‘Jackie’ an intimate winner

Posted on December 24, 2016 by reelentropy

Mere historical impression work is well beneath Portman at this point, but that’s not all she’s doing here. Kennedy is understandably distraught and erratic throughout the film, composed and breaking down on a seemingly random basis from scene to scene — often seen in people having an emotional crisis that lasts several days, but not conducive to a typical film narrative. Portman is a steady hand to bring the character to life. Image courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures.

I’ve got an instinct to dismiss late-year biopics as Oscarbate, but Jackie is something more.

In 1963, Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup) interviews Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) in her Massachusetts estate for the now-famous article comparing her husband’s administration to King Arthur’s court in Camelot. During the interview, Kennedy re-lives the past week of her life — the president’s assassination and planning for his funeral.

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‘Assassin’s Creed’ doesn’t make sense

Posted on December 23, 2016 by reelentropy

The second scene in which Callum Lynch jacks into the Animus device, he starts singing a song about how he is going crazy because he’s falling in love with somebody. I doubt this was scripted. Images courtesy 20th Century Fox.

Steven James
@StevenLeeJames

Assassin’s Creed, based on the Ubisoft video game series, is a chaotic movie.

Murderer Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender, who also produces) is kidnapped by the modern day Knights Templar to locate the Apple of Eden, an artifact that contains the seeds of man’s first disobedience and has the power to end free will. This will not only eradicate all violence in the world, but also allow the Knights Templar to rule it. To find the Apple, Lynch is forced to participate in Sophia Rikkin’s (Marion Cotillard) Animus project. Lynch’s mind is jacked into the Animus device, which reads his DNA patterns and allows him to inhabit the consciousness of his ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha (also Fassbender), the last known possessor of the Apple and a member of the Assassin’s Creed in 1492 Spain.

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‘Passengers’ a cliche-ridden mess

Posted on December 23, 2016 by reelentropy

Images courtesy Columbia Pictures.

Passengers is a fantastic concept for a film and, starring the two hottest actors in the world, a guaranteed success, but inept, lazy filmmaking allows this concept to descend into cliche and disturbing moral carelessness.

Aboard the starship Avalon, more than 5,000 passengers and crew lie in a 120 year slumber on their way to Homestead II. When the Avalon’s shield allows a piece of debris to punch a hole in the reactor, the entire ship begins malfunctioning. One of the first malfunctions is the awakening of engineer Jim Parker (Chris Pratt) 90 years early, sentencing him to die of old age before he ever sees another human being again. Distraught in his isolation, Parker becomes obsessed with the story of another of the passengers, journalist Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). In an act of unspeakable selfishness and cruelty, Parker awakens her so she can share in his horrifying fate.

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‘Manchester’ bathes in critical acclaim despite being entirely unremarkable

Posted on December 20, 2016 by reelentropy

Despite being a focal point of the marketing, Michelle Williams has about two scenes of dialogue in this. Images courtesy Roadside Attractions.

Manchester by the Sea is sitting at 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and is expected to garner several Academy Awards nominations. It’s not a bad movie, but it certainly doesn’t deserve that level of recognition.

The film follows Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a janitor locked in a self-destructive spiral responsible for several apartment buildings in Quincy, Massachusetts. Chandler’s brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has a heart attack and dies, leaving Lee legally responsible for his 16-year-old nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), and all their investments in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. This is a huge problem for Lee Chandler, for reasons that would spoil the movie to get into because of a combination of poor marketing and a structural weakness within the film itself. Additionally, the film jumps back and forth in time between the present day and Chandler’s marriage to Randi (Michelle Williams).

I’ve got a weak spot for broken timelines, but writer/director Kenneth Lonnergan writes Manchester by the Sea into a bit of a hole. The central conflict is Lee Chandler’s reluctance to take guardianship of his nephew, but it takes so long to reveal why he’s reluctant that the movie essentially wastes 45 minutes before showing the audience what’s really going on.

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La La Land classic Hollywood, everything great about going to the movies

Posted on December 19, 2016 by reelentropy

Image courtesy Summit Entertainment.

La La Land is the movie you’ve been waiting for, the movie that’s been absent the past few years. It’s guaranteed to put a grin on your face and a dance in your step.

The film follows Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who begins a relationship with struggling jazz pianist Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) after several chance encounters. The couple sings and dances — literally — through paying their dues in the glitzy Los Angeles rat race.

La La Land is a big movie about big things. Big performances. Big romance. Big song and dance routines, all written specifically for this film. Big, saturated colors. Big lighting cues, melodramatic almost to the point of self-satire.

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