Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot (2018)

Gus Van Sant wrote and directed one of my all time favourite films, My Own Private Idaho, and is responsible for a number of other films I love. But he hasn't made anything I've been interested in for a while. So Don't Worry He Can't Get Far On Foot, is a reminder to me of what I loved about his work. His adaptation of the life story of artist John Callahan manages to be rather intimate and beautiful. Capturing the journey of recovery can feel cliche yet Van Sant finds an way to tell this story that feels honest.

Structured as a series of conversations, Don't Worry chronicles Callahan's trip through sobriety. Callahan's reputation is rather controversial but Van Sant doesn't focus on that, instead making this much more about his inner struggles than his outer ones. Like many of his films, Van Sant is interested here in odd characters, outsiders, and finding the remarkable, beautiful things about them. The people in Callahan's life fit that esthetic perfectly. Is this love letter a bit of a soft ball? Sure it is. Clearly Van Sant is taken with Callahan and isn't up to challenging him. That's not what this is about. But what makes Don't Worry work for me is the way Van Sant uses his strength about getting us into the minds and hearts of his outsiders, making us the outsiders, to put those on the margins in the centre.

Joaquin Phoenix is the sort of actor who appears to love parts he gets to be extreme in. Bad hair, funny glasses, non-supermodel bodies? All the better. Here is another, yet within that he finds quieter moments where he can truly shine. His Callahan isn't a provocateur but an addict fighting his way through adapting to sobriety coupled with paralysis. And his triumph isn't a rags to riches story but focuses completely on his well being, not his fame. Yes I know we wouldn't be telling his story if he lived of state support his whole life and didn't piss people off with his comics, but the movie and Phoenix aren't interested in that.

To be honest I enjoyed Jack Black and Jonah Hill the most, both playing against type and playing their parts with unexpected sensitivity. Hill has gotten some praise for roles I felt were overrated but this one he shows us he deserves to be seen as a capital A actor. The depth he brings to a character who could have easily been a series of boilerplate mannerisms is remarkable.

Don't Worry He Can't Get Far On Foot reminded me of what I love about the best of Van Sant's work and made me want to see what he might take on next.

Don't Worry He Can't Get Far On Foot
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black
Writer/Director: Gus Van Sant

Mission Impossible Fallout (2018)

Many action movies are plotted around their set pieces. The action sequences are charted out to maximize their impact (cause honestly that's what we come for) and a story is crafted around them to string it all together. For the Mission Impossible movies it's the stunts. That's their shtick. What kind of miraculous stunts can Tom Cruise pull off in this one to top the last one. And then a story is put around it. Once again, Fallout ups the ante with some of the most impressive and thrilling stunts. For what it is, Fallout is remarkable. I'm just not sure that what it is is what I am looking for in a summer action film.

For me the Mission Impossible film series suffers in the story telling department. The films reek of self-aggrandizement. Aging movie star Tom Cruise saw reviving an old TV series into a vehicle for himself. The first film egregiously kills off pretty much the entire cast in the first moments so he can be the star of the show. The second and third films take his role and puts him in another cookie cutter adventure barely connected to the last. It always felt like the stories didn't mean anything. That there was no character development. Like it was all just serving the stunt sequences each film was putting forward.

I felt some of this changed with Ghost Protocol, a film which seemed rebuild a team approach but seemed to be starting to have consequences to what happened before, started to build up characters into people we could care about and follow. I still feel the series drops the ball somewhat in that. I've never bought Hunt's tragedy (only he can save the world so he has to be parted from his blander than bland wife who has no chemistry with him what so ever) but at least it makes this about something more than just what is the next amazing stunts.

So while I can enjoy all the stunts and spectacle which is Fallout, I just wish I could care more about the characters. While I enjoy Pegg's wisecracks, the rest of the team has always offered very little personality. Rhames isn't anything more than a lovable giant. Rebecca Ferguson is the answer to how can we find a love interest even blander than the last (where is Paula Patton when you need her?). When it comes to story and character, Fallout, like its predecessors comes up short.

So yes I had a fun time watching Cruise show the world what a man he is by attempting all these remarkable stunts. And I dug the stylish vibe director McQuarrie imbued into the scenes. While no Skyfall, Fallout does offer some mighty lush visuals. But I would have gotten so much more out of it if I could get invested in this ongoing story. The film climaxes in a moment which it doesn't earn. It builds to this reunion which is supposed to make us feel the stakes rise but for me it all felt so false I couldn't care about that and just wanted to see the action.

And you'll see the "twist" coming a mile away. The mysterious villain's identity is telegraphed early in the film and the whole reveal was clumsily handled. This doesn't sink the film. Perhaps McQuarrie knew that plot point wasn't what the film was hanging on and therefore didn't attempt to make it anything more than it was. But if you can't spot the bad guy in the first act you haven't seen enough of these films.

Oh and another critique. I hate it when a movie sets a timer, and then clearly takes way longer than the set amount of time to resolve the action. In this case we get 15 minutes on a countdown before a nuclear bomb is going to go off. 30 minutes later the timer is still counting down... I mean if you are going to create tension with a ticking clock then don't stretch out time. It has the opposite effect on the audience who quickly come to see the characters have all the time they need to solve it cause the ticking clock means nothing.

And that is a good analogy for why the MI movies remain lower on my list of films to be excited about. They just don't offer me enough meaning to be worked up about while I'm enjoying the action. For what it is Fallout is a strong entry in a rather weak series.

Mission Impossible Fallout
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavil, Sean Harris, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett
Writer/Director: Christopher McQuarrie

The Equalizer 2 (2018)

I guess every aging Hollywood star needs a generic, marketable franchise they can fall back on. Cruise has Mission Impossible. Stalone has The Expendables. Washington now has The Equalizer. What is clear from EQ2 is that this franchise attempts to become something more but ends up as generic as they come.

Its simple, straight forward plot is satisfactory if not inspiring. It is the kind of thing that is exactly what one would expect. There aren't really surprises here. You will see it all coming. Experienced hero intervenes to save people who need help. Bad guys hit someone close to him. He strikes back. All the while inspiring the next generation who just needs some strong role model to keep him on the right path. It's all well and good. I'm just not sure it's very interesting.

I felt the first film was a bit of a mess. I did feel like Washington and director Fuqua has found their groove with this sequel. This film feels a bit more logical and satisfying. The film's subplot of Washington taking young Ashton Sanders under his wing shows some promise, but never rises above a fairly predictable story arc. If this is going to be more than just forgettable, disposable action flick they need to do something to make this character more interesting, offer us something not seen before.

I don't feel this sequel gets there. While I felt it was an improvement on the first, it remains generic. I get that it is a safe bet for the aging actor, but I'd just be more interested in him playing it not so safe.

The Equalizer 2
Starring: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Richard Wenk

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

I'm just going to say it, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is the Godfather Part II of cheesy jukebox musicals. Not only is it better than the original, it echos that film structurally by acting as both prequel and sequel simultaneously.

Yes, it is better than the first film. While Mamma Mia! is undoubtedly fun it is a guilty pleasure. It's awkwardly structured, the plot is forced and fairly ridiculous, and despite a remarkable cast the acting is pretty shoddy (with some rare exceptions like Streep's rendition of The Winner Takes It All). It's fun because of how bad it is. Here We Go Again actually tries to, and most achieves, being a good movie.

Taking the back story the first film dances (see what I did there?) around and fleshing it out, Here We Go Again tells a charming little tale about two women, a mother and a daughter. With the first film's distasteful who-is-the-father plot finished with we can focus on what is good about this story, a love story, between a parent and child.

Also, the first film felt like it was trying to pack the ABBA greatest hits in, often forcing them in regardless of how appropriate the music was to the plot (a term I use loosely). Here, the film makers dig deeper into the ABBA catalogue, and pull out songs which actually reflect the needs of the story. Jukebox musicals (those based on an already existing catalogue of songs as opposed to original music) are often contrived. Here We Go Again feels a bit less. Lily James and Amanda Seyfried both do an admirable job of acting above the film's pay-grade (and singing above it to).

And the story was a touching one. The men are completely superfluous, despite how much the film tries to parade handsome men across the screen. I will admit that Colin Firth remains a damn handsome man, but really the magic is in two women finding themselves through their connection over time to each other.

So while this is still a silly film it was remarkably enjoyable, and for me, more so than the first.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Starring: Lily James, Amanda Seyfriend, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skargard, Christine Baranski, Julie Waters, Andy Garcia, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner, Josh Dylan, Cher, Meryl Streep
Director: Ol Parker
Writers: Ol Parker, Catherine Johnson, Richard Curtis

Leave No Trace (2018)

I was not as enamored with Winter's Bone as many were. However there was enough impressive about it, besides rocketing Jennifer Lawrence to the A-list, that I was eager to see what writer/director Debra Granik would do next. I'm a bigger fan having seen Leave No Trace.

The title is somewhat obscure as is the approach Granik takes to her story. Yes it is one of those step-by-step narratives where the film just takes us from one moment to the next in the story, weaving the meaning, emotion, and symbolism into the tale quite organically and not stylishly. However despite this rather straight forward approach Granik's work still remains rather distant from the audience. We feel like we are just watching from the outside. The way into her characters is less through situating us in their place but letting us observe them remotely.

This has a powerful effect in Leave No Trace. Ben Foster and newcomer Thomasin McKenzie are left to communicate with us quietly. Both the characters are quiet, unassuming personas who will often say most of what they have to say with their eyes and faces instead of their mouths. We get to know them both quite well through this method which never pretends that we are going to understand them, but we do get to try.

Unlike Winter's Bone which showed us great cruelty. In Leave No Trace Will and Tom rarely face anything but kindness. It is remarkable just how generous everyone they run into is. The conflict for these two is not external, but internal. What lead to their situation is never explained. It doesn't need to be. We just find them in it and watch as they live through it.

Leave No Trace is beautiful film making and a lovely story that will break your heart.

Leave No Trace
Starring: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie
Director: Debra Granik
Writers: Anne Rosellini, Debra Granik

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Just when you think the year's most outrageous film can't get any more bizarre, it gets there.

From writer/director Boots Riley, in his bold feature film debut, Sorry to Bother You is dystopian cultural satire. It starts with an everyman down on his luck who finds middling success by using his "white voice" in telemarketing and spins that joke into a biting, dark, twisted tale of revolution. Yeah, this film goes off the rails delightfully quickly.

Riley doesn't hold to convention, flipping the bird to what indie films are supposed to be. He plays fast and loose with his story, focusing more on how his characters feel than in how their world would actually work. He employs a jarring style to lurch us through his tale, similar to how we often feel jerked through life.

It truly is remarkable.

But what is truly shocking about the film is just how dark it gets. Riley might play with tone but he takes his critique of capitalism dead seriously. While the film sometimes feels like it is loosing its grip on reality, it remains consistently sound. His point is this is actually how bad it is. While we may be dropping our jaws at the audacity, he remains committed to the idea that capitalism is this terrible. And it's hard to argue with him.

So what first feels like a fresh, original comedy to enjoy it quickly descends into a depressingly accurate take down of our modern reality. Right up to the end he doesn't compromise.

And his brilliantly ironic title hits on so many levels.

Sorry to Bother You
Starring: Lakeith Stanfield,  Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Patton Oswalt, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Rosario Dawson, David Cross
Writer/Director: Boots Riley

Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation (2018)

Writer/director Genndy Tartakovsky’s hyper intense style worked for me in his Samurai Jack as a more stylized short form medium. In his monster themed full length features I find it grating at best and overwhelming most of the time. This paired with Sandler’s also overly intense affect, makes these films too much too much for my tastes.

The third time isnt a charm in this case. If anything the monsters are people too shtick has long over stayed it’s welcome. The story feels recycled from the earlier films and the characters are repetitive in their cliches.

But it’s just how intense and over the top each gesture is, how each line is said as if read to be intense all the way back to the cheap seats. It’s how every moment is mimed to the rafters. At times I just wanted a hint of subtlety, a brief respite from 110 percent. Could at least one character not shout every line?

The Hotel Transylvania series has its fans but I am not amongst them.

Hotel Transylvania 3
Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Keegan Michael Key, Molly Shannon, Fran Drescher, Mel Brooks
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Writer: Michael McCullers, Genndy Tartakovsky

Skyscraper (2018)

Skyscraper is pure textbook escapist summer blockbuster. It starts out with a basic intriguing premise, walks us through the set up efficiently so it doesn't lose us, and then kicks into high gear action movie silliness. For the audience it is intended for it will be a satisfying if forgettable Saturday night out.

Act One is all plot set up. We lay out the premise, making sure we understand all the risks which will eventually be explored. It is the kind of movie that holds your hand throughout so you don't have to do any of the heavy lifting. Don't worry, all the twists are rather predictable. Nothing in the story requires too much concentration. You don't have to connect many dots. It's a paint by numbers sort of exercise. 

Dwayne Johnson has become the go to action movie star. Likeable, accessible, yet still movie star impossible enough to be what the audience wishes they were. He is charming and completely enjoyable. How can you not care about him and his generic family? He's a hero in all the ways we typically expect a hero to be. Once again, non-threatening. Just what one would expect.

Then Act Two delivers all the eyerollingly silly action which we expect from these sorts of films. Skyscraper basically tells you to turn off you mind and just enjoy. The film doesn't give us anything insulting enough to turn us off. As I said it is the text book crowd-pleaser. Not too much so we don't have to weighed down with thinking. Not too little so we laugh at how ridiculous it is.

For me, this tends to get thin and somewhat boring quickly. The run time is short but I looked at my watch. There is only so much I can take of a movie I've seen 100 times before. But for audiences who want to watch the same movie over and over, Skyscraper is for you. 

Escapism. There is nothing wrong with it. It hits all the beats you'll want and expect. I find it can be limited in how much it satisfies. But it also ends up being fun enough to waste and evening on.

Skyscraper
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Noah Taylor
Writer/Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Ant-man and the Wasp (2018)

Ant-man and the Wasp is a sequel very much in the tradition of give-them-more-of-the-same. I enjoyed the first film, Ant-man, very much and this film is very much like it. It's one of those if-you-liked-the-first-one... sorts of films. And yes I very much enjoyed it. It has just the right balance of humour, adventure, cool effects, and charming characters. All of this together makes Ant-man and the Wasp very enjoyable if not really very original.

Rudd is his same handsome and funny self. Lilly's character evolves a bit; she isn't quite as grumpy as the last film. Douglas is also a little less curmudgeonly than last time. But for consistency Michael Pena remains as adorably silly as the first film. Yup it's all pretty much the same... Oh, but we get Michelle Pfeiffer. Which is cool.

I'm not sure I have much more to say. To be honest, the story is rather forgettable as it feels sort of pulled together just to give us more of the characters we like from the first film. The Ghost storyline is a little basic and feels like it's just McGuffin to get us some cool shrinking and growing effects. None of what happens in Ant-man and the Wasp couldn't have been done in a shorter story so much of the film feels like it's being stretched out. But not in a tedious way. It's all charming and fun. But it really doesn't have much meat to the story. The plot and characterization are thin and by the final post-credit scene I'm just not sure giant ants are that funny any longer.

And speaking of post-credit scenes (spoiler free), I have the same problem with the ending here as I have with the ending to Infinity War.

Having said that, this series remains my favourite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe just for sheer entertainment value. Light and breezy sure, but damn fun anyway.

Ant-man and the Wasp
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Judy Greer, Bobby Canavale, Randal Park, Walton Goggins, Tip Harris, David Dastmalchian
Director: Payton Reed
Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari