Darkest Hour (2017)

Darkest Hour is a vehicle for Gary Oldman, but also for Joe Wright. Starting with Oldman, the makeup is incredible. It's uncanny how much he looks like Churchill. And the speeches some grade A acting. Churchill was an eccentric guy and Oldman plays out the eccentricities. His accent is only intelligible most of the time, maybe on purpose. But I think the director maybe takes too much liberties to make him seem Trump-ish, which just is not correct. He is portrayed as a leader that didn't really know what he was doing but that's not true. He didn't win the war by accident. He was strategic. He was smart, a brilliant historian. His intelligence only comes through in his speeches. He otherwise seems...well, Trumpish. And I don't think that really does Churchill justice.

Apart from Joe Wright taking those directorial liberties, he does some other interesting things. There are two shots that seem to suggest that Churchill was crazy, that he hallucinated: Hitler masks and gas masks. The cinematography and production design (the interior of Buckingham Palace is gorgeous) are notable. I really liked most of the cinematography but it's very dark. The darkness, accentuates the few rays of light. And I get that it's the "darkest hour" but the lighting was certainly a choice, a little extreme at times (like the red bulb). There are some really great angles--I like the busy parliament scenes.

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

I saw an advance screening of The Hitman's Bodyguard. It's decently funny but not nearly as funny as the loud man in the movie theater would have you believe. It kind of works. Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds have this buddy chemistry because this genre of film, that is ridiculous action comedy, suits them both. Ryan Reynolds will never get away from this genre post-Deadpool. And Samuel L. Jackson is well known for yelling profanities in a forceful manner thanks to Quentin Tarantino. It's funny enough to be entertaining and bloody violent. We're in a John Wick-era of violence nowadays--it's becoming rather normalized I think.

The film does do a ridiculous disservice to international law. It has a terrible understanding of the purpose of international law, which I took some offense to as a student of international law. It also does not feature the actual ICC, which I went to in the Hague. The real deal has much more intense security than the movie version I know it's not the point of the movie, but they could've done some research.

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.