Serenity (2019)

One minute into the movie, I went "Oh damn, is this a fishing movie?" I walked in knowing nothing about this movie. And I was not ready for a fishing movie. This turned out to be much worse than a fishing movie. There is a small nugget of inspiration in the idea but it's done so poorly. It could have had interesting things to say about free will and consciousness but it doesn't go there. The writing is god awful. And the acting by ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS is embarrassing; they must have paid Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey quite a bit of money. This has The Room written all over it. Maybe one day this will become a cult classic known for being bad.

Justice League (2017)

I know when we get these superhero movies, we should expect something derivative, but this was just too derivative. There was nothing original about this. It's more than just Marvel beating them to the punch. Boxes of energy? A God-like villain? A God-like villain with an M-shaped crown? The team of superheroes? I know this is the set-up movie, but the whole thing is set-up.  That's what the individual movies were for! We don't want more intro here. The best parts of the movie are Flash and Wonder Woman. Ezra Miller is charming and funny. He's the only person that doesn't take it all so seriously. That's really the heart of the problem. The movie takes itself too seriously. We've come to expect funny superhero movies. This isn't funny. It isn't as dark as some of the older DC movies, but it's too serious still. Also, Cyborg is kind of cool, Aquaman is still lame, and Ben Affleck looks terribly bored. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

There were very high expectations for this film, and I think it fell short. The first hour and a half of the movie is a total mess. It is a series of short vignettes (for an hour and a half!) of seemingly unrelated themes. It relies on you knowing the back story to draw connections between the vignettes on your own, but on the whole they do not really contribute to the overarching story in the film. Speaking of overarching story, there seems to be scenes missing or rather the movie simply skips over the explaining parts and just assumes that you know what's going on. My biggest qualm is that the movie removed these useful scenes, while keeping the useless ones that simply set up more sequels without resolution--such as that inexplicable dream sequence.

The music seemed a little stale. Hans Zimmer is usually a master of the superhero soundtrack. He rightfully recognized that this would be his last superhero movie, claiming that he has run out of ideas. His Man of Steel soundtrack was quite good. I think it might have worked better to have more "Man of Steel" music and less new stuff.

Ben Affleck plays a Batman that is fundamentally different from the Christian Bale Batman that we have come to know and adore. He really plays up the vigilante side of Batman--a back-to-basics of sorts. It is not a bad thing, just different. And I like that the Batcave is underneath Farnsworth House. Actually, more difficult for me was seeing Jeremy Irons as Alfred; for me Michael Caine will embody Alfred always. Wonder Woman was left very mysterious. There weren't really any answers and she appeared out of nowhere. If Gal Gadot's job was simply to be mysterious, then she did it well.

And if you were wondering why are Superman and Batman fighting then you were right to wonder. Don't let the super fans scold you for asking the right question. They shouldn't be fighting. They're on the same side.

And there were no extra scenes in the end credits! What kind of superhero movie is that?

I saw this movie at the historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. It is a gorgeous old movie house and it made the movie going experience well worth it.

Trumbo (2015)

Bryan Cranston proves that he is a master of acting in all mediums. After his unforgettable turn as Walter White in Breaking Bad and a run on Broadway in 2014, he takes on a leading role in a film. I love the scenes when Cranston is in full screenwriting mode at his typewriter, or in the tub literally cutting and taping together lines. In a way, Trumbo is similar to Walter White. Like Walter, Trumbo has to innovate, adapt to survive in a world that is working against him.  Helen Mirren is also fabulous as Hedda Hopper, who is intimidating to even the most powerful men in Hollywood. Louis CK was pleasantly surprising in a role that I wouldn't have pegged him for.

The story is well done, if a bit cliched at times. Sometimes the speeches are a bit too soapbox-y about American ideals and what not. But I do like movies about movies, especially in the classic Hollywood era. And it is a smart movie. The Hollywood Ten were undoubtedly smart, trying to pull one over the House Un-American Activities Committee and subsequently defeating the blacklist. 

Inside Out (2015)

Much like emotions themselves, this movie is quite complex. Perhaps a little too complex for children, but if you think the target audience is children, then you don't know Pixar, which has consistently made high quality animated films that resonate best with adults who might accompany children to the theater.  Pixar adds to its canon of masterpieces, and perhaps outdoes itself once and for all with this brilliant return to form after a year off.  As always, Pixar finds the right balance between comedy, drama and pure emotion, never failing to illicit a tearful response or two or .several from the audience.

The premise is so novel and creative and clever. It is pure genius.  It is at once a story about growing up, about memories and dreams, and about learning to grapple with our feelings, our emotions and personalities.  And it does so literally from the inside out, telling stories from inside Riley's mind.  It is a story that only the world of animation could bring to life.  It is very beautifully animated.  It uses imagination to envision what imagination looks like.  It envisions an expansive library of memories sitting in storage.

The characters are extreme caricatures, all cast perfectly.  Amy Poehler plays Joy, a hyped up version of Leslie Knope.  Likewise, Lewis Black plays Anger, an extreme version of his own persona.  But it is the character of Sadness voiced by Phyllis Smith that shares the spotlight with Joy, or stands in the shadow of Joy's aura.  I really appreciated Pete Docter's attention to sadness, an emotion for which the child-minded Joy sees no use; but our emotions are complex and sadness is not an inherently bad thing, and the real heart of the film is this interplay between these two characters learning what it means to be sad and learning to embrace it.

I also think that it is great that the main character is a little girl (a la Brave).  Perhaps girls are a little more in touch with their emotions at a young age. But in any case, it is important for girls to see themselves portrayed on screen, and in Pixar's fifteen productions, this is only the second to feature a female protagonist.  And she plays hockey!  Take that, gender stereotypes.

PS. Did you catch the reference to Chinatown? "Forget it, Jake. It's Cloudtown"
PPS. Did you see the film poster at Dream Productions referencing Vertigo?