Review: Hot Summer Nights

Image courtesy of A24.

Elijah Bynum's debut, "Hot Summer Nights," has a great soundtrack and features some of filmdom's rising stars - Timothee Chalamet and Maika Monroe - but while its director clearly wants it to act as a calling card for his talents, they are mostly wasted by riffing on better films, namely the work of Martin Scorsese and early Paul Thomas Anderson films.

As the film opens, Danny (Chalamet) is grieving his father's death, so his mother decides to ship him off to live with an aunt on Cape Cod for the summer of 1991. For a movie about a youth going off to live with a relative, that relative is scarce to the point of nonexistent. Once on the cape, Danny - for no particular reason - strikes up a friendship with the local drug dealer, Hunter (Alex Roe) and, for the sake of this film's existence, decides to start selling marijuana himself. It doesn't hurt that he first meets Hunter's sister, McKayla (Monroe), and quickly becomes smitten.

The film is narrated, quite strangely I might add, by some random kid on the cape who seemingly witnessed the film's events, although we never actually see him until the end. In other films, "The Virgin Suicides" for example, an elusive narrator can work - but here, the fact that this kid narrates the story is more than likely because if an adult had narrated it - and commented on how the local boys liked to masturbate while thinking of McKayla - it would have been, well, ickier.

From the moment we meet McKayla to the film's ending when she runs off to who knows where, she is - to dredge up an old movie trope - an object of the male gaze. In other words, she's there to attract Danny and help him to find himself, or something of that nature. But she's not the Pixie Dream Girl of other male fantasy movies, but rather the Hot Girl Who's More Soulful Than She Lets On.

I know, I'm being a bit snarky about "Hot Summer Nights," which is occasionally entertaining, albeit overly familiar, as it hits all the beats of a film of this type: boy meets girl, boy meets boy, boys begin selling drugs, boys get in over their heads, and then... drama! Chalamet is saddled with a character whose motivations are questionable, most likely because the kid narrating his story doesn't actually know him. Regardless, the actor - who was great in "Call Me By Your Name" and a convincing little shit in "Lady Bird" - does his best with the material provided.

But as I'd mentioned: you've seen all this before, from the camerawork reminiscent of shots you've seen in "Goodfellas" to the scene with a creepy drug dealer that feels straight out of "Boogie Nights." And the final bit of narration regarding the fate of one of the characters appears to have been inspired by "The Virgin Suicides." So, while "Hot Summer Nights" has its moments, a majority of those moments feel as if they were pulled straight out of previous movies that were more original than this one.

Review: Mission Impossible: Fallout

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

I've often found myself complaining that a majority of summer blockbusters are set-piece driven and filled with visual effects that often mute out the elements - such as characterization or context - that tend to make films more interesting. Then again, there's something to be said for a breathless action movie that finds its rhythm and leaves you gripping your seat, white knuckled. "Mission Impossible: Fallout," the sixth and - possibly best - entry in the franchise, is such a movie.

Much like Edgar Wright's gripping "Baby Driver" or George Miller's visually stunning "Mad Max: Fury Road," this latest "Mission Impossible" movie is wall to wall action. It sails by so quickly and furiously that the storyline might come across as slightly convoluted and the motivations of its characters - outside of one group of people wanting to blow up the world and the other wanting to stop this from occurring - only secondary to the action. But this is a rare occasion in which this matters little - this is a film with absolutely incredible stunts and camerawork and further proof that Tom Cruise is, at age 56, Hollywood's most dedicated action star.

To no one's surprise, the plot of "Fallout" revolves around a group of sinister characters - led by Sean Harris' Solomon Lane - who aim to wreak global havoc after having collected a series of nuclear devices. It is up to Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team - Ving Rhames' Luther, Simon Pegg's Benji, Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa and a newbie, Henry Cavill's Walker, who may or may not be trusted - to stop them.

From the get-go, "Fallout" is a fast-paced and brilliantly choreographed action movie. Whether it's flying through European cities on a motorcycle with cars in pursuit, dangling from a helicopter, hanging from a cliff or taking part in the craziest bathroom fight since "Eastern Promises," the characters and the actors who portray them appear to be risking life and limb nearly every step of the way.

But for a movie that emphasizes nonstop action over story, there's a fair amount of thematic relevance knocking around in "Fallout," from the concept of how much one should personally sacrifice for the greater good to the idea of whether the characters' actions, while seemingly good, have inadvertently caused harm. There's also a camaraderie between the characters that makes this team more likable and watchable than many of the other franchise teams that populate blockbuster filmmaking. During a crucial moment late in the film, in which the characters' fates hang in the balance, this camaraderie especially pays off.

So, while "Fallout" does little to reinvent the wheel of the summer blockbuster, it is an example of a franchise movie made extremely well and, surprisingly, for a two-and-a-half hour movie, there's little fat. This is an intense, often vertigo-inducing action movie that proves that Cruise still has the goods and this series is far from out of gas. I'd imagine it'll be the best blockbuster you'll see this year.

Review: Blindspotting

Image courtesy of Lionsgate.

Carlos Lopez Estrada's remarkable debut "Blindspotting," which was written by co-stars Daveed Diggs (a Tony winner for "Hamilton") and Rafael Casal and based loosely on their experiences growing up in Oakland, is one of the few great things to come out of 2018. You'll often hear people espouse that a given work of art is the One That America Needs Now, but this film might actually be the one.

"Blindspotting" is no less than the third film this year - after "Black Panther" and "Sorry to Bother You" - to use Oakland as a backdrop, and the latter of those two and Estrada's picture both use the town to explore themes of economic racism and white privilege. Much like Spike Lee did for Bedford-Stuyvesant with his landmark "Do the Right Thing," Estrada makes great use of the oft-overlooked California city as a character in the film itself, his camera panning down neglected blocks where homes have fallen into disrepair and then into neighborhoods becoming gentrified and forcing long-time residents to flee amid the rising costs of living.

As the film opens, Collin (Diggs) is being released from prison and placed on a year's probation for reasons that we won't discover until late in the film. He works at a moving company with his best pal, Miles (Casal), a live wire whose erratic behavior often leaves Collin on edge. But the two have been friends since their boyhood, and Miles is a staple of the neighborhood, a white boy whom many of the black residents affectionally address with the N word, with which he's wise enough not to reciprocate. However, Miles overcompensates for the color of his skin, trying extra hard for street cred by putting on a tough guy act. Collin, who's trying his best to avoid trouble, is noticeably uncomfortable by Miles' volatility. Also, both men have women in their orbit - for Miles, a wife (Jasmine Cephas Jones) and, for Collin, an ex-girlfriend (Janina Gavankar) - who root for them to do their best, but are not surprised when they deliver below expectations.

One element that makes "Blindspotting" so great and original is that it's hard to pin down in any particular genre. It starts off as a comedy, and there's a particularly hilarious sequence during which Collin, skittish after just being released from prison, finds himself in a souped up car filled with guns. But the film becomes deadly serious several minutes in as Collin races to get home in time for his curfew, only to witness the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white cop (Ethan Embry). There are moments during the film that feel as if they were lifted from a horror movie - several increasingly unsettling nightmares involving the police and a particularly eerie moment in which Collin witnesses the victims of police shootings standing by their graves in a cemetery.

The film is also richer for exploring multiple facets of the city in which it is set. Yes, "Blindspotting" is centered around a racially motivated police shooting, but it also explores the gentrification of Oakland. Miles, for instance, is offended by the young white hipsters moving into his neighborhood - thereby no longer making him the token white guy on the block - from San Francisco and Portland. He smirks at the local bodega selling kale juice, while Collin is willing to give it a try. Collin's mother (Margo Hall) has her home bedecked in African art and posters of Angela Davis, but notes - in one of the film's best lines - "I'll be damned if I move out of this neighborhood now that they got good food and shit."

Much like "Sorry to Bother You," Estrada's film explores the concept of white privilege and explains it in a way that those resistant to the concept might find instructional. We later find out that Collin's stint in prison was the result of an incident in which he and Miles were involved, but when the police showed up, the black man with dreads was the only one who was arrested. Later, Miles pulls out a gun at a party after a black party attendee accuses him of cultural appropriation and, once again, Collin prevents him from doing something stupid. But the issue - which is addressed during a powerful argument between the two men moments later - is that Miles doesn't recognize how his reckless behavior puts Collin in harm's way. If the police were to show up again, Miles must know that he wouldn't be the one at risk of being shot.

"Blindspotting" is a powerful, imaginative, funny and essential movie about, to quote one of the characters, "how you can look at something and there could be another thing there you aren't seeing." There's a final scene - an extremely tense confrontation - that is handled in a manner that might divide some audiences. The sequence is not realistic, but it makes no intention to be so. During the course of the film, Collin and Miles verbally joust, coming up with rhymes to make sense of their situations, and during the finale, Collin uses his lyricism to confront that which has been haunting him during the course of the picture. While the film, at times, might feel like a series of vignettes revolving around its various characters without a well-defined structure, it all comes together powerfully at the end. "Blindspotting" is an incendiary film for our current moment and one of the year's very best so far.

Review: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Not even a cast full of talented people and some cheerful ABBA tunes can save "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," an unnecessary sequel to the 2008 film, which was in turn an adaptation of the Broadway show, itself a production based around music by, yes, ABBA.

But what made the original film semi-watchable was the presence of Meryl Streep, who is absent from this sequel, save for a cameo appearance near the end. In other words, what's sorely missing in "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" is the mama.

As the film opens, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is awaiting the debut of a hotel that she has spruced up in Greece. The site was previously owned by Meryl's Donna. In her absence, we get a completely unnecessary backstory involving young Donna (Lily James) as she spends a summer in Greece and meets the three suitors, one of whom is the father of Sophie.

So, while Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth return as the three aforementioned suitors, we also get younger versions played by Jeremy Irvine, Josh Skinner and Josh Dylan. There are also younger versions of Julie Walters' Rosie and Christine Baranski's randy Tanya. There's also a cameo by Cher as Sophie's grandmother and Andy Garcia as the manager of Sophie's hotel.

In other words, "Here We Go Again" is bursting with cameo appearances by talented people who are given little to do other than be cogs in the mechanics of this sequel's routine plot and, occasionally, break out into song and look like they're having a good time doing it. I know, I probably sound like a Scrooge, but the few charms of this film wear thin quickly.

For starters, the drama rarely flows smoothly into the musical numbers as it should. Rather, characters are in the middle of doing something, then stop what they're doing and take part in mini music videos. The film kicks off with a rendition of "When I Kissed the Teacher" that could have been made into a fun musical number, but comes off as a cheesy 1980s music video, complete with a freeze frame ending. Other musical numbers fall flat during the course of the proceedings, none so much as the finale, in which Cher comes back for an encore, singing "Super Trooper" as the rest of the cast awkwardly mouths along.

As I'd mentioned before, it's not like the original "Mamma Mia!" film was so great, but Streep's presence gave it an extra boost. Her absence here - which is given the most cursory of explanations - is strongly felt and, as a result, "Here We Go Again" becomes a fitting title as the film feels like an obligatory sequel with little in the way of inspiration.

Review: The Equalizer 2

Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

It's always a pleasure to watch Denzel Washington, but even he can't quite save "The Equalizer 2," a silly action thriller sequel that lags during the first section, which pays some sort of strange homage to "Kung Fu," but is nearly redeemed by an intense final confrontation during the film's final third.

Washington returns as Robert McCall in the sequel to Antoine Fuqua's first - and better - film, which was in turn based on the 1980s TV show of the same name. McCall, as we learned during the first go-round, is some type of former special ops guy who now lives out his days helping others in need and killing bad guys in graphically violent fashion.

As the film opens, Washington - wearing a not particularly convincing beard - is aboard a train in Turkey in an attempt to save a kidnapped girl. Later, he pays a visit to a bunch of one percenters who seemingly drugged and sexually assaulted a girl, who catches a ride in McCall's car - oh right, I forgot to mention that he's also a Lyft driver. During a later scene, he rescues a teenager named Miles (Ashton Sanders of "Moonlight") who has fallen in with some gun toting gang members and ends up paying him to paint a mural on his building.

In other words, McCall has his hands full. There's an actual scene here during which he's searching files on his computer to help crack a case involving the murder of one of his friends (Melissa Leo) when he looks up, sees Miles missing from his spot painting the mural, roams over to the gang members' hangout and pulls out a can of whoop ass. There's also an elderly Holocaust survivor whom McCall visits. Talk about multitasking.

Essentially, there's way too much going on in "The Equalizer 2" and most of these various threads - several of which seem to exist to pad out the movie, which would only be about an hour if it focused on the main story - get in the way of the other ones. The film's first half is often silly as McCall goes around solving everyone's problems as if he were Kwai Chang Caine from the TV show "Kung Fu." It's not until the film's second half that the picture picks up.

Yes, the movie ends up revolving around a fairly typical action movie storyline: McCall finds out that some former comrades in arms have turned out to be major assholes, and may have been involved in Leo's character's death as well as the vicious slaying of a French family - whose death, oddly enough, is never explained to give the story any context - and he realizes that he'll have to go up against them. This all culminates in a very well executed and fairly intense series of face-offs during a hurricane in an abandoned town somewhere in a coastal town in Massachusetts. Say what you will about the film's narrative, but Fuqua does a mighty good job of staging an extended, chaotic action sequence with panache.

Unfortunately, the film reverts back to some of its earlier storylines and the finale includes a reunion that in any other film would have been moving, but comes off as ludicrous here because, well, that McCall can do it all. In terms of your typical summer sequel, you could do much worse than "The Equalizer 2," but Washington - a great actor - could do much better with material more compelling than what he's working with here.

Review: Eighth Grade

Image courtesy of A24.

Standup comedian Bo Burnham's directorial debut "Eighth Grade" captures the middle school experience in such an honest, warts-and-all fashion that I doubt anyone would try to make an opposing case if it were lumped in with found footage horror movies. This is a movie that beautifully - and horrifically - captures the awkwardness, embarrassment, heartaches and occasional abject cruelty involved with being an eighth grader.

Middle school students are caught in that in-between in which they are on their way to being - at least one would hope - more mature high schoolers, but with one foot still in their childhood. For those who are painfully shy - like Kayla (a wonderful Elsie Fisher) - and socially awkward, middle school can be a nightmare of epic proportions. This film is filled with riotously funny moments - Kayla throwing tantrums at her extremely well-meaning father (Josh Hamilton, also great) - and ones that are painful to watch and, in both cases, this results from Burnham's ability to aptly capture how such moments actually play out.

We first meet Kayla as she films an entry into her YouTube series known as "Kayla's Korner," during which she gives pep talks to her peers on such topics as "Being Yourself" and "Putting Yourself Out There," although we're quick to learn that the sessions don't appear to draw many viewers and act to serve as wish fulfillment for Kayla. She peppers her talks with "like" and often stumbles over words, betraying the false confidence that she attempts to exude.

There's a particularly telling sequence early in the film when Kayla is invited to attend the pool party of one of her class's most popular girls. The girl's mother enthusiastically prompts Kayla to attend and her father encourages her to do likewise, but what both fail to realize is that the proposition mortifies poor Kayla. Clearly, the popular girl doesn't want to invite her and Kayla doesn't want to suffer the humiliation of attending a party where virtually no one talks to her - which is exactly what happens. Burnham zeroes in on Kayla peering through the glass sliding door of the girl's house and then pulls the camera back to reveal her classmates frolicking in the pool, while she decides whether to join them.

And what often makes "Eighth Grade" such an emotional rollercoaster is that for every well intentioned person whom Kayla comes across - her doting father and a kind hearted high schooler named Olivia whom Kayla shadows for a day - there's another who poses danger - the good looking jerk about whom Kayla fantasizes and Olivia's creepy high school pal who attempts to persuade Kayla into an uncomfortable sexual experience.

One of the elements that makes "Eighth Grade" so magical is that all of the actors portraying the middle schoolers appear to actually be of that age. Therefore, their performances - most likely colored by their own middle school experiences - feel genuine. Fisher is excellent, creating a character whose shyness masks a distinctive and interesting personality. It would be a tough enough role for any actor to play, much less one in her early teens.

"Eighth Grade" is filled with scenes that make us cringe - moments when Kayla is trying too hard to get the popular kids to like her, only to come off as awkward - and others that are just flat-out sad, such as one in which the students take part in a very lifelike drill regarding how to respond if an active shooter is on campus. Most of the kids spend much of their time being hypnotized by their smart phones, which also made the film feel somewhat alien to me - albeit in a fascinating way - considering my own young adulthood included no such things.

But mostly, Burnham's film accurately captures the middle school experience, and features moments that are touchingly true and groan inducing in their honest depiction of growing pains. It's also a movie that sneaks up on you. There's an emotional scene near the film's end when Kayla asks her father how he feels about being her dad. It's a lovely and heartbreaking conversation that is coupled with an emotionally satisfying finale in which Kayla shoots a final "Kayla's Korner" video, but one with more wisdom behind her words. This is an assured directorial debut. "Eighth Grade" is lovely and true.

Review: Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot

Image courtesy of Amazon Studios.

Gus Van Sant's latest film follows the story of John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix), whose life was altered in 1972 after he was in an automobile crash in which a drunk friend was driving. The picture follows his 12-step program to recovery as he attempts to beat alcoholism, but also his coming to accept that he must live his life as a quadriplegic. Later, Callahan was to become a fairly well known cartoonist, whose provocative drawings offended as many readers as they did amuse others.

The filmmakers make a curious choice to focus more on Callahan's physical ailment and alcoholism than his drawings, which encompass a later section of the film. As a film about the disabled and an alcoholic attempting to reach sobriety, "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot" - which takes its name from one of the many cartoons in which Callahan poked fun at his own disability - doesn't show us much that we haven't seen before.

And that's fine as the film is carried along by two strong performances - Phoenix, who never ceases to amaze, and Jonah Hill, who gives a particularly effective showing as Donnie, a rich kid turned guru who acts as Callahan's sponsor. Looking more like Jesus than Jonah Hill, Donnie is a practitioner of tough love, and doesn't allow those under his wing - which include characters played by Udo Kier and Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon - off easy during sessions.

Although, perhaps, too much emphasis is placed on Callahan's physical ailment and addictive habits, this pays off later in the film as the cartoonist makes his way through the final steps of his recovery program. There's a particularly poignant series of scenes in which Callahan must ask for forgiveness and forgive others. Phoenix, whose best performances tend to be of a more cerebral nature, does a tremendous job of pulling off an emotional one here. There's also some fine work from Rooney Mara as Callahan's sort-of girlfriend, Jack Black as the guy who drove the car drunk and Tony Greenhand as Callahan's beleaguered assistant.

So, while Van Sant's film follows some similar beats of stories that focus on the disabled or alcohol addicted, it's the performances that carry the day here. Callahan's story is an interesting one, and the filmmakers mostly do it justice, despite the odd choice of leaving so little room for Callahan's growth as an artist. If nothing else, it's somewhat of a return to form for Van Sant following the widely panned "Sea of Trees" and further proof that Phoenix is one of the best and most adventurous actors working today.

Review: Sorry To Bother You

Image courtesy of Annapurna Pictures.

"Sorry to Bother You" gives Childish Gambino's "This is America" video a run for its money as the most prescient viewing experience of the moment. It is the social commentary we need right now. Even when the film goes a little off the rails in its final scenes, it's an impressive directorial debut for Boots Riley, a former member of the 1990s hip hop group The Coup, whose music deserves greater recognition.

This is a satire of many things and the type of film where a lot is thrown at the wall. The good news is that most of it sticks. As the film opens, Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is a guy who's lucky to have a lovely artist girlfriend named Detroit (Tessa Thompson), but isn't so successful in the job market. At the beginning of the film, he makes a humorous pitch for a telemarketing job and manages to get hired, despite some exaggerations on his part.

Once on the job, he finds that telemarketing isn't as easy as it seems, that is, until an older man (Danny Glover) who sits next to him gives him a helpful hint: when calling potential customers, put on a white voice. This brings him much success, drawing the attention of his supervisors, who promise to send him upstairs to become a higher level telemarketer, although that job involves some seriously shady business.

In the workplace, Cassius and Detroit fall in with a group of disgruntled employees who want to unionize and, soon, a war between the workers and management breaks out, forcing Cassius to pick sides. At first, he picks the wrong one and is introduced to the big honcho (Armie Hammer), a guy whose side business involves a live-in company that exploits its workers and a plan to create half-human-half-horse beings to take the place of slow moving humans. Oh, and the most popular show on TV is "I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me."

Riley's often hilarious satire covers a lot of ground - race and identity politics, capitalism and corporate slavery, our modern age of stupidity and even performance art. Although the combination of all these elements doesn't always flow together smoothly - at least, at the film's end - it's a promising debut for Riley, who is able to make a message movie that doesn't feel like one because the audience is too busy laughing at how outrageously funny it is.

Also, Riley makes some pretty clever choices. For starters, the picture is a comedy, but also incorporates elements of science fiction and social commentary. One of his best decisions is that Cassius' "white voice" isn't Stanfield's impersonation of how a white person talks, but rather an actual voice over (ditto Danny Glover's character), which makes it all the more hilarious and absurd. "Sorry to Bother You" is the type of comedy that cranks it up to 11 and, for the most part, it's proof that Riley is a new talent to watch behind the camera.

Review: Ant Man And The Wasp

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

The third Marvel movie this year is the studio's most lightweight effort, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While "Black Panther" reached new highs for the studio - and was a little more weighty and thoughtful than your typical comic book blockbuster - the overstuffed "Avengers: Infinity War" was high on melodrama and, let's be honest, stone-faced pomposity. "Ant Man and the Wasp" provides some much needed levity to a genre that has become, most likely to The Joker's dismay, entirely too serious.

Paul Rudd reprises his role as thief-turned-superhero Scott Lang - AKA Ant Man - who, this time, is on house arrest following his participation in the events of "Infinity War." Let me pause quickly here to reiterate how irritating studio pictures have become by constantly name-checking other films within their universe. If I heard the word "Germany" one more time during this film, I'd have likely shouted out nein! I digress.

Lang is drawn back into crime fighting after his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and that man's daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lily), who is also the apple of Scott's eye, discover that their wife and mother (Michelle Pfeiffer), respectively, might still be alive after sacrificing herself years ago and ending up in some sort of sub-atomic quantum realm. I'm not going to even try to explain the science behind all of this.

Meanwhile, a former colleague and rival of Pym, played by Laurence Fishburne, is helping a troubled young woman, who doubles as a supervillain, named Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) by trying to rid her of her powers, which allow her to fade in and out as if she were an image on a television. Also, some crooks (led by Walter Goggins) are attempting to steal Pym's research for some nefarious purposes. One of the things that is refreshing about "Ant Man and the Wasp" is that while there are some villains - although some of them are on the fence regarding their villainy - there isn't one on which the film focuses solely, in the manner that "Infinity War" was all about Thanos.

It also helps that director Peyton Reed's sequel is lighter on its toes than other recent comic book movies. In other words, it's a lark, mostly due to an emphasis on humor in the screenwriting and some effective comedic performances by Rudd and his sidekick, Luis (Michael Pena).

Needless to say, "Ant Man and the Wasp" doesn't reinvent the wheel - we have "Black Panther" and, to an extent, last year's "Wonder Woman" for those honors - but it's an amusing summer picture. Rather than focusing on fighting a villain threatening the fate of the world - boy, does that plotline get old quickly - the film focuses on the element of Ant Man's job that his young daughter likes most: helping people. The picture is a rescue mission involving the search for Pfeiffer's character, rather than another endless barrage of fight sequences and explosions, although there are certainly enough of those. So, while "Ant Man" isn't the best comic book movie you'll see this year, it's a pretty fun one.