I, TONYA (2017) movie review

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Irreverent, unkempt, and more driven than most. That was Tonya Harding at age 4. And she never really changed.

She was born into a house of torturous verbal abuse and didn’t escape it until her career was over. She tried to change her situation by getting married young but soon found the same life waiting for her, and daily renderings quickly became physical torment.Constant punishment pushed commitment to her craft and broke her down before she had to face her most brutal critics of all: the pristine and cold world class figure skating judges and the media.Skating was her whole life, and she was good. She was arguably even the best. She just didn’t look or sound the part. She didn’t play along. She didn’t represent the code of unwritten expectations held by the world for figure skaters. She was poor and her own other-side-of-the-tracks culture oozed from every whispered profanity, every misplaced hand-stitched sequin, every outlandish song or dance move landing in pose in the center of the ice.She was still the only one who could land a triple axle jump. She did it over and over again. She skated all day, every day. It became her identity, even as her oppressors continued to beat her down.This is I, Tonya. Unabashed, unfettered, and…told from every perspective. It begins in interview mode, the audience in television viewer seats just as they were during the 1994 Olympics when it all went down.

We all remember the incident. We all heard different stories. As I walked into this movie, I was sure that Tonya herself had slammed her opponents legs with a crowbar nearly crippling her. I guess I wasn’t alone.What this film does is beg you to check your sources and get all of the facts before making judgments. It demands empathy from the voyeuristic world awaiting the next failure from anyone in the limelight who fall victim. They become the prey to viewers, the new tormentors, doling out violence and cruel words from box seats hoping for those working hardest to fall.Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, and Sebastian Stan certainly become these living losers. One of the best scenes is Margo puting make-up on in a mirror, fighting tears and trying to smile. She doesn’t cry through her sad, overwhelmingly abusive life. She takes the abuse like she would any physical obstacle and fights harder to win. So, when she finally sits alone before one of her final performances and looses it, we see it all over her face and in her eyes. Her life’s pursuit was approval from a world that was never going to accept her at all.

THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017) movie review

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I’m honestly more torn about this film than any I’ve seen in years. It’s Amelie-gorgeous with deep sea-green color saturation and beautiful acting.The score perfectly pursues the main character through immaculate set pieces – in ancient red velvet theaters and gorgeous 1950’s attic apartments, on city buses trekking rain-soaked city streets, and inside symmetrical science labs.It’s also gruesome, torturous, cruelty thrust upon weak and helpless “others” by power-wielding men. These characters take aim at the broken, the lonely, the unloved, the underdogs.This kind of cruelty, the stuff of pure evil, usually plays out more subtly in movies. The bad guys usually retain glimmers of hope – a redemption factor that causes us to pause, consider the potential for evil we all carry but that we must choose not to act on. In this, Del Toro’s most beautiful monster film yet, he offers the bad guys no redemption, no character arcs, no potential for good. They are all bad, hated from moment one.This is a film about loneliness, a universally understood theme.All characters long for connection. They paint it, discuss it, force it, sacrifice to find it, lie to obtain it, and wait endlessly for it. One lone woman, a petite, wordless girl of routine and whimsy, played bravely by Sally Hawkins, finally acts on her longings and woos the most tortured of all – a creature of the sea. Okay, yes, this is where it gets really odd. Shape of Water is indeed a love story between girl and fishman. The director supposedly saw the old Creature from the Black Lagoon movie years ago and always wanted to give him a love story.  This film is surprisingly explicit at times.  Scenes that give it the R rating include sexuality, nudity, and gore.Communist sub-plots in the space-race era provide secondary plot structure under-lacing the romance between unseen beauty and aquatic wonder man. The secondary characters prove lovable and crucial to the plot as they too work to overcome their own unappreciated uniquenesses.In the 50’s, having a different skin color or lifestyle choice meant exclusion from society. The painter, played by Richard Jenkins, is the friend who lives next door who remains reclusive, hiding in his own pain until challenged to act heroically.Octavia Spencer is the verbose but trusted confidant. It wasn’t until her character was threatened that I started looking for exits in the theater. I had forgotten my visceral response to the scenes of sudden shocking gore in Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro’s best known work until now.Guillermo del Toro is a designer, an artist, who sculpts empathy and terror, interweaving both. In this film, he somehow succeeds yet again, proving his adept directorial skills as he offers both horror and romance. The question he poses: Who truly is the monster? Then the classic message resounds when true love conquers all.


THE DISASTER ARTIST (2017) movie review

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James Franco is Tommy Wiseau . The Franco brothers tackle the ultimate duo feature. It’s Lennie and George all over again.This making-of-the-movie film delves into the origin story of what has won the title for worst movie ever made. The Room has a wide cult following, filling late night movie houses with curious film fans and the friends they dragged there to cringe and laugh and throw popcorn with. Supposedly, every line is an accidental joke and every scene an even worse moment in acting history.
Yet many wonder if the madman masks a genius.Wiseau paid exorbitant fees for equipment, cast, crew, and miscellaneous expenses over 20 years ago only to make this historical monstrosity. The Disaster Artist somehow deconstructs The Room and unveils the relationship behind the duo’s untoward success as it allows audiences an empathetic glance into an inverse Lala Land experience: seeking serious dreams and becoming the butt of the joke.
Speaking of butts. You see all of James Franco. ALL. All but the privacy pouch, so the R rating is not just for intense language.I’m sure The Room IS as bad as we’ve heard, but somehow The Disaster Artist makes bad art human again. It’s the ultimate essence of modern art allowing the artists to remain more interesting and important than his creation.
James Franco won the Golden Globe for his impressive performance. Dave Franco expertly played the straight man opposite his brother.I have respected the co-writers of this film, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, since their brave breakout film 500 Days of Summer, and here they prove again that they can “take a sad song and make it better” by allowing all audiences to relate to the quirkiest of characters until we root for them to succeed, laughing them all the way into daily conversations and filmmaking history.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (2017) movie review

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Hugh hits high notes with jazz hands in a red circus master’s jacket. What more could you want?

Zac Efron joins just in time to allow for a romance with Zendaya under the big top.It’s spectacle and light with a coating of saturated prime colors and a crisp, palatable score. It all works. The pacing proves perfect as the cast of unique characters dance and sing and soar from scene to scene.

DF-07720 – P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) comes alive with the oddities in Twentieth Century Fox’s THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.

The first song covers a period of at least ten years. Heart-fueled hard belting Broadway voices preach equality for the marginalized, hope for the lonely, bravery for the penniless.

DF-11638_R – Philip (Zac Efron) is entranced by Anne’s (Zendaya) trapeze artistry in Twentieth Century Fox’s THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.

Family friendly, fast-paced and fun. I was skeptical walking in, missing Logan’s claws and envisioning Les Mis moments of sorrow, but this I recommend for the big screen as long as you prepare your soul for a classic burst-into-song musical, which it is.

Loving Vincent (2017) movie review

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One of, if not THE most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. No work like it exists. It’s an experience.



125 artists over 6 years animated 65,000 oil painted frames. An unbelievable task to translate oil to big screen, but it’s an experience not to be missed.It’s Van Gogh’s story in Van Gogh’s style. Each moment a painted canvas, a memoir, a token to his art.Loving Vincent investigates the mysterious events and characters surrounding Van Gogh’s death, presuming based on his many existing letters that he was perhaps murdered though it was called a suicide.Beautifully acted first, then painted, then animated. Audiences play detective as they follow the trail across the French countryside into the very canvases for paintings that made Van Gogh’s short life and career legendary.The film has been widely approved by artists worldwide and by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and by the Musee d’ Orsay in Paris where you can visit many of his great works today.

STAR WARS Episode 8 The Last Jedi (2017) movie review

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From one life-long Star Wars fan to another, it may be time to retire the badge. Beware, rants & spoilers ahead.

 Call it too many cooks in the kitchen. Blame an inexperienced writer/ director. But nothing can redeem the plot holes, the lack of character development, the incessant punny one-liner attempts at comic relief that skewed the tone of this film meant for the Star Wars Universe but playing out like a poor spin-off.No one can debate the absolute tragedy that was Princess Leia’s resurrection. No one should support love triangle vibes or the chemistry-less friend-game from the positively pointless side narrative that took Finn and friend to little Vegas to find the stuttering codebreaker who betrays them and disappears. Pointless.The ridiculous certainly outweighed the powerful, the silly over the strong. Laura Dern’s character keeps the plan from her one best ally, Poe Dameron. She plays a stubborn, hateful leader dressed for the governor’s ball who sacrifices herself to save some.The screen should be at least somewhat sacred – screentime under a trusted name should be valuable. Your time and money is worth more than this poorly produced film. Certainly, stunning shots made a few moments worthwhile, but the details betrayed the beauty breaking what faith I had left after a torturous Rogue One. I had a bad feeling about this, but I still had hope for the franchise.
The little “porg” birds and crystal foxes may have added cutsie touches, but  they played no role in the plot. Nice pitch for new Disney dolls, but why not go ahead and make the alien cow that Luke milks. That’ll be a coveted toy beneath the Christmas tree. And why were frog people living on the island with Luke selling elephant tusks out of  wheelbarrows. These are questions I’d like to know the answers to. Here are a few more odd details I’d love to know more about.

The ancient unread Jedi texts look like $12 journals from Barnes and Noble. Finn and his flibbertigibbet new gal pal are the only 2 standing when the doc is hit. Lucky.Poe is locked up on a transport waiting for Leia to wake up only to slap him – an out of character move. Kylo Ren, however, is still a pent-up child throwing tantrums. BB8 saves the day multiple times. Bot’s got more gumption and wherewithal than any of the fighters. Rey, still unfortunately flawless and therefore unrelatable, somehow trains herself after a few short days on JJ’s next big LOST island. Then, Luke ditches and dismisses the one promised moment that had carried us all into this film. For two years, Rey has been holding his lightsaber out to him waiting for the hero to emerge. And, in two seconds, our hopes were dashed and Han died for no reason.This film was disappointing on every level that matters. Sure, you can blindly watch and appreciate the Star Wars fan-isms. You can call it beautiful in scenes. You can say that you believe in the rebellion and it’s potential to take back the galaxy by pushing the Empire out and bringing balance to the force. But, sorry fans, you cannot say that this was a good film just because it’s Star Wars.

 

LADY BIRD (2017) movie review

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Senior year at her Catholic school, a girl with abnormal charisma and confidence changes her name and takes on her toughest critic: her mother.Everyone wants to be loved. This film speaks to the soul of the everyday, normal, individual you that doesn’t feel approved of, noticed, or truly seen. Her issues resonate because in some ways they are universal.This film is a conversation being picked up, spun round, remembered and circled back to. Scenes and dialogue cut and jog but somehow maintain fluidity, grace, and humor.
The early 2000’s, Dave Matthews’ “Crash,” neutral and dark oversized shirts, Kool-aid dyed hair, thrift shopping for prom gowns, and high school musicals make every moment hilarious and true. It’s almost a little too close to home.From the opening scene listening to books on tape in the car with her mother to sneaking communion wafers with her best friend, this is all real. It’s about hope and finding satisfaction in yourself and in the family you were born into, and learning to love and pay attention to both for the broken wonderful things that they are. Because after all, in the end maybe loving and paying attention are the same thing.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017) movie review

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When a novel becomes a film we all get front row seats on a trek into the familiar. As promised, it’s a lovely shady whodunit – every passenger a suspect, every side-glance a confession of guilt. Star-studded, humorous, curious, mysterious, we step onto the train platform with the famous detective Hercule Poirot in order to solve a crime and a murder. The old tale and BBC favorite has been masterfully reimagined by Kenneth Branagh, both director and main character.From point A to point B, this dangerous journey is thwarted with clues and interviews captured from every creative camera angle. Bright colors glint over the snowy landscape as crisply cast characters reveal nothing until the dastardly finale. It’s a brilliant film, beautifully created and worth seeing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017) movie review

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Suffering from grief after the death of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman continue to fight crime in the shadows until Steppenwolf, the Lord of evil, returns from the land of doom to unite the three power cubes and destroy the world.Of course he does. What else would he do? So what must they do? They must form a team of superhumans and gods to save the world. Batman has the money, experience, and a new Alfred played by Jeremy Irons. Wonder Woman has her lasso of truth, her feminum wristbands, and her looks. They recruit The Flash, a fast kid with daddy issues, Aquaman, independent sassy king of the seas, and the Cyborg infused with alien technology and metal.

CG characters over saturated color spectrums, Zack Snyder maintains his classic 300 look.

The evil Steppenwolf seems a hybrid of stolen storylines from Sauron of Mordor trying to reclaim the one ring to Thanos hunting down infinity stones. Calling these “power boxes” doesn’t fix blatant plagiarism or disengage aware audiences of stereotypical evil master tropes.As far as seconds go, you often want to go back to the fridge hoping a dry slice of turkey will be better on the leftover plating. But it isn’t. Affleck’s tired Batman claims he’s getting too old for this. Gadot’s gorgeous Wonder Woman gets tighter leather and shorter skirts like she’s losing at poker with each film release.If only Batman didn’t constantly wince with exhaustion and chagrin. If only Superman wasn’t a CGI nightmare. If only Aquaman was given a likable presence instead of Wolverine’s aggression and an ocean of snarky one-liners. If only Cyborg was allowed a bit more humanity. The newbies were almost too strong, too wise, too capable. Cyborg can super hack any human or alien system. The Flash can essentially raise the dead with his super speed. Flash was surprisingly the bright spot and comic relief, but sadly not funny enough to counterbalance the darkness of a hero film left wanting.

THOR: RAGNAROK (2017) movie review

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Ragnarok is quirk and pizzazz in primary colors. It’s one-liners on trash planets run by Jeff Goldblum. It’s humor and clash and straight rock and roll. It’s meant to be fun.The beauty of current Marvel films, still solid in story, is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. The pure cadence of Goldblum’s speech sets the tone for Thor’s third in the Marvel regime. Perhaps the Pratt playful dialogue of Guardians is contagious and they knew they’d need to bridge that gap before Infinity War.In Norse myth, Ragnarok is the famous end game as prophesied in dreams. It is the end of Asgard, and it specifies the deaths of each member of Odin’s household, including Thor. Novelist Neil Gaiman recently released his book “Norse Mythology” which offers short stories detailing the lore of Thor, the hijinks of Loki, the double-sided nature of the All-father Odin, the true evil nature of Hela the goddess of death, the wisdom of Heimdall, the details of Ragnorok, and more.  It’s brilliant.Thor operates with different tools, as a god. His super strength, second only to his chiseled abs, helps him to defeat evil forces like frost giants that threaten his community. With the loss of his hammer, poor Thor is displaced and forced into the gladiatorial ring. He must escape, form a new team, and rescue Asgard before his long-lost sister destroys everything he spent his life protecting.

Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK..Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson)..Ph: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2017

Unlike the deities of Greek mythology who fear nothing as they play dice with mortal humanity, Norse gods know that their days are numbered. Life is therefore more precious, purposed; it’s a battle worth fighting. And if you’ve been riding the Marvel train all along, you’ll probably agree that this is a film worth seeing.