Puzzle - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

Macdonald shines and warmly fits in ‘Puzzle’ 

Directed by:  Marc Turtletaub

Written by:  Polly Mann and Oren Moverman, based on Natalia Smirnoff’s original screenplay

Starring:  Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan and David Denman

“Puzzle” – “Every day is sort of a jigsaw puzzle.  You have to make sure that you’re putting the most important things first.” – Julia Hartz, Eventbrite CEO

“I might be good at this.” – Agnes (Kelly Macdonald)

Louie (David Denman) is content.  He enjoys fixing cars at his auto repair shop in a small town located about a half hour from New York City.  He married Agnes, they have two boys (their youngest Gabe (Austin Abrams) is ready to graduate high school) and they own a beautiful  getaway cabin on a scenic lake.  He has it all.  His life fits.

Based on her experiences, expectations and available choices, Agnes’ life fits as well.  A homemaker, Agnes is sweet, introverted, always puts her family first, and carries out her responsibilities – like shopping, making dinner and keeping a nice home – to perfection, although not obsessively so. 

In fact, her oldest says, “You do a million things, and you are good at all of them.”

Modesty is another of Agnes’ virtues.

On her birthday, she received a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, completed it within a morning and unknowingly begins a new passion and tangential journey. 

Director Mark Turtletaub and writers Polly Mann and Oren Moverman – who adapted this story from director/writer Natalia Smirnoff’s Argentinian picture “The Puzzle” (2009) – starts the audience’s journey by squarely presenting Agnes’ space in plain view within the movie’s first few minutes.  Turtletaub dims the lighting within Louie and Agnes’ house.  Not only during her evening birthday party, but no matter what time of day - other than the first sight of morning in the master bedroom – their place feels slightly dusky.

During the film’s first hour, Agnes, however, discovers her own light through a new and encouraging friend Robert (Irrfan Khan), who has a similar affinity for solving jigsaw puzzles.  Khan plays Robert as a bit of a lost soul, but a confident one within his own abilities, and Agnes learns self-assurance through him.  They spend their time conversationally, due to the nature of their shared interest, but their talks are not casual in nature.  Since Agnes is a woman of few words and rarely expresses her own needs and wishes, their moments of discourse don’t demand our attention, but organically draw us in, as we hang on every movement and sound. 

Macdonald shines as the lead, and her movements and spoken words feel authentic and true.  Macdonald has been a recognizable, successful actress for two decades now, beginning with her celebrated debut as the object of Mark Renton’s (Ewan McGregor) affections in “Trainspotting” (1996).  She always seems to bestow rich supporting performances and sometimes transforms or camouflages within her work.  Her turn as Llewelyn’s (Josh Brolin) inquisitive wife Carla Jean in “No Country for Old Men” (2007) is a prime example.  Agnes and Carla Jean are quite similar.  Both wives truly hold gifts that go unutilized and unnoticed, and they are married to men who earn all (or nearly all) the household’s income and make every significant life-decision.

Here, Agnes gradually begins to notice her potential through Macdonald’s gentle energy and nuanced feelings that peek through small looks, glances and thoughts.  Macdonald delivers the warmest, most welcoming performance of the year (so far), and naturally, her completed puzzles reflect Agnes’ cordiality.  Even though this housewife’s current existence appears ordinary, the images in her puzzles are moving, classical artworks or contemporary images splashed with vibrant colors.  That’s no coincidence. 

Oh, but cinematically, is constructing multiple puzzles a palatable viewing exercise for moviegoers?  Yes, because Agnes is connecting to much more than a hobby or passion, and she just might launch her desire to put the most important things first.

(3.5/4 stars)

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

The Five Funniest Teen Movies by Jeff Mitchell

Bo Burnham is best-known as a stand-up comic, but add successful movie director and writer to his resume!  His first feature-film “Eighth Grade” screened on the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival’s closing night, and it arrived – along with plenty of acclaimed reviews - at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square Theatres on July 20. 

On Aug 3, “Eighth Grade” expands to more theatres, and to help celebrate this admired slice of middle school life, the Phoenix Film Festival is looking back at 15 notable teen films through a three-part series.  

On July 13, we recalled “Five great female-led teen films” and on July 26, we remembered “Five memorable troubled-teen films”.  Since Bo Burnham is a comedian by trade, let’s change the pace and explore “The five funniest teen comedies”.  

It is no surprise that anyone’s teenage years can be highly problematic, so naturally, humor might be the best medicine.  Hence, Hollywood has flooded theatres with high school comedies for decades, which makes selecting an exclusive list of just five so difficult.  Female-led comedies like “Sixteen Candles” (1984), “Clueless” (1995) and “Easy A” (2010) are certainly worthy candidates, and every minute of Richard Linklater’s authentic ode to 1976 “Dazed and Confused” (1993) lives and breathes the words eternal classic.  Well, here are five more eternal classics: the five funniest teen comedies of all-time.

5. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986) – Ask any Generation-Xer, “Who is the ‘King of High School Comedies’?”  John Hughes will almost always be his or her answer.  From 1984 to 1986, Hughes enjoyed a legendary run of four high school hits that intimately connected with his core audience.  These movies also introduced some insight for adult moviegoers and delivered plenty of laughs during the decade of Michael Jackson, the Space Shuttle, the Rubik’s Cube, and the Ronald Reagan years.  This critic was particularly tortured in deciding Hughes’ funniest film – “Sixteen Candles” (1984) or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986) -  but ultimately went with the story that is more madcap, offers heartier belly laughs and holds up better in 2018. 

Matthew Broderick is nothing short of a charismatic wonder as Ferris, a crafty slacker who decides to skip a day of school by playing sick – and brings his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) along for the ride - but not without a master plan.  Due to Ferris’ reputation, his chief rival, the Dean of Students Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), is hell-bent to prove that this teenage thorn-in-his-side is just joyriding on this particular school day. 

Ferris’ excursion through greater Chicago tenders equal portions of magic and laughter and would score higher on this list, if not for Cameron’s perpetual bummer-attitude.  His malaise – including one clunky scene with his dad’s car – brings down the fun a few notches, but Ferris’ ongoing duel with Rooney, several amusing supporting players and regular breaks through the fourth wall (“Never had once lesson.”), make this a memorable film in 1986, 2018 and every year in between.

4. “Rushmore” (1998) – “He’s one of the worst students we got.”  Dr. Nelson Guggenheim (Brian Cox) is referring to Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a 15-year-old at Rushmore Academy, who is in grave danger of expulsion due to his poor grades.  If Max applied himself, he may or may not earn straight A’s, but he spends nearly all of his waking hours with after-school clubs, so he finds zero time for studying.  In a wacky montage, director/co-writer Wes Anderson proudly reveals Max’s other pursuits with smattering snippets of this industrious kid’s work as the French Club president, Yankee Review publisher, debate team captain, lacrosse team manager, and astronomy society founder, to name a few. 

While his dismissal feels like an impending certainty, Max turns most of his attention towards a thoughtful new Rushmore teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams) and a wealthy donor Herman Blume (Bill Murray).  As bad luck would have it, both Max and Herman develop a crush on Rosemary and vie for her affections.  

Anderson shows great affection for his material with droll, sarcastic humor and oodles of comical, eccentric visuals.  He contrasts his film’s mellow, conversational tempo by constantly filling the screen with lively, unconventional images, and the occasional blast from the mod soundtrack compliments this amusing dichotomy.  Schwartzman commands every on-screen second, and Murray’s sardonic nonchalance adds the perfect ingredient to Max and Herman’s friendship/tension.

3. “American Pie” (1999) – “All that you got to do is just ask them questions and listen to what they have to say and ****.”  “I dunno, Man.  That sounds like a lot of work!”  This is one of about 150 exchanges between East Great Falls High school buddies, who are desperately pursuing various strategies to have sex with their female classmates.  Of course, this struggle has been portrayed in high school films for years and years, but “American Pie” rips down boundaries with sight gags and uncomfortable sexual hilarity probably more than any other mainstream teenage comedy-hit since “Porky’s” (1981). 

Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Chris Klein forge a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate in three weeks, but they individually approach the challenge in very different ways.  Much of the time, three of the four friends’ individual journeys feel like recycled clichés, but the strength of director Paul Weitz’s film lies in two places. 

First, about 10 terribly vulgar and embarrassing scenes truly buck convention but effectively dole out perverse, juvenile bliss.  Second, the movie’s supporting characters – all-around jerk Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), Jim’s Dad (Eugene Levy) and band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) – gloriously steal every moment of screen time and inadvertently outshine their lead counterparts.  Levy is particularly necessary to help ground the picture with his character’s good intentions and naïve compass, while everyone else runs towards depraved destinations. 

2. “Election” (1999) – Pick Flick!  Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon), a resolute overachiever, relentlessly pushes to be picked/elected as the student government president, but history/civics/current events teacher Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) tries to obstruct her seemingly-destined political culmination.  

Writer/director Alexander Payne’s wild, stressful ride first appears as a straight-forward, light comedy, but he repeatedly surprises with unexpected, off-color zingers that jump out of nowhere, like a deer - wearing a clown suit - that suddenly hops in front of moving car.  Payne perfectly calculates his series of car crashes, as we helplessly rubberneck towards the scholastic damage. 

Witherspoon may have won an Oscar for “Walk the Line” (2005) and is loved as Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde” (2001), but her turn as the tight-lipped, wound-up go-getter from G. W. Carver High School is her best performance.  With perfect comedic timing and both subtle and bulldozing facial expressions and body language, the 5 foot 1 ½ inch Tracy Flick can make any adversary quake in their boots.  Speaking of quaking, Broderick – in a hilarious physical performance - plays the polar opposite of his risk-taking, teenage alter ego Ferris Bueller, and Chris Klein and Jessica Campbell are pitch-perfect in key supporting roles.

1. “Superbad” (2007) – Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are best friends and spend a majority of their free time delving into foolishness that ordinary, 17-year-old boys usually pursue.  They drink an occasional beer in their parents’ basements, play video games, deliberate pornography, and talk about girls and their associated elusive nature. 

With senior year rapidly approaching to an uneventful close, the guys suddenly find themselves with a golden opportunity to impress their high school crushes – Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac) – by supplying the alcohol for Jules’ party. 

The boys’ goals:  Buy alcohol and win over the girls! 

Sounds simple enough, but director Greg Mottola’s picture – written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg – spins a tangled rite of passage for Seth and Evan (the characters) via a 24-hour, suburban adventure.  Perfectly cast, Hill and Cera play off each other with Seth’s continuous frazzled frustration and Evan’s genial quirkiness.  With sidesplitting barrages of rapid-fire jokes propagated through both casual and heightened conversations and matched with ludicrous – but somehow plausible – life-pickles, “Superbad” is a wild, daredevil trip that tears into the previously-mentioned – but vitally important - teenage goals. 

Not to be forgotten, another pal named Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) establishes a third pillar in this mischievous triad, but he’s forever-known in modern pop culture as McLovin.  To top it off, Rogen and Bill Hader portray the most irresponsible police officers to hit the big screen since the gang from “Super Troopers” (2001).  Cool.  How bad is that? 

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

McQueen - Movie Review by Ben Cahlamer

McQueen

Directed by Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui

Written by Peter Ettedgui

Starring Magdalena Frackowiak, Gary James McQueen, Alexander McQueen, Janet McQueen

To look at someone’s life is to bare their soul, release their burden. I don’t know who said that, but it sounded good. The opening statement says a lot about what I took away from Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary, McQueen, the story of Alexander McQueen, a Scottish lad who found his way by expressing himself through fashion.

Bonhote and Ettegui designed the documentary around several cassettes, which compartmentalize McQueen’s life. Born Lee Alexander McQueen, he was the youngest of six children. His dad Ronald was a taxi driver, his mum Joyce and social science teacher. The first cassette talks about his home life when he was a wee lad.

His mum made it a point that he wasn’t going to sit at home, doing nothing. She saw an advert for apprenticeships on the famed Saville Row, where he learned to create an impeccably tailored look. McQueen attended school where his teachers recognized his talent, putting him into the MA program at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. The documentary lays out his journey from Saville Row apprentice all the way to influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow discovering him.

In the second of the cassettes, Blow took McQueen, now known by his middle name, Alexander to places he might have gotten on his own. We get to meet Katy England, a very influential individual in his early creative works.

The third cassette goes on to describe McQueen’s more controversial and shocking runway collections. The documentary doesn’t shy away from this because I suspect that is what made him who he was. This second of the documentary focused on his theatricality and what video is included of his work was shocking to say the least. But I think it expressed who he was emotionally. As a critic, I could look at it with dispassion, but that’s not how I felt when Bonhote and Ettegui presented it in their documentary.

The last cassettes deal with McQueen’s downfall, but not before his stint at famed Givenchy. McQueen was opinionated, but he was also resolute to create art that the world would know him for. His first show for them did not go very well, but once he pared back his designs, he found his groove again.

McQueen was openly gay and much to my surprise and delight, Bonhote and Ettegui don’t shy away from it. In fact, knowing this about him made his art unique. His mum was openly okay with her son, but his dad had troubles. He eventually came around. His partner was also interviewed. You could tell that even though they were not together as a couple, there was still love present.

The final cassette focused on McQueen’s death. Not long before, his mum’s health deteriorated resulting in her death. The documentary makes the assertion that they were very close with one another and that this contributed to his suicide on February 11, 2010. His family and friends were shocked and saddened. He had so much more to give, but the documentary celebrates all that he was.

I was not familiar with Alexander McQueen before I watched the documentary. “McQueen” goes a long way towards sharing his life, in a very positive way.

Rating 3 out of 4

An Interview with 'Eighth Grade' actress Elsie Fisher by Jeff Mitchell

The 2018 Phoenix Film Festival capped an 11-day movie marathon with “Eighth Grade” on its closing night, April 15, and writer/director Bo Burnham’s all-too-real comedy about the aforementioned middle school year was one of the brightest moments of Arizona’s biggest motion picture celebration.  After watching “Eighth Grade”, moviegoers should find it very easy to celebrate and champion Elsie Fisher’s endearing and sympathetic performance as Kayla, a shy kid who struggles to connect with her classmates. 

As luck would have it, Elsie found time to connect with the Phoenix Film Festival and chat about her new movie!  During our breezy, insightful interview, we talked about the Internet, her career aspirations, Kayla’s relationship with her on-screen dad, and much more!

“Eighth Grade” – also starring Josh Hamilton - opened in the Valley at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square Theatres on July 20 and will enjoy a wider release on Aug. 3.

PFF:  Kayla seemed to be connected to the Internet a lot, whether it was on her phone or making videos on her laptop?  Do you (or would Kayla) think that there are times when John or Jane Q. Citizen should disconnect from the Internet?  Perhaps, using an old-fashioned alarm clock instead of a phone or shutting off electronics in the evenings? 

EF:  Right off the bat, I’m not sure how Kayla would answer.  Sure, there are many times that we should put the phone down.  I think that everyone is on (their phones) a bit too much.  I don’t think that’s the problem, as opposed to how (little) we are getting done during our time (online).  People use their phones as their means to (interact with) social media, but social media is so much and very overwhelming.  

If you want to use a regular alarm clock as opposed to your phone, go ahead, and we should probably all stop using (our phones) at night.  I’ve read (that phones are) supposed to give you insomnia, because of the blue light in your eyes.  It’s not great. 

PFF:  Was Kayla discouraged, because she wasn’t receiving many views on her videos, and why was it easier to make videos rather than talk to other students in school?

EF:  I think the videos are a diary for her, or a coping mechanism, because she is always talking about things that she wants to do, and she pretends (through her videos), like “Being Yourself” and “Being Confident”.  So, it doesn’t matter to her that she’s not getting views, because these videos are probably making her feel better.  Kayla probably started (making videos, because) she wanted to be one of the YouTubers who she watched and thought, “Oh, look how perfect they are.” 

PFF:  Kayla’s dad (Josh Hamilton) was really supportive, and as a viewer, I appreciated his attentiveness.  Kayla was going through a tough time in school, but why didn’t she reach out to her dad more often?  Is that just part of being an eighth grader?

EF:  I think that’s part of being people.  (Now,) we don’t really know much (about) Kayla’s and her dad’s relationship, apart from the week that we are seeing.  They could be much closer than the way that they are portrayed on-screen. 

I think it is difficult to reach out to people, when you are going through a tough time, and it’s much harder when you have to live and talk with them.  That’s just weird.  No reason why.  It just is. 

When you don’t have a whole grasp of what you are feeling and what your problems are, it can be difficult to reach out to people.  I don’t think Kayla ever made a conscious decision to not reach out to her dad.  She was just so wrapped up in the way that she was feeling, her way to cope was (through) her videos and going on the Internet.  

Kayla’s dad loves her so much, but (that attention) can be almost suffocating.  It gives her something to fight against.  Maybe she’s so mad and just wants to take it out on something.  Everyone (in school) ignores her, and then she goes home and her dad is just staring at her lovingly.  It’s just like, “Oh, stop!”

PFF:  The pool party was a fantastic set piece, although Kayla felt a lot of anxiety about it.  Do you think that she would’ve been more comfortable if only a few kids attended the event, rather than so many?  On the other hand, if only a few teens were there, she would be “forced” to talk with them and not just blend into the crowd.   

EF:  I think both (circumstances) are equally difficult, because pool parties are just weird.  Her main struggle at the pool party is that it’s just a little overwhelming.  There are a lot of people there.  She’s probably thinking in her head, “Oh my God, everybody is looking at me and making fun of me in their heads.”  In reality, she’s being – for the most part – ignored.  If the pool party was with a smaller group, yes, it would be difficult (too), because she would be forced to talk with people. 

PFF:  Kayla had a shoebox with many mementos that represented her hopes and dreams.  What are some of your hopes and dreams or goals that you’d like to accomplish?

EF:  Yea, I have a lot of career aspirations!  Probably too many.  I’d like to do stand-up.  I think that would be really fun, because I like making people laugh and doing something that I (can create on my own). 

Surprise, surprise, I’d be interested in writing and directing after spending 10 years in the entertainment industry.  I like drawing, so if all hell breaks loose, I could be an animator.  I like making music (too).  I have way too many career aspirations, I swear. 

PFF:  That’s a good thing!

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, and Michelle Monaghan

If it’s the summertime and Tom Cruise is running from mysterious bad guys who are trying to end the world, it’s probably a good sign that we have another “Mission: Impossible” movie. Director Christopher McQuarrie returns to continue the action-packed franchise with “Mission: Impossible - Fallout”, an entertaining popcorn film that attempts to give fans everything they have come to love about this franchise all in one film.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is still leading the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team with Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) tagging along into dangerous, end-of-the-world scenarios that teeter on the verge of failure until the last possible moment. The mission, should he choose to accept it, this time is concerned around some stolen plutonium and plans to build a nuclear weapon by a group of terrorist mercenaries who call themselves the “Apostles”. It is up to Ethan and his team to uncover who is behind the devious plan so that they can save the world.

Action sequels have a consistent aspect of oneupmanship associated with their design; the plots need to be more complicated, the action needs to be bigger, and the bad guy needs to have a more evil plan than the one before. After six films in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise just about every angle for the over-the-top action and story elements have been done. While the story is a bit of a mess in this film, having Tom Cruise’s seemingly superhuman abilities anchoring your film means that the high flying action elements can continue to grow more audacious as long as Mr. Cruise is willing and healthy enough to do the work.

In “Fallout” Tom Cruise displays again that he is one of the hardest working actors in the business; willing to risk tremendous harm, he broke his ankle doing a stunt in this film, to bring authenticity to the role. It’s amazing to watch. Having a great cast around him is also a plus; Simon Pegg brings humor while newcomer to the franchise Henry Cavill, the macho and muscular tough guy to Cruise’s charming spy, is a perfect compliment to the cast. Aside from Cruise’s dedication to the role, “Fallout” pushes the action set pieces from small scale bathroom brawls to helicopter chaos against a picturesque snowy mountain backdrop. Every action scene in the film has something to cheer about; the bathroom brawl is humorous while also being bone crushing and about midway through the film there is thrilling scene that is more exciting and suspenseful than anything you’ve seen this year. That’s a hard feat to accomplish for any film let alone one that is six films into the franchise.

Amidst all the action is a plot that is so overly convoluted and filled with unnecessary twists that it becomes hard to follow how one scenario moves into another scenario without extensive  questions needing to be answered. While Mr. McQuarrie, who also wrote the script, builds an ingenious action vehicle that is filled with pulse-pounding spectacle the story just never compliments everything that is happening on the screen. But in the end, this is a film that is fronted by the boom and blast of car chases and fight scenes, the story is just extra credit.

“Mission: Impossible - Fallout” is one of the better action films of the summer. Tom Cruise’s performance is fun to watch and the breakneck action pacing makes the nearly 150 minute runtime seem short. The story is frustratingly routine but it hardly matters here, the spectacle of Tom Cruise, motorcycle chases, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat does the impossible mission of making a sixth film in a franchise stand on its own.

Monte’s Rating

4.00 out of 5.00

Impossible Mission: PFF Picks Its Favorite “Mission: Impossible” Film by Ben Cahlamer

Impossible Mission: PFF Picks Its Favorite “Mission: Impossible” Film

“Good morning, PFF. We have had several reports of The Syndicate inciting incidents in Prague & Virgina, Sydney, Shanghai, Moscow, Dubai & Mumbai, and London. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to select your favorite mission from the five feature length films. If you are caught or killed the Secretary will disavow your actions. Good luck, PFF.”

Whew, and I thought this mission was going to be difficult.

“This isn’t Mission: Difficult, Mr. Hunt. This is Mission: Impossible.”

All joking aside, for the past 22 years, Tom Cruise and company have seen to stewarding the Mission: Impossible film franchise to a record $2.2 billion in worldwide box office grosses. Death defying stunts, strong characters, intelligent stories, beautiful global locations and relatable characters all make for a fun day at the movies. This weekend marks the release of the latest, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout.” Make sure to check it out.

To prepare for this newest mission, I recently sat down to binge all five “Mission” Impossible” films. There is no denying the power of the directors involved in them: the brilliance and technical storyteller that is Brian DePalma, the stylistic John Woo, the bombastic JJ Abrams, the light – hearted and deadly serious Brad Bird and finally, the witty Christopher McQuarrie. Figuring out my favorite is not an easy decision, but it certainly has been fun to revisit the series and watch Tom Cruise and company stop nefarious villains from inflicting harm on the innocent.

Without further ado . . . .

5.  “Mission: Impossible 3”: I need to confess that I didn’t get into ‘Lost’. I did get in to ‘Fringe’ and I liked the direction of the series. It was with a sense of adventure that I went into this third mission. My initial reaction was not very positive. After a couple of viewings, I’ve come around, but the story reveals the twist far too early. The film’s saving grace is a really powerful and dynamic villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman, but the story lacks punch.  1.5 out of 4 stars

4. “Mission: Impossible 2”: The Hitchock hour of the series, this film is set in Australia and concerns itself with the recovery of a deadly virus. Sir Anthony Hopkins makes an uncredited cameo as the IMF handler. The theme of John Woo’s film is “Set a thief to catch a thief.” As the villain’s former lover, Thandie Newton plays Nyah Nordoff-Hall. She is a seductress and a smooth talker. Mr. Cruise free climbs in a stunning opening credits sequence. Unfortunately, the stylistic action overshadows a weak adversary in Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott). 1.75 out of 4 stars.

3. “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”: Christopher McQuarrie’s follow up to Brad Bird’s entry is every bit as good as “Ghost Protocol.” In fact, they are on par. Although it is this entry’s strength, the paranoia of the CIA, which plays directly in to the story line. Brad Bird took the series to new heights following the second and third entries and it is for this reason that the remaining three entries as so close together in scoring. 3.5 out of 4

2. “Mission: Impossible”: Brian De Palma’s entry started this whole series in motion. It introduced us to Ethan Hunt and was made before Bourne, so the action wasn’t a focus. The story is intelligent, the set pieces were stunning and the mystery holds itself together until nearly the beginning of the third act.

1. “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”: If Mr. Woo’s entry was the Empire State Building, Mr. Bird’s entry reaches the height of the Burj Khalifa, which is ironic because this entry’s iconic stunt was completed on the outside of the world’s tallest building. This story introduces us to William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and brings many of our favorite series cast members back. The film manages to convey and intelligent story and bridges the past with the future. Michael Nyqvist made for a determined villain, even if his principles were misguided. Sophie Marceau is lethally stunning. Paula Patton as IMF Agent Jane Carter plays her role to the nines.

There.  “Mission, accomplished!”

“This message will self-destruct in five seconds.”

Hot Summer Nights - Movie Review by Ben Cahlamer

Hot Summer Nights

Written and Directed by Elijah Bynum

Starring Timothee Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Thomas Jane, Alex Roe, Maia Mitchell, Emory Cohen, William Fichtner

As kids, we struggle to find our place in the universe. We want more and more without necessarily thinking of the consequences. In the summer of 1991, Daniel Middleton (Chalamet) goes to stay with his aunt on Cape Cod. Daniel is an awkward teenager, struggling to fit in and is bored. When he runs into the local “baddie,” Hunter Strawberry (Roe), his life changes immediately, and not necessarily for the better.

Elijah Bynum’s directorial debut has the look and feel of a major blockbuster motion picture. It also has a star in Timothee Chalamet, who performs awkward and intelligent in the same sentence. As an audience, we don’t mind that he switches gears; it is dynamic.

Alex Roe’s performance is akin to a chameleon. We know he’s physically there, but he is extremely laid back to the point where, when he goes off on someone, you can feel it through the screen. It is a nice counterpoint to Chalamet.

Bynum’s story focuses on two essential plot points: a love story between Daniel and McKayla and their drug operation. Daniel’s taste for bigger and better things gets in the way of a friendship that he forms with Hunter. The trifecta gets in the way of Daniel being able to see that bigger is not always better.

Which is a problem because Bynum doesn’t execute on this aspect very well. The way the story unfolds, we feel sympathetic towards their own struggles because their decisions put them in the line of danger and we cannot empathize because all three understand the dangers, yet they choose to risk their lives.

Bynum’s direction, much like his story is overstylized. He attempts to pad the story with characters that we can empathize with, namely Thomas Jane’s Sergeant Frank Calhoun. Emory Cohen (“Brooklyn”) plays Dex, the drug dealer and the muscle. The performance is just as unassuming as Roe’s, almost to the point of being comical. He is physically threatening, but that’s all he really is.

There is a moment of irony as we are introduced to William Fichtner’s Shep. The scantily clad hostess in the room is sitting at a piano, playing “Layla (Piano Exit)”, a song that typically exemplifies an oncoming, ominous problem. She is immune to the business deal that Daniel is trying to run on his own. The scene is drab, yet full of light. We are hopeful that Daniel will come through unscathed, but the odds are against him.

Had Bynum made this film 20 years ago, I think he would have found more success. He had the right ideas, but couldn’t full execute on them. Timothee Chalamet does prove that he can carry a film. He doesn’t upstage his co-stars and he connects with every actor on the screen. We like him because he’s miserable and finds love; we hate him because he tries to take on too much. In the end, the hyperstylized world that Bynum creates feels out of date and out of touch.

Rating 2.5 out of 4.

Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti’ is an uninspired trip

Directed by:  Edouard Deluc

Written by:  Edouard Deluc, Etienne Comar, Thomas Lilti, and Sarah Kaminsky, based on the book by Paul Gauguin

Starring:  Vincent Cassel and Tuhei Adams 

“Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti” – Paul Gauguin (Vincent Cassel), a French, post-impressionist artist, is living his dream in Tahiti, at least in two respects. 

“I paint and draw all day long.  I live in harmony with everything around me,” Gauguin exclaims with glee. 

Prior to his move, he grew frustrated with France’s most glamorous city in 1891, because of his inability to enjoy a proper work/life balance, a phrase often used in the corporate world in 2018.  One night, Gauguin grumbles to his friends that “we spend half our time and all our energy” to make a simple living.

Tahiti represents an escape to his nirvana, and director/co-writer Edouard Deluc offers movie audiences a chance to experience Gauguin’s life in this faraway land, but the painter’s time in paradise grew into difficult internal and personal financial battles.  In fact, when looking up struggling artist in the dictionary, it probably includes: see also Paul Gauguin, the Tahiti years.

Unfortunately, Deluc’s film struggles too. 

“Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti” carries a runtime of just 102 minutes, but it feels much longer, as our lead randomly lumbers through jungles, mountains and along coastlines.  He tries to establish himself as a contributing resident, but the film offers no real milestones and does not effectively deep dive into the lead’s emotional ascents and descents.  We become distant observers to the man’s on-screen events rather than feeling his experiences.  

As far as experiencing Tahiti itself, Deluc and cinematographer Pierre Cottereau take full advantage of the natural splendor with a constant barrage of gorgeous set pieces on beaches, near waterfalls and in valleys with palm trees standing close by and lush, green buttes smiling in the distance.  Gauguin’s hopes for environmental wonders ring true, which provide him inspiration, and a young Tahitian woman named Tehura (Tuhei Adams) does as well.  

He forms a romantic relationship - and an apparent marriage - with her, although their on-screen ceremony seems like playacting, rather than a serious ritual.  A majority of the movie features their beats as a couple.  She serves as his muse, and Deluc films several scenes with Tehura posing in various ways, while Gauguin enjoys painting images of her on canvas after canvas.  Due to their significant age difference, Gauguin – naturally - makes all the important household decisions, and Tehura functions as his quiet subordinate. 

Quiet is one of the issues with their formal (or informal) bond, because the film does not really offer substantive discussions between the two.  Their relationship goes nowhere, other than to fill space for Gauguin’s craft.  Meanwhile, the monetary issues that compromised Gauguin in Paris follow him to the island, in a clear case of no matter where you go, there you are.   

Straining to rub two francs together, Gauguin’s attitude and health take expected downturns, and Cassel’s performance conveys the artist’s decline.  Cassel is 51 but looks over 65 with a straggly, gray beard, unkempt and greasy streaks of hair and an ever-present film of sweat draped on his loose-fitting clothes.  Poverty does not positively contribute to his overall well-being, and he noticeably coughs during the second and third acts.  Never a good sign. 

“Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti” truly gives the audience a good sense of this particular artist’s life and accompanying mindset but regrettably, through an uneventful and monotonous narrative.  Well, just a portion of his life, because 95 percent of the film is set during Gauguin’s short stay in Tahiti.  Actually, Deluc’s choice for a film title is misleading, because we do not see Gauguin’s voyage - by boat - to the Pacific.  Hey, this critic felt a little cheated, but then again, watching 102 detached minutes of lackluster, uninspired exertion was a bit worse.   

(2/4 stars)

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

Blindspotting - Movie Review by Ben Cahlamer

Blindspotting

Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada

Written by Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs

Starring Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ethan Embry, Tisha Campell-Martin, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Wayne Knight

There is a certain rhythm inherent in a movie’s story. Whether it’s the beat the characters move to, the three-act script or the music, all the pieces converge on one focal point to form an underlying drama.  Without that rhythm, nothing moves.

In Carlos Lopez Estrada’s inspiring film, “Blindspotting,” the film’s rhythm is very much that of Oakland, California. As it happens, I had a chance to visit the city for the first time last fall on my travels, and the film captures the essence and feel of the changing dynamic that affects everyone who lives, works or even visits, especially those whose roots are firmly planted in a city facing mass gentrification.

Featuring a script from rapper – actors Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, the story concerns itself with Collin’s (Diggs) desire to complete his community service following a prison sentence. Mr. Diggs’ performance is a tour de force in dramatic tension as his character witnesses a life-altering event that shakes him to the core of his being. His best friend, Miles (Casal) concerns himself with his image and is less to do with his responsibilities as a father and a husband. Mr. Casal’s performance speaks volumes to the swagger the character thinks he needs to carry to survive and thrive in an ever-changing environment.

The story uses Collin’s struggles to stay the straight and narrow because he knows that even as a black man in Oakland, the police will detain him. Mr. Diggs and Mr. Casal smartly use comedy, and more importantly, the buddy-comedy motif to break up the tension, allowing us to breathe.

Mr. Estrada uses sight and sound to bring us into the ever-changing world that is Oakland, bringing in visual cues and characters to surround our leads. Janna Gavankar plays Val. Val understands Collin and wants to see him find the best part of himself. There’s a quiet brooding approach to the way Jasmine Cephas Jones plays Ashley, Miles’ partner. Midway through the film, there is a scene between them where she gives Miles a piece of her mind; you could feel the audience reacting to this scene, it was palpable. To give the scene away here, would ruin a part of the film, but it is a theme that plays into all of our worst fears.

Music is a key ingredient to this film. First time director Mr. Estrada interweaves the rhythmic sounds that have emanated from the Bay Area for a long time. The film’s music supervisor, Jonathan McHugh attended the SXSW screening I was at and he mentioned that the production wanted music that was authentic to Oakland. Those choices drive home the “love-letter” aspect to the film’s message.

I would be remiss if I didn’t call out Mr. Diggs’ performance, specifically. I must acknowledge Mr. Estrada’s direction in setting up this scene, but towards the end of the film, Mr. Diggs, his eyes wide open, full of emotion, exhales in a percussive rap that expresses how we all feel about the current state of life. The scene allows us to exhale; to recognize that change is all about us, that we must deal with it in our own way, but we must also be willing to change to see the light.

The film opened Sundance in January and was subsequently picked up by Lionsgate for distribution. The film opened in LA and NYC last weekend, expands to Phoenix this weekend and will slowly expand in August. Audiences at SXSW were thunderous in their applause. The film is very much in the moment; it’s fears are laid out for us to explore. Mr. Estrada has been named as one of the directors to keep an eye on because he wrapped his head around what Mr. Daveed and Mr. Casal had to say. “Blindspotting” is beautiful, inspired, scary and timely, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

4 out of 4 stars

Five Memorable Troubled-teen Films by Jeff Michell

“Eighth Grade” enjoyed an exceedingly successful screening on the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival’s closing night, and the movie opened three months later - on July 20 - at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square Theatres.  To help celebrate writer/director Bo Burnham’s entertaining and insightful comedy - starring Elsie Fisher and Josh Hamilton - the Phoenix Film Festival is looking back at 15 notable teen films through a three-part series. 

On July 13, we recalled “Five great female-led teen films”, and this week, our focus shifts to teenagers with difficulties.  Wait, don’t the words teenagers and difficulties go hand in hand?  Okay, that is not exactly fair, because being a teenager is no simple, straightforward Ferris wheel ride in the crazy amusement park of life.  Those years can feel like a five-year trip on a wild roller coaster that flies off the tracks every five days or so.  Well, here are five memorable troubled-teen films that do not fly off the tracks, but their lead characters sometimes do.     

“Mustang” (2015) – “Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has” – Anita Brookner.  For five, giggling, likable sisters – raised by their grandmother and ranging in ages between (about) 9 and 16 – they misspend their time like any group of schoolgirls.  On one fateful day, Selma (Tugba Sunguroglu), Sonay (Ilayda Akdogan), Ece (Elit Iscan), Nur (Doga Zeynep Doguslu), and Lale (Gunes Sensoy) harmlessly play in the Black Sea with some boys, but their uncle responds with massively excessive repercussions.  Their aunts and grandmother immediately begin an enclosed, authoritarian mission by attempting to tame the girls into domesticated traditions, and their home suddenly becomes a “wife factory”, as noted by the youngest, Lale.  While drastic lifestyle-shifts encircle them, director/co-writer Deniz Gamze Erguven organically communicates the involved bonds of sisterhood through warm and agonizing moments within emotionally and physically-enclosed spaces.  Her heartbreaking film might capture two specific struggles - children vs. adults and freedom of expression vs. hardline oppression - better than any film in recent memory.    

“The Breakfast Club” (1985) – Five high school kids – “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal” – find themselves trapped in school on Saturday at 7 a.m., but not for a senior prom committee meeting or a yearbook planning session.  These teens – played by Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, and Judd Nelson - earned daylong detention in the school’s library with a brazen assistant principal (Paul Gleeson), who enforces them to sit with a serious of cannots.  They cannot talk, cannot do homework, cannot sleep, and cannot move seats for the entire day.  Fun, right?  Although John Hughes’ high school classic earns plenty of laughs, his movie is well known for addressing deep-seated teenage problems that that can plague any kid, no matter which crowd that they choose.  Can these starkly different personalities avoid killing each other long enough to form lasting bonds?  Hey, give five kids a common enemy, provide an environment for frank discussion and anything is possible!  

“The Spectacular Now” (2013) – High school movies commonly glamorize alcohol indulgences and/or kegger parties as comedic baptisms into adulthood, but director James Ponsoldt takes an all-together different approach with “The Spectacular Now”.  He explores the destructive patterns of teen alcoholism and the collateral damage left in its wake in his awfully sobering (pardon the pun) drama with Miles Teller starring as a troubled kid.  Sutter (Teller) goes through the motions with classwork, but actively makes friends and constantly plans for weekend bashes.  He does not always excessively drink, but Sutter usually ensures that liquid courage is within his grasp in blatant and subtle ways.  For example, Ponsoldt’s camera captures Sutter harmlessly sipping on a random bottled beer in between tapping keys on his computer.  The underlying message?  Alcohol is this kid’s crutch, whether he knows it or not.  Sutter’s carefree, adolescent existence, however, takes a sharp grown-up turn, once Aimee (Shailene Woodley) – a sweet and studious girl - strides into his immediate view.  He falls for her, but soon realizes that his addictions carry unintended consequences. 

“Thirteen” (2003) – Tracy Freeland (Evan Rachel Wood) studies hard, listens to her mom (Holly Hunter) and mostly gets long with her older brother (Brady Corbet), but this 13-year-old – seemingly overnight - succumbs to peer pressure, taps into a litany of taboo vices and happily circles into a downward spiral that would make even the most self-destructive rock stars enormously envious.  Director Catherine Hardwicke grabs a handheld camera and follows Tracy on her rite of twisted-passage, one fueled by equal portions of rage and desire.  Rage stems from her father’s absence, and desire - to feel like an adult - erupts through Evie (Nikki Reed), her new and very popular best friend.  The picture sometimes feels like an exercise in showcasing every single ghastly behavior that a teenager can possibly conjure, because every new step that Tracy takes into a pseudo-adult abyss feels more irresponsible than the last.  Rather than accept Tracy’s rampage as an everyday teen paradigm, the picture succeeds as a holistic struggle between a mother and her daughter, led by two exceptional performances by Hunter and Wood.

“We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2011) – “You don’t look happy,” Eva (Tilda Swinton) says to her son Kevin (Ezra Miller).  He responds, “Have I ever?”  Kevin makes an astute and obvious point in director Lynne Ramsay’s deeply-disturbing slow burn.  Eva lives alone in a modest house, but when she steps outside, nearly everyone at work, the grocery store, ordinary sidewalks, and wherever else treats her like a pariah.  While Ramsay delves into Eva’s current hell, she also flashes back to the character’s past anguish as well, a time when she and her husband Franklin (John C. Reilly) became parents.  The audience does not really see their son Kevin as a teen until the second half of the 1-hour 52-minute film, but no matter what his age – an infant, toddler, preteen, and teen – this kid is the stuff of nightmares for any current or want-to-be mom or dad.  The battle between Eva and Kevin is downright frightening, and their emotional tussles compliment Ramsay’s artful and deliberately hazy imagery in a film that will stir plenty of unsettling conversation after the end credits roll.

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

The Equalizer 2 - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

The Equalizer 2

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, and Melissa Leo

The avenging hero is a classic cinematic archetype that has been represented as a lone samurai, a silent gunslinger, and a vigilante law enforcer; it’s a character that functions to offer that satisfactory pleasure of watching terrible people find their comeuppance with violent, brutal actions. These kind of heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and watching them in all their different formats can be either a tedious lesson in gratuitous violence or an intriguing insight into the composition of human behavior and emotion. The film catalog of director Antoine Fuqua is spotted with these characters, Mr. Fuqua even offered his version of the classic vigilante posse film with the remake of the seminal western “The Magnificent Seven”.

Denzel Washington returns for his fourth outing with Fuqua with “The Equalizer  2”, the follow-up about a justice seeking loner who can disassemble an entire room of bad guys while keeping track of time on his wrist watch. “The Equalizer” was a film that worked mostly because of its simplistic approach to the story and because it was fronted by the talent of Denzel Washington who can make any movie better. “The Equalizer 2” offers another dedicated performance but struggles with making a story worth returning for.

Robert “Mac” McCall (Denzel Washington) has transitioned to another town, taking up occupation as a Lyft driver. On the daily Mac transports people around the city, hearing different happy moments of their lives but also encountering some pretty terrible people along the way, most of these encounters don’t end well for the terrible people. Mac helps the people in his apartment complex, specifically a young man named Miles (Ashton Sanders) who is being coerced into joining the local gang. Tragedy strikes as Mac’s old friend is killed, leading him to track down the killers responsible.

 Vigilante films are structured fairly similarly, however it’s not so much the story that makes these films interesting but rather the character that moves the film into intriguing territory. Characters like Mac in this film, The Bride from “Kill Bill”, Jack Carter from “Get Carter”, Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver”, or Sanjuro from “Yojimbo” are all different kinds of justice seekers, each with different moral compasses. Denzel Washington composes this character here with a rigid structure, the character is a man with a code and it’s that design that makes him interesting to a large point.

The narrative with “The Equalizer 2” overstuffs the storylines, adding side stories that range from interesting to unnecessary. The story with a young artist named Miles offers the best moments and insight into Mac’s rigorous code. Still, the narrative seems to be trying for too much; this hurts the pacing of the film in spots, leaving it hindered with dull moments. There are still some very interesting moments throughout the film, specifically the relationship with Mac and Miles and of course when the avenger is left to bring havoc to the bad guys.

There are few unnecessary technical flares incorporated into the film; an annoying first person video game perspective takes all the suspense out of a late scene and the atmospheric overload of wind and rain in the final battle makes it hard to distinguish what is going on.

“The Equalizer 2” doesn’t always work in creating the kind of story that will compliment an interesting character like the one here. Denzel Washington is consistently engaging in the role; when given the opportunity to function as purely an adrenaline fueled action film with, the film eventual comes to life.

Monte’s Rating

3.00 out of 5.00

Eighth Grade - Movie Review by Ben Cahlamer

Eighth Grade

Written and Directed by Bo Burnham

Starring Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Fred Hechlinger

Eighth grade is that rite of passage from child-like actions into the beginnings of responsibility. It is also about coming out of your shell, becoming more of a socializer. What happens when social angst and technology collide?

Bo Burnham explores this facet of eighth grade in his debut film “Eighth Grade”. Burnham started his career as a stand-up comedian, so his natural direction in the story is comedy. Elsie Fisher plays Kayla Day and as the film opens up, we see her in her final week of eighth grade. Kayla is impish; she takes solace in her Instagram account and her music, something Burnham uses throughout the film to carry his themes forward.

To gain a better understanding of Kayla, we need to understand who she is. Burnham sets Kayla up as a self-help guru, creating videos for You Tube with lots of nervous fits of tips and tricks to guide faceless and nameless souls who happen on her videos. Something happens in the prologue that gives us hope that she will find a way through her awkwardness: a genuine desire to help others.

Kayla, who lives on her phone also lives with her dad, a single father. Josh Hamilton plays Mark. It hadn’t occurred to me until I sat down to write this review that Mark is very much like Fred Flintstone: he lives in the modern age, but he can’t connect with his modern daughter. A lot of that has to do with his own social anxieties about trying to get through to her.

Kayla’s awkwardness makes it difficult to connect with others so when she is invited to Kennedy’s (Catherine Oliviere) birthday party, she reluctantly accepts the invite.  After an anxiety attack, she joins the party where swoons for the middle school hottie, Aiden (Like Prael), has to explain her gift and unsuccessfully avoids the attention of Kennedy’s cousin, Gabe (Jake Ryan).

The pool party is the beginning of her journey of self-discovery as she takes a leap of faith.  Burnham makes a point to be self-reflective here as Kayla is given her time capsule created at the beginning of her sixth grade year: artifacts from three years prior; movie tickets, a program from a Broadway play, a SpongeBob SquarePants figurine and other items, which to the sixth grade Kayla were symbolic enough to be included.

The pivotal moment in her transformation is meeting Olivia (Emily Robinson) when the eighth graders shadow outgoing seniors. It is the first time that Kayla can relate to someone. There is an intended age gap in the relationship and ultimately a friendship because it forces Kayla to realize that no matter the social setting, it is okay to be yourself. Underpinning this realization is an awkward moment with one of Olivia’s friends and Kayla, which sets in motion the one true bonding moment Kayla has with her dad, a poignant moment to be sure.

Throughout all of this, no matter your status, no matter who you are, you can never change yourself for someone else. Technology won’t change that. A light-hearted moment has Kayla thanking Kennedy for the pool party invite through the most non-technological means possible which is bookended by Kayla finding her true voice.

This is Bo Burnham’s “John Hughes moment”. It doesn’t have the same cliquey feel as “The Breakfast Club,” but it certainly reminds us that we were all awkward once, that it is okay to laugh at ourselves and sometimes, we just need to breathe. Some of us are still trying to find it, but Burnham’s message here is that the journey never ends; make the best of what life has to offer.

Rating 3.75 out of 4

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’ gets horribly lost

Directed by:  Gus Van Sant

Written by:  Gus Van Sant, Jack Gibson and William Andrew Eatman, based on the book by John Callahan

Starring:  Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jonah Hill, and Jack Black

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” – According to Google, a mess is defined as a situation or state of affairs that is confused or full of difficulties.

Gus Van Sant’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” - a biopic about cartoonist John Callahan’s life after a car accident left him mostly paralyzed at age 21 - is a mess. 

A confusing mess, one that Van Sant overcomplicates and creates narrative difficulties, where none should exist. 

A successful film adaption of John’s story should be a foregone conclusion with Van Sant guiding the cast and crew, and Joaquin Phoenix working his magic as the lead.  Phoenix is a natural at playing troubled protagonists and just look to his work in films like “Signs” (2002), “Walk the Line” (2005), “Her” (2013), “Inherent Vice” (2014), and “You Were Never Really Here” (2018) as clear examples.

Here, Phoenix dives headfirst into this role and into the bottom of various bottles of on-screen alcohol.  Before his brand-new friend Dexter (Jack Black) slams his blue Volkswagen into a light pole at 90 mph - with John in the passenger seat - the future cartoonist sports a look that can best be described as: disheveled junkie.  (Note: alcohol-induced)  With an uncombed, stringy mop of rusty-red hair and a Hawaiian shirt last spotted inside a Palm Springs casino, John drifts around Los Angeles and into Dexter’s car for an all-night bender of drinking and driving that ends terribly. 

After local police pick up the broken pieces (including John) off the road, our lead now faces the emotional torture of confronting his new, life-changing mobility struggles and his already-existing drinking problem.

Annu (Rooney Mara), an approachable nurse, who resembles a dreamlike, infinitely empathetic angel from a planet of smiles, and Donnie (Jonah Hill), a blonde-haired and blunt Alcohol Anonymous mentor bound by his laid-back mental-handbook, help guide John from the darkness of both afflictions. 

Most regrettably, Van Sant’s end product is afflicted and horribly jumbled by a clunky, non-linear timeline that seems to serve no point other than to possibly deliver an organic, unrefined 1-hour and 53-minute event for the audience. 

Walking out of the theatre, one will certainly absorb John’s collective mass of encounters towards his hopeful sobriety and sense of purpose.  Yes, the picture does convey these concepts from screen to theatre seats, but under a muddled arrangement of individual occurrences, each one lasting a few minutes with little connective tissue to the very next scene.  At times, John truly works on his addictions with minor breakthroughs, but then plunges back into despair.  Sure, recovering alcoholics may temporarily fall from their ascendant paths, but Van Sant does not apply known rhymes or reasons for John’s patterns in his celluloid bio.

Sometimes, the subsequent images fall within a linear timeline, and other times, they don’t.  Annu pops into town for a quick lunch or shopping spree and then disappears for 40 minutes of screen time.  Carrie Brownstein (“Portlandia” (2011 – 2018)) plays some sort of insurance agent who releases money and resources for John.  Apparently, Suzanne (Brownstein) is an important character, but she first appears around the 55-minute mark (this is a guess) during a hasty shouting match with John. 

Are we supposed to know her?   Evidently.  Who is she again?

Non-linear timelines can work extraordinary well (see “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Memento” (2000)), but they should serve a specific objective, and it’s hard to find one in this film.

Worst of all, the construction lays waste to Phoenix’s compelling, transformative performance.  John swallows and explodes with feelings of regret and loss throughout most of the picture, but his road to recovery becomes stymied by narrative cul-de-sacs that cutoff his route.   Momentum is lost through sudden downshifts into completely different gears, as Van Sant halts our emotive beats and then asks for jump-starts 18 minutes later. 

Sorry, this critic cannot exactly operate that way, and although humans can be messes at times, our movie experiences should not be cluttered ones.    

(1.5/4 stars) 

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

An interview with “Eighth Grade” writer/director Bo Burnham by Jeff Mitchell

Ask a few, random adults about their eighth-grade experiences, and they might shiver in horror or shake their heads as a way to dismiss the question and the memories of the surreal purgatory between preteen innocence and young adulthood.   Well, eighth grade might not be that bad, but it can be a most trying time when social pressures, hormonal changes and anxiety peak, and senior year seems five or six centuries away. 

Well, Phoenix Film Festival enthusiasts did not have to wait six centuries for writer/director Bo Burnham’s comedy.  The 2018 Festival screened “Eighth Grade” - to a sold-out audience - on its closing night, April 15!  The next day, Burnham sat down with the Phoenix Film Festival - during a fun and insightful group interview with other movie outlets – and he spoke about his reasons for making the film, coping with today’s technology and much, much more.

“Eighth Grade” stars Elsie Fisher and Josh Hamilton, and it arrives in theatres on Friday, July 20.

Q:  Your film is from an eighth-grade girl’s perspective.  How did you find this character?

BB:  I wanted to write about the Internet.  So, I wrote a ton of stuff with all these different characters, stumbled upon Kayla (Fisher) and found that I could say everything (that) I wanted through her. 

So, it was not a conscious decision to write about an eighth-grade girl. 

I (am) violently-aware that I (am) a man.  Truly.  So, I (proceeded) with caution, but I mean, it just felt natural to me.  I think on the Internet, we all act like eighth graders, so it makes a lot of sense that a movie about the Internet would be about an eighth grader.  I think eighth graders are the only ones being themselves on the Internet.  We’re all being more immature versions of ourselves, (but) then I watched hundreds of videos of kids. 

Boys talked about Minecraft, and girls talked about their souls.  At that age, at least, the girls run severely more deep and interesting.  The eighth-grade boys’ stories are just a little more cloister or closed-off.  I think girls – for whatever reason…cultural pressures, whatever – are sort of forced to see themselves in that narrative a lot earlier than boys.  

Boys.  I don’t even know what they are thinking about at that age.  I met lot of them, and I still don’t know what they are thinking about.  The girls can actually have adult conversations and can actually talk.  They seem like young adults who are very, very thoughtful, and the boys are just like, ya know…

Bo Burnham and Elsie Fisher on the set of EIGHTH GRADE

Q:  In the mall, Kayla meets an older classmate’s friends, but some of them dismiss her, because she is a few years younger, a different generation in a way.  Generations seem to have wide swathes of years (Baby Boomers, Generation X, etc.), but do you think that they are shrinking these days because of technology?

BB:  I do.  It feels like it!  My girlfriend is 12 years older than me, and we feel closer than people four years younger than me.  I got Facebook, when I was 16 or 17 and had a little sense of myself before social media.  I would’ve been very different if I had Facebook (during) my freshman year of high school, only three years earlier. 

These sort of paradigm-shifting things are happening (all the time).  It used to be, (that we had) the printing press and then the Model T and then now…

There was a whole decade of people who listened to The Beatles.  Now, the culture turns over so, so quickly, do we even remember before 2017?  When was Obama president?  Like 12 years ago?  The generations are getting shorter, because time is getting wider, or something.  

Q:  It feels like the culture changes from year to year.  References that are “in” now will be “out” one year from now. 

BB:  Yea, culture ages like milk.  It’s why a lot of movies are nostalgic and set in other time periods, because people hate the current moment.  They think that we don’t even have a culture.  I think it may be right in a sense, that our culture is just recycling other images.  Like a weird dishwasher spin cycle of retro stuff, which is sad and strange. 

PFF's Jeff Mitchell with Bo Burnham

Q:  Retro is kind of “in” right now.

BB:  Yea, but what were the Aughts?  We know what the 90’s were.  We know what the 80’s were.  What were the Aughts?  Were they something?  What (is) now?  Do we have a name for this decade?  I don’t know.  It’s a weird moment.  To be a kid in it is just wild. 

Q:  Would you want to live in a time before all of this technology?

BB:  No, no, I don’t think so.  I’d probably be happier.  I definitely wouldn’t want to write about another time.  I’m interested about this time.  It’s an interesting time to be alive and to be American and to be in the culture. 

(Pause…) Yea, I’d probably like to be in another time, (and) go back to cassette players and half the country not hating the other half of the country.  That’s fine.  

Q:  This is your John Hughes’ moment, because “Eighth Grade” captures what it’s like to be a kid during this time. 

BB:  Hughes is a good reference in a sense, because he captured – at the time – something very true.  The crux of the struggle of being a teen in the 1980’s was: how do you fit into the ecosystem of the (classroom)?  How do you feel (about) your parents and your family?  He captured it so well, that (filmmakers) have just recycled (these concepts) with different cultural decorations in different decades, but I don’t think it’s the core issue that kids are dealing with (today). 

So, you (can have) them dealing with being a jock or an emo kid with a cellphone, but for me, the struggle with being a kid now is interior.  If you notice in the movie, Kayla doesn’t get bullied.  She just gets ignored.   She just doesn’t (receive other kids’) attention, and (they) are giving or withholding (it) to each other.  Dispassionate attention is the sort of currency that goes around. 

We’re almost (wishing) for the days of high school hierarchy, parents who hated us and yelled at us, and we slammed the door in their faces.  Now, we are these fragile, little ego-people in our own heads, and our parents are looking at us like, “Are you okay?”  There are a bunch of kids on their phones, hyperconnected and super-lonely.  Overstimulated and completely numb, and I think that extends to adults too.  I think the bigger American problem is there’s no sense of community.  Even the jocks, the nerds, the cheerleaders, and the dorks.  That is a community.  So, the breakdown of that is sad, in a way. 

Bo Burnham at the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival. Photo by Jennifer Mullins

Q:  Kayla and her father (Josh Hamilton) have a good relationship, even though she is more wrapped up with school, trying to make friends and focused on her phone.   What if her dad started dating?  Would she fight for attention or continue to pull back?

BB:  That’s hilarious.  I don’t know.  There are only five days in the life (of this movie).  That’s a whole other movie.  So much of the story is about the tiny things in Kayla’s life (that) are huge to her.  We are going really deep into five days, but at the end of the “day”, you don’t know her completely.  There are things that Kayla and her dad only know, and things that only she knows.  

Q:  Every little event in school is a huge moment or struggle for Kayla, it seems.

BB:  Exactly.  I think that’s why kids relate to Harry Potter.  They actually don’t see Harry Potter (films) as escapist.  They see (those movies) as realistic.  Could we make a movie that has a high stakes-feeling (like) those Young Adult films, but the actual stakes are pretty low?  For Kayla, walking to the pool party (is like) walking into some giant, hellish cave or something.  So, that was the hope:  to balance or synch the heartrates of Kayla and the audience. 

Q:  “Eighth Grade” is a coming-of-age film, but it feels like a horror movie at times too.  Did you have scary movies in the back of your mind when showing the horrors of eighth grade and the pressures that come with it?

BB:  I wasn’t going for that, but I was just trying to be honest.  I’m interested in cringe as a high form of empathy.  To cringe with something is to feel it.  Eighth grade is horrifying.  Truly, it is horrifying, and I’m glad that the movie feels like that at times. 

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

An Interview with Boots Riley, director of Sorry to Bother You by Monte Yazzie

Changing the Game: Talking Film and Filmmaking with Hip Hop Pioneer and First Time Filmmaker Boots Riley

Since 1993 hip hop group The Coup have been challenging the contemporary music industry system with thought provoking albums that clearly have a finger on the pulse of the political landscape but also offer keen insights into cultural perspective, America’s tarnished history, and Oakland, California. Over 70’s inspired funk, soul, and R&B beats that capture both the rhythm of the streets and the essence of the dance club, group founder Boots Riley is a pioneer for West Coast hip hop, it’s also easy to call Boots royalty amongst the pantheon of MC’s that have ever touched the mic.

25 years in the game and Boots is still operating like an artist in his prime. It’s hard to believe that the classic album, “Steal This Album”, was released in the late 90’s. It still feels as pertinent, if not more pertinent, than it was in 1998 with its themes of resistance, political movement, and lyrical imagery that are equally gritty and surreal. Boots has evolved the sound of The Coup towards thematic levels, even composing a concept album called “Sorry to Bother You”. Well before the release of this album Boots was already planning the next move, writing a script in 2012 that he eventually took to Sundance.

We had the opportunity to chat with Boots Riley and talk with him about his film “Sorry to Bother You”. Boots is an artist who wants to create material not easily categorized, an artist who has crafted a film that is as bold and captivating as his music.

Q: I still have your movie on my mind. And I have so many questions about your hip hop career so it’s going to be difficult to stick to just to film. Your film is so layered with themes like comedy, political satire, some real dramatic moments, and even themes similar to the genre of horror or science fiction. What are your cinematic influences for “Sorry to Bother You”?

BOOTS RILEY: There’s a lot, thing is, I do wear all my influences on my sleeve, but I try to have a lot of sleeves. So, I would say, Emir Kusturica’s “Black Cat, White Cat”, there is a chaos he brings in the photography with his camera movements and his other films “Underground” and “Time of the Gypsies”. “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters”, if you watch that movie there is a nod to it in my film. Even stuff like Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart”, what he did with lighting and reflections. Michael Cimino, “Deer Hunter” and “Heaven’s Gate” have scale and what they do with crowds, and similar in Milos Forman’s early stuff like “Loves of a Blonde”. Sergei Parajanov for some of the wider things, “The Color of the Pomegranates” specifically. And then a person that stole a lot from that movie, which I also like the movie in certain ways, is “A Holy Mountain” by Alejandro Jodorowsky. And, let’s see, Lindsay Anderson and his trilogy of films “If”, “O Lucky Man!”, and “Britannia Hospital”. Definitely Luis Buñuel, specially “The Exterminating Angel”. But directors like Stanley Kubrick, people who take themselves seriously as filmmakers, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Terry Gilliam, those are all influences. I don’t know where to stop.

Q: What an impressive list of films and auteurs. Was it hard to layer the different elements happening in your film to something manageable and satisfying to you. With so many influences it sounds like it might have been difficult to find the right way to layer the script?

BOOTS RILEY: I centered it around the things we know are real. If I do that with composition and performance then I can do anything. We care about Cassius in the film and actor Lakeith Stanfield is giving us a performance that feels realer than most because of his choices, because he’s not face acting or eyebrow acting. We do see things in his face but he’s not giving us the “confused look” with my eyebrow up, or here’s the “concerned look”; Lakeith is more concerned about what Lakeith feels and that’s going to show up, albeit in different ways than others. I have notes on the movie that say he should be more active, and I didn’t agree with that. But I knew that we couldn't have him delivering regular Hollywood choices, I knew we couldn't have him do that because it takes us a step further back and then all the fantastical things will start to feel like gimmicks.

Q: His normalcy really grounds the film. You see Lakeith in other films and he is usually tasked with being these bigger, more eccentric characters. Here he is given something more subtle and it works in grounding the character. Detroit (Tessa Thompson) feels like an amalgamation of the entire catalog of The Coup albums, was that purposeful?

BOOTS RILEY: Every character I wrote as myself. That’s my way of making sure I’m putting humanity in it and not saying “here’s what this person would say”. It’s “here’s what I would say” if I had these particular experiences, here’s what I would say and reflecting it off of that. Definitely, it may be strange to some people, but Detroit is probably the closest character to me.

Q: You can feel that completely. For those that know your history in hip hop and the way your group challenged the political landscape, you can clearly see who you are in the characters. You’ve been in the entertainment industry for a long time. As someone who has been in the changing political landscape since the early 90’s, was it planned or just plain luck that this movie seems to hitting at the right time in terms of our current political atmosphere? Like if you made this movie at any other time in your career, it may not have been the right time.

BOOTS RILEY: It’s probably a combination of a lot of things. I think that there are movements that the entertainment industry is trying to respond to. I think that maybe what I was doing would have had less chance of getting funded when I finished writing it in 2012. Not that it had no chance, it just would have had less chance. I think that all of these things, for instance I wrote it when Obama was in office, but Trump being in office has caused people to notice some things that have always been happening. And, separate from that, there are movements on the streets like “Black Lives Matter” and “Occupy” some years ago that have made it obvious that people are looking for something else. I think all of those things coming together have made this be the movie of the moment. But it’s also luck, because usually film will try to respond to the time, like right now there would have been someone writing a movie who is responding to these times. And that movie would come out three years from now, when it isn’t about this. But this is the stuff that I have been talking about my whole career, and its the stuff that is relevant to people’s lives, and actually it’s been relevant to people’s lives forever. But right now media outlets are open to talking about these things now.

Q: If you were going to pair this movie in a double or triple feature, your movie playing first, what would you choose?

BOOTS RILEY: I don’t know. I would play something totally different so mine seems better.

Skyscraper - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

Skyscraper

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber, Noah Taylor, Roland Moller, and Chin Han

Take the barebones plot of “Die Hard”, now add fire to the building like “The Towering Inferno”, and lastly let Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson fight some bad guys. The elevator pitch for director/writer Rawson Marshall Thurber’s “Skyscraper” probably went something like that. And for a summer popcorn movie I’m sure that was more than enough information to greenlight this 80’s-esque action throwback. Having Dwayne Johnson as the foundation for a behemoth building-on-fire film is a pretty good way to guarantee that even though your film might check every single genre cliché, it will still have charm and entertainment value.

Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) is a retired FBI hostage rescue agent, also retired soldier, who is doing building security contract work in Hong Kong. However, this isn’t just a regular building, this is the tallest building in the world. It is Will’s job to make sure it is also the safest building in the world. Will’s wife Sarah (Neve Campbell) and their two children (McKenna Roberts and Noah Cottrell) are the only people living inside the luxury rooms located high up in the skyscraper. While checking an offsite facility, where the sophisticated building operations system is located, the building is suddenly set on fire and blamed on Will who soon finds out his family is still in the building and he is the only one who can save them.

During one of the pivotal action scenes, the moment in the movie when our everyday hero moves from ordinary to extraordinary, Mr. Johnson’s character utters the line, “This is stupid”. The same may be uttered by some audience members during the movie as well. However, taking a look at the movie poster, which shows Dwayne Johnson jumping from construction equipment into a burning building, it’s obvious the kind of movie you are paying for. It’s a nonsensical, physics defying popcorn film in the vein of the movies teens from the 1980’s fondly recount.

The story is simplistic and idiotic at times, however the composition of Will Sawyer as a determined tough guy who, after an accident, must deal with having a prosthetic limb adds some nice moments of suspense. And it also limits the physicality of the character and specifically, for someone with an intimidating physique like Dwayne Johnson, it seems to give the bad guys an advantage during combat scenes and it makes the high-flying action scenes have increased suspense. Yes, we know nothing is going to happen to the character, that’s not how these kinds of films work; but when fire is blazing, when the ground seems miles away, or when our hero is dangling from a building by his prosthetic leg (as seen in the trailer), it’s intriguing to see how the character will escape his predicament.

Dwayne Johnson fits perfectly into the mix as the good guy out to save his family. Think about the Bruce Willis’ character John McClane in “Die Hard”, an everyday officer trying to save his wife, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character John Matrix in “Commando”, a masculine soldier trying to save his daughter; Dwayne Johnson’s character here is a mix of both of them and he is completely likable in the performance. Add Neve Campbell, who could easily transition her career with this type of tough character, and the character development nicely accompanies, and many times carries, the hampered script.

“Skyscraper” is a good action film, if you can overlook the fact that coherency will play no prime directive in the film. Still, Dwayne Johnson is a better actor than Arnold Schwarzenegger and has more charm than Sylvester Stallone. If he could only get that Jean-Claude Van Damme roundhouse kick, Johnson would have it all.

Monte’s Rating

2.75 out of 5.00

Five Great Female-Led Teen Films by Jeff Mitchell

Bo Burnham is a successful comedian, but please add feature-film director and writer to his impressive resume!  In “Eighth Grade” – which played on the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival’s closing night – he drags his audience back to that awkward school year in childhood history that most would like to forget.  Elsie Fisher plays Kayla, the unfortunate soul dwelling in the purgatory between preteen innocence and young adulthood, and Josh Hamilton stars as her supportive dad.

Burnham’s hilarious, emotional and perceptive comedy offers plenty of heart, and it arrives in Valley theatres on Friday, July 20.

To help celebrate “Eighth Grade”, here are five great female-led teen films!  This is Part 1 of a 3-Part series, because on July 27 and Aug. 3, the Phoenix Film Festival will publish “Five memorable troubled-teen films” and “The five funniest teen comedies”, respectively.

So, feel free to get up early, catch the bus, arrive before the first bell, and read about new, indie and classic teen movies.

“An Education” (2009) – “I’d be careful, if I were you, Jenny.  You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”  Jenny (Carey Mulligan) – an extremely bright high school senior and only child – studies for hours each day to hopefully land a spot at Oxford, but she receives an altogether different education, when a 30-something man (Peter Sarsgaard) finds interest in her.   In complete command of her craft, Mulligan – who earned a much-deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination - offers a moving and nuanced performance of a girl enjoying her sudden and premature push into adulthood while eagerly shedding her current responsibilities.  Mulligan and an all-star cast - including Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper, and Sarsgaard – pour themselves into their characters and help us ignore familiar storylines, so we can solely learn about Jenny’s dueling life-pathways.

“Juno” (2007) –  Ellen Page, writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman form a formidable driving force of cinematic wit and wonder in their modern-day classic about a teenage girl’s unexpected pregnancy and her decision to become a surrogate.  Through Cody’s Oscar-winning script, Juno (Page) bathes in sarcasm and usually splashes constant barrages of adult questions and retorts towards everyone in her path, with little self-awareness of her naïve – but admirable - core.  For instance, Juno repeatedly refers to her unborn baby as “the thing” and speaks like her nine-month expedition will whip by like recess on a Friday afternoon.  Then again, reality and its accompanied emotions catch up with her.  Well, the picture’s catchy, Bohemian soundtrack matches eccentric visuals, smart writing and colorful characters to add frequent comedic touches to lighten the obvious gravitas.  Juno’s solid support system makes her trying experience easier than most pregnant teens’ predicaments, but then again, it’s just a movie…an exceptional one.

“Pariah” (2011) – “Whenever the bird with no feet flew, she found trees with no limbs.” – Audre Lorde.   These words open writer/director Dee Rees’ (“Mudbound” (2017)) insightful picture, and over the course of the 86-minute runtime, Alike (Adepero Oduye) tries to find that elusive footing.  Frustrated, she feels trapped between expressing her sexuality and coming out to her loving -  but traditional - parents, Audrey (Kim Wayans) and Arthur (Charles Parnell).  Set in New York City, Alike – a straight-A student - gives her folks no problems with her schoolwork, but she routinely breaks curfew and refuses to wear dresses and girlish clothes that her mom picks out.  Audrey and Arthur suspect/know the truth, but spoken candor is in short supply.  Rees offers plenty of tense family drama in close spaces in the big city, while Oduye’s portrayal of Alike’s brave, uncertain flight soars with authenticity. 

“The Edge of Seventeen” (2016) – Seemingly always sporting a sky blue, polyester winter jacket, a skirt and mod basketball sneakers, Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) forms her own counterculture revolution of one and rages against the system…with a passive-aggressive approach.  Her spouting surge of self-pity has been building for years but explodes when her best friend (Haley Lu Richardson) begins dating her brother (Blake Jenner).  Unfortunately, Nadine believes that the Game of Life handed everyone else hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, but sent her to jail where she cannot pass Go and collect 200 dollars.  Woody Harrelson is a breath of fresh air as Nadine’s history teacher and passes along sage advice, when she stops teasing him about his low salary and receding hairline, of course.  Writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig does not retreat from genuine high school troubles and sidesplitting one-liners, and Steinfeld shows natural gifts in conveying both.

“Thoroughbreds” (2018) – “We’ll do it ourselves.”  Teenagers Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) decide to take matters into their own hands, but what will they do exactly?  Plan a Sweet 16 party?  Prepare for the SAT without a study guide?  No, they agree to murder Lily’s stepdad!  Cooke and Taylor-Joy share sinisterly satisfying, on-screen chemistry, when Lily starts speaking honestly to Amanda, an admitted sociopath.  Amanda carries a sorted history, but Lily begins to follow her lead, as this brand-new wrecking crew of two bullies a small-time drug dealer (Anton Yelchin) into executing their dastardly scheme.  Then again, the girls are not that depraved, because Lily’s stepdad really is a horrible jerk.  Writer/director Cory Finley creates an odd, twisted nobility in each character, as they deliver their own corrosive, hypnotic truth, accompanied by the filmmaker’s equally compelling camerawork.  Sadly, this hypnotic dark comedy/crime drama is Yelchin’s last big screen appearance.

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

Sorry to Bother You - Movie Review by Ben Cahlamer

Sorry to Bother You

Written and Directed by Boots Riley

Starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Terry Crews. Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Omari Hardwick, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Kate Berlant

We are fortunate in this age of binge-watching, tentpole-driven media landscape to have as unique a voice as Boots Riley. His latest film, “Sorry to Bother You” is the second film this year to be set in and feature Oakland, California; to paint a picture of the citizens who make up the culture and history of the city.

Riley’s film starts out as unassuming a film as one could expect. Cassius “Cash” Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is down on his luck: he’s living in his uncle’s garage with his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson) and is out of work. Using his own ingenuity, he lands a job at RegalView, a telemarketing firm a la “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Boiler Room.” Cash has trouble at first finding his place until he meets Langston (Danny Glover) who teaches him the secret to closing the deal.

Not everything is as it seems as Riley layers in an ongoing storyline about a one-stop shop company, WorryFree that feeds, shelters and employs those who are also down on their luck. As Cash progresses to the next level of selling, his world collides with the real world with hilarious and dark consequences.

The world that Riley creates is very much in the same vein as Terry Gilliam’s dystopic “Brazil.” The world is well lived in and the characters are believable. The strength Riley’s approach is in his dual story telling. The cast bridges the storylines so effortlessly that you don’t notice the world coming unglued. Stanfield’s physical performance throughout is subtle and graceful. He never loses his cool. You believe that his character is experiencing the events that happen to him.

As subtle as the events Cash experiences are, the supporting cast buoys those experiences. Though their presence in the film is limited, the impact of Danny Glover’s Langston and Armie Hammer’s Steve Lift are critical to the flow of both stories. Tessa Thompson’s Detroit serves a number of purposes throughout the course of the film and her performance flows right along as if nothing was amiss. Steven Yeun plays Squeeze. His character is pivotal as an employee at RegalView as if Jermaine Fowler’s Sal, Cash’s best friend.

Riley’s direction is natural. His story requires the audience to be as engaged the characters are, each an active participant. The use of humor is as natural as the violence is in the film; the themes Riley speaks of are loud and clear. There is a confidence along with a humility. He doesn’t know everything, but his imagination takes over and is razor sharp. There’s something unique about the way Riley wrote the “white” version of Cash and Hammer’s Lift; they parallel each other without stepping over one another. Their motions are subtle and they compliment one another. It’s a moment of perfect casting and characterization.

This film won’t be for everyone, but it should be seen by everyone. Boots Riley is a modern Terry Gilliam. He has a flare for the imaginative, a gift for the truth and he absolutely loves sharing world views with an audience who will listen. “Sorry to Bother You” captivated this reviewer and I’ll shout praises about the film until I’m blue in the face.

4 out of 4

Jeff Mitchell’s Top 10 Films of 2018…so far

Jeff Mitchell’s Top 10 Films of 2018…so far

It is July in Phoenix, and the monsoons have begun!  In mysterious, unexplained ways, a sudden and vicious torrent of Arizona rain can cascade equal amounts of wonder, glee and terror into the hearts of desert dwellers all over the Valley.  

Well, speaking of terror, it feels a bit shocking that half of 2018 has already come and gone.  How did that happen?  Time does fly when one is having fun, because so many terrific movies arrived in theatres this year. 

This critic watched 143 movies from January through the first week of July, and after very, very careful consideration, here – in alphabetical order - are my top 10 films of 2018…so far.  (Oh, which film just missed the list?  My number 11 is Alex Garland’s “Annihilation” starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac.)

“A Quiet Place” – Director John Krasinski channels his inner Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock to scare up the thriller of the year, a brilliantly filmed and constructed alien invasion movie.  With little exposition, Krasinski utilizes a tightly-wound narrative to clearly outline a family’s current, lonely predicament.  The adversarial, unworldly invaders possess extremely acute hearing, so in order to survive, parents Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (Krasinski) and their children Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) need to refrain from making noise.  Even whispering could be dangerous!  Clocking in at 90 minutes, this white-knuckler whips by, as it strangles your voice box and draws out your breath.  Simmonds especially shines in a key supporting role.  

“Abducted in Plain Sight” (previously titled “Forever ‘B’”) – The Broberg family bravely sits in front of director Skye Borgman’s camera and speaks about a horror show in Pocatello, Idaho during the 1970’s that forever changed them.  All five members of this loving family were gravely impacted, but Jan Broberg, the eldest daughter suffered – far and away – the most emotional and physical damage.  She was abducted in plain sight.  The 2018 Phoenix Film Festival Best Documentary winner reveals deeply troubling, unsettling themes, while it continuously astonishes during its deliberately slow reveal.  This unforgettable picture offers very little comfort, but the fact that all five Brobergs are emotionally healthy enough to recount the details of their experiences is a blessing.  A miracle, actually.

“Avengers: Infinity War” – For 10 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards “Avengers: Infinity War”, and directors Anthony and Joe Russo do not disappoint, as they serve up the crown jewel in the staggeringly successful series.  In Marvel’s 19th installment, a purple, eight-foot titan named Thanos (Josh Brolin) treks across various galaxies to collect six coveted Infinity Stones.  Why?  To wipe out half the population of the universe, but the Avengers aim to stop him.  The Russo brothers construct their movie like a treasure hunt, mix densely-packed blends of action, intrigue and humor, and the on-screen events conjure a certain magic by always keeping us present during every single, individual moment throughout the 2-hour 29-minute runtime. 

“Damsel” – In the movie business, when one says damsel, the words in distress usually follow.  Obviously, most unmarried women are not in distress, but Samuel (Robert Pattinson) believes that one particular damsel, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska), needs to be swept off her feet.  Directors David and Nathan Zellner’s (“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter” (2014)) latest creation is a hilarious, offbeat surprise and the most unique western to arrive on the big screen in years.  With classic genre themes like long stretches on horseback, beautiful skies and hazardous saloons, but also quirky exchanges and visuals reminiscent of a Wes Anderson picture, the conflicting crescendos amuse and entertain.  All the lead and supporting players - including the Zellner brothers and a precious, little scene-stealer: a miniature horse named Butterscotch - embrace the picture’s pleasing and darkly comedic tones.

“Eighth Grade” – Writer/director Bo Burnham drags his audience backwards to that awkward time in childhood history that most would like to forget: eighth grade.  Elsie Fisher plays Kayla, the unfortunate human being dwelling in this purgatory between preteen innocence and young adulthood, and Fisher and Burnham plop down a chair and give us a front row seat into her social pressures, insecurities, new attraction to boys, and struggle to make friends.  Technology consumes a significant portion of her days and nights, and it conveniently provides frequent, easy escapes from reality and chances to forge a new identity.  Insightful, hilarious and emotional, this comedy offers plenty of heart, including Kayla’s relationship with her supportive dad (Josh Hamilton).   

“First Reformed” – Ethan Hawke deserves a Best Actor Oscar nomination in writer/director Paul Schrader’s muddy picture about a troubled alcoholic unable to cope with the past while fearful about the present and future.  Rev. Toller (Hawke) preaches sermons and other life lessons to sparse crowds who sit in white pews every Sunday at his First Reformed Church.  Meanwhile, black outlooks fill his soul.  By filming one or just a few characters at a time in small and large empty spaces – and with a bleak northeast winter as a backdrop - Schrader piles on gloomy despair, despite a setting of supposed affirmation.  Cedric the Entertainer and Victoria Hill contribute effective supporting performances, while Hawke dominates the screen and feeds parallels to Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) from “Taxi Driver” (1976), a film also written by Schrader. 

“Sweet Country” – Set in 1929 Australia, director Warwick Thornton delivers a deeply affective western – which won TIFF’s 2017 Platform Prize – as it wraps its story in institutional racism between whites and aborigines.  When Fred Smith (Sam Neill) leaves his ranch for a business trip, his hired hand Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris) becomes embroiled in a violent incident.  Sam and his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey Furber) find themselves on the run, and an ornery officer of the law (Bryan Brown) follows in tight pursuit.  Sam and other aboriginal people depict a collective subordinate bow towards white ranchers and authority figures, and Thornton captures these moments in very obvious and subtle ways.  Life has stacked the deck against Sam, but will the legal threads of Australian justice treat him fairly?  The parallels between “Sweet Country” and America’s history feel eerily analogous.

“The Best of All Worlds” – Verena Altenberger is sensational as Helga, a mother who tries – and usually fails - to shield her 7-year-old son Adrian (Jeremy Miliker) from her heroin addiction.  Set in Salzburg, Austria, writer/director Adrian Goiginger’s film is autobiographical, and he reflects upon that troubling time in their cluttered, unkempt apartment.  Goiginger doubles as a cinematic wizard, as he summons two types of demons: human ugliness and imagined monsters.  Both feel and look terribly unpleasant, as Helga badly strains to free herself from her compulsions and insidious companionship.  Raw, unflinching and unfiltered, “The Best of All Worlds” hopes for the best of Helga’s and Adrian’s combined space, one clouded by an intrusive, chemical haze.

“Thoroughbreds” – “We’ll do it ourselves.”  Teenagers Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) decide to take matters into their own hands, but what will they do exactly?  Plan a Sweet 16 party?  Prepare for the SAT without a study guide?  No, they agree to murder Lily’s stepdad!  Cooke and Taylor-Joy share sinisterly satisfying, on-screen chemistry, when Lily starts speaking honestly to Amanda, an admitted sociopath.  Writer/director Cory Finley’s dark comedy/crime drama purposely repels altruism, but he creates an odd, twisted nobility in each character, as they deliver their own corrosive, hypnotic truth, accompanied by the filmmaker’s equally compelling camerawork.  The late Anton Yelchin also stars in his last big screen performance.

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” – “He was radical.  I know everyone says that, but he was radical,” Elizabeth Seamans says.  Ms. Seamans – who played Mrs. McFeely on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” – is referring to the show’s creator and host Fred Rogers.  One might not think of Rogers as radical, but director Morgan Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom” (2013)) proves that he was.  Neville interviews family and coworkers (and also includes several interviews from the man himself), and they describe Rogers’ genuine, philanthropic nature and ingenuity.  For instance, he bravely incorporated difficult news headlines and unpleasant family issues into his show and broke them down into palatable lessons for children.  Accompanied by a touching score, the documentary raises general emotion for Fred Rogers and a hope that more individuals in 2018 could be more like him.  Perhaps many of us will watch this documentary and remember how to be…radical. 

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.

Damsel - Movie Review by Jeff Mitchell

‘Damsel’ turns the American western on its head with hilarious, offbeat tones and performances

Written and directed by:  David Zellner and Nathan Zellner

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, and Robert Forster

“Damsel” – In the movie business, when one says damsel, it is usually followed by two additional words:  in distress.  Obviously, most unmarried women are not in distress, but Samuel (Robert Pattinson) believes that one particular damsel needs to be swept off her feet. 

Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). 

Around 1870, Samuel aims to marry Penelope, and he hires a guide named Parson Henry (David Zellner) to take him across the American west to her home and then officiate their wedding.  Although their journey is long, Samuel’s story initially appears as predictable as a cowboy donning a hat on a bright summer day. 

It is not.   

Writers/directors David and Nathan Zellner’s newest creation is a hilarious surprise and the most unique western to arrive on the big screen in years. 

Four years earlier, these brothers wrote (and David directed) “Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter” (2014), the story of a Japanese woman’s perplexing journey.  Kumiko travels to the United States to find the money that Steve Buscemi’s character buried in the snow during 1996’s “Fargo”.  Of course, the cash sitting in this semi-permanent winter wonderland is fictitious, but Kumiko is not aware of this very, very important fact and actually believes that the said loot sits in North Dakota…ripe for the taking.   

As kooky as Kumiko’s plot thread sounds, Samuel’s is not far behind on the outlandish-scale (for reasons that will not be revealed in this review).  During the movie’s 1-hour 53-minute runtime, the initial perceptions of Samuel and his trek morph into unexpected, bizarre reveals.  Sure, the Zellners present classic western themes like long stretches on horseback, beautiful skies, hazardous saloons, and groups of simple townsfolk, but they marry these traditional images with eccentric, comedic characters. 

The movie somewhat feels like a Wes Anderson picture, but it deliberately slows the pace to match the genre.  Most of the main characters – like Samuel, Parson and Rufus (Nathan Zellner) – are not terribly bright, so they need to engage in long exchanges in order to properly communicate their thoughts.  This is especially noticeable, whenever Penelope appears in the frame, because her logical approaches resemble the mind of an independent woman living in 2018, rather than a 19th century, uneducated dependent living on the open range.

In addition to the period’s verbal nuances, David and Nathan offer entertaining, offbeat visuals of their own, and the most endearing is an adorable miniature horse named Butterscotch.  This beloved little animal appears throughout the picture and every precious on-screen frame is pure gold.  Parents should be warned that taking their small children to “Damsel” could be a dangerous proposition.  Sure, the movie is rated-R, but any child subjected to repeated views of Butterscotch will certainly induce a deep desire to own such a horse of his or her own.  Hey, just trying to save mothers and fathers from unneeded future expenses.

Well, a ticket to see “Damsel” is easily worth the price of admission.  In addition to enjoying an ingenious dark comedy, one will walk out of the theatre and not immediately associate the words in distress with the film’s title.  How refreshing!

(3.5/4 stars)

Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008 and graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.  Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.