff on this blog and be bogged down at work at the beginning of next semester.

As for reviews of new movies, you can expect reviews of the following films in the coming weeks: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Revenant, The Hateful Eight, The Big Short, Trumbo, Brooklyn, and maybe Krampus.

Mini-Reviews

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
+ Suitably funny and appropriately weird
+ No huge emphasis on CGI sequences in trailers
+ Decent for kids
- Unfocused narrative
- Inconsistent humor
Grade: B- 

Ex Machina*
+ Smart and thought-provoking storyline and themes
+ Well-developed characters with excellent performances
+ Subtle but effective VFX
+ Beautiful cinematography and set design
- Heavy on expository dialogue
Grade: A-

Avengers: Age of Ultron
+ Suitably fun and upbeat
+ Plenty of good little character moments and performances
- Overstuffed with subplots and unfocused narrative
- General lack of tension in action
- Unfulfilled potentially intriguing villain/themes
Grade: C

Mad Max: Fury Road*
+ Excellently directed, exciting action sequences
+ Interesting story, character development, and world-building
+ Amazing cinematography, score, and sound design
+ Great lead performance by Charlize Theron
+ Unexpected thematic depth
+ Perfect marriage of practical and digital effects
Grade: A+

Jurassic World*
+ General dinosaur fun
+ Good musical score
- Thin, recycled plot
- Over-emphasis on nostalgia
- Hypocritical anti-corporate satire
- Tensionless action
- Muddled character motivations
- Boring and often nonsensical subplots
Grade: C-

Dope
+ Fun characters with great performances
+ Great message about race and drugs
+ Upbeat, eclectic soundtrack
+ Brisk comedic pace
- Somewhat muddled third act
Grade: B+

Inside Out
+ Smart, emotionally resonant, unconventional message
+ Great balance of comedy and drama
+ Beautiful animation
+ Creative visual metaphors and storytelling devices
+ Beautiful score by Michael Giacchino
- Minor pacing issues in first act
Grade: A

Trainwreck 
+ Good central performances by Amy Schumer and Bill Hader
+ Pretty consistently funny
- Overlong and bogged down in subplots
- Pacing issues with comedy; over-reliance on improv
- Recycled plot and message despite transgressive aura
Grade: B-

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
+ Great performances
+ Emotionally resonant
+ Smart, grounded approach to subject matter
- Succumbs to genre cliches
- Minor jarring tonal shifts
Grade: B

Straight Outta Compton
+ Fantastic performances
+ Great soundtrack
+ Fun energy
+ Sleek editing and camerawork
+ Surprisingly emotionally resonant
- Avoids major biographical facts at times
- Mildly muddled first act
- Succumbs to genre conventions (but pulls them off well)
Grade: B+

Sicario
+ Amazing performances by Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro
+ Very, very intense
+ Amazing cinematography and score
+ Refreshingly blunt in its message and presentation
- Overall by-the-numbers screenplay
Grade: A-

Spotlight*
+ Amazing performances across the board
+ Tightly written script
+ Perfect handling of subject matter
+ Subtly intense and disturbing
+ Factually accurate
+ Emotionally rewarding
+ Well-paced and edited
Grade: A+

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more reviews and nerdy Oscar talk.

"Bridge of Spies" Review

Bridge of Spies is a Cold War espionage thriller film directed by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg and starring legendary actor Tom Hanks, with Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, and Billy Magnussen in supporting roles. The film follows Hanks's character James B. Donovan, an insurance lawyer, who is chosen to represent Rudolf Abel, who is under arrest for suspicion of espionage from the Soviet Union. During this, Donovan undergoes backlash from the American people for being a "traitor" to the nation by representing a spy, and devises a plan to make momentary peace with the USSR by trading Abel for an American pilot being kept as a Soviet prisoner of war after his plane is shot down over Russian territory.

Let me first address the primary criticism I've heard regarding this movie: that it's boring. I can sort of sympathize with this, though I don't agree with it. At two and a half hours, this movie has a lot of story to tell, and the "thriller" label might throw some people off in terms of how little action goes on. This movie is primarily talking, and the scenes which carry the best cinematic tension are few and far between. But man, if those two dynamics aren't constructed well.

There's a reason Spielberg has such a storied career. Keep in mind Spielberg is very often not a writer - he doesn't come up with the stories and characters in his films that have resonated so deeply in culture, but he is a big part of the reason why they do. This is because Spielberg is truly a master of his craft, to the point that even his "bad" movies are at the very least competently made motion pictures. With the exceptions of the fourth Indiana Jones film and The Adventures of Tintin, the last decade or so of Spielberg cinema has been dark, thoughtful, "adult" movies, mostly dealing with politics or history - or often both. The great thing about Spielberg is he manages to sew entertainment and masterful filmmaking into both his big blockbuster features and his more contemplative works, and Bridge of Spies, while not the best ever, is a very good example of that quality.

Bridge of Spies is very "old Hollywood", both in premise and execution. The Cold War spy thriller is a more milked subgenre that most might expect because we don't see a whole lot of them nowadays. In fact, the only truly old-school spy movies of late that have come out are the James Bond sequels. Bridge of Spies is a time machine back to the spy thrillers of old. No explosions or shootouts to be found here (okay, there's a few of the latter), but well-written dialogue, character development, and carefully built tension. All of this is topped off by Oscar-worthy performances by Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance. Rylance is the one getting more of the Oscar talk, but I think Hanks is still the show-stealer. Bridge of Spies convinced me that Tom Hanks is the modern day Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart. His performance, along with the style of the movie, feel like they're straight out of the very best of 1960s and 70s Hollywood.

In the wrong hands, the story of this film (which I'm only not talking much about because it's fairly straightforward and what you'd expect) could have been truly sleep-inducing. Luckily, the reliably beautiful camerawork of Janusz Kaminski and great score by composer living legend Thomas Newman, coupled with Spielberg's near-peerless attention to detail make this film, as a movie fan and a Spielberg fan, a joy to watch. The tone, the music, the likable and believable characters, the camerawork, the set design, the period, the patriotic-without-being-jingoistic message - it all just screams classic Spielberg, and as a movie fan, even if this movie doesn't even top his ten best films (it's really not even close), there's still a tiny but noticeable thrill when you see it play out. The best way I can put it is that we've heard this song be played many times before, but Spielberg is able to conduct his orchestra to make it sound so beautiful that we want to come back every time.

I took my parents to see Bridge of Spies while they visited me for a weekend at college, and in my opinion that's a great way to see this movie. It really shows the generation-crossing appeal Spielberg (and Hanks, for that matter) have. After the movie ended, my mom and dad told all kinds of stories of seeing Jaws and Close Encounters and all those Spielberg classics in the movie theater. Like most of his films, Bridge of Spies is the nicest form of a "blast from the past" as you'll get.

Overall, Bridge of Spies is a predictable, slow-burning, old-school spy thriller that may not appeal to all of today's audiences, who may not find it all that exciting (although the U2 plane shootdown sequence is one of the most terrifying things I've seen in theaters this year), but it's a beautifully shot, superbly acted, and very well directed film that might not match but will definitely remind you of the best days of Steven Spielberg. And it's got a great Tom Hanks performance, who may be the most watchable human being on the planet.

Grade: A-

"The Peanuts Movie" Review

The Peanuts Movie is a revisit to the world of the classic Charles Schulz comics following the adventures of Charlie Brown and the ensemble cast of kids that live in his town. The film, based on a number of the classic comics and presented in an episodic fashion, follows Charlie Brown's many attempts to impress the new kid in school, the Little Red-Haired Girl, through dancing, good grades, magic shows, anything. The story is paralleled by a fantasy story being played out by his dog Snoopy, who imagines himself as a legendary pilot on a desperate journey to win the heart of a female dog pilot. What follows from this are classic Peanuts shenanigans told with a lot of warmth and a beautiful, inventive 3D style of animation.

And I could really stop the review there. There's not a whole lot to unpack with this film, and I don't think anything otherwise would be the point. One of the only criticisms of this film that I've heard is that the story is pretty light, the stakes aren't very high, and it never reaches any truly lofty comedic, dramatic, or adventurous heights. But, in a way, doing anything else wouldn't be conducive to the sentiment of honoring the original Peanuts comics and TV specials. The Peanuts comics have always been simple stories of the lovable, luckless loser Charlie Brown and his feeble attempts to shed his rep of being a failure, and his low-key, unrealistically articulate interactions with his friends, and this film is a full celebration of that.

I was happily surprised to see how little, if any, modernization this film shoehorned into the Peanuts world. With the exception of a modern-sounding pop song by Meghan Trainor that comes in about halfway through the movie (which didn't bother me at all and I think actually works fairly well), this is Peanuts at its most cinematically untouched. Director Steve Martino, of whom I'm hearing that this movie was a passion project of sorts, must have had a very good grasp on the elements of the Peanuts comics that made them so charming in the past to leave their best elements unchanged. The dialogue (some of which are directly pulled from the comics and TV specials), character interactions, slapstick, humor, progression of the plot, and even the animation are not just homages to the best parts of classic Peanuts, but a full embracing of them.

On that note, I've been a fan of the art style of The Peanuts Movie since the first teaser trailer was released. It's computer animation, but featuring lines and framerates that mimic the crude two-dimensional animation styles of the original cartoons while adding an extra layer of believability to them by placing them within fully-realized three-dimensional worlds. And the 3D in this movie is actually worth the extra price. I saw this film in 3D almost on accident, but was very happy with how they utilized 3D's ability to accentuate depth of field in film, making the characters really pop and the environments feel real. The snowflake effects in particular were a joy to look at. Visually the film is great at marrying the feeling of classic 2D cartoon animation styles with modern 3D detail and technology.

Now, for those of you who have already looked below at my grade for this film (because if you're like me, you definitely have), you may be thinking it's pretty low considering my lack of complaints with the film. And there's good reason for you to think that - I think the film is a visual treat, is charming, and a perfect embodiment of the classic Peanuts comics and TV specials. But this is also one of those films where the sum of its parts isn't all that beguiling. I didn't come out of this movie jumping for joy or super excited to tell people to go out and see it, and I'll honestly probably never go out of my way to watch it again without a child present, but it's about as good as a cinematic adaptation of Peanuts could be, which is a very good thing.

Overall, this movie is not earth-shattering, groundbreaking entertainment. It's not particularly funny or insightful, and at its worst it's not even remotely boring or upsetting. But it is charming, beautifully animated, sweet fun for adults while being perfect for kids, and built with care for its characters, which is the very essence of the original Charles Schulz comics. Regardless of its actual quality as a film, if the goal of The Peanuts Movie was to celebrate the great work of Schulz, it pretty much nails it.

Grade: B+

"Creed" Review

Note: I've got a lot of movies that I've seen that I haven't gotten around to reviewing yet (there are at least four, I think), as well as the ones I saw this year before I started writing these. I'm hoping to knock all those out within the month of December, but this movie is on my mind and the most recent release that I've seen, so I'm gonna talk about it.

Creed is the seventh installment in the Rocky franchise (or is it a reboot, or a spinoff? I'm not sure), and follows Adonis "Donny" Creed (played by Michael B. Jordan), the son of the late Apollo Creed, living a life of luxury in his father's shadow in Los Angeles until he decides to make a name for himself in the world of boxing, much to the chagrin of his mother, and moves to Philadelphia to train. There, he meets the legendary Rocky Balboa (played, of course, by Sylvester Stallone) and the two begin training as Donny rises through the ranks to live up to - or perhaps live down - his namesake.

Now, first off, I'd like to say that calling this film a sequel or a reboot is a little disingenuous. "Spinoff" is probably the most accurate existing term for what this movie sets out to do and ultimately accomplishes. Since we know that this is surely the beginning of a new set of movies, I like to think of the six Rocky films as the Rocky franchise, while this is the beginning of the Creed franchise. And I think that's what the filmmakers, especially Stallone also serving as producer, were going for here, for reasons I'll explain toward the end of the review.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first, since there are relatively few. This is a very by-the-numbers boxing movie. All the notes you'd expect a movie like this to hit are hit on the nose, and all the themes you'd expect it to be explored are explored. The genius, however, is in the execution. Director Ryan Coogler revamps these cliches to be more engaging and exciting than they've been in any sports film in a long time, with his choice of music (a mashup of Meek Mill's "Lord Knows" with the classic Rocky theme and some great backup vocals from Jhene Aiko stands out specifically) and some incredibly sleek editing and camerawork making the somewhat formulaic screenplay an old-fashioned joy to watch unfold on the screen.

The best way to show off the strengths of this movie compared to its weaknesses is to compare the first act to the remainder of the film. The majority of the first act is fairly basic setup of Donny's situation, establishing his tense relationship with his mother and his admittedly muddled (but later redeemed) motivation regarding his father, showing off some of his boxing chops, and starting up his relationship with Tessa Thompson's character Bianca (who admittedly is the most under-written character in the whole movie, most probably to set up for sequels, though Thompson plays her well). However, once Donny and Rocky really start training, that is where Coogler as both a writer and a director gets to show off his true filmmaking prowess, and ultimately where we get the crux of the movie.

So, let's talk about Sylvester Stallone. He's been getting ample Oscar talk for his performance in this movie, and it's very much deserved. Stallone was my favorite part of the movie, and was an absolute surprise. Rocky is still the lovable lug he was in the original film, but now with some experience and wisdom. But Stallone walks a tricky tightrope of not playing the stereotypical "wise old man" mentor character - Rocky's values and beliefs, both in and out of the ring, stay true to the character, and Stallone plays old Rocky with a sensitivity that adds a new dimension to a beloved figure. Rocky's relationship with Donny feels real, and we buy their chemistry. It wouldn't be a boxing movie without some sort of piece of boxing advice that also works as a metaphor for a non-boxing struggle another character is going through, and this movie definitely latches on to that cliche, but Coogler's direction and Jordan and Stallone's sensitive, smart performances do this in a way that doesn't feel forced or trite or superficial, but actually meaningful, even drawing an audible tear or two from the audience I saw it with.

Fuck emotions, let's talk about the boxing. On top of being solidly crafted on the storytelling and character-building fronts, this film has the best boxing scenes of a modern-day film. Maryse Alberti's sleek cinematography places the viewer in the ring with the fighters, and the intensity is palpable, with Donny's first pro fight being entirely one shot (which I learned recently was not a case of editing trickery, but was actually a painstakingly choreographed one-take fight sequence that lasts for several minutes) being one of the most notable. The final fight of the film, however, takes the cake as one of my favorite movie finales of the year. It's tense, exciting, the punches feel weighty, and the characters' motivations and emotions shine through all of it splendidly. This is the first film in some time that the audience I was with actually cheered during the movie, as if they were actually rooting for Donny in a real boxing match. If for nothing else, Creed gets bonus points for creating one of the most fun theater atmospheres I've been in in a while.

Just as an extra thing to think about, what I find really interesting about this movie and the previous six Rocky films is how much they reflect Stallone's career. Each of the films, most of them directed by Stallone, is emblematic of Stallone himself in his place in the world. In Creed, Rocky hands the reigns of the boxing world to a young newcomer, just as Stallone is doing handing the franchise off to Coogler/Jordan. And ultimately, Creed is about the main character trying to separate himself from the name that made him relevant and stand out as his own thing, just as the movie Creed itself does as a film. Interesting to think about.

Overall, Creed is a relatively predictable but well-crafted, exciting, and triumphant resurgence for the Rocky franchise that has some great music, some of the best fight scenes in modern movies, and kick-ass performances from its leads, most notably from Rocky himself. Go see it; it's a great time.

Grade: A-