A Few Extra Thoughts...

Explaining Mr. Banks

by Hunter Isham

        Outside of the formal review, I'd like to say that some of the criticism lobbed at Saving Mr. Banks is quite unfair, the most egregious of which is that the Disney Company has created a film to whitewash its own history. Kelly Marcel's screenplay was written for producer Alison Owen without any assistance from or cooperation with Disney, right down to the many Poppins song references woven throughout the film. Once landing on the annual Hollywood Blacklist (the top un-produced screenplays, as voted on by producers and executives), it garnered Disney's attention, and went on to be produced with very few changes. How do I know this? I've read a draft of Saving Mr. Banks written before it was purchased by Disney, and the film that was made is virtually the same as the one on the page from more than two years ago. This is all to say that you can call Banks revisionist history about Disney by Disney, but it was neither commissioned nor destroyed by the corporate machine. The film would never have been made without the company's consent, and given the intellectual property used onscreen, not to mention Walt Disney appearing as a character, that consent would never have been given to an outside entity. Disney can only be blamed for bankrolling the film's production, and marketing it to the masses, but not for writing (or rewriting) it. Saving Mr. Banks is hardly propaganda, but it is a soft-edged version of history that, like most movies, gets some things right and some things wrong, but it's all done in the name of the story. I can't claim that it's a perfect film, but it does what it sets out to do very effectively, and if anyone beside Disney had made this film, the vitriol would likely be minimal, allowing the craft to take center stage. Banks doesn't deify Walt Disney and the people behind the film Mary Poppins, but it shows they had a passion for making a great film, which they ultimately did, but it also makes clear that the film would not be as it is without the input of P.L. Travers.
        The notion of film being revisionist history is a touchy subject in general, but I think both the subject matter and the medium must be taken into account. First of all, a narrative film should first and foremost tell a story, and should that story be a true one, we can only hope that it's told with as much accuracy as possible, but not so much that it's to the detriment of the narrative. The phrase "based on a true story" should be taken seriously, so it should not come as a surprise when a real event portrayed on screen has been altered in someway. A textbook or documentary can be held to a higher standard, and a narrative film can be if claiming to tell the absolute truth, but that is rarely the case. Although I don't recall "based on a true story" being present at the beginning of Saving Mr. Banks, it's present in the marketing campaign, and the film has been sold as no more accurate than any other. I would expect a film like Lincoln to be more meticulously detailed and accurate than Saving Mr. Banks, but ultimately what matters in any story is what it all means. Every film, no matter how arty or trashy, has some kind of theme or purpose, be it as simple as friendship, or as complicated as communicating the vexing qualities of the ever-changing landscape of geopolitics. The fact that Saving Mr. Banks manages to be about more than the events portrayed on screen is commendable. It makes its easily stereotyped characters human and it says something about the creative process. Earlier this year, an independent biopic about Steve Jobs was pounced on for simply being dull. I haven't seen it, but it apparently has no real reason to exist, as it offers the audience nothing new or insightful about its main character. A film must command an audience's attention, otherwise we'd all walk out of the movies asking why we just wasted two hours of our respective lives. When a film rewrites history without lying about it, it hopefully serves the story. I'll trust the audience to be smart enough to figure that out.

Saving Mr. Banks

Disney Does Disney

by Hunter Isham

        I've been drinking the Walt Disney Company kool-aid since before I could read and write, so my interest level in Saving Mr. Banks, the film that tells the story of how Walt Disney finally got Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to sign over the film rights to her books, was fairly high both during its production and leading up to its release. Although I can see its shortcomings, I was absolutely charmed by its excellent cast and surprisingly nuanced screenplay. Banks comes not just from the family-friendly, whitewash machine that is the Mouse House, but also from John Lee Hancock, director of the good yet overrated The Blind Side, so the potential for this film to get too sappy for its own good was never out of the realm of possibilities. However, Hancock and his team have delivered a film that manages to fit the Disney mold while delivering a story with real meaning.

        Anyone expecting Banks to be a story about Walt Disney, or even about the film Mary Poppins, will be in for a rude awakening, as it looks to Mrs. Travers and recalls how her childhood in Australia inspired her writing later in life. These flashbacks to a kind, young-at-heart father with a terrible drinking problem help to shade Travers' fierce protective attitude toward Walt and his creative staff when they attempt to pitch her on their vision of her stories for the big screen. She fears that old Uncle Walt will turn her stern flying nanny into a twinkly cartoon, and she simply cannot abide by cartoons. That sentiment seems at once silly and horridly uptight, but the film avoids the caricatures that Travers and Disney could so easily be portrayed as with a script that is brought to wonderful three-dimensional life by a stellar cast.

        Emma Thompson is fantastic as the aggressively dour Mrs. Travers, bringing a warmth and logic to the author's feelings and actions that make her simultaneously sympathetic and charmingly annoying. Thompson knows just how much heart to bare, and just how much to cover up, making the subject of her portrayal a misunderstood person worth rooting for, no small feat when her adversary is Walt Disney himself. Tom Hanks brings a similar balance to the legendary animator and mogul, showing him as a businessman, public persona, storyteller, and, ultimately, a human being. Although Hanks looks nothing like Disney, and doesn't sound much like him either, he slips the persona on like a glove, and disappears despite his own iconic traits as an actor. Colin Farrell is wonderful as Travers' playful but troubled father, bringing humor and depth to a role that could easily have been two-dimensional. Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak perfectly inhabit the roles of Mary Poppins writer Don DaGradi and the songwriting Sherman brothers, respectively, conveying the honest exasperation that comes from trying to please two artists at opposite ends of an opinionated spectrum. Paul Giamatti is warm and pleasant as Travers' driver Ralph, a character whose daily cheer would have been hard to endure were it brought to life by a lesser talent.

        Such a strong ensemble would be wasted were it not for Kelly Marcel's screenplay*, a work that perfectly straddles the line between honest emotion and sentimentality, something the best of Disney entertainment has done for decades. It humanizes both P.L. Travers and Walt Disney, the former as a strong-willed individual whose difficult past colored her future, the latter as a businessman who serves imagination before profitability. She could have been a shrew, and he could have just been the charming television persona audiences knew from The Wonderful World of Disney. There are certainly moments when the story and its events can be presented as just a bit too on-the-nose, yet with the characters handled with such deft care, Saving Mr. Banks manages to be about something more than its purportedly "untold story." It's about catharsis, specifically that which can come through storytelling and imagination. Hanks delivers a knockout of a monologue near the film's conclusion that, though most likely fictionalized**, explains Disney and Travers' bond as artists who seek to right the wrongs of the world, to deal with life's regrets through inspiration and invention. The Walt Disney Company has, in a sense, done this with Saving Mr. Banks, clarifying its history without totally rewriting it. The story onscreen may not be completely real, but the people that inhabit it certainly feel real, and that's all that I could ask. 9/10

*Also credited is writer Sue Smith, but my understanding is that she wrote a more all-encompassing script about Travers' life that went un-produced, and was ultimately used more as a research tool for Marcel, and perhaps was partially repurposed in pieces for the flashback sequences in this film. When all is said and done, Saving Mr. Banks is Marcel's work.

**The circumstances of the scene are likely invented for the film, not its content, which involves to Walt's childhood in Missouri.

Frozen

Wonderfully Familiar, Refreshingly Progressive

by Hunter Isham

        It's been a while since Walt Disney Animation Studios turned out a picture that lives up to the legacy of its renaissance in the early 1990s. Truthfully, I think the last feature produced solely by WDAS that I saw theatrically was 2008's Bolt, as it was the first film released after Pixar's John Lasseter was named the head of the Mouse House's original animation division (plus it was well-reviewed, a rarity for Disney films at the time). I've heard good things about Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, but with Frozen, Walt Disney Animation seems to finally come full circle in its own evolution, delivering a film that is befitting of the Disney name while pushing its traditional fairytale model in a progressive new direction.

        Loosely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, the film tells the story of Anna and Elsa, the princesses of Arendelle, a norse kingdom. Elsa (Idina Menzel) is born with powers to manipulate the cold, creating ice, snow, etc..., and her parents make the decision to close off their family from the outside world to hide and protect her as she learns to cope with her ever-strengthening powers. Anna (Kristen Bell), the younger of the two, is kept in the dark about her sister's abilities, and is left with a life of optimistic solitude while she grows up as a practically only child. Years later, following a coronation gone wrong, Elsa flees into the mountains as Anna chases after, taking what starts as a generic Disney princess tale and turning it into a story about sisters finding each other for the first time since childhood.

        There's a prince, as well as a handsome mountain man (Jonathan Groff), not to mention the expected yet charming and thankfully restrained comic relief in the form of a snowman (Josh Gad) and a reindeer named Sven. They all play their important roles in the film's success, but nothing in Frozen plays out as you'd expect. Without spoiling the plot, I can say that this film is not just another Disney film about a princess finding the man of her dreams. You may not believe me midway through, or even in the film's climactic moments, but when the credits roll, you can look back at the story and see that every cliche was carefully placed to aid in subverting your expectations. If Disney has to keep making fairytale princess films, this is how it should be done.

        The more modern touch provided by the characters' dynamics may be what refreshes the potentially stale elements of the Disney formula, but one element worth retaining and restoring that Frozen excavates with ease and care is a soundtrack full of original songs that approaches the quality of the Ashman/Menken scores of the Disney Renaissance. Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez provide the film with wonderfully catchy tunes, beautifully performed by Bell and Menzel. "For the First Time in Forever," a duet between the isolated sisters, and "Let It Go," a power ballad expressing Elsa's freedom, are standouts. Menzel's fantastic voice brings the same passion she delivered on stage in Wicked to the latter song, an early favorite for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. The one true complaint I have about Frozen's songs is that there are too few of them, as the film turns into more of an adventure than a musical as it progresses, but it's a minor quibble when Disney's tuneful toons are increasingly fewer and farther between.

        The one part of this film that left me a bit cold (sorry), was the resolution to its overall conflict. There's some business about an eternal winter that's hastily solved with an explanation that is one step too far into fantasyland than is logical, but it hardly tarnishes the events that lead up to it. The film's emotional arc between the two sisters is the real story here, and its resolution is absolutely wonderful. I was continually afraid Frozen would slip into its predecessors' old habits, but romance takes a back seat to a different kind of relationship that is no less loving. No film can ever replace The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, but if Disney wants to keep making princess films, Frozen is an argument for its ability to evolve without losing its identity. Some may criticize the studio for churning out another safe storybook movie, but I for one am happy to see Disney making a film that feels new and old in all the right ways. 8.75/10

Breaking Bad

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 9/30/13

This is the story of Walter Hartwell White.

by Hunter Isham

        On January 20, 2008, following the critical success of Mad Men, the basic cable movie channel AMC premiered its second scripted original series. This show, pitched to the general public as a drama about a high school chemistry teacher stricken with terminal lung cancer who decides to cook crystal meth to leave his family financially secure, has surpassed its 1960s ad man predecessor in acclaim and, arguably, cultural resonance. Breaking Bad is now hailed as one of the greatest television series ever to be broadcast, and I can hardly disagree. It's exciting, moving, and an experience that can never be forgotten. September 29, 2013 saw Breaking Bad air its series finale, bringing to a close a story that will outlive both its creators and its current audience, and few television shows can claim to be as daring and satisfying as this one was.
        Created by Vince Gilligan, a writer for The X-Files, and starring Malcom in the Middle actor Bryan Cranston as teacher Walter White, Breaking Bad seemed like a curiosity when it premiered. Although there was acclaim, I was certainly among the crowd who had no interest in the subject matter, and the season one promotional art (seen above) only made me raise in eyebrow and think "what?". Add to this characters like Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman, a former student turned drug dealer whom Walt turns to for help who has a propensity for calling people "bitch," and I was absolutely certain I would never watch this show. I have a tendency to think I'll never like things I eventually love (see: The West Wing, The Simpsons, all action movies), but thank goodness I'm not too stubborn to give something a try. Breaking Bad broke open a world of characters and events that is as addicting as the methamphetamine Walt and Jesse spend so many hours cooking.
        Breaking Bad is the kind of show that is best unspoiled, even with the vaguest of summaries, so for the purposes of this reflection/recommendation, I'll try to keep it simple. Walter White breaks bad and cooks meth with Jesse Pinkman, but that's not all there is to the story. Walt has a pregnant wife, a son with cerebral palsy, and a brother-in-law in the DEA. This may sound more like a miniseries than a full-fledged television show; after all, how long can Walt and Jesse cook in an RV (once more, check the above ad)? Well, this show is all about change, something Vince Gilligan pitched the show with, and the story and characters certainly evolve. There are dealers, hitmen, kingpins, cartels, and so much more than you could possibly imagine. It's mind blowing to think of how the show started when you see how it all ends, and that's an unbelievable achievement.
        Gilligan and Cranston have thrown around a certain phrase every time they're interviewed: "We'll take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface." This was the former's pitch to the latter for the role of Walter White, and it's an unofficial motto of the show. Walt begins as a meek man struggling to live the boring life he's wound up with, and his show-opening 50th birthday is only a sad reminder of that fact. His lung cancer diagnosis, though apparently a death sentence, is when he truly wakes up and does something. This is a central arc in Breaking Bad, and it's perhaps the one quality that keeps us watching (and for some, rooting for) Walt as he embarks on a journey that changes his entire universe, making him much more than just your average anti-hero.
         Breaking Bad has cemented itself as one of the greatest television series of all time, and unquestionably the best that I have ever seen. I may have my sentimental favorites, but I have to respect the riveting, unwavering quality on display here. So much happens over the course of Breaking Bad's five season, six year run*, involving so many characters and events worthy of analysis and dissectoin, that more deserves to be said than what I can provide here. Jesse Pinkman alone could warrant more discussion than most lead characters on television. Everything that happens and every character that makes a memorable entrance and exit are a part of the greater whole of this series, but it's undeniably a show with a single element at its core. Breaking Bad is the story of Walter Hartwell White, a desperate man who found salvation in change.

P.S. I tried to recommend this series as strongly as I could without giving away much more than the basic premise. I hope those of you who have not yet given Breaking Bad a try seek it out. It's wholly worth your time, and I can't think of a series (of those I've seen) that better exemplifies the notion that we're currently in a golden age of television. Breaking Bad is quite simply the kind of accomplishment that the medium will likely not see again for some time.

*AMC extended the fifth season's 13 episode order to 16, and aired them over two years (8 in 2012, 8 in 2013).

All Of Me

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 9/6/13

A Wild and Crazy Concept

by Hunter Isham

        Director Carl Reiner's 1984 film All Of Me is about as high concept as a comedy can get before it requires the special effects budget of Ghostbusters, but strong performances sold me on the strange twist on a body-swap that occurs in this film without the presence of big thunder and lighting or any other such effects that tell you something supernatural has occurred. When the soul of the terminally ill millionaire Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) is accidentally transferred into the body of the slightly boring Roger Cobb (Steve Martin), we're treated to a hilarious sequence in which they struggle to coordinate by moving the respective halves of Cobb's body they each control. The film's humor isn't as consistent as Martin's pitch-perfect performance, but when such a talented comedian is given material with so much potential, it really doesn't matter that the finished product isn't an all-time classic.

        All Of Me is essentially Freaky Friday with just one person, it's the kind of premise that is sold on the talents of the cast, and Martin absolutely nails his performance as he carries the film and its fairly simple concept through its 93-minute runtime. He's proven himself a competent actor throughout his career, and his comedic abilities were known long before he made this film, but this film offers a perfect melding of the "wild and crazy" persona Martin built up and the regular, relatable type he plays so well in films like Parenthood and Father of the Bride. Roger Cobb is the latter, while the Cobb partially inhabited by Edwina Cutwater is the former. Martin can play a character who is the joke of a movie, but here he plays a normal guy whose life becomes the joke. He's naturally funny in All Of Me, but he rarely elicits a hearty laugh when not struggling with Lily Tomlin's haughty and inexperienced Edwina, a fact that makes his focus in this part all the more incredible.

        Given how many sentences in this review I've devoted to Steve Martin, it may come as a surprise that other people make this movie a success too, but they do so, even if it's Martin's show. Lily Tomlin, though not onscreen for most of the film (once she's dead, we see her as Cobb's reflection in mirrors), is perfectly cast as Edwina, as her personality is omnipresent, and we often hear her speaking to Cobb in his head. Tomlin steals her early scenes with Martin, and provides the perfect blueprint on which he can base her mannerisms and specific vocality. Perhaps one of the best scenes for this balance between Tomlin's mind and Martin's body comes when Cobb falls asleep in court, and Edwina is left to "act like a man" without letting down her host. The rest of the cast is fairly unremarkable, although this really isn't anyone else's film. Victoria Tennant is fine as a love interest and the intended destination of Edwina's soul, but her strength here is providing Martin with an interesting character off of which he can bounce his different personalities.

        Writer Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams, Sneakers) provides Reiner, Tomlin, and Martin with a strong script to work from, and their collective focus is what makes All Of Me a success. Steve Martin has quite possibly never given a stronger performance, as he takes some of his strongest qualities as a performer and blends them together into a character that can be both wild and crazy, and completely relatable. Like many other films Martin's starred in that are good but not great, All Of Me is a story worth telling because its cast is populated with, and led by, professionals who elevate the material. I can only imagine how terrible this film could have been had the physical comedy Martin executes and Tomlin's portrayal of the trapped soul not meshed as exceedingly well as they do. Some comedies, like Ghostbusters, go big because so much of their humor can be derived from the hilarity that ensues when you think of the wrong monster, but others, like All Of Me, have big concepts with relatively small executions, yet they can be just as funny*. All Of Me falls short of greatness because it lacks a consistency that makes legendary comedies just that, but the great elements here are so good, with all the necessary pieces aligning, that we can forget the shortcomings and simply marvel at how Steve Marin can make playing two people in one body a fresh, fun idea. 8/10

*I must say that Ghostbusters is a towering comedy classic. A 10/10 if there ever was one, if only because of Bill Murray in the Twinkie scene. All Of Me excels because Martin is as good in it as Murray is in Ghostbusters, but the latter film is so strong in every other way (Aykroyd, Ramis, Weaver, Moranis, the title theme song) that it's no wonder why it's the one of these two 1984 comedies that has become a revered part of pop culture.

Clear History

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 8/13/13

Curb Lite

by Hunter Isham

        Larry David doesn't know if he wants to do another season of his hilarious HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, so while we anxiously wait for him to decide, he's delivered a fun and funny movie for the masses to enjoy in the meantime. Co-written by and starring David, Clear History is the story of Nathan Flomm (David), a marketing executive who leaves an electric car company just before it becomes a massive success, missing out on billions and living with the public humiliation. Ten years later, he's changed his look and lives under a new name on Martha's Vineyard, but he's driven to revenge when his former business partner shows up on the island with a young attractive wife to oversee the construction of a brand new mansion. David and his Curb and Seinfeld co-writers, Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer, along with director Greg Mottola, have crafted a story only David's television alter ego could inhabit, and so while it's true that Clear History isn't much more than an extended Curb episode with a lot of fresh faces, I don't think I'd want it any other way.
        David is great at playing his usual TV persona under the name of Nathan Flomm, although he does a very nice job of trying to balance his less palatable characteristics (the ones that get him into trouble as Flomm) with a more subdued, passive approach to unfiltered complaining and commenting. As we soon learn, Flomm's Rolly Da Vore is the nicest guy on the island, but seeing his old boss brings out the old LD that Curb audiences know, and we start getting moments like him complaining to the owner of the local diner about putting silverware on napkins instead of a tabletop cleaned with rags. She gets more indignant as he gets more satisfied with making a suggestion he likely kept locked away for a decade. A cause for concern one might have with leaving the Curb cast behind for this endeavor is that David might lose his wonderful improvisational co-stars (the script, like on Curb, is more of a detailed story outline that the actors fill with their own improvised dialogue), but the many talents corralled for Clear History prove to be welcome additions to this world and sensibility.
        Jon Hamm plays the Ayn Rand-loving Will Haney, the head of the company whom Flomm insults when he insists their new car cannot be called 'Howard,' a name also give to Haney's son, and derived from the main character in Rand's The Fountainhead. Hamm has proven his comedic chops alongside Tina Fey on 30 Rock, but here he plays a perfect straight man to David, even more so as the film advances in time. Danny McBride very effectively fills the shoes of Curb's Jeff Garlin as David's best friend and partner in crime, the man who introduces Flomm to a crazy operator of the quarry (a very funny Michael Keaton) and his employee (Bill Hader), a pair that will ultimately play into Flomm's quest for revenge. Kate Hudson, playing a fairly sweet character, is well-suited to her role as Haney's wife, but ultimately has only a few hilarious moments (she's generally a straight man here). Amy Ryan and Eva Mendes have some great moments as two locals and friends of David's character, and they accentuate the plot in some great comedic scenes. Liev Schreiber is an uncredited standout as a Chechen thug with a sensible and sensitive approach to his professional and personal lives, while J.B. Smoove and Philip Baker Hall are the only Curb personalities to show up, and they deliver as one would expect.
        For all of the wonderful comedic performances in Clear History, and the unmistakable and hilarious sensibilities of Larry David, the film doesn't quite hit as well as your average episode of David's series. The only thing that holds it back from being as excellent as the best of Curb is that it's telling a full blown story. Rather than giving us the beautifully arranged, dovetailing beats that David and his writers perfectly honed on Seinfeld and Curb, we get some true character moments thrown into the mix. Now, don't misunderstand; Clear History is still fairly entrenched in the Larry David school of "no hugging, no learning," but the man who's helped create two shows about nothing has delivered a movie that is actually about something, and it can't stand up against movies that strive to be what Clear History is by circumstance. With all that in mind, David's first HBO movie delivers in big, zany ways that Curb doesn't because of its relatively small focus episode-to-episode, and for that slight change of pace I'm thankful. Like Woody Allen and his own onscreen persona, Larry David will likely always be playing Larry David, but I don't really care as long he's funny, and that's exactly what he is here. Clear History isn't perfect, but as Larry himself might say, it's pretty, pretty, pretty... pretty good. 8/10


Note: If you're wondering what the title Clear History means (as I did before I read an article explaining it), it refers to how one can erase their web browsing history on a computer, the kind of act Nathan Flomm wishes he could do to his life.

This Is The End

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 8/6/13

Curb Your Apocalypse

by Hunter Isham

        The general premise of celebrities playing exaggerated, or even completely fake, versions of themselves is not a new concept, although it has had somewhat of a renaissance in the past two decades with television comedies like The Larry Sanders Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm putting these elements at the forefront, rather than just having a quick cameo. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's This Is The End takes the generally fun framework of a show like Curb (minus the fully improvised dialogue), and applies a story that sees all of these familiar faces trying to survive as the apocalypse hits. The results are amusing, and certainly not just your average Apatow-era comedy, but ultimately the film leaves you wishing it were more than some funny moments strung together by a strange plot.
        Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles to stay with his old (if now distant) fellow Canadian friend Seth Rogen, and before long he reluctantly agrees to accompany Rogen to party at James Franco's house, attended by a bunch of people he neither knows nor likes. At Franco's we see familiar faces like Jason Segel, Aziz Ansari, and Mindy Kaling, as well a coke-addicted and promiscuous Michael Cera. Emma Watson pops up, and later has a very funny scene when she returns to the mostly abandoned house following the deaths of most of those famous people I just mentioned. Through many apocalyptic events, Baruchel, Rogen, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride are ultimately the main characters who survive and barricade themselves in Franco's fortress-like new home.
        Problems arise with rationing food and supplies, demons appear, and there are even some heart-to-heart moments between some of the trapped comedians, but hard as Rogen and Goldberg may try, the film ultimately just amounts to an intriguing journey that isn't as funny as it could be. If anything, the problems seem to arise from the fact that there's just not much to get out of the film as a story, so I can easily recommend seeing the film for some of its humorous moments, but it doesn't leave you feeling like you've experienced something special, or that you've gone a journey with the characters. There are some good performances here (beyond the comedic stuff) by Baruchel, Rogen, and Robinson, brining enough heart to make you care, but the overall arc fails them because the laughs don't come fast enough to gloss over the fact that the film's story isn't wholly successful.
        There are many elements and moments to like in This Is The End, but compared to The Heat—another summer comedy that I didn't think was excellent, but which is funny and charming enough to make up for its fairly generic plot—the film seems like a clever concept that didn't amount to much given its execution. The Heat isn't revolutionary in its storytelling, but its characters and situations are often funny, and almost always somewhat charming. This Is The End moves along in spurts of funny that have too many gaps between them, never quite reaching full speed. This Is The End is not the funniest thing out there this summer, and if it wasn't so strange I likely wouldn't remember it as well as I have, but it's worth a look when you have the chance, if only for the sight of Emma Watson waving an axe around at Rogen and company. 6/10

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 7/16/13

Make a sequel that's actually bigger and better? Not so impossible.

by Hunter Isham

        The Mission: Impossible film franchise, now more than 15 years old, has had its ups and downs as it produced four action-packed espionage adventures. The first film—directed by Brian De Palma, written by David Koepp, Steve Zaillian, and Robert Towne, and starring Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, and Vanessa Redgrave—was a very strong start, both as a fun and thrilling film and as a box office success story (more than $450 million on an $80 million budget). The second film, directed by John Woo, was an even bigger hit on an even bigger budget. Then the franchise lay dormant for six years, an eternity in blockbuster time, until Tom Cruise brought aboard a television writer/director/producer by the name of J.J. Abrams, resulting in the fantastic Mission: Impossible III. Unfortunately for M: I fans, the film was released at the peak of Cruise's couch-jumping zaniness, leading to a mildly successful run at the box office. Mission: Impossible IV kicked around for a few years with rumors swirling that a new character would be introduced to replace Cruise's Ethan Hunt, but then the pieces fell into place, producers Cruise and Abrams hired The Incredibles and Ratatouille director Brad Bird, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol found its way into theaters with a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, and an eventual $694 gross. If that's not a Hollywood success story, I don't know what is.
        Ghost Protocol finds Ethan Hunt sprung from prison by the Impossible Mission Force to go after a madman who believes a nuclear winter will give humanity a new start. The team that springs him becomes his squad of surviving agents when he finds out that "Ghost Protocol" has been initiated (I won't spoil why), wiping clean the entire agency and disavowing all of its agents. Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner, and a returning Simon Pegg all play off each other very well as the film focuses on their team dynamic rather than Cruise as the sole hero. You may recall that he's always had a team at one point or another in past films, but here his backup is front and center. Making matters worse is that their few gadgets and supplies malfunction more than once, giving their plans unanticipated hiccups along the way as they try to navigate the world and save the day completely off the grid. Constantly having to rely on their own ingenuity and abilities, the four keep things light and fun when things go wrong, and play the more intense action moments with the appropriate focus and quick thinking, not to mention fear and determination.
        Of course, these four characters, as much fun as they are, would be nothing in the Mission franchise without some spectacular set pieces, and Brad Bird delivers in spades. Making your live-action directing debut on a known property could be intimidating, so why not add on the more-difficult-than-usual approach of shooting some moments for IMAX, with the massive cameras that come with the format? If Bird had any trepidation, it never shows, as he's crafted a thrilling romp that has some unbelievably great action. Perhaps the moment everyone knows from Ghost Prtocol is that which finds Ethan climbing up the side of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. All green screens and stunt doubles, right? Wrong. Cruise was actually up on that building, held on by what was no thicker than a piano wire. Climbing in high places has certainly been done before, but here you absolutely feel the scale and danger of it all here. It's quite simply breathtaking.
        Although the Burj Khalifa sequence is the most stunning in the film, there are plenty of other thrilling moments that keep you on the edge of your seat. In fact, the fantastic action helps to mask some flaws in the film you may not be likely care about. For example, Ghost Protocol lacks a villain with the ferocity of Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III, and Michael Nyqvist's nuclear madman is more imposing via his intentions than what he does on screen. However, the antagonists are placed in great action set pieces, such as a chase through a sandstorm and a fight in a multi-level automated parking structure, so there is a constant and immediate threat of physical danger. This film is a rare case when a villain doesn't need to be as fleshed out as Hannibal Lecter to be scary, he just has to threaten our heroes with impossible situations.
        Mission: Impssible - Ghost Protocol is one of the best action films I've seen in recent years. It aims neither for the lofty messages of a Nolan Batman film nor for the B-movie range of The Expendables. This movie is fun without sacrificing its intelligence, but doesn't ask the viewer for anything more than their undivided attention. This is a popcorn film, through and through, and I can't give it higher praise than that. If you're still hesitant, just sit down, and watch the film through its opening credits. If Michael Giacchino's arrangement of Lalo Schifrin's classic theme doesn't put a big smile on your face then I don't know what will. Even if Tom Cruise isn't your cup of tea, or if you see M: I as a cheap Bond knockoff, give Ghost Protocol a chance. Enjoying this film is your mission, should you choose to accept it, and it's hardly impossible. 9/10


*Note: I just thought I'd mention something that's been banging around in my head the past few weeks. When I rate a film like Ghost Protocol a 9/10, I mean that it's a great action movie on par with other great action movies. I don't necessarily mean it's a Best Picture contender; a Silver Linings Playbook or an Argo. You've probably figured out that it's really hard for me to hate a film, and quite easy for me to enjoy the hell out of one. That enthusiasm is how the fourth film in an uneven franchise gets an excellent score.

The Simpsons

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 7/10/13

America's favorite family. (L-R) Bart, Maggie, Homer, Marge, and Lisa.

Best. Show. Ever.

by Hunter Isham

        Having been running The Darke, McPhaul, and Isham Review for almost six months now, Tyler, Harry and I have decided to introduce a little variety into the mix. As you may have guessed, we'll be doing some writing about television from time to time. Unlike our film reviews, we're not currently planning to write about TV together each week, but rather whenever one of us feels like writing about a show. I can't speak for Harry and Tyler, but I myself have several complete series bouncing around in my head without an outlet for expressing my thoughts. If possible I'd like to bring attention to shows that most may not see these days, whether they were a hit during their original run, or if they went (or are going) unwatched. There will be plenty of time for the Arrested Developments and Parks and Recreations of the world down the line, but for now I thought I'd start with my favorite TV show of all time, The Simpsons.
        Matt Groening's unbelievably long-running, animated comedic series is the show I grew up with. The show began its run with a Christmas special in December 1989, followed by a first season in January 1990, which is more than three years before I was born. I didn't start watching the show until the point when most would say it began to decline ever so slightly in quality, in the early 2000s. Running in heavy syndication on the local UPN channel, I saw three Simpsons episodes a day, five days a week (plus new episodes on Fox). 6:00pm, 7:30pm, and an 11:00pm episode that I would record and watch the next morning before school. The Simpsons became a window to popular culture for me, as I was inundated with everything from sharp political references (the Kennedy caricature that is Mayor Quimby) to guest appearances by people I otherwise may not have been aware of (Michael Jackson voicing a man Homer meets in an asylum who thinks he's Michael Jackson). The window in the culture that the show became was a crucial part of informing my interests and taste in humor and entertainment.
        For the uninitiated, The Simpsons focuses on middle aged, bald, overweight, dimwitted and caring Homer Simpson and his dysfunctional nuclear family. Blue-haried bee-hive wearing wife Marge, a loving homemaker and often a moral center for the family; brainy eight year old Lisa, a lover of books and jazz; baby Maggie, the mute but wise member of the family who's far more capable than she seems; and last, but not least, Bart, the smart-ass 10 year old prankster with a heart of gold and an insatiable craving for Butterfingers (not really, but they're fun commercials). Then we have the cast of thousands that inhabits Springfield, USA, the hometown of Simpsons, which includes everyone from the pig-like police Chief Wiggum to the delightfully cynical and troubled children's television star Krusty the Clown. Check out the below image for a wide array of Springfieldians even the most ardent fan couldn't possibly memorize (I'd be lucky to recognize half of them).

        This cast of colorful characters is brimming with stereotypes, parodies, and caricatures that helps to inform the show's central theme as a comedic take on life as a middle class American family, but it also broadens the possibilities of what can be done with the stories from episode to episode. The first few seasons of The Simpsons, especially the first, are really a look at the humorous possibilities of a regular sitcom family in an animated world, such as when Homer buys a cheap RV, accidentally destroys it in the wild, and tries to survive with the family with his limited knowledge of nature. Maggie is practically adopted by a family of bears; try doing that on a soundstage, in front of an audience. As the show grew in popularity and creativity, it branched out into smart cultural parodies, such as the Beatles-style rise and fall of Homer's barbershop quartet, or Bart's dangerous encounters with the murderous Sideshow Bob in the Gilbert and Sullivan-laiden episode "Cape Feare" (a take off on both murder-driven Cape Fear films). The show could also be wonderfully self-aware, as in this potentially clairvoyant clip from 1992 that is hilarious in the face of the show's impending 25th season:

        Despite the fact that The Simpsons did what few shows can do by staying relevant and funny for nearly a decade, it inevitably saw a dip in quality, though most fans (myself included) would likely agree that it was still pretty darn good. Entering its early teens, the show was more apparently lacking that which made it so successful early on: its heart. This is the curse of the shows sliding timeline, during which the world around the characters changes but they remain the same age. Bart has been 10 since 1987, when the Simpsons first appeared as characters in animated segments of The Tracey Ullman Show, and he's turned 10 many times since. The characters could only learn so many life lessons before they started to repeat themselves in different episodes down the line. The saving grace of the show ever since has been its continuing comedic quality, something that has certainly wavered but never completely died. Though never seemingly ready to wrap up the show for good, Groening (pronounced "graining") and his army of showrunners, producers and writers are well aware of the The Simpsons' sometimes strained run. Season 11 concluded with "Behind the Laughter," a tongue-in-cheek look at how Homer first decided to shoot a TV show based no his life, and how it took off and became a massive success, nearly destroying the personal lives of its stars. The episode pokes fun at the merchandising giant created in the show's wake, proclaiming that, "Simpsons gin was wetting whistles worldwide," while also noting that the fictitious "Simpsons Christmas Boogie" was a triple-platinum hit at the Grammys. What really stands out when I revisit this episode is the closing song, in which a narrator sings that, "Have no fears, we've got stories for years," before citing examples like Homer gets a cellphone and Marge becomes a robot. Although not quite that inane, some plots from the last 13 seasons have been shockingly similar, but I'm sure the irony isn't lost on the Simpsons team.

        I would argue that the best Simpsons story since that time, and the one that affirms just how good the show can still be, is actually the long-rumored and wished for film that arrived in theaters July 27th, 2007. The Simpsons Movie was written by eleven of the show's best writers, and directed by one of its veteran directors, David Silverman. It took a well-worn plot device, Homer does something selfish and stupid, and turned it into a touching and hilarious big screen adventure for fans and newbies alike. Although there's no denying that having watched the nearly two-decade run of episodes that preceded the film would help inform jokes about characters and past events, the movie is funny enough to carry itself as an independent story, and it keeps the jokes flying and the plot moving, making for a nice brisk 87-minute tale that reminds us why The Simpsons has become an institution of entertainment.
        I would be remiss not to mention the many talented folks who put their time and effort into the show. Beginning with Matt Groening, James L. Brooks (writer/director of Terms of Endearment, co-creator of The Mary Tyler Moore Show), and Sam Simon, the original development team, and evolving into a revolving door of comedic and cinematic talents that include Conan O'Brien, Pixar director Brad Bird, and people who have gone on to create and work on shows like The Office and The Larry Sanders Show. Like writing for Saturday Night Live, working on The Simpsons has become an unofficial of a requirement for comedy writers in Hollywood. The show would be nothing without its brilliant scripts, but of course it takes a talented team of vocal artists to bring to life such a varied group of characters, and Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer are just that. They have created characters that can be so authentic yet very much caricatures and thinly veiled copies of real-life figures. They know how to sell a joke for all its worth and bring the raw emotion when need be (a particular scene in the movie with Marge bearing her soul to Homer is absolutely heartbreaking, and Kavner nails every second of it). Joining the regular cast members (and semi-regulars like Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Maggie Roswell, and Marcia Wallace) is a legendary list of guest stars who appear as themselves and as original characters, including everyone from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (the only sitting politician to appear) to Johnny Carson. SNL veteran Phil Hartman was, during his lifetime, perhaps the most valuable guest, appearing several times as a variety of characters, including washed up star Troy McClure and shady lawyer Lionel Hutz.

The Simpsons' cast.

        The Simpsons premiered on the Fox network as a gamble. It was the first animated show to air in primetime since The Flintstones in the 1960s, and it originally aired Thursday nights, against The Cosby Show. It would go on to become the longest running animated series, the longest running sitcom, and the longest running scripted primetime series of all time. Not too shabby. With 528 episodes and counting, The Simpsons continues to endure, having spawned not just a movie but also endless forms of merchandising (Do you own a talking Homer Simpson pizza cutter? I know I do.) and, true to form, a theme park ride that comments on the banalities of theme park rides. The über-nerd character known as Comic Book Guy is quite fond of pointing out when something is the, "Worst. _____. Ever." Somehow, I think he'd find room in his heart to admit that The Simpsons has become one of the greatest television shows of all time. It's an unabashed force of nature that can't be stopped, and every time I catch an episode—new or old, favorite or not—I'm reminded of exactly why it's my favorite show. Homer Simpson may be yellow and stupid, and he may unintentionally subvert your expectations, but you'll never forget that he's a real person (even if he's not).


"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman."

- Homer Simpson, "Lost Our Lisa" (Episode 24, Season 9)

Monsters University

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 7/9/13

National Lampoon's Monster House

by Hunter Isham

        Don't panic, but Pixar's made another film that revisits old characters. Monsters University thankfully is not Cars 2, although it's not Toy Story 3 either. It's a film that doesn't match its predecessor, but finds some new ground wholly worth visiting. In fact, the only aspect of MU that even approaches the territory of a retread is the fact that it's a college movie, featuring a classic students vs. jocks and students vs. dean structure, but the brain trust at Pixar knows how to creatively milk well-worn story beats by infusing them with the visual charm and wit the animation studio is known for. They even find a way at the end of the film to make far more unique than you'd ever think it could turn out to be, but that's the genius of Pixar.
        The original Monsters, Inc. focused on Sulley (John Goodman) and his protective relationship with a young human girl he names Boo. His pal Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) was always by his side, providing comic relief and nervous exasperation throughout their adventure together. Monsters University, featuring virtually no human characters, focuses on Mike as a smart and precocious young monster who dreams of attending Monsters U and becoming the greatest scarer of all time (because children's screams power the monster world, of course). Though Mike knows the science behind scaring, the short, goofy cyclops is not an inherently frightening creature, causing sparks to fly when his peers are so impressed by the lazy slacker James P. "Sulley" Sullivan who has the physique and family legacy of a world class scarer. Their squabbling gets them into trouble with Dean Hardscrabble, menacingly voiced by Helen Mirren, and soon all bets are riding on the Scare Games, a fraternity competition that sees Mike and Sulley join the smallest and wimpiest of all the frats.
        A story ripped straight from textbook college movie plots might sound like a rehash of things far below Pixar's abilities, but their knack for comedy shines in Monsters University as they have the opportunity to send up college culture via stereotypes (nerds, jocks, slackers, hippies, etc...), common experiences (dreary weather and monotone professors after the winter break), and visual gags (dorm food is literally garbage at MU). The comedy and fun assortment of characters, including Mike and Sulley's fraternity brothers, are what keep the film moving until its final act, in which it manages to break free of college-driven confines of its plot and surprise us with a message that few, if any, big family movies have ever tried to communicate. I won't spoil the ending, but as we all know from Monsters, Inc., Mike didn't become a scarer, he became Sulley's scare coach and partner at work, and Monsters University deftly handles the notion that sometimes our dreams can't quite come true, and our lives are fulfilled when we can do something we love for which we actually have a talent.
        Billy Crystal is key to communicating this eventual revelation in Mike, as he channels young optimism and determination, not to mention a brainy, know-it-all attitude, all of which let him think that his brains can make up for his sever lack of brawn. John Goodman brings depth to Sulley's internal conflict, being a slacker who seemingly doesn't deserve his family name, and he and Crystal together bring to life characters that still have fantastic chemistry, more than ten years later*. Mirren is an excellent choice to play the imposing dragon-centipede hybrid that is Dean Hardscrabble, perfectly inhabiting a role that is more bone-chilling than flat out terrifying, which is perhaps the best way to portray a dean. Nathan Fillion is well cast as the hotshot head member of Roar Omega Roar, the top fraternity on campus, just as Aubrey Plaza and Tyler Labine are smart choices for the disparately enthusiastic Greek Council president and vice-president, respectively. Mike and Sulley's frat, Oozma Kappa (because it's members are just OK), is brimming with fun personalties brought to life by Joel Murray (Freddy Rumsen on Mad Men), Peter Sohn, Charlie Day, and Dave Foley and Sean Hayes as the heads of a two-headed monster with differing tastes and majors. Monsters veterans like John Ratzenberger, Bonnie Hunt, and Steve Buscemi lend their voices once more, as do reputable newcomers Julia Sweeney, John Krasinski, and Alfred Molina.
        Director and co-writer Dan Scanlon, along with producer Kori Rae, have reached an agreeable and realistic middle ground on which future Pixar sequels and prequels can safely land. Monsters University is a Pixar film that falls short of its studio's greatest efforts, lacking the unparalleled emotional depth found in Up and Toy Story 3, but retaining the heart and charm that are Pixar's trademark qualities. The brain trust in Emeryville consistently delivers films that are a cut above the rest, and Monsters University is most certainly a welcome addition to its growing library. As composer Randy Newman's rich, academic alma mater proclaims about MU, "No matter where life takes us, Your light will come shining through," and as someone who's grown up on Pixar movies (and is now quite appropriately in college), no statement could be more true of the animation studio. "Oh, Monsters University – Alma Mater, hale to you." 8/10



*Yes, I'm aware that Crystal and Goodman likely did not record their voices together for Monsters University together, which is quite normal in animation, but they do such great work individually that when the Pixar editors put it together it works seamlessly.

The Conversation

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 6/24/13

Before PRISM, there was Hackman.

by Hunter Isham

        This week we take a trip back to 1974, the year that gave us Chinatown and The Godfather, Part II, the latter of which was co-written and directed by the same man who wrote and directed The Conversation, Francis Ford Coppola. This quiet but chilling thriller won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974, and it was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards alongside the two aforementioned films, but it just wasn't Coppola's year, as The Conversation lost out to that Godfather sequel and its director (oh, wait...). A remarkable movie that may slip under some people's radars these days, The Conversation tells the story of private surveillance expert Harry Caul as he records a mysteriously ordinary conversation between two people for a powerful corporate client, only to be haunted by the thought that his work may bring that couple harm.
        The Conversation captures attention through its silence and apparent simplicity. Much of the film is Caul living his life as he struggles with trying to understand the conversation he recorded while debating what to do with the tapes. As an invader of privacy, we get to see how he lives, trusting no one in his life, and living in a fairly barren apartment in San Francisco as a way to appease his own paranoia given how well he knows his isolation can be anything but. The film doesn't really kick into high gear until its third act, and by then the slow simmer of revealing Harry's quiet, secluded environment and lifestyle have prepared us for just about anything, but not the quick and satisfying resolution it provides to the mystery it set up in its opening moments. We begin to feel just as paranoid as Harry, unwilling to let our guard down or enter a public space without checking over our shoulder.
        A key element in keeping such a low-key film engaging is the lead, Gene Hackman. He brings Coppola's creation to life with the proper amount of remorse, intelligence, and hardened professionalism, making him sad, but not pitiful; smart, but not arrogant. He seems like a regular guy who's decided to cut himself off from the world when he's not listening in on it. Although this film is essentially a one man show that rests on Hackman's strong performance, a fantastic supporting cast fills out the remaining parts, including John Cazale, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford (pre-Star Wars, post-American Graffiti), and, briefly, Robert Duvall. Cazale is good as one of Caul's associates, Williams is intriguing as one of his surveillance targets, and Ford is steely and intimidating a representative for Caul's client. Ultimately, their collective strengths simply help to bolster Hackman.
        Francis Ford Coppola had quite a year in 1974, releasing both The Conversation and The Godfather, Part II, although the former isn't as widely publicized as the latter. He crafted a tense thriller that grips you if only because of its peculiar solemnity while also finding a nice showcase for San Francisco, his personal Hollywood of the north that proves to be fine backdrop without distracting from the action. Hackman and the rest of the consummate pros at Coppola's disposal inhabit a world that, for all its reel to reel tapes and pay phones, is startlingly similar and relevant to our own. Hardly dated, The Conversation can still send chills down your spine and surprise you with its twists, reminding you that while you don't have to isolate yourself, it's probably not a bad idea to monitor your privacy, lest someone else do it for you. 9/10

Drive

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 6/18/13

Just a little dark. Maybe.

by Hunter Isham

        Before formally jumping into this review of Drive, I'll say that I've had a whirlwind of a weekend that kept me fairly busy, and I've been away from the keyboard for a bit. With official business out of the way, let's get down to why we're all here. I was one of the intrigued few who decided to catch Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 crime drama Drive while it was still in theaters. It's a film that is at once quiet and subtle yet pulsing with energy and bursts of violence. Ryan Gosling stars as the Driver, a movie stunt driver and freelance getaway man who gives his criminal clients strict rules about how long they have before he takes off. He makes the acquaintance of an attractive neighbor, Irene (Carrie Mulligan), watching over her and her young son. From there he works to help settle her husband's debt, freeing them from the watchful eye of those who dwell in Los Angeles' seedy underbelly.
        To be quite honest, I haven't seen Drive since it's theatrical release, and while it's certainly a film that sticks in your mind, I haven't been eager to see it again, despite my own curiosity as to how I'd perceive it now. There are many great elements of this film that make it quite good, specifically the cast, including the stoic Gosling, a tender Mulligan, a cowering Bryan Cranston (as Gosling's mechanic pal/manager), and a slimy, menacing Albert Brooks as a movie producer whose got more than just a little business on the side. Gosling does a great job of holding our attention despite the low key character, making it absolutely necessary to watch him when he suddenly bursts into bouts of violence, such as a now infamous scene in an elevator involving the Driver's shoe and a henchman's head. With such a wonderful and varied cast, which also includes an appearance by Mad Men's Christina Hendricks, it may be hard to imagine there being a standout, but Brooks gives a truly powerhouse performance. He shares a scene late in the film with Cranston that is hard to forget, and divulging any details would spoil both the plot and ruin the nuances of the performances (contrasting Cranston's relatively weak character here with Breaking Bad's Walter White shows his own fantastic range).
        Another strong element that gives the actors a beautiful sandbox in which to play is the gorgeous cinematography that Drive features. This film can be a feast for the eyes at times, even if it's when Gosling is walking down the corridor of a strip club, clutching a hammer that will soon be a tool of coercion. Winding Refn (of Denmark, for those who are curious) certainly knows how to direct a film, matching the wonderful photography (for which cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel must largely be responsible) with a steady pace that doesn't lurch forward as one might expect given the many quiet and relatively explosive moments. Cliff Martinez' score must also be given a good deal of credit for helping to set the mood of the film.
        Good actors? Check. Taut direction? Check. Solid screenplay? (Not mentioned, but yes, it's solid) Check. Everything seems right, so why haven't I wanted to revisit the world of Drive. Well, it's dark. I don't have a problem with dark, but Drive is dark in that melodic, occasionally ponderous way, where bad things happen and the audience is supposed to sit and admire how beautiful everything looks, no matter how violent it is. Is it the violence? No, I don't mind the film's violence (although I did cringe a bit when viewing the film), but when Drive gets violent, it gets violent. It sounds like I need to watch more Rock Hudson and Doris Day comedies, but I really don't mind the intensity of it all. I suppose my main beef with Drive is that I simply didn't love it with a capital L. Many proclaimed it one of the best films of 2011, and thought it was a dark horse candidate for some Oscar nominations (Brooks is deserving here), but I merely considered it very good. That's definitely not an indictment of this film's quality, but rather a statement about my reaction to it. I suppose the worst thing I can say about Drive is that when the end credits rolled I immediately felt the need to watch something light and funny, and I settled on Mel Brooks' classic Blazing Saddles. That film takes you about as far in the other direction as is possible, but that's a topic for another review. For now, feel safe that if you don't mind lots of blood and a potential craving for insane screwball comedy, Drive is a trip worth taking. 8/10

Chinatown

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 6/9/13

Forget it, Jake.

by Hunter Isham

        Roman Polanski's 1974 mystery film Chinatown is neo-noir at its best, introducing elements to the film noir genre that before would have seemed far too controversial. Our hero is the unsavory yet decent snoop J.J. "Jake" Gittes, a man who deals mostly in finding and revealing the adulterous acts of his clients' spouses. He doesn't exactly seem in it for the good of the people. Hired to look into the personal life of Hollis Mulwray, chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Gittes quickly begins to uncover a devious scheme of corruption, the kind that is a hallmark of the detective film. Chinatown gives us a tale that's about as dark as they get, and the film's famously shocking ending is a reminder of that tone, yet it stands as one of the greatest mystery films of all time.
        For all of the iconic roles he's inhabited, Jack Nicholson has the ability to become his characters while also being unmistakably Nicholson, and his first performance as Jake Gittes is typically fantastic, and one of the many keys to this film's success. Nicholson's many characters over the years have included those who have their own crazy idiosyncrasies and moments of apparent insanity, such as Jack Torrance in The Shining and the Joker in Batman, but as Gittes he is restrained while retaining all of his charm and personality. He can talk his way into (or out of) just about anything, and his wilder moments come only when he's forced to literally spring into action. Such a slick personality needs something to counter it and Faye Dunaway does this as Evelyn Mulwray, the mysterious wife of Hollis who always seems to be hiding something. Dunaway's performance is a true balancing act as she is able to go from an overly protective enigma to a real, softened person caught up in a whole lot of deceit. The trifecta of wonderful actors in Chinatown is complete with John Huston as Noah Cross, a man partially responsible for bringing water to Los Angeles with Hollis Mulwray. Huston—known mostly for his illustrious career of a director of such classics as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Man Who Would Be King, and Annie—is excellent in his few scenes as Cross, a formidable persona with whom Gittes crosses paths. The remainder of the cast is filled with character actors who provide all the right touches, be they hardened cops or shifty henchmen (a role Polanski inhabits here quite well).
        The rest of what makes Chinatown work like a well-oiled machine is hardly minor. Robert Towne's screenplay is smart, dark, and complex, creating a mystery around the real life water wars that took place in pre-War Los Angeles while swapping out real figures for fictitious ones for the good of the story (for example, Mulwray is a stand-in for Mulholland, now famous for the twisty road that bears his name). Now legendary composer contributes a period-specific score of haunting brass and strings that helps pull you into the film's world during its throwback opening credits. The man who puts it all together (and who nixed Towne's original ending) is Roman Polanski. Given that his personal life has sullied his name for many, we'll just avoid his indiscretions as they have no affect on how his work should be viewed (although interestingly, Chinatown was his last American film, just a few years before he made it impossible for himself to return). Whatever you may think of him as a human being, there's no denying that Polanski can direct, something the Academy confirmed decades after he'd fled by awarding him for his work on The Pianist. Of all his films, which also include Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown will likely remain that one "classic" that everyone admires. Polanski successfully recreates 1930s Los Angeles with the locations untouched by still-growing development, leaving the film with an authentic atmosphere that feels just right. Some films like Chinatown are more about the period than the story taking place within it, but here it is just the opposite, where everything feels real but never heightened.
        Chinatown has become the ultimate neo-noir film, reaching into the darker depths that were often hinted at in earlier motion pictures. Classics like 1955's Kiss Me Deadly approached the line, and even a limb over from time to time, but Polanski's film firmly plants itself in a new generation of genre. Even if Chinatown weren't toying with a formula, it would still be one hell of a movie, with Nicholson, Dunaway, Towne, and Polanski all operating at the top of their respective professions, creating an endlessly entertaining experience that should not be missed. Many films have tried to follow in its footsteps, including a worthy but somewhat lesser follow-up (1990's The Two Jakes, written again by Towne and directed by Nicholson) and the phenomenal L.A. Confidential, but this one remains the gold standard. It's Chinatown, and I don't think we'll ever forget it. 10/10

Behind The Candelabra

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 6/2/13

Shinier Than Your Average Biopic

by Hunter Isham

        When Bob Black (Scott Bakula) takes his new friend Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) to see his buddy Liberace's (Michael Douglas) show in Las Vegas, Scott quickly wonders how (in the 1970s) so many people could be drawn to, and adore, such an obviously gay performer. "Oh, they don't know he's gay," Bob explains. Well, if there was any doubt before, that can be laid to rest with Steven Soderbergh's supposedly final* film, Behind The Candelabra, which takes a look at the relationship between an aging Liberace and the young Scott for a number of years. Of course, I don't think there were many who doubted Liberace's private life, at least not in the years since the great pianist passed away, but this film is a compelling view of a rather ordinary relationship twisted by Liberace's penchant for the gaudy life of a celebrity that was every bit as glittery and surprising as his show in Vegas.
        The oddities on display in this film are brought out through its characters, although it remains grounded due to the wonderful performances by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. I've never seen much footage of the real Liberace, but based on photographs and stories alone, Douglas seems to capture his personality with the appropriate amount of flamboyance and charm while never tipping over into a caricature. One review I read prior to the film's debut noted how this may be Douglas' best performance since the original Wall Street, something I wholeheartedly agree with, because this is yet another commanding performance (though not forceful like Gordon Gekko) in which he simply disappears into the character. Damon doesn't have the same luxury of such a public persona on which he can base his performance, but he nonetheless conveys an appropriate naiveté while helping to create a believable relationship with Douglas. The fact that I never doubted their bond as real, or thought they might be winking at the camera, is a testament to their ability to perfectly inhabit their roles.
        While Damon and Douglas ground the sometimes crazy elements at play here, as I said before, they along with the rest of the cast are what give Behind The Candelabra its unmistakable quirk. Scott Bakula has fun as that man who first introduces Scott and Lee (as Liberace like to be called), and Dan Aykroyd is very good as the manager who tries so desperately to keep his client's personal life from the public eye. An unrecognizable Debbie Reynolds is a treat to see in a few short scenes as Lee's mother, sporting a big prosthetic nose and a thick Polish accent. The cast member who damn near steals the show is Rob Lowe as Liberace's horrific plastic surgeon. With an accent I couldn't quite place (New York?) and a face pulled as tight as humanly possible, it's great fun to see speak so seriously about the work he does (which, for the squeamish out there, gets a bit of cringeworthy screen time). The casting itself is hilarious as Lowe is no stranger to parts where his characters are considered handsome, yet here he plays someone who's so flattened and pulled that it hurts just looking at him**.
        Soderbergh had a lot of the hard work done by casting such fantastic actors to portray these distinctive characters, and a wonderful script by Richard LaGravenese keeps things moving while providing the proper amounts of humor along the way (some dark, some just plain funny). However, the director creates a deft balance between of tone, not just with the comedy provided him in the script, but also with how much he should wink at the audience with Liberace's personality and lifestyle. Soderbergh never betrays his subject, yet he also allows us to laugh at the excess on display, gently poking fun at how Lee had a garish home that included a ceiling mural of his own face. The film is also quite beautifully shot, especially the performance scenes in Las Vegas, and that can also be attributed to Soderbergh, who acts as his own cinematographer (credited as Peter Andrews).
        "Too much of a good thing is wonderful," said Liberace, and while that may not be the case for Scott Thorson and those who orbited around Lee, it is certainly true for this film. Great direction, a fantastic script, and a potential all-time best performance by Michael Douglas help communicate an inherently gonzo tale with heart and humor. Matt Damon and Douglas' chemistry make us believe that Scott and Lee were just like any other couple going through tough times, no small feat for such recognizable screen personas (especially Douglas). Although it's a shame this possible last film for Soderbergh is on HBO rather than in theaters, it's still a biopic well-worth your time, whether you DVR it, stream it, or catch it later on DVD. Liberace's story has been dragged into the spotlight in the past, but here it's told with just the right amount of glamour and heart. 9/10



Note: For those curious, Michael Douglas' head was digitally put on to the body of a pianist trained to play exactly like Liberace, so no, Gordon Gekko has not been hiding a secret prodigious talent for playing the piano.

*He's taking an indefinite break (but may work in TV).

**Lowe has stated that the makeup process involved a migraine-inducing procedure of pulling skin and holding it in place while they were shooting.

Iron Man 3

Originally posted to the DMI Review on 5/28/13

Built to Last

by Hunter Isham

        2008's Iron Man was a breath of fresh air, giving us a superhero who is neither a brooding, injured individual nor a chipper do-gooder. Tony Stark was a narcissistic playboy weapons manufacturer who quickly found himself on the wrong end of a terrorist attack. Reborn as Iron Man, the hero who was a narcissistic playboy billionaire with a cause, Stark still had some growth ahead of him. Jon Favreau's film also kicked off the multi-billion dollar franchise now known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which culminated for the first time last year in The Avengers. Just about everyone loved that film, but the same can't be said for Favreau's 2010 sequel Iron Man 2, which spent too much time preparing for Avengers, and not enough time telling Stark's story (not bad, just not Tony-centric). Now that the super-team-up is behind them (for now), the folks at Marvel have given us a stellar third entry in the Iron Man series, creating a personal story that handles the dark stuff without forgetting its light-hearted, snarky roots.
        Set during Christmastime after the events of The Avengers, we find Tony Stark a bit of a mess. He can't sleep, he's having panic attacks, and he can't escape the feeling that he's just a man in a suit next to a super soldier, a god, and a Hulk. To add to the trouble, a bin Laden-esque super terrorist known as the Mandarin is making unexpected attacks all over the country. When an old friend is caught in the crossfire, Tony invites the wrath of the Mandarin, and boy does he get it. As the film's trailer depicts, Stark's Malibu mansion is destroyed, as are his suits, and this is what really sets the plot in motion, as he's left alone without his armory or super-pals, working to uncover the mystery behind the Mandarin while attempting to rebuild with the same ingenuity he used when he was trapped in that cave in the first film. From this point forward, Iron Man 3 plays out with the expected levels of fun and intrigue, involving everyone from the President to a cute kid who helps Stark when he's down and out while avoiding the cliché of being a cute kid who helps our wounded hero.
        This wide range of characters is brought to life by a top-notch cast. By now, Robert Downey, Jr. simply is Iron Man, and here he thankfully doesn't coast on his success, giving the audience a Tony Stark who, for the first time since donning his suit, can't handle the obstacles put in front of him. It helps that he's matched by excellent villains, including Ben Kingsley's Mandarin, a growling iconoclast bent on teaching America a lesson. Chameleon actor Guy Pearce is equally excellent as an oily figure Stark rebuffed more than a decade earlier. Rebecca Hall is fine as another figure from Tony's past, a scientist developing a treatment that can regenerate limbs, although she has less to do than her experiment. Don Cheadle, returning as Tony's best friend Col. James Rhodes (who himself has a weaponized suit), similarly has a sporadic amount of material, but he makes the best of his scenes. The one series regular who gets a boost in importance here is Gwyneth Paltrow, whose Pepper Potts even gets to join in some of the spectacular action sequences as more than just a damsel in distress.
        Speaking of those action sequences, it should be noted that Iron Man 3 features Stark out of the suit perhaps more than any of the previous films, but when he is flying high and battling the bad guys, it's pretty great. Two standout scenes come late in the film, the first being a daring rescue when members of the Air Force One flight crew go shooting out of the back of the plane, and the second being the film's climactic battle involving more than a few Iron Man suits of armor. There's also some fun that harkens back to Tony inventing without his wealth and infrastructure there to protect or provide for him. Overall, the film creates a nice balance between the character moments and the action that allow the human element to breathe in the face of the big explosions and swooping cameras.
        Iron Man 3 simultaneously takes itself seriously while keeping its tongue planted firmly in cheek, giving Tony Stark the standalone follow-up he deserves. Although we've seen moments of fledgling growth from Tony in the past, he truly reaches new ground with this installment, finding out whether or not his Iron Man suit was the key to leaving his old ways behind him. Shane Black does a wonderful job of providing material that is so perfect for Robert Downey, Jr. to play, and the fantastic supporting cast does a great job making this film more than just a one man show. The end of Iron Man 3 leaves the future uncertain for Stark, just as it is for Downey, Jr.. This film fulfills his existing contract with Marvel (a famously frugal bunch), and he's now in negotiations to return for more Avengers outings, which he seems ready to sign on for. More solo endeavors are the big question, and if this third film in the Iron Man trilogy is Downey, Jr.'s last front-and-center outing, we can all rest safe knowing that this Iron Man is one that will satisfy for years to come. 8.75/10