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.