Way late review: Better This World

Activist documentaries are quite the rage these days. Everyone has their cause and some think that cause is worth documenting as a movie. Most of these movies are of little interest to me. For example, If a Tree Falls was nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category and I was convinced that if the Academy handed the little gold guy to that snoozer then it was proof that those in the Academy love trees more than they love good movies. Harsh, I know. Every once in a while a documentary covers a politically charged topic and I like it. Better This World isn’t one of those. It is a documentary I love.

Wasting no time to setup the premise of the film, we’re immediately thrown into the mess that is the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC). Aside from John McCain winning the nomination in 2008, there were protests brewing in St. Paul, Minnesota where the RNC was being held. Right or not, numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies feared these protests were going to escalate into violence, which means trouble in a post 9/11 world. And the trouble comes not only in overzealous protesters but in their government employed counterparts overreacting in the name of security. Mixing protesters weary (at best) of their government with police forces loaded with and prepared to use various weapons on the protesting masses makes for a disastrous recipe. Add on top of that two friends from Midland, Texas, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, with close ties to a charismatic social activist Brandon Darby who encourages his protégés to ratchet up the action, even if it means taking up arms. McKay and Crowder comply by creating molotov cocktails (aka fire bombs) they consider using on strategic non-human targets. The two friends never get that far. Crowder was held in custody from an earlier arrest and McKay had a swat team on him before he could do anything.

The story seems rather straight forward until some key details are expertly revealed throughout the fast paced film. The surprises are too good to spoil. Let’s just say that not everything is as it seems, and not all of it is in favor of McKay and Crowder, who most would assume are handled most sympathetically throughout. The spoilers are so good that there is even one in the credits. I couldn’t believe that one of the biggest reveals was saved for credit rolling material. It’s a gutsy move and one that pays off by leaving the viewer unsettled one last time.

The disturbing results of the US justice system and the paranoid homeland security efforts are on full display. There are no winners, even though it would appear the government wins 90% of the time in criminal trials. The tactics used by the prosecution are underhanded, not to mention the highly questionable actions of those enforcing the laws and catching the suspects. Even so, kudos to the filmmakers (Kelly Duane and Katie Galloway) for not letting the two young men off the hook. Crowder and McKay made some poor choices along the way and thankfully the film allows the friends to make this admission and contemplate a bit on the unfortunate (not to mention unjust) results.

Whether one agrees with their left leaning politics or not, it’s hard not to feel empathy for Crowder and McKay in the latter half of the film. The two twenty-something friends are not simply used as exhibits A and B in a case against the US justice system and overreaching homeland security, they are shown as people who have families and loved ones. The repercussions for Crowder and McKay are deeper than a lost battle for the cause they believe in. These young men are faced with hard prison time away from loving families and friends.

Unlike its counterparts, Better This World makes the most of its activist focused material and tells a compelling story in a manner worthy of the source material.

[xrr rating=5/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[vimeo width=”500″ height=”281″]http://vimeo.com/22076812[/vimeo]

Way late review: Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Chasing down a mystery as the centerpiece of a documentary is tricky. On the one hand, the thrill of the chase should make for a compelling story. On the other hand, solving the mystery may turn out to be a let down if the end result is far less mysterious than it originally seemed. Resurrect Dead finds itself in this quandary.

Kicking off with an intriguing question – who was responsible for all the strange plaques made of tiles with the even stranger message “TOYNBEE IDEA IN Kubrick’s 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER” pasted on streets all across the east coast and parts of South America and what does it mean? – Ressurect Dead races off with a relatively stylish approach to a bizarre puzzle. Director Jon Foy follows a small cast of characters obsessed with solving the Toynbee tiles mystery. Unfortunately for Foy, his cast of characters is filled with only one who holds much interest outside of the task at hand. Not a death knell, but when the film leads in numerous dead ends on its way to answering the question of the who and why behind the seemingly other worldly tiles, the story needs a strong character or two to hold the wandering narrative together. Its no small task and Foy does about as good of a job as one could, given how long he chased this story and the conclusion that was reached.

Justin Duerr is the ring leader. He is front in center as the curious amateur detective trying to crack the case. His own back story holds a fair amount of interest and even parallels that of the main suspect in many ways. Foy may have missed an opportunity to draw even stronger connections between his wild-eyed sherlock holmes and the suspected tiler.

By the time the mystery is solved, or at least as solved as it’s likely to ever be solved, there is a letdown. The big payoff isn’t there and the journey of exploring the major suspects turns up only a few interesting moments. What starts off as a fast paced thrill ride ends more like a tame carousel. Still, the dedication to chasing the story to its end is admirable. And the first third of the movie is as engaging as any mystery, fiction or non-fiction. Sometimes the premise of a documentary is far more intriguing than its end reveals. There is only so much a director can do to remedy that and Jon Foy does his best to put it all together in an entertaining and informative package.

[xrr rating=3.5/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIWpJ5Jl4fE[/youtube]

Way late review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Quiet yet creepy. Not exactly a drama, yet definitely not a horror film, Martha Marcy May Marlene paints a haunting picture of the effects of a Manson Family like cult on a young woman who fled the terrifying backwoods group and attempts a return to normalcy.

Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) reconnects with her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson), after running away from the rural New York cult she called home for some time. Lucy hasn’t seen her or heard from Martha in at least a couple years. She is filled with joy to bring her home, yet perplexed by where her little sister has been all this time without contact with family or friends. Martha says very little. She is a ball of nerves yet outwardly appearing subdued. Lucy’s husband, Ted (Hugh Dancy), does his best to welcome Martha into his home. He too isn’t sure how to take Martha’s odd behavior. The first bizarre act being when Martha goes for a swim in the lake behind the house – sans clothes. Lucy yells at her sister to get out of the water and to put her clothes on. Marcy abides and looks honestly confused by the anger directed at her. Doesn’t everyone go skinny dipping in a public lake in the morning?

Since the story behind the film is a simple one, the director and writer, Sean Durkin, uses constant cuts between the current time line of Martha being with Lucy and Ted and Martha’s time with the cult. One moment is current and the next is in the past. Never jarring or confusing, the method works, as it slowly reveals Martha’s experience with the cult led by the best man for the job, John Hawkes. In a role and performance which makes one shiver, Hawkes demands attention during every scene he is in, no matter how much or little he speaks. His mere presence and sinister looks provide more than enough eeriness.

The tension of the film builds as we learn more about the cult and what fate likely awaits those who try to escape. What at first seems like hippies out in the woods living in a makeshift commune becomes a full blown cult, complete with violent rituals and the mandatory mind control. The reality of Martha’s current situation seems more dire as each flashback peels away one horrific layer after another to the core of her former life. Through it all, Elizabeth Olsen’s performance is near perfect. She behaves awkwardly with Lucy and Ted but never in a manner that feels melodramatic.

The ending is consistent with the rest of the film. Some may feel cheated, but no one can complain that the tone of the film drastically changes. It’s consistent to the very end; painting a disturbing picture of what it might be like to live through the experience of a violent cult.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_k3wCsOgqk[/youtube]

Way late review: Puss in Boots

My desire to see movies based on characters from the world of Shrek is somewhere between that of having my eyeballs poked with hot irons and watching an extra inning t-ball game. Thus, my expectations were not high for Puss in Boots. I’d had enough of the “let’s see how many clever pop culture references we can cram into 90 minutes of schlock” approach. Good news. The sword wielding cat movie is not of that ilk.

In place of rapid fire quips that will feel dated five minutes after they’re spoken, Puss in Boots is a modern spin on a mix of fairy tales. Puss (Antonio Banderas), we learn was once friends with Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). They grew up in the same orphanage where Humpty was bullied and Puss came to his defense. Their friendship came to an end when Humpty pushed Puss too far into a life of crime, the final heist being the town’s bank. Puss left the town a wanted feline and his friend in the hands of the local authorities. The two meet again later in life when Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) encounters Puss and convinces him to join Humpty and her at finding the golden egg laying goose from Jack’s beanstalk. This is the mission Puss and Humpty had once dreamed about and worked towards in their youth to no avail. Now it’s said that the outlaws, Jack and Jill have the magic beans and Humpty needs Softpaws and Puss to help get the golden goose. The adventure dashes off from there with a number of twists along the way.

One of the most oddly conniving and original bad guys I’ve seen in a children’s film in a while, Humpty Dumpty makes the movie what it is. While the story is strong enough to hold interest, the sinister egg man makes the movie entertaining. He is an inventive choice as the bad guy who you kind of feel sympathy for until you realize he’s as much a weasel as he is egg.

Credit Puss in Boots for not resting on its main character’s heritage from the ever popular Shrek series. The breakaway from that tired series leads to a somewhat inventive and entertaining movie.

[xrr rating=3.5/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znuq-daWfLE[/youtube]

Way late review: Young Adult

At least one definition of narcissism is stated as “Extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration.” Or see the main character in Young Adult, Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron). She is the walking definition.

Mavis writes young adult fiction. Throughout the film she struggles to write one last book in a series she is the ghost writer for. It becomes clear that Mavis is not so much writing about a teenage character set in a different world. She writes what she knows and what she knows, or at least thinks she knows, is herself. There is an interesting play of meta narrative going on whenever the author sits with her laptop and types some new prose.

After she receives an email from her old boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) announcing the birth of his new baby, Mavis becomes obsessed with Buddy. She is so consumed with her self that she can only see one reason she received the email – to make her jealous. On a spur of the moment, after viewing the baby’s picture one too many times, the self-obsessed writer throws some clothes in a bag, shoves her dog in a small case and makes her way back to her small Minnesota town, leaving Minneapolis behind. Her mission is a simple one. She wants to have Buddy for herself once again. He’s not happy without her, at least that’s what Mavis would have everyone who will listen believe.

One of those Mavis confesses her twisted plot with is Matt (Patton Oswalt), who graduated in Mavis’ class. Matt uses a crutch to get around. In high school he was jumped by some fellow classmates and nearly beaten to death. He tells Mavis that he got a lot of attention and sympathy from all around the world when it was thought that he was gay. But once Matt made it clear that he wasn’t gay, the sympathy and attention dissipated almost overnight. He quips that the act was heinous when it was a hate crime but not quite so bad when it was some jocks beating a fat kid with a crow bar. Matt is honest, sometimes painfully so. He doesn’t attempt to elicit sympathy for his plight. He seems to cynically accept his position in life.

Matt’s penchant for telling the truth serves, at least at first, as Mavis’ missing conscience. He is vocal in his opposition to Mavis’ plan to steal Buddy away from a happy marriage with a new baby. He even goes out of his way to run interference when Buddy and Mavis meet for drinks at the bar Matt works at. Buddy seems naive in all of this. His happy-go-lucky attitude and clear devotion for his wife and child are juxtaposed up against his former high school girlfriend’s egocentricity.

The journey to destroy a marriage and fulfill the selfish desires of a despicable character does not sound fun but the way that the screenplay writer, Diablo Cody (most famous for writing Juno), positions her extremely narcissistic main character with a backdrop of decent human beings makes things fun. We can never cheer for our main character. Her plans and her ways are never worth cheering for. But we can laugh at the absurdity of her behavior, realizing that when we give into our own notions of self-importance, our vanity, we transform into creatures not unlike Mavis. And in the end, Young Adult serves as a warning for those of us who might think we’re far away from ever being like Mavis.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=837x7vitY0Q[/youtube]

Way late review: Nursery University

I’m glad I’m not a parent living in New York City. As Nursery University shows us, there are a lot of parents living in NYC who have lost their minds, and it’s all over enrolling their child into the perfect nursery school.

The documentary follows several families in New York City wading through the treacherous waters that are procuring a preschool for your soon to be toddler. Each family comes at it from a slightly different perspective and situation. By the end, it is clear – they’re all lost in the mire. The filmmaker (Marc H. Simon) does his best to maintain composure. While it would be easy to make the subject matter feel like a Christopher Guest mockumentary (think Best in Show), Simon refrains and lets the characters represent themselves on screen – warts and all.

The odds of getting into a nursery school of any standing are slim. For every open spot there can be over a hundred applicants. Making matters worse is the sticker shock. Numbers are thrown around early in the film that made me wonder if we were talking about college. It was not unusual to pay $20,000 and up for nursery school. Some were as high as $50,000 per year. Nursery school. This is the place where kids go to drool on one another and maybe learn to hold a crayon, right?

Even parents who did not grow up wealthy and in this hyper competitive setting of schooling for tikes have bought into the lie which says your child is ruined if she does not get into the right nursery school. In fact, one consultant (yes, they have consultants for getting into nursery schools in NYC!) made reference to a child getting into the right preschool, which leads to the right kindergarten, grade school, high school, university and eventually lands them a plush job at Goldman Sachs. Remove the first piece to that long chain of schooling and the child never achieves success as a prestigious mover of digits from one electronic account to the other. The documentary captures the insanity of this thinking quite well. Where it falls short is thinking this topic has 90 minutes of entertainment value. Because it aims to be fair and not mock the easily mockable, the second half of the film feels stretched thin. Some of the subjects are fairly likable, none are truly abhorrent, and therefore none are entertaining enough to hold interest for a feature length film. Their plight is not one we can empathize with. We’re left with watching the absurd attempt to turn into suspense about whether Johnny gets into the $30,000 per nursery or the $40,000 nursery.

Tackling a topic that seems surreal to everyone outside of it should be an easy win. It’s unfortunate that the narcissism on display never goes completely overboard to the point where it’s so sad it’s funny. And that is likely the result of a director who holds back on highlighting the truly ridiculous nature of his subject matter and the subjects themselves. Being fair to those who’ve let you film part of their lives is admirable, yet two rather famous documentarians Errol Morris and Werner Herzog prove it’s possible for directors to walk the line between fair and exploitative for great results. Nursery University walks too closely to the safe side and ends up giving an informative and somewhat entertaining film.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjaL-OCoNo[/youtube]

Way late review: Days of Heaven

Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven shows what remained of the director’s interest in more traditional forms of storytelling. Like his more recent films, beautiful cinematography and stream of conscience voice over narration are dominate. Missing are the elements that some would label as self-indulgent. I won’t go quite that far, but let’s just say that Malick has a way of testing an audience’s patience at times.

Whether intentional or not, Days of Heaven borrows its main narrative straight from the Bible. Possibly a mix of stories between Moses and Abraham. Set in the early 1900’s, Bill is a steel-mill worker in Chicago who leaves abruptly after accidentally killing his supervisor. Bill heads south for Texas with his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) and Abby’s younger sister. It’s the younger sister whose voice we hear narrating much of the movie with her distinctive Chicago accent. It’s a voice that contrasts with the beauty of the scenery on display – like a rusty spoon dragging across a chalkboard.

Bill does what any outstanding gentleman of his day would do which is pretend his girlfriend is his sister. He and his “sister” find work in a wheat field that belongs to a rich farmer (Sam Shepard). The farmer notices Bill’s fake sister and makes it known that he wouldn’t mind if she stayed on past the harvesting season. Around this same time Bill overhears the farmer’s doctor say that the farmer is dying. The setup is perfect for Bill, a man who has proven himself to be less than upright so far. He tells Abby that she should accept the farmer’s invite to stay. She’ll marry the farmer, Bill and the Abby’s little sis will get the run of the house as they wait for the farmer to keel over. Ah yes, the best laid plans.

Everything starts to fall apart when the farmer doesn’t die. A bit of conflict arises as a result and the whole thing ends rather practicably. In the midst of this simple story is sparse but generally solid acting. Malick will never be accused of letting his actors run rampant with dialogue. The tension that should result from the story and character conflict within never resonates. Instead, the film feels as though it’s never sure what is more interesting, the characters and their developing plot or the gorgeous scenery around them. As a result, the end is inevitable more than tragic. A beautiful film that is too distant from its emotional drive.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlZDsMCW0U4[/youtube]

Way late review: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

What was Brad Bird (director of cartoon magic like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille) thinking when he grabbed the reins of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol? For all its star power and name recognition, Mission Impossible is often just what its title says. I am stunned that Bird did what others could not and that is making a fun, action packed film that never gets bogged down in convoluted plots or contrived devices driven from its TV heritage.

Tom Cruise returns as the IMF super-agent, Ethan Hunt. The opening sequences of the movie set the tone immediately with an action packed Russian prison break. The lighthearted approach is made clear when Hunt’s IMF techno whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) tries to guide Hunt through the prison’s labyrinth by opening all the right doors. Problem is Hunt wants to break someone else out of prison and stubbornly waits at a security camera Dunn has control over until Dunn relents and opens the door so Hunt can go through a massive group of bad guys who are ready to pounce on anyone for no particular reason than they are bad guys.

The plot is not all that important in the movie and that is a strength. It is only important in that it doesn’t make one question the plausibility of every decision made on screen, because the plausibility factor suffers greatly if one ponders for more than a second about the action that takes place. The action is key, with fantastic set pieces and inventive spy gadgets. Whether it’s the cool gimmick used to infiltrate the Kremlin, the breathtaking scaling of the Dubai hotel, or the use of a high tech parking garage for a showdown, it all works. The only missteps are in between the Dubai and India action and the lack of a compelling villain. The lulls in the action are noticeable and the attempts to build stronger characters fall flat. The lack of a villain with much life is forgivable, as the threat of nuclear war is sufficient in generating enough suspense.

Ghost Protocol never pretends to be what it isn’t. Those looking for thought provoking cinema or even character development are sure to be let down. This is an action film that has fun being that and nothing more.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QteCmX15Olo[/youtube]

Way late review: Like Crazy

Capturing the raw emotion of two people who believe they’ve found love at first sight is no small challenge for any film. Like Crazy attempted to do it on a relatively slim budget. And let there be no doubt, capturing the feelings of a couple who fall in love and then struggle to cement that relationship over a long distance between them is Like Crazy’s overarching goal.

Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) fall in love at college in LA. Anna is from London and has to return. She delays the inevitable and violates her visa in the process. On her attempt to make it back to Jacob she is denied access due to the violation. Apparently no one told Anna just how hard it is to travel in and out of the USA these days, no matter if you look as though your puppy dog eyes and quivering lips could melt even the coldest of border control’s hearts. The couple is left with a long distance relationship. Or are they? Why doesn’t Jacob, a recent college grad, chase after the girl who’s stolen his heart? Because he started a chair building business and that would be too hard to do in London. Right, I don’t get it either.

The two live their lives apart and attempt some semblance of a relationship separated by the Atlantic but it’s not working. Jacob seems to come to this conclusion before Anna and it’s not long before he finds someone new and she moves in with him. That someone just happens to be the star of another small film, The Hunger Games. Yep, somehow Jennifer Lawrence plays the smallest of roles as Jacob’s consolation prize, Sam.

The story continues of first loves never able to forget one another and reconnecting. The strength of the film is not plot or dialogue. It is more like an artistic feature film length music video. Emotion needs to be conveyed in every moment Jacob and Anna are on the screen. For the most part it works. It’s done well enough to make one forgive the contrived plot points and a sloppy editing job in the third act that had me questioning whether I was watching the same timeline or something from the past.

Like Crazy is appropriately titled. The obstacles our young love birds must overcome are absurdly small when put in any perspective. Jacob and Anna are driven by their feelings in some bizarre ways, but never driven enough to see things through to one conclusion or another. They chase feelings from one fleeting moment to another only to find that it leaves them feeling empty. An artful tale that falls short but serves a good study for all who feel in love but have little more than emotions to lean on.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTUvX_pYNBM[/youtube]

Way late review: The Descendants

Watching dramas about characters thrown into tragedy along with their dysfunctional families can often be funny and not necessarily because laughs come at their expense but because they confront us about some (often painful) truth about ourselves and those around us. The Descendants is such a film.

Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer who lives in Hawaii and is the trustee of a family trust that controls a large portion of highly sought after land on one of the Hawaiian islands. The King family has decided to sell the land but not without discontent from at least some. In the middle of this family fun surrounding hundreds of millions of dollars, Matt’s wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), is in a boating accident which leaves her in a coma. Matt is left to care for his ten year old daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller) and parent his seventeen year old daughter, Alex (Shailene Woodley), from an island away at a boarding school.

Matt is unlike most characters played by George Clooney. Rather than smooth and suave we get careful and conservative. The normally self-confidence on display by Clooney is replaced by a man who hides behind a veil of controlled confidence that hides his quiet desperation. He works hard rather than living off his family inheritance. He wants to ensure that he still knows what it is to work and earn a living. In that process he seems to have lost touch with his wife and kids. He’s a man who would appear to have it all put together from the outside but a closer look at the inner workings of his life tell a different story. Inside we see a man who barely knows his ten year old daughter and when confronted with the task of caring for her on a day-to-day basis he shrivels at the challenge. He passively parents her as she acts out in ways that range from mild to profane. When things take a turn for the worse, Matt picks up his other daughter Alex at the boarding school and it’s there we see a child who is acting out against authority in rather typical teenage angst. Matters go from bad to worse, with Matt’s father-in-law unleashing words whose only purpose would appear to be to wound the walking wounded in Matt, a soon to be widower. And in the midst of it all Matt is confronted with a cheating spouse, one who can’t speak for herself and he can’t express his hurt towards.

In the midst of the chaos is a film that stumbles most in regards to pacing. There are moments that fly by and others that crawl for no apparent reason. Regardless of the pace, Clooney convinces throughout with his performance as a man who stands to gain the whole world but feels as though he may be losing his soul, all that truly matters to him. He is the center of the film and yet the performances around him are often just as engaging; including smaller roles like that of Sid, the at first seemingly inserted for cheap comedy value friend of Alex.

The laughs come in small spurts, as Matt confronts the onslaught of obstacles, sorrow and tragedy before him. Rising above the quirky indie comedy, The Descendants succeeds where many fail. The seriousness of the story presented is never fully played for laughs nor is there a need to redeem itself in the end with melodrama. Instead we’re left with a film that feels oddly comfortable even in the midst of uncomfortable situations.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHNXJ1K4yA[/youtube]