Zombies on Broadway (1945), Neighbors (2014)

Zombies on Broadway (1945)

Zombies on Broadway is not what you might be hoping for from its title, rather its a vehicle for the largely forgotten RKO comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney. The film casts the two as Broadway press agents who are tasked with securing "a real zombie" for a zombie themed night club their gangster boss Ace Miller (future 1960's sitcom impresario Sheldon Leonard) is opening. Zombie in this context does not refer to the flesh or brain eating incarnation of the undead, but rather the somnambulate slave variety of Caribbean legend. So its off to a small Caribbean island for the pair, where the meet a beautiful night club singer (Annie Jeffreys, still with us at 93), a mad doctor (Dracula himself Bela Lugosi), and of course some zombies. Amusing enough in a low rent Abbott and Costello type way, if anything the movie was better then I thought it would be. Still this is a zombie movie that hard core zombie fans can probably feel safe skipping. **1/2

Neighbors (2014)

New parents Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne are understandably concerned when a fraternity helmed by Zack Efron moves into the house next door. At first the members of both residences attempt to make nice with each other but it eventually turns into an escalating war of pranks which ends with all parties having learned something about themselves. Satisfying comedy of the Apatowian school is well cast and has the requisite number of comic moments, yet is also not all that memorable. I never would have thought of casting Lisa Kudrow as a college Dean. ***

The Shallows (2016), Brooklyn (2015), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

The Shallows (2016)

Think of it as a sexier version of Jaws. Blake Lively is a med student (that comes in handy) on a surfing vacation in Mexico as she attempts to deal with the recent death of her mother (who was also and avid surfer) from cancer and decide if she wants to go back to med school. A particularly dickish shark kills a number of people in an isolated cove leaving a wounded Lively marooned on a small rock outcropping with only the companionship of an also wounded seagull. The ending strains credulity some but one the whole this was an excellent woman vs nature picture, and Lively proves she can hold the screen pretty much by her self, and of course looks great doing so. ***1/2

Brooklyn (2015)

Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn is the story of a young woman (Saoirse Ronan, excellent) who in 1952 moves from her small Irish town to Brooklyn, New York for work. Free and independent for the first time in her life Eilis Lacey (Ronan) comes into herself, starts taking night classes in accounting and enters into a romantic relationship with a charming young Italian American man (Emory Cohen). However her new life is put in jeopardy when a death in the family back home prompts a return to Ireland and a personal crises of identity. Smarter and more complex then I had anticipated, the film delves into some moral gray areas and questions about judgment and judgmentailism. The acting is good and there are some memorable characterizations, I particularly liked the woman who ran the women's boarding house. I also loved the costumes, set designs, and color palate of this movie, the latter being rather evocative of the era, kind of faded but with strong blotches of color, particularly in the scenes in America. ****

The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Based on a Roald Dahl novel and done in a sort of taxidermy-esque stop motion style, its remarkable how well this film works both as children's entertainment (my niece and nephew seemed to enjoy what they saw of it), and as a legitimate Wes Anderson movie. Mr. Fox (George Clooney) an anthropomorphic Vulpes vulpes has promised his wife Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that he will stop stealing chickens and such from local farmers and settle down as a newspaper columnist, but he just can't resist the temptation of one last big score, the results of which could threaten the lives and safety of his son (Anderson muse Jason Schwartzman) and various animal contemporaries. Wonderfully dry and low key the film seems to keep the original novels 1970's setting ,which fits perfectly into Mr. Andersons retro aesthetic, as does the unique looking stop motion work. Domestic drama and existential frustrations charmingly channeled into a family friendly talking animal tale. I love that this movie exists. ***

Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Billy Wilder's second American directorial outing, and one of his least known films, Five Graves to Cairo updates a World War I era play by the Austro-Hungarian writer Lajos Bíró to Egypt in the Second World War and inserts real world figure German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel as the villain. British Corporal John Bramble (Franchot Tone) is the lone survivor of his tank crew after a battle with Rommel's Afrika Korps, lost in the desert to the point of delirium he luckily stumbles upon a hotel in a small sea side town just recently retreated from by the British. When the Germans arrive and make the hotel their local headquarters, Bramble with the aid of the hotels owner (Akim Tamiroff) and his sole remaining employee a French maid (Anne Baxter) takes on the identity of a limp footed waiter who was killed in a recent air raid. From this position Bramble quickly comes into the confidence of Rommel (Erich von Stroheim, perfectly cast as an arrogant German militarist, even though his and this characters resemblance to the real Rommel aren't particularly strong). You see the dead waiter Davos was actually a German advance spy, this could help Bramble as he attempts to unlock the mystery of hidden German supply depots (the five graves) they intend to use to help them quickly overtake Egypt's capital (Cairo). However with the real Davos corpse in danger of being uncovered in the rubble its a race against time to learn the Germans secrets The film is well enough made, but outside of von Stroheim's performance, not really that memorable. There are better films of a similar type made throughout this era, particular by the British, and other then it being one of the few Billy Wilder directed films I had yet to see (the only one's remaining on my list now are his last move, the ill regarded 1981 comedy Buddy Buddy, and his holocaust documentary from 1945 Death Mills) there was little reason to bother with this movie. **1/2

The Revenant (2015), The Red Menace (1949), How About You (2007)

The Revenant (2015)

Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar for this Alejandro González Iñárritu directed adaptation of a portion of a novel by a Michael Punke, the current Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva Switzerland (how's that for a job title). Punke's book was inspired in part by the true story of Hugh Glass (c. 1783-1833) who as a guide on a pelting expedition was mauled by a grizzly bear (in the movie has his half Indian son killed by a member of the expedition) and is later left for dead, only to somehow survive, cross a vast wilderness, and peruse the man who left him for dead. Tom Hardy plays the man that left Glass for dead, John Fitzgerald, who is arguably a more interesting character then DiCaprio's Glass. However DiCaprio earned his Oscar, Glass went through absolute hell, and even simulating the stuff that man went through must have been a hell in itself, I understand the shoot for this film was brutal. Ruggedly beautiful looking, there is also a subtlety to the direction and a lot of the acting here that I wasn't expecting given the operatic nature of the story. Not quite as emotionally resonate as I was hoping it would be however. Still I'll give the full ****

The Red Menace (1949)

Low budget anti-communist propaganda movie that came out of Republic Pictures, which appropriately was also famed anti communist John Wayne's home studio at the time. The central plot concerns an "all American type" war veteran (Robert Ryan) who is essentially tricked into joining up with communists when they agree to help him fight a real estate development company that ripped him off. While with the commies Ryan falls in love with his exotic European instructor (German actress Hannelore Axman) but the two ultimately run away together when they realize how evil the Reds are and they threaten to deport Hanne. The resolution of the movie doesn't really resolve much and is kind of silly, but worth it for Robert H. Purcell's performance as the home spun Sheriff of Talbot, Texas. Ryan and Axman's story line is the central through line here, but there's a bunch of subplots that gobble up seemingly the bulk of the films running time. These chiefly concern various ethnic types who might be attracted to communism, with their stories being messages to members of said group that the communists don't really care about them and they would be better off staying away from communism. There is the Jewish artist, the Irish Catholic girl from a poor family, and a black reporter who is actually treated quite respectfully by the screen play and gets perhaps the most screen time I've ever seen a black male character get in a studio system film of this era. Uneven but better then I'd expected it to be, the film is narrated by Lloyd G. Davies, a carrier public relations and advertising man who at the time this film was made was a member of the Los Angeles City Council. **1/2

How About You (2007)

Irish film about a young woman (a pre-star Hayley Atwell) who is stuck taking care of the four most troublesome residents of the retirement home her sister manages over the Christmas holiday.  Cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Joss Ackland and Imelda Staunton. This is essentially a Hallmark movie but made with better actors. ***

Finding Dory (2016), Macbeth (2015), Saturday's Warrior (2016)

Finding Dory (2016)

Long belated sequel to the 2003 Pixar hit Finding Nemo. I've heard it said that Finding Dory really
isn't a "necessary sequel", and bypassing the argument about whether sequels are ever necessary I would have to agree, Finding Nemo is pretty well self contained and doesn't really call out for a sequel. That being said I am glad Finding Dory exists. It was a fun movie, it was good to see these characters again and the characters they added all worked for me, plus it does manage to fill in the one real 'unresolved plot thread' from the first film, namely Dory's backstory. Now I don't know if this film had early been conceived as a possibility while Finding Nemo was still in development or production, but the backstory here feels very thought out and fits pretty perfectly into continuity and the universe of the original film. It's a sweet film that doesn't really improve on the original, but it doesn't take anything away from it either, if anything the pace here is a little more relaxed, which works well and helps make this movie more of its own thing. Great performance by Ellen DeGeneres, it was good to have Albert Brooks back again, and Ed O'Neill's septapus was by far the standout (this is a pun for those who have seen it) new character in the movie. Clever cameo part for Sigourney Weaver. ***

Macbeth (2015)

Retelling of The Scottish Play, that was actually filmed in Scotland, though it's directed by an Australian (Justin Kurzel) and stars a German born Irishman (Michael Fassbender) and a Frenchwoman (Marion Cotillard) as Macbeth and his lady. A gritty retelling, with some nice visuals, the two leads really are a 'dream team' of sorts for these parts, and you know I had forgotten just how crazy Macbeth really was. I was never really a 'huge' Shakespeare guy but there was a time when I would have been more comfortable with the Elizabethan language of the film then I am currently, though if anything that made me want to read some Shakespeare 'to get back in practice' so to speak. I think I would have enjoyed this more on a big screen. ***


Saturday's Warrior (2016)

Saturday's Warrior is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time... okay so The Book of Mormon Musical is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time, but Saturday's Warrior is the most iconic Mormon musical of all time actually written by Mormons. Lex de Azevedo's musical play originally premiered in 1974 and fast became a favorite among the LDS faithful and lovers of camp. Saturday's Warrior has gone through multiple iterations throughout the years with various degrees of tweaking on the original, including a 1989 direct to video version of the play that was perhaps its widest known iteration, and a year 2000 "remix" of that cast recording. But until this year there had never been a true 'movie' version of the story, liberated (for the most part) from the confines of the stage.

De Azevedo helped adapt the play for the screen in this new version along with co-writers Heather Ravarino (who had worked with De Azevado on the children's series Rachel and the TreeSchoolers)and the films director the sometimes actor Michael Buster. Wisely the original 1970's setting for the story was retained, I don't think there would have been much point in making this movie version if they hadn't kept the story set in the 70's because 1) the plot and ethos of the film are very much rooted in the zeitgeist of 1970's Mormonism, and 2) so is the  musical style, with de Azevedo having started his career as musical director for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and working with 70's pop groups such as The Jackson Five and of course The Osmond's, the latter being referenced several times in the film, which also contains a number of Mormon in-jokes that would likely be lost on audiences not well versed in the faith.

The story itself is actually kind of complicated, I must confess I've never actually seen this story acted out before, my familiarity with it was based on hearing various cast recordings of it many times starting on my mission, and people who were familiar with it filing me in on the plot details. There are a lot of characters in this, some of whom we follow from their 'pre-earth life', with the story filled with loved triangles, angst, and existential unease as these characters attempt to grasp their eternal identities and the meaning of life through the medium of musical theater. The original soundtrack is here kept mostly intact, with a few new songs added (all of which are quite good) and few old ones omitted, largely the more novelty song type numbers like "Dear John" (there is a fairly fun gag where characters in the film refuse to sing "Daddy's Nose", perhaps the most awkward and out of place feeling song on the original soundtrack). The most classic tracks from the original like "The Circle of Our Love", "Humble Way", "Line Upon Line", "Didn't We Love Him?", "Zero Population", and "Feelings of Forever" are of course retained.

This film was still very much done on a budget, the Flinders family's Brady Bunch - esque tri level home likely got all its set direction from crew members basements and Deseret Industries thrift shops. The cast is made up of largely young new actors you've never heard of ( I particularly like Anna Daines as Pam) but all perform their parts satisfactorily well, because lets face it this may be Mormon Shakespeare but its not Shakespeare. The music of the film, and the operatic melancholy of the story still has the power to touch me and I confess the film did manage to make me cry at a few points, which was fine because there was literally no one else in the theater as I sat and watched this. In many ways its a bit baffling that this movie was finally made now but I'm glade it was, this should go down as the definitive version of one of Mormonism's more noteworthy pop culture creations. ***

http://freesound.org/

Zootopia (2016), Indepedence Day: Resurgence (2016), Begin Again (2013), I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Zootopia (2016)

I didn't have high expectations for this film going in, I thought a world full of anthropomorphic animals, how is that any different from half the other animated films out there? But Zootopia is easily one of the better Disney animated (non Pixar) movies of this century. It's a kind of buddy cop movie, refreshingly smarter then it needs to be for its target audience, and while I was expecting another eco parable the movie is really about race relations. Jason Bateman should think about doing voice work more often. I was really impressed, I thought this would be more of the same but I think Disney really went in some unexpected directions with this one. Thoroughly enjoyed. ****

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Much belated sequel to Independence Day, the 1996 film that inaugurated Hollywood's 2nd disaster movie cycle (the first being the one Irwin Allen started in the 1970's) and which has arguably never stopped. This retread is simultaneously trying too hard and not hard enough in its efforts to one up the original film, but in the end a big screen rerelease of the first film would have been more satisfying. I remember watching the first movie in the theater 20 years ago, at that time this kind of large scale disaster film was something I hadn't seen on the big screen before, I remember being kind of moved by the size of it, today that's all old hat. Written by committee this film shoe horns too many plotlines, characters and other elements in ways that don't seem natural. I imagine this film really could have been something if more care had been put into it. As is its watchable, but at times just barely. **

Begin Again (2013)

This is the more "Hollywood" style film that Irish director John Carney got to make because of the success of Once (2007). It is the story of a struggling singer/songwriter (Keira Knightley) and a struggling music producer (Mark Ruffalo) who meet in New York and decide to make an album together. This is director John Carney's unique little nitch in filmmaking, non documentary films about the making of albums, and he really knows how to do them. Ruffalo is ruffled, Knightley proves to be an acceptably good singer, and musician Adam Levine has his first acting role and its tailor made for him. The good supporting cast even includes Catherine Keener, Mos Def and Hailee Steinfeld. But the stars of the film are the songs by Carney, Gregg Alexander, and Once star Glen Hansard. I may end up getting this soundtrack. Enjoyable and refreshingly different for a wide release film. ***1/2

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Feature film debut for both director Robert Zemeckis and his writing partner Bob Gale. The film tells the story of six New Jersey teenagers (just out of high school) who travel to New York City in February of 1964 in the hopes of seeing The Beatles who were in town for their historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Lite comedy works better then it probably should given its even liter premise. The film is perhaps most interesting in its foreshadowing of the later and much better known Zemeckis/Gale film Back to the Future. There is the strong element of nostalgia (strange to think that the event this film is built around happened only 14 years before it was released), an remarkably similar early version of what would become the famous 'George punches out Biff' scene, and even two of the films stars Marc McClure and Wendie Jo Sperber were later cast as Marty McFly's siblings. Not a remarkable film, but if you watch it you can certainly see the promise. ***

Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), Pixels (2015), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Weiner (2016), Keanu (2016), Spy (2015)

Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Perhaps the funniest thing about Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping, the mockumentary film staring Andy Samburg and his The Lonely Island bandmates Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone as former members of a boy band called The Style Boys, is the movies long form name. That is not to say that the film doesn't have its funny moments, it does, but they are unevenly spread over a film that feels like a SNL sketch played out too long. The movie is overloaded with celebrity cameos from the music field, and the new The Lonely Islands songs, of which there are a goodly amount, just aren't as funny and memorable as their better SNL digital short work. Too crude for my taste with a surprising amount of F-bombs, Pop Star would probably be a good example of why I don't go to see many contemporary comedies in the theater, if it weren't for my strong suspicion that most contemporary comedies are considerably worse. The movie made me want to re-watch the also crude, but superior mock music bio Walk Hard, which like this movie was also produced by Judd Apatow and featured Tim Meadows in a supporting role. **1/2

Pixels (2015)

I went into this film with very low expectations, I am generally not an Adam Sandler fan, and I had heard some very bad reviews for this thing, yet I was really surprised how much I liked it. I mostly watched it in the first place because there was a time when I would have absolutely loved its premise, aliens attacking the Earth with recreations of 1980's video games such as Pac-Man and appropriately Space Invaders, which they had encountered and misinterpreted from a digital time capsule of sorts lunched into space. The conceit is ridicules, yet charming in a retro way for this child of the 80's. In fact besides the obvious 80's references which abound in the film, including the aliens communicating with the Earth through altering the dialogue of period pop culture video such as Fantasy Island, Max Headroom and the immortal Hall and Oats, this movie felt like an 80's movie, taking on the form of the period genera most dear to my heart, the family adventure comedy. Even what crudity there is in the movie is very toned down from what I associate with Adam Sandler and is more implied then overt, on a similar level to the original Ghostbusters whose cruder elements didn't even register when I first watch it as a little kid. I wouldn't have a problem showing this to my seven year old nephew, in fact I kind of want to. This movie is inherently ridiculous, full of plot holes and logical leaps (Kevin James as the President), stupid really, but I must admit I quite enjoyed it in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Michelle Monaghan looks particularly gorgeous in this and there is something oddly charming about how annoying Josh Gad can be. Wow I disagree with 83% of Rotten Tomatos reviewers on this. Again guilty pleasure for a nostalgia nerd. **1/2

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

If you had asked me to sum up my feelings about Inside Llewyn Davis, the Coen brothers film about a week in the life of a struggling Greenwich Village folk singer in the year 1961, I probably would have responded with something like "Huh". I quite Frankly did not know what to make of this movie, I think I probably liked it but I'm not sure that I could tell you why. (Though the film is memorable for among other things a fine early lead performance for Oscar Isaac and another quirky supporting part for John Goodman.) A friend of mine subsequently told me that he had the same reaction upon first seeing the film but now considers Inside Llewyn Davis to be his favorite Coen brothers movie. I can see a potential to love this film inside of myself, but right now its so hard for me to categorize what this movie is that it will take some time to sort through it. I plan on giving it a second watch after I've had some time to absorb the thing, but for now I'm giving Inside Llewyn Davis ***. I did also quite like the music.

Weiner (2016)

When Anthony Weiner, the former New York congressman who had left office in disgrace following a now infamous sexting scandal, invited film makers Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg to follow him around in his 2013 bid for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, he no doubt hoped that they would catch on film his political rebirth. What they ended up getting on film is both more complicated and more interesting then the redemption tale Mr. Weiner likely anticipated. Early in the film things are going well for Weiner, he is leading in the polls and his marriage to Hillary Clinton confidant Huma Abedin seems to be healing nicely, in fact in the personal interplay captured on film they are kind of cute together. However these good times end when the media discover that that the extent of Weiner's sexting scandal was much broader then he had previously let on, and that he continued in these ill reputable ways for some time after he had publicly said and/or implied that he had stopped.

The remainder of the film is the slow implosion of his campaign, Weiner ended up with only about 6% of the Democratic primary vote, as well as his relationship with his wife becoming quite frosty in a veritable ice storm of cold shoulders. I expected to hate Weiner by the end of this film but I didn't, in fact in a strange way I kind of respected him. Anthony Weiner is a very flawed, very human person, a narcissist and a grand stander, a self righteous prick, but he is also a man who is very talented, smart, passionate about his political beliefs, more then capable of critical self examination and introspection, and who in his very worst, most embarrassing, scandalous act, at least never physically had sex with a woman other then his wife, never even actually met his 'partners', didn't misappropriating funds, didn't sell out to corporate interests, betray his stated political beliefs or break any laws. Again in a strange way that's kind of impressive, as is the fact that Weiner kept letting the cameras role, presumably he could have stopped them at any time. This film is a fascinating and perhaps unique political document and one of the best films so far this year. ****

Keanu (2016)

Key and Peele comedy about two cousins who attempt to retrieve a cute kitten caught in the middle of a drug war between rival gangs. This has got to be one of the most ridicules concepts for a movie I have ever encountered, buts its really funny and shockingly well structured. It does earn its R rating however. ***

Spy (2015)

Fish out of water spy comedy is nothing we haven't seen many times before, except maybe that Melissa McCarthy's character is presented as being competent from the very beginning, though of course kind of awkward. Film is very well structured though seldom that funny, with many of the best scenes in the film being those between McCarthy and Rose Byrne's characters, those two should make another movie together. Jude Law and Jason Statham play self satirized versions of their typical screen personas, Miranda Hart a kind of less funny female John Oliver. Ivy Levan's theme song for the film "Who Can You Trust" sounds like it could be a legitimate James Bond theme song. **1/2