Bridge of Spies (2015)

This is not just an espionage thriller, but a political thriller.  It does a great job of explaining the complex political theater of Eastern Europe during the Cold War as well as the complex American justice system.  We have the Coen brothers to thank for the easy-to-follow screenplay, which is saying something considering the infamous U2 incident is quite complicated.  Steven Spielberg glorifies American values with soapbox speeches by the fantastic all-American Tom Hanks. As the idealistic and principled lawyer defending a Soviet spy, James Donovan upholds the Constitution by mounting a valiant defense in the face of public scrutiny taking his case all the way up to the Supreme Court. The spy is Mark Rylance who does not get much screen time, but plays a calm man ready to face whatever fate may come to him.  The production design is also praiseworthy.  It paints a gloomy picture of the ruinous East Berlin at the height of the Cold War as the Berlin Wall is being erected.  The music was not composed by John Williams, the first Spielberg movie that has not featured his frequent collaborator since 1985's The Color Purple. 

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars will become the biggest movie of the year, without a doubt, maybe even the biggest movie of the decade.  This seriously has Avatar potential.  What the two movies share in common are fun and visually thrilling action movies in galaxies far, far away.  JJ Abrams made a movie that is exactly what the fans have asked for. It is a movie that lives up to the fans' expectations, and as we all know, Star Wars fans care very much.  And it shows that Abrams put care into this movie too so as not to disappoint. The movie has gotten some criticism  for copying the original too much, but I see it more as an homage to the source material. It opens on a desert planet Jakku, not unlike Tatooine.  The key to the Resistance (no longer Rebellion) movement is tucked away in a droid that is found by the protagonist.  And without revealing too much more of the movie, rest assured there are a lot more parallels to A New Hope--the most glaringly obvious of which is the new and improved Deathstar-like weapon.  I personally loved the hiding underneath the floor of the Millennium Falcon, a throwback to Han Solo and Chewbacca.

The movie brings the same type of drama that the original trilogy did that is simultaneously exhilarating and emotion.  Reliable John Williams returns and wrote a rousing score that echoes the familiar themes.  And at the end of the massive credits, the chimes play the theme one final glorious time at a slowed down pace.  2015 brought with it modern special effects that show how far Star Wars has come since 1977.   This is a Star Wars for a new generation creating a new young following.

The characters from the original trilogy are back. They're a lot older but we are all so glad to see them. The audience at the IMAX theater literally applauded Han Solo and Chewbacca. And the returning characters all have plausible story lines that make sense for their characters following the close of the original trilogy. But this is about the new characters. Daisy Ridley plays Rey and it is refreshing to have a strong female lead. John Boyega is a reformed Storm Trooper, finally putting a (likable) face to the foot soldiers of the Dark Side.  And the new face of evil is Kylo Ren with his newly designed light saber.  He makes a formidable foe for a formidable sequel to America's cinematic treasure.

    

The Danish Girl (2015)

The Danish Girl is very similar to last year's The Theory of Everything.  Eddie Redmayne underwent a complete transformation for both roles and he is likely to be a contender for the Oscars this year too (though I think his likelihood of winning is pretty low having already won last year).  Both films featured strong female characters (arguably co-leads) to complement Redmayne's--both were played by excellent newcomers to Hollywood.  And both are variants on a traditional romance.

There are stages to Gerda and Lili/Einar's relationship.  It didn't feel like the stages followed a natural progression.  Until the last third or so, it was not clear that Gerda's love for Einar would persevere.  I was expecting Gerda to love Einar unconditionally, but for a large chunk in the middle she does not seem to understand Einar or Lili.  And I don't expect her to get it right away, but I did not find a turning point where it clicked for her.  It appears to the viewer that she uses Lili for financial gain and it is not clear where her feelings and her work separate paths. Where it all changed was the conversation with Dr. Warnerkos. All of a sudden, Gerda became ultra supportive. Maybe it was that she felt guilty for triggering Einar, and finally understood that it was not Gerda's doing, but that is not clear.  And when things turn around, it is Lili that pushes Gerda away.  Lili/Elbe are presented as dual personalities--two people who inhabit the same body with one who loves Gerda and one who pushes Gerda away. Perhaps that is how transgender people were understood in the 1920s, but as far as I understand that is not quite the case.  For example, Lili claimed that she could not paint because Einar was the painter.  But if this was an activity that Einar enjoyed and had success in, then Lili could have done the same.  She should be allowed to live her life normally as a transitioned woman.

I appreciate Danny Cohen's cinematography. He also worked with Hooper on The King's Speech. He centers certain shots, and lets others sit uncomfortably off-center. But I love the artistic choice.  And Alexandre Desplat's score is very fitting. He always composes great works.  The acting is superb. Eddie Redmayne is extraordinary and makes a full transformation into character both into Einar and then into Lili.  His makeup and costumes are very well done and very convincing.  There has been some controversy over the casting of a cis man as Lili Elbe, but I would contend that Redmayne is properly cast as Einar, and then he makes the transformation successfully to play Lili.  Alicia Vikander has had a standout year following her breakout role in Ex Machina.  She is astounding, too, and she does not allow Redmayne to upstage her--after all she is titular Danish Girl, too.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

This is a solid family film, but as far as Pixar films go, this movie pales in comparison to Inside Out earlier this year.  The reason is that the movie lacks heart.  Pixar is known for drawing out emotions from its viewers but The Good Dinosaur was a little tame. The story is kind of typical for the genre and a little simple and shallow for Pixar's standards. It seems to hearken back to other classic animated films.  It is very much like Lion King, in which the father dinosaur dies tragically early on (very typical Disney).  Then there are three pterodactyls that try to make a meal of Arlo, like the hyenas from Lion King.

The premise of the film is interesting. What if the dinosaurs never went extinct? Then they would have evolved... to learn to domesticate agriculture and livestock, like humans did.  There is some charm and some genuine laughs. The movie is visually stunning, animating different species of dinosaurs in a friendly way that looks a lot better than The Land Before Time.  Those lightning bugs and the actual lightning and thunder that storm up trouble for the protagonist.  The animation is actually quite different. The computer images are not evocative of the same visuals we're used to from Pixar, but this was the kind of animation that this movie needed.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The ice planet Hoth is a pure white expanse that engulfs the viewer in this other world like the deserts of Tatooine.  The ensuing battle features imaginative AT-AT Walkers, which I vaguely recall in Lego form.   This also marks the first appearance of Yoda and his topic-comment speech.  He is really funny looking not being computer generated.  He kind of reminds me of Kermit, looking very puppet-like.  It is a far cry from the computer generated image we see in the prequel trilogy.  This movie is a pivotal one for Luke as he is tempted by the Dark Side and Darth Vader. This is probably the best of the Star Wars films story wise, with the big, well-known, oft quoted revelation at the end.  

Tangerine (2015)

I'm not going to say I enjoyed the film because "enjoyed" isn't really the right word.  I sort of tolerated this movie the way a conservative person would view a film about sex-trade workers of any identity.  It is very niche.  That being said, I don't think my taste in movies is that conservative, but this was a little too graphic, as you could imagine.  It is raw and gritty in the most honest way possible.  This movie does a good job at shining a light on one of our most marginalized populations in America.  These transgender women are real; they live unforgiving lives without the luxuries and support that Caitlyn Jenner finds in the public eye.  They live in the shadows of Los Angeles, left with sex work as their only option.  It is not a coincidence that the protagonists are people of color.  The fact of the matter is that transgender people of minority races do face issues that white people like Caitlyn Jenner do not.  Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor both give fabulous, if a little stereotypical, performances.  Almost every sentence that comes out of their mouths ends with "bitch" and they sass and slap each other a lot.  The ir banter is very funny, not always laugh-out-loud kind of jokes, but sometimes a little quieter smirks.  The movie culminates in a raucous scene of all-out yelling at a donut shop.  And in the denouement, the viewer realizes that the themes of the film, friendship and betrayal, are universal and these transgender women are not "others" but share similarities with their cis peers.  It is a humanizing project.

What is most notable about this movie is that it was shot entirely on an iPhone on a very low budget. This necessitated some creative cinematography.  The movie has a vivid orange tint which the title draws its name from.  They move swiftly through the streets of Los Angeles, unburdened by heavy equipment.  They shoot candidly close up an exchange in a small bathroom stall and inside a cramped cab.  Though without the professional equipment it appears a little amateurish at times, this movie really displays the versatility of the iPhone and the power of storytelling over all levels of the medium.  

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

Getting ready for the new Star Wars Episode VII, I am reminded what made the original a classic.  I always loved the description of Star Wars as a space opera.  It is truly a soap opera playing out in the wonders of outer space.  George Lucas created his own universe where aliens and droids mingle with humans, where there is a dying religion based on The Force, and where you could travel at light speed.  This year, Lucas received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement and an enormous contribution to the pantheon of American culture.  Consider just the sheer number of iconic characters that have emerged from this film: Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, all well known to all American households.  This film produced iconic visuals: the two moons of Tatooine, the X-Wing Fighter flying in the Death Star, the Millennium Falcon reaching light speed, the Mos Eisly Cantina.  This is a film so ingrained in American culture that it has become an American rite of passage.

My favorite part of Star Wars is John Williams's legendary score.  It is immediately identifiable, readily hummable, and utterly unforgettable from the moment you see the opening titles scrolling up the screen.  Star Wars was a pioneer in special effects, culminating in the explosion of the Death Star. The visual effects were unprecedented for their time and I expect the new Star Wars sequel trilogy to continue extend the bounds of what we know as special effects.  And this new trilogy will introduce Star Wars to the next generation--after all, isn't that why we wait so long between trilogies?

Survivor: Cambodia--Second Chance (2015)

Season 31, can you believe that?  After 15 years of Survivor, how does the show manage not to go stale?  Something incredible happened this season--the game evolved after 30 iterations.  Season 31 brought back returning players who came prepared to play at the highest level.  For 15 years this game has been about loyalty and alliances, but this season introduced the idea of voting blocs, partnerships of convenience that changed tribal to tribal.  It always kept us guessing and it kept everyone on their toes.  The tide could turn on you at any moment.  I can't wait to see if next season's castaways follow suit or play the traditional alliance strategy.

And of course this season had some very memorable moments. I think hiding immunity idols at challenges was a brilliant idea.  Who could forget Joe literally trying so hard that he passed out during the challenge.  Kelley said it best when she identified that Joe had to go because "I can't compete with that."  And then in the most historic tribal council ever, two immunity idols canceled out all of the votes, sending the players to a second vote. This vote resulted in another tie, leaving poor Keith to decide whether to change his vote and eliminate his ally, or to sacrifice himself in a one-man rock drawing tiebreaker.  Fantastic season!

Sicario (2015)

This is a vivid portrayal of America's War on Drugs.  It is dark, disturbing, and, dare I say, hopeless.  When the FBI boss asks "Do you get the sense we're winning?" you understand the toll this War has taken on the country and its people.  This movie gives the kind of thrill that only the barren desert of the American southwest can give you.  The empty scenery isn't flashy.  It is a wasteland that inspires fear.  The masterful Roger Deakins frames some incredibly stunning shots. It kind of reminded me of Prisoners, another film worked on by Deakins.  It featured a different kind of darkness but some similar shots.

There are some excellent performances as well.  I think Benicio del Toro is exquisitely creepy and sufficiently mysterious.  In most scenes, he lurks in the background calm and cool.  But when it is his time to shine, he shows his full depth.  Emily Blunt, too, is great. I appreciate that the role of the FBI agent was cast as a woman, not conforming to the gender stereotype of men with guns.  

Spotlight (2015)

I don't know if I've ever looked at journalists as heroes, but this movie paints these investigative journalists at the Boston Globe as heroic figures.  It makes you want to pursue a career in journalism to uncover all the dirt that our most important institutions are hiding.  That's not to say that the movie glamorizes journalism, because it doesn't.  It is gritty work and these are average people that do not have much going on in their lives outside of their careers.  This movie is so good because it doesn't try to sugar coat it. This is difficult, demoralizing, alienating, soul-searching work.  And as the story (very) slowly unfolds at a controlled pace, the audience comes to the same discoveries of disbelief that the characters do.  

Michael Keaton has been getting all the buzz because he's fresh off of Birdman, but I think Mark Ruffalo gives the best performance amid a phenomenal ensemble cast.  He always does.  Rachel McAdams, too, does a standout job following some disappointing work in True Detective.  And John Slattery looks markedly different outside of a suit, but the big office still suits him well.  From inside the Boston Globe, we get the perspective of the journalists. We hear the victims' stories through the ears of the interviewers, and we hardly see any of the perpetrators.  They are unseen villains. The visible antagonist is the community itself and I think that is what makes the story so devastatingly interesting, how ingrained the Catholic Church is in Boston society.  

The Wiz Live! (2015)

NBC stepped up its game, finally putting some real production into its live musical event this year.  There area few things that really made this production stand out.  The first is a set of fantastic performances from a star studded cast plus a newcomer who fully proved herself.  Stepping into Diana Ross's role of Dorothy was Shanice Williams, who belted out 'Home' with such power, nailing the big number.    David Alan Grier is just brilliant as the Cowardly Lion. His purr sounded so cat-like it was a little freaky.  Common has a very small part as an Emerald City gatekeeper, but he is hilarious. Queen Latifah plays the eponymous Wiz, and she plays it up with attitude.  Amber Riley graduated from Glee and put her singing chops to use as the Good Witch of the North.  Elijah Kelley stepped into Michael Jackson's shoes to play the Scarecrow. But I think this production was really defined by the Tin Man Ne-Yo, as much a dancer as he is a singer.  And this production shined thanks to excellent, energetic choreography by Fatima Robinson.  Unlike the previous NBC productions, there was some genuinely complex and entertaining dancing, which is what will really push it over the top when it makes the transition to the Broadway stage.

Finally, the set design and costumes had some really effort put into them.  The Wiz looked like a green Cruella de Vil.  The munchkins all had a distinctive look, as did the denizens of the Emerald City--they looked like something out of the Capital from The Hunger Games.  The Emerald City "club" had some great choreography too. The infamous maelstrom of a tornado that whisks Dorothy away was so incredibly well done that it seemed real with Dorothy flying through the air.  And I appreciated that the production came full circle, featuring the original Broadway Dorothy Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em.  Here's to hoping that NBC keeps up this high quality of live musical events.

U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Live in Paris (2015)

U2 and HBO rightfully cancelled its scheduled Paris concert on the same day as the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.  It was rescheduled for December 9 and HBO aired it live.  At the end of the concert, U2 brought out the Eagles of Death Metal, whose performance at the Bataclan Concert Hall was cut short that night. They performed one song together, and then Bono graciously let them close out the show.  The entire event was a proper tribute to the victims of the attacks and a testament to the city's resilience and determination to continue on. And boy does U2 know how to put on a show.  They packed a large stadium full of fans.  There was a large rectangular screen that spanned the length of a football pitch that contained mesmerizing projections and closeups of the musicians.  They performed some of the songs from their latest album, the one that was given to all iTunes users for free, much to their chagrin.  The songs are not a great representation of their full potential, but by no means are the songs bad.  They still have the classic U2 sound. But luckily, they also performed a good deal of their old material.  After all, a U2 performance just wouldn't be right if the fans didn't get to sing "One."

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Straight Outta Compton is a perfect example of a primary source on our present society. Sure, you can view it as a secondary source on the 80s and 90s West Coast hip hop scene. But the movie itself is a product of our time. The influence of our society is overtly present throughout, giving this movie more importance than at first glance. Any African American could tell you that police brutality has been an ongoing problem in their communities for decades. But for many who live in Ta-Nehisi Coates's suburban dream, the recent incidents of police brutality caught on video have been a startling wake up call. This is the reality that minorities live in this country. What has changed is the quick access to video.  Rodney King's brutal beating was caught on tape, otherwise we may never have heard his story. Camera phones can capture video in an instant and the video can go viral on the Internet the next day.

NWA tried to convey their struggles through music (simple exercising their first amendment rights that even the FBI tried to curb) to the suburban teens who knew of no such struggle but listened to gangsta rap. This movie puts visuals to their visceral rhymes. From the outset, F. Gary Gray captures the raw toughness of the streets of Compton.  It looks like a war zone, complete with a tank-like battering ram. The threat of gangs is real and close to home.

Considering the original members of NWA served as executive producers, the film is surprisingly candid. The group is not uniformly portrayed in a positive light. It is a brutally honest movie. I loved the casting of O'Shea Jackson Jr as his father. In fact, the whole cast made a very convincing ensemble. Including Paul Giamatti who is seemingly typecast as the evil music manager; it is just something about his look and his mannerisms that make him a fitting choice.

Finally, the film does a good job at portraying the immense influence of the revolutionary group NWA. Their seminal album Straight Outta Compton changed hip hop music. What I didn't know before was just how brilliant Dr. Dre is as a businessman. He first found success as a founding member of NWA. Then he left that for Death Row Records where he found more success before throwing that money away to found Aftermath Records, which still operates today. That is not even to mention the massive moneymaker Beats. It's astounding that someone with such business savvy let himself be cheated out of money early on in his career. It was Ice Cube that saw through the mirage and so he took his lyrics genius solo. And individually these giants of rap each shaped the music industry in their own ways.

Black Mass (2015)

Johnny Depp has never been creepier.  Even in his spooky collaborations with Tim Burton, Depp has never inspired the fear in me that he does as Whitey Bulger. That is how you know he gives a good performance. You feel the fear that the characters feel when in his presence, when be gets angry, and when the tension is released you can finally breathe again. His hair and makeup team did a phenomenal job as usual, making a complete physical transformation. This could be the year he finally wins an Oscar.

This is a classic gangster movie with a twist, complete with some guns (but plenty of physical violence), lots of blood, the rival Italian gang, and the brother with political power. Bulger is an informant for the FBI. He uses his position as a shield and his crony in the Bureau looks out for him. It is actually incredible how long they got away with this right under the nose of the FBI. The ensemble cast is very good; everyone puts on a thick Boston accent, even Brit Benedict Cumberbatch.  Joel Edgerton is excellent as the FBI agent that defends Bulger and his downfall unfolds slowly. It is a slow burn that let's the pain and panic settle in. I admit I had a little bit of difficulty following at times.

The End of the Tour (2015)

This is a really brainy movie, filled with effortless, thoughtful and intelligent dialogue.  The conversation is mesmerizing, almost on an Aaron Sorkin level.  But they're not talking politics--they're simply musing on life and humanity.  They have really insightful and thought provoking ideas.  The film follows David Lipsky of Rolling Stone as he interviewed author David Foster Wallace for a profile in the magazine following the success of his novel Infinite Jest. Lipsky says "You don't open a one thousand page book because you've heard the author is a nice guy.  You read it...because you understand the author is brilliant."  This movie features two brilliant portrayals of two brilliant people. It is the sort of character with the quirky fast-talking mannerisms that we have come to associate with Jessie Eisenberg, but Jason Segel is a revelation in this far cry from the comedy of How I Met Your Mother. He is at once calm, yet flustered, private but open, friendly yet off putting. Wallace is enigmatic, but that is what makes everything he says so interesting--it is always a pleasant surprise.

The film ends with Brian Eno's The Big Ship.  I wasn't sure when I had heard this song before but after some digging online, I recalled that it was used in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in the homemade film.  Both films punctuate a death scene rather poignantly with this song and while they are different types of scenes (one of sorrow and the other of fond remembrance), the music works in both. 

The Comeback Kid (2015)

John Mulaney is my favorite (or second favorite after Tig) stand up comedian out there today. He is hilarious on TV and in person. He came to Hopkins to perform a preview of his Netflix special. He did a lot of the same jokes as in his Netflix special with some extra jokes (about 30 minutes longer than his special).  I love the voices he does (like of Bill Clinton) and his expressions and his sarcasm. He makes fun of these little moments in his life that anyone else might have forgotten.  The jokes were funny the first time in person, and even though I know the punch lines, they are timeless jokes that still make me laugh.  They're actually not totally timeless, they are topical to a certain time in the past sometimes, but he gives you enough background that it is still funny, like jokes about Back to the Future. For the record, he was worried that we wouldn't watch his special having already heard the jokes in person, but I did and it was totally worth it.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)

It's really long.  But so is the history of Scientology.  The structure of the movie is kind of complicated.  It is kind of linear in time, but not quite. It deconstructs the Church, its methods and its "beliefs." It uses testimonials from former members of the Church to bolster its argument.  In their last appearances on camera, the shots fade to white and it shows on the screen how long they were in the church and when they finally left.  It appears that the major turning point in the Church's history was when the IRS gave in to the Church, granting it religious exemption.  The film walks through the brainwashing the members go through and the ridiculous lies they are fed.  These are insider accounts that we otherwise would be unaware of, all the terminology, the creation myth, and the power struggle in the upper ehcelons of the leadership.  What is perhaps most astounding is how the members have avoided the internet in the twenty-first century.  It is one thing to not know all of the criticisms of the Church before the internet age, but how could they be so sheltered now?  The Church's power is its control over its members.  This film demystifies the mystery surrounding the secretive Church for the rest of us.

Southpaw (2015)

Southpaw is kind of like Raging Bull, but not quite as good.  It features the champion, self-destructive brutish boxer who inadvertently pushes his family away. Jake Gyllenhaal undergoes a total transformation, highly committed to his role.  He looks like a bloody mess spiraling out of control in and out of the ring.  Forest Whitaker makes an excellent trainer, but is kind of stereotypical in his role.  All movie boxing trainers are kind of similar.  But who really surprised me was 50 Cent, who plays the manager.  50 Cent is not just a rapper--his acting was pretty convincing.  But in reality, he was playing a businessman and 50 Cent has been doing business for decades.  And 50 Cent was discovered by Eminem, who produced the soundtrack.  And you can hear his influence throughout the movie. 

Everest (2015)

Everest is a film about torture.  These mountaineers inexplicably put themselves through misery for a steep $65,000 per summit. Climbing the highest mountain in the world does not look like fun. It is unbearably cold, the air is inhumanely thin, and everyone is perpetually exhausted.  I thought Jake Gyllenhaal would have a larger part in the movie, but he was hardly in it.  The visuals are incredible though.  You actually feel as miserable as the trekkers and you feel like you're on the side of the mountain.  You feel the snow pouring down as it becomes more difficult to breathe.  It is a truly immersive experience that probably would've been great in IMAX. Nothing ever goes right in the expedition doomed to fail.  It is a dangerous adventure disaster movie.  And it is done quite well. One of the scariest moments is crossing a ladder bridged across a deep crevasse in the ice.  It is a flimsy looking ladder and there is nothing protecting them from falling down into the depths.  The aerial shot over the bottomless pit is a dizzying visual.  These are some terrifying shots.

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria (2005)

Screaming Queens was directed by Susan Stryker, a trans historian who is recovering a lost history.  The riot at Compton's Cafeteria in the Tenderloin in San Francisco in 1966 predates the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and yet it is often forgotten in LGBT history. History is a jigsaw puzzle that research detectives solve piece by piece.  Stryker interviews people who were actually at the riots back in the 60s, people who were regulars in the Tenderloin who could relate their experiences.  The documentary is very interesting and I enjoyed learning about an unfamiliar history.  

La Strada (1954)

Federico Fellini's classic features the original self-destructive brute, Zampano.  Fellini supposedly inspired Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and Taxi and Driver.  It is a devastatingly beautiful story.  The road is the fateful location they find Il Matto. The side of the road is where Gelsomina falls asleep.  And la strada represents the journey of life and the lonely physical journey that Gelsomina and Zampano take. There is a perfect balance of humor and drama and tragedy and hope.  It is a depiction of life as its rawest.  The beautiful love theme is played out on the trumpet, the violin, and on piano.  Nino Rota's score is haunting and his legendary partnership with Fellini was at its finest here.

The Hunting Ground (2015)

The Hunting Ground is the documentary that this country needs. Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick followed up The Invisible War with this look at rape in another one of America's revered institutions: universities.  It is a brutal look at rape on campus.  It is an epidemic that is widespread.  The same stories recur across the country and the message that is repeated at university after university is that they don't care. Universities are businesses and allegations of rape are bad public relations.  Gloria Steinem spoke at Johns Hopkins last year at the Foreign Affairs Symposium and she said something that was echoed by this film: sexual assault happens at all universities. The ones that report zero incidences are not safer, rather they are worse for covering it up.  The film features candid talking head interviews with survivors of sexual assault.  These are intertwined with statistics and infographics.  Some very innovative students filed Title IX complaints, and taught other students how to do the same.  It is not the original intention of Title IX, but this interpretation is a brilliant application of the law: survivors of sexual assault are deprived of equal and free access to education because the failure to adequately respond to sexual harassment creates a hostile learning environment.  Lady Gaga and Diane Warren teamed up for the song "Til It Happens to You" which bravely asks the viewer to step into the shoes of survivors and try to understand the immense suffering they go through.  This is an important documentary and there have rightfully been screenings at universities across the country.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

This film is notable for being Netflix's first foray into original fiction films. And it is an excellent first go.  The director of the first season of True Detective helms this movie and adds his personal touch.  Many of the shots are reminiscent of the dizzying panoramic and birds-eye shots from True Detective.  He paints a vicious, uncompromising portrait of the toll of war.  The acting is also exceptional.  Idris Elba plays the warlord Commandant who leads an army of child soldiers in an unnamed African country.   He nails the accent, and he plays the father figure to these orphaned children. But the star is the young Abraham Attah who plays Agu.  The movie explores the damaging psychological effects of war on child soldiers.  One of the most devastating scenes is one in which the children have difficulty adjusting from the only thing they know: war. Attah is this season's Quvenzhane Wallis--young, fierce, gritty, and starring in a movie that coincidentally also features the word "beasts."  Attah is less likely to get an Oscar nomination, but he is deserving of any acting award he can get attention for.

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE with Jason Moran and the Bandwagon (2015)

I had no idea what to expect going into this performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.  I won a free ticket (and meal) from school.  I think the best way to describe it is modern African-jazz fusion dance.  The show opened with a jazz set by Jason Moran and the Bandwagon. Jason Moran is the artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center.  He led his trio at the piano, accompanied by a bass guitar and a drum.  Moran sits in a chair instead of a bench and smoothly plays jazz rhythms and gorgeous melodies.  The bass player was very good but he was actually difficult to hear over the drums.  The drums were overpowering at times.  The drummer is excellent and really hammered away his solo, but his rhythms drowned out the melodies from the piano.

Now, I expected the trio to play with the dance troupe, but the second act is pure EVIDENCE. EVIDENCE dance troupe does modern African-style dance. The moves are not terribly intricate, but they are highly rhythmic.  There are lots of shoulder movements, lots of knees and head movements. The African beats are super catchy.  The dancers look like they're having so much fun on the stage. They dance repeated movements in waves.  I am very glad that I got to see this performance and was exposed to this style of dance.

Finally in the third act, the jazz trio did accompany the dance company and the fusion worked beautifully.  The most unique part was a dance to a speech by Martin Luther King that was incredibly powerful to watch.  King had a cadence to his voice that is actually a well defined rhythm that can be danced to.  This was a phenomenal piece of art.

New in Town (2012)

To say that I love New in Town would be an understatement.  John Mulaney is hilarious in all of the stand up he does.  I was lucky that he visited Johns Hopkins and did an extended set, longer than he was paid for.  I have seen this particular set at least four times now, and I do not watch anything four times.  It's a shame his TV show didn't work out last year.  I love how he does voices, especially his impression of Ice-T.  He is capable of doing so many voices, and even the ones of people you don't know, his personal acquaintances, are still funny.  He makes jokes about mundane moments in his life that any one else might have simply forgotten, but he finds the comedy in it and he harps on it and lingers on the joke, and brings it back later, and it leaves me laughing every time.  

Titanic (1997)

Upon a second viewing of James Cameron's massive classic disaster film, it still holds up.  What I always found so amazing about the Titanic is that it is a story that everyone knows, we all know exactly how it is going to end, and yet it is still exciting.  You still feel sad for these fictional characters on this ill-fated ship. You still feel the anxiety and the adrenaline and anticipation.  The Titanic lasts over three hours.  It is a marathon that requires stamina and a big block of free time.  The ship actually taking on water and going down lasts literally for hours to give you enough time for panic and hopelessness and despair to set in as if you were actually on the ship.  The spectacular visuals really immerse the viewer in the experience.  The most extraordinary scene, of course, is the moment the ship snaps in half and sinks into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.  Arguably the romantic story is as important as the disaster.  The romantic leads Rose and Jack, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, are what make the sinking of the Titanic so tragic.  And what would the Titanic be without Celine Dion's iconic song with the pan flute accompaniment?    

Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo (2015)

Amy Schumer takes her signature unfiltered, self-deprecating, raunchy comedy to the legendary Apollo Theater.  But this is no amateur night--no, she is a pro.  She has rather masterfully filled a void in comedy by bringing the female perspective tot Judd Apatow-style humor, a refreshingly funny take. It is more or less exactly what we've come to expect from her in her movie and sketch comedy show.  She is confrontational, unapologetic, loud, and fearless.  She takes on the sexist Hollywood establishment,in a very funny bit on Kevin James.  Not all of the jokes are of equal caliber, but few comedians can sustain a full hour with all knockout jokes.  I'm sure she will continue her upward momentum and we will see a lot more of her stand up. 

The Science of Sleep (2006)

This was a very pleasantly surprising movie.  The premise is there is a young man whose vivid imagination and dreams interferes with his real life.  The production design brings his imagination to fruition, with lots of moving cutout pieces and arts and crafts supplies making up the scenery.  It is very creative and incredibly executed.  Perhaps the most interesting depiction is of the protagonist's mind.  In a sort of "Inside Out" kind of way, the audience is taken inside his brain.  His brain is padded with packing materials like an impromptu asylum and a cooking show ensues. Mini-Stephane looks through cardboard flaps that are Stephane's eyes.

The writing is charming and funny (sometimes in an awkward way).  Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg have great chemistry, and their banter is smile-inducing.  But there is one major downside to this movie.  I was entirely unsatisfied by the unresolved ending.  In the same way that "Interstellar" was so brilliant until the last 15 minutes when the conclusion kind of disappointed, this film also drops the ball in the final scene.  I would dare say that it does not offer an ending at all.  It is so creative and brilliant until the last minute, when it doesn't even really leave open an interpretive ending but just leaves you saying "what is this--this can't be all?" But despite this setback, the movie was definitely worth watching.

Top Gun (1986)

I do not often re-watch movies but some classics are classic for a reason.  This is just a fun movie.  I would say the best part of the movie is the classic soundtrack featuring "Danger Zone" and the Oscar-winning "Take My Breath Away," whose theme recurs several times. That feeling of being inside a fighter jet in a dogfight is so niche that it shouldn't connect with audiences, but it is a unique experience that is exciting, and a little claustrophobic, and always adrenaline-pumping.  These action scenes are just so well done.  Then of course there is the theme of masculinity and macho-ness that pervades the movie.  This is perhaps one of Tom Cruise's most iconic roles, and I would guess that it is because of this movie that he has such an image of being a manly man.  And then there's the love interest, so the movie is not just pure testosterone, but its overwhelmingly close to just that. So in conclusion, this is probably the ultimate guys' movie.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest winner to come out of Sundance.  It will undoubtedly draw comparisons to "The Fault in Our Stars," as a coming-of-age story featuring a young girl diagnosed with cancer. What this movie does so well is it is humorous (more so than you'd expect from a movie revolving around cancer), charming, quirky, emotional and beautifully written.  You become emotionally invested in the characters, feeling all the pressures that the high schoolers face.  It is at times deadpan funny, reminiscent of Wes Anderson's style.  There's an air of Anderson in the cinematography and design too, especially with all the miniature models.

The best part of the movie is the love letter to the movies.  The protagonist and his partner make amateur parodies of classic films, and the audience gets to see titles and clips that are downright brilliant and hilarious.  Some of them are cheesy and hokey and ridiculous, but you can't help but smile.  

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes really stepped up the storytelling in this latest installment of the classic franchise.  It is thoughtful and intelligent and it sustains this level of brilliance throughout the two hours. The apes are complex in their emotions and their rationales. The human element of these apes is actually quite moving.  The audience really comes to care about these characters.  This all leads to a wholly satisfying ending that is perhaps not the happy one that you want, but the rational one that makes sense for the warring tribes of humans and apes.  This is a summer blockbuster that was not just pure action (though the culminating battle sequence is excellent).

The visual effects are stunning as usual.  Andy Serkis as Caesar is simply captivating.  It is a joy to just watch his expressions, which is an impressive feat itself.  He gives some brilliant speeches with genuine ideas about leadership that may apply to humans or apes.  That is what is so great about the genre of science fiction.  The premise may be so impossible, but the application to our own world is apparent and striking.  

Steve Jobs (2015)

This biopic is excellent, thanks to an incredible vision by Danny Boyle, a great script by Aaron Sorkin, and some phenomenal acting from Kate Winslet, as well as Michael Fassbender and Seth Rogen.  This movie shines where the other Jobs biopic from a couple years ago failed.  Danny Boyle made a movie that is the Apple of biopics--it is sleek and gorgeous.

The structure of the film is brilliant.  The biopic is not over ambitious, it does not seek to cover an entire life.  Rather it focuses on just three major product launches in 1984 (Macintosh), 1988 (NeXT) and 1998 (iMac), the ones that Steve Jobs was so famous for.  But what is so brilliant is the pacing of the movie.  It is not about the launch itself, but actually the half hour before each launch when Jobs was preparing for his presentations.  Anticipation and excitement builds until the point we've all been waiting for as if we were at these product launches, and then Danny Boyle skips the presentation itself. This allows for a huge release, letting the audience take a deep breath to prepare for two more product launches.

Each product launch is split into four parts.  At each launch, Jobs has encounters with his daughter Lisa, co-founder Steve Wozniak, CEO of Apple John Sculley and Andy Hertzfeld from the original Mac team.  Lisa gives us a window into Jobs's personal life outside of work at three points in his life.  And the film actually ends with Lisa, humanizing Steve Jobs as a person with a family, not just the visionary businessman.  Jobs's confrontations with Wozniak highlight the interesting dynamics of one of the most important partnerships of the twentieth century.  Through Jobs's conversations with Sculley, we learn about Jobs's background as an adopted child and Jobs at Apple.  The film opens with Hertzfeld being berated by Jobs in an excellent scene dictated by an exhilarating rhythmic beat moving in the background.  And throughout the film, Kate Winslet's Joanna Hoffman is always there at his side with a leading-amount of screen time and she is phenomenal. 

Boyle does not shy away from painting a portrait of a controversial albeit legendary figure, who was allegedly very difficult to work with.  Boyle mentions (with some snark) all of the criticisms of Apple computers as Jobs's doing.  While it was clear that Jobs did not have the spirit of an engineer, he was a businessman and an artist.  Perhaps the most direct criticism came from Wozniak who says "What do you do?"  Wozniak was the tech genius but Jobs had the vision, he was the "conductor."

I got to see an advanced screening of this movie at the AMC Lincoln Square!

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?

Ferrell Takes the Field (2015)

Will Ferrell makes a comedic documentary that might've worked better as a pure mockumentary like 7 Days in Hell.  I understand that there was an actual cause to raise awareness for the charity Cancer for College, but this performance art was kind of lame.  Ferrell plays very briefly with ten different MLB teams, all in different positions. That adds up to about one play, or a third of an inning per team.  It's funny at first when he gets traded away after a single play, but it gets old fast because he does it ten times!  There wasn't enough comedy to make this very entertaining.  To be totally straight, baseball isn't the most exciting sport to begin with.  Even Will Ferrell couldn't save this one.  

Trainwreck (2015)

Judd Apatow takes his tried and true R-rated comedy formula, and refreshingly puts a female protagonist at the helm.  Amy Schumer pens this hilarious not-your-typical romantic comedy.  No, Schumer pokes fun at romantic comedy cliches in a satire of sorts.  Her self deprecating, biting, edgy, raunchy humor is exactly what we've come to expect from Schumer.  But at the same time, there is a good balance between humor and seriousness.

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader play great leads. They have good chemistry together, and they make each other funnier feeding off of each other's energy.  Tilda Swinton is unrecognizable in her tanned skin tone.  And the MVP award goes to LeBron James playing himself. Is there anything he can't do?  As the concerned friend and patient of Bill Hader, he is actually really funny.  

Sufragette (2015)

The protagonist, played by Carey Mulligan, is a young working class woman who does not like to be classified as a Suffragette, but when her husband predictably throws her out she takes up the cause wholeheartedly.  Both Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter are excellent. Meryl Streep gets a brief moment in the spotlight as activist Emmeline Pankhurst. Her screen time is very brief, emphasizing to the audience that the groundwork done by average women was of utmost importance to the cause.  Pankhurst served as inspiration, but the people had to act on their own--change is effected from the grassroots.  Their method is militancy, and yet the audience is made to sympathize with the suffragettes who are thwarted by the patriarchal society of Great Britain.

The camerawork is very unsettling throughout the movie.  Much like any effective activism, it is in-your-face.  The camera is so close to Carey Mulligan's face, that the viewers are quite uncomfortable. But you should feel uncomfortable, because in order to upend the status quo, we cannot be satisfied with comfort.  The cinematography understands this and does not let the audience forget it.  The end of the film has a fade to white, followed by real, powerful archival footage from 1913, which is pretty incredible in and of itself.

I got to see an advanced screening of this movie at The Charles Theater by the Gender Studies Department at JHU!

My Emmy Picks 2015

It has been a great year in television, which makes choosing awards all the more difficult. SNL alum Andy Samberg is hosting the Emmys telecast.

Comedy:

Comedy: I'm going to pick Amazon's Transparent to become the first streaming show to win the big award.  The first season came out a while ago at this point, but it is as relevant as ever in our ever changing society that has put Caitlyn Jenner in the public eye.  Transparent will have to fend off five-time defending champ Modern Family which is chasing a historic sixth win, but based on its lack of nominations in directing and writing and just two supporting actors, it seems that love for Modern Family is waning.

Actor: Jeffrey Tambor hands down for Transparent.

Actress: You should never bet against Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but I'm pulling for Amy Poehler to win for the final season of Parks and Recreation.  The perennial bridesmaid, Poehler deserves to finally win for playing the neurotic Leslie Knope.  The other Amy, Amy Schumer, is also having a phenomenal year--but I think the nomination for sketch comedy show is the win.

Supporting Actor: Tituss Burgess in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is hilarious and he should hold off two-time winner Ty Burrell.

Supporting Actress: Allison Janney wins all the time, and with the popularity of Modern Family declining, I do not think Julie Bowen will beat her.

Directing: Transparent

Writing: Transparent

Drama:
Drama: This is Mad Men's year to win it all back.  Going out with a phenomenal final season and an extremely well received finale, I can't imagine it losing.  Mad Men going for a fifth win should break the tie for most wins in this category.

Actor: Jon Hamm's Don Draper has never won in this category, though he is always nominated. This is the year it'll finally happen.

Actress: This is probably the hardest category to predict.  Tatiana Maslany finally broke through for her roles in Orphan Black. Robin Wright took a front seat this season in House of Cards. And Elisabeth Moss has never won for her role in Mad Men.  But I think this year we will see the first African-American to win this award.  Viola Davis is carrying the torch for Shondaland, but my pick is Taraji P. Henson leading the way for her highly acclaimed but Emmy-snubbed show Empire.

Supporting Actor: Jonathan Banks for Better Call Saul gets more screen time than he used to in Breaking Bad, but I think Peter Dinklage will take home his second Emmy for Game of Thrones.

Supporting Actress: I think Lena Headey will win for Game of Thrones so long as Emilia Clarke (also Game of Thrones) doesn't split the vote.  In which case, Uzo Aduba will win in the supporting category after winning last year as a guest actress (albeit in a "comedy").

Directing: Mad Men (Person to Person-- the finale)

Writing: Game of Thrones (Mother's Mercy--the finale)

Movie/Mini:
Limited Series: Olive Kitteridge (HBO's category to lose)

Actor: Mark Rylance for Wolf Hall, though David Oyelowo could pull off a win after being snubbed last year for Selma

Actress: Frances McDormand for Oliver Kitteridge

Supporting Actor: Bill Murray for Olive Kitteridge

Supporting Actress: MoNique for Bessie because the three American Horror Story actresses will cancel each other out.

Directing: Olive Kitteridge

Writing: Olive Kitteridge

Reality Competition: Amazing Race is always favored to win and it always should

Variety Sketch: SNL finally has a category that it will dominate year after year, but this year belongs to Inside Amy Schumer. Key & Peele in its final season will have to settle for the nomination. SNL already received numerous awards for its 40th anniversary special, so voters will not feel obligated to award SNL in an anniversary year here.

Variety Talk: This is the other impossible category to predict. Three of these shows are no longer on the air. And two of their hosts are no longer on TV.  I don't think Jon Stewart will win because Colbert has been on a streak lately. But I think David Letterman will take home the trophy for his triumphal last season in a storied career. And John Oliver always has next year when the competition will be a little thinner.

Update: A measly 13/24. This was HBO's night, with a clean sweep in comedy, drama and limited series. Game of Thrones triumphed over Mad Men (also for writing), so the tie still stands at 4 for most Emmys for best drama. Game of Thrones with 12 wins has the record for most wins in a single year for a series.  Jon Hamm finally won his first Emmy rightfully, marking the first and only acting Emmy for Mad Men. Uzo Aduba won for a second year in a row for the same role, though this time as a dramatic actress. Viola Davis becomes the first African American to win Best Actress in a Drama. Veep triumphed over Modern Family, so the tie still stands at 5 for most Emmys for best comedy. Allison Janney is now tied with Ed Asner for most performance Emmy wins. Amazing Race fell to The Voice. And Jon Stewart went out on top.

Pink Flamingos (1972)

I don't think I've ever seen a movie quite like this.  It is notorious for a very good reason.  It's just so out there and so sick that it is borderline brilliant.  Sometimes you're not sure whether you want to laugh hysterically or vomit (in a pink phlegmingo barf bag) and more often than not, I was just completely and utterly speechless.  It is so gross beyond belief making me wonder how did the crazy mind of John Waters come up with this stuff?  It is so over-the-top, you literally cannot imagine what might come next.  This is exploitation film at its most bizarre.

The film's characters compete for the title of filthiest person alive, outdoing each other every time, culminating in an infamous scene at the end in which Divine actually eats dog poop.  Everyone is given long monologues that are delivered with flaming gusto and flamboyance.  The costumes and makeup and wacky hairstyles are totally insane.  And perhaps the quirkiest thing about this movie is the awkward zooms in and out that don't really make any sense.  Add that to the intentionally wobbly camerawork, and you cannot help but laugh.  The movie despite all of the gross-outs is hilarious.

In the re-release that I screened, John Waters does a commentary at the end and presents some deleted scenes.  This includes the original trailer for Pink Flamingos which hilariously does not feature any of the actual footage, just audience reactions and everyone has the same WTF face.

I think the pink flamingo tradition at Johns Hopkins must be a tongue in cheek reference to this film since Waters is a Baltimore native and his films take place in and around Baltimore.  One day in the spring, hundreds of pink lawn flamingos appear on the quad and everyone steals some as room decorations, but little do they know the sick movie it references.

Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted (2015)

Tig is so funny. In the last few years, I have become a genuine follower of Tig, such that I was already familiar with half the material she did in her stand-up special.  But that did not detract from her brilliance. It's all in her deadpan delivery.  She takes things that are really not that funny and turns them into comedy gold.  No one else can tell her jokes cause they are uniquely Tig. What is so great about this special is that it shows Tig's versatility. She rose to fame after a legendary set at Largo that was heavily improvised in which she talked openly about her cancer diagnosis. But she is a fighter and not a one trick pony.  She has plenty more jokes where that came from, and plenty from other places.  She also performs a portion of her set topless, unashamed of her scars.  She first tried out that stunt at a performance in New York, and she has reportedly been doing it in many of her shows lately.  She has had an excellent year with a Netflix documentary, a Showtime special, and an HBO special. I can't wait to see what next year has in store.

Welcome to Me (2014)

This movie was very strange. Just listen to the premise: a woman with borderline personality disorder wins the lottery and uses her winnings to buy a talk show.  She basically aspires to be Oprah. How do you make a personality disorder funny? Leave that to Kristen Wiig.  This movie has the same feel as The Skeleton Twins--it is sort of slow, has its moments, but drags in the middle. Wiig lives in a casino for some reason, has some weird obsession with swans, and she silently, uncomfortably stares into the camera a lot.  Basically, her character is pretty crazy and Wiig just runs with it. It's so ridiculous that it just barely works. This only works because of her, and Joan Cusack is pretty funny too.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

The Avengers seems to get more and more confusing with each film in the series. This is mostly because they keep adding more characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The movies are trying to get closer to the source material comic books, which are quite convoluted. There are so many characters in the Marvel universe, and by that standard, the movies actually only feature a small fraction of them. And Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman weren't even in this one.

The Avengers has always been about action first and comedy second.  Compare that to last year's Guardians of the Galaxy which is just one long joke.  The Avengers does have its comedic moments. The best is Hawkeye acknowledging his uselessness.  That is a brilliant moment of self awareness, and the joke is ongoing.

The central plot of Age of Ultron revolves around artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence is interesting because it isn't just a technology/engineering feat, but there are philosophical and ethical issues that are addressed as well.  Avengers doesn't dive very deep into these debates, but it is an interesting plot point that provides for a formidable foe for the Avengers.

Mad Men (2007-15)

Perhaps one of the greatest shows ever on television, Mad Men had excellent writing, phenomenal actors, and glamorous costumes. This is a look inside the rich lifestyles of 1960s-era advertising executives, so called mad men for their Madison Avenue offices. This is a world that I was not very familiar with, but Matthew Weiner painted such a gorgeous and intriguing portrait that you can't help being sucked into this glitzy world of luxury.  Everyone drinks and smokes a ton. They're all having affairs with beautiful people. They eat and drink and stay at the finest restaurants and hotels, fly first class, live on Park Avenue and attend elite schools. The bigwigs show up to work whenever they feel like it and live the life, and yet happiness and satisfaction eludes them.

The sixties was a great era for fashion, and throughout the seven seasons we watch the fashion evolve (that's costumes and hair styling).  The show soars in its use of history as a period drama.  Some of the most memorable depictions are of the milieu of the time, especially when it comes to gender roles, JFK's and MLK's assassinations, and the Vietnam War.  The personal and professional lives of these characters took place in the context of a broader (well-researched) history, a society and culture undergoing change during the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of counterculture.  For many, I suspect this show evokes nostalgia, but for me it is a reminder that we once lived in different times--rotary phones, pay phones, black-and-white television, typewriters--it's actually kind of funny.

Don Draper will go down as one of the best characters ever (and it's a mystery how Jon Hamm, nor any actor from Mad Men, has yet to win an Emmy). He has a very thoroughly fleshed out background that gives reason to his existence as an ad man.  He is complex and brilliant--his Kodak pitch was phenomenal.  Peggy is a lead too, paving the way for herself against the force of sexism as the only female copywriter . She works her way up the ladder and you find yourself always rooting for Peggy.  Amidst all of the affairs, the central relationship in the show is actually Don and Peggy's non-sexual relationship.  It starts out as a mentor-protege relationship, but it evolves as they learn that they are the only ones that really understand each other.  Some of the most important episodes (The Suitcase, The Strategy) thrive with just those two characters in a room together.

The finale provided a very satisfying ending.  The final seven episodes are really one long finale that culminates in the last hour.  All of the main story lines are resolved with room left for some interpretation as to where they will end up in a year's time as they continue their lives.  

True Detective: Season 2 (2015)

I feel like I wasted over 8 hours of my summer watching this. Season 1 was such a revelation, an incredible feat of storytelling. That made Season 2 all the more disappointing.  It lost all the magic, the surprise, and just everything really.  Cary Joji Fukunaga didn't come back to direct or executive produce this season, and maybe that was part of the problem.  But the biggest problem for me was in the writing and story.  The story was severely lacking in anything remotely interesting nor manageable.  The story is impossible to follow and I found myself unsure of anything going on after Episode 1.  It moves slowly and it was just plain boring.

There are four main characters, compared to two from last year. All four of them are extremely messed up and they just keep getting less and less likable with each episode.  Their dialogue is uninspired and unintelligible unlike the brilliant and memorable musings of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the car.  The actors try, but they are not given much to work with.  And as much as I like Vince Vaughn, I don't really like him when he is too serious.

The setting of California isn't nearly as spooky as the Bayou of Louisiana.  There was an atmosphere in the first season that was supplemented by the creepy cults.  California, despite the factories, suburban sprawl, and mansions is just a little too sunny to give us the same feeling.  

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Tom Cruise is the quintessential action star.  In the very first scene, Tom Cruise literally jumps onto a plane and hangs onto it from the outside as it takes off.  And this is just the beginning!  There are chase scenes galore, on foot, on motor bikes, in cars, you name it. There is constant action and non-stop adrenaline to keep this movie going.  There is another formidable action star to complement Cruise's performance.  Rebecca Ferguson kicks ass.  The two of them together are extraordinarily fun to watch.  Fun is the best way to describe this movie.  The plot is easy to follow meaning there are no hindrances to enjoying everything this movie has to offer.

I particularly liked the opera scene, in which a production of Puccini's Turandot is interrupted.  It is beautifully shot at the incredible Vienna State Opera.  I appreciated that motifs from Calaf's aria Nessun Dorma from Turandot reappeared in the score several times amid the famous Mission: Impossible theme.  The best known tenor aria and the best known movie theme all rolled into one.

St. Vincent (2014)

This was a pleasant surprise.  Aside from being funny, it was charming.  There is something that audience's love about unlikely relationships--this time between a schoolboy and his elderly curmudgeon of a neighbor.  And of course the setting is Brooklyn; where else would this happen?  It is not your typical Melissa McCarthy fare.  There is a serious and sentimental side to this comedy.  The cast is outstanding with Bill Murray in the lead in fine form.  The movie is predictable but that doesn't detract from the quality of the movie.