Munich

Munich - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2005)

It goes without saying that Steven Spielberg is a filmmaker in a league of his own. His films have become essential components of our pop culture lexicon. For better or worse, the Hollywood blockbuster exists because of Spielberg and his comrade, George Lucas. Munich lightly mixes Spielberg's slam, bang, blockbuster techniques with the schmaltzy pap that he is, oftentimes, criticized for to create a powerfully, dramatic affair.

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, operatives of the Palestinian terrorist group, Black September held 11 members of the Israeli team hostage. Two were killed in their quarters, the rest (plus, most of the terrorists) were shot during a botched rescue attempt. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) called for swift retribution against those responsible and hands the task to her former bodyguard, Avner (Eric Bana). Avner heads a covert task force that includes: the gung-ho South African Steve (Daniel Craig); Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), a Belgian toymaker turned bomb maker; the German Hans (Hanns Zischler), who handles false documents; and Carl (Ciaran Hinds), the man in charge of cleaning up any traces of evidence.

Avner believes in his mission (one that may take years) so much that he leaves behind his pregnant wife, who is close to giving birth. Ironically, Avner's own father (a fellow Mossad agent with a heroic reputation) was absent from his life due to duties of the state. Avner's father is mentioned, but never seen during the film.

This year's summer movie season began with Mission: Impossible III and Munich gives us a peek at real life subterfuge. Like Mission: Impossible, the Israeli government disavows any knowledge of Avner and his operation. That's where the similarities end as nothing is at all like the sensationalized worlds of James Bond and Ethan Hunt. Avner's targets aren't at all like the bad guys you'd see in True Lies. The first two on the hit squad's list are elderly, living posh lives in Europe. One is even a poet; it doesn't save him from being gunned down in his apartment building.

Confronting the man face to face, Avner and Robert find themselves freezing at the last moment. It's not quite the quick and clean kill they had planned. The same goes for some of their other assassinations. One bomb isn't powerful enough, another is too powerful, and another doesn't work at all. In a harrowing moment, the team nearly kills a young girl with a remote-controlled bomb hidden in a telephone.

More and more, Avner finds that his mission may not be as righteous as he originally believed. At one point, the Mossad team shares a safe house with members of the PLO due to an angered information broker. Avner discusses the struggle between Israel and Palestine and, for the first time, attaches a human face to the people that are supposed to be his mortal enemy. Avner questions the orders he is given, are they even killing the right men? He questions the futility of his actions. Each man they kill will be replaced by someone else. Each kill brings about a brutal response from the other side. Numerous bombings and hijackings leave hundreds dead. What's the point of it all?

Bana put in fine performances in Troy and Hulk. Here, he's given far better material and truly carries the film. His gaunt face and sunken eyes reveal how much his ideology has been shattered. Bana completes Avner's breakdown by channeling Gene Hackman in The Conversation, when he tears apart his room looking for the very explosive devices he had readily used earlier. The actors filling out Avner's team do well, but aren't given anything as meaty since their roles lean towards standard archetypes, rather than fleshed out characters.

Spielberg has quite the habit by tacking on a happy ending whether it's appropriate for the story or not. One can look at the ridiculous finale of A.I. to see this in full effect. Munich ends on a much more somber note with just a hint of pessimism. In contrast to Schindler's List, there is no clear cut line between the good guys and the bad guys. Munich is a world with shades of gray. Avner tensely confronts his handler, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), about the work he has done. The scene is made more powerful against the backdrop of New York City, the Twin Towers still standing tall. In the city that is supposed to be the ultimate melting pot, two fellow Jews cannot see eye to eye.

Video/Audio: (****)
The video is presented in 1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski deftly capture the look of the era with a slightly muted color palette. Nothing comes off to soft or too dark.

The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The sound is excellent and highlighted by the somber score by John Williams. Set pieces involving gunfire and explosions work to accentuate the crisp dialogue.

Extras: (***)

The Blu-ray bonus features have been ported over from the 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD and are presented in standard definition.

Introduction by Steven Spielberg (4:34) sees the director give us some quick thoughts about how he came on board the project and why it was important to him.

The Mission, The Team (13:10) is all about assembling the major players including the leads and screenwriter Tony Kushner.

Members of the cast and crew give their thoughts and remembrances of the terrorist attack in Memories of the Event (8:36).

Portrait of an Era (13:17) is a featurette about how the filmmakers recreated the look and locations of the 70's.

The On-Set Experience (14:24) features interviews with the cast and crew as they look back at filming some of the movie's most pivotal sequences.

The International Cast (12:41) looks at the worldwide casting net that was used to create the large supporting cast.

Editing, Sound, and Music (12:23) looks at the lengthy post-production process with Spielberg and Editor Michael Kahn discussing how they still cut the picture on film as well as a few words from legendary sound designer Ben Burtt.

Film Value: (****)
Normally, I'd complain about almost 3-hour runtime of the film. I think being able to view it at home and being able to pause, stretch, etc. made it easier to swallow. Munich does have some extra fat that could be trimmed away. Yes, I'd describe Munich as long. I'd also describe it as engrossing, thought-provoking, and one of the best films of 2005. Spielberg proves himself as a master of the medium and I shall forgive him for The Terminal and War of the Worlds.

Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold - Dir. Gary Shore (2014)

"Sometimes the world no longer needs a hero, it needs a monster."

Origin stories and reboots are all the rage in Hollywood. A shared cinematic universe has become the latest trend ever since Marvel Studios shattered box office records with the creation of their one that mimics the comic book source material. It's not surprising that movie producers would want to jump on the Marvel bandwagon. They essentially combined multiple franchises into one uber-franchise. This leads us into Universal's latest attempt to revive their classic monsters, which were hugely successful back in the 30's and 40's. The idea of bringing Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, and all the others together in a clash of the macabre certainly sounds amazing on paper. However, Universal hasn't exactly had the best of luck in bringing these characters to the modern era. The last time Universal teamed their monsters together was Van Helsing, which doesn't inspire a tremendous amount of confidence.

Dracula Untold mixes history with fiction in a story set long before the events of Bram Stoker's famed novel. Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans) is the prince of Wallachia in the region of what is now known as Romania. As a boy, Vlad was conscripted into the Ottoman Empire and trained as a ruthless soldier under the Turkish sultan. He slaughtered thousands, including women and children, to earn the nickname Vlad the Impaler due to his brutal method of dispatching victims.

Vlad has since left that life behind him to rule his land in peace with his wife, Mirena, and son, Ingeras (Art Parkinson). However, tranquility is not in the cards when the Turks and the sultan Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper), once Vlad's adopted brother, come stomping into Wallachia. The Sultan demands 1000 boys to be handed over to the Ottoman Empire along with Ingeras. Left with an impossible choice, sacrifice their sons or refuse and be slaughtered by a vastly superior army, Vlad seeks desperate help from a Master Vampire (Charles Dance) who dwells in a cave atop Broken Tooth Mountain.

Dracula Untold has an uphill battle remaking Dracula into a tragic hero. Let's face it, if a guy impales so many people that he becomes known as the Impaler, he might not be sympathetic. Screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (the upcoming Gods of Egypt) conveniently gloss over this minor detail to craft Vlad into a brooding avenger in the mold of Batman. The bat analogy is apropos Vlad is able to transform into a flock of the nocturnal creatures as he tears through dozens of his enemies. Unfortunately, most of the film's action sequences occur at night and most of the set pieces are lost in the darkness. Not that we're missing much, a bloodless, PG-13 vampire flick isn't much fun and first-time director Gary Shore doesn't bring a lot of style to the proceedings.

Luke Evans has tremendous shoes to fill when it comes to inheriting the role of Count Dracula. There's Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, and even Frank Langella. Evans is certainly suited for this version of Dracula the tortured, action hero though he never quite goes for the jugular. Current Cronenberg muse Sarah Gadon takes on the thankless role of Dracula's wife, whose transparent role is to spur her husband onto his path of vengeance with her death. Dominic Cooper doesn't convince as the power-hungry Mehmed. On the other hand, producers shamelessly cater to the Game of Thrones crowd with the additions of Art Parkinson, Paul Kaye, and a scene-chewing Charles Dance.

Drinking the creature's blood, Vlad will be given the powers of a vampire for three days. Should he stave off his thirst for human blood, his humanity will be restored. However, if he were to give in, then he would be cursed to live forever as a vampire.

Dracula Untold is a muddled mixture of horror, fantasy, and action while trying to take a Christopher Nolan approach to revamp (no pun intended) an iconic character. The film's final coda is a clumsy effort to set the stage for further franchises ala The Avengers. In the end, "Dracula Untold" was a tale not worth telling in the first place.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls – Dirs. Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi (2014)

Nothing against computer animation, but it is a shame that it has supplanted hand-drawn and stop-motion as the predominant art form. What a strange sight it is to see CGI versions of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Charlie Brown. Thank goodness there are still hard working animators dedicated to keeping traditional methods alive.

The Portland-based Laika continues to make strides in stop-motion animation with films like Coraline and ParaNorman, both of which were nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The Boxtrolls continues that streak, but it's the slightest entry in their oeuvre and if I had my druthers I would have slotted The LEGO Movie in its stead.

The Boxtrolls is set in the Victorian-era village of Cheesebridge, a charming little burg built on top of a mountain. Cheesebridge does have one major drawback. They are plagued by subterranean creatures known as Boxtrolls, who earned their name for their penchant of wearing cardboard boxes like turtle shells. When parents want to scare their kids straight, they tell them the Boxtrolls will snatch them out of their beds and gobble them up.

However, none of those tales are true. Just ask Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), an orphaned boy who has been raised by the little critters and actually believes himself to be a Boxtroll. It seems these lies have been spread by one Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), who has fashioned himself a premiere pest exterminator. Make no mistake, he has no altruistic bent. Snatcher wishes to use the Boxtrolls in a scheme to climb the social ladder and join the exclusive White Hats. Led by the Mayor of Cheesebridge, Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris), the White Hats gather together to taste some of the world's finest gourmet cheeses.

If I've discussed Snatcher more than I have the protagonists, it's because the villains are the most interesting characters in the film. With his stringy hair and hook nose, Snatcher takes obvious inspiration from the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He goes to such great lengths in demonizing the Boxtrolls that he dresses in drag and performs a stage show as Madame Frou-Frou. Snatcher has three henchmen under his employ, the first being Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan), a diminutive lunatic who simply repeats the last word he heard. There's also Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), who try very hard to convince themselves that they are the good guys of the story.

The Boxtrolls themselves don't play much of a factor. The Boxtrolls opens with a terrific introduction to their underground lair filled with knick knacks that have been transformed into Rube Goldberg-ian gadgets. After that, they're simply creatures who must be rescued by their human friends. Eggs is a surprisingly bland hero while his companion Winnie (Elle Fanning), the daughter of Lord Portley-Rind, is defined only by her morbid fascination with assorted grotesqueries ("I was promised rivers of blood!").

That's not to say that The Boxtrolls isn't without its charms. The details in the production design are exquisite with elements of Gothic horror, German expressionism, and Roald Dahl. The animators' passion can be seen in Snatcher's ragged, red jacket and every cobblestone that paves the street of Cheesebridge.

Laika's track record proves they make pictures that appeal to audiences of all ages while never condescending to their youngest viewers. The studio hasn't shied away from giving the kids a good scare, from an otherworldly creature sewing buttons into your eyes or a town plagued by puritan zombies. It's all in good fun and never in a manner that would rack up therapist bills. The Boxtrolls follows suit with a plot drawing parallels to Nazi Germany with the title characters serving as scapegoats for a power hungry madman. The city's leaders are portrayed as ineffectual twits and the townspeople are a few pitchforks shy of becoming a rabid mob. Although Snatcher wants nothing more than a seat at the White Hat table, he is violently allergic to cheese and his face swells to gruesome extremes.

There's a mid-credits scene in which Trout and Pickles ponder the notion that an invisible puppetmaster is behind their every move. This shifts into a time-lapsed video of Laika CEO Travis Knight animating the henchmen's movements. It's a clever button to a movie that could have used that same inventiveness in the screenplay loosely based on the novel, Here Be Mosnters! by Alan Snow. The Boxtrolls doesn't measure up to Coraline or ParaNorman, but the animation and off-kilter sensibilities can still be admired.

Rating: ** (*****)

Lucy

Lucy - Dir. Luc Besson (2014)

Say what you will about Luc Besson, but he's one of the few filmmakers who has regularly showcased strong female protagonists. From a waifish Natalie Portman in The Professional to Anne Paurillaud's street urchin turned assassin in La Femme Nikita to the genetically superior Leeloo in The Fifth Element, Besson has a strong track record even if he's become a one man factory churning out cinematic junk food. His latest work stars Scarlett Johansson, who has become a bankable action heroine thanks to her portrayal of Marvel's Black Widow. Interestingly enough, Marvel has yet to capitalize on her popularity by giving the Widow her own solo picture. Other studios aren't as hesitant, DreamWorks has snatched ScarJo up to headline their live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell while the box office success of Lucy further cemented her star status.

Besson has so much fun with the concept of Lucy that it doesn't matter to him in the slightest that it's built on a complete fallacy. His screenplay hinges entirely on the myth that human beings only use ten percent of their brain. Ten percent is about all you need to enjoy this one.

Johansson is the eponymous Lucy, a gorgeous American studying abroad in Taipei, Taiwan. Her sleazy boyfriend ropes her into delivering a suitcase to a Korean gangster by the name of Mr. Jang (Choi Min-sik). Next thing you know, the boyfriend is dead and Lucy is forced to become a drug mule. The suitcase contained pouches of an experimental drug called CPH4, one of which is sewn into her stomach. If that weren't enough, a particularly volatile henchman repeatedly kicks Lucy in the gut causing the drugs to leak into her body.

Rather than overdose, Lucy gains increased intelligence and enhanced reflexes, which allow her to quickly dispatch her captors. As she accesses more of her higher brain functions, Lucy gains further abilities including telekinesis, telepathy, and the power to travel through time and space. She has no qualms in shooting a surgery patient because he wouldn't have survived anyway. Lucy also needs to inject the rest of the CPH4 as her body begins to lose molecular cohesion.

Considering how ludicrous Lucy gets, it makes absolute sense for Besson to cast Morgan Freeman as Professor Exposition. Okay, his character's actual name is Samuel Norman, but his sole purpose of being is to explain Besson's shaky science with some semblance of credibility. Sometimes that means positing the theory that dolphins access more of their brains to gain the ability of sonar. Also along for the ride is Amr Waked as a French police officer assisting Lucy in rounding up the drug dealers. There's not much to his character though it's cool to note Waked got the call from Besson while he was hip deep in the Egyptian protests of 2013. The ethnically diverse ensemble is complete by the always entertaining Choi Min-sik, best known for his intense performance in Park Chan-wook's Oldboy.

The role of Lucy suits Johansson well and it's one that is a wild departure from her more critically acclaimed turn in Under the Skin. Although both are steeped in science fiction, Under the Skin is about an alien trying to understand humanity while Lucy is about a woman slowly losing her humanity as she evolves. Besson helpfully keeps track of Lucy's power with intermittent percentages. Perhaps, an energy meter out of a Nintendo game would have been more visually interesting. Either way, the film drops any dramatic tension as Lucy edges closer to omnipotence. When she can render a roomful of men unconscious with a wave of her hand, what danger do a bunch of mobsters with machine guns pose?

Bonkers is the best way to describe Lucy, a movie that goes from shootouts and car chases to a wacky amalgamation of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Akira. Throw in a healthy dose of Luc Besson's pseudo-philosophy an hour and a half of dumb, Euro-trash fun.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

The Guest

The Guest - Dir. Adam Wingard (2014)

Director Adam Wingard has been making a name for himself on the horror scene with segments in the anthology films V/H/S and V/H/S/2. However, it was You're Next, a unique take on the home invasion thriller, that earned Wingard rave reviews. The majority of critics responded positively to its mixture of scares, dark humor, and over-the-top kills.

Wingard is back with The Guest, another genre bending film that's part-action, part-thriller, and an homage to the cult classics of the 1980's. The movie announces its intentions right off the bat with a synth-pop soundtrack (tunes by Sisters of Mercy, Front 242 & Clan of Xymox) and an opening title font straight out of a John Carpenter picture.

The Guest opens with a lone figure jogging in the middle of nowhere. This is David (Dan Stevens), a soldier recently released from a military hospital after serving in Afghanistan. He is paying respect to the family of Caleb Peterson, a deceased comrade from his tour in the Middle East. Before Caleb died, he made David promise to check in on his family. Although Anna (Maika Monroe) is a bit wary, the rest of the Peterson clan is more than welcoming to the handsome and humble young man. David becomes a surrogate son to Mrs. Peterson (Sheila Kelley), a drinking buddy to Mr. Peterson (Leland Orser), and a protector to little brother Luke (Brendan Meyer). When he sees Luke has been bullied, David quickly dispatches the tormentors with Jason Bourne-style efficiency.

In spite of David's good looks and quiet charm, Anna remains suspicious, especially when details from his back story don't check out. Then, there's the private security firm who are alerted when Anna pokes around too closely.

The Guest posits a scenario where the Terminator and Michael Myers aren't inhuman monsters, but an exceedingly handsome Adonis with a sympathetic story. The Petersons don't think twice about letting in someone with his All-American good looks into their home. Ironic since Dan Stevens is British. For those only familiar with Stevens as the pale and gaunt Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, his appearance in The Guest will be quite the surprise. Just as it is to Anna when a buff and toned David emerges from a steamy bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He's Captain America from the dark side. There's a sinister aura to David, but you don't want it to be true. He beats up bullies, dispenses sage advice, and provides Mrs. Peterson a shoulder to cry on. Surely, he's the hero of the film.

Wingard starts things off with a slow burn until the third act when the story goes completely off the rails and becomes an old school action flick. In fact, Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett toyed with the idea of including the Cannon Group logo much like Tarantino attaching the Shaw Brothers' logo to Kill Bill. The plot twists in The Guest are the type of absurd contrivances that might have popped up in the works of schlockmeisters such as Albert Pyun or Renny Harlin. The final act only gets better with the addition of Lance Reddick as a hardass military officer on the hunt for David.

This is when Wingard takes a page from the John Woo playbook as armed men storm the Peterson home. The troops unload their machine guns without ever reloading while Reddick's long, flowing trenchcoat ruffles against the wind in slow motion. David even draws a pair of automatic handguns as he's framed by laundry blowing back and forth. You half expect a flock of doves to glide into frame. Wingard puts a cherry on top with a climax set inside a hall of mirrors ala Lady from Shanghai and Enter the Dragon.

The Guest might stretch the boundaries of believability, but damned if it isn't a good time. Wingard has crafted an enjoyable blend of black comedy, action, and horror.

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

Tusk

Tusk - Dir. Kevin Smith (2014)

"I don't want to die in Canada."

Kevin Smith made his mark as a writer/director of low-budget comedies riddled with potty words and pop culture references. He ventured away from stoner humor with Red State, a slipshod thriller about three teenagers held prisoner by a group of religious extremists. Red State wasn't a total success though it felt like the furthest thing from a Kevin Smith movie. Afterwards, Smith announced his retirement from filmmaking to focus on his podcast network. He would continue to tell stories without worrying about financing, studio heads, or box office receipts. Ironically, it was podcasting that reinvigorated Smith's love for movies.

On an episode of Smodcast, Smith and co-host/producer Scott Mosier became fascinated by an online post advertising room & board in exchange for the prospective lodger occasionally wearing a walrus costume. The two proceeded to plot out a Human Centipede-style horror flick about a maniac sewing another human being into a walrus suit. Smith took to Twitter to gauge interest and his followers responded with a resounding, "#WalrusYes." And Tusk was born.

Justin Long stars as Wallace Bryton, the host of the Not-See Party podcast, a show in which he and best friend Teddy Craft (Haley Joel Osment) poke fun at the latest internet sensations. Wallace embarks on a trip to Manitoba a kid who became a YouTube star after accidentally slicing his own leg off with a samurai sword. The boy eventually commits due to all the unwanted attention while Wallace only laments that he'll have to find get some other "Canadian weirdo" for the show.

Discovering a strange handbill, Wallace drives into the wilderness to the mansion of an eccentric hermit named Howard Howe (Michael Parks). Howe regales Wallace with tales of meeting Ernest Hemingway and being stranded in shark infested waters during WWII before being rescued by a gentle walrus. It's a monologue reminiscent of Robert Shaw's Indianapolis scene in Jaws, a long-time favorite of Smith. Wallace realizes too late that Howe has drugged his tea. This is the first step in the horrifying process to transform him into a human walrus.

At first blush, the concept doesn't seem like something that would spring from the mind of Kevin Smith. What happens to poor Wallace is gruesome and bizarre, almost in the vein of Cronenbergian body horror. By his own admission, Smith isn't a visual filmmaker. His preference is two people talking about comic books or Star Wars. That's indicative of Tusk though Smith still manages to set the eerie mood when he's not distracted by little narrative detours.

Long excels as the obnoxious Wallace and he serves as an excellent counterpoint to the bizarre antics of Michael Parks. Parks turns in a tour de force as the insane Howard Howe. Smith's gift for gab provides a cornucopia for Parks to feast on as he launches into mesmerizing monologues about his tortured backstory. At times, his speeches come off as glorified Wikipedia articles, but Parks is so entertaining that he makes every single word count. The story gets progressively more horrific and Smith wisely tries to balance the darkness with light humor.

Tusk is steeped in Smith's unwavering fascination with our neighbors in the Great White North. Of course, there are the usual gags about Canadian speak ("aboot," "eh") and how nice they all are. Also livening things up are a pair of sarcastic girls both named Colleen (Harley Quinn Smith & Lily-Rose Depp) who work in a convenience store and share a general disdain for Americans. Not only are they the female Dante and Randall, but Smith was inspired enough by their performances to give them their own spin-off, Yoga Hosers.

These cute asides don't always land. Just when you're getting into the interactions of Wallace and Howe, Smith pulls you away for one of many tangents. The worst offender is Guy LaPointe, a dogged detective from Quebec who has spent years hunting Howe. Johnny Depp provides an uncredited cameo as LaPointe and it's completely in line with some of his zanier roles. Hidden behind make-up and a thick Quebecois accent, LaPointe is a cartoon character and he receives a lot of screen time in the second half of the movie. Although Depp is amusing in the role, his presence serves as a detriment to the characters of Teddy and Wallace's girlfriend Ally (Genesis Rodriguez). Neither of them is given ample opportunity to grow beyond the functionary roles of sidekick and love interest. It's doubly problematic because Rodriguez gets to show off the acting chops she never got to in forgettable fare such as Man on a Ledge and The Last Stand.

Tusk is a bold and ballsy experiment from Kevin Smith that never finds the right balance between gothic horror and outrageous humor. Still, it's worth a look due to the indelible performances by Michael Parks and Johnny Depp.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Get on Up

Get on Up - Dir. Tate Taylor (2014)

It's too bad Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story didn't make more of a cultural impact. The Judd Apatow-produced parody lampooned the staid conventions of the music biopic as seen in films like Walk the Line and Ray. Walk Hard should have blown up the biopic the way Austin Powers tore down the spy genre. While nobody makes a spy movie in the campy style of the old school Bonds, the standard formula for the music biopic still remains.

The story generally begins with the subject, in his old age, preparing for a major concert and reflecting on his entire life. This is followed by flashbacks of all their highs and lows. Get on Up starts off true to formula with an elderly James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) walking alone down a solemnly lit corridor. The muffled roar of an excited crowd is the only accompaniment to his footsteps. Brown is ready to look back on his life. Surprisingly, Get on Up doesn't go directly to Brown's childhood, but one of his lowest points. In 1993, a drug-addled Brown accidentally discharges a shotgun while berating the unsuspecting attendees of a seminar after someone used his private bathroom. He'd eventually lead police on a high speed chase before spending three years in prison.

From there, Get on Up unfolds in a non-chronological fashion almost as if it were a greatest hits album, except not everything was a chart topper. We see glimpses of Brown as an impoverished child (played by twins Jamarion and Jordan Scott) living in a ramshackle homestead with an abusive father (Lennie James) and a mother (Viola Davis) who abandoned him at a young age. In a disturbing sight, Brown is amongst a group of black boys who are blindfolded and forced to box in a battle royal at a white country club's charity event.

Brown rose from these humble beginnings to worldwide fame as the Godfather of Soul. He upstaged the Rolling Stones in 1964 at The T.A.M.I. Show, strutting offstage and boldly challenging Mick Jagger to top him. Of course, Brown would be a big influence on the Stones frontman to the point where Jagger is actually a producer for Get on Up. Brown performed in front of troops during Vietnam, despite his cargo plane nearly being shot down, and he calmed an angry crowd at Boston Garden the night after Martin Luther King's assassination.

The Hardest Working Man in Show Business would hit his dark patches as well, but you'd hardly know it judging by the film. Brown's problems with drug addiction and domestic abuse are dealt with in the most perfunctory manner. Only one scene a piece is devoted to these issues. Still, Get on Up could hardly be considered hagiographic as Brown's ego and financial blunders are attributed to driving a wedge between he and his fellow musicians.

Get on Up was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the brothers who knocked it out of the park with Edge of Tomorrow. The Butterworths made a smart move by shuffling the events to make the movie stand out. Otherwise, taken chronologically, this is a typical biopic that attempts to encapsulate an entire life into two hours. There's also a slightly surreal touch, a surprising element given that the director is Tate Taylor, who presented racism in a mainstream multiplex manner with The Help. In a recreation of the Frankie Avalon picture Ski Party, Brown performs "I Got You (I Feel Good)" in an ugly Christmas sweater and surrounded by smiling, plastic faces. The action slows down as Brown laments that he's trapped in a "honky hoedown."  On occasion, Brown breaks the fourth wall and addresses the camera with the payoff being a shamed man who cannot look the audience in the eye after striking his wife.

Chadwick Boseman had a star making turn as Jackie Robinson in 42 and he was reluctant to tackle yet another true-life story. Luckily, Boseman had a change of heart. This is a complete 180 from the stoic Robinson. As Brown, Boseman goes beyond mere mimicry. He captures the electrifying presence of Mr. Dynamite and seamlessly performs all of his fleet footed dance moves. The understated Nelsan Ellis serves as a counterpoint to the outlandish Brown as his best friend Bobby Byrd. The long-suffering pal stood by Brown's side for decades until their falling out. Although, she's only in a handful of scenes, Viola Davis blows everyone away as the estranged mother Susie Brown. Her uneasy reunion with her son is the most powerful scene in the film.

Get on Up doesn't do much to defy the tired conventions of the musical biopic. However, the film is able to rocket up the charts courtesy of a stellar performance by Chadwick Boseman. This is an enjoyable picture, just not one you should go out of your way to see.

Rating: ** (*****)

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 (*****)

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Dirs. Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller (2014)

"Sin City is where you go in with your eyes open or you don't come out at all."

You have to hand it to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller for their dogged determination in sequelizing Sin City. Nine years later, the much-anticipated Sin City: A Dame to Kill For finally arrived in theaters to a tepid response. The movie came just shy of pulling in $40 million worldwide, a fraction of the $158 million earned by its predecessor. Perhaps, too much time has passed.

The original Sin City stood head and shoulders above other Hollywood releases with its hyper-stylized representation of film noir, stark black and white accentuated by splashes of color. Rodriguez also changed the way we thought of adapting comic books by slavishly remaining faithful to Miller's artwork. Pages from the comics were kept on set to utilize as storyboards. Now the look of Sin City isn't as fresh with perfume commercials appropriating the visuals. Miller certainly didn't help matters with his abysmal attempt at a feature film version of Will Eisner's Spirit. As for Rodriguez, Grindhouse was a fun experiment that deserved a larger audience, but Shorts, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, and Machete Kills didn't set the world on fire.

A Dame to Kill For begins with "Just Another Saturday Night," in which the nigh-invulnerable bruiser Marv (Mickey Rourke) tries to piece together a hazy evening that involved frat boys lighting hobos on fire.

The best and most substantial story is "A Dame to Kill For" starring Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin), a man trying to put his violent past behind him. Everything falls apart when he is reunited with former lover Ava Lord (Eva Green). Against his better judgment, Dwight agrees to save Ava from an abusive marriage with the wealthy Damian Lord (Marton Csokas). Of course, Dwight should have known better than to believe anything coming from those luscious lips.

The second Sin City also features two original stories. In "The Long Bad Night," a cocky gambler named Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enters into a high stakes poker game against the powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) and might lose more than just his money. Finally, there's "Nancy's Last Dance," which continues the story from "The Yellow Bastard." Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) is still haunted by the death of her protector John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), who sacrificed his life to protect her from the grasp of Sen. Roark. Now, Nancy is a little unhinged and prepares nearly every waking moment to seek revenge against the untouchable politico.

If you enjoyed the style over substance approach of the first movie, then you'll probably dig A Dame to Kill For since you get more of the same. Rodriguez and Miller seamlessly blend live-action with computer animation in a dynamic fashion to craft the world of Sin City. There's some great imagery here, such as deadly little Miho firing a bow & arrow against a full moon or Roark surrounded by stacks of poker chips that resemble skyscrapers. After a while, it gets tiring, especially when the stories are so repetitive. We get decapitations galore and an endless stream of hard boiled narration. And the women of Sin City wind up being strippers, prostitutes or chopped into pieces by sadistic killers.

The filmmakers try harder this time around to integrate the various stories in the sequel and use the strip club, Kadie's Saloon, as a hub. It doesn't really work nor does it enhance the experience. It can be confusing as well since time means nothing. "Long Bad Night" and "Nancy's Last Dance" take place after the events of the previous picture, but "Dame to Kill For" is a prequel. Keep in mind; these new stories aren't by the Frank Miller who gave us acclaimed runs on Batman and Daredevil. This is the new Frank Miller behind the laughable All-Star Batman & Robin and the atrocious Holy Terror. This is a Frank Miller who thought it would be a fantastic idea for Nancy to disfigure her own face for the sole purpose of getting Marv to help her on a mission of vengeance. Heaven forbid a female character do something on her own.

Marv is a constant in each segment and the big bruiser brought a lot of dark humor in "The Hard Goodbye." However, he's now become a glorified attack dog that they sic on any henchmen in sight. So it makes absolutely no sense why Nancy doesn't just ask him to kill a bunch of dudes for her.

Rosario Dawson as the machine gun toting dominatrix Gail is back along with Jaime King as twin sexpots Goldie and Wendy, and Bruce Willis as the world's most laconic ghost. Dennis Haysbert takes over the role of Manute from the late-Michael Clarke Duncan while Jamie Chung replaces Devon Aoki as the silent assassin Miho. Among the newcomers are Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd, Ray Liotta, Lady Gaga, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, and Stacy Keach underneath grotesque make-up that makes him look like a rejected Dick Tracy villain.

None of them hold a candle to Eva Green, who relishes in the role of the femme fatale to end all femme fatales. This is the very definition of sultry and seductive. Green deserves a special award for Best Performances in Unnecessary Frank Miller sequels. She was also the highlight of 300: Rise of an Empire as warrior woman Artemisia. Josh Brolin equates himself well with the gruff and lurid prose as Dwight when he had his old face. It does hurt the tale that Clive Owen was unable to return as Dwight after the reconstructive surgery.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For feels like a quick cash grab that was slapped together, except it came nine years later when the irons have long been cold. It's gratuitously crude and violent without any creative spark.

Rating: ** (*****)

As Above, So Below

As Above, So Below – Dir. John Erick Dowdle (2014)

Is there anything more that can be done with the found footage genre? If As Above, So Below is any evidence, then the answer would be an emphatic 'No.' That's a bit of a shame since the film has something of a pedigree courtesy of director John Erick Dowdle, who co-wrote the script with his brother Drew. The Brothers Dowdle are no strangers to found footage having made The Poughkeepsie Tapes and Quarantine, a remake of the Spanish horror film REC. As Above, So Below has a cool premise, a unique locale, and distinctive poster art, all of which are squandered on a substandard scarefest.

Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) is a British scholar and archeologist who dabbles in the skeptical field of alchemy. She desperately wants to validate her late-father's work by finding the legendary Philosopher's Stone, an ancient artifact with the ability to transmute matter. Her first step is the Rose Key, a tablet located in Iran and inscribed with a clue to the Stone's location. She sneaks into the country at great risk and barely manages to escape the cave before the Iranian military bomb it.

Scarlett, accompanied by a documentarian named Benji (Edwin Hodge), jets off to Paris where she recruits ex-boyfriend George (Ben Feldman) to help her translate an Aramaic tablet. George is reluctant to help since Scarlett abandoned him to the Turkish authorities on one of their previous junkets. Our intrepid treasure hunters realize that the Stone is buried somewhere within the labyrinthian catacombs underneath the City of Lights. They hire Papillon (Francois Civil) and his assistants Souxie (Marion Lambert) and Zed (Ali Marhyar) to guide them through the tunnels with promise of treasure as payment.

As Scarlett and her cohorts delve deeper into the catacombs, they find themselves way off map as tunnels collapse and openings mysteriously collapse. They are haunted by strange noises, apparitions, and other oddities such as a ringing telephone and The Mole (Cosme Castro), an old friend who seemingly disappeared in the catacombs two years ago. Most ominous of all is a message carved above an entrance reading, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

As Above earned the honor of being the first production granted permission by the French government to film in the actual catacombs without the luxuries of electricity of cell service. Shooting on location gives the movie an authenticity that would have been lacking if producers had built sets on a soundstage. The tunnels add to the claustrophobia and you can almost smell the musty air. Not to mention all the millions of bodies buried underneath Paris. Unfortunately, the story fails to capitalize on the setting.

The characters are utterly forgettable with most of them simply being present to rack up a body county. Benji's sole purpose is to be the cameraman. You know; the guy who flees in terror, but always helpfully holds the camera at eye level. Scarlett should have been an intriguing protagonist. During an interview, she runs down a resume that includes multiple PhDs, fluency in seven languages, and a black belt in Krav Maga. All while she's barely 30. She should have been the love child of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Instead, she comes off as bland, self-serving, and just a bit callous when it comes to other peoples' lives.

Aside from Benji's digital camera, each actor is also outfitted with a smaller camera attached to their heads. There's a lot of shaky camerawork with the characters doing lots of running, climbing, and crawling. Grab some Dramamine if you're prone to motion sickness. Still, Dowdle manages to get a few creepy set pieces in, such as a close-up of Scarlett nearly drowning in a pool of blood. Another scene finds Benji trapped between a narrow opening and a pile of bones.

As Above, So Below is a high concept horror film that never lives up to its promise. It's just another paint-by-numbers production that will put you to sleep rather than keep you up at night.

Rating: * ½ (*****)