DAMIEN CHAZELLE’S LA LA LAND — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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La La Land is a giant burst of primary color fun, a widescreen musical that marries romantic comedy with aspirational drama, and if it’s not quite the movie I was expecting overall, it’s certainly a bold and memorable motion picture. Writer/director Damien Chazelle, working in a totally different tempo than his previous film, the razor-sharp Whiplash, clearly didn’t want to repeat himself, but obviously has a thing for narratives that involve music and the power that music can bring to other people. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have superb chemistry together (they previously co-starred in Crazy, Stupid, Love) and the characters that they inhabit feel like real people thrust into a surreal movie-movie world where the song from inside their hearts guides them from moment to moment. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren (Promised Land, American Hustle, Joy) does extraordinary work that at times is distractingly amazing; I was constantly aware of how many long takes were being employed and quickly became totally consumed by the visual dynamism on display.

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The camera swerves, pivots, Stedicams, and floats, with a luscious color palette and impeccably designed sets matched with perfect art direction and costumes. The songs are creatively written, catchy, appropriately melancholy in spots, and uplifting all throughout, while the final 20 minutes are well considered, with the movie operating as a massive love letter to Los Angeles to the millions of dreamers who head out to the concrete jungle in search of stardom. Rosemarie Dewitt, John Legend, JK Simmons, and Tom Everett Scott provide solid support, but this is the Gosling-Stone ticket all the way, with the two of them projecting big-time movie-star appeal and turning in very likable performances.  Movie like La La Land don’t get made very often, and in the same way that the story celebrates the history and future of jazz music, Chazelle’s film feels like the ultimate ode to the cinematic musical, taking classical elements and splicing them with something new and exciting, especially on a visual level. This is exuberant filmmaking.

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PASSENGERS by Ben Cahlamer

by Ben Cahlamer, posted in Film Review

Homesteading.  Many years ago, when land was plenty, the government offered it to people who were willing to till the soil, grow some crops.  Perhaps raise a family.  It was not an easy life.  In fact, you could probably retire today and still be tilling soil.

What in the world does this have anything to do with Morten Tyldum’s (“The Imitation Game”) new sci-fi film, “Passengers”?

Very little or quite a bit; it really depends on your point of view.  The intent of the government was to get people to become productive because they had no other choice:  they were cornered into a unique way of life that not everyone is cut out for.

In Jon Spahits’ (“Doctor Strange”, “Prometheus”) script, the meaning of homesteading, “a lifestyle of agrarian self-sufficiency as practiced by a modern homesteader or urban homesteader,” equally applies to the 5000 corporately-sponsored passengers aboard the Starship Avalon, destined for the colony planet Homestead II.

The trick is that the journey is so long, everyone on board is in hibernation and the state-of-the-art starship is on auto-pilot.  An engineer, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is woken up alone with no explanation and no one to communicate with.  He is eventually joined by author Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). As the only two souls awake on board the ship, they fall in love but not before disaster strikes.  Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia co-star.

Spahits’ script should have checked all the right boxes:  characters are well-fleshed out; the set-up was strong; social issues are at the forefront. The focus strayed from sci-fi-adventure to kitschy sci-fi-adventure-romance, where the romance just didn’t cut it. Preston’s reason for being woken up is clear; the emotional side of isolation became a focus instead of allowing his skills to move the character and the narrative forward, leading to the intended romantic angle; a wasted effort considering Jennifer Lawrence’s Lane tried too hard to remain in control, though her reasons for that become clear after a meltdown.  Had Fishburne phoned his performance from Earth, it would have been more convincing then what unfolded on the screen.  In homage to a Kubrick classic, Michael Sheen stole the show; but his role in a pivotal moment just fell flat.  Tight editing by Oscar-nominated editor Maryann Brandon (“Star Wars:  The Force Awakens”) keeps the pacing on track.

The script notwithstanding, there is one redeeming reason why this should be viewed on as big a screen as possible: the special effects.  In the tradition of Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Scott’s “Alien”, Tyldum executes a strong, detailed technical look.

From the symmetry of the Avalon to the look and feel of the interior corridors, the hibernation pods, the stars and space around the ship, everything has a very real or visceral feel about it and visual effects supervisor Erik Nordby rose to the challenge brilliantly.  The effects are supported by strong cinematography from the Oscar-nominated Rodrigo Prieto (“Brokeback Mountain”).  His attention to every detail, from lighting of cavernous interior spaces, to changing reflective lighting and exterior shots in space, Prieto’s work only enhances the visual impact.

Oscar-nominated film composer Thomas Newman (“Bridge of Spies”, “Skyfall”) resonates with the luxuriousness of the Aurora and the allure of space exploration.  Some of his dramatic riffs didn’t exactly jive with the onscreen action, but his music served the film well.

“Passengers” had all the right ingredients for a stellar show, its ambition steeped in “Titanic”.  Instead, its ‘Lost in Space’ meets ‘The Love Boat’ with all the drama that that entails.

For the intricately detailed technical effects work, “Passengers” is Recommended.  Aaron Spelling is probably rolling over in his grave.

KENNETH LONERGAN’S MANCHESTER BY THE SEA — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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Manchester by the Sea is everything you have heard it to be and more. The back-flips done by critics are totally warranted, and while this won’t be a film that everyone will appreciate, for this viewer, it represents the finest that storytelling can offer, and a complete confirmation that its writer/director, Kenneth Lonergan, is the most unsung voice of his generation. There have only been three films that he’s written and directed over 16 years; he needs to work more but I understand that geniuses require whatever amount of time they need in order to create.   In its broad strokes, the film is all-encompassing and entirely brilliant, and when broken down into its small parts, Manchester by the Sea hits those sublime notes when a piece of fiction feels inherently real and candid at every turn. Lonergan’s writing is so effortless and so believable that there’s never a moment where you feel like you’re being given anything less than a snapshot of people who we either know or have heard about, and while the narrative goes to some extraordinarily upsetting places, there’s a tenderness and compassion to the story and a genuine sense of love for the characters, however flawed they may be, so that the viewer is able to get through all of the emotional heavy lifting.

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Casey Affleck channels the best of Marlon Brando, giving a complex and incredibly lived-in performance as a man shattered by the past, and barely able to look to the future. With his gravelly mumbling and off-in-the-distance stare, Affleck is able to convey insecurity and pent-up rage better than most other actors, and during the film’s most devastating sequence, he gives new meaning to the phrase slow-burn acting, delivering a passage of haunting dialogue that becomes unforgettable by its conclusion. When circumstances beyond his control force him to re-evaluate his life and take some familial responsibility for the first time in a long time, the cracks in his withdrawn façade start to show, and it’s because Affleck is so smart with his eyes and the way he moves his head and presents himself physically that you’re able to become consumed by both his grief, love, and hesitation. It’s Affleck’s show all the way, but he’s given wonderful support by a mega-talented ensemble, including a show-stopping Michelle Williams, who goes all-in and all-out during one of the film’s emotional set-pieces; tremendous up-and-comer Lucas Hedges, who evokes shades of Matt Damon, so poignant and able to convey impending maturity with a dash of vulnerability; one-time “It Girl” Gretchen Mol doing strong work in a very tricky and layered performance; authoritative and awesome Kyle Chandler who can literally do no wrong as a performer; and sly Matthew Broderick in a quiet bit of scene stealing during the film’s most realistically awkward sequence.

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Lonergan’s sense of comedy is smart and always grounded in honesty, as no joke ever feels forced or like he’s trying to sell you on anything; as with life, humor can be found in the most unexpected of places, a notion that Lonergan clearly subscribes to. He enjoys straddling various tones, always allowing for wit and melancholy to co-exist, often in the same scene, and I’m continually interested in the fact that he’s seemingly obsessed with giving every single character who appears in his stories, no matter how important or tangential, something to say on camera; this is a dense piece of work in the same way that his previous film, 2008’s miraculous Margaret, was a tapestry of people, places, and the relationships that bind and separate. His visual style is appropriately plain and chilly and never self-conscious, the classical music selections befit Lonergan’s sense of class, and the film’s ending is so perfectly timed and considered as to be the final masterstroke from this most erudite and confident of filmmakers.

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There’s so much that Manchester by the Sea gets correct, from the down-in-the-basement hooking-up on the part of the teenagers, to the overall New England atmosphere conjured up by the creative department, all filtered through Lonergan’s unique sense of style, which incorporates a nearly Altman-esque use of background chatter and ambient noise as to suggest realism and sonic depth; while not as intensely obsessed upon as it was in Margaret, the sound work in Manchester by the Sea is subtly powerful. If we’re lucky, the world gets a movie like this every once in a while, a piece of work that has the ability to move anyone, with universal themes that speak to our core values of humanity. It’s been a rich a provocative year with films like Arrival, Moonlight, Sully, and Manchester by the Sea all presenting specific yet inclusive glimpses of every-day people trying to move through life with communication as their guiding and motivating torch. Manchester by the Sea is an overwhelming picture, and while it may not be everyone’s idea of what constitutes “entertainment,” for those of us who want the cinematic experience to make us FEEL something, look no further than this spellbinding achievement.

5

CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980) – A REVIEW BY RYAN MARSHALL

by population40, posted in Film Review

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There are more than a few sleazy stocking stuffers out there for those who prefer to take their holiday-themed cinema with a dash or two of unadulterated dementia, but few are as distinctive and genuinely unnerving as Lewis Jackson’s CHRISTMAS EVIL aka YOU BETTER WATCH OUT. Often (understandably) mistaken for a slasher pic and perhaps even better known for being championed by John Waters as the infamous trash connoisseur’s favorite Christmas movie, one might innocently stumble upon this gem and be pleasantly surprised when it turns out to be equally perceptive and perverted rather than simply the latter.

Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggart) saw mommy kissing Santa Claus once as a young boy and hasn’t been the same since; understandable, seeing as immediately following the incident, Harry runs up to the attic and cuts his hand on the glass from a broken snow globe. This fateful night gives way to an adulthood that could be described as unconventional at best and utterly unmanageable at worst. Harry finds it difficult to balance his public and private lives, working an often demoralizing position at a local toy factory by day and counting down the days until Christmas whenever he’s at home.

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This is soon proven to be far, far more than merely a vice for the deeply disturbed introvert. Harry seems to envision himself as Santa Claus in the flesh, and as such, he not only works hard to perfect his costume before the big night but also keeps detailed records of the good and bad kids on the block. It all gets to be more than a bit creepy real quick, and when Christmas Eve comes around, Harry has slipped out of reality and into the deepest depths of decline, completing his transformation into Saint Nick in order to spread holiday spirit far and wide. What begins as an odyssey built on good cheer soon descends into a bloodbath as Harry finds himself unable to cope with the general (adult) public’s apathy toward his favorite holiday, culminating in an intense closing act straight out of FRANKENSTEIN.

Jackson’s film is a decidedly peculiar one; imperfect, for sure, especially when indulging in the kind of grotesque theatrics that have led viewers to label it as a “slasher” film over the years. But when one considers genre trappings, it is perhaps the film’s ability to transcend them which makes it so genuinely bewildering. Above all else, this is a character study – a sad and scary one at that – and we’re trapped inside of Harry’s sick, delusional head for the entire duration. It’s so close to our waking reality (or at least up until the bat-shit insane finale), that there’s no shame in squirming when Jackson wants us to.

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Exploitation films – and even better, intimate studies of the fractured human psyche disguised as exploitation films – are undeniably at their best when supported by a great deal of talent both in front of and behind the camera, and this is where CHRISTMAS EVIL is at an advantage. The weight of Harry’s off-kilter world is one of intricate pleasures thanks to the gorgeous cinematography of Ricardo Avonovich (Murmur of the Heart, That Most Important Thing: Love, Missing), which renders the character’s madcap gift-giving and murder spree as previously internalized phantasmagoria and provides all that came before with the distinct savor of morbid normality. There’s also some clever editing on display throughout, and Jackson’s direction is both efficient and composed; only in a few brief moments do we get a glimpse of a film from a man who isn’t completely in control of his vision.

This mostly refers to the more visually horrific sequences, which include but are not limited to a toy soldier’s sword skewering a human eyeball (enough to make Lucio Fulci blush) and throat slashing by way of the golden star at the top of a Christmas tree. It could certainly be argued that these moments succeed in enhancing the film’s “weird” factor, which is already way off the charts to begin with, but in context they are not only abrupt but over-the-top in a way that would suggest they were hardly the first thing on Jackson’s mind. The conclusion to this macabre tale, in which Harry burdens his poor brother Phil (Jeffrey DeMunn) and his family while on the run from an angry mob, also feels slightly rushed. Luckily, the director’s heart is in the redemption of his dysfunctional misfit, and he finds the perfect way to cap it all off.

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While CHRISTMAS EVIL will hardly be everyone’s cup of spiked eggnog, it comes equipped with more than enough heart, humor, horror, and genuine pathos to hold its own even against the inevitable naysayers. It is a fine film with an ambitious concept, one that it does not always execute tastefully, but one that is nevertheless explored in a consistent, satisfactory manner. Maggart is so good here that you find yourself surrendering to his solitary psycho; as ugly as his actions may be, we know Harry only has the best intentions deep down, which in itself inspires quite the palatable moral dilemma. Jackson’s film may unabashedly deal heavily in steaming coal, and its exterior may at first appear to be a needlessly nasty one, but through its own unique cocktail of extremism and empathy it achieves a kind of strange humanity, one that allows it to thrive beyond the realm of mere curio. For all the talk of it being an anti-Christmas picture, it certainly does its best to keep the spirit alive in its own wacked-out way. Quite the exquisite feast of discomposure, and a terrifically twisted treat for all sorts of adventurous parties.

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DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER – A REVIEW BY J.D. LAFRANCE

by J.D., posted in Film Review

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The 1980s action blockbuster movie was dominated by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme (among others) – muscle-bound one-man armies that killed scores of bad guys with guns, brawn and cheesy one-liners. Along came Bruce Willis in 1988 with Die Hard, tweaking the formula by playing a guy perpetually in way over his head, tired, hurt, and using his brains as much if not more than his brawn to defeat the bad guys. Audiences were drawn to his tough yet vulnerable wisecracking character John McClane. The movie was a massive success and the inevitable sequel followed. Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990) didn’t stray too far from the first one (why bother messing with a good thing?) except to amp up the stunts, the body count and the explosions all the way to the bank, easily outgrossing the original.

“Merry Christmas, pal!” are the words uttered early on in the movie as John McClane’s day starts off on a sour note and will only get worse as his car is ticketed and towed despite his good-humored protests to a cop that clearly doesn’t care about his problems. It’s Christmas Eve and McClane is at Washington Dulles International Airport to pick up his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). This lack of cooperation from local law enforcement is nothing new for McClane who faced plenty of it in Die Hard and it is also foreshadows the interference he’ll experience later on in this movie.

Meanwhile, General Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), a drug lord and dictator of Val Verde by way of Manuel Noriega, is scheduled to be extradited to the United States to stand trial for drug trafficking. However, rogue U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Stuart (William Sadler) and a team of mercenaries take control of the airport effectively shutting them down, which leaves several planes, including the one with Holly on it, circling and running low on fuel. Stuart plans to let Esperanza’s plane land and then demands a 747 be prepped for take-off at which point they will use it to rescue the drug lord.

Naturally, McClane receives a ton of grief from head of airport police Captain Carmine Lorenzo (Dennis Franz) who doesn’t like some hot dog gloryhound cop treading all over his turf. Dennis Franz is at his profane best, dropping F-bombs with gusto. Watching him and Willis trade insults inserts some much welcome levity amidst the bombastic action sequences. Here’s a memorable exchange early on:

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Lorenzo: “Yeah, I know all about you and that Nakatomi thing in L.A. But just ‘cos the T.V. thinks you’re hot shit don’t make it so. Look, you’re in my little pond, now and I am the big fish that runs it. So you cap some low-life. Fine. I’ll send your fucking captain in L.A. a fucking commendation. Now, in the meantime you get the hell out of my office before I get you thrown out of my goddamn airport.”

McClane: “Hey Carmine, let me ask you something. What sets off the metal detectors first: the lead in your ass or the shit in your brains?”

Franz is that rare breed of actor that can casually insert profanity in his dialogue and make it flow like poetry. I almost imagine him flying in his buddy David Mamet on the studio’s dime to write his dialogue. It has that vibe to it. Of course, McClane spends the rest of the movie making him looking stupid.

This being a sequel, the novelty of the original has worn off and McClane seems a little more invincible in this one, but Bruce Willis does what he can to make his character relatable and have flaws, like when he is unable to redirect a plane that the bad guys intentionally crash. We empathize with his frustration at being unable to save the plane and his dejected, defeated face says it all. The movie does its job (maybe a little too well) of making Stuart and his men so evil that you want to see McClane take them all out.

William Sadler plays yet another in a long line of villains with his rogue colonel being a peculiar badass so comfortable with his own body that he practices his martial arts in the nude, which also happens to show off his impressively sculpted physique. It certainly is a memorable introduction to his character. Sadler plays Stuart as ruthless man not above disciplining failure by pointing a loaded gun at a subordinate’s face or, in a particularly nasty move, cause a plane full of innocent people to crash and burn on a runway.

William Atherton and Bonnie Bedelia return as a smug journalist and McClane’s wife respectively, spending the entire movie trapped on an airplane together trading barbs. Among the mercenaries keep your eyes peeled for a young Robert Patrick (T2), a clean-shaven Mark Boone Jr. (Tree’s Lounge), John Leguizamo (Carlito’s Way) and Vondie Curtis-Hall (Chicago Hope).

Much like in the first Die Hard, McClane demonstrates an uncanny knack for improvisation as evident in the first action sequence when he takes on two mercenary thugs in the baggage handling section. After he loses his gun, McClane uses a golf club and then a bicycle to take out one baddie and chase off the other. What I also like is that we see the air traffic controllers problem solve their way around Stuart and his men through good ol’ fashioned ingenuity.

Doug Richardson and Steven E. de Souza’s screenplay has just enough nods to the first movie to let us know that the filmmakers are aware that Die Hard 2 is basically a variation on the original only bigger and louder, symbolized by the iconic money shot (that is equal parts ridiculous and cool) of McClane ejecting out of a plane as it is exploding and him saying at one point, “How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?” The movie ups the ante in many respects as he faces even greater odds and is put in even greater danger.

die-hard-2Watching Die Hard 2 again is a potent reminder of a time when Willis still cared about acting and didn’t phone it in like he’s done in the last two movies in the franchise that don’t deserve the Die Hard moniker. Most fans agree that they should have stopped with Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), which was a fitting way to end things on a high note but as long as they make money and Willis is up for it there will be another installment in this tired franchise.

FRANK CAPRA’S IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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It’s A Wonderful Life remains a stone cold classic of American cinema. Masterpiece goes without saying; the very definition of timeless. Frank Capra knew how to mix true sadness with true uplift, and when you look back on the film now it’s sort of easy to understand why it wasn’t met with universal acclaim and audience popularity, as it received mixed to negative critical reviews and it didn’t recoup its production costs at the box office. James Stewart’s heartfelt and agonized lead performance is one of the best of all-time and Donna Reed photographed pretty darn well. This is a movie that needed time to show us all how special it was and still is; the themes explored travel with all of us, and they inform us all at every turn.

It’s not so much a “Christmas movie” as it is a movie about the human spirit. The big dance sequence is still one of the great tour de force set pieces in the medium; it’s a marvel to study. And I love how the narrative gives the viewer as much of a choice as it does the characters. The Blu-ray transfer is stunning, preserving the 1.33:1 Academy ratio in all of its boxy glory, with nary a stain or print scratch in sight. However, the people at Paramount should be BEATEN for offering this glorious movie in a colorized version; the idea that there are people out there who would want to watch this movie in color makes me sick.

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DOUBLE INDEMNITY – A REVIEW BY J.D. LAFRANCE

by J.D., posted in Film Review

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“It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle? Maybe you would have known Keyes the minute she mentioned accident insurance, but I didn’t. I felt like a million.” – Walter Neff

Adapted from the James M. Cain novella of the same name by Billy Wilder and acclaimed crime novelist Raymond Chandler (author of The Big Sleep), Double Indemnity (1944) is considered by many to be the quintessential film noir with its exquisite use of John F. Seitz’s atmospheric black and white cinematography – the use of shadows, silhouetted figures and darkness to convey a shadowy world of betrayal and murder (most famously, Venetian blind effects on walls or on characters’ faces so that it looks like the bars in a jail).

Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is a hot shot insurance salesman who falls for rich housewife, Phyllis Detrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) when she first appears to him clad only in a towel and asks, “Is there anything I can do?” which is a question loaded with suggestion. Neff is there under the pretense of renewing her husband’s automobile insurance. The dialogue between them crackles with delicious sexual tension as Phyllis draws Neff into her web, eventually convincing him to kill her husband and make it look like an accident so that she can collect the money.

Of course, it isn’t that easy and Neff’s friend and co-worker Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson), a persistent claims manager, investigates the case. Edward G. Robinson plays Keyes with grumpy charm, someone who isn’t happy unless he’s griping about phony claims and the foolhardiness of the company he works for. The exchanges between him and Fred MacMurray are priceless as their friendship permeates the snappy, sarcastic dialogue.

Phyllis is very unhappy and is drawn to her tryst with Neff because it is forbidden and their illegal plan excites her. Stanwyck’s character is an archetypal femme fatale: a scheming black widow that uses her sexual appeal to manipulate Neff into getting what she wants. Phyllis uses him and then gets rid of him once he outlives his usefulness. Stanwyck does a great job luring Neff with her faux vulnerability and slightly tawdry look (complete with trashy blond wig) and then coldly turns the screws on him at the crucial moment.

Up to that point, MacMurray had been known for starring in light comedies but was perfectly cast as the flawed salesman who falls for the wrong woman and finds that he’s capable of murder. It’s pretty easy to see why Neff falls for Phyllis – she’s beautiful and has access to a lot of money. The chemistry between him and Stanwyck is filled with all kinds of sexual tension – as much as they could sneak by the censors of the day and that’s part of the allure of the film: everything is suggested and nothing is explicit. For example, the husband’s murder is never shown just the sounds of him dying and shot of Phyllis’ face reacting (or rather not reacting) to what is happening that is very effective.

Looking at Double Indemnity now, it comes across as a fascinating snapshot of Los Angeles in the 1940s with its houses with classic Spanish architecture, when cars were all wonderfully big and stylish and men all wore hats. There are just enough location shots of the actual city mixed with studio interiors to convey a sense of place that doesn’t exist anymore.

PTS PRESENTS EDITOR’S SUITE HUGHES WINBORNE POWERCAST

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Interviews, Podcast

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image1Podcasting Them Softly is honored to present a discussion with feature film editor Hughes Winborne! Some of his credits include the Marvel blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, The Help, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Great Debaters, and Sling Blade. He won the Academy Award for his editing work on the 2005 film Crash, and this winter, his latest project, Fences, re-teams him with director and star Denzel Washington — the film looks absolutely fantastic and we can’t wait to see it. We hope you enjoy this informative and entertaining chat where we found out more about Hughes‘ process, his experiences, and some his inspirations. Enjoy!

TED DEMME’S THE REF — A REVIEW BY NICK CLEMENT

by nlclement, posted in Film Review

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This is one of my favorite Christmas-themed movies. It’s extremely underrated, totally cruel, and aggressively funny, and is easily the most off-beat item to carry the Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer seal of approval (but why no lightning bolt logo?) Directed by Ted Demme, whose career and life were sadly cut way short when he tragically died in 2002, this was the first big project for comedian/actor Dennis Leary just as his legendary No Cure for Cancer stand-up tour was winding down; it’s a shame that the studio buried it without ever seemingly believing in it. Starring Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis as a wildly bitter and constantly bickering married couple who are taken hostage by a desperate criminal (Leary) on Christmas eve, this is one of those bile-spewing dark family comedies where everyone is an asshole and everyone loves telling everyone how much of an asshole they all are. Richard LaGravenese and his sister-in-law Marie Weiss wrote the caustic screenplay, which has lots of fun with the casually nasty scenario, while Leary painted a priceless portrait of a bumbling criminal who gets mixed up with the wrong family on the wrong night. Demme’s direction was on-point, the supporting cast thoroughly ace, and the coal-in-your-stocking attitude is the perfect antidote to all of the phony-happiness that this crass commercial season brings about. If only the film’s original, darker ending could see the light of day on a Special Edition Blu-ray…

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TRON: LEGACY – A REVIEW BY J.D. LAFRANCE

by J.D., posted in Film Review

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It has been over 30 years since Tron (1982) was released in theaters. Made on the cusp of the home computer revolution, the film was a simple good vs. evil parable that saw a disgraced computer programmer hack into the network of the corporation that fired him only to be zapped into cyberspace where he got to see how the other half lived. Tron was a modest success at the box office and resoundly trashed by critics. It seemed destined to become merely a footnote in cinematic history as one of the earliest examples of computer graphics in a Hollywood film. Over the years, it developed a decent cult following who dreamed of a sequel some day. That time finally came.

Hoping for a lucrative franchise that doesn’t involve pirates, Disney ponied up a considerable amount of money so that the filmmakers of Tron: Legacy (2010) were able to utilize the same kind of 3D digital cameras that were used to make Avatar (2009) and the CGI technology used to age Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). And, in keeping with the original filmmakers hiring cutting edge composer Wendy Carlos, Tron: Legacy features an atmospheric score by hip electronica music duo Daft Punk. The end result is a stunning assault on the senses.

In 1989, hotshot programmer and CEO of Encom Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappeared, leaving his young son Sam with his grandparents and no indication as to why he left. Since the death of his wife four years before, Flynn’s behavior had become increasingly erratic and he had become obsessed about a brave new world, a digital frontier that he had experienced in Tron. Sam (Garrett Hedlund) grows up to become a rebellious chip off the old block as he breaks into Encom just so he can publicly embarrass the company’s current CEO. Since Flynn’s absence, Encom has returned to its old, soulless ways much to the chagrin of his long-time friend and current board member Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner). He informs Sam that he got a page from his father at the office in his old arcade.

Long shuttered and collecting dust, it is a cemetery for classic arcade games. Sam uncovers his father’s personal computer and before he knows it, he’s zapped into the computer world. Flynn’s prized program Clu (also Bridges) has taken over and rules the computer world with a fascist, iron fist. Flynn has become a fugitive and it’s up to Sam, with the help of a program named Quorra (Olivia Wilde), to make things right again.

Rather fittingly, the real world footage is shot in 2D but once we enter cyberspace, the film comes vividly to life with cutting edge 3D technology. Much of the iconography from the first film is present – the disc battle, light cycles, etc. – but amped up with The Matrix-like action sequences and three-dimensionalized. If there was ever a film would that begged to be given the 3D treatment it is this one. However, these effects aren’t that apparent or as frequent as one would hope which begs the question why even do it in the first place? Short answer: money. The filmmakers have basically taken the imagery of Tron and cranked it up to 11 – pure, unadulterated eye candy with things like dialogue and characterization taking a backseat. The attention paid to production and art design is phenomenal with all kinds of neon-drenched landscapes full of ambient sounds that will keep architecture buffs busy for years. That being said, the CG to recreate a younger version of Jeff Bridges, circa 1982, is distracting with its waxy, stiff look and dead, lifeless eyes, which, I guess, is appropriate for what is basically an evil clone of the real deal within the film.

Say what you will about the original Tron and its flaws but at least it was anchored by a playful and charismatic performance by Jeff Bridges who acted as the audience surrogate into a strange, new world. This time around, Garrett Hedlund takes on that role with limited success. The uninspired screenplay doesn’t do him any favors and so he does the best with what he was to work with, which admittedly isn’t all that much. Bridges plays a grizzled, burnt out version of his original character and with his beard and long hair it almost seems like the Dude from The Big Lebowski (1998) was zapped into the computer world. As if sensing this, Bridges even lets out a few Dudeisms at certain key moments in the film, which at least livens up the forgettable script.

Noted British actor Michael Sheen even shows up channeling David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona as Castor, a preening, flamboyant host of a nightclub where Daft Punk have a cameo as DJs. Using these musicians to do the score for Tron: Legacy was a masterstroke and they seem like the logical evolutionary step from Wendy Carlos. However, those fans expecting them to recreate their trademark dance music might be disappointed as they opt for a more orchestral score that at times is reminiscent of early 1980s John Carpenter, in particular Escape from New York (1981), while also referencing Vangelis, Maurice Jarre and Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight (2008). Their finest moment comes during a battle at Castor’s club where Daft Punk gets to really show off their musical chops as they segue from ambient music to pulsating dance music to bombastic beats that accompany with the action. Along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score for The Social Network (2010), theirs was one of the best soundtracks of that year.

maxresdefaultTron: Legacy replaces the “information just wants to be free” message of its predecessor with a “sins of the father” theme as Flynn attempts to stop Clu, his Frankensteinian creation, and repair the damage done between him and Sam. Tron: Legacy manages to make this world and its characters accessible to those not familiar with the first film by basically rehashing its plot, blow-by-blow, which may disappoint fans. However, it does feel like a continuation of the first film with all kinds of references to things that happened in it. There is also a rather nifty cameo by a notable character actor that hints at a possible villain for the next film, if this one makes enough money. Of course, there is the usual criticism that the dialogue is weak, the story is formulaic and there is a real lack of characterization – all issues critics had with the original film. Tron: Legacy certainly lacks in these areas also, but like the first film, the visuals are so impressive, so captivating in the way they immerse you in the computer world, that you tend to ignore the flaws, relax and enjoy the ride.