Irwin

The Big Short

Bill I’s Rating – 4.5 out of 5

Excellent, thriller believe it or not, even though the ending is not in doubt, i.e. the housing market collapses, some banks go under and others need to be bailed out, and many people lose huge percentages of their net worth. This is all based on real-life people and events (it’s based on Michael Lewis’ book), although officially a work of fiction. The director deploys cool techniques to educate the audience on what exactly are these “exotic” financial instruments that the banks created to profit on housing bonds, meanwhile exposing them to exponential risks, while some outsiders figure out how to profit on their prediction of a bursting bubble. Have fun when you watch how they explain this in simple terms. Realize after you see this movie that nothing essentially has changed that would prevent such a financial collapse from happening again, and these “too big to fail” mega firms from having to get bailed out by taxpayers once again.

Bill C’s Review – 4.5 out of 5

Not only is this a really entertaining movie, it’s an important movie that tells a story that we seem to have already forgotten and not learned from.

Director Adam McKay, mostly know as comedy director and his collaborations with Will Ferrell, surprises with his ability to clearly inform on a complex subject while throwing in non-traditional touches (I loved his photo montages) to draw us into the movie. He gets great and quirky performances from Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell and others.

As Bill says, ultimately this movie tells a sad/scary story that unfortunately could happen again. It makes you mad.

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Spotlight

Bill I’s Review: 4.5 out of 5

What a powerful, engrossing, and fast paced movie. I loved it on two levels. First, it’s about investigative journalism; the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team in 2000 starts a deep and lengthy, and incredibly expansive and explosive investigation of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Boston. This small team of reporters is portrayed so well, as locals and by the way, all raised as Catholics, by Mark Ruffalo, Rachael McAdams, and Michael Keaton, with their boss (Ben Bradlee Jr!) played by John Slattery and the Jewish outsider, the new editor in chief, played as an understated super serious, even boring, person by Liev Schreiber. Second, it hit home for me by its investigative subject matter, where the few victims that are interviewed in the film get to tell their story, and the devastating impact on their lives. They track down one priest who freely admits to molesting children, but reminiscent of the clueless and disgraced Tek Young Lin, former Horace Mann teacher and abuser, he claims no harm done to the children. It was done in a loving manner, sure!

See this movie and gain a little understanding of what it means to be an innocent, powerless child and to be abused by an authority figure. And to realize later all the adults who knew what was going on, or if they didn’t know, they complied with the cover-up. The cover-up, including by bishops, the cardinal, the lawyers, the police, the reporters (yes, including the Globe) and the parents, enabled these sick men (all men here) to continue to prey for many years. Until the Globe’s publicly published proof got it out into the open, via their spotlight, and rallied public opinion.

Read a fascinating background on Cardinal Law here: http://sol-reform.com/2015/11/jason-berry-the-shadow-behind-spotlight-how-predator-priests-derailed-bostons-would-be-pope-cardinal-bernard-law-the-daily-beast/

Crimson Peak

Bill I’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

No, Crimson Peak is not about the heydey of Harvard’s football team. It’s a warning issued by a ghost to an eight year old girl. Which raised a question for me: do ghosts know the future? I guess, at least Dickens thought so in A Christmas Carol, where The Ghost of Things Yet to Come warns Scrooge of what lies ahead. Which raised another question for me: if the ghost takes all the effort to warn the girl, and by the way (no spoiler alert, it happens in the first couple of minutes), it’s her dead mother warning her little girl, couldn’t the ghost be a little more specific? I mean, who knows what she means by Crimson Peak? How is that exactly going to help her? And why scare the hell out of her in the meantime?

Anyway, this is a very well done film, kept my attention with an interesting plot and excellent scenery, acting, and cinematography. I don’t seek out horror movies, but this movie has just enough creepiness where I was never too grossed out or even too scared. I recommend you see it! Don’t bring your pre-teens though.

Bill C’s Review – 3 out of 5

Bill asks excellent questions. Especially the ones about why not be more specific and why can’t the mother be a little less scary to her daughter. The shocking thing about Bill’s review is he never mentioned nor picked a picture that included his favorite actress, Jessica Chastain!

The movie is directed by Guillermo del Toro, and while this is no Pans Labyrinth, it is a good movie – more for the atmosphere and effects than the plot. And as Bill says, the right word is creepy – this isn’t a horror movie that will get you jumping out of your seat.

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Phoenix

Bill I’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Really well done “thriller”, with no screen violence, but an atmosphere of distrust, guilt, remembrance, in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII. You see the ruins of buildings everywhere as folks make their way in their daily life, with American troops controlling key check points on the roads. We follow Nelly, a survivor of a German “camp” as she get her horrific facial injuries healed, and emerges with a new face, and a frightened, hesitant personality. Her close friend is there to help re-integrate her into society, and pushes her to move to the new Jewish enclave in Palestine, where they can live without the fear of being targeted. Nelly is not interested in that, in fact says she’s not Jewish, but is obsessed at finding her husband. She does find him, but he doesn’t recognize her, and there the plot gets complicated and interesting. How she interacts with him, even after her friend says he set her up (and who amongst her friends betrayed her) to be arrested by the Nazis, is the mystery and how she unveils her true self is the thrilling part. My mother was puzzled by the ending but I thought it was pretty clear. See this movie and I’d be interested in hearing your perspective.

Bill C’s Rating – 3 out of 5

I liked this film as well. The atmosphere of post WWII Berlin is well done. The plot has some good twists (although I wasn’t sure what happened with Nelly’s friend was needed) and the acting is first rate. As for the ending, I thought it was perfectly clear from Nelly’s perspective but Johnny’s emotions at the end were ambiguous (to me anyway).

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Ricki and the Flash

Bill I’s Rating – 3 out of 5

I would say this is a good movie to see on TV except that the music scenes are best experienced on a big screen. Meryl Streep can rock it out! And I’m sure it helps that her lead guitarist is an actual rock star, Rick Springfield. His role as her long-time adorer and FWB friend was not as believable. She plays a middle aged leader of a bar band who abandoned her young family years ago, and now her ex husband asks her to come back to help her daughter get over a painful marriage breakup. The best part for me was to see the perfect interactions with the resentful daughter, played by Meryl’s real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer. Again, not so believable to me was to envision that Meryl’s younger character somehow found a soul-mate in Kevin Kline’s formal, upper class cliche father. And the film relies heavily on ugly over-done eye shadow and weird braided hair to show how much Meryl is out of the mainstream. But, overall a pleasant movie.

Straight Outta Compton

Bill I’s Rating – 3.5 out of 5

I almost gave this a 4 rating because I enjoyed it so much, but I thought due to its formulaic structure (boys meet boys, boys lose boys, boys get back together) I didn’t think it’s a top movie of the year so far. But what’s there is captivating, from the rise of the young members of rap group NWA coming together to create music and messages that rocked the culture. It’s got some great elements: rags to riches, brotherly bonding (both more captivating and more realistic then what we see in Entourage movie), the music hits business (including the slick talking manager), betrayal, villains (cue Shug Knight!), growth, and ultimately death. Ice Cube is portrayed by his actual son (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who looks just like his dad. Easy E is the most compelling character, and the always great Paul Giamatti excels in manager sleaziness disguised by loving mentor and plain talking businessman. I could go on and describe some great scenes, especially the crowd receptions, the riots, but the biggest emotional impact for me was to see how the police treated these young “gangsters”, which hits so close to home when seeing it happening in everyday America. I never cared much for NWA’s music, and in fact despised their F*** tha Police song, but put into context here (Ice Cube writes it literally after experiencing first hand police thuggery and racism), it make sense and comes across as a legitimate form of civil protest. The violence and sex is nothing too brutal or explicit, and I think the movie is OK for teenagers 15 and over. It’s nothing they haven’t already heard, and by seeing this film we can understand where the NWA members came from.

NWA Straight Outta Compton

The Gift

Bill I’s Rating – 4 out of 5

Prepare to be tense this whole movie, waiting to see what Gordy, the creepy old high school classmate of Simon, has in mind with his escalating, and weird, kindness and yes, gifts, to Simon and his wife, Robyn. The attractive and upwardly mobile couple has just moved into a cool house near Simon’s hometown and run into Gordy, who seems real nice, until the creepiness signals start to emerge. Joel Edgerton is superb as Gordy, and Jason Bateman does a wonderful job portraying the multi-layered Simon. I have always enjoyed watching Bateman, usually in comedies and playing some variance of the same personality, sardonic, quick witted, and besieged by events out of his control. Quite a different character here though. And Rebecca Hall is perfect as the quiet, nice, sensitive wife with some secrets of her own. I won’t write any more of the plot. See this movie if you like well done building up of suspense. Negative spoiler alert: no blood and guts in evidence, so you can enjoy the mind games without worrying about being grossed out.

Bill C’s Rating – 4 out of 5

As Bill says, The Gift is a smart thriller with lots of twists and turns that continue until the very end and leave you on the edge of your seats.

Not only is Joel Edgerton fine as Gordy, but he also wrote the screenplay and makes his feature directorial debut with this film. This is the first time I’ve really taken notice of him as an actor, but he has a ton of credits. In this role, the creepiness just oozes out of him.

If you like Hitchcockian-type films, definitely try to see this one.

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Mr. Holmes

Bill I’s Rating – 4 out of 5

Wonderful film, beautiful cinematography, incredible acting job by all, especially Ian McKellen as the 93 year old Sherlock, who’s been retired in self-exile in his country house, with just a sullen housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her inquisitive son, Roger. The story unfolds slowly, like a puzzle the pieces are uncovered via flashbacks. There’s fun in seeing the “real life” Holmes deal with his celebrity, and fans expectations of the pipe, the hat, etc. I won’t give away any of the plot, but I highly recommend it.

Bill C’s Rating – 3.5 out of 5

Bill’s review is spot on. I think I rated it a little lower due to the slowness Bill mentions, especially in the middle. I liked the way multiple subplots unfolded – the main case, Holmes friendship with the boy and relationship with the housekeeper, a trip he had just returned from to Japan and his dealing with aging and some of his imperfections.

If you’re in the mood for an arthouse film amid all the action films this is a good choice.

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Trainwreck

Bill I’s Rating – 4 out of 5

This is not a great movie, but it’s got so many laughs, especially in the first half before it turns sentimental, that I have to rate it so high. I loooove Amy Schumer (watch her TV show, Inside Amy Schumer, hysterical), and there are scenes that were incredibly funny. And, believe it or not, at one point Amy gives a speech that brought tears to my eyes. Definitely R rated, adults only. Best comedy in recent memory! Bonus – Lebron James has a real role and he’s good! Amare Stoudemire is not bad in a small role. John Cena, the wrestler, is eye candy for the woman and has one of the funniest scenes. I can’t begin to describe it here, and don’t want to spoil your fun.

Bill C’s Rating – 4 out of 5

Below is my review when I saw this as a work in progress during SXSW in March. This is Judd Apatow’s latest starring Amy Schumer. Like most Apatow films, it’s rude, crude, very funny and has a heart. Schumer plays a magazine writer with commitment issues (explained via a very funny opening sequence). The supporting cast includes Bill Hader (as the orthopedic surgeon for athletes and one of Schumer’s love interests) and Lebron James in a much larger role than I expected that he totally pulled off (including a very funny 1 on 1 match with Hader). I thought the ending went a bit overboard, but if you are an Apatow fan, you will definitely like this movie.

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Southpaw

Bill I’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

Jake Gyllenhaal is tremendous as the boxer who becomes champion, (spoiler alert) loses his title, then (not much of a spoiler) tries to regain it. His body and fighting are super realistic, in fact, he’s probably in better shape than most professional fighters. The story is nothing groundbreaking, but it’s executed very well. I enjoyed seeing 50 cent as a dapper fight promoter; pay attention to his fake smile. Wonder who he is channeling, maybe every boxing promoter ever? Rachel McAdams is terrific as well as the girl playing their daughter. And Forest Whitaker, while playing a cliche, is excellent. I can’t help but compare this to The Fighter, where Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams hit it out of the park (or should I say hit a knockout punch), and this film clearly falls short in every aspect. But enjoyable and I recommend it. Just a little warning: this is not a fun film, it’s intense, touching, and quite a downer in places.

Bill C’s Review – 3 out of 5

Yikes—what a transformation for Jake Gyllenhaal from Night Crawler to Southpaw. It makes me want to hit the weight room (but I think I’d need to give up M&Ms and more, and even then, let’s face it, there’s no hope for a six pack for me). But, in both films he gives great performances as do the rest of the supporting cast.

The fight sequences are great, too, if you like that sort of thing. Although whenever I watch these (think Rocky films), I always think that in real life they would have stopped the fight about 10 times. For another great boxing scene, see the youtube clip with Charlie Chaplin from City Lights below, even if you don’t like boxing.

While I liked the film overall, as Bill points out, they do squeeze about every boxing film cliche into this film as possible. (I’ve also included a link to a list of over 200 boxing films below, so there are quite a few that have developed over the years). Per the required boxing cliche, Gyllenhaal has to hit rock bottom before his quest for redemption can begin. Just when you think he’s as low as he can go, the film reaches new heights of lowness (is that possible?), hence Bill’s downer statement.

But if you like boxing films or want to see Jake Gyllenhaal’s six pack, see this movie. And, then in the fall, we get to see an appearance by Rocky again (as a trainer) in Creed .

Charlie Chaplin Boxing Scene From City Lights

List of Boxing Films In Wikipedia

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