Wine Country (2019)

I guess I'm still waiting for the preeminent Gen X middle age reckoning movie. I thought this talented group of funny people would be able to deliver but Wine Country is certainly not it.

Instead Wine Country is just a series of cliches punctuated with not very funny jokes. We've got some of the funniest actors/comedy writers around behind this thing so occasionally they hit and make us giggle a bit. But mostly you spend the 100ish minutes of Wine Country wondering what the help happened?

There isn't an original idea anywhere to be seen. Wine Country is a collection of exactly what anyone would expect about a group of women turning 50.

Perhaps it would be better if I drank at least a bottle of wine before watching it.

Wine Country
Starring: Amy Phoehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Tina Fey, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Amy Poehler
Writers: Emily Spivey, Liz Cackowski

See You Yesterday (2019)

Two of my favourite films ever deal with time travel, the cerebral and horrifying Primer and the popular classic Back to the Future. See You Yesterday reminds me of both in different ways. It features Michael J. Fox in a cameo to hearken back to that 1985 fun adventure film, a film it is clearly paying homage to with its kids-save-the-day adventure vibe. But in the end See You Yesterday sticks closer to the esthetic of Primer with its cautionary tale lessons and its less than optimistic view of our world and our ability to fix it. In there it also manages to mix in elements of The Hate U Give. Two friends discover through their passion for science a way to move back through time and end up having a reason to use it despite being warned of the consequences.

See You Yesterday features a young smart science focused women in the lead and specifically centres the issues of police violence against her community. The balance between the gravity of the film's social focus and its kids adventure vibe is a tenuous one that I felt the film walked, for the most part, beautifully. Kids are drawn to stories of kids saving the day but this story is set in a very real, very frightening world. People swear and talk like people talk, and not how we are used to hearing them talk in films aimed at youth. Also, there are real consequences to the choices made by our heroes. Again we're used to kids saving the day. But we're faced with the idea that sometimes it can't be saved and that can be a powerful if unpopular message.

But See You Yesterday finds a way to make this all pay off. It is a very satisfying and rewarding film. I felt the film could have benefited from a longer run time to flesh out some of the themes in a way to make them more powerful. But overall I think it nails what it is trying to do. And as the movie reached its climax I truly wondered how they were going to wrap up this tale. I wasn't sure I knew where it was going, a feature I truly appreciate in most movies. I won't spoil it but in a way I felt the film makers found the perfect way to sum it up that doesn't betray anything leading up to the conclusion.

While it may be a bit intense for the younger viewers, older children should get a lot from See You Yesterday, as will their parents.

See You Yesterday
Starring: Eden Duncan-Smith, Dante Crichlow, Astro, Michael J Fox
Director: Stefon Bristol
Writers: Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol

A Dog's Journey (2019)

A Dog's Journey is pretty much the same film as its predecessor A Dog's Purpose, the story of a reincarnating dog who keeps coming back to the same family. In this case, the dog keeps returning to the granddaughter of the boy in the first film. Like that film the family goes through their drama and all along the dog is there to make it all well again.

Yes the film is cheesy dog propaganda and yes the film is manipulative and generally poorly made (wooden acting, awkward writing, filmed like a TV movie) but a dare you not to get into the journey of Bailey through numerous lifetimes and his desire to keep this family together. Everything is a cliche in this film from the high achieving asian character to the drunk single mother. The film's logical leaps are astounding and the plot's coincidences are almost unforgivable. It's not a good film but it is a good experience despite itself.

Because at the centre of A Dog's Journey is a heart. I'm almost pissed at myself for letting myself enjoy such a film. But I did despite myself.

A Dog's Journey
Starring: Kathryn Prescott, Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, Marg Helgenberger, Henry Lau, Betty Gilpin
Director: Gail Mancuso
Writers: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky

John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum

The first John Wick film took many, including myself, by surprise. A smart simple action film with a straight forward plot. John Wick was a man paying for his past sins. Directed by a stunt man, John Wick was choreographed with precision and had just the right amount of character development and world building to make for a satisfying 100 minutes.

Inspired by the success of the first film, the sequel took the story to the next level raising the bar perhaps a bit too far. It entered a more ridiculous phase. Yes John Wick's world of assassins and crime lords was fantasy but the first film felt a bit grounded. The second left that behind for a far more fantastic take on the criminal underworld. But the film also upped its game in the visuals. Stuntman turned director Chad Stahelski found a visual poetry in his art and his cinematographer and art director were given free reign to create a world that we couldn't take our eyes off of. What John Wick Chapter 2 lost in realism it gained in sheer aesthetics. It remained a very satisfying boost to the adrenalin even when it was pushing our suspension of disbelief.

And as these things tend to go it appears John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum (yup, that is a real mouthful) may be the most gorgeous and watchable of the series... but also the least convincing. As this film series has continued the foes Wick faces give him more and more time to get himself ready to take them on, he takes on harder and harder blows while soldiering on, and the motivations of characters adjust more and more rapidly away from anything feeling organic and more towards what moves the plot in the direction we want to go.

The whole Wick saga remains simple. That is part of the beauty of it. We start out with a contract being put out on John and he has to just make his way through a city of assassins who want to be the one to collect the reward. This goes on just long enough before Stahelski introduces some new plot developments which really work more for their ability to showcase characters like Angelica Huston's eastern european matriarch. Stahelski knows just how far to push it, and films everything with such a truly beautiful eye that Parabellum is a stunning film.

But there were too many times I just went hmm. Too many plot devices that seemed a little too much. And then there is the ending. What could have been an interesting, and rather unresolved, twist is executed in a way that just takes you out of the film, takes away any credibility the story had going for it. And it descends a bit into self-parody, the most obvious example is the sheer amount of dead dog jokes. The film series so far has taken itself seriously and this one feels a little too tongue in cheek for my comfort level. 

Basically the John Wick series is surrendering to sheer silliness. I can embrace that. For what it is doing it does well. I guess perhaps I just hoped it would have kept more of an edge.

John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishbourne, Mark Decascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Angelica Huston
Director: Chad Stahelski
Writers: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, Marc Abrams

Booksmart (2019)

Booksmart is fickin' joyous. From the opening moments until the end, Booksmart will keep a smile on your face. It is a tribute to friendship at a pivotal moment in life and it unblinkingly celebrates that without irony or shame.

Booksmart is set on the last day of highschool for two best friends who have dedicated their school years to achieving high grades to set them up for the future. They decide they need to have one night of the kind of partying that highschoolers are known for and set out to achieve this. You know the genre. You've seen it a million times.

But never like this.

Booksmart doesn't play the games of the typical crazy night of highschool party tropes. Instead its characters do some fumbling and exploring but do so focused on what their strengths are as individuals. Every character in the film is a unique and redeeming figure. There aren't the typical bad buy stereotypes. Each character is given their reasons for being and their moments to shine. But the film's focus remains on the heart of the movie, the love between two friends who lift each other up and make each other stronger.

I loved that Booksmart didn't try to paint a "realistic" portrait of highschool with all the cruelty and heartbreak. Instead it tells a wishful story of a group of young people being themselves and being good to each other. This is a big part of the magic of the film, the way it takes the best of people and lets them shine. No one is perfect. Yes people make mistakes and sometimes step on each others' toes. But they react in the best way to it.

Booksmart is smart writing. Clever and hilarious Booksmart is the funniest film I've seen so far this year. A big part of this is the cast. Leads Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein nail it... I mean nail it... hitting exactly the right notes on the pathos and the humour. They are both riveting to watch and I could have been satisfied with just their roles. But the entire cast nails it. Just like the film empowers the side characters to a degree that most films don't, the supporting cast steps up and delivers. Especially strong is Billie Lourd in a scene stealing role. And stealing scenes in this cast is a truly impressive feat.

Hats off to Olivia Wilde in her directing debut. 

All around Booksmart is a joy. Make sure you see it. You will thank me later.

Booksmart
Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Billie Lourd, Noah Galvin, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte
Director: Olivia Wilde
Writers: Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, Katie Silberman

The Hustle (2019)

The Hustle should have been a no-brainer. Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway are both damn funny and making them rival con-artists should have worked no matter what. I guess The Hustle proves no premise is fool-proof.

The Hustle is mostly not-very funny. It's filled with grifts which aren't very clever. The frenemies mixed with a hamfisted love story just never comes together. The whole thing feels like an awkward misfire and it makes you wonder how something like this gets so far along without someone fixing it.

There are moments in The Hustle which made me laugh out loud. The sheer talent of these two leads is enough that they will make you laugh regardless of how bad the movie is. But there are also times when you laugh because it is so awful, like we're laughing at them more than with them. What could have been a fresh take on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels ends up being sad watching two actors, both with real talent for comedy, just not pull it off. It made me sad more than laugh.

The Hustle
Starring: Rebel Wilson, Anne Hathaway, Alex Sharp
Director: Chris Addison
Writers: Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer, Jac Schaeffer

Tolkien (2019)

Is the life of one of the English world's most famous writers as interesting as his famous books? This experience appears to answer the question; no. Not really. Lush period sets and costumes and good performances from a strong cast don't do much to make us care about the life of the writer of Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien is fairly standard biopic fare, telling a rather paint by numbers telling of the man's life. Director Dome Karukoski shoots his film in rich earthy tones and it's all lovely to watch. He seems to be trying to make a connection between the life of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and his famous work. He goes to great lengths to develop a narrative which creates a "fellowship" around John, sends him on an adventure through a fiery hellscape, and find a catharsis in the need to tell a fantastic tale of wizards and elves. The film is almost gleeful in the way it finds inspiration for the moments of his epic in the life of his subject. It's like Dorothy at the end of The Wizard of Oz seeing all the real people who inspired the magical characters in her adventures.

So much of this feels forced even if it is an appealing notion. Without the connection to the Hobbit story, the life of John doesn't hold much beyond the life of anyone really. I'm not slighting JRR Tolkien. Like so many people he appears to have had a lovely and somewhat challenging if privileged life. But there needs to be a reason to tell a life story in a movie that will make it resonate and be interesting for audiences. Perhaps there wasn't much else there than our passion for his stories. Tolkien doesn't find much more interesting than that.

Tolkien isn't terrible or (that) boring or dreadful or even upsetting. It just is. And it didn't inspire much passion in me. Having said that I could watch Derek Jacobi read the phone book and I'd be fascinated. He's brilliant in anything.

Tolkien
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Derek Jacobi, Colm Meaney
Director: Dome Karukoski
Writers: David Gleeson, Stephen BEresford