Reely understanding The Fast and the Furious

Posted on April 17, 2015 by reelentropy

Going into what should be Furious 7’s third straight week at no. 1, I wanted to jot something down about the first Fast and the Furious movie. A big part of how this series has stayed fresh is through stunts that are constantly escalating. From destroying Rio with a bank vault to engaging a tank to jumping one of the most expensive cars in the world through the Etihad Towers, the series’ stunts are constantly ramping up and they’re all real and they’re all thrilling and they all miss the point. The final scene of the first Fast and the Furious movie is simply one of the best action climaxes of all time, and it’s got nothing to do with the stunt itself.

The scene is simple — an emotionally charged drag race between Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). But in context, there is so much more going on than that. Watching the movie again, we see a constant conflict between O’Connor and Toretto, and not because O’Connor is an undercover cop and doing his sister. The pair are in a constant struggle about who is more masculine, all of which is buildup to the climax.

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Unfriended chills with good old-fashioned character drama

Posted on April 16, 2015 by reelentropy

The suddenly ghostly looking blank profile picture is also haunting in its own way. Photo courtesy Universal Pictures.

Unfriended is a bold, refreshing horror movie, not because of its found-footage ish central conceit, but because of what it’s about.

The film is almost entirely in one long screen take of Blaire Lily’s (Shelley Hennig) computer. She Skypes with her friends on the anniversary of Laura Barnes’ (Heather Sossaman) suicide, but their chat is invaded by a mystery person using Barnes’ account. The mystery user systematically tortures them, forcing them to either reveal secrets about themselves or kill themselves. The characters are forced to confront each other and themselves about the ways they’ve wronged each other, as well as what they did to Barnes.

Unfriended is a sterling horror movie, not because of the jump scares or shock value, but because of what’s going on between the characters. The Skype ringtone is never going to be scary, but that’s not what you’re supposed to be afraid of here. Really, it’s less of a horror movie and more of a Greek tragedy joined midway through act two.

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34 things you’ll feel watching the new Nicholas Sparks movie — number 18 is spot on!

Posted on April 10, 2015 by reelentropy

I’d warn for spoilers, but it’s a Nicholas Sparks movie. You all know exactly what’s going to happen.

This movie is about two star-crossed lovers — bull rider Luke Collins (Scott Eastwood), who is struggling to come back from a concussion he sustained a year before, and attentive college senior and sorority girl Sophia Danko (Britt Robertson), who already has an art curation internship lined up for her impending graduation. She’s initially unwilling to join her sisters at the rodeo, where they plan on meeting all the hot guys, but through the magic of peer pressure, she’s there on time and dressed exactly like everyone else to boot.

What chance! What moonlit magic! By some twist of fate, our two heroes catch each other’s eye! After Collins’ ride, the rodeo clowns serendipitously all go out for a cup of coffee at the same time, leaving Collins to clamber over the enclosure toward Danko. He leaves her his hat, as he knows fate and hormones will bring them back together. Continue reading →

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Furious 7 a slight step down

Posted on April 7, 2015 by reelentropy

So, the grey ATV in this scene is bulletproof, and when the convoy opens fire, they all do this cool thing where the other cars pull back and line up behind it. But really, why was it at the back in the first place? It couldn’t be an issue of speed, since the car kept up with them on the way there. More to the point, why aren’t any of the other cars bulletproof? Photos courtesy Universal Pictures.

Binge-watching almost the entire Fast and the Furious series in preparation for Furious 7, I developed a bit of a soft spot for the series. For the first time, I was really able to appreciate action movies purely for the action. Instead of being tiresome, it was a fun and eye-opening binge, which is why Furious 7 was so disappointing.

The movie is set in motion when Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), brother of Fast & Furious 6 villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), swears vengeance on Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew. He quickly hospitalizes Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and kills Han Solo (Sung Kang) for their scheduling conflicts, then moves on to Toretto. After their initial clash, Toretto is approached by top government man Frank Petty (Kurt Russell), who assigns him to rescue Megan Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), inventor of the God’s Eye tracking software that hacks into every camera in the world simultaneously, which Petty promises to loan Toretto so he can hunt Shaw on his own terms.

The key word with this movie is “overboard,” and it applies to just about every aspect in some very subtle ways.

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Get Hard hardly gets the stereotypes it tries to roast

Posted on April 2, 2015 by reelentropy

James King (Will Ferrell) is being hugely racist here, and is put in mortal peril for his ignorance. Photos courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

If you don’t know what people mean when they talk about casual racism, check out Get Hard.

After James King (Will Ferrell) is framed for embezzlement and insider trading and sentenced to 10 years in maximum security, he offers $30,000 to his building’s in-house car washer Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart), who he assumes has been to prison because he’s black, to train him to protect himself during his 30 day grace period.

This movie puts casual racism and homophobia on display in two settings — both overtly with a supremely naive main character, but also subvertly with amorphous masses of stereotype-affirming black, Hispanic and gay people.

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