I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
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| Galaxy Quest - "Did you guys even watch the show?" |
Watch Galaxy Quest
Written by: David Howard (story), David Howard and Robert Gordon (screenplay)
Directed by: Dean Parisot
Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shaloub, Justin Long
Rated: PG
Plot:
Satirizing science fiction television and the fandom, the retired cast of a sci-fi television show must put their skills to the test when aliens need their help.
Verdict:
Galaxy Quest is light and fun, but surprisingly deep. Fans want their television heroes to be real, and the actors want to be those same heroes. A fictional television series suddenly becomes real, recreated by an alien race. The movie is a big meta commentary on sci-fi, fans, and actors. Every scene is a joke or parody. It's incredibly clever. I can't criticize the scenes that lack logic, because those scenes are the same ones I've seen in numerous sci-fi programs.
Watch it.
Review:
Galaxy Quest is so revered by Star Trek fans that the 2013 Star Trek convention voted it as the seventh best Star Trek film. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) was dead last at number thirteen. Stark Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982) was first. Patrick Stewart called the film "brilliant."
Sam Rockwell based his performance off of Bill Paxton in Aliens (1986). Kevin Spacey convinced Rockwell not to drop out of the film. The scene where Tim Allen is in the restroom and overhears people stating the cast are washed up and nobody likes him actually happened to William Shatner at a Star Trek convention.
Sigourney Weaver stated that whenever she put on the blonde wig for her character, she could feel her IQ drop.
I've seen this movie long ago. I liked it, but since then I've seen the original Star Trek movies and series. Alan Rickman's character is more prescient now after playing Snape.
The movie blends drama and comedy, looking at both sides of what happens after a cult show goes off air. Fans want to rally around their heroes, turning the show into a hobby of devotion and obsession. The actors coast off their one time fame. Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith the captain, buys into the false reality just as hard as the fans. He thinks he's revered by fans and costars, but realizes his misconception when he overhears a conversation between two fans that regard him as a joke. Nesmith thought he was a rock star, but he's only revered by a very small portion of society, and his costars are tired of his narcissism.
Alan Rickman plays Alan Dane, a highly skilled stage actor relegated to donning prosthetics and appearing as an alien. Sigourney Weaver is Gwen DeMarco, stuck playing a ditzy female in a low cut top that just repeats whatever the ship's computer says.
Nesmith's biggest fans happen to be the alien race Thermians. Comically, they are robotic and simple, believing the television show to be a historical record. It's quite a jab at the super fans. Fans want to believe the character an actor plays actually is the actor, but that's simply not true. We want heroes and someone to look up to. Actors create conducive fantastical worlds for just that. Nobody thinks these types of shows are real, but it's fun to pretend and use it as escapism.
Nesmith wants to help the Thermians. He can finally be the captain he's pretended to be for so man years. He convinces his costars to join him, as they think it's a paid gig. They soon realize that this isn't a convention.
It's a great moment when the crew takes the bridge of a real spaceship that looks like the old set, the Thermians watching in admiration. That moment soon turns to comedy when the pilot steers the ship into the dock wall in a long ear piercing scrape. He's never actually flown a ship, and none of the crew want to tell the Thermians the truth.
After embracing their roles, with Gwen even repeating everything the computer says, the crew ends up in a parody episode of Star Trek when they first attempt peace negations with a violent reptilian alien race. Nesmith mistakenly leaves the standard Star Trek view screen on, calling the alien stupid.
The crew shuttles to a planet to acquire beryllium to power their ship. They find the beryllium and a cute alien race. Guy Fleegman, an extra in the original show that happens to tag along, reminds the crew that the cute aliens will somehow transform into monsters. Exasperated he asks, "Did you guys ever watch the show?" Nesmith loses his shirt a la Captain Kirk, but makes it back to the ship.
The real heroes aren't the crew that are still trying to fake it, but the super fans that studied the show. They direct Nesmith and crew through the ship to defeat the evil aliens.
The Omega 13 device that no one knows what it does, saves the day. There is no explanation as to how only Nesmith recalls what happened, though I can't call that a mistake as the movie could be making a joke about how often television shows do that same thing. The crew ends up crashing the ship into a convention center without major structural failings, injuries, or casualties. The crowd thinks it's part of a scripted entrance and loves it.
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| The Player - Incredibly clever Hollywood satire, containing everything a good movie should. |
Watch The Player
Written by: Michael Tolkin (screenplay), Michael Tolkin (novel)
Directed by: Robert Altman
Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Vincent D'onofrio
Rated: R
Plot:
A studio executive gets death threats after rejecting a writer's script.
Verdict:
This is a movie about movies. It's a depiction of golden age Hollywood, at least what I imagine that's like, with numerous celebrity cameos bolstering the fabricated authenticity. The plot includes murder, sex, and intrigue. It's everything the characters tell us a good movie requires. The events culminate into the perfect ending. The numerous film references are a bonus to those that recognize them, but don't hinder the movie if you aren't familiar. It's clever on it's own.
Watch it.
Review:
The Player operates on at least two levels the entire time. Hollywood producer Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) receives anonymous threats from a disgruntled writer upset his script was rejected. Mill is trying to keep his producer job and explains throughout to other characters, and in turn us, what makes a movie good and why scripts get approved or disapproved. Movies have to have a happy ending. Of course everything he says that makes a movie good is included in The Player. Mill could just as well be commenting on the movie we're watching. It's a movie he would make. The ending is anything if not over the top, but it works because the movie had been setting us up for that ending the entire time.
The very first scene is an eight minute uninterrupted tracking shot in the studio lot. Characters slip in and out of the scene discussing famous tracking shots from movies like Rope or A Touch of Evil and the MTV mentality of short quick clips. The celebrity cameos really lend credibility. There are more than sixty-five celebrity cameos playing themselves. Griffin Mill even storyboards his predicament with his girlfriend who is a story editor, without letting her know it's happening to him. She predicts the threats would last close to six months.
Dissatisfied at that prospect, Mill determines the writer sending the threats and confronts David Kahane (Vincent D'onofrio), offering him a job. Maybe they could remake The Bicycle Thief. The writer responds disgustedly that the studio would ruin it with a happy ending. After leaving Kahane, Mill considers the threats over.
Just to note, Mill has a fax machine in his car. It's ridiculous, but it's also completely Hollywood. Numerous film references are laced throughout the movie, and the camera often pans at the end of the scene to a movie poster that comments on the scene. Mill ends up involved in a police investigation.
One year later, Mill married the girlfriend of the man he killed. His ploy to sabotage a fellow producer worked perfectly, and he's now head of the studio. The movie his studio was filming which was part of the sabotage and he managed to "save" has completely changed with his input from no stars and a downer ending to Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, and an incredibly upbeat ending. Hollywood loves happy endings after all.
Griffins Mill states a movie needs suspense, violence, nudity, and sex. That's exactly what this movie provides. When Mill's stalker pitches Mill's murder and subsequent success as a script, the exact movie we've been watching, Mills asks if the stalker can guarantee a happy ending. The stalker can if the price is right and Mill agrees to produce the script. It is such a perfect ending to The Player. What did we expect would happen with the constant hints? Hollywood loves happy endings. Hollywood also loves movies about Hollywood.
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| Sixteen Candles - An adventure through the eyes of teenagers. |
Watch Sixteen Candles
Written by: John Hughes
Directed by: John Hughes
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry, John Cusack
Rated: PG
Plot:
Sixteen isn't always sweet, when Samantha's family forgets about her birthday.
Verdict:
It's a teenage angst movie with a credible, fully realized characters that don't succumb to the typical jock versus geek stereotype. It's part wish fulfillment and part human drama that's engaging and well written while capturing a snapshot of what it feels like to be a teenager.
Watch it.
Review:
I've seen this before, and I'm still impressed with how many movies John Hughes wrote in the '80s and how many became classics. He was a machine.
Ratings were definitely different back then. Now, if you drop an "f-bomb", the movie is rated PG-13. This movie drops a bomb four minutes in and depicts a naked woman with a PG rating. It's rated the same as Minions (2015).
This movies is also from an era where offending anyone that wasn't a white male isn't a concern.
Samantha (Molly Ringwald) is turning sixteen, but with her older sister's wedding the next day, two younger siblings, and both sets of grandparents staying in her house, no one remembers her birthday.
It captures the memory of what it's like to be a teen. Everyday feels momentous, Samantha declaring this day the worst in her life. . The writing is pure teenage angst, but it's done so well. The teens talk like adults, and while many teen movies divide characters into stereotypical groups that can never interact, this movie subverts that.
The geek, Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), and Samantha share a great moment sitting in a disassembled vehicle in a shop class during the school dance. They are open and honest, with Samantha pining for the popular Jake Ryan and Ted admitting he isn't the ladies man he claims. Both actors do a great job of effortlessly shifting between confidant and vulnerable. This is accentuated by great directing. Every character has little ticks, nods, or looks that convey how they feel. In so many movies, actors wait to deliver their lines. In this, the actors react to lines providing a lot of subtlety and depth.
In a genre where the female lead would either never interact with the geek or they would become a couple, this scene allows them to just talk. Despite being a geek, you root for Ted and his unwavering confidence.
Samantha has a crush on Jake Ryan, but instead of this being a make over movie or I really am in love with the geek movie, he likes her too. As nervous as Samantha is to approach the popular senior Jake, he's just as nervous to approach her.
Jake and Ted even interact. At first Ted assumes Jake wants to beat him up because that's what happens in these movies, but that's not it. Jake wants to ask him about Samantha.
This is fantasy to a large degree, but it's the imagined fantasy we wish happened in our teenage years. That's what this movie is, and it's why Hughes films were so successful. He's tapping into those imagined stories we wish we experienced.
The underrated teen film Can't Hardly Wait (1998) falls into the same category, feeling like a spiritual successor. If you like Sixteen Candles, you'll like that.
As much as I like this, Jake's comment of taking advantage of his drunk girlfriend or loaning her to Ted is terrible. There are numerous movies that glorify murder, but when a movie like this glories violating a female as an aspiration for teens, it's something I wish had been left out. It easily could have been changed.
Groups complain when a movie is insensitive, but I don't think anyone should derive their values from a movie. Of course what I think isn't fact. People do derive values from a movie. I've read reviews stating that the '80s were a different time, and that no one was offended back then. It's not that movies can't make fun of people, but Wantanabe's character is the only Asian in the film and he has no significant lines, reduced to a poorly imagined stereotype. That becomes a problem when Asians in film are played by Caucasians or are only depicted in a stereotypical manner.
I'm from the South, and many people assume that people from the South are confederate flag waving rednecks simpletons. This assumption is depicted in numerous films, and it is annoying. Exaggerate that to not just a geographical area, but an entire race. What happens when every depiction of someone like you is an inaccurate stereotype?
Should movies be censored, no. Should we be able to point out a poor depiction of a person, people, or other class of people, yes. The response to that shouldn't be, don't take it personal, it's just a joke, or it's a different time. Acknowledge a different point of view instead of dismissing it.
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| Rock the Kasbah - Murray attempts to defend this movie. |
Watch Rock the Kasbah
Written by: Mitch Glazer (screenplay)
Directed by: Barry Levinson
Starring: Bill Murray, Leem Lubany, Zooey Deschanel, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Danny McBride
Rated: R
Plot:
A music manager discovers an Afghan singer in a small village and tries to get her on music competition reality show.
Verdict:
There is a mismatch between tone and content. Murray plays his typical role of a lovable loser, but this contrasts with the societal norms being challenged in Afghanistan. The movie could easily be a drama based on content. The result is a muddled mess that isn't as funny as it should be or as impacting as it could be.
Skip it.
Review:
Bill Murray is a washed up music talent agent. He's scamming checks off of hopefuls that lack even basic talent. He makes big claims about the talent he's worked with before, but it's hard to buy the stories with where he is now.
He finds a new scam where he can make money on the USO tour in Afghanistan. He takes his only legitimate client, Zooey Deschanel. She's less than thrilled with an Afghanistan trip. Their ride to the hotel is in an armored truck, and they're relegated to the hotel due to open bomb threats.
The movie relies on a foreigner in in a strange land trope, but it isn't very comedic. It's not like Murray can do much as there isn't a lot of plot. His singing talent flees the country and he's left with no money. He ends up in a village and finds a girl that is an amazing singer, Salima. I assumed he would find the girl much earlier, but instead the plot drags.
He manages to get her on the popular reality show, Afghan Star. It's a singing competition, but in Afghanistan people frown upon not only a woman in this competition, but with a woman singing period.
It's similar to Million Dollar Arm (2014) (read my review), though not as good which isn't saying much. Both movies suffer from trying to focus on the big name star, and not spending enough time on the actual subject. If Rock the Kasbah focused on the struggles of Salima instead of forcing celebrity cameos and letting Murray chew scenery, it could be a good film. This is a serious story with grave consequences told by a comedian.
Murray's romps aren't all that entertaining. He makes a deal to protect Salima's village with a mercenary played by Bruce Willis so that she can sing in the competition despite the threats. This undoes an arms deal scam he stumbled into at the beginning of the film that first landed him in the village.
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| Anomalisa - Kaufman creates another unique experience. |
Watch Anomalisa
Written by: Charlie Kaufman, Charlie Kaufman (play as Francis Fregoli)
Directed by: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman
Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Rated: R
Plot:
A man leading a painfully ordinary life experiences something extraordinary when he meets Lisa.
Verdict:
The skill and craft displayed in the animation is truly amazing. The story is deceptively simple, but this feels like it should have been a short film instead of feature length.
It depends.
Review:
This is the first R-rated animated movie to be nominated for the best animated feature Oscar category. The movie is stop motion animated felt puppets, and the attention to detail and product is stunning. It's surprisingly realistic looking.
Kaufman has a distinct style, creating dense stories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is his most mainstream movie while Synecdoche, New York (2008) is almost frustratingly deep.
Michael Stone is a customer service expert on a book tour. His tips of how to connect to customers propel clients to success, but despite his knowledge of customer support he is tired of having to interact with people. He's alienated from the world.
Michael stays at Hotel Fregoli. The Fregoli Illusion is a disorder where the patient thinks everyone they encounter is one person disguised as many. This is reinforced by Tom Noonan voicing all other characters except for Michael and Lisa.
Anomalisa's style is bizarre and uncanny due to realistic looking puppets, but the story is almost banal, tapping into base human emotions. Michael longs to find somebody in the sea of boring people. To Michael people are not beautiful and unique snowflakes. They are so boring, everyone even sounds alike. It's difficult to depict the monotony of Michael's life without becoming mundane.
When Michael hears a female voice, distinct from any voice we or he has hear in the movie, he has to find her. Lisa is self conscious and lacks confidence, but Michael is drawn to her.
Michael's life has become a mindless repetition and Lisa is that something different he is desperate to find. Even his attraction to her doesn't last.
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