tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75977980879428975662024-03-13T17:07:59.592-07:00Dan Davis' MovieHoleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-28184502575618575862017-08-29T14:58:00.002-07:002017-08-29T14:58:14.680-07:00Wind Review: Chilly Truths<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wind River </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Chilly Truths</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-0dd424d2-3000-740a-ffc3-dd394a60660d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The moody, bleak cinematography along with the desperate tone in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wind River</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, definitely reminded me of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unforgiven</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1992), one of the great westerns of all time. It’s a chilling solid mystery thriller with some good acting performances, and a stellar story set on a Native American Reservation for Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes in the Central Western portion of Wyoming.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The US Wildlife Fish and Game tracker, Cory Lambert (played by Jeremy Renner of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Avengers</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mission Impossible</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Arrival</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), stumbles across the body of Natalie Hanson, an eighteen year old resident of the area. The FBI suspects foul play and sends an inexperienced agent, Jane Banner (played by Elizabeth Olsen), to find out what’s going on. Hanson and Lambert team up and discover the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wind River</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a film that succeeds mostly on the strength of its atmosphere. It’s a very bleak-looking film matching the film's story very well. As mentioned already, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wind River</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is not exactly a “happy film”. It’s a very slow-burner thriller, and as such, may not be for everyone, but I appreciate the film’s endless shots of winter. Setting the story in Wyoming, was a smart decision on, director and screenwriter, Taylor Sheridan’s part (screenwriter of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell or High Water</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sicario</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), as there is a great sublime sequence, completely in silence, where Lambert follows random footprints in a just wonderful winter atmosphere before he discovers the body. The film also has a memorable sequence involving a mountain lion. Helping the film tremendously is Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s musical score. Like a lot of their other film scores (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell or High Water, Assassination of Jesse James)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, it’s short, but anytime the music appears, it’s meant to convey either a tone of despair and melancholy, or it can sound warm-hearted during the more reflective scenes.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It’s nice to see Jeremy Renner in a leading role, especially in a part that fits him: a serious, mostly humorless, US Fish and Wildlife Service tracker. There’s an especially good scene where his character reflects upon his past and features some terrific subtle acting. There is nothing over the top about his work, at all. Elizabeth Olsen (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Avengers: Age of Ultron, Civil War, Godzilla</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), may seem miscast as a FBI agent, and even, while in character, admits to being out of her element, is really good in her part. The rest of the supporting cast is filled with some familiar names, such as Native American actor, Graham Greene (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Green Mile, Dances With Wolves)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, whom is always a pleasure to see, plays a friend of Lambert’s named Ben, and Jon Bernthal (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wolf of Wall Street, Sicario</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) plays a small, but significant part, as Matt Rayburn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If there’s any issue I had with the film,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it’s that it feels like it’s the work of an inexperienced director. While this isn’t Sheridan’s directing debut (he previously directed a horror film named </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vile</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), it may as well be. He's had significant prior success as a screenwriter, but screenwriting is very different from directing. He didn't do a bad job, but if he decides to just stay a screenwriter full-time, and only occasionally directs, I wouldn’t be surprised.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Wind River</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a solid chilling thriller, with some effective atmosphere, and certainly a good and very watchable film.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now playing at The Nugget Theater, Hanover: 4:20, 6:50, 9:15 and Claremont Cinema 6: 4:10, 7:00, 9:30.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-73828118022523281342017-07-24T09:41:00.003-07:002017-07-24T09:41:39.606-07:00Dunkirk: Review<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">War movies are often violent and heroic, or either of those things. Christopher Nolan’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the other hand, is a film that literally gives the audience the true feeling and experience of the actual war as it depicts the battle of Dunkirk </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Dunkerque, France), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">during World War II. It’s not a traditional war film, and it certainly doesn’t follow a traditional story structure either. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an amazing film that deserves to be seen in the best IMAX theater possible. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The battle of Dunkirk was a military operation fought between the Allies and the Nazis. Nolan’s film takes an interesting route for a war film, as there is no protagonist, and none of the biggest characters in this film are played by well known actors. Nolan intentionally cast unknown actors, while most of the supporting players are portrayed by better known actors, like Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, & Mark Rylance. Although Tommy (played by Fionn Whitehead), a soldier who gets top billing and opens the film,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’s storytelling is centered around three specific stories in a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Memento</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-esque, out of order fashion, and are referred to as the Mole, the Sea, and the Air. One story begins on land and covers a week; another story begins on sea and covers a day; and the final story begins in the air and covers only one hour. The three stories involve the soldiers of Dunkirk fending off enemy attacks: a private ship that ends up in the middle of the battle and picks up a wounded soldier played by Cillian Murphy, and a pilot named Farrier (played by Tom Hardy), trying to take two other spitfire pilots across the English Channel. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If there was really a word I could use to describe </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as an overall film, it would be relentless. The film will literally have you on the edge of your seat. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is as if you took the first act of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saving Private Ryan</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and stretched it out over a 100 minutes runtime. It’s that intense. It’s not super-bloody (rated PG-13), but it is more violent in how bombs, dog-fights, and guns are blasted. Helping the film is Hans Zimmer’s intense musical score, which, in his typical fashion, serves as both sound design (you can hear a recurring beeping tick tock noise in the background), and creating a sense of constant dread. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While most of the performances in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are fine, including Kenneth Branagh as a Captain who spends most of the film waving his hat, Mark Rylance as a ship owner named Mr. Dawson, Hardy’s Farrier pilot (my favorite character), and even singer Harry Styles surprising me in a decent way as a young pilot, it’s really the experience that takes center-stage. Even though the story is simple, the scale of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is huge, with real battleships, real planes, and real weapons, in typical Nolan fashion, the use of CGI (computer generated images) is limited. This makes the film’s intensity all the more successful.</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-531c0dd8-7579-4a45-7d25-413208ed991b"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an intense, brutal war film, because it literally makes the audience feel like they’re actually in the battlefield with the use of sparse dialogue in certain scenes helping. Once I came out of the cinema after seeing </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dunkirk,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the first thing I said was “They weren't kidding, it is the real deal. I'm glad it was only an hour and forty-five minutes, because otherwise I may have felt pure dread just like those soldiers.” This film is not for the faint of the heart or those who don’t like their films loud. It is, however, a superb piece of filmmaking.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-53149398485622059562017-07-13T14:06:00.001-07:002017-07-17T17:26:03.785-07:00Spider-Man: Homecoming Review<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Marvel Makes Spider-Man Relevant Again<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<i>Spider-Man: Homecoming </i>- A Film Review<o:p></o:p></div>
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Daniel Davis<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 11, 2017<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s been a
rough ten years for <i>Spider-Man</i>. Aside
from Sony’s refusal to sell the film rights back to Marvel, attempts at
creating a cinematic universe like Marvel, and a bunch of somewhat poorly
received films, everyone seemed to have given up on the poor web slinger,
Spider-man, until now. After Sony made a deal with Marvel, and Spider-Man made
his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe <i>Captain
America: Civil War</i>, played by up and coming British actor, Tom Holland, the
first teenager to actually play Spider-man. Holland’s portrayal of Spider-man was
so well-received, a spinoff was announced, and <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i>, starring everyone’s favorite, friendly,
neighborhood Spider-Man is fun, fast-paced, and above all, heroic. Marvel works
its magic again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Spider-Man: Homecoming,</i> in essence, is
probably the purest Spider-Man film I’ve ever seen, because it’s the one that
gets the character the most. Not having to adhere to the typical origin movie
standards, Holland’s Spider-Man is very witty, while also being very geeky at
the same time, taking the best aspects of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s
previous Spider-Man performances and combining them together. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unusual for a Marvel Cinematic
Universe film, <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i>
features a fairly strong villain in the form of Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture,
played by Michael Keaton. (The former Batman is playing another Birdman this
time.) What makes Vulture work as a villain is his presence is treated as a
true menace and his motives are clear. The first scene even opens with him, as
we (the audience), see Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) being fired from his job.
This is done to set up his reasoning for becoming a villain. This is different
from other Marvel villains, who are generally given little screen time and more
pushed to the backburner of the film, so as to not outshine the hero. The film
also cleverly alludes to other Spider-Man villains by having three of Vultures’
henchmen being Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion, Phileas Mason, aka The Tinkerer,
and Herman Schultz, aka The Shocker, potentially setting them up to return for
a sequel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to Tom Holland’s
outstanding lead role, the supporting cast in <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i> is fairly strong, as well. Marisa Tomei
plays the youngest and hottest Aunt May yet, who is fairly understanding, but at
the same time, worried about her nephew, Peter. Peter’s high school
schoolmates, in New York City, are diverse and include: Jacob Batalon as Ned,
his sidekick and someone he can talk to; Laura Harrier as Liz Allen, his love
interest in this particular installment; Disney star Zendaya as Michelle, a
geek girl; and Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson, whose whiny, bullying, rich kid
persona is one of my biggest gripes with the film, though, thankfully he’s not
in the movie much. Robert Downey Jr. also shows up as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man,
but he does he take over the film, not making this “Iron Man 4” in spirit. In
fact, Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan, Iron Man’s assistant, has more screen time and
gets his biggest role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The production in <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i> should also not
be swatted at either. Marvel films are generally called out for their weak or
dull cinematography (something that I don’t entirely agree with), but Salvatore
Totino’s cinematography in<i> Spider-Man:
Homecoming</i> is very bright and colorful, representing the character and the
film’s tone quite well. The film’s production design is also superb, bringing
New York City to life. While Michael Giacchino’s score suffers from the same
problem that most Marvel scores and modern scores, in general, suffer from,
that is, a lot of noise, it does feature two fine themes, and the film’s music
becomes very appropriately heroic sounding during the right moments. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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<i>Spider-Man:
Homecoming</i> is a fun, fast-paced, superhero action film, and is one of the
very best from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I don’t know if this film is my
favorite Spider-Man movie yet, but it’s certainly tied with <i>Spider-Man 2</i> (2004) for the title. It
gets just about everything right about the character and his mythos, and it’s
loads of fun as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-57038015488605165272016-07-06T16:23:00.001-07:002016-07-07T00:08:17.349-07:00<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ff361224-c281-f46a-d067-96bc3f2c4303" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory: A Review</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38;">Dan Davis</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 1.38;">June, 2016</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-ff361224-c281-f46a-d067-96bc3f2c4303" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> When creating a sequel to a classic, it's hard to make a follow-up that satisfies everyone. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> was never one of my absolute favorite Pixar films (which is saying a lot considering how much I love Pixar films, but I digress), but it was still a charming and very good story about a father trying to find his son. So, when it was announced a sequel was going to be made, I remained hopeful, although a bit skeptical. Then, when I learned it would star Dory, Marlin's forgetful companion from the first film, I was especially worried since sequels and spinoffs starring comic relief characters don't tend to go over well, for example, Pixar's own </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cars 2</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, a film I don't actually hate, but did not do well at the box office. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> proves to be a satisfying follow-up.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What makes </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> work as a follow-up to Finding Nemo is that it adds an extra layer of dimension to the title character of Dory. Although Dory's short term memory loss was a funny quirk in Finding Nemo, in Finding Dory it becomes a real story element, and adds a depth to the character. In </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">, Dory suddenly starts having memories of her parents and what she was like as a child, and decides, along with Marlin and Nemo to embark on a journey to a SeaWorld like location, in order to find her parents. Along the way, much like in the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;">, they encounter a bunch of quirky characters, including an octopus named Hank (voiced by Ed O'Neill, who does an exceptional job), and a pair of amusing and crazy sea otters (voiced by Idris Elba, who seems to be on a Disney voice roll of late, and Dominic Cooper), among others. These quirky characters, along with other aspects, add to the film's overall charm, and enjoyment.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Much of the film's heart and interesting character development comes not only from the relationship between Dory and her parents, but also Dory and the somewhat crusty octopus, Hank. Hank is basically Dory's buddy in the film, much like how Dory was for Marlin in </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> except Hank is an octopus with a lot of attitude. Hank originally only aids Dory because she will be able to let him get to his planned destination, but once the two start to get to know each other a bit, they become real friends. There are also a lot quieter moments in the film, particularly scenes where Dory is by herself, trying to recall her own memories of her past, that I really appreciated and liked. Caitlyn Olson who plays Dory's younger self does a very good job in this role.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Despite some complaints about the film being too much like the first one, I found most of it was actually original. Aside from Crush, whose appearance is brief, and logical to the story itself, and the moonfish teacher (because every Pixar film needs to have John Ratzenberger somewhere in there), most of the supporting characters from </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> do not appear again. Much like the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Toy Story</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> sequels, most of the not so major characters do not up show again, in any particular major roles, instead opting to add in some new characters to the action. While some people may find it disappointing that characters like Bruce, are not in this sequel, I think this, along with the primarily out of sea location, makes the film stand-out on it's own, and makes it different enough to not feel like a complete retread.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The last scene is very chaotic and terrific with a slow-mo scene near the end played to Louis Armstrong's </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">What a Wonderful World</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Marlon and Nemo, while still central to the plot, do feel a bit like an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. They certainly could have had more scenes together, but I can't say I'm overall disappointed. After all, this is Dory's film and story, through and through.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Thomas Newman's musical score is just as wonderful and great as the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo's</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> score, particularly during the more quiet moments, and unlike a lot of sequel scores, it doesn't recycle too many cues from the original, instead opting to do a lot more original music. Also, just a funny thing to recall, but weirdly enough, some of the music during the credits reminded me a bit of spy music.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> In the end, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Dory</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> is both a terrific follow-up to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Finding Nemo</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">, but also a very entertaining and enjoyable movie on it's own, with plenty of heart, and several themes and ideas you can get out of it. As far as Pixar's sequels centering around a comic-relief go, this is certainly better executed than </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Cars 2</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">, and the animation in this film is lovely and as gorgeous as ever.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9/10 (same rating as the original)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-8401061117607238182016-06-12T12:15:00.003-07:002016-07-07T00:10:24.516-07:00Race: A Review<br />
Dan Davis<br />
June, 2016<br />
<br />
Stephen Hopkins’ <i>Race</i>, a French-German-Canadian co-production, is a somewhat standard biopic that tells the story of
Jesse Owens (played by Stephan James), and his quest to become the
world’s greatest track and field athlete. After being trained by Coach
Larry Snyder (played by Jason Sudeikis), he finds himself on the world
stage of the 1936 Olympics. In this context, Jesse is up against Adolph
Hitler and his racist ideologies, which threaten to tear him apart. Due
to this conflict, he has to decide whether or not he should actually go
to the Olympics. While this is happening, we intersect with scenes of
Avery Brundage, (played by Jeremy Irons) a well off American envoy, who
is trying to negotiate a compromise with Hitler’s political party, the
Third Reich, so as to avoid a boycott over Jesse Owen’s participation in
the Olympics. <i>Race</i> may be a very simply told story, but its good performances and compelling story, make it even more enjoyable than expected.<br />
<i>Race</i>’s title actually has two meanings. The first,
obviously, refers to the Olympics and the running race Owens is involved
in, and the second meaning, of course, has to do with Jesse Owens and
the prejudice he receives on the field because of his race,and being an
African American athlete. Stephan James’ plays Owens as a fiercely
stubborn and persistent runner who wants to be the best. James’
performance is somewhat cautious, and while he seems to lack a huge
amount of dramatic depth in the role, he is, nonetheless, very good.
Comedian Jason Sudeikis, as Coach Larry Snyder, is a bit of the odd duck
in the film. While he is basically very good in the role, it does feel
like he’s trying too hard with a little too much brooding and
seriousness, as if to remind the audience that he’s not playing his
usual funny role with comic relief. When he delivers lines, like “no
room on the team for us”, all I can think of to myself is here is a
serious Sudeikis who wants to seen as a serious actor, playing a serious
role, very seriously. The rest of the cast is pretty good as well, with
Jeremy Irons as Avery Brundage, who spends most of his scenes talking a
lot to Germans, and William Hurt, as a racist coach, being the
standouts.<br />
The direction by Stephen Hopkins is fine. There are some slow-motion
scenes, such as when Coach Snyder is telling Jessie if he hears voices
from outside the stadium, and Coach Snyder’s voice slows down, then the
scenes switch almost automatically back and forth. Another example of
this, whenever Jessie is running, the scenes will literally go silent
just before the races are about to begin. The running scenes, in
general, are quite exhilarating, and are the highlights of the film,
even if they don’t take up much of the film’s screen time, and don’t
appear until about half-way through the film. <br />
I especially liked the musical score by Rachel Portman. While a lot
of the music is very inspirational-sounding, I quite liked the dark and
sinister music for the Nazis, however the music that plays when Jessie
Owens walks onto the Olympic running field is oddly somewhat dark
sounding as well, and then it builds to an epic rushing piece,
eventually.<br />
What’s unusually odd about <i>Race</i>, which I didn’t particularly
care for, is just how weirdly edited it is, at least in the first half.
Scenes sometimes cut from one to the other, and some of them feel oddly
out of place. An example of this is when Jessie Owens and Coach Snyder
are talking, and the film cuts to a shot of Avery Brundage standing
before some Germans. While this sort of thing wouldn’t normally bother
me, the editing is done so abruptly that I can’t help but notice it.<br />
Surprisingly, the film doesn’t explore the race angle as much as you
would expect. Instead, it goes for more of a quasi-inspirational film,
with some thriller elements thrown in. There are some race issues
addressed in the film, but if this issue had been developed more, it
might have made the movie a bit more interesting in the story
department. That said, overall, <i>Race</i> is a solid biopic. It does
tackles some major themes, and the direction, acting, musical score,
and settings all make it worthwhile for at least one viewing experience.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7597798087942897566.post-53759543320997238942016-05-17T06:59:00.002-07:002016-05-17T18:14:01.999-07:00New Blog!<span style="font-size: large;">Having recently graduated from college and no longer writing reviews for my Internship at Catamount Arts, I invite you to follow me here in our very own MovieHole. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05856500731115528233noreply@blogger.com