Shorts from The Screening Room – January 2020

In Theaters:

Little Women (2019) – Greta Gerwig’s current take on Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel is a wonderfully lighthearted and engaging film. The story follows the women of the March family, a mother and her four daughters, through several years and heartaches as they each seek their own level of personal independence and communicable happiness.

One of the better films of 2019, I found it to be wonderfully bright, sharply written, charmingly acted, and brilliantly scored; Alexandre Despalt’s score is one of my favorites of the year. Many reviewers site a ‘contemporary’ feel to the film, but I find that less true when you understand the nature, and naturalness, of the screenplay and the dialogue delivery, moreover that the film never betrays its feminine gaze. Through that lens, I find the film to be far more honest, respectable, and alluring in almost every respect.

The film’s narrative is delivered across two distinct timelines but never changes up the forward motion of the story. Writer/Director Greta Gerwig adeptly highlights the already independent and conflicted character material with a naturally humanistic touch, effectively allowing these characters to live and breathe as they truly might have. In tandem, Gerwig sees to it that time enough is spared to detail the novel’s sadder elements. Perhaps thankfully, the film does so without having to bind itself up in narrative tragedy; i.e. the major heartbreaks are still displayed but their resonance is short-lived as life, and the individuals experiencing it, continue on; sometimes in very refreshing meta-like moments.

For me, the film really only has two flaws and their impacts are contestable. Firstly, the film is a little lite on effective romance. The audience witnesses the decisional outcomes of the March sisters but doesn’t always feel the emotional buildup of those decisions. I don’t think it’s a painful blemish but it’s certainly noticeable. Secondly, the timeline editing can be a bit confusing since these little women never really age. The editing itself is remarkably smooth as it cuts across the film’s two timeframes. In doing so, it covers the major plot points from Alcott’s novel and only confuses the audience on occasion.

The cast is exemplary from top to bottom, allowing each actor, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern. Timothee Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep, an opportunity to shine, and ensures they each feel a part of the greater whole.

My Admission - $8.00
One Line Review – “March-ing to the Beat of Their Own Drum”
MPAA Rating – PG for thematic elements and brief smoking

 

From the Video Store Shelf:

 

3 From Hell (2019 / DVD) – Lacking tension and scares, this third in the House of 1,000 Corpses franchise sees Otis, Baby, and half/brother Wolfman in and out of prison before ultiamtely trashing things up in Mexico.

The interesting thing here is that the final product is not what writer/director Rob Zombie had initially intended. A few weeks ahead of principal photography Zombie was informed that ailing costar Sid Haig was physically unable to reprise his role as Captain Spaulding for the film’s shoot. So rather than scrap the film, the story was entirely reworked to largely omit Spaulding, and Haig, from the film.

I don’t really know just how different the film would have been if Haig had been able to be involved, he actually passed away during the film’s shoot, but Zombie does a decent enough job easing him out and the new character, Wolfman, in. The real issue with the film is that it doesn’t do anything new or particularly interesting with its ultra-violent characters. They are as they’ve always been, just a little bit older and a little less sane.

Note: Dee Wallace (“Cujo”, “E.T. The Extraterrestrial”) has a small role.

My Admission - $4.00
One Line Review – “Of the Three, ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ Is the Only Film for Me”
MPAA Rating – R for strong sadistic violence, language throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, and drug use

 

 

 

6 Underground (2019 / NETFLIX) - In the name of “Justice”, a billionaire enlists the working talents of 6 highly skilled and violent professionals to do the “dirty” jobs that governments are afraid to do. The catch, is that the 6 must all fake their own deaths in order to become ghosts; people with out families, obligations, or connections to the living world.

Directed by Michael Bay, “6 Undeground” is a high-octane, mildly thrilling action piece. One that delivers numerous feats of physical and vehiclular acrobatics, helicopter shots in middle eastern countries, and a shit-ton of flipping/exploding vehicles that see the roughly-equal amount of airborne personnel ejections. The film boasts a moderate cast, led by the highly entertaining Ryan Reynolds, and is filled with a lot of quick witted dialogue thanks in part to a script by, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the writers respobsible for “Zombieland, and the “Deadpool” films.

The movie boasts a really exciting and action-packed opening sequence, lasting almost a full 20-minutes, where each of the film’s “6”, and the level of violence to expect, are all introduced; it’s easily my favorite sequence of the film. The remainder of the 128 minute runtime is passable, but sees itself easily distracted from it’s character’s desire for unsympathetic efficiency by it’s more personal themes. Mercenaries with hearts, Yo!

My Admission - $5.50
One Line Review – “A Bit Like A ‘Fast & Furious’ Movie, but With Way More Traffic Fatalities”
MPAA Rating – R for strong violence and language throughout, bloody images and some sexual content

 

 

 

Ad Astra (2019 / DVD) – Brad Pitt stars as the very measured Major Roy McBride, a life-long military man who’s enlisted by Space Command to help contact his estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, an Earthly hero gone rogue at the edge of our own galaxy.

Simply calling “Ad Astra” boring is missing the point, this is a journey. A journey that some men take their entire lives to complete. It’s meant to be slow, isolating, and fraught with metaphors and distractions. On these levels, “Ad Astra” excels, on its payoff and/or being interesting to a wider audience…not so much.

Similar in some respects to Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell”, in that it has a point, but it’s not really, nor is it necessarily meant to be, exciting about the getting there. As such, there are those, I expect, who will feel this movie deeply, while others will say, “Yeah, I get it but…dude.”

The film boasts a notable sound design and an impressive supporting cast that includes Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Lisa Gay Hamilton, John Finn, John Ortiz, Alyson Reed, Greg Byrk, Kimmy Shields, and Liv Tyler. They don’t do much filmic-ly, but as a collective they represent archetypes and threshold guardians on this road to personal acceptance, ownership, forgiveness, and letting go.

My Admission - $4.00
One Line Review – “In Space, Nobody Cares About Your Daddy Issues”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for some violence and bloody images, and for brief strong language

 

 

 

The Aeronauts (2019 / AMAZON) – Set in London in 1862, the film details the attempt, in the name of science, to break the hot air balloon altitude record made by real-life scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) and fictional pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones).

Directed by Tom Harper (“Wild Rose”), the surprisingly entertaining film boasts a more interesting story than you might think and is sold to audiences by a competently likeable cast.  The real treat, however, comes through the film’s astonishing wide shots that deliver some truly stunning vistas. Vistas that are then overlaid with a graphing map to detail some of the story’s scientific specifics.

I’m hard pressed to find significant faults with the film. It’s lean and does little to stray from its focus. It’s thoroughly entertaining and unanticipatedly exciting. Additionally, the film rarely devalues itself by fulfilling obvious expectations of standard tropes, and is a film I would return to again and again.

The film also costars Himesh Patel (Danny Boyle’s, ‘Yesterday”) in a supporting role.

Note: Amelia Wren is a fictional character based in part on the French balloonist Sophie Blanchard and Glaisher’s real record-breaking pilot, Tracey Coxwell.

My Admission - $7.00
One Line Review – “This ‘Up. Up…and Away’ is Thoroughly Entertaining”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for some peril and thematic elements

 

 

 

Apollo 11 (2019 / DVD) – Following in the footsteps of Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old”, this documentary takes much of the currently recognizable archival NASA footage and not only restores it but upgrades it in order to deliver a stunningly new look at the historic space voyage.

Helmed by Todd Douglas Miller, the film is a fantastic look at the Apollo 11 launch, moon landing, and subsequent return. Miller was given unprecedented access to NASA’s film and audio libraries, from which he’s been able to compile this stunning and inciteful audio/video recalibration and delivery of Apollo 11’s Mission Control operation and In-Flight voyage.

The documentary is absolutely amazing to look at and is something audiences simply aren’t prepared for; upgrading the overly familiar footage to levels as high as 16k. From the opening scenes, audiences will lose themselves in a bygone era, and be moved again by the determination and success of a people who kept looking to the stars.

My Admission - $7.00
One Line Review – “An Absolutely Stunning reVisualization”
MPAA Rating – G for mild language and scenes of adults smoking

 

 

 

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019 / DVD) – The franchise’s “family” ideal continues in Fast & Furious fashion as a pair of series late-comers, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, get their own spin off movie.

Johnson, Statham, and the film’s baddie, Idris Elba, are…Oh, who cares? The film, directed by David Leitch (“John Wick”, “Atomic Blonde”, “Deadpool 2”) is a simple, if lengthy, action-packed thrill ride. The specifics are not what’s interesting about this film, they never were. What is of interest is whether Johnson and Statham are an enjoyable team to watch? And of course, they are. Their bitter and sarcastic banter propels their equally head-strong characters forward at a furious (see what I did there?) pace. While that may be forward into the absurd, the pair make the ride way more fun than its material alone could.

Note: The film sports a super fun cameo from Ryan Reynolds.

My Admission - $5.00
One Line Review – “Will You Love It? Of Course Not, but It’s Still A Fun Ride”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence, suggestive material and some strong language

 

 

 

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019 / DVD) – This ho-hum third installment in the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise is passable, but not solidly expansive enough. It details the need to move Hiccup and the dragons from Kraic to a new safe haven.

Ultimately this is done through a combination of need and duress. The ideas surrounding the move are driven by practical expansion, moving the combined society forward, and finally protecting themselves from the negatives of a larger and more threatening world. It’s a somewhat odd take, as it implies that yes, we can all live together peacefully, but it’s better and safer if we do it far removed from everybody else in the world.

F Murray Abraham makes a rather welcome addition to the franchise as the current baddie. While the addition of a Light Fury dragon is handled rather underwhelmingly.

My Admission - $4.00
One Line Review – “Third Time’s A: #Whatever”
MPAA Rating – PG for adventure and some mild rude humor

 

 

 

I Lost My Body (2019 / NETFLIX) – The French film, is a surprising and interesting story concerning a severed hand’s journey to reunite itself with its former body. What follows is a poignant metaphor for a young man’s need to feel connected and that his life matters. Emotionally successful, the film sells its message of hope in some rather discomforting and depressing ways.

Deeper than expected, the story is at times moving, at other times quite sad and, despite how you see it in the end, never loses its hope. In fact, even for all of its losses and lack of explanation, the film manages to find itself.

Note: I realize that the film is rated, TV-MA, but it was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 92nd Academy Awards, so it’s inclusion in this month’s Shorts from the Screening Room shouldn’t be a surprise.

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “Finding My Way Back Home”
MPAA Rating – TV MA for scenes of violence and gore, language, brief sexually related material, and alcohol use

 

 

 

Klaus (2019 / NETFLIX) – A little deeper and warmly surprising, ‘Klaus” is not the best animated movie of the year, but I think it’s safe to say that it is one of the more interesting.

The film’s premise sees a spoiled postal worker stationed at the most god-forsaken post office in the known world. Here, he must accomplish an arguably impossible task in order to see himself reassigned; a Christmas story ensues.

What I found most interesting about the film was the unexpected direction the film chooses to pursue. Thanks in large part to the Netflix trailer which consisted of only a portion of a single scene, which left the remainder of the film to more of an unfolding exploration. It’s a Christmas film called Klaus, so in the end there isn’t a ton of mystery, but what the film has kept from the audience plays out a bit like a Christmas Present that’s unwrapping itself for you.

Jason Schwartzman and JK Simmons deliver the bulk of the voice acting and they do so charmingly. Rashida Jones and Joan Cusack offer some strength in support.

My Admission - $6.00
One Line Review – “It’s Christmas At Ground Zero”
MPAA Rating – PG for rude humor and mild action

 

 

 

Missing Link (2019 / DVD) – From Lakia studios, the animation hub that brought us “Kubo and the Two Strings”, comes “Missing Link”. A film that details the story of a vain anthropological fame seeker who is enlisted to help the Northwestern American Sasquatch travel halfway around the world to join his cousins, the Yeti, in their frozen home of Nepal.

While the film is dull and seemingly uneventful, like I almost shut it off twice and actually fast-forwarded though the film’s closing scenes, it has a redeeming quality or two. It’s animation is impressive, if physically awkward, and it contains some actual moments of breadth in it’s storytelling, although neither are enough to maintain long-term interest.

Hugh Jackman and Zach Galifanakis topline the film and they’re amenable without ever being exceptional. To be fair, the material is also not exceptional so, working with what you got, it’s not completely surprising.

Note: The film boast supporting roles for Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, and Zoe Saldana.

My Admission - $3.00
One Line Review – “Now That I’ve Actually Seen It, I Can Unfortunately No Longer Deny Its Existence”
MPAA Rating – PG for action/peril and some mild rude humor

 

 

 

Rocketman (2019 / DVD) – The Elton John biopic is a welcome mix of stage musical and rock & roll fantasy. It’s visually and narratively entertaining, if a little lite on what feels like specific dates, times, and locations; but hey, drugs make life a blur, m’kay.

The film is almost as enjoyable as the Queen biopic, “Bohemian Rhapsody” but it’s far different in delivery. Less dramatically rigid than other biopics, the film has a loose feel about itself. A feel that more readily allows for much of its cast to break out into song and/or dance, as they’re wont to do. This doesn’t belittle the drama at all, instead it bolsters the music and it’s…place (?) in Elton’s life.

“Rocketman” is a film that’s as heavy on romance as it is on its music and substance abuse. The early parts of the film are really solid and set a strong foundation for the soon-to-be orbiting characters as they blast off from Elton’s small London boyhood home.

Taron Egerton embodies Elton John very well and gives audiences an arguably authentic and fully entertaining feel to both the character and the man. Jamie Bell, as Elton’s long-term writing partner, Bernie Taupin is measured. While Richard Madden (“Game of Thornes, “Bodyguard”) is a stalwart love interest as manager, John Reid.

My Admission - $7.00
One Line Review – “You Can Feel the Love Tonight” or “It Won’t Go Breaking Your Heart”
MPAA Rating – R for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content

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