Leftovers + The Force Awakens

Given the Lost connection, it's interesting how these 2 filmmakers utilize teen angst. In The Leftovers, Evie's dysfunctional family resides within a community that believes, following the rapture, they were blessed with zero departures. So, she joins a white-clad cult who smoke and remind people we're too guilty for salvation. In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren resides within a family that helped end the subjugation of the Empire. He joins the black-clad First Order, changes his name from Ben, and studies the dark-side. The climax of each story notwithstanding, did these 2 characters just want to piss of their parents?

Inside Out

by April Franco

Pediatric therapists love Inside Out. In a world where kids are bombarded with so much so soon, it is refreshing to know that an effort has been made to tell young people, “Hey! It’s okay to feel what you feel.” Life can be very hard, especially when adults are making life-changing decisions for you.

 
This film was so clever in explaining the workings of the brain. It was impressive to see the way moments are remembered and forgotten. Responsibly explains how okay it can be to feel. And most importantly, the way joy, sadness, disgust, anger, and fright can coexist.

Dope + Me & Earl & the Dying Girl

Both movies embody a youthful originality that reminded me of John Hughes or Richard Linklater. Unlike these directors, there is a heaviness to Dope and Me & Earl you can't find in "hangout movies" from the 80s and 90s. Issues like drugs, gun violence, and cancer need to be addressed, especially if they impact youth. But I found myself getting wrapped up in the friendships in each movie. I just wanted to hang out, inhabit these worlds for a few hours. I guess it's selfishness on my part to want to dance with Ally Sheedy or cruise with Matthew McConaughey.

Jurassic World

A successful formula: dinosaur park, dinosaur expert nobody listens to, profit-minded park manager, and military man who wants dinosaur soldiers(?). Entertaining as heckfire, but with one major surprise. When did young women stop being safe in dinosaur movies? A winged dino picks one up and both are eaten by a huge...alligatorsaurus, I guess. It's kind of horrific, but does it create a level playing field in family movies? Newman got spit on and torn apart in the first Jurassic Park and I didn't give it a second thought. Has gender equality finally cracked the dinosaur/sci-fi fantasy genre?

Avengers + Ex Machina

In science-fiction, artificial intelligence is always bad. Even when it's good. Whether it's an automaton with the powers of Google search and the drive for human extinction or an alluring lady-bot with a desire to see the world. Both Ultron and Ava are conscious of their creator, but they feel detached, resentful, even superior. They don't want to live as puppets or dolls on a shelf. They have innate, human desires to take control of their own lives. Unfortunately, and this is where sci-fi gets all deep, Ultron and Ava believe they must destroy their creator to live free.

This is the End + True Story

Here me out: what started as a joke became a full-on analysis of personal honesty. The characters that James Franco & Jonah Hill play in both movies are convinced they are essentially good people trapped in horrible circumstances. In This is the End, James & Jonah are too self-obsessed to understand why they didn't get into heaven. In True Story, James is a heartless murderer who manipulates people with emotion. Jonah abandons journalistic integrity in favor of a great story. In each situation, the lies the characters tell themselves create the foundation for a (im)moral universe. 

A Most Violent Year

"I can think of at least 2 things wrong with that title." The story takes place over a month and the violence was, well...brief. Not that I require Liam Neeson level brutality from every film, but I was anticipating a Goodfellas-ish underbelly. It's 1981 New York and hardworking immigrant, Abel Morales, is repeatedly having his oil trucks hijacked. There's a great moment where he sits down with the "Oil Families" of NYC to make peace. It's The Godfather, with Abel portraying Micheal Corleone. The difference being Abel stays the course and never fully embraces the reality of his business. 

Furious...7 ?

This movie is absurd--from the action sequences to the dialogue to their need to employ bald, muscle-bound actors (5 by my count). Absurd, pandering, but Jebus help me...I liked it.

Predestination

(Watch before reading. Re-watch as needed.)

You are a baby girl left at an orphanage. In college, you meet a man and get pregnant, but your baby is stolen. You have surgery to become a man. You meet a secret agent at a bar. You travel back in time, impregnating yourself as a college girl. You become a secret agent, chasing a terrorist through time. You change your face and meet your younger male-self at a bar. You travel back in time to steal yourself as a baby girl. You retire, but discover you become the terrorist. You travel to the future and shoot yourself.

Foxcatcher

I'm curious if the 3 principle actors for this film were told to pattern their behaviors after specific animals. Steve Carell's character is pretty obvious: he's an ornithologist, calls himself "eagle," and of course there's his beak. He's subtle and ruthless, like a bird of prey. Channing Tatum is a straight up gorilla: slowing plodding forward, slouched with his chin out. Under stress, he becomes physically violent. Mark Ruffalo has the burliness of a bear. He's protective and aggressive when necessary. Each character brought this animalistic presence to their wrestling styles: awkward, brutal, and protective.

Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowski...siblings seem to operate within this epic universe where human beings are interchangeable, moving parts. In The Matrix, we're batteries; in Cloud Atlas, we're parts of different people; in Jupiter Ascending, we're embryos for space royalty. We're harvested like crops for them to bathe in our...youth juices to keep their skin tight and their lips pouty. The working class has their DNA recombined to create wolf-men and bee-boys. It's not the cluster fork it sounds like, but it's distinctly odd and perplexing. I have to wonder how they sold the idea: Cinderella...outer space...manimals...youth juice.

SpongeBob Movie

by Jackson Franco

When a new SpongeBob Movie was announced, I hoped it was not going to be like the current episodes. The main plot is almost identical to an earlier episode called "Pressure." Although, in the episode, Sandy challenges SpongeBob and co. to go to the surface and they were actual objects, not 3-D figures. The movie takes a while to start and the superpowers they gain are very brief. (On a side note, they meet this weird dolphin character with an Illuminati medal. I'm serious, look closely.) Overall, this movie has decent humor and was all around okay. 

Whiplash

This movie got me thinking about limits. What are the limits you're willing to go to for something you want? Whether you're a musician, a painter, or an athlete. Could you put yourself through the physical & mental trials depicted at the Shaffer Conservatory of Music--trials better suited for Navy Seal training. Everybody has that something extra they want from their lives, but would you sacrifice a piece of yourself (mind, body, soul) to get it? Like most people, I have yet to be truly tested.

American Sniper

A common theme in Clint Eastwood films is sacrifice. The characters sacrifice a piece of themselves with the choices they make. Yes, war is hell. And snipers kill people by hiding 1,000 yards away. But they're protecting other soldiers. Would killing be more acceptable from 10 feet away? These questions are tough enough, but not for the artist formerly known as Dirty Harry. What if a 10 year old is the enemy and about to kill 5 soldiers? Whose life do you spare? More importantly, can you live with that choice?

Selma

A reflection of the Civil Rights movement is provided early on: strong, courageous, and--surprisingly--calculated. When Dr. King and his activists enter a government building in Selma, Alabama, he is almost immediately recognized & assaulted. The activists unanimously agree: We're in the right place. Like firemen running into a burning building, they saw the inherent danger, but did it anyway. They also knew that public displays of brutality would only strengthen their movement. Mass beatings & cold-blooded murder of men, women, & children call to mind scenes from Schindler's List. And it all happened just 50 years ago.  

Imitation Game

Innovators rarely get the credit they deserve. Innovators that fall under the female-minority-gay heading, well...their legacy becomes a footnote. Alan Turing's story is even more complicated because of his affiliation with MI6. Like the CIA, they can keep a secret--especially one they're ashamed of. Turing designed the first computer and used it to decode Nazi messages for the British. Cheers! But, he was gay...in the 1940s. Bollocks. He ends up being persecuted (grotesquely) by the government he helped to save. Like Japanese internment camps, it's not something countries want to remember, even 70 years later.