Author: billc

Fantastic Fest 2017

This is the fourth 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.  This has become my favorite fest.  It has some great movies from all over the world including many you are not likely to see anywhere else.  It all takes place at a single location and has some great related activities going on at The Highball which is adjacent to the theaters.  Here is a link to the schedule (which includes the Highball activities).  Here are some of my favorite (or most interesting ) movies from this year:

Salyut-7: Based on the true story of the cosmonaut rescue of a damaged Russian space station, this is the Russian Apollo 13.  This a little (ok – a lot) over the top but well made and entertaining.  I think Putin gave the order that this had to top Apollo 13, so while Apollo 13 had concerned family members with children this had a concerned pregnant wife about to go into labor, etc.  I expected the controller on the ground to say ‘Failure is not an option’ but he never did.  Despite my reservations I liked it.

Dan Dream: An entertaining Danish comedy by the team that made Klown.  This is based on a true story of the attempt by a Danish team to make the first electric car in the 1980s.  If you’re a fan of Klown don’t expect the raunchiness of those movies.

Letterkenny: This is now my favorite Canadian TV show.  It’s about a group of hicks in the small town of Letterkenny.  3 episodes were aired from both the 1st and 2nd season.  A third season is coming. This could offend some and is not for everyone but is very funny!

Bad Genius: An excellent movie from Thailand about high school students cheating on standardized tests.  Part comedy, part morality play, drama with tons of tension as well.  One of my favorites.

78/52:  A documentary that focuses on the iconic shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho.  This goes into Hitchcock’s career and how his career led to that film and that scene, the making of the scene,  how groundbreaking it was and how it has impacted films since.  Very interesting.

Blade of the Immortal: For those into Japanese Samurai films this is for you.  A Samurai warrior that cannot die is on a mission to protect a young girl seeking revenge for the murder off her family.  Good action although a little thick with the morality lessons.

Gilbert: An excellent documentary about comedian Gilbert Gottfried.      In his personal life he’s a lot different than his persona so you’re likely to be surprised.  This also explores his controversial comedy style including controversies after 9/11 and when he was fired from his roles as the AFLAC duck due to his tasteless humor after the Tsunami a few years ago.  He was there for a Q&A and he did a taping of Leonard Maltin’s podcast while at the fest. Some will be offended by his humor.

Anna and the Apocalypse: Those who have been waiting for a Zombie musical have had their prayers answered!  This move from Scotland was very entertaining.

Professor Marsden and the Wonder Women: This drama is based on the true story of the creator of Wonder Women and the two women in his life that inspired him.  This is a well made movie and a very interesting story.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower:  A well made anime from Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who had previously worked at anime powerhouse Studio Ghibli.

 

The Big Sick

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

This was my favorite movie at SXSW in March and is my favorite movie of the year so far.  This opens in N.Y. and L.A. this weekend and more widely in the coming weeks,  Below is an excerpt from what  I wrote back in March.  Definitely go see this!

A romantic comedy based on the real life romance of Emily V. Gordon and  Kumail Nanjiani as they deal with family issues (including those of being a Muslim in America) and her illness.  This is very funny and moving.  Nanjiani also stars and this has a good supporting cast including Ray Romano and Holly Hunter.  Judd Apatow was one of the producers and he, Emily and Kumail had a great Q+A including a discussion of how Apatow helps push people to maximize their creativity in the writing process (as he did with Amy Schumer in Trainwreck and Lena Dunham with Girls). 

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

SXSW 2017 – Part 2

During the second half of SXSW I make it to fewer movies due to the music bother re a few I liked:

The Big Sick: This was my favorite movie  last week.  A romantic comedy based on the real life romance of Emily V. Gordon and  Kumail Nanjiani as they deal with family issues (including those of being a Muslim in America) and her illness.  This is very funny and moving.  Nanjiani also stars and this has a good supporting cast including Ray Romano and Holly Hunter.  Judd Apatow was one of the producers and he, Emily and Kumail had a great Q+A including a discussion of how Apatow helps push people to maximize their creativity in the writing process (as he did with Amy Schumer in Trainwreck and Lena Dunham with Girls).  This comes out in June and is a must see!

May it Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers: Judd Apatow directed this one although musical documentaries are not what he is known for.  I really enjoyed this documentary that gives good insight into the Avett brothers  as people, their creative process and lots of good music.  This will be on HBO at some point.  Later in the evening, at a different venue,  they performed in concert (they are great to see live).

Patti Cake$: A good narrative film about a young woman trying to make it as a rapper and escape her New Jersey circumstances despite the odds being stacked against her.

Small Crimes: A narrative about a former cop being released from prison and returning to his small home town.  The events that led to his imprisonment are slowly revealed as he tries to put his past behind him.  This was slo pretty good.

Doug Benson and Master Pancake Theater mock Leprechaun 5: In the Hood: Every year on St. Patrick’s Day Benson teams up with local comedy troupe Master Pancake Theater to mock a movie in the Leprechaun series with their running commentary.   This year was the fifth in the series and took place in da hood, last year they mocked #4 which took place in space.  The movies are terrible, the mocking is hilarious.  Unfortunately, unless someone makes another one there are only 2 left.

The Work: An excellent documentary that takes place in Folsom prison.  Every year there’s a 4 day session where inmates and people outside the prison get together and try to help each other work through their issues.  It was pretty intense.

That’s it for festival coverage until Fantastic Fest in September

SXSW 2017 – Part 1

SXSW started last Friday and runs through Saturday (technically it ends Sunday with some good BBQ, the traditional softball game (which I may sign up for) and just a couple of final bands).  This entry will just cover a bunch of the movies I’ve seen but SXSW is a lot more – music (which is just heating up), comedy (which I haven’t made it to at all), tech, health, sports, politics, parties, etc.  For more on other parts of SXSW see the link above or my wife’s blog on her experiences. 

There are about 125 full length movies covering many genres, as well as shorts and episodic (TV shows or streaming).  There are also related panels. For example, there was a panel with Michael Fassbender and Terrence Malick hosted by Richard Linklater discussing Malick’s new film, Song to Song, a panel with the showrunners for Game of Thrones, Bob Odenkirk discussing his projects, the whole cast of VEEP (interviewed by Chuck Todd of Meet the Press, etc.

Here are some of the best (and a couple that I didn’t like):

Fits and Starts: Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show) in a comedy about a struggling writer married to a much more successful one.

A Bad Idea Gone Wrong: a couple of inept thieves get stuck in the house they are robbing.  This was pretty funny and won a best ensemble cast award.

Becoming Bond: a cute, quasi documentary about George Lazenby, the actor who played James Bond once.  It was interesting and funny.          Lazenby talking about his life is interlaced with humorous re-enactments.  He is an itneresting guy (and was at the screening).

Muppet Guys Talking – Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched:  Frank OZ directed and participated in this movie with other of the original Muppets.  Archival footage was also used.

Mr. Roosevelt: the directorial debut and starring Noel Wells.  This is a comedy, set in Austin.  Wells character returns to Austin and spends an awkward weekend with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend and comes  to terms with her previous choices.

Bill Nye, Science Guy: an update on Bill Nye and what he’s up to.  Entertaining and relevant.  As the Q+A demonstrated, he likes to talk.

Hot Summer Nights: Sort of a coming of age movie (but he never really comes of age).  A teenager spends the summer on Cape Cod in 1991, falls in love  and gets involved in drug dealing.

Free Fire:  This opens soon.  An action/comedy movie that flies by.  If you like action/violence you’ll probably like this.  Also pretty funny.

Unrest: A great documentary by and about a sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Eye opening and very moving.

Meth Storm: Arkansas USA: Another really eye opening and moving documentary.  The film maker spends time with a law officer on an operation to try to make inroads to cut off the supply from Mexico and with a family with meth addiction problems.  This will be on HBO and is a must see (but tough to watch the drug addicted family).

Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo: A really good documentary on the Apollo program from the perspective of mission control.  Inspiring.

Song to Song:  This is the new Malick movie.  It has a great cast that includes Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender.  If you are really into Malick you might like it but I was disappointed.  Too much cutting, not enough fleshing out of the story.  If you live in Austin it might be worth watching just to see all the locations he used.  Sometimes it seemed he just drove around and had people get out of the car if he saw something he thought was interesting.

The Challenge: So far my winner for worst film of the festival.  A documentary about  folks in the middle east that train falcons to catch pigeons in the desert.  If they had interesting characters that did the training or explained why this is a compelling activity it could have been good but they never got into the backstory.  Based on the picture below doesn’t it look like it could be interesting?  This still didn’t get my worst SXSW movie ever award.  That goes to 2010’s Trash Humpers by Harmony Korine.  I wanted to walk out of that one but since I was watching it at the Alamo Drafthouse and had to pay my bill I couldn’t.

Logan

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

Logan is set in post apocalyptic (for the mutants) 2029 with Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) both in ill health and in hiding.  While there’s tons of good action this is also a more thoughtful and somber super hero movie than most dealing with  issues relevant in today’s society.

Patrick and Jackman give excellent performances with the Professor having seizure/mental issues and Jackman  shows different emotions  and he still wrestles with his issues of how to handle  the destruction he causes and hurting those he cares about.   Dafne King also does a great jobs as a young mutant on the run.  This probably could have been tightened up a bit to be closer than two hours and while I liked the plot at times it was predictable.

As with Deadpool last year, this is not for kids – tons of bloody violence.  But for those who like a good action movie this is worth seeing.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

John Wick: Chapter 2

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

If you are just looking for totally escapist, ridiculous action movie with a very high body count to kill  two hours this is the movie for you!

Keanu Reeves reprises his role as John Wick, hired assassin extraordinaire!  Keanu is perfect for this role as he doesn’t really need to act, talks very little but does a great job with fighting, loading his gun and just killing an incredible number of people (since most of these people he kills are fellow assassinsI didn’t feel too bad rooting for him).  Until this comes out in DVD and someone can continually pause the movie I don’t think there will be an accurate count. Keanu is sort of the baby Liam Neeson in terms of being able to star in an action movie well into his 50s (although I think Keanu does more of his own stunts).

The set pieces are never boring (although of course they are ridiculous) and if you like this type of movie definitely check it out.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

I am Not Your Negro

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

I Am Not Your Negro is a thought provoking documentary about race relations in America.  It is based on an unfinished project by author James Baldwin exploring race relations using Baldwin’s remembrances of murdered civil rights leaders (and friends) Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as a jumping off point.  The film uses archival footage of events in the 60’s + Baldwin interview/speaking engagements as well as footage of more recent events.  Samuel L. Jackson provides additional narration based on Baldwin’s writings.

Unfortunately, despite Baldwin having died 30 years ago much of what he said and wrote is still relevant today and this film is worth seeing

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

The Founder

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

Michael Keaton gives an excellent performance in this biopic about McDonald’s ‘founder’ Ray Kroc.

The film covers the period when Kroc, as a a struggling milk shake machine salesman discovers the McDonalds brothers burger stand through it’s rise as a conglomerate.  The move is not only showcases the growth of the company but the birth of an industry.

The decisions that led to the success of the business and overcame early struggles are fascinating but even more interesting is how Kroc deals with people, especially the McDonald brothers.   In addition to Keaton’s performance there are also fine performances by Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern and others.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

Best of 2016

Here’s our picks for the best of 2016.

Bill IBill C
Best Movies1 Moonlight
2 Manchester By the Sea
3 Lion
4 The Edge of Seventeen
5 Hunt for the Wilderpeople
6 Birth of a Nation
7 Kapoor & Sons, Since 1921
8 Doctor Strange
9 Sausage Party
10 Deadpool
11 Silence
12 Star Trek Beyond
13 Arrival
14 Hail Ceasar
15 Hell or High Water
16 Eye in the Sky
17 Morris from America
18 Pink
19 Deepwater Horizon
20 Ones Below
21 The Girl on the Train
22 Weiner
23 Allied
24 Rogue One
25 10 Coverfield Lane
26 Free State of Jones
27 Jason Bourne
28 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
29 Barbershop, the Next Cut
30 Captain America: Civil War
31 Passengers		1 Moonlight
2 Manchester by the Sea
3 Hell or High Water
4 Sausage Party
5 Don’t Think Twice
6 Eye in the Sky
7 Green Room
8 The Edge of Seventeen
9 Arrival
10 The Crew
11 Toni Erdmann
12 Hunt for the Wilderpeople
13 The Handmaiden
Best Documentaries1 Gleason
2 Weiner
3 Tower
4 Newtown
5 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
6 For the Love of Spock
7 Tickled

Bill I’s Best of 2016 Comments

Narrative Films

1 Moonlight – both beautiful in its depiction of a boy growing up to manhood, and the close friendship between 2 boys, and brutal in the reality of life with a drug addicted mother and bullying of a non-conforming young man
2 Manchester By the Sea – for a movie about grief it has plenty of wisecracks, and incredible performance by Casey Affleck and the kid playing his nephew. Such a non-Hollywood ending!
3 Lion – reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire, based on a real-life story of a lost boy from the slums of India to adoption in Australia then search for his birth family. Young actor is amazing
4 The Edge of Seventeen – perfect mix of comedy and drama focused on an amazing teenage girl, great performance by Hailee Steinfeld, and a small but key role by Woody Harrelson
5 Hunt for the Wilderpeople – what a surprising film, tour de force by the teenage actor. Now that I am summarizing my top film list, I see that all top 5 films have young actors starring in them!
6 Birth of a Nation – what was life truly like from the plantation slave’s perspective. This film seems to show the realities
7 Kapoor & Sons, Since 1921 – A Bollywood film about a disfunctional family, lots of laughs, characters and drama
8 Doctor Strange – My favorite “super hero” film of the year, with focus on character more than theatrical stunts
9 Sausage Party – how to take essentially a one joke premise and make it rolling on the floor funny, genius from Seth Rogan and friends!
10 Deadpool – I had no idea what I was getting into when this innovative, in your face film played out. What violence, what crudity, what fun!
11 Silence – a “great Scorcese film”, but didn’t really capture me until the end when Liam Neeson starts talking.
12 – Star Trek Beyond – very well done, true to Star Trek
13 – Arrival – Slow exposition, but Amy Adams keeps it compelling, and I walked out at the end thinking how well out together the plot was
14 – Hail Caesar – best dancing/singing scene in my film going life
15 – Hell or High Water – Jeff Bridges is a smart, tough ass dude, hunting down some wild criminals in the west
16 Eye in the Sky – extremely topical take on ethical questions of using drones to take out bad guys
17 Morris from America – another amazing teenager performance, showing a great father son relationship (Craig Robinson as the dad!)
18 Pink – Indian film, but no singing and dancing, as the rape culture gets examined and dismantled piece by piece in the courtroom by a crafty old lawyer
19 Deepwater Horizon – what is life like on an offshore oil rig, and what actually happened when it exploded
20 Ones Below – don’t think this film was widely shown, but very well done, about a happy young couple with a baby having to deal with suspicions about their creepy nice downstairs neighboors. What an ending!
21 The Girl on the Train – talk about creepy, Emily Blunt holds this film and my interest throughout
22 Weiner – Amazing documentary about Anthony Weiner’s self destruction (his second!) in real-time
23 Allied – Maybe this should be rated higher, as it is extremely well done war/spy romance thriller with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard
24 Rogue One – Star Wars prequel, fun, action, well done
25 10 Coverfield Lane – best depiction of a creepy dude played by John Goodman. This kept me guessing till the end, then I had to laugh, but it was fun
26 Free State of Jones – Matthew McConaughey as a Civil War good guy, leading the rebellion within
27 Jason Bourne – another typical, action with Bourne
28 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – Life as reporters in the war zone
29 Barbershop, the Next Cut – lots of talk, lots of laughs, but reality about senseless (is there any other kind) gun violence
30 Captain America: Civil War – super heros battling it out, made me wonder why are they fighting each other
31 Passengers – great premise, fantastic depiction of travelling in space, and great ethical question. Turns into typical disaster story at the end

 

Bill C’s Best of 2016 Comments

Narrative Films

1 Moonlight – Great character study of inner city kid at three important junctures of his life.
2 Manchester by the Sea – Well told story of a man trying to cope with having to deal with his nephew after the death of his brother.  The story unfolds slowly with great performances.
3 Hell or High Water – A modern western.  Great interplay between all the characters
4 Sausage Party – Funniest (and rudest/crudest) movie of the year.  Based on the coming attraction I thought it was a one joke movie but it was much more
5 Don’t Think Twice – The people in an improv group reach a moment of truth and a fork in the road.  Funny and touching.
6 Eye in the Sky – Tense drama as the controllers of a military drone have a target in sight but what action to take is not so clear cut.
7 Green Room – Another tense drama/trhiller.   A punk rock band gets booked in a club run by evil Patrick Stewart.  Pretty violent
8 The Edge of Seventeen – An entertaining coming of age movie.  Great interaction between Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson.
9 Arrival – Amy Adams is terrific in their thinking ma’s sci-fi fi/alien movie.
10 The Crew – Excellent French action movie focusing on botched job by a group of thieves.
11 Toni Erdmann – Quirky German comedy as a father tries to ‘help’ his daughter balance her life.
12 Hunt for the Wilderpeople – Offbeat New Zealand comedy about a city kid trying to bond with a new foster family
13 The Handmaiden – A period piece Korean crime drama from the director of Old Boy

Documentaries

1 Gleason – Moving documentary as former NFL player (and wife) show great courage as they deal with his diagnosis with Lou Gehrig’s disease as he also documents lessons for his son before all his physical abilities are gone.
2 Weiner – Anthony Weiner allowed documentarians full access as he attempted a political comeback by running for mayor after his (first) sexting scandal.   The film makers hit gold when things don’t work out as Weiner hoped.  Poor Huma Abedin.
3 Tower + Newtown – Tower is the retelling of one of the first mass shootings in U.S. history 50 years ago at the University of Texas tower in Austin.  Newtown covers the more recent mass shooting that killed 20 6+7 year olds in Newtown Connecticut.  Both just make you shake your head  when considering the lack of reasonable gun control laws.
5 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years – Entertaining documentary about the Beatles.
6 For the Love of Spock – This is really a documentary about Leonard Nimoy.  Entertaining.
7 Tickled – Weirdest documentary of the year.   This documentary about tickling turns very dark.

 

Hacksaw Ridge

Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

Hacksaw Ridge is based on the true story of Desmond Doss. During WWII, serving in the Pacific, he became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor while serving as a medic.

I almost felt I was getting two movies for the price of one.  The first hour is Doss growing up, family turmoil, falling in love, enlisting and standing up for his desire to serve in a capacity that does not  require him to kill.  The second half is the story of his participation in the battle for Okinawa, his incredible bravery while sticking to his principles.  The war scenes are extremely well made but also incredibly violent (so if you don’t like disturbing war images skip this film).

This is Mel Gibson’s first directorial effort in 10 years (time flies),  It’s a well made film and it does it good job in telling the story of Desmond Doss (stay for the closing credits to see pictures/interviews with Doss and others).  My biggest knock was there are parts (in both halfs) that felt formulaic and all the expected caricatures of characters in an army barracks were provided.

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

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