Spotlight is an important film that fails to address the ‘Why’

Films that chronicle historical, pivotal events are obviously alluring. In fact, some of the greatest films out there involve historical events – see: JFK, The Imitation Game, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler’s List, etc. What is more fascinating (in terms of storytelling) is the ‘why’. For example, JFK examines the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (duh) and the peculiar events leading up to it (FBI and CIA involvement, Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions, and Lee Harvey Oswald’s upbringing). More important than anything, JFK examined ‘why’ there could have been reason people wanted him dead. With Spotlight, we do not necessarily get that.

Let me back up a bit here. Spotlight is a film set in 2001 that follows a special investigative department (named Spotlight) at the Boston Globe that finds proof that sexual abuse has been covered up by the Catholic Church. We are not talking about just one priest but 6% of all catholic priests around the world. The story is spearheaded by the newspaper’s new editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schrieber), that throws the Spotlight team — Robby Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James)and Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) on a journey to interview lawyers Eric MacLeish(Billy Crudup) and Mitchell Garabedian(Stanley Tucci), numerous victims and to attempt to unseal sensitive court documents that would be damning to the church.

The further this team delves into an individual priest’s case, the more they uncover a wide spread conspiracy (that involves at least 87 priests in the Boston area) that all points to the Cardinal, Bernard Law, hiding these traumatic events from the public. The victims the team encounters just make you sad. They were completely taken advantage of and targeted due to limited circumstances: poverty, broken home, etc. Priests used this as they were less likely to talk and their credibility came into question. These appalling actions had devastating effects on the victims. What usually resulted with the victims was a resort to drugs and alcohol, psychological trauma, identity crises, and even suicide.

It’s fair to say the film is important for shedding an even larger light on the Catholic Church’s priests cover up. Although the film did a good job of explaining the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ of the story; it mostly neglected the ‘why’ behind these pedophile Catholic priests. I am certainly not condoning or sympathizing with the priests but I do find it highly valuable to understand why these acts occur. That way we can all try to find a way to combat the problem.  Also, ‘why’ would the church continue to cover for their priests and even have them remain employed? Maybe I’m just mad that nothing has really been done about this glaring issue. When valuing a film’s merits, I found this to be a factor worth addressing.

Outside of my reservation, the film had solid acting (particularly Billy Crudup) and direction by Tom McCarthy (Win Win, The Cobbler). What a diverse filmography from McCarthy. It’s anyone’s guess as to what his next film will be.  Overall, the film is a good one and sheds light on an already controversial issue. I am sure the academy will at least see this film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar because it’s a sociopolitical issue. I do not, however, believe it will win much.

The film is in select theaters and currently has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Grade: B+

Let’ talk about that Doctor Strange movie.

There are ‘most’ of you out there that have no idea who Doctor Strange is but much just like Iron Man, you will likely become very familiar with the name upon the film’s release in November of 2016. The story follows a morally conflicted neurosurgeon after he is involved in a horrible car accident. The accident makes him useless as a surgeon but he ends up discovering the power of magic and alternate dimensions.

It’s pretty ‘out there’ and may not attract many based on that premise alone but the cast of the movie will definitely turn heads. Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) has been cast as the films lead a few months ago. If you haven’t seen him in Sherlock then drop everything right now and watch it. It’s the best Sherlock Holmes easily.

Check out the rest of the cast!

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, upcoming The Martian) as Baron Mondo — villain

Rachel McAdams (True Detective, The Notebook) in an undisclosed role — just announced today.

Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Doctor Strange’s mentor, The Ancient One

Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal TV series, Casino Royale, Valhalla Rising) as a mystery villain

The film comes from a script by Jon Spaihts (co-writer of Prometheus, The Darkest Hour) and directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil). Tonally, the filmmakers involved make sense. Also, remember this is a Marvel film that actually looks to deviate from a lot of the type of movies they’ve been churning out in the last five years or so. So, the change is welcome.

Captain America: Civil War (May 2016) will begin Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which is followed by Doctor Strange. The rest of Phase Three is includes the following movies:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
an untitled Spider-Man movie
Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War part 1
Black Panther
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Infinity War part 2
Inhumans

If you want a breakdown of the ‘phases’, then check out the Wikipedia listing here.

Marvel definitely does not sound like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon. It seems like every comic book character will be getting their due at the box office. It’s a win-win for comic book fans. Also, who doesn’t like Benedict Cumberbatch?!

August 2015 Movie Releases (DvD & Blu-Ray)

August 4^th

Insurgent – The movie cousin to The Hunger Games has a sequel. Based upon the YA(young adult) novel, this sequel focuses on the war between four factions (Amity, Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless). Tris is one of the divergents (having all 4 characteristics) as she helps lead the way in a fight for peace or something like that. Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet and the god awful Jai Courtney.

Do You Believe? – A religious movie about how a pastor influences another pastor to be more pastorly. Starring: Mira Sorvino, Sean Astin (Rudy), and Cybill Shepherd.

True Story – This is that James Franco and Jonah Hill movie that was based on a true story. It focuses on the relationship between a writer, Finkel (Hill) and a murderer, Longo (Franco), taking upon Finkel’s identity. Finkel was a writer for the New York Times Magazine and was actually fired for fabricating parts of a news story in 2002.

Child 44 – Tom Hardy plays a Russian Intelligence agent (in the Joseph Stalin era) who takes on a case involving multiple murders of children. Leo Demidov’s (Hardy) case leads to high authorities in the Russian government. Based upon the first in a trilogy of novels by Tom Rob Smith, the story follows Demidov’s exploits. Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, The Professional), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing, upcoming Suicide Squad), Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Vincent Cassel (Trance), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, The Golden Child).An incredible cast doesn’t always spell box office success. Still, I am likely to rent this.

A Little Chaos – A movie about competitive garden designers that are tasked to create a one of a kind water fountain on the grounds of le chateau de Versailles. I’m not making this up. Starring: Kate Winslet (The Reader), Alan Rickman (Harry Potter), Stanley Tucci(Transformers 4: Age of Extinction), and Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead).

Adult Beginners – A drama about a businessman (Nick Kroll) that loses it all but while staying with his sister (Rose Byrne) learns valuable life lessons. Starring: Nick Kroll (The League), Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class), Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man), Joel McHale (Ted) and Jason Mantzoukas (The Dictator, The League).

The Salvation – Mads Mikkelsen stars as a vengeful settler in the American West circa 1870s after the murder of his family. After killing the man responsible, the leader of their gang also seeks revenge. Looks like a decent flick. Starring: Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Hannibal), Eva Green (Casino Royale), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen).

Barely Lethal – This movie follows a 16 year old teenager assassin after she fakes her own death and enrolls in a suburban high school. She quickly learns that school clicks and popularity come at a price. Starring: Jessica Alba (Sin City), Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), and Samuel L. Jackson (every movie). Yawn!

Madame Bovary – A drama focusing on an adulterous wife as she tries to escape her boring lifestyle. Starring: Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment, Alice in Wonderland), Ezra Miller (Trainwreck, upcoming Flash), Paul Giamatti (Sideways) and Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man).

Jackie & Ryan – Katherine Heigl still manages to headline movies, although this one looks straight to video. The story involves two musicians as they find themselves in love. Starring Katherine Heigl, Ben Barnes and Clea DuVall.

 

August 11^th

Hot Pursuit – All of the previews for this mess looked like a rip off of The Heat with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. This is a ‘female buddy’ film that has a conservative cop (Reese Witherspoon) and the wife of a drug dealer (Sofia Vergara) that must team up against a drug cartel. If Sofia’s blabbering accent on Modern Family isn’t enough for you, then check this out!

Unfriended – A high school girl that killed herself due to a cruel prank now communicates via Skype in video group chats! Okay, it sounds lame but at least it’s a different way for the genre of horror to reach another generation of kids.

Robot Overlords – Humans are slaves to a race of robots that conquered the world. People are confined to their homes and must wear implants. I’m not sure how this escaped me as it stars Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, Tut) and Gillian Anderson (X-Files). I may watch if the SyFy Channel picks it up.

 

August 18^th

Little Boy – A seven year old boy ventures off to bring his father back home from the World War II. The boy’s innocence incites those embedded in the war. Starring Emily Watson, Kevin James (you read that right), Michael Rapaport, Tom Wilkinson and Ali Landry (that hot Dorito’s commercial girl).

Lambert & Stamp – This documentary chronicles the journey of aspiring filmmakers, Christopher Stamp and Kit Lambert, as they try to produce a movie during the 1960’s underground music scene. The doc also features footage with famous people related to The Who, Richard Barnes, Roger Daltry, and Pete Townshend.

5 to 7 – This is a romantic comedy that follows a woman who writes about falling in love. Things get crazy when the person she is in love with is the French diplomat’s wife! Gasp! Caged Heat sounds better.

Strangerland – A family moves to the Australian outback when a dust storm results in the loss of their children. A search party forms to find the missing children amidst rumors and suspicion. Spooky! Starring: Nicole Kidman (Fur), Joseph Fiennes (Voldemort’s brother) and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings).

The Riot Club – In this thriller, two freshman join an infamous club at Oxford. One day, all of the spoiled, rich students get in over their heads. Based upon the play, Posh.  The movie,Skulls, is probably much better than this but that ain’t saying much!

Vendetta – Remember Dean Cain? Well, if you haven’t went out of your way to research where he’s been, you’d still only remember him for playing Superman in the TV series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Mr. Cain has been playing in direct to video movies for quite some time. In this movie, he plays a cop who must get revenge after his wife is murdered by The Big Show (Paul Wight or WWE fame). This looks like hung-over viewing.

 

August 25^th

Aloha – An all-star cast surrounds this box office disappointment. Brian Gilcrest is a US weapons consultant that becomes disgraced, then later talks to a robot and then eventually heads to Hawaii to oversee the launch of a spy satellite. He must also get permission for the launch from the Hawaiian council as part of his assignment. Directed by fan-favorite Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) and starring: Bradley Cooper, Emma, Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, Alec Baldwin, and Bill Murray.

Citizenfour – This riveting looking documentary showcases how filmmaker, Laura Poitras (who focuses on gov’t surveillance of private citizens post 9/11) receives an encrypted email by “citizenfour” who claims to have inside knowledge of covert surveillance by intelligence agencies. “Citizenfour” ends up being Edward Snowden. The documentary focuses on key interviews with Snowden and Julian Assange. Looks very interesting.

Where Hope Grows – Holy 1980s! This movie stars Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) and William Zabka (bad guy from The Karate Kid). The story focuses on a former professional baseball player who retires because of panic attacks. He eventually develops a relationship with a store clerk who has Downs Syndrome. His perspective on life changes and hope is learned…blah…blah…blah….I’ll pass.

Two Days, One Night – Marion Cotillard (Inception, La Vie en Rose) stars in this drama about how working class people who may have been disenfranchised from society. Sandra (Cotillard) tries to return to her job after an episode of depression only to find that her employer no longer needs her. She learns her fate is to be decided by her fellow employees in a vote.

Big Game – A teenager finds the President of the United States in a pod while hunting. Together they must make it through the woods alive as terrorists close in. Starring: Samuel L. Jackson (every movie) and Onni Tommila.

Skin Trade – Dolph Lundgren stars as a detective out for revenge after his family was slain by the mob. The mob is eventually connected to a human trafficking ring and Dolph must work with Tony Jaa (Ong Bak, The Defender), a Thai detective, to destroy them once and for all. Hung-over viewing.

Justice League: Gods and Monsters – Set in an alternate universe, DC’s trinity (Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman) find themselves framed for a bombing. DC’s main guns all have different origin stories and must decide whether they want to save the world or conquer it. Voice actors: Benjamin Bratt, Michael C. Hall, Tamara Taylor, Jason Isaacs and C. Thomas Howell. It’s a comic book animated movie! Count me in.

Lila & Eve – A drama/thriller surrounding a mother, Lila, who loses her son in a drive by shooting.  Lila eventually meets Eve, another mother who lost her daughter the same night. Together they go after the criminals responsible. Starring: Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez. Lifetime should starting making theatrical releases.

October Gale – This follows a doctor who tries to assist an injured man on an island from a man that is hunting him. Starring Patricia Clarkson, Scott Speedman, and Tim Roth.

The Runner – Nicolas Cage is back again as a once idealistic politician that must re-examine his life after a sex scandal destroys his career. Not to be confused with a good movie, this stars Nicolas Cage, Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave), Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator). Will Nic Cage ever make a comeback from box office obscurity?

Creed Trailer Previews The Latest Rocky Movie

Yo, Adrian. You, uh, ready for a seventh Rocky movie?

Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone star in New Line Cinema’s Creed, the latest in the Rocky series. The movie is directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station). Thankfully, due to Stallone’s age, this movie doesn’t feature Rocky boxing in the ring. This time around, Rocky trains fledgling boxer Adonis Johnson, the son of the long since departed Apollo Creed.

Adonis never knew his father, but boxing is in his bones, so he tracked Balboa down in Philadelphia to seek his mentoring. It’s old school vs. new school; but mostly new school, with echoes of Rocky’s own training living through a new generation and a more modern world.

This movie could go either way. But I think it’s safe to say that the basic premise of focusing on a new generation is the only way to keep the series going.

Beating Creed to theaters this summer will be another boxing movie: Southpaw, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams.

Instead of an up and coming boxer, Gyllenhaal plays a champion on top of the world, with a lavish house and a loving family. Everything changes when his wife dies, he loses custody of his kid, and he tries to fight his way back out of a spiral of self-destructive behavior. It also looks like 50 Cent’s acting figures to make this one part comedy.

Personally, I’d rather see Creed. It looks more fun, and Southpaw looks to me like something potentially contrived to be Oscar bait. Maybe that’s just me. Here’s the Southpaw trailer so you can compare the two movies with your own eyes:

True Detective Season 2 Premiere: Detecting Misery & Mystery

After Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s most excellent 1^st season, fans were excited, but unsure of where the anthology series would be heading. HBO unleashed the anticipated 2^nd season premiere yesterday and has left a lot of us feeling mixed. This time around we are in Los Angeles (instead of Louisiana) and are following four separate characters played by Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Taylor Kitsch and Rachel McAdams.

The idea of atmosphere as a character is used once more and it’s heavy handed. In the first season, Louisiana’s more rural areas are explored and give a distinguishable layer to the neo-noir. In this 2^nd season premiere, we get unnecessary shots of the fake city of Vinci, California (which are based on real life corrupt, industrial city – Vernon, CA) and even multiple shots of an industrial plant that doesn’t serve the story’s purpose. Los Angeles is soulless and so is this setting and characters. Perhaps that is the point.

In this pilot, like most pilots, we are getting a foundation that is being laid out along with an introduction to a set of characters. In other words, most pilots aren’t the best. To make matters worse for this season, there isn’t a shred of likability with any of these characters. At least in the first season we had very likable characters that did questionable things.

Colin Farrell plays a dirty cop, Ray Velcoro, who lost his way around the time his wife (now ex-wife) was beaten and raped. Ray attempts to keep his drinking at bay while he runs ‘errands’ for career criminal, Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn). Frank is attempting to go ‘legit’ by building a monorail in southern California but can’t seem to escape bad press. Rachel McAdams plays detective Ani Bezzerides, who is personally damaged but ignores her problems by making her job her life. Lastly, Taylor Kitsch plays a war veteran/cop named Paul Woodrugh with a mysterious past (he has noticeable burn scars on part of his torso/shoulder). Ani, Ray, and Paul all meet toward the end of the episode when the missing City Manager, Caspere, shows up dead (his eyes were plucked out and he was sitting on a picnic table Weekend at Bernie’s style).

So, that’s where we are now. After being exposed to how miserable these characters really are we may get to work on uncovering this season’s ‘mysteries’. I read that I am not the only person that wasn’t impressed with this premiere but I will say that the end of the episode left me optimistic and intrigued. Also, if these characters are being shown as such irredeemable, detestable people then I hope that they can grow into better people.

It is simply hard to tell where this season will take us. With everyone’s background and motivations made clear, we can start to focus on the mystery at hand. Even though these characters aren’t the best, I will say that the acting is top notch. Even the production design was alluring as is the opening song (Leonard Cohen’s “Nevermind”) in the credits. I still look forward to next week but without as much anticipation before seeing this premiere.

What’s up with all the hopelessness, HBO (see also “Game of Thrones”)?!

Pilot Grade: B

The Best Body Swap Movies

Because there’s so many movies to choose from! Whenever a person or personality inhibits a different body or takes over a body (multiple personalities), whether through magic or science fiction elements, then I considered it a body swap. So, if I were to do the Best Body Swap TV shows, Quantum Leap would make the list.

8 . The Hot Chick (2002)

How can anyone forget Rob Schneider’s box office smash? This even starred Rachel McAdams before her role in Mean Girls catapulted her to A-list status. Schneider plays a sleazy criminal and McAdams a girly girl who switch bodies. This is mostly terrible minus a couple scenes but it is the best Rob Schneider movie in which he headlines. The only person that shines in this is Anna Farris as the best friend. Tia and Tamera Mowry (from the Disney show) co-star in the movie.

7. The Change-Up (2011)

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman star in this yawn fest. Reynolds began his downward career spiral (that’s a thing) right around this time. He was used to churning out stuff that was creatively uninspired and lazy. The story finds an attorney/family man (Bateman) who switches bodies with his best friend (Reynolds), who’s an ‘adult video’ star. Wait, how did these guys become best friends?!

6. Like Father Like Son (1987)

Dudley Moore and the Rapture obsessed Kirk Cameron (those damn Left Behind movies) star as father and son and end up swapping bodies by ingesting South American potion. Mostly cringe worthy, darker than expected and actually showcases how talented Cameron could really be. Dudley Moore mostly embarrasses himself with this pretty forgettable 80s movie that made the rerun section on HBO….in the mid-1990s.

5. Vice Versa (1988)

Same concept as Like Father Like Son but a lot better, mostly due to Fred Savage’s performance, especially once he becomes his father, played by Judge Reinhold. This time around, they swap bodies by wishing while holding a Buddha statue!

4. Source Code (2011)

Jake Gylenhaal plays a soldier who gets his mind transferred to another individual on a train who is about to die. He must find a bomber in 8 minutes before he and everyone else blows up. The cool thing is that he continues to live out the 8 minutes over and over until he succeeds. It’s kind of like Groundhog Day meets The Thirteenth Floor. I definitely recommend it for any sci-fi fan.

3. Freaky Friday (2003)

A remake which defined Lindsay Lohan’s career has her swapping bodies with her mom, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The feuding mother/daughter team ends up switching due to a fortune cookie. Comedy ensues!

2. Fight Club (1999)

“The things you own end up owning you.” – Tyler Durden

Yes, this counts! Multiple personalities! An insomniac office drone tries to find a way to change his life and ends up meeting the ‘out there’ Tyler Durden. They rationalize existence and end up creating an underground fight club. Things begin to get weird and the insomniac later comes to find out that he and Tyler Durden are the same person. This was one of the most controversial films of 1999 and even though it wasn’t a box office success, it ended up being very popular on dvd and developed a large cult following. Great trailer above!

1. Face/Off (1997)

“I want his face……off!!!!” – Sean Archer as Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage as John Travolta)

I know what you might say, “hey, it’s not a body swap”! Well, yes, it actually is. In the movie, they not only swap faces but also get surgeries to look exactly like one another. The director, John Woo, made his debut in America with Van Damme’s Hard Target but things went totally bonkers when he made this movie. Full of one-liners, unexplained coincidences, overacting, great action scenes and believe it or not improvisation. Oh yeah! Let’s not forget the doves! They’re in every Woo movie (Hard Target, Mission Impossible 2, Broken Arrow, Face/Off). The premise follows an FBI agent named Sean Archer(John Travolta) who is out to catch a global terrorist, Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage), that also accidentally killed his son (he was trying to murder Travolta instead). The story is highly unlikely and quickly explained with ridiculous ‘science’ techniques that would never work (referring to the face swap operation). This is Nicolas Cage’s Cageish of all his roles. Even though the story is ridiculous, it is straight up fun. You can’t help but laugh at the sheer amount of crazy action as Travolta and Cage light up the screen. I was recently listening to a podcast reviewing this movie and they pointed out the creepiness of the ‘face waterfall’ that is used by Sean Archer as a sign of affection. Why is John Travolta obsessed with touching faces? The 2015 Oscars anyone?! Oh, I must also mention that the ‘I want his face off’ scene was improvised! God! Even this trailer is the best!

Honorable Mentions

Mulholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch’s controversial masterpiece chronicles an amnesiac woman and a Hollywood hopeful as they search for clues after a fateful car accident. The notions of perception in terms of dreams and reality are examined. The movie did not make the list as it wasn’t an outright ‘body swap’ movie but rather an ambiguous psychological thriller. David Lynch refuses to speak about the films meaning or symbolism and some have gone on record stating that Lynch likes people interpreting this movie a variety of ways.

Primal Fear (1996)

Edward Norton, in his first role, gets Oscar nominated in this movie about how an altar boy murdered his sexually abusive priest. Though the movie deals with an accused murderer suffering from multiple personality disorder, it is later revealed that it was all an act.