A confusing title, the presence of the recently hit-or-miss Tom Cruise and a dark-looking paramilitary milieu are disguising what is actually one of the most clever films of the year, Doug Liman’s Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (B). After a bit of a slow start in introducing a future in which warfare is being waged on the European front against squid-like aliens, the story injects a potent mixology of “mimic biology” and game mechanics to allow its reluctant hero to relentlessly reset his days to achieve victory over the earth’s invaders, even if it means dying again and again. Instead of playing his traditional alpha male role, Cruise gets to evolve into his heroism, and he does so with some deft comedy and bright, self-effacing acting choices. Emily Blunt is a fierce presence as the military might of the adventure and makes a sly foil and muse to Cruise. Video game players will relate to the idea of maneuvering scenarios until sequencing a path to success; and fans of the old choose-your-own-adventure books will relish the alternate realities afforded by the film’s central conceit. It’s a smart, action-packed spectacle; and while not as precise or enticing as an Inception, it holds its own in the category of sci-fi mind-benders.
All posts by Stephen Michael Brown
“Monuments Men” is a Misfire
For a film ostensibly about the preservation of art, it’s a shame that The Monuments Men (D+) is about as compelling as watching paint dry. George Clooney has oceans of resources to pull off an ensemble; and as star, co-writer and director, he tackles the tale of an elite force in WWII responsible for saving famous works of art from falling in the hands of the Nazis or from being destroyed. From the opening moments, the tone is just wrong: a strangely old-fashioned Hogan’s Heroes style pervading with clunky lighting and art direction and slow fades from preachy, pedantic exchanges by a cast of talented and woefully underused actors. Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett are among the ensemble members given very little material with which to work. What’s left is episodic. The high stakes heart of the mission seems oddly intellectual when it should feel urgent. This is a good premise that fell into uneasy directorial hands. It’s as if there were enthusiasm for the notion of the film followed by two hours of the air letting out of the balloon.
“Maleficent” Features Jolie in “Sleeping Beauty” Villain’s Origin Story
An absentee wealthy father, three spinster sisters hawking wish fulfillment and blather, a conflicted surrogate aunt with mixed feelings about a visiting teenager and a 16-year-old with a strong attraction to a needle somehow manage to create a fairly inert melodrama in Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent (C), a revisionist Sleeping Beauty told through the perspective of Angelina Jolie’s fabulous costumes. As the object of audience ambivalence, Jolie does strike a mighty mean pose and has some deliciously nasty lines from time to time. She was most surprising when her sensitive side shines through opposite Elle Fanning as about-to-be-a-cutter Aurora. The effects and characters of the enchanted forest are truly laughable: some look like second unit rejects from the Captain EO creature shop; and even though the running time is brisk, the lopsided narrative withholds most of the intrigue for most of the film’s duration. For reclaiming a villain from history, it’s no Wicked. But in saving Jolie’s virtually hit-free career from continued box office poison, she may have just earned her wings.
“A Million Ways to Die in the West” a Failed Comedy
A spectacular fail on the great wide expanse of the American Wild West, writer/director Seth MacFarlane follows up his deliriously ribald Ted with the supremely unfunny frontier comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West (F). Casting himself in the lead role is honestly the first way MacFarlane demonstrates painful western death, with a cloyingly modern but childish sensibility and an utter lack of awareness inhibiting his protagonist’s basic story needs of winning the girl and defeating the villain. His character is largely a tool (pun intended) to observe how pointless living in the west was and to drone on and belabor this thesis with an escalating series of violent or puerile sight gags. Charlize Theron is the only cast member who leaves this blazing prattle unscathed. Lame jokes and dumb pratfalls abound while there are missed opportunities for real satire. MacFarlane as triple threat makes a terrible leading man, acting from a dopey script in an excessive and lugubriously paced summer tentpole comedy. Hopefully for Universal Studios, this vanity project required little more than letting an enfant terrible run amuck on a backlot and in the desert for a few weeks. These gunslingers needed more zingers to justify more than two hours of oppressive running time.
“X-Men Days of Future Past” (2014) a Tedious Installment
Returning to the director’s chair he occupied for the franchise’s first two installments, Bryan Singer brings little new inspiration to X-Men Days of Future Past (C-), a tedious time travel installment in which the veteran ensemble of mutant superheroes sends Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine back to the ’70’s to help his First Class colleagues of younger selves avert a robot war started by Peter Dinklage. After filmgoers have enjoyed better warped reality executions in Inception, more fun with period detail in American Hustle and more all-around humor and adventure in The Avengers, this fifth (or seventh, depending on how you count) outing of this Marvel menagerie just seems like too little too late. It’s especially disappointing coming off a reboot prequel and an origin story (thanks Matthew Vaughn and James Mangold) that held together more effectively. Jackman phones it in, and Jennifer Lawrence gets nary enough screen time to develop her status as a character playing both sides of warring mutant factions. Most series regulars are reduced to extended cameos (Halle Barry may or may not have been computer generated). James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, given amazing characters in their past outing, are merely at the service of set pieces here. Evan Peters’ Quicksilver is a singular highlight with one hilarious montage of time-lapsed highjinks. There is missed opportunity with the waning days of the Vietnam War and the age of Watergate to have had something more to say here about the need for heroes. Instead the series simply needs to be rescued back from Singer’s lugubrious and poorly plotted return.
“Chef” a Wonderful Comfort Food Comedy
Writer/director Jon Favreau’s Chef (A-) is an ordinary story told extraordinarily about a man’s journey to the brink and back, set against a topical landscape blending the zest of cooking for a living, the zeitgeist of social media as a buzz builder for a restauranteur’s commerce, the influence of one’s family and friends on one’s well-being and keen observations about the melting pot of America with mixed families and split households struggling to make their spiritual soufflés rise with righteousness. Effective in the lead role, Favreau is a veritable lava cake of emotions in need of a new direction, and the story takes him from L.A. to Miami, New Orleans and Austin on a quest to reclaim his food, friends and fatherhood. Sofía Vergara as his ex and John Leguizamo as his kitchen mate are wonderful in supporting roles. Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr. and Dustin Hoffman all make high-impact cameos. It’s an emotional feast with laughs that surface naturally from the story. Check operating hours for your nearest Cuban cuisine before viewing, because you will want a Little Havana style sandwich after watching this film.
Explore my “fantasy food trucks” based on foodie films in my story on BuzzFeed.
“Godzilla” (2014) Gets It Right
Gareth Edwards’ vision for a new Godzilla (B+) is a you-are-there disaster epic with undertones of family drama and a down-to-earth reality undergirding its myth and mayhem. There’s no camp or comedy in this mighty, muscular take on the classic monster legend. Gorgeous retro news reels and a globetrotting travelogue of sequences help plot out the possibilities early, even as surprises lurk behind every corner and cavern. Grounding the proceedings in its serious sphere is Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an extremely likable protagonist, balancing duties as father, husband, son and military operative against the backdrop of worldwide catastrophe. Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe provide additional heft to the proceedings in supporting roles as men who have studied conspiracies that are finally resurfacing. The monsters and their powers are wisely revealed over time during the film’s somewhat long duration, and the slow burn glimpses help build realism and suspense. The stunt work, art direction and effects are quite remarkable, presenting a modern look and feel while hearkening back to some of the iconography purists will crave. Although Edwards can’t sustain his taut atmosphere through every beat of the obligatory final showdowns in San Francisco, he certainly gives a summer movie audience its packed punch of epic thrills. There’s not gonna be a 13-year-old boy on earth who will be able to resist this action flick; and luckily for folks of all ages, it’s a pretty spectacularly well-made film for this genre if you’re going to venture to the cinema for a big screen blockbuster.
Documentary “Breaking Through” Showcases Barrier-Breaking Politicians
Ripped from the headlines about gay politicians breaking down borders in astonishing ways across America, Cindy L. Abel’s Breaking Through (A) is groundbreaking in both its subject matter and its remarkably moving way of telling its subjects’ back stories. Masterful in its mix of immersive, intimate interviews and powerful motion graphics, this stirring sensory experience fixes in on fascinating subjects and doesn’t let viewers go for the duration of its efficient running time. In many cases, the filmmakers peel back multiple layers of their protagonists’ own prejudices and sometimes self-hate and demonstrate how some amazing individuals overcame incredible odds of race, class, gender identity and powerlessness before they even tackled sexual orientation. Ultimately, the film provides commanding portals through which to relate to each of the profiled leaders. Abel juggles a nearly Altmanesque assortment of real-life characters as she deftly documents the stories with the fevered intensity of a foot soldier in an epic march building momentum by the day and will likely even win over a few cynics about the world of politics. Along with high-profile stories such as Tammy Baldwin’s rise to be the first openly gay U.S. Senator, you’ll also see the journey of a military hero who became a transgendered judge as well as a lesbian Latina sheriff among the stunning triumphs in a film that showcases incredibly unlikely rises to power.
Silver Screen Capture fact: This is the first film from this site to get a pulled quote on a DVD box. Movie available here on Amazon.
“Million Dollar Arm” Nice Showcase for Hamm
Director Craig Gillespie’s true sports story Million Dollar Arm (B-), isn’t likely to please viewers eager to see the thrills of athleticism on the screen (heck, even Stallone’s arm wrestling movie racks up more credibility on that scoreboard); but after a lethargic start, this formulaic film finds its footing as a surrogate family drama and a bit of a redemption tale about a fallen sports agent getting a second chance. Jon Hamm’s search for new baseball pitching talent from cricket players in India and the subsequent fish-out-of-water training and scouting in California and Arizona hold only modest suspense or intrigue but are rendered enjoyable by the considerable charms of Madhur Mattal and Suraj Sharma. Lake Bell is also a pleasant presence as the tenant in Hamm’s carriage house who may just hold the key to his steely heart. Hamm and ensemble are batting average until some fairly nice travelogue moments abroad and a late-reel rally of sentimental delights. There are no baseball games in the movie and no credible training montages – just lots of fast throws for velocity points. This hardly adds up to riveting cinema. Mostly it’s a lesser mash-up masala of Jerry Maguire, Moneyball and Mr. Baseball. Although only sporadically successful, the film has just enough contemporary edge and international flair to push the Disney brand forward just a bit while still providing a safe bet for family viewing.
Rogen vs. Efron in Comedy “Neighbors” (2014)
It’s Porky’s meets Poltergeist as raunchy highjinks and the purging of a suburban menace swirl into a likely summer comedy hit. Nicholas Stoller’s Neighbors (B) takes the high-concept conceit of young parents (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) whose domestic life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a Zac Efron-led fraternity into the house next door and mines it for comic gold. Despite the outlandishness of much of the proceedings, the central ensemble is funny and believable, and there’s plenty of goofy goings-on to keep the story brisk and lively. Although the themes are a little one-note, many of the best bits are derived from the humor exploring the differences between the recently young and the actually young. Trading bongs and kegs for baby monitors and breast pumps feels like a trade-off and leads to a stand-off, and it’s an often hilarious battle.
“Fed Up” Documents American Sugar Fix
Mary Poppins may have crooned that a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, but a powerful new documentary provides some tough medicine indeed about how the sugar in the modern American diet is killing off an increasingly obese generation. Sarah Soechtig’s Fed Up (A) blends dynamic storytelling techniques with individual kids’ stories interlaced with shocking snapshots from the food industry and government lobbying traced back nearly four decades, illuminating insights from modern experts and clever informational graphics that make facts pop. Underscoring the severity of an epidemic and personal addictions but offering compelling solutions to make small steps for awareness and change, narrator Katie Couric guides this Inconvenient Truth for food in a way that crystallizes and catalyzes facts and perspectives to make a phenomenal impact. After viewing the film, you won’t be able to view your kitchen cupboard or many of your rituals the same way.
“Amazing Spider-Man 2” Darker But Enjoyable
Director Mark Webb is in fine command of the energy, acting, humor, gravitas, story and effects for the entertaining summer comic book movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B). Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone lend their considerable charms to the leading roles in a sequel that is part romance as the central duo tries to balance a flirty relationship and the distraction of constant superheroics, part mystery as Peter Parker delves deeper into the events surrounding his parents’ disappearance and part action movie as Jamie Foxx becomes Electro with a plot that threatens to seap great power (and responsibility) from the island of Manhattan. Although Webb could be accused of cramming a bit much into this installment, the actors give heart and earnestness to their performances, and it all seems well grounded in NYC and among real people trying to grow up and wrestle with the consequences of genetic experiments gone awry. Some final act surprises lay the sacs for some sinister villainy to come. This new Spidey series swings along dandily; it shoots and scores.