Review – Page 197 – We Are Movie Geeks

CHRISTMAS, AGAIN – The Review

Selling Christmas trees is one of those seasonal jobs, much like setting up a fireworks stand for the Fourth of July or a pumpkin patch around Halloween, that is done by people in transition. Christmas tree selling is not a life time career option, a temporary job until something else comes along.

Noel (Kentucker Audley) is on his fifth year selling Christmas trees on a lot in the middle of New York City, despite the time of year it does not look like a cheerful job. Noel actually lives on the lot in a tiny camper, he has to use the local YMCA to get a shower, his shift is all night long, for 12 hours, sitting outside, sometimes in freezing rain, trying to stay awake.

There is a day shift, a young man and his girl friend, they are not the most reliable people but they do run the stand while Noel tries to get some sleep in the middle of a busy metropolitan area with all the traffic noise that comes with it. Dude, I would so cover those windows and keep the sun out!

Noel used to have a girl friend that helped him run the stand, repeat customers ask about her, we never find out what happened exactly but Noel is obviously lonely and unhappy and exhausted most of the time.

We see all the work day routine that goes into selling Christmas trees, showing the trees to customers, wrapping them so they can be transported, delivering them and setting them up for customers. Since it is New York a lot of the customers are very picky about the trees, the wreaths, the lights, they take their time picking out a tree while Noel shivers in the cold.

One night Noel finds a young woman passed out on a bus stop bench, a homeless man sitting next to her has no idea who she is or how she got there. Noel puts her in the camper, gets gum out of her hair, and retrieves her cell phone from the homeless man. She wakes up and leaves while Noel is outside with a customer. This is Robin (Hannah Gross), she will return to talk with Noel and try to figure out how she ended up on the bench, passed out.

She will return again with a home baked pie for Noel. Her boyfriend shows up later, first as a customer, he gets suspicious seeing the pie in Noel’s tiny camper, returns and causes trouble. Robin returns and accompanies Noel on Christmas Eve as he delivers and sets up a couple of trees for customers. They spend the night together but not much happens.

And that is about it, but describing the “action” in CHRISTMAS, AGAIN doesn’t begin to tell how powerful, how moving this movie really is. This is the kind of character study that used to be made regularly in the 1970s. Kentucker Audley is on camera for almost the whole running time, we see everything through his eyes and we see exactly what he is thinking and how he is feeling, every minute. The performance is spot on and powerful. And there is very little dialog, Audley tells us everything with looks, gestures, body language. I have never seen this actor before but I sincerely hope he gets to work regularly after this film. And Hannah Gross matches him, scene for scene.

Movies about loneliness are hard to do without getting maudlin. One of the great science fiction writers, Theodore Sturgeon, once said that loneliness is hard to write about because we are all experts at it.

CHRISTMAS, AGAIN nails it, we feel for Noel every step of the way. A big event for him is getting a sandwich and an energy drink at an all night quick mart. He has an Advent calendar that has pills for each day instead of candy. We never find out what the pills are but he does nod off on the job after taking two instead of one, later he flushes the remaining pills and seems to be feeling better.

He misses his girlfriend who used to keep him company at the tree stand and eyeballs every woman who comes to look at trees. We hold our breath hoping that he and Robin might make a go of it. Both are lonely, damaged people trying to find some hope and cheer and happiness on what many have called the worst night of the year to be alone, Christmas Eve.

I do not like to give out spoilers so I will just say the ending is heartbreaking, and exhilarating, at the same time. We come in alone and we go out alone and in between we try our best to get by and, hopefully, help each other instead of hurting.

CHRISTMAS, AGAIN is a masterpiece.

This time of year always brings out the big Christmas movies, Christmas Carol (pick your favorite version), It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Earnest Saves Christmas.

Add CHRISTMAS, AGAIN to that list, especially if you want to feel good about life and the holidays.

And a Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

And, the soundtrack is incredible, I want the CD!

5 Out Of 5 Stars

FACTORY 25 will release CHRISTMAS, AGAIN at the MoMA in New York (and exclusive SVOD on Fandor) on Thursday, December 3rd, and at the Laemmle Noho 7 in Los Angeles on Friday, December 11th.
Also available on iTunes and select digital / cable platforms

MACBETH (2015) – The Review

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard deliver gripping performances in a dark, atmospheric and bloody MACBETH. While this dark, bloody film is powerful, this film should not be one’s first introduction to Shakespeare’s classic, as a significant amount of the play itself is missing. No boiling cauldron and “double, double toil and trouble” open this version of the Scottish play, although the three “weird sisters” appear after a battle with their prophetic pronouncements. It is more an updated interpretation than the definitive screen adaption but still a must-see for fans of the Bard, as well as a worthy addition to the film canon of his works.

Brooding, bloody and filled with ghosts, director Justin Kurzel’s MACBETH takes place in a ruggedly beautiful landscape, creating a film that is visually striking. As the film unfolds, the screen often suffused with red, and landscapes take on increasingly darker tones. Battle scenes, reveling in muddy and blood in a way that recalls BRAVEHEART, and memories of battle figure heavily in this version, set in foggy Scottish moors and a mountainous, windswept landscape.

The script by Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso and Michael Lesslie captures the gritty violence in the tragedy thoroughly but the opening cauldron scene is not the only familiar one left out or significantly changed, making this a film more based on the play than a more pure film version. The film focuses most strongly on scenes with MacBeth himself, played powerfully by Fassbender. More than anything, this is Fassbender’s film. MacBeth’s own ambition figures more heavily in driving events than magic from the three witches or influence from politically-scheming allies or even Lady MacBeth. Still, the scenes between Fassbender and Cotillard are gripping, fiery stuff, and Cotillard in particular delivers a riveting performance.

A brief screen of text at the start sets the stage for the story, and replaces some information from missing scenes. It tells us how General MacBeth (Fassbender), Thane of Glamis, leads the army of the beleaguered King Duncan (David Thewlis) against rebellious forces in a last-stand battle and emerges with a surprise victory. The overjoyed king comes to visit his general, bestowing on MacBeth the title Thane of Cawdor, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that MacBeth and his ally and kinsman Banquo (Paddy Considine), who also predict MacBeth will be king and, MacBeth being childless, Banquo’s descendents there after.

In this dark film, dead children are a reoccurring presence. The films opens with a Highland funeral, with blond-haired toddler on a pyre and the couple mourning, presumably, the death of their child. Shakespeare’s play presents the couple as childless but makes clear that Lady MacBeth has given birth to at least one, in the chilling speech in which she urges on to carry through in their plan to kill King Duncan. There is another child who figures heavily, a teen boy lost in battle. Both children return as visions, in some of the most haunting scenes of the film.

Among the most dramatically striking scenes is one between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth, shortly after they have been crowned king and queen. In their high-vaulted royal bedroom, MacBeth speaks in threatening manner to his wife about their childless state, a startlingly different interpretation of the scene. Both Fassbender and Cotillard are electrifying in this scene. Fassbender frequently is praised for his outstanding work, even in lesser films, but hopefully this complex, moving performance will give Cotillard more of the recognition she deserves. Her final scene is presented in an even more unusual fashion but she brings layers of despair and loss to the scene that adds immensely to its power.

While the acting is marvelous, the missing scenes and frequent dream-like sequences of ghosts and battlefields gives the film a kind of fitful feel, rather than one of sustained drama. Still, one cannot fault the outstanding cinematic style of this MACBETH, which succeeds admirably in creating mood. While its truncated version means it should be no one’s introduction to the play, this re-imagining offers some powerful scenes and dramatically gripping performances, making it worth the trip to the theater.

MACBETH opens in St. Louis on Friday, December 11th, 2015.

OVERALL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS

DON VERDEAN – The Review

Okay film fanatics, when you hear the word archeologist, who do you immediately think of? That’s simple, you picture the rugged Harrison Ford as the dashing, whip-crackin’ Henry Jones, Junior better known as Indiana Jones, first introduced in 1981’s RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (hmm, that itself may be an ancient artifact). First and foremost he’s a dashing action hero, but he’s also a man of ethics and morals, stated in his catchphrase “It belongs in a museum!”, along with his other sayings “Snakes. I hate ’em!” and “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage”. So are all seekers of the past, so noble? Well, the title character of the new film from the makers of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE certainly doesn’t follow in the well-worn boots of ole’ Indy. He’s got few qualms about fudging the facts and digging where he’s not permitted. So forget about Dr. Jones as you meet the down and out DON VERDEAN.

The film begins with old grainy VHS footage of the celebrated exploits of Don (Sam Rockwell) as the breathless narrator tells of his “discovery” of a most dubious item right out of the Old Testament. We flash forward from the decades old promo tape to find Don lecturing at a modest church auditorium to a handful of people. As he concludes, the meager throng is guided toward a table where Don’s prim and proper assistant Carol (Amy Ryan) is selling copies of his latest book. As the two pack up, Don ponders their future (and Carol wonders when she’ll be paid for her work). Luckily she gets a call from the head of a big, bustling “mega-church”, Tony Lazarus (Danny McBride). When Don and Carol meet with the church’s board of directors, Tony explains that the hip, “new-age” type temple down the street, run by the turtleneck wearing Pastor Fontaine (Will Forte), is depleting his flock. He needs an edge, and asks Don to acquire a new bible treasure that they can put on display in order to fill the pews once more. Don calls on some “desert rats” in Israel led by the shady Boaz (Jermaine Clement). The piece is shipped to the states and attracts a big crowd, including Fontaine who casts doubts on its authenticity. Tony insists on more displays so Carol and Don fly out to meet with Boaz. Don “bends the rules” and he returns with Carol and a big “find”. Unfortunately Boaz is part of the deal and the con man dives headlong into US culture (and insists on “dating” Carol). Word of the new artifact attracts the attention of a Japanese billionaire who wants to acquire the greatest treasure from the New Testament (you know that one, Indy fans). Can Don and Boaz pull off this caper or are they part of a bigger con?

Those coming to this film hoping to see the snarky, energetic Rockwell from LAGGIES and THE WAY WAY BACK will be at a bit of a loss. Almost unrecognizable in a frizzy auburn wig and matching bushy beard, sam’s Don V is clumsy and brusk, his brow furrowed almost to the point of constipation. The only time he shifts into high gear is when he must hurriedly double talk his latest “mark”. This makes for a character that’s tough to root for or often care about. It’s difficult to understand the dedication and devotion of Ryan’s Carol. After wonderful turns this past year in GOOSEBUMPS and BRIDGE OF SPIES, she expertly inhabits this buttoned-down lady (complete with severe, unflattering spectacles), but this talented actress has little to do until she must deflect the unwanted advances of Boaz. This clueless schemer is played by Clement as the dimbulb off-spring of Borat and “wild and crazy guys” from SNL, but with little of the charm. His odd, “inverse inflection” accent makes his dialogue a chore to decipher. This is frustrating when you consider his inspired work as the sexiest vamp in the recent WHAT WE DO IN SHADOWS. McBride is doing a toned-down, less “potty-mouthed” riff on his characters from TV’s “Eastbound and Down” and countless movie “lowlifes” (he does have a nice rapport with Leslie Bibb as his ex-hooker wife). Forte makes the rival pastor an offshoot of his many twitchy, self-important boobs from SNL (again!) and his current Fox sitcom.

So, we’ve got a very talented funny cast scrambling to wring laughs from this rambling, inert script by the brothers Hess and the slack direction by Jared. They struck gold with the awkward antics of Napoleon and his pals, but this just seems to be drained of life (and laughs). Like the earlier flick, we get that everybody’s a bit dim, but did they really make the church-goers into such clueless “rubes”? Carol’s given a troubled back story, perhaps to give the plot a touch of pathos, but it’s buried beneath the turgid, tired antics of the annoying, aggravating Boaz. These actors deserved much better material, as does anyone in search of a vibrant comedy caper. This is one script that DON VERDEAN should have left unearthed, deep, deep underground. As you-know-who might say, “Don’t look, Marion!”.

2 Out of 5

DON VERDEAN opens everywhere and screens exclusively in St. Louis at the Chase Park Plaza Cinemas

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA – The Review

Director Ron Howard’s IN THE HEART OF THE SEA tells the true tale of the 1830 sinking of the whaleship Essex by a massive whale. It’s a rousing epic that turns the endless expanse of the high seas into an arena for an exciting game of cat and mouse between man and beast. Howard’s film is a square, throwback adventure which, despite some clunky dialog and a predictable story, stays afloat for most of its running time.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is told in a series of flashbacks, opening in 1850 with author Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) paying a visit to Tom Nickersson (Brendan Gleeson) to learn if the rumors of a massive whale wrecking the ship on which he served thirty years earlier were accurate. Nickerson tells Melville of his experience as a young man (where he’s played by Tom Holland) aboard the Essex, then on a year-long quest from Nantucket to slay sperm whales for their valuable oil. There is rivalry on-board between First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) and the less-experienced Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), who wants to high-tail it back home at the first sign of danger. After little success in their whale hunt, the ship finds a motherlode of the creatures, but the Essex and its men soon suffer the fury of one angry whale-zilla that turns the tables on its attackers, destroying their ship. The survivors are then stranded on small boats for months, thousands of miles from land, with Chase steering one, and Pollard another. That vengeful whale stalks his prey across the high seas as the men become desperate for food (that flashback framing device comes in handy when the story needs to cut away from some gruesome cannibal shenanigans).

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is visually compelling but often plays like a big-budget B-actioner. The actors are adrift in stilted dialog and the film’s story lacks surprises. Its message about man vs nature is far from subtle, and the script fails to develop any deep relationships among its characters. But it’s with the promised spectacle that the film shines. Howard and his FX crew do a great job of making the watery antagonists overwhelmingly terrifying. These beasts are shown in great 3D detail demolishing hulls with one flap of their tail, sending sailors flying through the air, and biting off Bo Derek’s leg.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA proves that Chris Hemsworth, working with Howard again after his swaggering turn in RUSH, is a true blue movie star. His Owen Chase is a leader carved from the same mold as Ahab (if Ahab was often shirtless with long golden locks blowing in the wind). Benjamin Walker is excellent as Captain Pollard and I’m glad the story didn’t treat him as simply weak, but as a noble leader in over his head. Cillian Murphy as second mate is underused as is Tom Holland as the young Nickerson, though he has one great scene where, being the runt of the ship, he must literally descend into the smelly belly of the beast to scoop out its precious content.

Thanks in no small measure to cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and production designer Mark Tildesly, this handsomely mounted film exudes the authentic tang of salt, sweat and whale oil. While it may not soar as high as one might hope, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is still an enjoyable nautical adventure that proves that Ron Howard can still make impressive movies.

4 of 5 Stars

MOMENTUM – The Review

A robbery, (a diamond heist), comes off with what seems to be a minor glitch; one of the thieves, (all of them wearing identical body armor suits, head to toe, with voice altering microphones), is unmasked and can be identified by witnesses. All this during an argument by the thieves.

The unmasked robber is revealed to be not only a woman but young, and drop dead beautiful. This is Alex (Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace, The Water Diviner), We learn that she was talked into this heist against her better judgment. She once had a relationship with the “brains” of this outfit.

Of course the thieves do not get away with their loot, a fortune in diamonds, without complications. Wouldn’t be an action movie if things didn’t get fouled up now would it? Turns out there is a flash drive among the jewels, with some very damaging and valuable information wanted by a mysterious old guy called only “the Senator” (Morgan Freeman, in every movie you can name).

A crew of cleaners, cold blooded hit men led by Mr. Washington, (James Purefoy, John Carter of Mars, Resident Evil) come looking for the flash drive. As you would expect much carnage and mayhem ensues.

Let me just say first how nice it is to see that Morgan Freeman (in what amounts to a cameo) can still play a cold blooded, heartless bastard. Freeman has been pegged as the “nice guy” for way too long. He made his reputation way back in 1987 in Street Smart, one of the first movies to find an audience almost completely on home video (VHS), playing a cold blooded sociopath.

The flash drive is of course what Alfred Hitchcock always referred to as “the MacGuffin”, the object that drives the narrative. And like its title MOMENTUM is all drive and forward momentum, with its foot on the gas, all the way to the floor!

This movie is built for speed, the action set pieces are very well staged, some of the plot turns are by the numbers, but when the project is this well thought out and executed that is a minor complaint, at best.

Olga Kurylenko makes for an excellent action hero, of course it turns out her skill set was learned the hard way. She does have friends on her side, but spends most of the running time fighting a seemingly endless supply of bad guys.

Which raises a question in my mind, in one of the action set pieces, early on, Alex takes one of the bad guys hostage to make her getaway, using him as a human shield. Would that really work? Especially in an action movie, you would expect the bad guys would not hesitate to shoot one of their own to get what they were hired to retrieve. But why quibble.

MOMENTUM is an excellent piece of work, filmed entirely in Capetown, South Africa, beautifully filmed, all the actors, even minor characters, are on top of the material. And the script is very good, full of surprises.

The ending is unbelievably suspenseful, worthy of the master, Hitchcock, I do not like to give out spoilers but Alex gets boxed in and wins the day in a totally unexpected way. MOMENTUM has lots of twists and turns, double and triple crosses, great characters, even the bad guys are sympathetic, and that ending is terrific.

Morgan Freeman has the last word in a coda that leaves MOMENTUM wide open for a sequel, which I personally would love to see.

Four out of five stars.

MOMENTUM IS AVAILABLE NOW ON DIGITAL HD & ON DEMAND. RELEASED ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD ON DECEMBER 1, 2015

KRAMPUS – The Review

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Surprise—KRAMPUS is entertaining! It is certainly better than anyone might have expected. The film introduces well placed satire, and uses this to play with the audience. The purpose of KRAMPUS is to reveal the true meaning of Christmas — except with gore and monsters.

KRAMPUS is not a perfect film, but it’s satire surely is. From minute one, KRAMPUS seems less concerned with actually being scary in the sense that its trailers reveal, but more unnerving in the sense that it wants people to consider how terribly materialistic they are around this time of year. It is the type of film that will let little things like a Christmas tree catching on fire seem to hit so hard, but then turn around and leave you asking “Why is it that I actually care so much about the tree burning down?” Krampus isn’t a horror film. It is a vicious satire.

As it is written, KRAMPUS is in fact a funny movie, and many of the lines call to mind the work of John Hughes, especially near the beginning when the family at the center of the film first meets up to “enjoy” Christmas dinner (not that they do very much). The hosts (played by Adam Scott and Toni Collette) are exhausted, and judgemental of their in-laws. The in-laws are a stock “poor trailer family” with guns and a dog, who have brought along the complaining and boozing Aunt Doris (Conchata Ferrill). The family’s troubles lead their little boy, Max (played with surprising range by Emjay Anthony) to give up on Christmas and Santa Claus. John Hughes’ name came up earlier, and that’s not a mistake. The film’s first 20 minutes are reminiscent of Hughes’ own HOME ALONE as the siblings very aggressively prod at Max’s feelings. These opening 20 minutes also bring to mind Hughes’ archetypical writing style, unfortunately. The jokes all work, but the characters aren’t particularly as interesting as they could be. Still, the actors make do, and Adam Scott and David Koechner really steal the show. They’re given the most bonding time when the horror elements start to crop up, and that is the closest the film ever gets to taking itself seriously.

As far as the horror elements go, the film’s use of practical effects is commendable. The snow creates a perfectly eerie atmosphere of dark cold and despair, and the monsters, when they get to shine, are fascinating. KRAMPUS shows up about 25 minutes in, and his first showing is wonderfully executed with his tall and foreboding presence making a large impact. None of it is really frightful though, just kind of creepy. The parts that should be fearsome are more intense, but they are well constructed and by the end the endless bombardment of creatures and horror is undoubtedly effective. Director Michael Dougherty seems to be working with the same tools that Sam Raimi might have in his early career in making ultimately goofy things terrifying, but he only partly succeeds in actually scaring the audience.

KRAMPUS is a shallow festive horror film that probably would have turned out to be a bad film if the actors and filmmakers didn’t care. Instead, it is 98 minutes of solid entertainment that manages to be chilling, and amusing.

3 1/2 of 5 Stars

CHI-RAQ – The Review

Photo credit: Parrish Lewis, Courtesy of Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios

Spike Lee’s CHI-RAQ re-imagines Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy “Lystrata” as modern plea for peace in violence-torn Chicago. Chi-Raq is a term the director reportedly heard on the streets, used to compare violence-racked Chicago neighborhoods to war-torn Iraq. In the classic Greek play, the women on both sides of warring Sparta and Troy join together to end the war by staging a sex boycott. No sex for the men until there is no war. In CHI-RAQ, the Spartans and the Trojans are opposing gangs in a disadvantaged neighborhood, where their violent warfare is killing children in the streets.

It is a clever idea, moving this ancient comedy to Chicago’s bloody streets, using humor, music, sex and truth-telling to put a spotlight on the situation in these disadvantaged city neighborhoods. Sometimes a person just has to speak out, even if nothing will change, and that is what Lee is doing – expressing his views on gun violence, the lack of economic opportunity, the lousy schools, and the other challenges facing these neighborhoods, all within an entertaining film.

The film is funny, angry, wildly imaginative and hard-hitting. It is not a perfect film but it is a moving one, fired by Spike Lee’s passion to get people to do the right thing. It may be among the director’s best, even if success for its mission seems remote.

The director tells the story through rap, with much of the dialog in rhyme and sprinkled with some terrific musical numbers. The film uses dark, raw, biting humor and a sarcastic, truth-telling tone. There is nothing subtle about Lee’s film. He starts out with a hip-hop song about Chi-Raq, with the lyrics in large letters on screen, in case you might miss some. When the song ends, the word emergency in giant red letters flashes on screen while a voice urgently repeats the word. The film then moves to a club where a hip-hop artist named Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon) is performing the song in front of a packed house – until gunfire breaks out.

Although he denies it, Chi-Raq is associated with the Spartan gang. The Trojans are led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes), a one-eyed tough guy. Chi-Raq tells his lady Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) he is a musician, not a gang member, but that is not the way Cyclops sees it. When an 11-year-old girl is shot in the street in the middle of the day and no one arrested, Lysistrata organizes the women, including Cyclops’ wife Irene (Jennifer Hudson), to stop the war by staging a “sex strike” – no peace, no nookie (although the director uses a more graphic term).

The same boycott was used in Africa recently, when the women of Liberia organized a sex strike that ended their civil war. Lee makes reference to that real-world event in the film, although neighborhood wise woman Miss Helen (Angela Bassett) is clearly aware of the theatrical/historical roots. Lee has assembled a stellar cast, which also includes a wonderfully sly Samuel L. Jackson as narrator Dolmedes, who provides biting, sarcastic commentary, and John Cusack as a priest who grew up nearby and returned to lead a black church standing up to the violence. If there is a flaw in that cast, it is that it could use a few more young stars to connect more with a younger audience.

The film is clearly Spike Lee speaking out and hoping to do something to stop the violence racking city neighborhoods in Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore, all mentioned in the film. The director makes gun violence a center of his commentary, with gun-profiteers crossing state lines to buy them at gun shows, to evade Chicago’s strict gun laws, and selling them on the street. But he says more, with characters or the narrator commenting on neglected neighborhoods, places gripped with fear of gangs who do not care about innocent life lost as “collateral damage,” and police equipped with military surplus coming out in force to stop a protest but absent and ineffective when a little girl is shot. In one chilling bit of dialog, the narrator notes their children go from “third-rate schools to first-rate prisons,” and “now they are privatized, so it is profitable too.”

At the same time, it is clear Lee sees that chances of success, that the film will prompt real change, are not good. In one scene, Cusack delivers a fiery sermon to his congregation, listing the range of problems racking the neighborhood including the code of silence that protects the guilty, but we also notice he is “preaching to the choir.” In a classic Western, the people in the packed church, whipped into a frenzy of outrage, would pour out of the church and go get the bad guys. Instead, they simply go home. Lee is too good a filmmaker for that not to be a conscious reference. Near the film’s end, the sex boycott has spread around the world, and multinational companies promise jobs for the people in the neighborhood – and not minimum wage jobs. That seems a bit of highly unlikely wish-fulfillment on the director’s part, as well as a dig at those who could do more.

CHI-RAQ is powerful, even heart-breaking stuff wrapped in a dark, hip-hop musical comedy. Even if it seems unlikely to actually change anything, at least Spike Lee had his say.

CHI-RAQ opens in theaters on Friday, December 4th, 2015.

OVERALL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS

UNCLE NICK – The Review

I’m not sure what your holiday traditions are, but in my family, it’s not Christmas until you’ve watched at least one movie that makes you realize your family is not that bad, because it could always be worse. I joking, of course, but let’s say “hypothetically” that I’m not.

For me, ever since I first saw National Lampoon’s CHRISTMAS VACATION at an age probably too early to be watching the film, I’ve had a special place in my heart for Clark Griswold. A man with a good heart and no sense to navigate in the world. Year after year, I watch that film like a big eyed, innocent child all over again, and when Clark finally loses his shit in front of everyone, chugging back the adult egg nog, inside I’m saying “Amen, brother!”

What the Hell am I babbling on about, anyway? In the past, holiday movie traditions have consisted of goodie-two-shoes, proper family friendly classics in black and white and stop-motion animated TV shorts. That’s all well and good, and I even partake in these still, but in today’s jacked up world, we need a little reality in our fiction to keep our heads sane. Give it to us straight.

UNCLE NICK is not a perfect film, by any means, but screw perfection. Who needs that kind of pressure? Written by Mike Demski and directed by Chris Kasick, this is the average Joe’s Christmas movie. For those of us who can do without the do-gooders blowing smoke out their butts in an effort to be politically correct and all-inclusive, and prefer a little punch in our Christmas punch, UNCLE NICK offers a welcome reprieve from the G-rated holiday favorites.

Brian Posehn plays Nick, a middle-aged fat, balding drunk with scarce manners and a dead-end career keeping his late father’s fledgling landscape business afloat. When he’s invited to spend Christmas with his younger brother’s family, he goes instead as an opportunity to hopefully score with his step-niece, if I’m interpreting that complicated in-law familial jigsaw puzzle correctly.

Beau Ballinger plays Cody, Nick’s 31-year old younger brother, who is a failure in life, but gets by on his good looks. Cody married Sophie, played by Paget Brewster, and therefor married her money and big house as well. It’s a packaged deal, so Cody also acquired two step-children. Marcus, played wittily by Jacob Houston, and his older sister Valerie, played by Melia Renee. Valerie would be the 20-year old step-niece who holds Nick’s perverts creepy uncle affection.

Enough of the dilapidated family tree. UNCLE NICK is perhaps the most enjoyable anti-Christmas holiday movie since Billy Bob Thornton dawned the red suit in 2003 for BAD SANTA. It’s not necessarily the utmost best made film, but it’s certainly enjoyable, in it’s own humorously depraved ways. On some levels, the film is like a watered down live-action episode of Comedy Central’s South Park doing an homage to shows like All in the Family and Married With Children. Posehn’s dry, deadpan style plays in contrast to the rest of the cast and in turn works to set him apart as the odd uncle, which in turn plays into the ironic turn of events that occur in the film’s conclusion.

Melia Renee is effective at playing the seductive, rebellious harlot who plays into Nick’s inappropriate delusions, acting as a sort of succubus leading him into temptation. UNCLE NICK is a family-themed movie that is not family-friendly, complete with lewd humor, profanity, some nudity, sex, excessive consumption of alcohol, some expected and arguably warranted fisticuffs and ultimately, a nice little moral twist to the ending, just for the grown-ups who stuck it out to the end of the film, because chances are, we’re the ones who have lived, or perhaps still live, some facet of this holiday family life.

The chemistry and pacing of the performances in UNCLE NICK aren’t always spot-on, but the humor is well-written, snarky but realistic and just plain fun. Marcus doesn’t get much of the spotlight but makes us proud in his role and Cody is far from likable in any way, which is by design. Sophie, surprisingly enough, is the most sane of the family, thanks to Brewster’s level-headed performance, allowing her final revelation in the end of the film to carry more weight.

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris executive produced the film, which may not mean much to most, but helped draw me into seeing the film. As it turns out, UNCLE NICK showcased an unexpected influence from and/or homage to the modern legend of non-fiction filmmaking, as it begins and ends in a minor portion as an interview with Nick, Errol Morris First Person-style. In addition, the creative placeholder sequences between the segments of the story are filled with baseball scenes depicting the infamous 10-cent beer game between the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers.

Baseball, and more specifically the Cleveland Indians, serve as a running metaphor in the film and a connecting plot mechanism. There are nine segments in the film, as there are nine innings in a game of baseball. Each segment is chaptered as an inning and each of them carries a baseball-themed title that serves as a double entendre for the family’s hijinks. Nick’s sister Michelle, played by Missi Pyle, is equally ill-mannered as Nick but easier to look at and she’s married to Kevin, played by Scott Adsit, who runs and obsesses over his podcast that’s all about the Cleveland Indians.

Once you’ve had your fill of Rudolph and Frosty, but aren’t quite ready for A CHRISTMAS STORY, and you want a reality check instead of A MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, allow UNCLE NICK into your home and prepare for inappropriate white elephant gifts and off-key Christmas karaoke.

UNCLE NICK opens in theaters on Friday, December 4th, 2015.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

THE WANNABE – The Review

It’s rare that I find myself questioning the judgement of Martin Scorsese, but after having seen THE WANNABE, which he co-executive produced with Dean Devlin, it’s inevitable, even if it is short-lived. Directed by Nick Sandow, the film tells the story of Tom & Rose, an ambitious couple, but not well endowed with common sense or street smarts. The film is based upon real-life events that occurred around the trial of mafia boss John Gotti, an unusual case of celebrity obsession, if you will.

THE WANNABE, as silly as the title sounds, is just that. It’s the story of a social outcast who dreams of being a big-shot gangster and tried very hard in his own, pathetic way, to make those dreams a reality, when all it really accomplishes is chaos, death and destruction. On it’s own, this is a fairly generic, albeit not poorly made movie of average entertainment value. The film’s not bad, but it’s also not great. The performances are acceptable, but not inspiring. The direction and technical production are perfectly reasonable examples of what we’ve come to expect from a run-of-the-mill niche genre film such as this is, but there’s nothing that stands up and screams for our attention as a unique cinematic experience.

Tom, played by Vincent Piazza, is the brother of an Italian-American florist names Alphonse, played by Michael Imperioli, but Tom has his sights on a bigger, brighter future for himself. Every ounce of Tom’s being is fixated on John Gotti and the events unfolding as he awaiting judgement by the federal government trying him on charges related to organized crime. Indirectly, Gotti has holds influence over Tom, as a type of mentor or paternal figure.

Tom’s affection for Gotti is unwelcome and discouraged by the gangsters who disowned him and unnoticed by pretty much everyone else. My primary complaint about Piazza’s portrayal is that he’s too desperate, too needy, too pathetic. It’s difficult to imagine he managed to succeed on the relatively small and unimpressive level that he did. Piazza’s Tom feels like an exaggeration of the real-life character that must have been.

Tom is a good guy, but his delusion have misled him down a dark and unforgiving path of misguided hopes and dreams, which in turn lead to an equally dark and unfortunate path when his dreams don’t pan out and he takes the outlaw life into his and Rosie’s own hands without the necessary means to do so intelligently. In short, Tom & Rosie feel like entries in the World’s Dumbest Criminals collection, but we want them to be more like Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

Rose, played by Patricia Arquette, is a slightly older Italian-American woman with a similar mindset and tendency to habitualize drugs as Tom. Arquette’s portrayal of Rose appears to be more of a stereotypical manifestation of the character type than anything truly original or [hopefully] anything truthful to the real person on which the character is based. As a result, it becomes difficult to connect to Rose’s struggle and accept her as anything more than a tragic sidekick or accidental accomplice.

THE WANNABE’s biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that it double dips into source material that’s already been used too recently to justify another film. As they say, nobody wants sloppy seconds, but that’s what we end up with here in Sandow’s film. While other similar films may glamorize the lawlessness and violence, this film accentuates the ignorance of it’s central characters, or let’s just say it… it feeds off of the implied stupidity and festers within that notion, resulting in a two-dimensional cartoon that captures only a portion of the complete human being.

Ultimately, this movie feels like a tabloid version of the story, versus taking a more authentic, realistic approach to two actual human lives that, for better or for worse, made the decisions they made that led to the foreseeable consequences, all of which are predictable and written in modern history, but the audience loses out on what could have been a detailed character study with depth and detail.

In 2014, director Raymond De Felitta released his version of the same real-life story titled ROB THE MOB, a far superior interpretation and much more entertaining film than this, but it’s unfair to make such a comparison. So, I’ll do my best to consider THE WANNABE on it’s own merits and, if you’d like to read my review of ROB THE MOB [despite the equally cheesy title], you can do so here.

THE WANNABE opens in theaters on Friday, December 4th, 2015.

Overall rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN – The Review

By Cate Marquis

James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe star in VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, a kind of origin story/re-imagining of classic monster story told from Igor’s point-of-view.

Medical student Victor Frankenstein (McAvoy) is visiting a circus in Victorian London in search of animal body parts for his secret experiments, when a beautiful trapeze artist (Jessica Brown Findley) falls from her perch. The doctor rushes to assist but she is already being aided by the circus’ self-taught doctor, a hunch-back clown (Radcliffe). Impressed by the nameless clown’s skill and knowledge of anatomy, Frankenstein helps him escape the circus and takes him back to his laboratory, where he treats his physical problems. Given the name of Victor’s missing roommate, Igor Straussman, Frankenstein offers him friendship, a place to stay, an extensive library and a chance to help in his effort to create life.

The film is a mash-up of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, the 1930s James Whale-directed Boris Karloff movies, plus a good dose of new invention that shows heavy influence from the Robert Downey Jr. “Sherlock Holmes” movies. The story is re-set in Victorian England, where the brilliant but obsessed young Victor Frankenstein befriends and is assisted by an equally-brilliant Igor. Depending on how one responds to all that, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN will either amuse or irritate.

After last year’s disastrous I, FRANKENSTEIN, it is surprising anyone would try another Frankenstein story. However, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN takes a very different tack, more an action/adventure tale with a bit of humor rather than a horror tale.

To its credit, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN brings back more of the novel than most Frankenstein movies, and the film is packed with references to the classic movies – Victor’s brother Henry is the name of the doctor in Whale’s first movie, Igor is not the original name of the assistant – plus bits from other literary and cinema sources. The sampling includes bits of “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Elephant Man,” and “Les Miserables.”

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN is less horror than action/adventure in the style of those “Sherlock Holmes” movies mentioned above. There is still a monster (two, in fact) but no spoilers about that here. The tone and style are like the “Sherlock Holmes” movies – fast-paced, wildly improbable, spiked with humor, with McAvoy and Radcliffe playing over-the-top characters who inhabit a slightly steam-punk Victorian world.

But despite all that and a good cast, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN never quite gels. That good cast includes Charles Dance, “Games of Thrones’ ” fearsome patriarch Tywin Lannister, who plays Victor’s disapproving father, and Andrew Scott, who played Moriarty on the BBC “Sherlock” TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and plays the obsessive policeman pursuing Victor. In fact, director Paul McGuigan directed several of episodes from that series, as well as the films “Wicker Park” and “Lucky Number Slevin.”

The movie gives Frankenstein movie fans some of what they want – Igor does say “Yes, Master” at one point and Victor does say, “It’s alive” although not the way Colin Clive did – it does not give a lot of screen time to the monster itself. It is really about Igor and Victor, who are a sort of Sherlock and Dr. Watson team.

A little more humor and a strong focus might have saved this film. It is still entertaining at times, although all the references, its frenetic pace, and McAvoy’s loopy Victor and Radcliffe’s sincere Igor will either strike a chord or not. Those open to another kind of Frankenstein movie might enjoy this one but monster fans can probably skip it.

OVERALL RATING: 3 OUT OF 5 STARS

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN opens nationwide
Wednesday, November 25, 2015.

5 Out Of 5 Stars

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OVERALL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS

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OVERALL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS

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Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Overall rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

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OVERALL RATING: 3 OUT OF 5 STARS

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