First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (2017)

Angelina Jolie and Cambodia go way back to her days as Lara Croft. And since then, she has had a fascination with the country, adopting a Cambodian child and eventually being granted citizenship. This genuine connection with the country facilitated the production of a sincere film. Genocide is not an easy topic to cover. But she takes great care in crafting a tasteful film to aid in the country's ongoing healing process. Jolie should be commended for supporting Cambodia, hiring local cast and crew, and sharing their stories with a wider audience in Khmer.

The cast is largely made up of first-time actors, including 9-year-old Sreymoch Sareum. She is phenomenal for someone so young playing such a harrowing role. She shows real commitment, intensity and emotion. The movie is from her point of view. She is an innocent child, confused and unaware at first about what is happening around her. It is disorienting, dream-like. Jolie does not hold our hands--the audience is not omniscient, we know as much as our hero does. My main criticism is that there are some major gaps in the timeline. Obviously, this is not a minute by minute account of Loung Ung's experience during the Khmer Rouge regime. But beginning in the mine field scene, time seems to move along much faster without much explanation as to how we get from point A to point B. There are some really key points that I think audiences would be interested to know.

Rithy Panh serves as producer on the film. He is arguably Cambodia's most famous director. I wrote a paper on his film The Missing Picture a few years ago. He is a critical figure in Cambodia's reckoning with its past. In the face of such atrocities, communities need a way to heal. Confronting the pain through film, or through tribunals, is effective. Hopefully, Jolie's film will help too. 

Chasing Coral (2017)

I don't know if I've ever gotten emotional over a nature documentary. But this did it. I first encountered Jeff Orlowski senior year of high school. We went on a field trip to see Chasing Ice at a screening with the director, a Stuyvesant alumnus. The main scientist in this film watched the documentary on a plane and saw an opportunity. Chasing Ice was about documenting the receding ice shelf, using innovative camera technology to adapt to the harsh conditions. Well, in this case, they wanted to document the bleaching of corals around the world and obviously underwater time-lapse photography is a new challenge. Luckily, Orlowski was up for the challenge. The footage is absolutely mesmerizing. They literally capture the coral reefs dying in the fast warming oceans. Some corals on the Great Barrier Reef developed a new fluorescence adaptation to the hot waters. Similar to his previous film, Orlowski documents the process, including failed trials after which they adjust the new tech. The result is powerful footage that should inspire us to do something about global warming. Over the credits is an original song sung by Kristen Bell--thanks to Frozen, it sounds very Disney. But in any case, it sounds hopeful. I don't really like the song, but I appreciate the tone at the end of a movie documenting the beginning of a mass extinction. On the contrast, the song at the end of Chasing Ice performed by Joshua Bell and Scarlett Johansson is hauntingly beautiful. It surprisingly was even noticed by the Academy and was nominated for an Oscar, though it was inexplicably not performed at the ceremony. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

I was largely unimpressed by the second installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The first one was novel, unexpected and knowingly poking fun at itself. The second one has some similar humor, but it doesn't land. It is more annoying and not as witty. We have Kingsman and Deadpool and the Lego Movie--the self-deprecating humor isn't new anymore. It does some things really well though. The music supervision is spot on. The special effects and production design is fantastic. I appreciated the movie's boldest statement, it's depiction of the video game-ification of drone warfare. I did not appreciate Mantis, a dangerous stereotype of a subservient and submissive Asian woman. Drax insults her throughout the film, insults her appearance and her personality. She seems relatively unimportant to the plot, only serving as the butt of a joke. 

Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman is really quite good. The superhero genre has gotten pretty worn out, but this movie feels fresh. This is loads brighter and happier and better than those other dark, brooding DC movies. I find myself watching a lot of those superhero movies and just not caring about the characters. But these characters are well developed, they're likable and interesting. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine have great chemistry. Admitted, the movie's special effects are kind of cheesy and weak. Whereas superhero movies tend to rely on special effects, this movie has plenty other merits.

The story and production design (and some nice lighting) recreate the WWI battlefront. Much like X-Men and the first Captain America, this movie steeps itself in history. History and quasi-mythology interact in an intriguing way here. They serve as the backdrop for some deeper themes than we're used to. And perhaps most refreshing of all, it stands alone as a singular movie. Yes, it's part of a franchise, but it doesn't just feel like it's building to another movie. It's not just advertising for a brand.  

Patriots Day (2016)

Mark Wahlberg continues his collaboration with Peter Berg, following Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon. Does that make a trilogy? They obviously feature a different cast of characters, but Wahlberg consistently plays the American hero. The film perhaps focuses on our fictional hero a little too much. I understand that he is the protagonist but you get the sense that the film wants to be about people. The beginning and end feature a cast of characters that are largely missing from the middle of the film, absent from the action. But they should be the focus, a portrait of a strong and resilient city. The great drama of the film is of course the manhunt that captivates the city. But there is a lot of buildup to get to that point. The omniscient point of view perhaps reduces the thrill because we always know what is happening on the other side.  The film stirs up emotion because it's about a close-knit community. It's Boston. The accents won't let you forget it. 

Five Came Back (2017)

This is a movie for cinephiles and for history buffs and especially for those who love film history like me Films have an important role in history. I took a course on history and film. In war, they played a big role as propaganda, but not everything was propaganda. This three-part documentary tells the stories of five famed Hollywood directors during their service in WWII and their work before and after the war. Legendary directors Frank Capra, George Stevens, John Ford, John Huston and William Wyler all answered the call to service during WWII and they made enormous contributions by documenting the war, not always honestly but always powerfully to effect for the war effort. Modern directors heap praise on their idols, demonstrating their love for the art and their admiration for their cinematic accomplishments. Meryl Streep narrates the documentary.There are some really powerful, emotional moments when the reality of war sets in. They discuss how the war influenced their postwar work, and how their war experiences will always live with them. 

Wind River (2017)

Taylor Sheridan both wrote and directed this film. He's still kind of new to directing but his writing style and signature intensity is distinct after penning Sicario and Hell or High Water. The plot is not too complicated, which allows for more character development. Jeremy Renner's character is richly developed and I think Renner is perfectly cast. You really get the sense that he could be a real person. Elizabeth Olsen is also good but I somehow get the feeling that the role was meant for Sicario actress Emily Blunt. The story unfolds methodically, slowly revealing background details that are constantly hinted at. They are revealed in a way that fits in the narrative and impacts the characters' relationships.

The look of the film is snow everywhere. The harsh cold is really visceral. You really come to understand the misery that is life on the reservation. You feel trapped in the silence and nothingness like they do. It faces some of the challenges the tribes face on the reservation--drugs, missing persons, and lack of resources. There are some strange shots that appear to have someone lurking behind or around the corner. You expect a thrilling surprise but it never comes. It's a bit of misdirection by the director. In fact, there are a lot of things that are left open ended. We never find out what happened to Cory's daughter. Cory doesn't kill the lions. And Cory and Jane do not get together.