Delayed Reaction: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

What I Guessed It Was About: Freddy's back and terrorizing a new group of kids. This time, they find a way to assemble and battle him.

How I Came Into It: They kept churning these out. The second movie pretty radically changed the concept the Freddy Kruger, so I was expecting this to do that as well. I noticed a few more names than I expected in the cast. I'm really not familiar with Patricia Arquette and Lawrence (or "Larry") Fishburne's career before this, so I'm not certain if this is prescient casting or simply going for big names.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Nancy's back. That was kind of cool, questionable acting aside. I almost got a Halloween H20 feel from this, like it was a "Next Generation" movie. As only a Part 3 and made that many years later, I wasn't expecting that feel already. The mythology of the franchise gets even deeper. I want to know where they go from here. There are six of these films after all.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This was silly. It's a silly movie. It's not a scary movie. I don't think it was made as a scary movie. Horror movies, slashers in particular tend to do this. After the initial concept stops being a mystery (When we know who Jason is. When we know what Jigsaw is up to. When we know what's going to happen to the main character in any Paranormal Activity movie), then the scares stop being from the unknown and instead are achieved by amping up the action.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Blind Date

What I Guessed It Was About: Bruce Willis goes on a blind date and it become a full night of wacky misadventures. I'm imagining a 1987 My Date with the President's Daughter.

How I Came Into It: I hadn't ever heard of this movie. I gathered from the poster that it had Bruce Willis in it and some blonde actress who I recognize...oh, that's Kim Basinger.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Did you know the same guy wrote both Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and My Cousin Vinny? Yeah, that guy also wrote Blind Date. That's exciting. I like funny Bruce Willis when he's got a costar who can carry the funny load (Clarification: I think he's a good straight man). There's John Laroquette who simultaneously plays wacky and contemptuous in enjoyable ways*. Also, I was very surprised by the amount of car action in this. It wasn't blockbuster stuff. It was a lot of simple, effective stunt driving.

*Speaking of which, have Larroquette and Chevy Chase ever been in a movie together? I feel like that movie would be filled with prat-falls and subtle digs at each other.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The first half of the movie zips along fairly enjoyably. It's a fairly standard Odyssey story. There's different chapters to the night. Things escalate. Hilarity [hopefully] ensues. Where it lost me was in the second half with the wedding. This became a completely different movie. Willis became a periphery character. I'm still not sure when exactly he and Basinger fell in love with each other. It's a mess of a story. I appreciate the attempt to structure things in an unexpected way, but it doesn't pull it off.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Surf's Up

What I Guessed It Was About: Penguins surf. In Happy Feet, they used that to shoehorn a message about global warming in, so this movie is going to use surfing as an entry point for a discussion about fracking*, I assume.

*It's a shame that fracking is a bad thing because that's such a fun word. I'm not anti-Fracking. I'm anti-Anything that causes me not to say "fracking" more.

How I Came Into It: All I knew about this was that it was about surfing penguins (or at least one surfing penguin) and it came out shortly after Happy Feet. I rather disliked Happy Feet. Even though this came from a different studio (Sony) than Happy Feet (Warner Brothers), I prepared for the worst.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I can't argue with that voice cast. A pre-backlash Shia LaBeouf, pre-Manic Pixie Dream Girl Zooey Deschanel, and post-The Dude Jeff Bridges. If nothing else, Sony got that right. It's certainly an inventive idea and a surprisingly limited movie (in a good way), taking place almost entirely on the one island for the one surf competition. It's a well-developed subculture and I'd be curious to see how true it feels to that actual surfing world.  Based on the little I've seen of similar activities, like skateboarding in Lords of Dogtown, I suspect it's not all that far off. Oh, and props for the dig at Happy Feet ("Do I do anything like sing and dance? No."). Did I mention that I didn't like Happy Feet?

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The documentary crew angle didn't work for me. It's a style that has its benefits. Short of a narrator, there's no better way to get inside a character's head (Scratch that. Inside Out is better, but that's an exception). In cases like this, it's a crutch. I know it's animated, but if a movie uses the documentary conceit, commit to it. Don't just use it when convenient. It shoots some of the time like it's a documentary and some of the time like it's a standard movie. That's lazy.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Weekly 10: 10/20-10/26

The Walking Dead "Thank You"
I have to see how this all plays out before I make a decision, but this development with Glenn has me worried. The way they shot his "death" was far too strategic and differs wildly from how the show has handled things before. If I haven't written it before, I know I've thought it: Glenn or Maggie need to die. As a couple, they've been boring for a while and killing one would allow the other to be a character again, hopefully*. Again, everything about this has been so deliberate that I'll need to see how it plays out before any "Dexter Season 6" comparisons need to be made.
*Granted, the writers could just improve the writing for each, but they gave up on that a while ago.

Steve Jobs
An interesting character study. I wish there was a little more to it.

Brooklyn Nine Nine "Halloween III"
Last week Holt and Peralta were working together. This week they're against each other. It's a sort of balance. Regardless, this is becoming one of my favorite annual episodes of any show.

Higher Learning
Well, it started off interesting, then it lost it's damn mind with the neo Nazis.

Fargo "The Myth of Sysiphus"
Patrick Wilson is fabulous on this show. This is a much bigger season than last, and he's managed to keep it all grounded. Loving this season so far.

The Middle "Land of the Lost"
I knew I should've committed it to writing. Last week, I was telling someone that I'd put all the money in the world on there being an episode this season with a Brick solo visit to Sue and Axl's school. I also figured it would involve him getting lost in or obsessed with the library.

White Noise
This was gibberish. Why did Michael Keaton spend so long making movies like this and Herbie Fully Loaded?

Blackish "Churched"
ABC family comedies are very formulaic and what makes them work is the wiggle room within the formula. This week, Blackish used that wiggle room for Jr. joining the church band, Diane being a complete sociopath, and fun with the white church/black church differences. This is a solid show the keeps chugging along. Yet another show they have they have that I'll watch for as many years as they leave it on.

The Leftovers "Orange Sticker"
This was an interesting episode. But, like I mentioned last week, it took to damn long to get there. Next week looks like a focus on Matt. His episode last year was fantastic, and there's no huge cliff-hanger that's being delayed by following him. This season really is playing like a better binge than week-to-week series.

The ABCs of Death
I hoped this would be scarier. Many more of these went for a laugh than I expected.

Movie Reaction: Steve Jobs

Formula: Jobs * The Social Network

Why I Saw It: I like the cast and the structure intrigued me.

Cast: Michael Fassbender plays the titular Jobs. Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, Katherine Waterson, and a few young actresses with names I don't remember play the different recurring forces in Jobs' life.

Plot: This follows Steve Jobs on the days of three different product launches (in 1984, 1988, and 1998) and everything he is going through at those different times, professionally and personally.

Thoughts:
What immediately struck me about this is that three act structure. The movie is evenly divided between Jobs before the Macintosh launch in '84, the NeXTcube launch in '88, and the iMac launch in '98. These were all very different moments in Jobs' life and really do make a good story arc: the promise of the Mac, the frustration of the NeXT cube, and the success of the iMac.
It's a very talk-y movie (no surise with an Aaron Sorkin script). This script could be a play just as easily as a movie. The action is just a series of conversations Jobs has with a collection of people who all represent different aspects of his life. Kate Winslet is his closest confidant. Jeff Daniels is the explicitly stated Father figure. Seth Rogen is the former partner. Michael Stuhlbarg is the put upon underling. Katherine Waterson is the mother of his child. A series of young actresses play his daughter. Except Waterson, they all show up in each of the three parts. All of them are there to get different things out of him and they tie together in interesting ways. The performances by everyone are solid. Only Seth Rogen felt even remotely like an impersonation. In that case, that's just because Steve Wozniak is fairly well known and such a weird guy that it's hard to play him naturally. Fassbender hold is all together with his fascinating and frustrating Steve Jobs.
This is incredibly reminiscent to The Social Network. The style is different since this is Danny Boyle instead of David Fincher, but it's clear that Sorkin wrote both of these while in the same head space. It's the story of how being a great man is at odds with being a good man. There's not much hero worship in this, and it doesn't ignore any of Jobs' flaws. He's a perfectionist, an egomaniac, and altogether awful to those around him. The story is ultimately pro-Steve Jobs though, taking a sort of "ends justify the means" look at everything.

Elephant in the Room: How accurate is it? I know the beats of this story pretty well, but not perfectly, so I can't break down the details of it. The structure is absolutely inaccurate. Obviously, Jobs didn't have all these important conversations directly leading up to three thematically connected events. This isn't meant to be all facts though. It's as much The Divine Comedy as it is historical document. The spirit of the thing is there and that's all it needs.

To Sum Things Up:
I found the movie interesting more than entertaining. Michael Fassbender gives a great performance, as do most of the cast. The movie left me wanting more though.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Dirty Harry

What I Guessed It Was About: Harry is a cop and he doesn't like Miranda rights. He goes around kicking ass and not taking names. I'm basically imagine Falling Down with a badge.

How I Came Into It: "Uh uh. I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow you head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

Why I Saw It: This has one of the most iconic and often quoted lines in all of movies. That's all the reason needed to make it essential. Clint Eastwood deserves the fame he gets for the role. He IS Dirty Harry.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: They really didn't like Miranda rights. There's a fine point made about them, but it's tough for me to see Harry as a hero. He's reckless in a bad way. I get the appeal. I don't share that appeal. Also, the villain is uninteresting. There's nothing about his motivation. He likes to kill and kind of likes games. That's about it. He's basically designed to make every point the writers want. He's not at all developed.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Mannequin

What I Guessed It Was About: A guy who works in a store somehow gets a mannequin to come to life. I'm going to guess that there's a wizard or sorcerer involved. She does wacky things because she's not used to having a body. Hijinks ensue. She turns back into a mannequin after helping him find true love.

How I Came Into It: So 80s! This is one of those second tier teen comedies of the 80s. One of those movies really obviously aping John Hughes (in this case, Weird Science in particular).

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) As it turns out, they didn't pull so much from Hughes' playbook as E.B. White's. This was straight up Charlotte's Web, you know, if Charlotte had sex with Wilbur. This certainly isn't my favorite role for any of the actors (except, of course Meshach Taylor), but it's fun to see a young Kim Cattrall and James Spader and at-their-peak Andrew McCarthy and Estelle Getty. Speaking of Meschach Taylor, it's funny how obviously progressive the movie is trying to be with Hollywood. Good on them. It's not their fault it didn't age well.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Ok, yes it was their fault that the movie doesn't age well. I'd like a time machine, so I could go back to when this movie was released to know if this really was "hip" at the time, or if even then, people were like "dial it down a few notches". I'm pretty sure it's the former, but I can never be certain. I'm just going to throw this out there too. Perhaps I missed a key detail or two, but how can Emmy know Christopher Columbus if she comes from 2000 BC? They were awfully sloppy with her timeline.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Lee Daniels' The Butler

What I Guessed It Was About: Like another famous Forrest, Whitaker goes through the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, meeting several presidents along the way, never really being part of the story himself.

How I Came Into It: I was really underwhelmed by Precious and that's my only experience with Lee Daniels. The most remarkable thing about this movie going in is the title. I don't understand why Lee Daniels has so much trouble getting the rights to titles. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This is an interesting idea for a story: Seeing the White House from a different perspective than anything I've ever seen. That alone is overflowing with stories to tell. Following the butler's son (a young Martin Luther King in waiting) on the ground level of the civil rights movement it interesting too. There's plenty of plot to go around.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Ultimately, that's the biggest issue I had with the movie. There's too much to cover. This would've made a dynamite mini-series. It's too rushed the way it is. Nothing gets enough time. Perhaps, spending a little more time with all the presidents would also allow them to feel like characters and not a bunch of celebrities doing their best presidential impersonations.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: Bridge of Spies

Formula: Munich - Saving Private Ryan + ...A Few Good Men(?)

Why I Saw It: I like Stephen Spielberg movies and Tom Hanks movies.

Cast: This isn't the cluster of stars that Lincoln was. There's Tom Hanks at the center. Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Jesse Plemons, and Amy Ryan you may recognize. Beyond that, it's a bunch of character actors or Russian and German actors, for obvious reasons.

Plot: It's 1957. James B. Donovan (Hanks) is an American lawyer chosen to represent in court a Soviet spy (Rylance) captured by the FBI. Because of this association, he is later chosen to coordinate a prisoner exchange between the US and the USSR and East Germany: the Soviet spy for an American fighter pilot and an American student.

Thoughts:
I can't figure out what to make of this movie. It's a pretty simple story, but the idiosyncrasies of a Coen Brothers script are there. A lot more is going on than the movie covers. Parts of it are shot almost like Spielberg took clips from another movie entirely. That's how everything with the fighter pilot is, for example. The film is only concerned with anything that informs James Donovan's story. Anything there not involving him directly ties back to him eventually.
It's a story of quiet heroism. Donovan is a good man. He does good things because that's what a good man does. There's no moment when the audience wonders if he'll do the right thing. He's not seeking attention either. He's a hero. It's that simple. I found this very refreshing. That kind of character isn't popular in modern cinema. In fact, Spielberg is about the only filmmaker I can think of who regularly has heroes of this ilk. I don't always need this character in a movie, but it's nice to know I can find him when needed.
This is Tom Hanks' movie. It's hard to say who the next biggest character even is (Rylance as the spy, maybe). Hanks gives a very good performance that's not at all flashy. He's there to give a human scale to the relations between super powers during the Cold War. He maintains a very tricky balance of never going big yet still injecting life into things. All I'm saying is that after the 2013 Saving Mr. Banks/Captain Phillips double-snub, the Oscars owe him a nomination for this.
Mark Rylance is quite engaging as well. The movie's not concerned with knowing much about him. Half of what he says is just a running joke. But by the end, I really connected with him. He has that same exhausted quality that Richard Jenkins has and it works very well.

Elephant in the Room: How many people does Jesse Plemons kill? Plemons has a history of killing people on screen, whether as Landry/Lance on Friday Night Lights, Todd on Breaking Bad, or [spoiler alert] Ed on Fargo. To be fair, that's all TV work. Other than a few aliens in Battleship, he doesn't kill much on film. That said, I'll leave it up to you to go out an see if "Jesse Plemons kills someone" is the new "Sean Bean always dies".

To Sum Things Up:
This isn't a vital movie in the way that much of Stephen Speilberg's work is. This is more like "he's trying something out" and the end result is still a well-made movie. Your love of Tom Hanks will determine how much you need to see this.

Side Thought: Stephen Spielberg there's a number of great movie marathons that you can do with but one I like the idea of what I'm dubbing "Good Man Trilogy" of Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Bridge of Spies.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Weekly 10: 10/13-10/19

So much TV. So so much.

The Middle "Risky Business"
They finally outed Brad and in a sweet way. Good on them. I'm still holding out hope that they find a way to use Lyndon Smith in a more pleasant way. I'm maintaining that it'll involve Axl but I'd also be interested to see what it would look like for her to rub off on Sue some.

Goosebumps
As far as putting dozens of books in a blender and pouring that into one script goes, this was a solid effort. Nothing great, but it matches the tone of the books.

Girl Meets World "Girl Meets Texas"
I've been on board for what I thought they were doing with Riley, Maya, and Lucas for a while. I thought it was a matter of the writers realizing that Sabrina Carpenter and Peyton Meyer have chemistry that Meyer and Rowan Blanchard don't, so they were shifting the relationships. They were doing it well. Riley got another potential love interest. Riley and Maya realized that Riley and Lucas had more of a brother/sister relationship. Everyone seemed cool with it. Then "Girl Meets Texas Pt. 3" happened and all indications are that I'm not going to like where this ends up. Relationships can be confusing on their own. There's no need to have a love triangle too, especially one with dynamics as poorly mapped out as they are right now. Seriously, Girl Meets World was so close to handling teen drama in a freshly original way and at the last second, they took the on ramp to cliche road.

Tig
I still haven't listen to the Tig Notaro Live album, so this documentary about it is a good alternative. It's a very interesting story.

Saturday Night Live "Tracy Morgan; Demi Lovato"
That's "lost episode of 30 Rock from 2012" sketch made me really want some new 30 Rock episodes.

The Leftovers Off Ramp"
This is the kind of episode I'm certain to like better when I can binge a season rather than wait a week. I really like everything this is doing and think that it is interesting to see what Laurie and Tommy are up to. After two weeks in a row of teasing the fallout of this earthquake though, I really want to see what happens next in Jarden.

Bridge of Spies
I kept expecting there to be more to this movie. It was wholly satisfying. I just wasn't prepared for the limited scope of it. I kind of blame the previews for that, or maybe the few scenes that weren't about Tom Hanks' character made me think there was a bigger world it was trying to cover. It's hard to say. Future viewings of it will only go better.

Brooklyn Nine Nine "The Oolong Slayer"
Peralta and Holt working on a case together is one of my favorite things.

Disney's The Kid
The only problem I have with this movie is that it made me go and watch About Time again because it got me in one of those moods with all it's "life the life you want" messages.

American Horror Story: Hotel
Not every episode is going to be this long, right? I'm signed on for an hour show every week, not a mini movie.

Movie Reaction: Goosebumps

Formula: Jumanji * The Cabin in the Woods + (Ghostbusters / Ruby Sparks)

Why I Saw It: Nostalgia

Cast: Jack Black is R.L. Stine and several character voices. That sentence alone tells you all you need to know about the movie. Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush (also from last year's The Giver), Ryan Lee (Trophy Wife) are the obligatory kids. Jillian Bell tries to be comic relief. Amy Ryan shows up in the first movie I watched this weekend. Ken Marino is around just long enough for me to wonder if they cut out a bunch of scenes with him.

Plot: Zach (Minnette) moves with his mom (Ryan) to a small town in Delaware. He falls for the girl next door (Rush), but her overprotective father, R.L. Stine (Black) it turns out, refuses to let him see her. One night, Zach sneak into the girl's (Hannah) house and accidentally unlocks the original Goosebumps manuscripts which causes the creatures in the books to come to life, terrorizing the town. Zach, Hannah, Zach's friend Champ (Lee), and Stine have to get all the creatures back into the books.

Thoughts:
At its heart, this is a not-too-scary Children's movie. It replicates Jumanji in a way that Zathura never could. The story goes through many, many painful narrative contortions to get to the creatures escaping from the books, making the first third of the movie an absolute slog. Once Slappy the Dummy, the Werewolf of Fever Swamp, the Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, the Blob that ate everyone and all the others get loose it's a lot of fun.
The main appeal for someone over the age of 12 is the nostalgia factor. The movie does right by that, throwing in all kinds of references to the books. Granted, I haven't read any of the books in 15 years, so I didn't pick up on even half of those references.
Jack Black is having fun with this, getting to play silly and serious. There's even a call-back to director Rob Letterman's last Jack Black movie, Gulliver's Travels which was all in good fun. The kids are different levels of good. Odeya Rush proved she can play a sarcastic Manic Pixie Dream Girl for the next couple decades without a problem. Ryan Lee gives a flop-sweaty performance as the funny best friend. He's a funny kid though. I'm assuming a lot of the problematic parts of the character are on the page, not his fault. Right now, Dylan Minnette is pretty bland. That's about it for now. Amy Ryan is completely wasted, which I expected, given tha target audience. Jillian Bell fell flat completely. She's supposed to be comic relief, and based on the theater I was in, the audience was not having it.

Elephant in the Room: Why is this movie coming out now? 20 years ago - brief pause to contemplate how old I feel saying that - this movie would've been a hit, potentially a phenomenon. Even 10 years ago it would've been pretty familiar and gotten the coveted teen audience at the height of its power. Now, not so much. I believe the Goosebumps series is still pretty popular but nowhere near what it was in the 90s.

To Sum Things Up:
This is an okay movie. It's an example of working too hard to work in a brand. Once it gets going, it's quite fun. 

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Rambo: First Blood Part 2

What I Guessed It Was About: John Rambo gets out of prison and assigned to s special mission. You know how he picked on some cops in the mountains last time? That was nothing.

How I Came Into It: I knew that nearly everything that's iconic about Rambo is in this movie. Testosterone and explosions. A body count that's impossibly high. That's Rambo.

Why I Saw It: This was exactly what I thought I was going to watch. Rambo 2 completely commits to what it is and does it with a straight-faced seriousness that you have to admire. The man destroys a military base with a bow and arrow like he's a Marvel superhero (or a DC one...people like archers). It's a lot of fun.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It becomes self parody pretty damn easily. I laughed out loud when Rambo promises his love interest that she'll come back to the U.S. with him and she is killed seconds later. Sorry, she wasn't killed. She was obliterated. In my mind, this immediately should be compared to Commando, which is more my tempo, cracking some jokes in between killing everyone and thing.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

What I Guessed It Was About: It's a horror sequel that only wants to bend the formula a bit, so take any of the pronouns in the first script and change them. Now you have the script for part 2

How I Came Into It: I was aware that this is the gayest slasher movie ever. That alone makes this more interesting than any of the future sequels are likely to be.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) There's the great game within the movie of finding all the homosexual subtext because it is everywhere. That made it automatically engaging and enough changes are made from the original that it felt fresh.
Is it just me or does Kim Meyers in this look like she's related to Meryl Streep?

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I'm torn. Rehashing the exact thing over and over again gets tedious. Then again, at what point do changes break too far from formula? The whole point of Freddy Kruger is that he attacks in your dreams. Having him in the waking world doesn't feel right.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: Sicario

Formula: Zero Dark Thirty * Traffic

Why I Saw It: Emily Blunt.

Cast: Super solid collection of actors. Emily Blunt is the understated lead. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro get some flashy supporting roles. Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Maximilliano Hernandez, and others show up too.

Plot: Kate Macer (Blunt) is an FBI agent brought onto a joint task force with [she assumes] the CIA where she meets Matt Graver (Brolin) and the mysterious Alejandro (del Toro). They are trying to make a “big splash” with the Mexican drug cartels by going after some of the top figures. The movie follows Kate as she tries to understand what Matt and Alejandro are up to.

Thoughts:
I notice that most of the comparisons made to this movie are Traffic. I don't agree with that. Given the El Paso/Juarez setting, the TV show The Bridge might be better. The plot plays out most similarly to Zero Dark Thirty though. Sicario is a slow burn movie. The audience spends most of the movie in the dark. The momentum is kept up more through feelings of unease than anything big that happens. That works really well most of the time, but I left the movie disappointed that more didn't happen. This is a single chapter in a much larger story. It is a very well told chapter though. Denis Villenueve impressed me a lot with Prisoners a couple years ago, and Sicario lingers with me in the same way.
The whole movie was very familiar. As one of the 47 people who watch FX's The Bridge among other similar things, there was very little this movie covered that I hadn't seen before. I imagine for everyone else though, the setting will be less familiar and thus enough to sustain the whole film.
Regardless, the performances are top notch. Emily Blunt is deserving of all the praise I can give her for this. It's not a flashy performance at all and it's something I hadn't seen from her before. Both del Toro and Brolin struck me with their ease. They give very lived-in performances that make it clear that nothing about this movie is special, which ties back into my “chapter in a larger stroy” comment.

Elephant in the Room: Ok, but I still don't really know what it's about? I'm sorry. It's not a great movie for selling you on a pitch. It's about the U.S.'s role in stopping the worldwide drug trade. The intrigue of the movie is that while you're watching it, you're a little confused by it. There's nothing to spoil in this. It's a small story in a much larger world.

To Sum Things Up:
Some movies are defined by their uniqueness. Others by how they take a lot of familiar elements and effectively mix them together. Sicario is in the latter category. All I can say is that if it looks at all interesting to you, you'll probably enjoy it, because it's a good version of that type of movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Movie Reaction: The Walk

Formula: Man on Wire + actors + a budget

Why I Saw It: The promise of Robert Zemeckis using his talents to recreate that walk is something I could not pass up.

Cast: This is a pretty unsuspecting cast. There's Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a little bit of Ben Kingsley. After that, John Ralphio from Parks and Rec. (Ben Schwartz) is the next most recognizable person. It struck me as odd that they didn't aim a little higher in recognizability with the casting.

Plot: Philippe Petit is a Parisian tightrope walker. In the mid 1970s, he decides to do a walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. This is his story.

Thoughts:
There is exactly one reason to see this movie and it should come as no surprise that the reason is “the walk”. I wanted to see this on the biggest screen I could find (sadly, I had to settle for the very underwhelming Louisville IMAX option) and soak it in. That part of the movie is done every bit as well as I could want. I felt the height the whole time, and even though this is a 40 year old story, I still worried the whole time that he would fall (We live in a post Inglourious Basterds world after all). If you are seeing this movie, it's for that walk and it is worth it.
The other big takeaway from the movie was that it's a nice memorial for the Twin Towers. It's sort of the story of their birth. The movie reminds the audience that they were initially disliked by people, seen as eyesores. This walk helped to legitimize them, gave them a history. Then, the movie never gets to 9/11 (much appreciated). One thing Petit makes clear from the very beginning of the movie is that he never says “death” when talking about a walk, and the towers are given the same treatment. The closing lines are a little on a nose, but more touching than anything in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or World Trade Center.
I won't even save this as my Elephant: You just have to accept that Joseph Gordon Levitt is using that accent. It sounds over the top, even if you do realize that Petit actually sounds like that. It's a solid performance otherwise. The supporting cast is fine too. They are mostly just impressions of the real people involved, which is fine.
Everyone is a means to an end: the end being the walk. The first half of the movie isn't bad. It's filler though. If the movie could be released as a 30 minute wire walk, that would've maybe been better. That isn't how the business works though.

Elephant in the Room: How does it compare to Man on Wire? The Walk is more impressive. Man on Wire tells a better story. It's as simple as that. You watch the documentary if you want to hear an amazing story about how a man actually walked on a wire, a hundred floors high and survived. You watch The Walk if you want to feel like you did the walk.

To Sum Things Up:
Haven't I made this clear? There's a really cool tightrope walk sequence that is worth seeing on the big screen. The other hour of the movie is fine and forgettable.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Weekly 10: 10/6-10/12

Sorry for the week off from the blog. I needed a little vacation from it. Don't worry though. I've got plenty to cover over the time away with some 45 movies or TV shows in the last seven days that I watched. As always, here are ten I decided to remark on.

The Walk
This is less of a movie and more of an experience. Based on the box office results, you won't have long to see this and even less time to see it on a really big screen. I recommend going out and seeing it now. It's not the kind of movie that will play as well at home.

American Horror Story: Hotel "Checking In"
I've never watched any of the American Horror Stories before. Curiosity, Lady Gaga, and the fact that if I'm watching Scream Queens already, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound led me to committing to this season. The thing that is immediately clear is that this is all style over substance. I don't mean that as a bad thing necessarily. I watched the introduction segment for Gaga and Matt Bomer twice entirely because of the style. If the direction, cinematography, and production design are always this interesting, it won't matter what the writing does (similar to how I soaked in every second of Hannibal, even when the writing was at its most opaque).

Sicario
I feel bad that I wanted to like this movie more than I ended up liking it. It's similar to how I was with 12 Years a Slave: It's a very well made movie, but all very familiar. There's certainly worse things that could be said about a movie than "It was executed well".

The Middle “The Shirt”
This mid-life crisis story for Mike has a lot of potential. The Middle is a very patient show. Mike is so firmly established at this point that really even the smallest changes in his personality are filled with possibilities.
A smaller detail in the episode that did a lot for me was Brick, Sue, and Axl's phone ritual for communicating. I like that the show isn't trying to distance them (Brick has a lot of potential to be on his own show most of the time a la Winston on New Girl). So, the fact that he can get both siblings on the phone so easily (which is something that's been established in the past) is a nice sign of their bond. I'm predicting there will be a Brick solo-visit to Axl and Sue's school by the season's end.
Finally, I'll ask for this now: Odds that Axl and Devin's open relation ship will crumble? Odds that Sue's roommate will be involved? Odds that this is all a way for the show to move from Gia Mantegna to Lyndon Smith?

Saturday Night Live "Amy Schumer/The Weeknd"
Schumer was a solid host. I would've put money on this being a return of the Pornstars sketch, but I was wrong, in that they just did a different kind of pornstar sketch instead.
What is going on with Weekend Update? Jost and Che are great together at this point. I fully approve of moving Strong from the desk now. The guests are awful though. Both of them this week fell flat and it's worrisome that the best characters in the current roster are Leslie and Pete playing themselves.

The Last Man on Earth “Dead Man Walking”
I'm continually nervous about this show. I like that Phil/Tandy is an idiot and is destined to repeatedly make things worse for himself. He got to such an unlikable level last season though, that I'm in constant fear of a relapse. As long as the show doesn't turn back into him ruining everything for everyone always while trying to sleep with all the women, I'm excited for what comes next.

The Walking Dead “First Time Again”
Am I the only one who would've preferred this episode told in order? I know, it lacked the big moment at the beginning that pulls you in, but otherwise, it's so much better in order. As it was, I was disoriented at the beginning, attempting to recall where we left off and what was happening. Maybe the plan wouldn't've seemed as convoluted if the writers weren't so busy writing around details in order to service the dual timeline structure. Make no mistake, I was very impressed by the production and a lot of what was happening with the characters was interesting. That structure got in the way though. In general, I'll admit that I don't respond to the experimental episodes of the show very well.

The Leftovers "A Matter of Geography"
People never talk about how funny this show is. It's dark comedy, sure. The dramatic beats certainly demand more of the attention. But it's still very funny. The confession scene in the living room at the beginning. Nora disappearing to buy a house. Patty's "What the fuck was that?" after Kevin is freed from police custody. I laugh a lot watching this.

The Truth About Cats and Dogs
I'm pretty sure I've never seen this before yet it was a completely familiar movie. I tend be turned off by this level of farce, but I found this completely entertaining.

Fargo "Waiting for Dutch"
Another strong start for this wonderful show. It's already looking like it learned lessons from its first season that the second season of True Detective didn't.

Weekly Ten: 9/28-10/5

A good and busy week of movies and TV. Even with this week off, I'll still having trouble getting these Weekly posts up in time. I'm just lazy, I guess.

Fresh Off the Boat "Boy II Man"
I'm not sure which was better: Jessica's horrifying story about the vegetable babies or all the men at the table singing Boys II Men.

The Middle "Cutting the Cord"
That ending was so sweet, Axl checking in on Sue unprompted. At first I worried that another kid out of the house would kill the show's balance. That's true, but the new balance at the Heck house and on campus is looking pretty good too.

Review "Conspiracy Theory"
That was a nice way of wrapping the whole season up. I really thought Grant was a bad-guy until this episode, so now I feel stupid.

The Cutting Edge
This was a far more enjoyable movie than I expected. It's nice that I still have some like that left in my Club 50 list.

Saturday Night Live "Miley Cyrus"
Based on this episode, I imagine the writers of SNL all summer pissed off that they couldn't be on the air sooner for all the Donald Trump jokes. Miley isn't a bad host, but I certainly think she's there more to move the needle than because they think she's so great.

Fear the Walking Dead "The Good Man"
This show didn't even have one really good episode to keep me engaged like the parent show did in the first season. I'll keep watching into season two. It is rather alarming though that so few lessons have been learned about pacing and building characters.

The Iron Giant
A friend tipped me off about a Fathom event screening of this and I'm so glad he did. It had been a while since I'd seen this and it looked great on a big screen.

The Martian
Such a good movie. I feel like I need to hold off talking about it for now to avoid using hyperbole about it. I really enjoyed it though.

The Leftovers "Axis Mundi"
I don't really get that opening, although I'm pretty sure I'm looming at it like there's more to it than there really is. Jarden is going to be a very interesting new setting.

The Last Man on Earth "The Boo"
Just as soon as it looked like it was going to zig into the "lying Phil" territory from season one that annoyed me, it zagged into good character moments instead. The Will Ferrell cameo was unexpected, but I always welcome Will Ferrell showing up in things.

Movie Reaction: The Martian

Formula: Mission to Mars - everything bad about Mission to Mars

Why I Saw It: Why Wouldn't I?

Cast: So many good people. Matt Damon at the center, and...just everyone. Chiwetel Ejoifor, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, Kate Mara, and, uh, others too. A lot of people wanted in on this.

Plot: On a mission to Mars, a NASA team is forced to make an emergency evacuation, accidentally leaving behind one of the crew , Mark Watney (Damon). He has to find a way to survive while the crew and every available body on Earth figure out a way to get him back.

Thoughts:
I loved this movie on nearly every level. It's been a while since Ridley Scott was on his game at this level. It looks fantastic. It doesn't talk down to the audience at any point. There aren't easy fixes to things. Drew Goddard's script is constantly hilarious without undercutting the stakes. I was at the edge of my seat more than once. It's the kind of movie where one character uses the phrase "as long as something bad doesn't happen", which all but guarantees something bad happens in the next scene and I was still completely sucked in (hehe).
This is a crowd-pleaser of the highest caliber. At a couple different point, my theater was on the verge of breaking into applause. I'm pretty sure the only reason it didn't happen was because no one knew if we were done.
This is some of the best work from nearly everyone in the cast. Damon is completely captivating in a mostly one-man show. Kristen Wiig is marvelously restrained. Jessica Chastain is far superior here to in Interstellar, Mackenzie Davis manages to avoid turning into Cameron from Halt and Catch Fire. Ojiofor should be in everything. Pena is a scene stealer in yet another movie. Donald Glover does a great deal with only a few scenes.
I'm all over the place with the praise because I don't know where to start or stop with it. The only reason I'm not immediately calling this movie my favorite of the year is because 1) the year isn't over and 2) 2015 has been a ridiculously strong year.

Elephant in the Room: Matt Damon is really turning me off these days. I learned long ago that you have to separate the actor from the work. It's the only way I can watch and love Tom Cruise movies. If Matt Damon's recent quotes are the your only reason for not wanting to see this, I implore you to reconsider.

To Sum Things Up:
This exceeded my expectations all-around with a strong script, expert directions, deep and talented cast, and excellent technical work (sound, visual-effects, etc.). I'm still riding a high from seeing it, so I'm going to try and calm down now.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Fletch

What I Guessed It Was About: Fletch is some sort of investigator investigating something. He's really good at either dressing up as different characters or imagining things.

How I Came Into It: This is the most fiercely Chevy Chase role there is. I kind of knew most of the best gags thanks to I Love the 80's. There wasn't much to the movie left unexplored before I saw it.

Why I Saw It: I'm such a big fan of Community, that I tend to forget about vintage Chevy Chase. When he was the comedy golden child, he put out some good product. This, with the costumes, physical comedy, and dry jokes features all of Chase's favorite and best traits.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I don't like to mix my dry humor with absurdest humor. I'll take "They say taupe is very soothing" over "I speak jive" any day of the week. That's a matter of taste though. What hurt my experience the most was knowing so many of the jokes beforehand. I didn't realize I knew the movie so well already until I started watching it and my brain started stepping on all the jokes.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: A Nightmare on Elm Street

What I Guessed It Was About: Kids in Everytown, USA start getting murdered in their sleep by a creepy dude named Freddy Kruger. Some girl learns how to battle him.

How I Came Into It: This is an incredibly prolific franchise. Oddly enough, I hadn't seen any of them before this. I needed to know what it's all about, and I might as well start at the beginning: the one with Johnny Depp.

Why I Saw It: I can see why this franchise was so popular. It's a simple concept. Freddy is a good villain. The movie is short and to the point.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The effects don't age very well. This is more campy by now than it is scary. The incredible thing is that this was the third movie Wes Craven directed for that year. That makes sense because it looks like it was quickly produced.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend