Review – Page 41 – We Are Movie Geeks

SLIFF 2014 Review – THE IMPERSONATORS

THE IMPERSONATORS screens as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 17 at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre at 9 PM. Get ticket information here

The Avengers they aint’! For those looking for an alternative to the big screen super-hero smashfests, THE IMPERSONATORS just may be up your alley. This is the story of a lovable bunch of losers and goofballs donning spandex as part of their jobs at Supers for Rent, an agency that sends them out to entertain at events and private parties. Leading the motley crew is Les (Josh Arnold), a surly, stout, slovenly, bespectacled stand-in for “Mr. Super” (a take-off on that “strange visitor from another planet”). The other employees bare little resemblance to the comic book originals ( “The Flying Fox” just got his AARP card. his teenage sidekick “Sparrow” is not far behind, “H2Joe” is terrified of the water, and “Captain USA” speaks with a thick Aussie accent, mate!) aside from their ill-fitting costumes. But just as Les is replaced by a younger,very buff newbie, the whole team is hired by the depressed little burg of Rockwell to cheer the citizens up and get the town back on its feet. But when they raise the ire of local gangster Winston (who resembles a bearded African-American version of Marvel Comics’ crime boss “The Kingpin”), Les and his co-workers must summon their courage and try to become real heroes. Or else!

Director Joshua Hull, working from the script he co-wrote with Arnold, delivers a very rude and crude, low-down parody that’s not for those easily offended. Bodily function and fluid gags (literally) run rampant as the bumbling bozos trip over their own capes. The film makers aim for a low, low-budget variation of THE MYSTERY MEN and James Gunn’s early effort THE SPECIALS and achieves a Mickey and Judy “Hey, kid’s lets put on a show!” vibe. There’s even some clever usage of comic book art for scene transitions and flashbacks. The cast’s a tad unpolished, but energetic, and there some inventive twists on old action flick clichés. They may not be age-appropriate for your tot’s birthday celebration, but for some raunchy laughs, THE IMPERSONATORS may be just the super-team for you. Just be sure and hide the cake!

SLIFF 2014 Review- NORTHERN BORDERS

NORTHERN BORDERS screens as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre on Sunday, November 16 at 5:45 PM. Get ticket information here

Bruce Dern follows up his Oscar-nominated performance in last year’s NEBRASKA with his starring role here as family patriarch Austen Kittredge, Sr in writer/director Jay Craven’s adaptation of Howard frank Mosher’s acclaimed novel. While his character in the former film was endearingly befuddled, this man is bitter and abrasive. This tale begins in 1956 as ten year-old Austen III ( Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) is picked up by his estranged grandfather at a rural Vermont train station. They’ve never met, but the lad is to spend a few weeks with them at the old family farm/sawmill until his father picks him up. The boy soon meets his grandmother, the eccentric, ethereal Abiah (Genevieve Bujold), a nurturing contrast to her stern, surly husband. She’s obsessed with ancient Egypt, decorating a room with trinkets and tchochkes, and referring to her grandson as “Tut”. The couple have an adversarial relationship and soon enlist the boy as a messenger/ go-between (“Tut, ask Mr. Kittredge to pass the salt.”). The old man and his grandson soon bond doing chores and hunting as the elder reveals the secret story of his long-lost love (maybe that’s why he’s so cranky). Austen III stays longer than expected and eventually enrolls at the one room school ,befriending one girl and making an enemy of another. When most of the family reunites for Thanksgiving (maybe the most unpleasant meal since AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY), AK, Sr. delights in re-opening old wounds while stories swirl about the missing, perhaps criminal sister. In the last act a family tragedy reunites them as Austen III begins see all of his relatives in a much more mature light.

Craven directs in a sure, steady hand eschewing showy film making flourishes that may distract from this leisurely look at New England life and loss. He elicits solid performances from veterans Dern and Bujold (we don’t see her on screen nearly enough) and promising newcomer (Davey-Fitzpatrick). A superb supporting cast is assembled including John Shea as a local doctor, Jay O Sanders as a pesky “G-man”, and Jessica Hecht as the prodigal daughter. The photography of backwoods Vermont is lovely as the seasons slowly change. NORTHERN BORDERS is an engaging, nostalgic coming of age story that showcases two of the cinema’s most accomplished actors

DUMB AND DUMBER TO – The Review

Do you have a “golden year”, the year where everything seemed to come together? Maybe you got the perfect job and met Ms. or Mr. Right all within just a few months. Well, for Mr. Jim Carrey a good case could be made for 1994. After putting in several years on TV (“The Duck Factory” “In Living Color”) along with sporadic screen roles (from THE DEAD POOL to ONCE BITTEN), his career went super-nova with the unexpected smash ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE in the first few months of that year. In the Summer it was another box office bonanza with THE MASK. But the icing on the cake may have been his holiday-time hit DUMB AND DUMBER. In the ensuing two decades, Jim’s had his highs and lows, even supporting up and coming new comedy flick stars like Steve Carrell in THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE last year. He’s also tackled some dramatic roles, like THE TRUMAN SHOW, while sidestepping most sequels to his earlier successes (he did revisit Ace, but passed on slipping on that mask again, much to Jamie Kennedy’s woe). But after much pleading he’s slapped on the bowl haircut wig, removed the front tooth cap, and become Lloyd Christmas once again for DUMB AND DUMBER TO (get it?). Beside reteaming with Jeff Daniels, Peter and Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are behind the camera for another spin (hey their career since the big splash 20 years ago has had a few peaks with more than a couple valleys). So will the big reunion strike comedy, and box office, gold? Leave your IQ at home and let’s hit the highway with Harry and Lloyd!

In the two decades since the last adventure it seems that Lloyd has vegged out. Oh, but it’s just a gag on ole’ Harry (Daniels). Now Harry drops a bomb on his pal: he needs a new kidney. After a quick trip to Harry’s parents home, who inform him that he’s adopted, they go through the mail that’s been piling up. There’s a 1992 postcard from old flame Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner) saying she’s ‘preggers’! The duo visit her and find out that she gave up the baby girl for adoption. Fraida’s tried to contact her (she located her new family), but the letter was returned with a note saying that she should not contact her again. But that won’t stop H and L, so they grab the envelope, borrow Fraida’s hearse and hit the road to Maryland. Soon the duo run afoul of a scheming wife, her handyman lover, his special ops twin, and a convention full of geniuses in El Paso. But can they locate the girl, Penny (Rachel Melvin) before Harry’s time runs out?

Carrey gives this return the “ole’ college try” bringing his usual manic energy to every line reading and gesture acting almost as a human defibrillator to the listless script. At least he’s still unpredictable and spirited. Daniel, who’s bounced between drama and comedy since his last turn as Harry (even picking up an Emmy for his lead role in “The Newsroom”), does his best to keep up with Carrey, but ends up resorting to “mooning” us in far too many scenes. The gifted Rob Riggle tries to inject some life into the proceedings with his arrogant, oafish twins. He always seems to brighten up any comedy, usually as the villain, so when’s his shot at a lead? As for the ladies, Laurie Holden, late of TV’s “The Walking Dead”, is given little to do other than slink as sneer as a 40’s film noir villainess parody with a thing for “little piggies” (really, that’s funny?). Melvin is an attractive daffy ditz who’s there mostly to mimic the film’s leads. The best sport may be Turner putting a middle-aged spin on her 80’s sexpot roles, her sultry Jessica Rabbit purr now a gutteral growl. The whole cast’s really doing their best to push this rickety vehicle up some steep hills.

And who’s responsible for those hills? Six writers!! Six to come up with this? And I was shocked that after 19 years, the best Steven, George, and company could come up with was INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL! This crew had one more year and delivered this dreck that just lurches from one set-up to the next, hoping for a big pay-off in laughs (sorry, “shrub club” don’t cut it!). There’s a huge over-reliance on bodily fluids, thinking that every gross-out ups the hilarity, literally every fluid (dog drool check! urine check!etc.). And while the boys had some kind of innocent, naive charm in the first outing, now they seem to delight in being gleefully cruel to everyone they meet. Oh, plus the sex jokes are particularly puriant especially with a senior citizen and Lloyd’s skeevy obsession with Harry’s “daughter”. The Farrelly boys appear to have been dozing at the wheel as the lifeless exercise lumbers towards the end of it’s very looong running time. A little editing would’ve been nice, certainly chopping out a reviled reality TV star’s cameo (hey, the scandal’s a month old, you had time to cut it!). You could feel the audience stiffen at her arrival on-screen. So,you fans got your wish. They got back together, but I’m highly doubtful the end results will please most. Harry and Lloyd may be dumber, and a lot older, but they sure aren’t funnier. As L might say, “Ah loathe it a LOT!”

1.5 out of 5

ROSEWATER – The Review

It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since the release of Ben Affleck’s ARGO, which went on to grab many Oscars, including Best Picture (over another true tale with similar themes, ZERO DARK THIRTY). Since then the Middle East continues to be the setting for many “ripped from the headlines” stories. Now comes another such film, but with several interesting twists. Once more we’re in Iran, part of the “axis of evil” trio named by a former president. But unlike those earlier films, it barely concerns “Westerners” with only a few Brits in small roles. The film’s lead is Iranian-born with nearly all of the action taking place there. As with Affleck helming ARGO, another high-profile American is behind the camera, but he doesn’t have a couple of features on his directing resume’.This movie making newcomer arrives right from the world of late-night comedy TV: Jon Stewart. Besides skewering the crisis in the mideast on most nights of basic cable’s “The Daily Show”, he’s got a true personal connection to this tale. That may be the reason he wrote the screenplay based on the book by the film’s protagonist (and Aimee Molloy), “Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival”. That’s a bit of a mouthful for ads, and would overflow most theatre marquees, so the movie’s been given the deceptively genteel title of ROSEWATER.

Following the opening titles, we’re witness to the arrest of Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) at the Tehran home of his widowed mother Moloojoon (Shohreh Aghdashloo). So what prompted this? We jump back a bit to 2009. London-based Newsweek magazine reporter Bahari is sent by his editor back to his homeland to cover the turbulent presidential election which pitted incumbent Mahmound Ahmadinejad and reformer Mir-Houssein Mousavi. After bidding his pregnant fiancée adieu, Bahari arrives to a land in turmoil. He’s surprised by the way many young people secretly use technology (illegal recorders and satellite dishes) to gather information and spread the news. On one afternoon, Bahari is interviewed by comedian Jason Jones for a segment of “The Daily Show”. When the election day vote count is questioned, protestors take the streets. Bahari is shocked as he video records many of them being arrested and even killed. As the book states, then they came for him. After combing through his Western media (books, DVDs, and CDs), all of which are declared “porn”, they whisk him to Evin Prison where his assigned a “specialist”, whom Bahari dubs “Rosewater” (Kim Bodnia) from the smell of his cologne, that interrogates and tortures him until he confesses to being an undercover spy for the US (they truly believe Jones is his CIA contact!). Bahari must summon every ounce of strength in order to resist cracking and retain his sanity as he hopes to be released.

Bernal projects quiet intelligence as the worldly, educated investigator who’s inexplicably plunged into a brutal, dark world without logic and reason. And, often hope, but Bahari clings to that lifeline, like a man adrift in a stormy sea. We get to see him in light, verbal jests with his co-workers in the UK, then shift gears once he returns to his often hostile homeland. Bernal shows us the sadness in Bahari’s eyes as he interviews contemporaries who have been swept to in blind zealotry, while later his heart is lightened by teens eager to connect with the outside world, many of them defiantly thumb their noses at the oppressive regime in charge. After his arrest, there’s the disorientation and anxiety as he endures “sessions” with the authorities. How does he answer them so they don’t respond with a blow or a bullet? Bodina, as his unpredictable inquisitor, seems from appearances to be a reasonable man. Dressed in a crisp, clean suit, he could easily be mistaken for a professor or a salesman. But he can be a berating, abusive monster at the drop of a hat, or a flippant answer. For one session he almost becomes the straight man as Bahari delivers a ludicrous, racy monologue that he hopes will keep the “specialist” placated. After a humiliating chat with his superiors, we realize that both men must get out of this prison. The always compelling Aghdashloo displays plenty of fire as the mother who refuses to flinch in the face of injustice.

Stewart directs with a confident, steady hand. Aside from an early sequence using store windows as screens for Bahari’s flashbacks to his family history, Stewart eschews showy filmmaking flourishes. He shows us the danger lurking around every corner as the election aftermath ratchets up the considerable tensions. That’s not to say that Stewart doesn’t give us a few laughs. The already mentioned sex confession and the media search provide some well-needed levity. This gives us a respite before we are trapped in that cold room along with Bahari. When he begins to converse with the spirits of his long gone family members, we worry about his sanity. Those sequences possess great dramatic power, but a sense of scope is often lost. We’re taken away from the big story of political and societal change in the country as the film becomes an intimate battle of wills. It’s a well-intentioned work that feels like a prestige TV film rather than a riveting, all-encompassing film experience. However, this is an impressive first work from the beloved comic observer. When he’s through with the anchor desk, he should have an equally impressive career behind the camera. ROSEWATER is a good first step toward that.

3.5 Out of 5

SLIFF 2014 Review – THE WINDING STREAM

THE WINDING STREAM screens as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 15 at 5:30 PM at The Stage at KDHX. Get ticket information here

In the history of recorded American country music (or as they liked to call it then, “Old Time-y Music”) one of the pioneers was AP (Alvin Pleasant) Carter, who along with wife Sara and her sister Maybelle, were the original Carter Family. Beth Harrington’s fascinating documentary feature film traces their still ongoing legacy that began in the 1920’s in the back hills of Virgina. The film talks with many modern-day members of the clan who share their memories and take viewers to the often barely still-standing homestead where the music was created. We follow the trio to Bristol Virginia where several of AP’s tunes were committed to old 78 records which flew off store shelves. An early hit was Sara’s rendition of “Single Girl/Married Girl” a sisterhood anthem far ahead of its time. Their popularity exploded with the advent of unregulated (by the US FCC) border radio in the early thirties. The story of radio station XERA and its powerful signal that blanketed much of the States is a compelling tale worthy of another feature. We hear of AP’s constant travels in search of songs (often aided by African-American musician Lesley Riddle) and how lonely Sara fell for his cousin, nearly breaking up the act. Luckily Maybelle provided a second generation with daughters Anita, Helen, and June, who later married Johnny Cash beginning another generation of performers. Harrington makes excellent use of archival footage (Technicolor film footage along with TV kinescopes), family photos (Maybelle loved hippies!), and those scratchy, but still toe-tappin’ records. There are interviews why most of the principals (including great quotes from the late “Man in Black”) and new recreations of classic melodies by many contemporaries, from George Jones to Sheryl Crow. This is an overflowing treasure trove of entertainment, even some energetic ‘high-steppin'”.

Harrington keeps the movie flowing at a wonderful, brisk pace, knowing just when to cut away to another delightful piece of prized film or audio. The choice to animate some of the old photos almost distracts as they resemble Terry Gilliam’s Python clip art work, but thankfully it’s not overdone. This is a film to dazzle music fans and film goers, as several songs were featured predominately in the superb soundtrack for O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU. If THE WINDING STREAM doesn’t have you humming and swaying along to the beat, better have someone check your pulse. What a sweet slice of Americana!

SLIFF 2014 Review – CHEATIN’

CHEATIN’ screens at the Tivoli Theatre on Saturday, November 15 at 3 PM as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival. Order your tickets here

To para-phrase John Melloncamp’s classic tune, here’s “A little ditty ’bout Jake and Ella”. Or to be more concise, here’s a wonderful, imaginative feature animated film from the warped pencil of cartooning master Bill Plympton. He’s the man who directed the Oscar nominated shorts “Your Face ” and “Guard Dog” and went on to full-length features like THE TUNE and I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON. Well, he’s at it again with a story of two star-crossed lovers who meet on a fateful day at the carnival’s bumper car ride. Ella is a vision who hovers over the ground in a bright yellow flowing dress and bonnet with ribbons that leave a pink trail, her “kewpie doll’-like face, just like Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, “stuck in a book”. Jake’s a tower of macho with balloon-like muscles erupting from his wiry frame and a rugged face anchored by a vaguely phallic ‘schnozzola’. They fall hard for each other, and soon they newlyweds are nestled in a cozy love nest. The honeymoon must end and Jake is back at the gas station, an old-fashioned “pump boy”. Unfortunately, the manly attendant catches the eye of a rich man’s trophy wife. When Jake rebuffs her advances, it seems the old adage about ” a woman scorned’ holds true, as she causes such a rift between the lovebirds that Jake spends more time at the “no-tell” motel than at home or work (hence the film’s title). A distraught Ella soon turn to a down-on-his-luck illusionist, “Merto the Magnificent”, and his weird “trans-soul” machine in an attempt to save their union.

Plympton’s at the zenith of his artistic powers here, with a long-form film that captures all of the charm of his quirky shorts. This film has the same hand-crafted, all drawn by hand quality seeming like colored pencil scribbles brought magically to life. The camera always appears to be moving, with images going from extreme close-up to impossibly long, mile-high crane shots swooping in every direction. There’s still plenty of sight gags (it’s pretty much in pantomime with no spoken words other than some opera standards) and ‘gross-out’ humor on display, but this venture has more of a randy, raunchy quality like one of the old “Tijuana bible”, adult comic books. Jake’s “clients” are all outrageously proportioned, as if Tex Avery partnered with Russ Meyer. This is adult animation, close to the work Ralph Bakshi was doing 40 years ago. If you’ve grown a tad weary of the slick, CGI bouncing animals and toys, then leave the kids at home and take a walk on the wild, but still wacky, side with Bill Plympton’s CHEATIN’.

SLIFF 2014 Review- FIVE STAR

FIVE STAR screens on November 15 at the Tivoli Theatre at 7 PM as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival. Get ticket information here

Once again film makers return to the mean streets of NYC for another look at gang culture. This is not another historical epic like GANGS OF NEW YORK, nor do the young toughs suddenly break into dance moves as in WEST SIDE STORY. Writer/director Keith Miller’s FIVE STAR is set squarely in today’s Manhattan where danger lurks on every corner and crime destroys families. As the film opens, the camera rests on the weary face of ‘Primo’ (played by real life Bloods gang member James Grant) as he tearfully recalls not being there for the birth of his youngest son due to his latest incarceration (the title’s five stars refers to his tattoo which indicates a gang member’s highest rank). We then meet the other main character, teenage John (John Diaz) a young man adrift after the violent death of his father. Primo was the late man’s best friend and so he takes John under his wing, prepping him to be another drug delivery messenger. But the fatherly Primo is capable of violence as we see him smack down a dealer late with a payment. Later he tenderly cares for his three small children and his wife as she informs him of another on the way. Then Primo is off to his ‘legal’ gig as the bouncer at a local bar, eager for more hours and take-home pay, perhaps to finally escape “the life”. John’s mother struggles to keep a good home for her boy, but fears he will follow in his father’s footsteps. As John becomes more confident he begins a sweet romance with a girl from the block. But one day, he makes an investment that could shatter his dreams in a burst of tragic retribution.

Miller gives the film a documentary-like feel as the camera glides down the apartment hallways and drifts alongside sidewalks to capture angry confrontations. The dialogue has a natural sound as the screen newcomers give compelling performances. But the tension is always there, simmering under the surface of every scene. The music score has a subtle, quiet power while the cinematographers make excellent use of real locations particularly the scary pitch-black oceanfront. FIVE STARS is an engaging, nail-biter of a drama that places you right in the middle of this dangerous, very-real world of life and sudden death.

LAGGIES – The Review

A frequent staple of recent big-screen comedies has been the “boy-man”, who almost joins Peter Pan in defiantly singing “I won’t grow up” as he stumbles through life. Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell have played variations of this throughout their movie careers, along with other members of the “frat pack” and Judd Apatow’s repertory company. Now it seems that this role is not an exclusive male domain. Kristen Wiig in THE GIRL MOST LIKELY and Jenny Slate in OBVIOUS CHILD could be referred to as “girl-women” as they were supported by their folks and bounced between jobs. Now, from indie film-making queen Lynn Shelton, maker of 2011’s delightful YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, comes another, slightly younger, post-college twenty-something, who’s having a tough time with adulthood. But, she not only drops out as she befriends a girl almost a decade younger, she hides out. This new film’s heroine seems to be lagging behind her peers, hence the appellation and title, LAGGIES.

Clumsy home-video footage of a big high school formal dance provides the film’s opening flashback. Cut to today, as one of the young ladies, now twenty-five year old Megan (Keira Knightley) twirls an arrow sign at the curb in front of her dad’s accounting office. It’s just to help him, Ed (Jeff Garlin), out till she can find a job worthy of her college degree. But Megan’s not too motivated as she lazes about her folks’ house and the apartment she shares with her boyfriend Anthony (Mark Webber). But two traumatic scenes at the wedding reception of her pal Allison (Elle Kemper) cause her to drive away in panic. Just outside a liquor store she’s accosted by Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz) and several of her high school age friends who beg Megan to purchase beer for them. She agrees and spends most of the evening hanging out with the kids at a nearby park. Annika gives Megan a disposable phone (her dad has several) and assures her that she’ll call sometime. Soon, Megan is surprised by a call. Annika needs her to pose as her mom at a school conference (her own mom skipped at on her and dad can’t be reached). This spurs a plan from Megan. She’ll tell her beau, parents, and friends that she’s attending a life-planning guru’s seminar/retreat while she crashes at the home of Annika and her lawyer father Craig (Sam Rockwell). This sends off his inner alarm, but Megan explains that her new home isn’t ready yet. Can Megan keep the multiple fibs going while she tries to get her life back on track?

LAGGIES gives the very talented Ms. Knightley yet another opportunity to display her deft comic skills and perfect her American accent (much better here than in JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT from earlier this year). She gives Megan an endearing, daffy spirit which could have come off as cloying from a lesser talent. We often cringe at some of her questionable decisions (buying booze, impersonating a parent), but we never stop hoping that she’ll get her act together. Megan’s a good person at heart, made clear by her sisterly support of Annika, another complex teen well-played by the always compelling Moretz. She’s assembling quite a screen resume while not yet out of her teens. Moretz also has a wonderful father/daughter rapport with the endlessly entertaining Rockwell who gently adds warmth and intelligence to the laid-back wiseguy attitude he perfected in last year’s THE WAY WAY BACK. His presence in any film is quite a treat. The film also has a great dramatic cameo by the under seen Gretchen Mol, while making good use of superb comic actors Garlin as a gregarious, loving pop (although it’s hard to imagine him siring Knightley), Kemper as the humorless, uptight childhood BFF (the scene at her restaurant is priceless), and Kaitlyn Dever (so good in last year’s SHORT TERM 12) as Annika’s hard-partying pal.

Shelton directs with a deft, light touch letting the actors really explore the impressive first feature film script by Andrea Siegel. The laughs are never hammered home, with the humor flowing from these characters. Megan and her pals feel real, never becoming cartoons set up for a punchline. There are several dramatic turns, but the film never gets mired in the tiresome self-indulgence that bogs down many “entering adulthood” flicks. LAGGIES is a thoughtful, often hilarious slice-of life antidote to many of the overblown big studio joke fests. Here’s to a great new comedy team in Knightley and Moretz. Don’t let time “lag” before you work together again!

4 Out of 5

INTERSTELLAR – The Review

The movies’ love affair with space exploration is almost as old as the movies themselves, reaching all the way back to A TRIP TO THE MOON with that iconic image of a rocket planting itself in the eye of the man in the moon way, waaay back in 1902. For most of the next decades, outer space became a backdrop for flights of fancy, from the classic 1930’s “Flash Gordon” kiddie matinee serials through the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” franchises (with this Summer’s mega hit GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY igniting another series). It wasn’t until 1968’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY that film makers really began grounding space flight flicks in a more scientific reality, much like last year’s GRAVITY, while THE RIGHT STUFF and APOLLO 13 looked back on the history of manned space missions. Now, after completing a successful screen revamp of the caped crusader for the “Dark Knight trilogy”, writer/director Christopher Nolan turns his attention to the stars with INTERSTELLAR. And although it’s set in a near future, he brings a more realistic depiction of the science and physics that any movie ride we’ve taken with the Enterprise or the Jedi Knights. And just as many heart-stopping thrills.

The film journey begins with talking-head video testimonials of senior citizens describing their young lives during a past similar to the 1930’s “dust bowl” America. But they’re not speaking of that far-off time. It’s the near future that’s being documented. Cut to just a scan few years from today. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is jolted awake after a nightmare flashback from his past as test pilot. Those days are long gone as he hurries to get his kids off to school with the help of his late wife’s dad, Donald (John Lithgow). Cooper’s a big corn farmer who also repairs the equipment for neighbors. Corn’s the only crop growable since a worldwide blight has wiped out all others and is producing horrific dust storms that make those from the 30’s seem like gentle Spring breezes. Everything is caked with a heavy coat of soil and soot. After looking into some bizarre happenings in her room (a ghost, perhaps?), Coop’s brainy daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) tags along with her pop and discovers a hidden, fenced-in compound deep in the desert. It houses a group of scientists led by Coop’s old mentor, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), who have built an exploratory rocket/spacecraft on the QT. They believe the Earth is doomed, with the only hope for survival resting on a wormhole to another galaxy near Saturn. One crew has already made the trek, but they’ve lost contact . Brand believes that Coop’s piloting skills will make the mission a success and lead them to a new habitable planet for mankind to begin anew. Murph pleads with her father not to go, but he must make the trip, no matter how many years it may take. So, along with Brand’s daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway), and scientists Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Romilly (David Gyasi), Cooper pilots the good ship Endurance on a journey to find a new home for humanity.

It goes without saying that McConaughey looks dashingly heroic in his space suit, but he surprises by bringing so much emotion to what might have been a stoic, almost Western-style role (instead of facing down outlaws on the noon train, he’s taking on the universe). He shows us the inner torment of a man agonizing over the decision to leave his kids in order to save them. Coop’s a warm and supportive farmer father, but we can see his repressed frustration over giving up his true calling and passion. Once he’s back in the pilot’s seat we can tell that he’s finally home, using all his considerable skills and instincts for this mission. Hathaway’s a terrific co-pilot who doesn’t ignore her heart when making the big decisions. Foy is a most compelling child actor as the sibling with an unbreakable bond with her father. Her reaction to Coop’s departure his heart-wrenching. Caine brings his twinkley grandfather-ly charm to the role of the wise old sage who sends his four knights out on a desperate quest. How can Coop resist his call to destiny? Lithgow avoids cranky clichés as the actual Earth grandpa’. He calls out his son-in-law without hesitation. Jessica Chastain shines in the film’s second act as the Earth bound tech whiz trying to get word back from the explorers. It’s a role that recalls her unflinchingly determined Maya in ZERO DARK THIRTY. She just knows that the right answer will come to her…soon. There’s also some wonderful work from Ellen Burstyn. Bill Irwin, and …well, I won’t spoil the surprise. It’s truly an all-star cast, up there in the stars.

Nolan takes movie goers on the most exhilarating trek since Kubrick blasted off. Make an effort to see it on the biggest screen with the best sound possible. His vision of space is an endless star-specked vista with these travelers mere floating specks. The theatre seats vibrate as the sound effects makes us feel as though we’re strapped in alongside them as the ship is pummeled and buffeted. Hans Zimmer abandons the big drums for a score that almost feels like it was pumped through the largest pipe organ of the grandest cathedral, lauding the majesty of the heavens. The art direction gives the ship and its controls a nice worn, cobbled-together look, particularly with the helper-robot TRASK who resembles an ambulatory cold-steel “Kit Kat” bar with a data screen for a heart. Some of the exposition dialogue gets hazy with some wonky logic and lines muffled in the often chaotic action sequences. Much of the time on Earth seems to be the script spinning its wheels till the big launch (the retrieval of an old aerial antique in the first act doesn’t really pay off dramatically). And the addition of a dimensional MC Escher-like maze in the last act gets mired in speculative ‘gobbledygook” and feels endless, adding too much to its nearly three-hour running time. But these faults don’t detract from the film’s scope, its grandeur (helped by the inspired cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema on alien hills and valleys). Christopher Nolan, along with screenwriting partner, brother Jonathan, has crafted a tribute to history’s pioneers, and a rallying cry for the world to take up the torch once more and, as a famous captain says, explore strange new worlds. INTERSTELLAR is a tribute to courage, curiosity, and love along with being one helluva’ ride. Initiate countdown!

4 Out of 5

OUIJA – The Review

Although Summer has long passed, it’s not too late for another youth-oriented movie adaptation. So, what is it, another flick based on a popular series of “young adult” novels, or perhaps a “tear-jerker” like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS or IF I STAY? Is it another comic book or classic TV show getting the big screen treatment? Nope, this is based on a game. But not a video or computer game like the Lara Croft franchise or the recent NEED FOR SPEED. It’s an “old school” board game, one that’s been around for ages. The box office sinking of BATTLESHIP has not deterred the folks at Hasbro Films (an off-shoot of the toy empire). After all, GI Joe and those Transformers are still raking in the bucks. Plus THE LEGO MOVIE’s success will spawn a trio of spin-offs. Oh, and there’s a chance of cross-over money from the ravenous fright flick fans, since this game supposedly contacts the netherworld. Switch off the lamps, light up the candles, and enter the world of OUIJA.

It begins with a flashback to a pre-teen girls’ slumber party as a pretty lil’ blonde gives her BFF, along with the theatre audience, the rules of the game. Flash ahead years later and the ladies are about to finish up high school when tragedy strikes. That BFF, Laine (Olivia Cooke) is shattered by her loss. She must know why this happened and so she gets out, of course, that dusty old ouija board. Since she can’t do this alone, Laine recruits her beau Trevor (Daren Kagasoff), her rebelleous kid sister Sarah (Ana Coto), the deceased’s beau Pete (Douglas Smith), and mutual pal, diner waitress Isabelle (Bianca Santos). Needless to say, they get much more than they bargained for when all matter of weird stuff starts happening. Laine realizes that they opened a portal that has allowed an evil force into our dimension, a force that targets the five friends. Is there any way they can stop this entity and send it back before its vengeance is unleashed upon them all?

First time feature director Stiles White (a veteran special effects artist), working from the screenplay he co-wrote with Juliet Snowden, pummels the film with every PG-13 “spookshow” cliché we’ve seen again and again. Characters pop into frame with exploding music beats while others emerge from the shadows silently for no good reason other than to try to make the heroine and audience jump. The spirits are a variation of the pale, stringy-haired wild wraiths so common since THE RING from a dozen years ago. And they’re intent on offing the cast as if this were a kids’ cable channel FINAL DESTINATION. There’s none of the inventive, infectious energy that made THE CONJURING an unexpected multiplex thrill ride. Cooke leads the good-looking cast through the motions while glowering as if she was fretting over exams (much as her role in THE QUIET ONES or on TV’s “Bates Motel”). The whole cast is interchangeable, as if they were plucked from the latest CW prime time show or a soft drink commercial all running around a generic West coast town. At least Coto gets a mild punk/goth look (a ripped shirt!) along with a “grrril” snarl. We do get a couple of supporting turns from two screen vets. One’s from a current popular horror franchise, another’s a fave film teen witch. These ladies are the only adults to make an impression, the rest are invisible and ineffectual (Laine and Sarah’s single Pop skips out early on a business trip). During a brief scene in which Laine meets a school counselor we almost expect his dialogue to be replaced by the saxophone “waa-waa” of the adults in the Peanuts animated TV cartoons. The film will work for its intended audiences as young girls will bury their faces in their boyfriends’ shoulders (and to be fair, both will spring from their seats a few times), but for those of us who have been to more than a couple of movie haunted houses, it is a real slog. Do they have to play the game in the dead of night? Why not enjoy a potluck lunch before opening the window to begin the summoning? Sorry, logic’s got no place here. Instead of heading to theatres, OUIJA would be better off gathering dust with the other games

1.5 Out of 5

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