Snow Screen: The Hateful Eight, The Big Short & The Revenant

What's some holiday weekends without some movies?! After the nearly botched press screening of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight I attended, it was time for round two at The Arclight in Hollywood in the Cinerama Dome...oh wait, Disney put the kibosh on that as their reported terms were 4 weeks in the biggest house for any theater that wished to exhibit juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While that really sucks because 8 was made for the Dome to be projected in 70mm, let's be honest, The Arclight and any other theater is going to make a lot more money from Star Wars and the following 20 sequels and spin offs than they would from Hateful. And Disney is all about making their billions. But we still got 70mm and some killer programs with centerfolds. I was hoping for Kurt Russell and his magnificent mustache but we all ended up with Tim Roth. Like a western take on John Carpenter's arctic set The Thing, Hateful follows a group of colorful and less than savory criminal, sheriff, bounty hunter, former soldier and cowboy types. A terrific cast includes Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, a scene stealing Walton Goggins, Roth, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen and quick appearances by Channing Tatum and Zoe Bell. If you like Tarantino, i.e. revenge, lots of cursing, derogatory terms for black people and women, violence, blood and humor, you'll like The Hateful Eight.

Next up it was The Big Short for pre-New Years Eve at the Cinemark in Playa Vista for a star studded telling of the housing meltdown and financial crisis of 2008. Filled with facts, weird hairdos, celebrity cameos and Wall Street lingo, Short is enjoyable and educational while also frustrating and sad as greedy bankers made it happen, weren't punished, got bailed out by your tax dollars and are back to business as usual. I wish Anonymous would target those guys and open things up a bit...Christian Bale dons his American accent as the genius loaner who saw the crash coming then we get Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell as hedge fund managers who buck the trend and bet against the current to reap billions. Producer Brad Pitt shows up in a small role as a mentor to some young guns while continuing his transformation into Robert Reford. Usually funny guy Adam McKay blends the yuks with facts to break it down for us non-Wall Street types and does well for his first non-Will Ferrell starring directorial effort. Gosling gets a near Pain and Gain moment of greatness when he shouts "I'm jacked to the tits!". For action fans, American Dragons, Street Fighter and Arrow's Byron Mann shows up as a cocky gazillionaire who tells Carrell how it is.

On Saturday it was Alejandro Gonzaelez Inarritu's mountain man revenge tale The Revenant over at The Landmark in a weird theater with couches instead of stadium seating. It seemed like a nice change of pace and a relaxed atmosphere for the nearly 3 hour movie and trailers but by the mid point my neck was sore, I couldn't lay down and no arm rest in the middle meant passing our gallon sized Coke Zero back and forth. An incredibly beautiful as well as brutal film, The Revenant is to be commended for what the cast and crew went through to produce the film. Shooting took nearly a year in snow, ice and freezing rivers and I wondered if anyone got sick or injured. While vistas of nature and scenes of escape and violence were shiver inducing and blood curdling, the actual story of the film played out like a big mash up of Jeremiah Johnson, Gladiator, Dances With Wolves, Man VS Wild, The Punisher and Rambo that made me want to eat the meat of wolves, fish, horse, buffalo, elk, etc. While Leonardo DiCaprio no doubt went through living hell to make the film, I don't think that warrants "acting" merits or awards since you have no speeches or brooding to show off the verbal or physical transformation. Just lots of struggling and pain.

Summer Cinema: A Walk In the Woods

This past weekend marked the end of the Summer Movie Season as Labor Day is generally pretty quiet at the box office. Newcomers The Transporter Refueled and A Walk in the Woods were no match for faith based holdover War Room. Woods stars Robert Redford and Nick Nolte as old writing buddies and hell raisers as Redford's aging, semi-retired author Bill Bryson decides to hike the Appalachian Trail to see America after living abroad for a couple of decades. The trailers made the film out to be a coming of old age, heart warming, odd couple style adventure comedy and it didn't disappoint. It's not great and there's no career defining performance from either actor but it's a fun flick that makes you want to hit the road, see some nature, meet strangers and eat some deliciously heavy food.

Bill Bryson (Redford) is living a nice life in suburbia with his loving wife Catherine (Emma Thompson, who I thought was his daughter at first, whoops). Having only written forewords and overseen re-released past works for years, Bryson is getting a little bored and one day sees a sign for the Appalachian Trail while on a walk. Feeling like he needs to see more of his own country, Bryson decides to devote six months to becoming one with nature but Catherine is afraid he'll be eaten by a bear or get lost and die out in the woods. Wanting him to find a hiking buddy, Bryson reaches out to old friends who think he's crazy until one night, a grizzled voice from his past calls up, wanting to join. Said grizzled voice belongs to Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), a woman chasing, booze swilling son of a gun that Bryson knew in his younger days. The two haven't spoken in decades and Katz still owes him $600 bucks. Katz shows up looking like he's on his last leg, for real, Nolte is perennially red faced and seemingly struggling for breath, overweight, limping and has some wild hair. Either this is some real good acting or art simply imitating life. The duo hit the trail and encounter a slew of fellow hikers and small town folk played by a litany of familiar faces including Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal and Mary Steenburgen.

Of course the two discuss life and love, missed opportunities, who they were, who they are and the like while enduring heat, rain and snow while surviving treacherous trails, falls and maybe a bear or two. I wasn't quite sure where the film was going because they weren't going to reach the end of the trail at the pace the flick was moving and I wasn't sure if it was gonna get real by killing off one of them. There's justifiably long sequences of beautiful landscapes set to soothing music and by the end, there's a touch of being at peace with oneself not being justified by accomplishments or titles. There's a quick photo of both leading men in their primes and hot Damme, was Redford a handsome devil. Still dignified if a little frail, Woods was easier to watch than the overrated All Is Lost while Nolte couldn't top his excellent performance from Warrior. Director Ken Kwapis directs from a script by Rick Kerb, Bill Holderman and Bill Bryson that was originally meant to be a third vehicle for Reford and Paul Newman after mega-hits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Sadly, the project languished since being optioned in 1998, Newman's health declined and the actor, race car driver and philanthropist died in 2008. Only a few years younger than Redford, Nick Nolte was then lined up to co-star. To date, A Walk in the Woods has grossed a not shabby $13 million bucks in it's first week. Not bad for a surprisingly tame R rated (Nolte's potty mouth) flick starring two 70 something year olds. Zach Efron would kill for those numbers.

Snow Screen 2015: The Gambler, Into the Woods & A Most Violent Year

Did you see a movie over the Christmas through New Years Day period?  Something like 7 major motion pictures opened up on Thursday, December 25th.  You could see Mark Wahlberg in a remake of The Gambler, Disney's musical Into the Woods, Angelina Jolie's World War II prisoner of war tale Unbroken and stoner buddy comedy/American symbol The Interview amongst others.  The Golden Globes are tonight so every movie vying for award consideration has already been released to get that chatter going into the Oscarss in February.

One flick that got no love was Paramount's The Gambler, the tale of well off literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) who has a problem with blackjack and roulette.  Playing in high end and seedy secret parties as well as crappy casinos alike, we watch as the self hating and compulsive Bennett turns $10 grand into $80 in an instant then lose it just as quickly.  Written by The Departed's William Monohan based on James Toback's 1974 film of the same name starring James Caan, The Gambler was an enjoyable and well crafted low watt drama that contains a surprisingly effective performance from Wahlberg and an even more note worthy one by John Goodman as a local loan shark.  Wahlberg, the former model turned rapper turned prolific leading man and producer adds another eclectic character to his filmography that already includes a sweet yet dim hearted porn star, lots of cops and tough guys, a slacker with a talking stuffed animal, a motivated yet dumb bodybuilder and an inventor who hangs out with giant robots in disguise.  Hiding behind a mane of shaggy hair and a dark suit, Wahlberg dropped 60 pounds of his signature beef to play the educated but self loathing professor trying to reach rock bottom so he can start his climb back to the top.  Monohan's modern manifesto is equal parts all in or nothing and getting to the point in life where you can answer any question with, Fuck You.  In deep to two different sets of gangsters, Bennett has a week to come up with nearly a quarter of a million bucks before every bone in his body is broken or he's flat out deaded.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Rupert Wyatt does a fine job of directing the talky drama around Los Angeles with fine support from the likes of Jessica Lange as his estranged mother and Brie Larson as his student.  Simon Rhee from Best of the Best shows up as a Korean bruiser and George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, The Delta Force) shows up for a quick minute as a family patriarch.  I didn't even know the guy was still alive!  Great to see you, George!  A massive and bald headed John Goodman gets to drop some of the film's greatest dialog in a pair of scenes as he questions how a successful, good looking smart guy like Bennett could destroy his life with such idiotic abandonment.  With a little CGI muscle, Goodman should play The Kingpin whenever the villain shows up on Daredevil.  Wahlberg is handed some very provocative and near poetic lines throughout, especially during an early scene in the classroom where he moves around the space, questioning and belittling his students in what was a more exciting class than I ever had in 4 years.  Some actors can't handle a lot of dialog but Wahlberg takes it all on with surprisingly ease and aplomb.  While I'm not too surprised The Gambler hasn't garnered any major award attention, I do feel it got lost in the Holiday shuffle and deserves more credit than it's being given.

I won't bore you with too many thoughts on Into the Woods, it wasn't for me and I just didn't dig it.  Beautifully shot yet a bit boring to watch.  Maybe if you're into musicals.  Next up was A Most Violent Year, a flick I had no opinion on and hadn't even seen a full trailer.  From the title, cast and look of the picture, I figured it was about mobsters in New York.  Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, who gave us the fascinating Margin Call in 2011, a look at the inner workings of an investment bank during the first part of the financial crisis followed up by the lauded but overrated "man on a boat VS nature" All Is Lost starring Bobby Redford in 2013.  A Most Violent Year stars up and comer Oscar Isaac (Drive) as Abel Morales, a mostly by the book immigrant businessman who owns a heating oil business in New York during 1981, one of the most violent years on record.  Abel has vast ambition to expand his company but his trucks keep getting hijacked and his product sold to various mystery buyers.  He must tread lightly as the local District Attorney is about to begin investigating his business while wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) keeps pushing him to man up and protect his empire and family.

Chandor's script is a slow burning yet interesting affair focusing on a man trying to do right but the world just doesn't want to let him.  I thought it was based on a true story as it all plays very real from the harrowing truck thefts to Abel's calm and intelligent rejection of arming his drivers and the conflict it creates at home with the wife and kids.  Chastain picked up a Best Supporting Actress nod from the Globes which reinforces their long standing award show trying to throw a star studded party motif rather than rewarding merit as she really doesn't do much in the film and her Brooklyn accent comes and goes.  Then again the Oscars are a bunch of 70 year old white guys who tend to select boring but true to life tales to celebrate like The King's Speech and The Artist so I'm not even sure why I bring them up. Awards are bullshit, man...

Vernal Viewing: Captain America Double Feature

My local AMC hosted a Captain America double feature with The First Avenger and new sequel The Winter Soldier.  It started at 5:30 PM so there was just enough time to grab some grub and even better that we wouldn't be getting out at 2:30 AM.  With our event exclusive lanyards and posters secured, it was time to settle in for 2011's First Avenger.  I can't recall the last time I watched this was but it's always been my favorite film from Marvel and has much higher repeat viewing value than Iron Man, Iron Man Two, Thor, The Avengers, etc.  Watching it on the big screen, it still played in all it's rock'em, sock'em, World War Two, sci-fi tinged pulp action adventure glory that reminds us even the little guy can make a difference...as long as you have the will and a suped up, Olympian level body bestowed upon you via a top secret military experiment involving serums and vita-ray bombardment.  The flick moves fast, the jokes work and I totally forgot Tommy Lee Jones was in here and steals every scene.  The 3D effects were surprisingly noticeable this time around and people were still ducking in their seats when Cap's vibranium shield seemingly comes flying at you.

After a quick break, it was time for trailers.  So many trailers!  I think there were around 7, advertising summer fare like Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, Maleficent,  Guardians of the Galaxy and more.  Then it was time for The Winter Soldier, which has been garnering great word of mouth from early screenings and already opened to $75 million at the International Box Office.  Picking up some time after The Avengers, Steve Rogers aka Captain America is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in Washington, D.C. with his old pal Nick Fury (Not Laurence Fishburne's Samuel L. Jackson).  When Cap objects to Fury's hidden agenda of preparing punishment before the crime, things start rolling and all of a sudden we're not sure who to trust.  Throw in vicious mystery gunman The Winter Soldier,  Cap's longtime comic book partner Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Pain & Gain's Anthony Mackie), The Black Widow (ScarJo), UFC champ Georges St. Pierre as Batroc "zee leeper!", then a few other mystery villains and you've got yourself a modern action thriller steeped in comic book lore for the masses.  Of course it's partially based on the recent run of Cap comics but I never got through those because the first issues I read were boring and the art was uninspiring.  It also seemed to take some inspiration from the 80's mini-series, Nick Fury VS S.H.I.E.L.D. where the stalwart chief and secret agent finds himself wounded, hunted and not knowing who's really after him and which of his trusted colleagues is who they really say they are.

Perfect Captain America candidate from the 70's Robert Redford shows up as Fury's superior in a nod to his work in Three Days of the Condor.  Harkening back to that era's political thrillers, the moral dilemma of government monitoring its citizens and how far is too far to protect the country, Winter Soldier's story is nothing groundbreaking but is superbly executed.  I thought Thor:  The Dark World was Marvel's most polished production to date with it's ornate set and costume design but Cap 2 definitely has the best action.  The fist and feeticuffs are snappy and well choreographed.  You get more intricate hand to hand combat with lots of flips, spins and visually interesting cues.  Directors Joe and Anthony Russo do a terrific job of showing us Steve's augmented strength as he's kicking dudes across the room, running through walls and getting smacked around but still coming back for more.  Car chases and shootouts are solidly staged and there's out of nowhere shocks and thrills throughout.  I could go on but hey, go see the Damme movie already.  I'm planning to revisit Captain America:  The Winter Soldier this Sunday in regular 2D as I honestly didn't notice much in the post conversion to 3D so it's not worth the surcharge of discomfort.  Apparently the flick did over $10 million in early screenings on Thursday night, putting it ahead of tent poles like Man of Steel, The Hobbit:  Desolation of Smaug, Thor 2 and recent YA franchise starter Divergent.

Vertical take off!

Last Man Standing: Harrison Ford

It's 80's time over at The Arclight as they're showing classic flicks like Aliens, Predator, The Terminator, Back to the Future and Die Hard over the coming weeks (a.k.a. Michael Biehn on the big screen 2 weeks in a row!).  On Wednesday, the Dome was nearly sold out for a revival of 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which finds the globe trotting professor fighting gangsters in China before embarking on a quest for magic stones in India where he uncovers a dark cult of heart stealing baddies.  The film looked great up on the big, curved screen of The Dome and Steven Spielberg's work still holds up with it's mix of walloping action, exotic locales, romance and buddy comedy in the purposely dark story.  Apparently writer/producer George Lucas was going through a divorce at the time and not in the best of moods and also wanted to follow The Empire Strikes Back's move into scarier territory.  If you've never been to The Dome, always sit in the middle sections, whether you're in the front row or the way in the back, it's still a good view.  Sitting on the sides is a little weird because the curvature of the screen seems to distort the image, to me, at least.

Earlier in the week and during dinner, I had been discussing American leading men and how we have so few of them coming up the ranks.  Batman, Spider-Man, Robocop and Superman are all played by Europeans.  Australians like Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Chris Hemsworth have a lock on playing tough guys while for a moment America was getting Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera shoved down our throats.  Point Break, a film about an Ohio football player turned FBI agent chasing down a California surfer, just got cast with an Australian and a Scotsman in the leads.  Don't get me wrong, we'll always have our Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Cruise and Smith contingent but those guys all started off in the 90's and are "cool guys" who were deemed pretty or funny before coming into their own.  Tom Hanks, a marvelous actor, has made a career of being the nice guy.  Where's the American ideal, the cowboy, the quiet loner, the get it done, Doer?  Burt Reynolds had his day but his good ol' boy charm just wasn't taken seriously.  Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood did it their way but apparently that's not the times we're living in anymore.

In the 90's, every big script went to 3 guys:  Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner and Harrison Ford.  Gibson is fucking harsh but his career was sold on his Australian upbringing.  Costner was a McQueen wannabe but never half as cool, in fact, he kind of comes off as a dick.  But Ford...Ford was it, Ford, in my estimation was our last American Man.  The O.G.  He was strong, dignified and fought the fight because it was the right thing to do.  In Temple, he is a movie icon for the books with his strong jawed handsomeness, dry wit and laconic personality.  A former carpenter who turned to acting, Ford brings a real life weariness and knowing confidence to the screen with his creaky gait and fit yet not overblown physique.  Turns in Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, Witness, Patriot Games and The Fugitive showcased his anchoring presence and easy going action charm.  While Air Force One gave us the only President, cinematic or otherwise, we can imagine throwing down with terrorists before tossing them off his plane.

Here's to you, Harrison Ford, for showing us how it's done.  Hopefully they manage to cram in "get off my plane" in Expendables III where he's playing a pilot.

Redford Week: Jeremiah Johnson

Before and after going out to see All Is Lost, I revisited Robert Redford in an earlier cinematic tale of Man VS Nature, 1972's Jeremiah Johnson.  In what would be Redford's 2nd of 7 collaborations with director Sydney Pollack, Jeremiah Johnson is the tale of a wandering former soldier who arrives in Colorado to become a mountain man, hunting "bears, beavers and other critters worth cash money when skinned".  Utilizing the vast landscape of Utah, Pollack alternates harsh winters and arid desert vistas to give us an idea of just how hard life could be back then.

At first, Johnson struggles in the wilderness to survive, his hunting skills are lacking and he resorts to trying to catch fish with his bare hands in a frigid creek.  He's taken in by a local grizzly bear hunting mountain fella who teaches him the way of living off the rock.  Soon, Johnson becomes a self described "great hunter", the "fine figure of a man" who makes "damn good biscuits".  Along the way he runs into trouble with a pack of tribal nations people who end up slaughtering his wife and adopted child.  With nothing left, Johnson becomes a famed killer of the tribe and lives on the move, always waiting for the next attack.

Jeremiah Johnson is a great adventure flick that strangely parallels All Is Lost on simple things like men choosing isolation over society, accepting each new uninvited challenge and never giving up.  There's also weird coincidences like shaving before the storm (literal and figurative storms), forehead wound placement and screaming at the sky in both.  What I forgot about the movie is how funny it is at times as well as brutal.  The action is rough and tumble but still packs a wallop after all these years.  Sometimes seeing a nasty, animalistic scrap is more effective than the most choreographed display of physical prowess.  The film was co-written by John Milius, ya know, from Conan the Barbarian and Apocalypse Now?  The guy Walt from The Big Lebowski is based on?  Exactly.  Having worked on many a studio picture officially and unofficially, Milius has it written into his contract that in addition to a fee, he receives a firearm of significant value.

Apparently, Johnson is based on a real individual who after losing his family to braves from the Crow tribe, enlisted other mountain men and rival tribes to exact revenge over 25 years.  Rumor is he would eat the liver of each man he killed as a sign of disrespect to his enemies beliefs.  Respect.

The power of Yes:

Fall Flicks: All Is Lost

Some more critical and award fodder with J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost starring the one and only Bobby the Robert Redford.  The story concerns a seasoned sailor in the middle of the ocean whose vessel is struck by a stray shipping container from China holding a boatload of shoes.

Then it is basically:  Redford.  On a boat.  Suffering hardship.  After hardship.  Then another hardship.  Phew.  I love Redford but I feel all of the praise his performance is garnering is a bit of an insult.  There is no dialog to speak of, it's a very realistic account of one man's quest to survive.  There are moments of true terror, the film is simple yet deftly constructed and quite a departure from Chandor's previous film, 2011's dialog heavy Margin Call.

We've seen how strong, funny, endearing and romantic Redford can be from Barefoot in the Park, The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson, The Great Waldo Pepper and Sneakers among dozens of others.  To to hail a performance where he says next to nothing and instead gives us a how-to on seminar on boat repair and survival techniques seems erroneous.  It's a role any actor, put in the situation under the created elements, would probably receive our sympathy for.

Redford Week: Winter Weather Warning

Tell me you've watched the trailer for Captain America:  The Winter Soldier!  And tell me you're not excited to see Bobby Redford aka Robert in it!  Ssssh, let's watch it again:



Doesn't that look awesome?!  I'm guessing Redford ends up being the villain and if Marvel really wants to push it, is Cap's World War II nemesis, The Red Skull, in present day!  I always thought Robert Redford would have been a perfect Steve Rogers/Cap.  Don't believe me?  Just watch The Way We Were.  The Way We Were?  That chick flick with Barbara Streisand?!  Yup, Redford is the spitting image of 70's and 80's era Cap where he wasn't super muscular, had some style and hadn't been turned into a big, bland, flag waver who memorizes names of vice presidents on a Saturday night.  Oh and Redford's character in TWWW is named is Hubbell, which is also sweet.

It's like looking into a comic book to black and white photo mirror!