Podcasting Them Softly

Hindsight can shift one’s view of one’s favorite films from a given calendar year quite a lot. So the idea is pretty simple: How would my top ten of 2014 look right now? For the next five days, I will be pick two films per day that might make up my list of the best ten films I saw from that year (and will be doing this for each previous year in the coming month).

10.) THE LEGO MOVIE (directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)

Creative potential is when our heroes venture to a land of brightly colored, delightful beings and structures called Cloud Cuckooland. Creative follow-through is when that trip becomes an excuse to see LEGO likenesses of Michelangelo the painter and Michelangelo the teenage mutant ninja turtle, Dumbledore and Gandalf, the members of the 2002 NBA All-Stars and the Sixteenth United States President on a rocket-engine version of his statue’s chair, and, of course, a pirate that boasts a shark for an arm. It’s clear that writing/directing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s modus operandi when it came to the The LEGO Movie was to approach the titular, block-shaped toys with a childlike innocence. That’s without reckoning the film’s surprising amount of heart and a genuinely innovative visual style that mimics stop-motion animation.

9.) IDA (directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)

Co-writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski’s quiet but highly effective study of the divide, sometimes blurry, between rigor and liberty personifies itself in our heroine’s story. She has moved from the strict patterns of a convent to the looser pleasures of her aunt’s apartment, along the way severing the ties of her former life for one that must grow accustomed to outside life. But that’s too simple for Pawlikowski and co-screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, whose characters (greatly aided by performances from Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska) are complex and revealing in more than one way. Rarely before has the literal act of a young woman letting down her hair so subtly revealed truths about that woman. Reminding of a modern-day Bergman effort and sporting some truly striking, black-and-white photography, Ida is one that sneaks up on the viewer.

Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder are endlessly different auteurs, but I feel like the pair should share a cup of coffee soon, perhaps a hug or two while they’re at it.  There aren’t many humans on the planet who have been charged with launching and maintaining massive cinematic empires based on well known comic book superheroes, and the pressure to not only land a billion dollar big fish in the studio boat but set sail for a five to ten year plan of interconnected blockbuster releases can be nothing short of isolating.  When Whedon stuck the critical, audience and box office landings with The Avengers, he was immediately drafted into the Marvel Studio army to oversee the next “phase” of their media empire (i.e. ghost write on three films and create a television pilot) and of course make a sequel that could best the success of his previous film, merely one of the Top 5 box office champions of all time.  Snyder, on the other hand, found much more mixed results with Man Of Steel, Time Warner/DC’s attempt to launch a parallel universe with their own well known and beloved characters.  It made money but didn’t garner the broad acceptance and confidence that the studio hoped it would, although to be fair, Warner Brothers has clumsily juggled two of the most popular characters in comic book history for several decades now.  Whedon went on to pour his heart and sensibility into Avengers:  Age Of Ultron, which made huge piles of cash but left the internet sourly arguing its merits or lack thereof, and now Snyder is faced with similar angry cybermobs as Batman V Superman:  Dawn Of Justice hits theaters this weekend.  The number of levels at which an audience can find fault with this kind of exercise is almost unlimited, but Snyder, much like Whedon, has poured his soul into the exercise and come up with an epic, challenging and entertaining film.

As if helming a film called Batman v Superman:  Dawn of Justice wasn’t daunting enough for the director, he and writers David Goyer and Chris Terrio get to retell the origin story of Bruce Wayne, one that has literally been told almost countless times on screens large and small.  Snyder wisely dives right in, crafting one of his signature slow motion montages filled with pristine imagery in a wordless opening credit sequence that properly sets the stage for the smoldering rage of Ben Affleck’s very Dark Knight, scored with devastating beauty by Hans Zimmer.  Then we’re transported to Metropolis as Superman and General Zod waged their destructive day long war, but we now see the events from the angle of Bruce Wayne, who finds himself almost completely helpless in trying to rescue his employees from one of many collapsing buildings.  As if the Batman wasn’t already a walking, breathing grudge, the anger he now feels for these godlike aliens is etched across his face in almost every shot of the film and echoed through his wholly uneasy dreams.  Affleck’s lantern jaw and frequently unsung acting chops have rarely been put to better use—he’s the first Batman we’ve seen who, in keeping with many iconic iterations of the character from the comic books, is a perpetual rage engine, always fighting the feeling of helplessness that was imprinted on his soul the night his parents died with an angry grimace and an eager fist.

At this point, and certainly from some of the marketing, one would think this isn’t a true sequel to Man Of Steel; far from it, I’d argue that this is one of the finest Superman films to date.  The questions raised by his seemingly limitless abilities and complete lack of oversight from any authority flow from the first act of the movie through the finale, and the consequences of wielding such power are explored not only through his conflict with Batman but via the truly mad yet thorough schemes of Alexander Luthor, played with cunning charm and more than a hint of barely contained insanity by Jesse Eisenberg.  Henry Cavill, sporting an impressive jawline himself, continues to bring grace to a young, evolving Superman, starting the film as a bedrock of confidence bordering on cockiness but soon finding himself put through many degrading tests and sacrifices by the time the closing credits crawl.  Each new challenge to his invulnerable physique and seemingly unimpeachable mission chips away at the Man of Steel like no other film has ever dared to, and it’s something of a marvel to behold.

I’d be remiss to leave out mention of Wonder Woman, although her crowd pleasing action beats of the third act and a bit of cat and mouse with Bruce Wayne in the early going are fun but ultimately slight.  Back to the laundry list of world building Snyder was handed by the studio, we are also given quick introductions to several other iconic DC characters, which starts to make the whole endeavor feel a bit wobbly on its narrative axis but fortunately doesn’t tip it over.  It’s no secret that this director is divisive; I’ve found his career thus far to be a mixed bag, and despite a predilection towards enjoying anything featuring the guy who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, found Man of Steel to be uneven in many departments.  Fortunately Batman v Superman plays like a synthesis of all of the good things Snyder is capable of, with many of the bad ones left behind in his older films.  There’s gorgeous imagery, such as the sublime sight of one of our heroes gracefully landing with a rescued woman in Juarez or a young crime victim being buoyed upwards by a flock of bats; his partnership with DP Larry Fong has never been stronger.  Hans Zimmer continues his brilliant work in the series, bringing back some of his stellar themes from Man of Steel and adding fantastic new ones for Bruce Wayne, Batman and Luthor.  And while the film takes its time to let the characters interact through other means than violence, when it’s time for action Snyder’s muscular talents for that end of the story are on full, swaggering display.  Much like the successful comic book films over at that other studio often do, the filmmakers here reach back into a treasure trove of DC comic book stories to put together an epic romp of a tale, and even have the chutzpah to visually nod to multiple previous big screen iterations of these heroes.  And, as noted earlier, Snyder is continuing the story of Superman, allowing the character to grow, be challenged, suffer doubt and loss, and really become quite a bit more interesting to observe than this indestructible Dudley Do-Right often is.  Like many other fans of this growing franchise, I can hardly wait to see what direction they take the character in next.

 

Wow. Rarely have I ever experienced such a divide between my personal thoughts on a film, and seemingly every single paid “critic” who has presumably seen the same film as I. Are people having a laugh? Are they being obtuse for some unknown reason? The last time something happened like this was during the release of Ridley Scott’s diamond-cut masterpiece The Counselor, and before that with Michael Mann’s expressionistic tour de force Miami Vice and Tony Scott’s avant-garde Domino; throw in the last two films from Terrence Malick as well. On repeated occasions, I simply don’t understand what film most people seem to have been watching or say that they’ve seen. Don’t get me started on this asinine argument that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice isn’t “fun.” It may not be YOUR idea of fun, but for people who like their superhero stories gritty and dark and thoughtful, this movie is beyond fun. To be perfectly honest, it’s absolutely astonishing on almost every single level, especially given how routine and homogenized most blockbusters have become. You don’t hire filmmaker Zack Snyder to be “safe.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he’s a visual genius. He understands the inherent power of the cinematic image and he exploits it for all it’s worth. Film is a visual medium, first and foremost. I understand that it all starts with a script, but films are not books, and for me, the power of the image will always supersede that of the spoken word. And because Snyder’s images are so consistently mind-blowing, people love to forget how he almost always pays attention to story and character and motivation; he’s not uninterested in his screenplays despite what so many love to report. And best of all, and most rare, he challenges his comic book material in ways that you rarely see, especially in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Though definitely not a direct sequel to his smashing and rousing Man of Steel, this new film picks up in the immediate aftermath of the events of that 2013 blockbuster (and in my favorite sequence of the film during the Battle for Metropolis), and over the course of two and half hours, expands on Snyder’s vision and idea of realism within the scope of the fantastical, continuing down a purposefully humorless path through the revisionist corners of the DC universe.

 

This film is playing by Snyder’s rules, rules that borrow a tad from Frank Miller’s graphic novels and other bits of comic book inspiration, but make no mistake, this is Snyder totally unleashed. So, if you’re not a fan of his overly dynamic visual style, then you aren’t likely to respond well to this heavy and sometimes nightmarish piece of action filmmaking. This is a dark looking film, heavy on nighttime action with rain-soaked skylines and a striking sense of noir running through its very fabric. After the bright daylight action sequences of Man of Steel, Snyder decided to desaturate his images, suggesting a level of death and despair that has hit both Gotham and Metropolis. I’ve been enamored with Snyder’s aesthetic ever since his brilliant reimagining of Dawn of the Dead, which is easily my favorite modern horror film of the last 20 years. 300 was a pop-art explosion that broke new stylistic ground and Watchmen sits at the very top of the pile of films inspired by graphic novels. Sucker Punch is lusciously composed and severely underrated, and I happen to think “that owl movie” is really fun and unlike any other “kid’s movie” out there (visually it’s alive in ways that few films could ever dream of being). But it was Man of Steel that really set my world on fire, and now that he’s been given the keys to the expanded DC universe, I am overwhelmingly excited to see where he takes these various characters and to observe his glorious visual style progress even further. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is as bold of a superhero film that I can think of, a movie that takes chances with its material, and succeeds greatly as a result.

I am not going to spoil the plot. There’s a lot to dissect, the focus is split evenly between Batman and Superman, and there are some really well integrated teasers and Easter eggs that will inform future movies in this particular universe. From the trailers, it’s been made clear what you should generally expect, but because this film is super dense (being confused by many as “overstuffed”) and packed with characters and incidents and numerous plot strands, I’d rather people just experience it. Your preconceived notions of these characters and their origins and histories will be tested all throughout this film, and I seriously applaud the entire creative team for boldly taking risks with iconic characters and imagery and making it their own thing. I will say that I do wish the film had simply been called Dawn of Justice, as it’s both more concise and slick, and it better represents the overall scope to the proceedings. The titular smack down, while no doubt viscerally and visually impressive and narratively clever, comprises maybe 10 minutes of screen time, with so much more of greater importance occurring during the film. It’s not a throwaway, this bout of the titans, but rather, feels more like a series of intense disagreements rather than genuine fear or hatred of each other. I thought I maybe knew the driving force that would pit Batman and Superman against each other, so it was a pleasant surprise to see my expectations upended. It’s also abundantly clear that Snyder wanted a longer film, as the pacing does feel strange in a start-stop manner in spots, and I noticed in a few instances where it was obvious that some connective tissue had been removed. There’s a 30 minute longer director’s cut coming out on Blu-ray, so it’ll be interesting to see what the suits at WB felt needed to be trimmed. It just strikes me as odd that Snyder would have conceived of a close to three hour cut without knowing for sure if WB would allow him to release his vision as is; didn’t the suits, at the script and development level, realize how long and how packed of a film they were getting involved with?

And when it comes to the action, Snyder doesn’t disappoint. There’s a sense of weight to the big fight between Batman and Superman, and there’s one beat of action at the mid-way point which felt positively surreal, something that I truly didn’t expect. And that opening sequence is a true wowser, showing Bruce Wayne racing through the exploding streets of Metropolis, with Superman and Zod ripping stuff apart; it’s a bird’s eye view of total destruction and it’s scary and thrilling in equal measure. Snyder, as always, has a field day with slow motion techniques, but in general, keeps his camera calm and steady, allowing for some seriously awesome widescreen compositions that blast the eyeballs on multiple occasions. While I am not particularly fond of lead characters doing battle with all CGI monstrosities (there was a certain level of disinterest during the climactic battle with Doomsday), I was pulled back into the film by the emotional content, which hits some rather shocking notes towards the last act.

Snyder and screenwriters David Goyer and Chris Terrio were definitely interested in mixing up the formula, throwing a lot of stuff against the wall with almost all of it sticking, and allowing for multiple viewings to truly unlock all of this film’s many secrets. The thunderous and at times operatic musical score from Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL takes cues from Man of Steel and becomes something larger and at times even more epic, with a triumphant musical cue waiting for Wonder Woman during her battle entrance. Thematically, it’s a rich film, with both superheroes getting a chance to battle their inner demons all throughout, with the surprising maternal connection to the both of them being explored in a unique fashion; call it a “Tale of Two Martha’s.” Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a beast of a movie, and nothing like The Dark Knight trilogy from Christopher Nolan, with Snyder going out of his way to separate his version of Batman from Nolan’s, as he was wise to do. And the film also feels like a big departure from Man of Steel in many respects, much darker and more forbidding.

The performances are all uniformly excellent, with Ben Affleck cutting a hardened pose, both emotionally and physically, as Batman/Bruce Wayne. This is a very different Batman, more heavily armored and ready for battle than ever before, with a distinct lack of caring for the overall outcome of his adversaries. Snyder likes his superheroes to kill their bad guys, not hurt them with force. Henry Cavill embodies exactly what a modern Superman should be, bringing both nobility and an incredible sense of stoicism to the role; hopefully we’ll see a bit more of Clark Kent in upcoming films. Gal Gadot is sexy and heroic in equal measure as Wonder Woman, and I can’t wait to see her in action during her standalone film. She seemed EXCITED to be getting in on the big-battle action in the final act which was very cool to see. Jessie Eisenberg plays this new-fangled Lex Luthor with the proper amount of absurd glee that’s needed for this type of role, going appropriately over the top but never losing grasp of his character’s edgy megalomania. Jeremy Irons is all class as a more weathered version of Alfred, and he gets the film’s best lines of dialogue. Amy Adams brings that signature pep back to the role of Lois Lane, and while she’s not neglected, I hope there’s another standalone Superman film to focus more on her relationship with Clark and Superman. And Holly Hunter and Laurence Fishburne both get some really good moments; same goes for the terrific Scoot McNairy.

But the star of the show here is Snyder and his absurdly talented cinematographer Larry Fong, who literally peels your head wide open and blasts the screen with one insanely composed image after another. I grew up in a DC Comics household. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman – these were my favorite characters, the ones I became obsessed with as a tyke. So, to see the DC Universe explode in such a fabulous way on screen, I feel tremendously lucky to have films like Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and Snyder’s mesmerizing Man of Steel ready in my Blu-ray arsenal. And with Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the flood gates have been smashed wide open for more adventures with these decidedly darker superheroes.

 

A triumph of imagination more than overall execution though certainly not without more than one sequence of bravura filmmaking, Douglas Trumbull’s ultra-ambitious sci-fi oddity Silent Running is a relic of 70’s cinema, made clean again by the advances of modern day Blu-ray technology. Back in the day, I would passively watch this movie on cable with extra-wide-eyes as a youngster, but seeing it now, I’ve realized how ahead of its time the central message was, and how interested it was in character and personality rather than needless action or explosions. Trumbull, the special effects guru who assisted Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life, Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Ridley Scott on Blade Runner, and Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Andromeda Strain, was and still is a pioneer in the art modern special effects and in-camera photographic techniques, and he was given the chance by Universal pictures to create something entirely his own (albeit on a ridiculously low budget of $1 million dollars!). You can tell that he’s not the world’s greatest director, and while Bruce Dern’s performance is certainly passionate and committed, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Trumbull wasn’t an “actor’s director.” But what Trumbull may have lacked in experience he made up for in the creativity and style department.

After drafting a treatment for Silent Running, screenwriters Mike Cimino(!), Steven Bochco(!), and Deric Washburn(!) fleshed out the screenplay, which centers on the idea that sometime in the future, all the world’s plant life has become extinct, with the last remnants preserved and sent out into the solar system inside massive geodesic bio-domes, complete with animal life and fresh water, in the hope that one day they can be returned to Earth and life can again become sustainable. The film takes an anti-corporate slant when Dern, the ship’s constantly sweating botanist/scientist/astronaut, defies the orders of his greedy superiors who want the environmental experiment terminated in favor of sending the massive ships back into money-making routines. Dern commandeers his ship, fights it out with the other scientists, and blasts off for the rings of Saturn, all with the help of three robots who appear to be prototypes of TARS and CASE from Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

After evading the enemy, Dern keeps the ship out of contact, hence the title Silent Running, and tries to keep the forest life in the bio-dome up to speed with the robots acting as his helpers. The film then turns into something more quiet and introspective than I ever remembered, with Dern making a perilous journey through Saturn’s rings (shades of 2001 here galore), and then learning that his reforestation idea may not be attainable because of limited resources aboard his ship. He also develops an interesting relationship with his robot buddies. The limited budget shows in many areas, but when the ideas are this interesting and at times profound, I can excuse the lack of slickness in some of the technical departments. And considering the age that this film was crafted during, and with such a small budget, the film is something of a miracle. Nolan CLEARLY must love Silent Running, because he totally cribbed from this film (and from The Right Stuff) while making his magisterial science-fiction epic Interstellar, and it’s awesome to see that Trumbull’s work has continued to inspire a wide variety of current filmmakers.