DARK MONEY – Review

Investigative journalist John S. Adams in the Montana Capitol building, in a scene from the documentary DARK MONEY, a PBS Distribution release.

Director Kimberly Reed’s documentary DARK MONEY is a cautionary tale on the risks to a democratic republic from hidden money funding political campaign ads. This engrossing documentary is a chilling but fascinating look at the way money from secret out-of-state and even foreign government sources can be used to influence or disrupt state-level political races in this country, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. To illustrate the issue, Reed focuses a state legislature race in Montana as an example, where out-of-state organizations use dark money to fund an effort to gain control of its legislature and direct public policy for those special interests.

Montana is a good example, as a conservative state that is traditionally Republican but which has both an independent streak and a tradition of grassroots community in politics. Although the specific example is Montana, it it is a clear illustration of the power of unlimited hidden money to influence local elections in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a cautionary tale for other states also being targeted for similar efforts. Recently in Missouri, when the “right-to-work” proposition, Prop A, was on the ballot, pro-“right-to-work” political mailers and ads appeared on local television and in mailboxes, a campaign funded by one of the groups featured in this documentary, Americans for Prosperity, a “dark money” organization founded by one of the Koch brothers and Karl Rove.

Montana, as the documentary points out, is unique in some ways. Montana has low population but abundant natural resources. The state has had lots of experience with outside interests trying to control and exploit their resources, and then leaving residents of the state to clean up or live with the consequences or mess. That history has made Montanans both more wary, and skilled, in dealing with outsider corporations and individuals. The state also has a history of citizen politicians, who hold jobs besides their political ones and stay part of the community, as well as their tradition of community involvement.

As the documentary notes, this is not a Democrats versus Republicans fight, or conservative versus liberals, but a battle for local control of elections and public policy. Voters on both sides of the political aisle have railed against political ads funded by “out-of-state” interests. In this documentary, the Republican party is the target of this well-funded “dark money” effort to direct public policy in Montana on which Reed’s documentary focuses. One particular state senate race gets a lot of attention, but the documentary extends its focus to include other examples within the state and the national picture.

The key to this is dark money, the money funneled through non-profit 501c4 organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. “Follow the money” is an old phrase in newspapers but dark money thwarts the public’s right to know.  It prevents the public from finding out who is funding public efforts like direct mailings or political ads, information that can reveal motivations behind those political or public policy efforts, and who benefits from them. Legally, these campaigns are not supposed to coordinate with the politicians’ campaign, but the use of multiple organizations funded by dark money’s hidden donors can mask that coordination.

Director Kimberly Reed follows the story from multiple viewpoints, including journalists covering the Montana capital, various Republican citizen politicians, and the tiny Montana government agency tasked with overseeing their elections.

We also hear from a former member of the Federal Election Commission, the FEC, the national organization that is supposed enforce election laws, which reveals that lack of oversight is a national problem, and one spanning more than one presidential administration or party. The documentary takes a look at how 501c4 organizations through which dark money is funneled, such as Western Tradition Partnership, also known as American Tradition Partnership, and the National Right to Work campaign, which aims to get rid of unions. As one speaker notes, organizations like these aim to influence the outcome of elections because it “doesn’t want to lobby them (politicians) – it wants to own them right from the beginning.”

Reed does a masterful job pulling this all together, letting the people in Montana speak, and allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions about the national problem. Anyone who values democracy in this country should take a look at this revealing documentary.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

PUZZLE – Review

(l-r) Kelly Macdonald and Irrfan Khan star in PUZZLE. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Competitive jigsaw puzzle solving does not sound exciting but the surprisingly engrossing PUZZLE is more about a woman discovering herself than completing a puzzle. The real puzzle she is solving is who she is.

PUZZLE opens with a woman in an old fashioned dress preparing her home for a birthday party. After we see her waiting on guests, cleaning up after them and bringing out the cake she baked, we discover it is her birthday. Her dress and the decor of the house suggest it is the 1930s or ’40s, so we are again surprised when, after the guests are gone and she is opening gifts, one of them is a smart phone – revealing we are in the present. She doesn’t seem too pleased with the phone but is more interested in the next gift – a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Oddly, it is the puzzle rather than the smart phone that changes her tidy, predictable life. Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is a quiet, old- fashioned, traditional wife and mother whose life revolves around her family, home and church. She is not interested in the outside world and seems content, even happy, to care for her mechanic husband and two teen-aged sons. But it is a life of stifling routine, one without challenges, where she is marking time. Her chores done and with time on her hands, Agnes sits down to do her jigsaw puzzle.

While it is would take most of us several days to put together a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, Agnes completes it easily in an few hours. Pleased with the sensation of accomplishment it gives her, she does it again before dinner.

 

It turns out Agnes is a jigsaw puzzle prodigy and a new hunger for puzzles leads her to a puzzle shop in nearby New York and a man (played with irascible charm by Irrfan Khan) looking for a partner for a jigsaw puzzle competition. But this film is not about the world of jigsaw puzzle competition but about this woman’s journey to self discovery.

Directed by Marc Turtletaub, PUZZLE is actually a remake of a drama by Argentinian director Natalia Smirnoff,  a film which won praise at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.

The acting is the strong point of this remake. The role gives Scottish character actress Kelly Macdonald a chance to shine, as Agnes figures out how her gift for puzzles fits into her life. Casting Macdonald was a brilliant choice, as it a perfect step beyond the servant or wife roles the actress frequently plays, such as in GOSFORD PARK and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Pairing her with Irrfan Khan, Agnes’ complete opposite as an oddball tech millionaire obsessed with competitive puzzling, is a perfect move as well, and their scenes together are crackling. The rest of the supporting cast are strong foils allowing Macdonald to explore Agnes’s inner life.

PUZZLE is an acting tour-de-force by Kelly Mcdonald as a woman reconsiders her assumptions about her life and herself.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

MILE 22 – Review

Here’s the newest effort from another prolific actor/director film making duo. While some directors (Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Charles O. Russell) have a group of actors they repeatedly work with (on stage I guess they’d be the “rep” company), other directors like to cast the same actor in several of their projects. From the “golden age of Hollywood’ there were duos like John Huston with Humphrey Bogart, and John Ford and John Wayne. In the late seventies Martin Scorsese’s lead of choice was Robert DeNiro, while in recent years Leonardo DiCaprio has been a frequent lead. With Steven Spielberg it’s Tom Hanks (after many flicks with Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford). Now in theatres is the fourth collaboration of actor/director Peter Berg and lead actor Mark Wahlberg. Their previous team-ups were all based on true events: LONE SURVIVOR, DEEPWATER HORIZON, and PATRIOT’S DAY. Now they’ve made a go-for-broke, fictional, high-octane spy thriller, since Wahlberg usually stars in a big Summer action flick. But why so late in the season? For that, we’ve got to go the extra mile. Well several more really, all the way to MILE 22.

As the flick begins, we’ve got go back a few miles, years actually, to an operation conducted by an undercover (very deep undercover) branch of the CIA (like the IMF of Mission:Impossible, it’s “disavowed by the director”). James Silva (Wahlberg) is part of the team commanded by Bishop (John Malkovich), who’s viewing the whole thing from a secret locale along with a crew of agents monitoring live streams from hidden cameras and drones. Despite a few casualties, Silva and his squad get the job done, eliminating some undercover Russian agents working out of a suburban US. home. Cut to the opening titles, run over a montage/ bio of Silva (orphaned, personality issues, quick to violence, and a tactical savant). Jump to the modern day, to the US Embassy in Indocarr (?), where Silva and two of his teammates Alice (Lauren Cohen) and Sam (Ronda Rousey) are stationed. Everyone’s on edge because several containers of a radioactive powder AKA “fear dust” have been stolen. The tip from one of Alice’s informants proved to be a dud. Everyone is then shocked when said informant, local cop Li Noor (Iko Uwais) crashes his car through one of the barriers. He flashes a small cell phone-like pad at the gate cameras. When he’s brought in, he tells Alice and her co-workers that the device has a hard drive with all the location info on the toxins. But only he has the access code to stop the timed erasing of that info. And he’ll only give that code when he’s put on a plane headed out of his homeland. Shortly after some local officials arrive demanding that Noor be given to him, followed by an assassination attempt in the embassy infirmary. With time running out, Bishop’s team is called in to co-ordinate the 22 mile exodus from the embassy to a hidden runway. Is Noor legit? And can they get him (“the package”) to the plane despite a near-endless gauntlet of killers?

Yes there are lots of battles, but few compare to the fight these talented actors had to wage against a clunky script loaded with one-note abrasive characters. The most aggressively obnoxious may be Silva, who proves to be a poor role for the charismatic talented Wahlberg. It’s as though they took everything charming about his macho motor-mouth in THE DEPARTED (which nabbed him an Oscar nom) and twisted it into an arrogant,in your face” bully. You’d want Silva to have your back in a firefight, but you’d dread having any sort of calm conversation with him. Dismissive and cruel aren’t the usual qualities of a thriller hero (and there’s talk of a trilogy). Cohen doesn’t fare much better as the always on edge Alice, who is screaming at her ex-husband (oddly played by Berg) as they play an emotional “tug of war’ over their pre-teen daughter. This leads to her flinging the phone against a wall (wonder how many she goes through in a week). So terrific for so long as Maggie on TV’s “The Walking Dead”, Cohen can’t bring much humanity to another of the script’s screeching “spooks”. The most engaging of the crew may be MMA champ Rousey as the affable Sam, who doesn’t tolerate the tantrums of Silva and Alice. Naturally, this seals her doom. Speaking of champs, martial arts master Uwais is a compelling physical presence, moving like lightning at the center of the film’s best sequences. It’s a shame that his character of Noor seems so aloof and enigmatic with an unchanging sneer, never connecting with any other characters. And then there’s the usually strange Malkovich regulated to be the guy at the screen (he’s in a suit with Converse sneakers…how quirky), barking commands and counting down the minutes. At east he’s sporting a severe buzz-cut hairpiece.

Berg assembles the film in a blender, never letting a shot last more than a few seconds, and making sure the camera is always in motion. This may be an attempt to “amp’ up the tension, but this rapid-fire, staccato style merely wears us down and quickly becomes tedious, as does the near-constant barrage of “f-bombs” (ooo, so edgy). When the screen’s not full of smoke from one of the many explosions (they loves their grenades), the photography is murky and muddy, obscuring much of the picture. The opening attack on the two story house on Christmas Lane (really) feels somewhat realistic with the disorientation of the team, but the endless trek through the city streets becomes repetitive despite the different venues, going from a crowded bakery to a low-rent apartment complex (the Paradise, uh uh), which just reminds us of the superior quality of the RAID films that Uwais headlined. And in the final moments we get a ridiculous triple-cross denouncement that kicks the audience in the…pants…as they flee the theatre. MILE 22 literally screeches to a dead end, and makes us appreciate Cruise, Damon, and Craig even more. Still, that fight in the medical examination room is pretty good, so it gets…

1.5 Out of 5

ALPHA- Review

With the Summer winding down, and Labor Day well in sight, are moviegoers nostalgic for an adventure set it the “good ole’ days”? Hmmm, not sure if they were all that “good”, but the emphasis is on the “ole”, er “old” in the week’s new release. We’re going way, waaay back with this epic, around 20,000 years to be exact to the “cave man” tribal days, when humans were both hunters and the hunted. It’s not fun in fur skin time as in the comic strip “B.C.” or THE FLINTSTONES, nor is it the fantasy of early man evading dinosaurs as in the ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. films or the comedy CAVEMAN (loved the stoned “stop -motion” T-Rex in that). . No, it’s a bit closer to the 1980’s double bill of QUEST FOR FIRE and CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR, though more “family friendly” but tougher than the TV ads would lead you to believe). Plus it borrows an element of the superhero flicks in that it’s an “origin” story. But not about a “cosmic crusader’s” beginning, rather it’s the start of a relationship that still exists (and shows no signs of stopping). According to the filmmakers this bond began when a lost, lonely young man met ALPHA.

That young man in question is Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the teenage son of tribal leader Tau (Johannes Hauker Johannesson) and his mate Rho (Natassia Malthe) during the last Ice Age, somewhere in Europe. The story begins with Keda’s first (and perhaps last) buffalo hunt. When things take a disastrous turn, the film flashes back to several days prior. As with all the young men of the tribe, Keda must prove himself worthy of going on the hunt by sharpening stones into deadly spear-heads. He makes the “cut’ and says goodbye to Rho as he accompanies Tau along with some other “newbies’ and the tribal elder males on the long journey to find that herd. Along the way, they join forces with another hunting tribe (they’re old pals with Tau), and pick off a wild boar (though Keda hesitates at striking the killing blow to the beast). Tau points out a wolf pack that is observing the hunters from a distance, explaining to Keda about their leader, the “alpha”. The boy also experiences nature’s brutality as another young hunter is snatched away by a predator sprinting out of the darkness. Finally they encounter the buffalo herd grazing not far from a cliff’s edge. We’re “caught up” as Tau thinks that his son has “joined his ancestors” at the bottom of a ravine. The heartsick papa gathers meat and skins before he and the hunters make the long trek back to their homes. Long after they depart, the bloody, bruised, and battered Keda wakens. Despite his broken leg and multiple wounds, he’s determined to rejoin his tribe. He evades the beasts while trying to locate food and water along with shelter until the wolf pack finally catches up with him. Keda wounds one of them with his dagger as he scurries up a tree. When the wolves finally depart, Keda is shocked to find that the one he sliced still lives. He nurses the wolf back to health, as they form their own pack, two lost hungry wanderers uniting to survive while trying to find their families. But can Keda and the wolf he names Alpha return home before the brutal Winter ends their tentative friendship?

In his first feature as solo director (previously he teamed with brother Allen). Albert Hughes has crafted an epic adventure showcasing the beauty of nature and its cruelty. The images gleaned from multiple locales around the globe are stunning (in Imax 3D, the stars at night vividly sparkle and glisten, as though you can reach out and grab one), but the towering vistas never detract from this human (and animal) tale of unlikely partnership. Hughes elicits a compelling performance from Smit-McPhee, who carries the bulk of the story on his weary shoulders, emoting with his “ancestors”, that vibrant sky, and the enigmatic liquid-blue stare of Alpha. We see the wonder and danger through Keda’s expressive eyes as he matures from timid youth to quick-thinking and acting adult survivor. Smit-McPhee share a believable paternal bond with Johannesson who’s tough and surprisingly tender as his father and tribal leader, while Malthe is a nurturing though worried mother. As I mentioned earlier, this is not the sweet tale of inter-species bonding being sold in the previews and trailers. It’s a harsh, cruel young world that Keda and Alpha must navigate, with death hiding from every rock and shrub. A fall into a frozen body of water is not for the claustraphobic (flashbacks to the second OMEN flick), and a moonlit encounter with a hungry pack plays like a hellish nightmare (those red glowing eyes). All highlighted in the suburb cinematography by Martin Gschlacht. The screenplay by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt from a story by Hughes never drags even as it takes a moment or two for some whimsical sequences that are “first” in the man/dog origin such as the first bowl of water, first “fetch”, and so forth. The story of first friendship is both an intimate tale of survival and a thrilling spectacle of that simpler time. And at a taut 90 minutes, it’s a great movie night for the family (well, for the grade school-aged tots). The next time you look past that cold nose into those glistening eyes so delighted to see you, you might just see more than a smidge of ALPHA in your best furry friend.

4 Out of 5

NEVER GOIN’ BACK – Review


Review by Stephen Tronicek

Most reviewers probably wouldn’t get close to calling the two protagonists of Augustine Frizzell’s directorial debut, Never Goin’ Back, righteous, but I most certainly would. They live in a tough situation, one that would make many of the more affluent viewers, such as myself, uncomfortable. They aren’t sanded around the edges, they aren’t “socially acceptable,” but what they are is real people living their best lives. That’s something I think we all want. It is in that way that Never Goin’ Back, through all its twists and turns becomes something of a transcendent work. You may never be these women, you may never want to be these women, but to experience the joy they do, the hardship they do, to experience their lives is a perfect reminder of what a true life looks like.

That may sound long-winded, especially in a review for a movie where the characters stumble around getting high, deflecting the emasculated yet somehow powerful men in their lives, and trying to get enough money to escape to a weekend trip to Galveston, but to be honest, Never Goin’ Back doesn’t ever feel vapid, even if the characters continually reach for an excess that can only lead to emptiness. They still have each other, they still have another person to help and that’s enough. This means that the entire work lives and dies on the framing of the main relationship between Angela (Maia Mitchell) and Jessie (Camila Morrone), girlfriends who seem to actually have their lives figured out on a deeper existential level. The actions that they take might not always be smart but they have who they want to be figured out and know how to respect and defend each other.

This type of relationship is seldom captured on screen with this kind of authenticity and Frizzell nails it in both writing and direction. The film is the type of one might expect to be downright oversaturated in handheld camera and relentless cross-cutting and coverage, and Never Goin’ Back has plenty of that, but it also has immaculate frames, motivated montage, and immensely entertaining set pieces. The technical work on the film is startling and the choices of shots excellently reinforce the already jaw-dropping performances.

On that note, Mitchell and Morrone may very well be some of the most naturalistic actresses to grace the screen this year. They show up and tear through the difficult script with an ease that suggests they were born to play these characters. I appreciated the fact I got to spend time with their dynamic, one so intimately well drawn that it only serves to enhance the comedic and dramatic events at the core of the film.

Never Goin’ Back is a gorgeous and fulfilling experience that shows us a chapter in the lives of two people who have things figured out, emotionally at the least. I needed to see it now, not only to show myself the things that I should appreciate but also the things that I lack. Great films show you both and Never Goin’ Back is one of those great films.

4 1/2  of 5 Stars

NEVER GOIN’ BACK opens in St. Louis Friday August 17th at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre

CRAZY RICH ASIANS – Review

There is a long tradition of films that feature the plot of a man or woman introducing a new partner to the family for the first time. It’s a formula we’ve seen in romantic comedies for decades. Is the family going to approve of him or her? Will the couple end up together despite the family’s disapproval? It’s never truly a nail-biter as much as it’s a structure to explore ideas of acceptance and tolerance. Given how much CRAZY RICH ASIANS has been talked about as the first Hollywood film in 25 yrs to feature an entirely Asian cast, it seems fitting that this adaptation of the popular book series is as much about a Chinese-American woman facing adversity from a proud Chinese family as it is about American audiences accepting a culture and actors rarely featured in a major studio film. Contemporary audiences need this introduction into this specific world as much as the lead of the story does. And I have a feeling mainstream audiences will welcome it with open arms.

That seems like a lot of pressure for a film that the main goal is to be an entertaining, romantic romp through Singapore, but director Jon M. Chu is more than up for the challenge as he explores this fascinating culture built on lush food and vibrant cityscapes, family traditions, and cultural behaviors passed down from generation to generation. In the film, no one is more aware of this than Nick Young (played by newcomer Henry Golding). Nick invites his girlfriend Rachel (Constance Wu) to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Little does the NYU professor know that she’s actually dating a member of one of the wealthiest families in Singapore. The trip and the wedding festivities (“The Wedding of the Year,” as it’s described by locals) result in her becoming enveloped in an entirely new world of the rich and famous, as well as an overbearing family led with an iron fist by Nick’s mother (Michelle Yeoh in a surprisingly cold and effective performance).

The film feels less like a rollercoaster of emotions than what you would expect given the plot synopsis and more like a travelogue set to renditions of classic songs like “Can’t Help But Falling in Love,” “Money (That’s What I Want),” and “Material Girl,” to name a few. The level of opulence is off the chart as the film quickly becomes a feast for the eyes with designer outfits and exotic locales. One could argue the biggest star of CRAZY RICH ASIANS is the setting of the film, Singapore, and they wouldn’t be wrong. So much is put into the art direction and look of the film that it reaches THE GREAT GATSBY height of extravagance and beauty.

Thankfully, Jon M. Chu grounds the film by first introducing us to the warm and genuine leads before throwing us into the visual feast. Henry Golding and Constance Wu make for a charming couple with instant chemistry. His slight British accent adds a touch of dashing manliness to his boyish disposition. He’s a natural leading man, but it’s Constance who is put to the test as she has to serve as the wide-eyed foreigner as well as a strong force to be reckoned with when the time comes. Because of the large family at the center of the story, there is a variety of characters with flimsy to defined backstories that have a hand in Nick’s life. However, most are given little screen time to flex their acting chops.

While the romantic comedy label is unfortunately pushed much more in the direction of romance than comedy, actress Akwafina (who was in OCEAN’S 8 earlier this year) makes her presence known in a handful of scenes as Rachel’s loud-mouth sidekick. She fares much better than the one-note loud groomsman and the over-the-top bachelor party scene that falls flat. At a lengthy two hours, CRAZY RICH ASIANS feels a little stretched out. Yet, it always pulls you back in with spectacular sights like a show-stopping wedding sequence and a dazzling reception under the stars in the end. This predictable but cute romantic comedy may be remembered for the glitz and glamour, but it’s the film’s loving approach to a rich culture built on specific ideals and traditions that is worth applauding.

 

Overall score: 3.5 out of 5

CRAZY RICH ASIANS opens in theaters Aug. 15th

ALONG CAME THE DEVIL – Review

Review by Mathew Lowery

Movies about the devil and demonic possession are certainly nothing new. Ever since classics like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, there have been countless movies made dealing with demons, exorcisms, or the paranormal in general. Some more recent favorites include Insidious, Sinister, and The Conjuring. But then, there are movies like Jason DeVan’s Along Came The Devil, which tries to go toe-to-toe with many other demon possession movies that have come before. Unfortunately, not only does this film take elements from other and much better movies, but it doesn’t offer anything new or use those old ideas in a unique way.

The plot is pretty straightforward, but it can also be somewhat confusing, and I’ll explain why. The movie follows a teen girl named Ashley, played by Sydney Sweeney Nude, whose mother disappeared when she was young and was abused by her father. Several years later, she’s living with her Aunt Tanya, played by Jessica Barth, who was actually an old friend of Ashley’s mother. They live in the small town Ashley grew up in, where she reconnects with her old friend Hannah, played by Madison Lintz, and a boy who had a crush on her when they were kids named Shane, played by Austin Filson. As time goes on, however, Ashley starts hearing strange noises and seeing weird ghostly images, making her question her own sanity. Eventually, she ends up getting possessed, and it’s up to Reverend Michael, played by character-actor Bruce Davison, and his young new pastor John, played by Matt Dallas, to save her.

If any of what I just described sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because it’s nearly beat-for-beat the exact same plot as The Exorcist. The difference being that while The Exorcist dealt with themes of doubting one’s faith, how a mother will go to any extremes for their child, and feeling guilty over a loved one, this film has none of that. Instead, it feels like the filmmakers added the basic ingredients of a standard demon possession film, but they failed to realize what made other similar movies so compelling. In fact, the actual exorcism isn’t until the last third of the movie, and even then, it feels rushed, almost like an afterthought. I mentioned before how the plot can be hard to follow, and that’s because there are scenes that are explained to us but we’ve never shown. For instance, there’s a scene where Hannah and Shane are walking out of school talking about something Ashley did at school. Hannah confronts her about it, saying, “What happened in there?” We never find out what exactly happened, we’re never shown what happened, and it’s never brought up again. Same goes for the father abuse in the beginning. We are shown the abuse Ashley and her sister went through, but we never learn why this happened or what made the father act like this.

To be fair, there are at least a few positives I can say about the film, though not much. While the script is poor and the actors aren’t given much to work with, they do a serviceable enough job. Sydney Sweeney does a good job showing some emotions, and she definitely goes all out in the possession scenes. Jessica Barth, while not very compelling, does well here and has some good scenes with Sweeney. And it is great to see such a talented character-actor like Bruce Davison show up, even if he’s playing a lesser version of Max von Sydow’s Father Merrin. There are also some decent make-up effects when Ashley is possessed, and some of the shots are fairly well composed.

Sadly, that’s where the positives I have for this end. Overall, Along Came The Devil feels like a very watered-down and less interesting version of The Exorcist that tries and fails to recapture what made other movies of its kind work.

2 out of 5 stars

Gravitas Ventures will release the supernatural horror film ALONG CAME THE DEVIL in theaters, On Demand and Digital HD on August 10, 2018.

GENERATION WEALTH – Review

Limo Bob, 49, the self-proclaimed “Limo King,” Chicago, 2008. An entrepreneur who builds and rents exotic limousines, Bob wears thirty-three pounds of gold and a full-length fur coat given to him by Mike Tyson. Photo Courtesy of Amazon Studios. Photo credit: © Lauren Greenfield, all rights reserved.

GENERATION WEALTH sounds like it’s about income inequality and the One Percent, but it is not.

While Lauren Greenfield’s documentary starts out with footage of the very rich who are the one-percent of the income scale, it quickly shifts.

Even tagline of Lauren Greenfield’s documentary “The American Dream just keeps getting more expensive” suggests that, but while the documentary does start out with footage of the very rich who at in the upper one-percent of the income scale, it quickly shifts to a different, less lofty picture of wealth, a Kardashians, reality show kind of rich. The film would have been better titled “Generation Excess” as excess is the real subject.

Frankly, the documentary is like a recap of Greenfield’s other films. The documentarian’s works include THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, about the couple building a replica of Versailles in Florida until the 2008 economic crash bankrupted them, THIN, about anorexia, KIDS+MONEY, about the children of the rich. Wealth is a theme here, but it is about the once-wealthy, the wanna-be wealthy, and disease linked to wealthy nations. It is not about the today’s truly wealthy, which is a missed opportunity.

The documentary bathes us in a ocean of excess in the pursuit of either wealth or some popular culture image of perfection. We meet a woman, a school bus driver, whose obsession with plastic surgery bankrupts her and costs her her children, the children of rock stars and movie stars raised with privilege but struggling to get by as adults, a one-time millionaire now hiding out in Europe to avoid jail time, a porn star who was one of Charlie Sheen’s girlfriends, a limo driver who proudly wears pounds of gold jewelry given him by wealth clients. There are the sad young women with anorexia but then the little toddler beauty queens.

After wallowing in this depressing pop culture swamp, one might just want a bath. Instead, the director offers social commentary on the decay of the idea of the American Dream, from an ideal of being a respected pillar of one’s community to being a bling-wearing media figure, from “keeping up with the Joneses” to “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Greenfield notes that this change began in the ’70s with conspicuous consumption and was solidified in the ’80s when “greed” became “good.” But it really took off with the reality shows of the ’90s.

Yet GENERATION WEALTH does have one more interesting side. While this rambling documentary covers a number of topics that are only marginally connected, it also reveals details of the filmmaker’s own upbringing and background, which speaks volumes about the documentarian and her work. The daughter of an anthropologist and a successful doctor, Greenfield attending an exclusive Southern California private school where her classmates were the children of movie stars and other wealth parents, the very people in the documentary. Greenfield’s anthropologist mother spent long periods of time away from her family, a pattern Greenfield repeated in pursuit of her career. Greenfield often left her young children in the care of her supportive husband, something successful men have done with their supportive wives for generations. This insight on Greenfield and her own family are by far the more engrossing parts of the documentary.

Those who can’t get enough reality-show outrageous-ness might enjoy this tour of the underbelly of fame and fortune. GENERATION WEALTH has a misleading title and it is mostly a recap of Greenfield’s previous documentaries, like a rock band’s “greatest hits” album. It is mostly worth seeing for the insights it offers into what makes this filmmaker tick.

GENERATION WEALTH opens Friday, August 10, at Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars

MCQUEEN – Review

Models ready for an Alexander McQueen fashion show. Photographer: Ann Ray. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.

For a documentary titled MCQUEEN, a question quickly springs to mind: which one? Steve McQueen, the iconic actor? Steve McQueen, the British director? Or Alexander McQueen, the British fashion designer? Turns out, it is the latter.

Fashionistas will instantly think of Alexander McQueen, of course, but given that there are so many famous McQueens, maybe this single-name title was not the best choice. Fans of the ’60s-’70s actor who plunk down money for tickets are in for a real surprise.

But with that quibble out of the way, MCQUEEN is a good documentary about the rise and fall of a fashion original, Lee Alexander McQueen, a rebel with a cause who shook up the fashion world. McQueen didn’t look like the stereotype of a fashion designer, a slightly chubby young man who looked a bit like James Cordon, born into a working-class family. The son of a London cab driver, McQueen had a biting and raunchy sense of humor but he had a gift for cutting clothes, a strong work-ethic and drive to succeed. He changed ideas about who could be a designer while creating striking and very personal fashion collections.

All this is outlined in the documentary, co-directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. MCQUEEN is divided into chapters named for the designer’s fashion shows or themes in his career and life, which were tightly linked. Each chapter is introduced with a skull decorated in fit the fashion show and collection’s theme, a symbol McQueen used for each collection. It is a eerie choice, given the designer’s troubled life and early death.

McQueen was an indifferent student and after graduating, took a job as an assistant to a bespoke tailor. The job revealed a gift for the work but the restless, ambitious young man kept trading up to work for better companies, including an Italian design house. Returning to London, he went to the London School of Art to study fashion, with the help of an adult. An early benefactor suggested he drop his first name and go by Alexander McQueen professionally.

The film covers both McQueen’s professional and personal lives together. McQueen used his fashion shows as self-expression, becoming more theatrical and more like performance art than just fashion shows as his career progressed. His work was usually outrageous and often controversial, and even sometimes offensive. Personally, he was always close to his family, particularly his mother and older sister, but as a gay man, had difficulty with romantic relationships.

Using footage of his elaborate fashion shows, media coverage, and interviews with colleagues, friends and family, MCQUEEN paints a well-rounded portrait of the artist and his work and, ultimately, his tragic death by suicide. It offers a compelling look into the striking career and tormented life of a groundbreaking fashion leader.

MCQUEEN opens Friday, August 10, at Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

THE MEG – Review

A scene from Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Gravity Pictures’ science fiction action thriller “THE MEG,” a Gravity Pictures release for China, and a Warner Bros. Pictures release throughout the rest of the world. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

For some, summer is not complete without a shark movie or a dinosaur one. THE MEG is both in a way, about a giant prehistoric shark, the megadon, thought to be extinct which has somehow survived hidden from view but now released to terrorize all in the sea. This scare thriller also has a bonus for fans of THE TRANSPORTER, star Jason Statham as a tough guy who specializes in deep-sea rescues, kind of a Transporter under the waves. Statham makes this film a bit of a JAWS meets TRANSPORTER mash-up.

Ever since JAWS, audiences have craved shark movies. While JURASSIC PARK created a similar itch for dinosaur movies (although, actually, those movies go back to the 1914 animated GERTIE THE DINOSAUR), THE MEG is basically a shark movie. But unlike the original JAWS, where the shark just comes looking for us, we unleash this gigantic prehistoric shark on ourselves, unintentionally of course.

THE MEG is directed by Jon Turtletaub, who also helmed NATIONAL TREASURE. The premise of how this prehistoric shark survived is seriously preposterous, so it is best not to think about it and just go with it. Basically, a team of deep-sea explorers, funded by an eccentric billionaire Morris (Rainn Wilson), are probing the depths of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest place on earth. The research team is led by a Chinese marine biologist Dr. Minway Zhang (Winston Chao) and his scientist daughter Suyin (Chinese actress Li Bingbing), who has also brought along her young, very cute daughter Meiying (Sophia Cai). The team is using specialized submersibles to explore the lowest parts of the Mariana Trench when something goes very wrong. It appears there is something very big down there.

With the submersible damaged and their team trapped, Dr. Zhang and station chief Mac (Cliff Curtis) call on Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), the only man with the expertise to save them. The problem is that Jonas has quit the rescue business, after a mission where he couldn’t get everyone out, also in the same spot. But he also saw something down there, and everyone thinks he’s crazy. But his ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee) is piloting the submersible, so Jonas agrees to attempt the rescue.

THE MEG is short for megadon, a 75-foot-long extinct shark was the largest creature that ever lived, land or sea. The megadon makes for a fearsome movie monster, as the gigantic shark was big enough to eat whales for breakfast – something the movie demonstrates for us. You have probably seen pictures of a man standing inside the fossil jaws of a megadon but in case you haven’t, THE MEG obliges with a couple of photos. Swimmer are mere appetizers for the megadon in this film, which is glad to devour whole boats or beaches full of vacationers.

THE MEG is fair popcorn entertainment, a summertime staple likely to scratch the itch for shark movie fans. There are plenty of jump-out-of-your-seat moments, even if you know they are coming, and the scares are seasoned with a little humor, but not as much as you would expected if you saw the movie trailer. The battle against the megadon brings in several boats, and even helicopters, but the beast chomps on. The film has a couple of false endings, but since it is not far enough into the film, the audience knows we are not done yet. The film seems more aimed at the Chinese/Asian audience than the American one, with several Asians in the cast and the inevitable beach scene at a Chinese seaside tourist spot.

The film has some entertaining visual aspects. The shark attack sequences certainly hit the action-movie mark, and the elaborate mid-ocean station from which the researchers operate has a cool spaceship-like look. The clear polycarbonite shark cage has a cool factor too, as do the submersibles and other tech.

The major flaws of this flick are two-fold. The false endings are too early in the film to be convincing, even if we may not know exactly what its coming. The other flaw is a lack of character-development. Despite a fairly decent cast, the characters all remain two-dimensional. A warm, comic interplay between Statham and the little girl adds a little charm, and there is a touch of romance and the father-daughter thing, but there is just not enough there of any of the characters beyond the stereotypical.

If your summer is not complete without a shark movie, or if you can’t get enough Jason Statham, THE MEG is for you. For other movie-goers looking for summer doldrums thrills, THE MEG is more “meh” than mega-hit.

RATING: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars