Movie #6 of 100: The Death of Stalin

Movie #6 of 100: “The Death of Stalin”

Overall Thoughts:

I went into the movie expecting a dark, twisted comedy, and that’s pretty much what I got. The film, about the aftermath of the death of Soviet despot Joseph Stalin, has a ton of laugh-inducing moments, but behind the frivolity lies a very serious message: the carnage in Stalin’s Soviet Union was random, quickly meted out, and often exceedingly cruel.

Fortunes change on a whim in the film for characters of all stripes, and often times while the camera is panning around there is something terrible happening to somebody. Whether it’s a character being arrested, beaten, or killed, as the main action is going on in several scenes there are other characters being tortured and killed, and while it’s funny at first, soon you realize that behind the comedy there is that inescapable truth that life in Soviet Russia was probably just that random and deadly.

Aside from the big messages that the film is there to deliver are some stellar performances, mixing the horror of the occasion with the hilarious comedy of the absurd. I’ll delve into some specific scenes later, but Steve Buscemi’s Nikita Khrushchev constantly being flummoxed by Russell Beale’s Lavrenti Beria, and the dim-witted actions of Jeffrey Tambor’s dopey “God I hope I look cool doing this” Georgy Malenkov, make for some truly excellent moments.

Favorite Performance:

Beale’s equally vicious and cunning turn as Beria was a big highlight of the movie for me, and it was amazing watching him so convincingly remain one step ahead of Khrushchev throughout the film.

An underrated part of the cast was Olga Kurylenko, who portrayed musical performer Maria Veniaminovna Yudina. Her character was one of the few in the film that constantly acted against Stalin, potentially incurring his wrath with her actions throughout the movie, and her reaction to news that Stalin had died was pitch-perfect: “he looks so small.”

Favorite Scene:

The entire scene around the death of Stalin was chock full of absolutely dazzling moments, including the men moving Stalin’s body into his bedroom, with the group struggling to move him without dropping him.

As word of Stalin’s death spreads, another fantastic scene takes place in which numerous people are arrested and shot, including a group of individuals being executed by firing squad in a gulag. Before his death, one of the men yells “LONG LIVE STALIN” before being told that the leader had died, and before he can finish saluting the new Soviet leader, he too is executed.

The scene is a perfect encapsulation of the random brutality in the film, and of the dark comedic overtones that make it all so entertaining.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Movie #4 of 100: "Incredibles 2"

Movie 4/100: “Incredibles 2”

Overall Thoughts:

The internet is full of gushing praise for just about everything Pixar does, and while this movie didn’t quite live up to the original for me (more on that later on), I still though it was a really entertaining and thoughtful film.

The main premise of the film, with Holly Hunter’s Elasti-girl taking on the role of main family superhero felt a bit derivative of the first movie, in which Mr. Incredible was doing undercover hero work under the guise of a “straight job.”

This time, the whole idea behind bringing Helen Parr back into the hero fold is to try to get laws banning superheroes overturned, and Bob Odenkirk does a really nice job as the business executive trying to make that happen. That element of the movie was much more interesting, and definitely was fleshed out with all of the positives and negatives fully vetted on screen.

The main selling point of the narrative, as many others have surely mentioned, is Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) having to deal with being Mr. Dad instead of Mr. Incredible. Learning how to juggle the responsibilities and the roles of a father, therapist, and cheerleader, for his kids gave the movie some of its finest emotional juice, and the writing and execution of that portion of the story were both top-notch.

In terms of the villain and stakes, the movie certainly delivers. The idea of a Screenslaver-type character feels appropriate in an age where we’re all addicted to the little computers in our pockets (and felt like a bit of a personal attack for me, since I watched three movies on the day I saw this film), and the motivations behind the character made for a compelling antagonist.

My complaints about the movie center around how Helen Parr’s “job” mirrored the role of her husband in the first film, and a much smaller quibble: that Dash Parr didn’t seem to get as much of his character fleshed out as his sister Violet and brother Jack Jack did. That can probably be at least somewhat explained by the fact that he got some narrative baggage in the first film (not being able to participate in sports, and rebelling against the notion that he had to keep his powers secret), but it still would have been nice to have seen that thread stretched out a bit further.

Favorite Performance:

Nelson’s performance as Mr. Incredible was top-notch, as it was in the first film. His transition from the bread-winning hero to the behind-the-scenes rock was a compelling development in the story arc of the family, and his earnest attempts to help out his children, and his wife, during a time of transition both at the familial and societal levels made for a great watch.

I also have to shout out Catherine Keener, who brought a lot of heft to her role as Evelyn Deavor. Odenkirk obviously steals a lot of scenes because of his upbeat and high-volume dialogue, but Keener provided a fantastic counter-weight to him and made for an ideal sibling, all things considered.

Favorite Scene:

The contrast between Bob Parr’s dedication to helping Dash with his math homework, where he was wildly dedicated and ultimately successful, and his complete and total failure in helping Violet get a date with her love interest was absolutely stellar. When taken together, those scenes perfectly encapsulate how life can hand you a massive success with one hand and then slap you with the reality that you’re not perfect with the other.

Naturally, the scene in which Jack Jack gets to show off his powers for the first time was both dazzling visually and just an hysterical scene in general. The tension that the audience feels as it becomes increasingly unclear whether the infant’s “adversary” will survive the encounter only adds to the effectiveness of the scene.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Movie #3 of 100: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

Movie 3/100: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

Overall Thoughts:

There has been a lot of concern expressed that we are going to hit comic book movie fatigue at some point, that movies about these heroes are going to become so commonplace that movie-goers are going to rebel against the idea of putting more caped crusaders on screen.

It’s probably a good thing then that Spider-Man doesn’t wear a cape.

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was, without a question in my mind, the best movie about the web-slinging hero. That is not meant as a knock on Tom Holland, who has done a wonderful job in the separate MCU films about the hero, but Miles Morales, ably played by Shameik Moore, is a fantastic new addition to the comic book world, and his story is a downright fascinating one.

Given how many times Spider-Man’s origins have been put up on the big, and small, screens, the movie’s insistence on telling every Spider-incarnation’s story as if it is the last time it will be done is downright hilarious. It is a great nod to the amount of times we’ve been subjected to “With great power comes great responsibility,” and it is a great jumping off point for a movie that likes to push the boundaries of what a comic book movie can be.

The thing that makes Spider-Man so easy for movie-goers to identify with is that he didn’t get his powers as a result of lucky genetics, some lab experiment gone wrong, or a suit of armor that he designed in his laboratory. Instead, Miles Morales got his powers because he happened to be in the right subway tunnel at the right time, and he gets forced into taking on an identity that he did not choose.

That conflict is one of the movie’s central backbones, and this movie does a great job of portraying the superhero who didn’t get to choose his path forward. Right from the word go, Miles knows that he needs to use his powers for good to help humanity, but the reality is that there is a lot more to being a hero than shooting webs from your wrists and having incredible reaction time. There is an impact on everyone around you, and the “great responsibility” part of the quote is where this movie mines most of its emotional ore.

The filmmakers did a wonderful job of capturing that conflict, and they also did that while managing to pull together a narrative that was based on alternate dimensions and characters with similar, but also vastly different, motivations. Phil Lord, who has been doing a great job with the “Lego” movie franchise, and Rodney Rothman did a great job of balancing the chaotic nature of the story with the very human elements of the narrative, and it made for a wonderfully fast-paced, but nuanced, production.

Finally, the animation style, which I worried about, ended up being one of the film’s biggest strengths. The filmmakers used the animation to full advantage, taking the technique to places that it has never been before. It made for a very pleasant, and very visually appealing, presentation, and it was a delight to watch on the big screen.

Favorite Performance:

Peter B. Parker, played by Jake Johnson, was everything that Ben Affleck’s Batman was supposed to be. A hero who still very much believes in his duty to humanity, while still grappling with the impact that commitment has on those that he loves.

Johnson’s ability to balance the “do-gooder” motivations that drive Spider-Man with the exhaustion that comes with watching his personal life crumble as a result of his incessant hero-ing is a delight in the film, and the way he was able to convincingly portray his transformation from reluctant guru to full-on cheerleader of Morales’ exploits was one of the movie’s most fun and satisfying elements.

Brian Tyree Henry, who plays Morales’ father Jefferson Davis, nearly stole the show with his performance. The way he is able to go from the lame, pun-making dad to a fully fleshed out character that is able to connect with his son on an emotional level and inspire him to do things that he has no idea he’s inspiring him to do, is truly remarkable, and if he were to blare a siren at me and force me to say that I loved him, I would have to acquiesce.

Favorite Scenes:

The final showdown between the Spider-People and Kingpin was a cinematic marvel, with the reality-bending animation very accurately portraying the sheer insanity of what was going on.

Aside from that, the scene that most resonated with me was the scene where Davis, who takes off his hat as a very subtle way of expressing vulnerability and sadness, really opens up to Miles for the first time. The pair, separated by a doorway, share a remarkably tender moment, and the fact that Morales doesn’t even say a word while his father opens up to him makes the scene all the more touching.

Stars: 4 out of 5

Movie #1 of 100: "Reservoir Dogs"

Movie 1/100: “Reservoir Dogs”

Seen: 1/4/19

Overall Thoughts:

Having never seen this movie before, I went into it expecting the standard fare for a Tarantino flick: tons of violence, cursing, and strong dialogue.

I ended up getting those things and then some. The violence never had a particularly funny edge to it, as violence is wont to do with the amount of brutality that was on display in this film, and several scenes, including the one with Michael Madsen torturing a police officer, were definitely hard to watch.

Interspersed with those types of scenes were great narrative bits of the film, including a great scene with Tim Roth in which he explains his backstory through a series of flashbacks. That flashback theme was used to great effect in terms of humanizing these men who were almost sub-human in their approach to the job at hand, and I very much appreciated that.

Obviously I have plenty of opinions on how the movie ended, but I think it went roughly in the direction that it needed to. It didn’t pull any punches in the final minutes, and the emotional and physical elements of the final moments were breathtaking.

Favorite Performance:

It’s easy to go with Madsen since he was so horrifically, and gleefully, brutal, in his scenes, but I’m leaning more toward Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth. Buscemi was fantastic in several scenes, including the opening one in a diner where he rails against the practice of tipping, and in scenes where he was interacting with Harvey Keitel, who has been thus far unmentioned but definitely was great in his role as Mr. White.

Favorite Scene:

Madsen’s sadistic thrill in the torture scene definitely made the podium for me in terms of favorite scene, and the ending was fantastic as well, but I’m going to stick with the scene where Mr. Orange, played by Roth, is lying bleeding in Mr. White’s arms. The sheer horror of knowing that death is a very real possibility was portrayed both on Roth’s face and in his words, and Keitel’s attempts at both comforting him, and in being logical with him about his predicament, were all incredibly well executed and directed by the actors and Tarantino.

Stars: 4 of 5 

Great Performances, Timely Reminders Make Lincoln an Instant Classic

Around this time of year, you are going to inevitably get an influx of movies that are designed with only one purpose in mind: gaining Oscar nominations and wins for their stars and directors. A few years back, you had "Atonement", a movie that wouldn't have found release at any other time of year. You have also had movies like "Dreamgirls" (Eddie Murphy) and "Push: A Novel by Sapphire" (Mo'Nique) that featured comedians dirtying themselves up for dramatic effect in an effort to win statuettes.

Future and Past Blend for a Great Ride in "Skyfall"

Author's Note: When I first created this blog earlier this year, I did so with the intention of flexing the various writing tools in my arsenal. Movie reviews were supposed to be part of the gig, but this is actually my first one, so I beg and plead with you to be open with criticism, but also forgive me if the piece isn't exactly a great piece of writing. :) 

Before Daniel Craig took over the role of James Bond in 2006’s “Casino Royale”, the common assumption about Bond was that he was a globe-trotting, martini swilling, gun firing debonair with a passion for women, fast cars, and always getting the mad genius that he was after. Whether it was Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan, the character of Bond was about cleaning up nicely and dressing to the nines.

Introducing the Blog

Since I'm an incredibly lazy person with little money or initiative, I decided that instead of going through the hassle of buying a domain name and setting everything up with great care, I was going to set up a Blogspot account and post some stuff on here.

The only question worth asking here, of course, is what you can expect here. As you probably know, I write for a bunch of different websites, so I'll be posting the links here to those pieces, along with a little background information if the situation calls for it. I'll also be posting some unique stuff on here, whether it's a travelogue, a movie or book review, or something political that will likely get me ostracized from most of my circles of friends.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to write about tonight, but with the weekend ahead of us, I'm sure that I'll get serious about this and post some stuff. Until then, au revoir, and thanks for stopping by what hopefully is the start of a really cool side project.