Wish I Was Here

Wish I Was Here - Dir. Zach Braff (2014)

Zach Braff stirred up a little controversy when he launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his second directorial effort, Wish I Was Here. Surely, Braff was living high on the hog off his big, fat Scrubs paychecks? Whether you agreed with Braff's methods for financing his film, the campaign successfully raised over $3 million.

It's been ten years since Braff made his directorial debut with Garden State, a movie that was critically praised by my peers and I. Looking back on it now; I find it cloying and overly precious though I can still admire Braff's visual whimsy. A decade later and it doesn't look like things have changed too much. Wish I Was Here is very much a spiritual sequel to Garden State. Braff's earlier picture was about an aimless twenty-something actor with a deceased mother and a disapproving father. Wish I Was Here is about an aimless thirty-something actor with a deceased mother and a disapproving father.

Wish I Was Here presents the notion that the angst and hipster melancholia of your 20's doesn't go away when you hit your 30's, despite getting married and raising a family in the suburbs.

Braff plays Aidan Bloom, an aspiring actor who hasn't had much luck since starring in a dandruff commercial a couple years ago. He has an icy relationship with his father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), who pays for Aidan's children, Grace (Joey King) and Tucker (Pierce Gagnon), to attend an Orthodox Jewish school. Aidan's younger brother Noah (Josh Gad) has an even colder relationship with dad. They haven't seen each other in a long time while Noah lives in a trailer and spends his day writing nasty massages to celebrities on Twitter. Aidan's wife, Sarah (Kate Hudson), supports her husband's dream, but suffers silently at a menial job with the Water Department where she is regularly subjected to a co-worker's inappropriate comments.

Aidan is knocked for a loop when Gabe announces his cancer has aggressively returned. He has decided to spend whatever savings he has left on an experimental treatment, which means the kids can no longer afford to go to private school. Aidan decides that he'll home school Grace and Tucker until they can start public school next year. He finds the task much more daunting than anticipated.

Braff co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Adam and the results are a scattered mess. The narrative drifts into several detours along the way that include Noah's trip to Comic-Con to romance a cute cosplayer (Ashley Greene) and recurring fantasy sequences with Aidan as a sci-fi action hero. And did we really need to see the Bloom brood test drive an Aston Martin, aside from seeing Braff reunited with Scrubs co-star Donald Faison? Braff uses creative shorthand when it comes to spelling out his message by quoting T.S. Eliot or Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" while they repair a fence. Braff also slathers on the dreamy qualities of Wish I Was Here by lacing the soundtrack with classic folk rock (Paul Simon, Bob Dylan) and modern indie favorites (The Shins, Bon Iver). Still, Braff's playfulness is on display, such as staring at an empty display that reads, "This pamphlet will save your life."

At least, the acting is well done across the board with Mandy Patinkin as a standout. He brings stoicism and a dry sense of humor to the role. Kate Hudson is a delight and it's nice to see her in something of substance for a change. Both Joey King and Pierce Gagnon are great with a precociousness that feels authentic rather than forced. In particular, Gagnon seems to have a preternatural ability for the screen with his previous role being the ominous child in Looper. The late-James Avery makes a cameo appearance in an amusing scene where Aidan goes to an audition without realizing that the role is now for an African-American.

First world problems come to mind when discussing the drama of Wish I Was Here. It's hard to sympathize with an inert protagonist whose major issue is possibly getting a 9 to 5 job. Your enjoyment of Braff's sophomore film will depend on your love of Garden State and tolerance for schmaltz.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2 - Dir. Jeff Wadlow (2013)

Scotsman Mark Millar is one of the top writers currently in the comic book industry. He's able to find a unique slant to traditional superhero tropes. Millar's magnum opus, Superman: Red Son, is a brilliant look at what would have happened if baby Kal-El had landed in Stalin Russian instead of Smallville, Kansas. Millar's talent as an author is frequently lost by his proclivities for being a provocateur. His works, such as Wanted and Nemesis, are known to frequently use profanity and violence for shock value. Millar has also come under fire for his cavalier attitude towards the depiction of rape. This leads us to Kick-Ass, which initially debuted as an 8-issue mini-series in 2008 and gained notice for Hit-Girl, a 10-year old vigilante described as a cross between Rambo and Polly Pocket. Hit-Girl casually cursed like a sailor and eviscerated bad guys with a variety of deadly weapons. When it came time to turn the comic into a live-action movie, director Matthew Vaughn raised the $30 million budget himself when studios balked at the violence and the young age of the character that caused most of it. The first Kick-Ass film didn't do blockbuster numbers, but it did enough off a modest budget to warrant sequels.

Kick-Ass 2 is based on the second mini-series and the Hit-Girl spin-off that bridges the gap between the two stories. Some time has passed since the events of the previous picture in which geeky Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) donned a green wetsuit to moonlight as the superhero Kick-Ass. He mostly got the crap beaten out of him while pint-size dynamo, Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), did all the real damage. Dave has hung up the tights, but dons them once more to escape his dreary existence as a high school senior. His past exploits as Kick-Ass have inspired dozens of other New Yorkers to put on their costumes, including Dave's best friend Marty (Clark Duke), now known as Battle Guy. Together, they join Justice Forever, a superhero team founded by Col. Stars & Stripes (Jim Carrey), a grizzled ex-mob enforcer who went legit after finding Jesus.

Now that he's playing in the big leagues, Dave receives further training from Mindy, but the sparring sessions end when her guardian and late-father's former partner, Marcus (Morris Chestnut), catches her in costume during a Ferris Bueller race to the house. Forbidden from being Hit-Girl, Mindy must acclimate to civilian life and dealing with one of her most fearsome foes ever, mean high school girls. Meanwhile, Dave's archenemy, Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), vows revenge and transforms himself into the Motherfucker, the world's first supervillain. He gathers his own team of thugs and killers led by a buff KGB assassin dubbed Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina).

There were mixed message with Kick-Ass. It wanted to deconstruct the superhero genre and show real world consequences to costumed crime fighting. Then, it ended with the title character flying around on a jetpack and blowing a man up with a bazooka. Still, it was a fun action movie that hung on a bravura performance from young Chloe Moretz. Kick-Ass 2 is just a mess.

Matthew Vaughn had a flair for action, but he only serves as producer for the sequel. The reins are handed over to writer/director Jeff Wadlow, whose uninspiring resume includes Cry_Wolf and Never Back Down. Somehow, he's also managed to land X-Force as his next picture. Wadlow has no knack for action, employing the same choppy approach that too many American filmmakers adopt. A sequence where Mindy clings to a van full of mobsters is the movie's most poorly constructed set piece. Close-ups of Moretz in front of a green screen are embarrassingly obvious.

Kick-Ass himself has regressed as a character. He's less competent and less interesting in Kick-Ass 2 with his primary motivation being boredom. No, the true star of the sequel is Hit-Girl. Moretz manages to convey all the heartbreak that comes with bullying and adolescent awkwardness. However, Wadlow has embraced Millar's preoccupation with juvenile humor. Any emotional payoff from that storyline is tossed out in favor of a sight gag involving projectile vomiting and diarrhea. In fact, any time Kick-Ass 2 tries to inject some semblance of gravitas; it's undercut by jokes done in poor taste. Two deaths are expected to be taken seriously, yet the movie has such a casual attitude toward death that we feel nothing, except maybe nausea. Mother Russia brutally kills several police officers to a rock version of the Tetris theme and an attempted rape scene is played for laughs. This is tame stuff compared to the source material, which featured a gang rape, children being gunned down, and a decapitated dog.

It's also a shame that Kick-Ass 2 doesn't fully utilize its fantastic supporting cast. An unrecognizable Jim Carrey gives his liveliest performance in years in the small role of the Colonel. Carrey really disappears into the part thanks to some prosthetics and thick New York accent. Taking on these character roles can really revitalize his career. Too bad they aren't in better movies. John Leguizamo and an exuberant Donald Faison are wasted along with Iain Glen from Game of Thrones in a throwaway cameo.

Kick-Ass 2 is an out and out disappointment rife with abrupt tonal shifts and sloppy storytelling.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect - Dir. Jason Moore (2012)

The trailers made Pitch Perfect look like Glee: The College Years, which sounds about as entertaining as being waterboarded. However, this peppy little picture might be one of the nicest cinematic surprises of 2012.

The adorable Anna Kendrick stars as Beca, an aspiring DJ and record producer. Beca strikes a reluctant deal with her estranged father (John Benjamin Hickey), a professor at the fictional Barden University. Beca will attend for at least one year in order for daddy to pay for her move to Los Angeles.

At Barden, a capella is king and just about every clique is involved. The big men on campus are the Treble Makers while the most glamorous gals are The Barden Belles. There's even a stoner group known as The High Notes. The Belles saw their chance at winning nationals go up in smoke when co-captain Aubrey (Anna Camp) projectile vomited on stage. Aubrey isn't too happy when her best friend Chloe (Brittany Snow) recruits Beca and a motley crew of girls to rebuild the Belles. The new team must pull together if they want to make it to the championship in New York City. It won't be easy because Aubrey runs the team with an iron fist. She steadfastly sticks to a rigid regime with the Belles portrayed as prim and proper while performing ditties by Ace of Base and The Bangles. Meanwhile, Beca wants to change things up with a hipper and livelier set list.

Pitch Perfect was based on the non-fiction book by Mickey Rapkin, a senior editor at GQ, who covered a season of competitive collegiate a capella. Yes, that's a real thing. It was adapted for the screen by Kay Cannon, a writer/producer for 30 Rock and New Girl. She injects a quirky sense of humor to the film, which is skillfully handled by director Jason Moore, best known for the stage musical Avenue Q. Moore keeps the picture energetic as evidenced by a montage as hopefuls audition to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone."

Pitch Perfect works because there isn't a cynical bone within its body. Yes, the whole idea may be silly, but the movie never treats its characters with any sort of snarky condescension. Perhaps, the most ridiculous sequence in Pitch Perfect is the Riff-Off as various groups do battle while armed with musical bullets from Rihanna, Salt-N-Pepa, and Foreigner. It might seem like an eye-rolling endeavor, but it's hard not to join in on the fun when everyone on screen is clearly enjoying themselves.

Anna Kendrick is an absolute delight though her star-crossed romance with Treble Maker Jesse (Skylar Austin) isn't as interesting as her interactions with the other girls. There's the usual second act breakup before they reunite in the third act. No, the camaraderie between the Belles forms the spine of Pitch Perfect with terrific performances by Rebel Wilson and Hana Mae Lee. Wilson is getting the lion's share of attention for her outrageous role as Fat Amy, who calls herself that so "twig bitches" don't do it behind her back. However, it is the relatively unknown Lee who makes a breakthrough appearance as the demure Lilly. She has a great singing voice, but her speaking voice barely registers as a whisper. Thankfully, no one can hear her because what she says are psychotic non sequitors ("I ate my twin in the womb."). Christopher Mintz-Plasse pops in for a cameo as do Donald Faison, Har Mar Superstar, and Joe Lo Truglio as an a capella group of alumni, who don't know when to leave campus. John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks (who also produced) also appear as a pair of commentators in the vein of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Do they actually have commentators for a capella?

Pitch Perfect does for a capella what Bring It On did for cheerleading and Step Up for street dance. Despite not being a fan of the majority of the music used, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Even the most jaded moviegoer will have a tough time holding back the smile on their face.

Rating: *** (*****)

Skyline

Skyline - Dirs. Colin & Greg Strause (2010)

Skyline is the sort of cheap knock-off that was once churned regularly by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Nowadays, it's the type of movie you'd see in the discount bins at Big Lots or airing at 2AM on the Sci-Fi Channel (or SyFy).

Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) arrive in Los Angeles to celebrate the birthday of Jarrod's best friend, Terry (Donald Faison). Terry is now a big shot in Hollywood and wants Jarrod to move out there to work as a special effects wizard, but Elaine is reluctant. Meanwhile, Terry has been cheating on his girlfriend, Candice (Brittany Daniel) with his assistant, Denise (Crystal Reed). All this Gossip Girl soap opera stuff becomes moot when the aliens arrive. After a wild party, Jarrod wakes up at 4AM to see an ominous blue light piercing the previously quiet night. Humans are moths to the flame allowing the alien mothership to suck in the hapless Earthlings as if they were specks of dust.

Skyline is wholly derivative of practically every sci-fi film of the last several years. The basic premise takes the widescreen mayhem of Independence Day and crosses it with the street level point-of-view of films such as Cloverfield and District 9. The action is shot in a similar manner to Michael Bay's Transformers. The alien sentries with their undulating tentacles look an awful lot like the Sentinels from the Matrix movies.

The story itself is laughably inept, full of cardboard characters and tedious dialogue. Most of the movie consists of the protagonists hiding out in a spacious condo while the audience is forced to listen to them bitch about their meaningless personal lives. Everything is so ultra-serious that you can't even enjoy the movie on an unintentionally camp level.

This shouldn't be surprising since Skyline was written and directed by the Brothers Strause, who were also behind the atrocious Alien/Predator: Requeim. The behind-the-scenes controversy that the Strauses have created has been more intriguing than the actual movie. Skyline is the first of two alien invasion films set in L.A. The second is next year's Battle: Los Angeles, which takes more of a Black Hawk Down approach to the concept. The special effects house run by the Strauses worked on Battle: Los Angeles and are now being sued by Sony.

The CGI in Skyline looks like it would have commanded a high price tag, but the production budget was a mere $10 million. The extraterrestrials and their spacecrafts look extremely convincing, but none of that matters when the rest of the movie is so God awful.

Rating: * (*****)