Category: Movie

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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Fantastic Fest 2015 – Part 1

This is the second year I’ve attended Fantastic Fest.  It’s the largest ‘genre’ film fest in the U.S. and is held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar Location in Austin.  Here is a link to my post last year which gives a more detailed description of the fest.  I really enjoy this fest as it has some great movies from all over the world and many you are not likely to see anywhere else.  It also has some great activities going on at The Highball .  Here is a link to the schedule (which includes the Highball activities).

Here are some hilights from the first 4 days (this goes for 8 days):

Victoria

A really cool German film.  They made this   2 hour 15 minute movie in a single take  as they move through multiple locations in Berlin.   The single take was incredibly impressive.  The movie follows Victoria as she parties, meets some people and makes some increasingly bad decisions.  Very interesting.

Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman’s latest.  This is all done in stop motion animation  This is an exploration of one man’s psyche and sort of depressing. I think I liked it more for the animation and because of the Q+A with Kaufman.  This film was also preceded by Don Hertzfeldt’s latest cartoon which was good  (and he was there too).

The Brand New Testament 

A French comedy about God’s daughter going off to find her own apostles and writing a new testament.  Very funny (although some might be offended).

Son of Saul

This won awards  at Cannes and is a great but very sad/depressing film.  It takes place in a concentration camp during WWII over a day when one of the Jews that is forced to help the Nazis in the concentration camps finds what he believes is his dead sons body and wants to have a proper Jewish burial. Very powerful.

High-Rise

This is like last years Snowpiercer about class struggles but takes place in a high rise instead of a  moving train.  Entertaining but too long.  See Snowpiercer instead.

Liza the Fox Fairy

I liked this one a lot.  A dark comedy about a woman striving for true love.  Very unique with a musical ghost.

Man vs. Snake

One of my all time favorite documentaries is ‘King of Kong’. It’s about Steve Wiebe trying to set a world record in Donkey Kong and is both hilarious and moving.  Man vs. Snake is a documentary about the quest to get a billion points in a lesser know video game called Nibbler.  This is also a funny documentary with lots off twists  and turns.  It’s good but I’d still recommend King of Kong first.

Schneider vs. Bax

Another good dark comedy. This one is about 2 hit man assigned to kill each other.

Klown Forever

This is a sequel to a Borat like comedy that I really loved called Klown.  Klown was hilarious, totally inappropriate and unique.  The sequel is good, but not as good as the original.

Black Mass

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

Black Mass is the story of crime boss Whitey Bulger and his relationship with the FBI prior to his 16 year life as a fugitive.

I liked this a lot.  It is reminiscent of Goodfellas (although not as good).  Johnny Depp gives a great performance as Bulger – nice as can be one minute and then a psychotic murderer the next.  Joel Egerton (who Bill and I both liked in The Gift) was also awesome as Bulger’s FBI handler.  He gives a really nuanced performance as someone heading into the abyss as he lets Bulger use him and forgets what his true role is.

This also has a great supporting cast.   Benedict  Cumberbatch plays Bulger’s brother, a powerful Boston politician.  Peter Sarsgaard is terrific as a drug addict.    David Harbour is also a standout as an FBI agent.

If you like this type of movie  (and don’t mind violence) this is definitely worth seeing.

Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

I liked it a lot, same as Bill C, although my rating is closer to a 4- or even 3+, because it’s not close to Goodfellas or Departed (another film that is based on Whitey Bulger, although fictional). I think I liked Ben Affleck’s Town better. This film apparently sticks close to the book written by Boston Globe reporters. I lived in Boston during the heydey of Whitey, and all I knew was that the major crime figure in town was free to walk around while his brother Billy ran the state senate, as the most powerful politician around. This movie doesn’t show really the crimes other than whacking his enemies, or supposed friends, or his scheming, rather it’s a character study of a sociopath, played compellingly by Johnny Depp, and the incredible gullibility/blindness/one-mindedness of the FBI as they focus on the Italian mafia as they let Whitey do his thing, supposedly giving them valuable information, which of course is mostly bogus or invented by his Southie buddy on the FBI. I really liked when they cut to the Winter Hill Gang members who end up informing on Whitey, in order to shave years off their sentences. So, overall an enjoyable couple of hours, and standout performance by Depp and others, but a somewhat cliche story portrayed in a straightforward fashion.

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Black-Mass-Movie-Review

Grandma

Bill C’s Review – 3 out of 5

Grandma stars Lily Tomlin in the title role helping to get her granddaughter through  a personal crisis.  It’s sort of a one day road movie with Tomling revisiting some past and current relationships as she tries to get the money to help her granddaughter.  It has it’s good moments and Tomlin’s characters is able to explore and hopefully resolve some of her past/current relationships along the way.

I liked it but I’m not sure it will stay with me very long.  If you’re a fan of Tomlin check it out.

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Mistress America

Bill C’s Review – 3 out of 5

Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig team up again in this new comedy.  As in the entertaining Frances Ha, they share writing credits and Baumbach direct while Gerwig stars.  If you liked Frances Ha you will probably like this.

Gerwig stars along with Lola Kirke.  Kirk plays Tracy, a college freshman in NYC who is  lonely and bored.  Tracy meets Brooke (Gerwig), soon to be her step sister, and Brooke show her how to open up and try to get more out of life. Though Brooke’s plans don’t always work out she is going for all the gusto.

Greta Gerwig is one of my favorite actresses during the past 10 years and, as usual, doesn’t disappoint.

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229427

Meru

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

Meru is an excellent documentary about the attempts by three climbers to become the first to  scale the Shark’s Fin route up Meru mountain in the Himalayas.

While watching this, it is hard not to think about how crazy these guys are for doing this.  They put up with incredible hardships as they hung off the side of this mountain in awful conditions while attempting this climb.  They sleep in a little tent tethered to the side of the mountain while carrying everything they need while climbing.

One of the climbers was a co-director and the footage on the mountain is incredible.  It will be interesting to see how the footage in the fictional movie ‘Everest’ of the disastrous climb in the late 90’s compares to this.

In addition to the great footage the backstories of the 3 climbers has a few surprises that add to the film.

If you like this type of movie it is definitely worth seeing.

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Meru Expedition, Garwhal, India
Meru Expedition, Garwhal, India
The North Face Meru Expedition, 2011
The North Face Meru Expedition, 2011

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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Cop Car

Bill C’s review 3.5 out of 5

Cop Car has a very simple premise: two kids are running away from home and stumble upon a hidden, seemingly abandoned police car.  They take it for a joy ride.  Unfortunately, the cop car belongs to a bad (a very bad) cop, and he wants it back.

This is another  movie with a lot of twists and turns that keeps you sitting at the edge of your seat. James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford do a great job as the two kids, and Kevin Bacon is sufficiently menacing as the cop.  

This movie is a lean 86 minutes, so the action moves along swiftly, and there’s good usage of black humor to break up the tension.

This film might be hard to find in theaters.  For those near an Alamo Drafthouse, you might check for it there.

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75

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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