Film Review: Point Break (2015)

Copyright: Warner Bros. Pictures

Having an intellectually-lighter script can, in the right hands, be a huge advantage. It could be argued that the script�s and the director�s cognitive potentials add up to make a single IQ � if the script is low on its intellect, a high-IQ director can mend it by lending her or his potential to the equation.

That is why Kathryn Bigelow made the original Point Break in 1991 into such a memorable film, in spite of a paper-thin plot and so many dumb looks on the faces of the actors that some might think they�re solving mathematical equations.

The Point Break remake once again has a weak script, but I�m not saying that it�s director Ericson Core is unintelligent. However, Point Break 2015 is a bland endeavor that leaves the viewer in a state of nothingness, emotionally and especially intellectually. The story once again features a young, dashing daredevil (which is a horrible movie from 2003 which Core also directed) called Utah who also works as an FBI agent.

He embarks on a case he cracked himself thanks to his knowledge of extreme sports which propels him into an undercover role.As he tries to infiltrate a gang of similarly extreme-minded individuals with exotic accents (a new must for the edgier Hollywood action films), they go diving, surfing, snowboards and some other thrilling stuff.

But, the merger of all of these sequences is utterly boring as Luke Bracey, who plays Utah and constantly looks pissed off right before he begins surfing/snowboarding/underground MMA fighting. There is a lack of manpower in Point Break 2015 and it is seen in front and behind the camera. Bracey fails to provide the charm and charisma of the young Keanu Reeves, while Core is definitely not on par with Bigelow in any shape or form.

For example, a fantastic thriller like Sicario creates tension and suspense by only hinting at danger before it erupts. In Point Break, the characters might be snowboarding on the most dangerous mountain, but the emotions of the viewer�s remain indifferent to the things that the characters are going through.

There is also a lack of luck for this movies that I have to mention in this Point Break 2015 review � its timing is wrong. In 1991, extreme sports stuff was nowhere to be seen for the wider audience. It was new, fresh and exciting, interesting and stupid, all at the same time, like the name �Johnny Utah� itself. Now, Red Bull gave us a man who went skydiving from space and the planet watched it live. The new Point Break would have to be a lot more clever to make this collage of stunt reels work as an exciting movie. In its current form, it is just a pale reminder of an old and really great intellectually-light film.

Film Review: Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Copyright: Universal Pictures

However you look at it, Hail, Caesar! is a densely layered film which is immensely enjoyable on its surface. Designed as a weird comedy about the golden age of Hollywood and one man�s mission to keep it that way, the film�s plot quickly branches out into numerous other domains, including religion, workers� rights and the role of musical interludes.

In it, Coen brothers do what they do best and mix strangeness with latent meaning, but in a way that makes them look more like baboons and not David Lynch disciples. Their best films use this formula to a degree and even though this film is not one of those, it still provides a celebration of some of the most recognizable cinematography in the last 30 years.

For most of the film, the perspective of the plot is split between characters that are somehow connected to a disappearance of a big movie star from the set of a historical epic film. 

The star, played by George Clooney, and its disappearance quickly became a problem for Eddie Mannix, a jack of all trades employed by the studio to make sure that all goes according to the plan.

Eddie is played by Josh Brolin and he does a marvelous job presenting a type of hard-boiled, violent and devoted man that apparently died out with the digital age, which I don�t lament in any shape or form. As he pushes through many cultural regions of 1950�s Hollywood, Eddie allows the audience to soak in the atmosphere of this time naturally enforced through overstatements and sometimes bizarre levels of sarcasm that still keep true to the original intent.

But, the only problem of this fun and enjoyable film is the second part, where a small fraction of direction kind of gets lost in the metaphors and multiple plot perspectives. Here, Coen brothers wanted to make a point whichever that point might have been, most likely including Jesus, faith, communism and righteous distribution of wealth, all in a comedy form, but I failed to properly notice or/and decipher these ideas. That is why, for me, the second half of the film loses some energy.

Thankfully, it was nowhere near enough to make me lose my interest. I�m glad that films like Trumbo can come out together with films like Hail, Caesar! and show a similar era in a manner that is both bold and hard to interpret. Maybe I didn�t get it, but I sure did like it, which is great compared to Trumbo which I did get but did not really enjoy in any way.

Film Review: Irrational Man (2015)

Copyright: Sony Pictures Classics

The talent of Woody Allen knows no limits. His film called Irrational Man is one of the best examples of his current creative period in which he apparently fell in love with simple and basic thrillers. Like Match Point, this film provides an uneasy, self-mocking feel that is rare and precious in Hollywood these days.

Here, Allen puts Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone to work, using them to create a plot where a distraught philosophy professor played by Phoenix arrives at a new college and begins to reevaluate his life through talks, sexual encounters and epiphanies about the nature of humanity. Along the way, murder also becomes involved.

The plot, like Allen�s direction, builds up an environment of intellectualism and an (undeserved) high quality of life, but also a vast and placid emptiness about the purpose of it all.

In Irrational Man, all the characters are looking for that something, completely oblivious to their incredible self-indulgence and a need to see themselves as someone who is living a righteous life according to the latest cultural norms.

While these traits block them in their attempts, they still ask for it, actually, demand it, no matter what or who might get hurt along the way. Internal monologues coming from the main actors go great justice to this concept and further enforce it.
But, because of their social class, eloquent rationalization and unapologetic and unconscious selfishness, others definitely get hurt in a range of ways. Allen shows how this need to put oneself in the center of the known universe is something corrosive and dangerous. In fact, the emotional weirdness combined with valid internal cognitive processes of the characters transform the film into a dark comedy about the toxic hunger of the modern western self-centered philosophy of life.

Towards the end, the audience gets entangled in the web of lies and explanation, settling into the position where it would not be that bad if everyone got punished for what they did and how they acted. This way, Woody Allen managed to create via a classic tale of crime and guilt, set in the modern world of convenience and ego-worshiping individual philosophies.

Film Review: Trumbo (2015)

Copyright: Bleecker Street

This movie is more about Bryan Cranston than it is about Dalton Trumbo, which is not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, it is definitely not about Communism in any shape or form, even though it should be at least a bit. Instead, it is about how the US when through a dark period by learning their lessons, which they obviously (like any other super-power in the world) did not do.

Like many big films about a dodgy period in the US history, it slithers away from the slippery ground which might not go so well outside of the relatively liberal costliness of the country.

Here, in the mostly blood-red interior of the US, I bet that calling someone a �communist� is still a hard-hitting insult but also a social system that armed Christian Caucasian still fear deep down inside. 

The fact that the actual fall of communism in its basic form failed to stifle these fears is a great example of how much they are embedded in the conservative mindset. Trumbo caters to this fear way too much, to a point where its depiction of a man becomes irrelevant. As the film unfolds and presents a story about a man who took on the system, lost and kept on fighting, we are left wondering how much was actually Trumbo into communism in the first place.

I�m certain that the movie makers would argue that the whole point of the plot is that this is a personal matter, but it still dissects Trumbo�s personal sides. We are shown his addictions, crumbling friendships and strained family relationships, so it is not a question of respecting his privacy. But, when it comes to his political views, they are left in the dark, even when his support for a global socialist cause is compared to others. Arlen Hird, who is played by Louis C.K., is represented as a person with more left-leaning views, but Trumbo remains a mystery.

Sure, he wants workers� rights, less censorship and more freedom to fight for your paycheck, but all that remains in the domain of wishful thinking. The same would be if Cranston declared in the film as Trumbo that he wants �the people to live better�. This all might sound jaded on my part, but I feel this way because I�m certain that if the film declared that Trumbo really was a Communist, not just an almost accidental part of the Communist party at one point, a lot of the US audience wouldn�t emphasize with him. In fact, many would be more or less on the side of all the repressive elements of the film.

I believe this because I remember a single historical notion. As McCarthyism policy clearly stated, �the only good Communist is a dead Communist�. No matter how good or convincing Bryan Cranston, he still ends up as someone who is a great guy but definitely not a communist. Hell, in the end, how could a person be both of these things? That is why, in spite of his genuine message about censorship, it falls flat when it comes to its decency. Here, instead of presenting someone for whom he really was, the director Jay Roach and writer John McNamara appease the book-burners of the current world.

Film Review: Remember (2015)

Copyright: A24

The best way to describe Remember is to call it nauseating in a really mellow way. Atom Egoyan, its director, works really well with bland locations, where the depth of space is measured in meters that are in their single digits. Virtually all of the film, except its finale, takes place in rooms, basements, run-down houses and other places that are both enclosing and claustrophobic.

Here, in these spaces from where there is no room to escape, a simple plot unravels. Zev Guttman, played by Christopher Plummer, is a Jewish man gripped by late-stage Alzheimer�s, who mourns the death of his wife in their nursing home residence. But, Zev is soon reminded by Max, one of his friends about a promise he made: as a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, he will find an SS officer who stole the identity of a killed camp prisoner and immigrated to the US after the war. 

With his destroyed memory which practically restarts every time he falls asleep, Zev leaves the nursing home with a list of four names, knowing that one of them is the man who murdered his family in Auschwitz. On this journey, Egoyan works as if he is creating a senior version of Memento. Zev forgets and is easily disoriented, but his drive for justice keeps him pushing on, using a letter from his friend to guide him once he forgets everything.

The toned-down nature of Remember is employed to show the world which moved on and almost forgot about the unspeakable horror that took place behind the Nazi barbed wire. However, the oldest ones among us still remember vividly the places where hell became a physical, tangible thing and this movie delves head on into that feeling. Egoyan does not use any gimmick to push his point home: there are no flashback scenes, no grizzly stories about the events that took place in the barracks or the killing rooms. Instead, it is the state of Zev that tells the story of suffering and dismay right here and now, in the pleasant environment of the modern United States.

Plummer is excellent and very visceral in the presentation of his character, spurred on by the always great Martin Landau as Max. Here, the audience sees Zev who has almost lost everything stored in his mind while his body follows suit. But, in spite of this, his small hand purse holds a Glock and he is still, as his name says in Hebrew, a lion. And lions hunt, even when they are on their deathbed.

Remember is a film about growing old but not forgetting the things that matter, especially those that cannot be forgotten.

Web Series Review: Gaby�s Revenge (2016)

There aren�t many cinematographic forms better suited for small, independent productions than the neo-noir thriller genre. In the past couple of years, several brilliant films of this type were made, including the phenomenal Blue Ruin. Now, it seems that filmmakers are trying to use a similar setting and tone and move it to the domain of the online forms like web series.

Jonathan Vargas is one of these people and his new series called Gaby�s Revenge is aiming for a thriller vibe, produced using a limited budget. The first episode begins with the character of Gaby returning to her home, masked and armed.

Through a contact with her handler, the audience learns that Gaby works as a hitman (hitwoman?) but one who is particularly inept in completing jobs in a manner that is not, as the film states �a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie�.

As the conversation unravels, the stage for the plot is set and defined. Amanda Ortega plays Gaby and does a good job by being really low-key and acting in, for a lack of a better word, normal way. It doesn�t take long for the Episode 1: Going to Vacation to connect with the viewers, using the phone conversation as a great character setup and Ortega didn�t miss it.

Here, however, the main problem of the first episode lies � setting the overall emotional tone of the series. Right at the beginning, the character of Gaby�s handler makes a few analogies, including, aside from Tarantino, things like the Call of Duty video games. At the same time, her mildly irritated tone and demeanor, similar to a frustrated boss who is disappointed with one of his less important workers, brings about additional confusion. This sequence, especially its beginning had the power to sabotage the entire setup because, for a long moment, the viewers are left wondering if the series is a parody of some kind, eerie similar to the director�s short feature Flying To Disney World.

Fortunately, Vargas manages to pull the story away from this unwanted path and set the course right at the last third of the episode. Here, the thriller segment is developed fully and it even includes a double murder. While the action part is not technically perfect, it does have the right vibe to it, allowing for the noir theme to be explored � instead of only hearing about Gaby�s profession, the audience gets to see her work.

Many independent works of art struggle with action segments because of completely understandable reasons and Vargas also tiptoed to the edge of looking a bit silly. But, thanks to his cinematographic eye and storyteller instinct, he ended up making it the best part of the episode. At the end, he further profits on the sequence by slowing it down with some greatly chosen music, giving the viewers a solid final sequence and also the biggest reason to keep watching.

Gaby�s Revenge might not come with the full force of a polished post-production, but it offers a promise of a tightly conceived story in the form of a web series. For this series to work, a darker tone might be needed, followed by the more introspective and subtle approach, similar to the one showed by Vargas on the closing shots of Episode 1.

Film Review: Black Mass (2015)

Making films about gangsters, especially real-life ones, can often turn into a quite a boar and Black Mass is an ideal example. The story revolves around a steady rise to fame of James 'Whitey' Bulger, a Boston kingpin in the 1970�s and 1980�s, mainly thanks to his connections with the FBI task force in the same city.

Directed by the talented Scott Cooper, who made the impressive Out of the Furnace before this film, Black Mass falls short of being either thrilling or compelling.

As if he was star-struck by Johnny Depp, who plays Whitey, Cooper seems to struggle whenever he is not in the frame. The film just adores Depp and his evil, vampire-like persona, but does not succeed in showing the audience why should they care about this pale-eyed monster.

Of course, Whitey is a despicable but smart criminal, but most movie kingpins are something similar. He manipulates, terrifies, injures and kills his way out of any situation, but remains uninteresting as a character. What drives Whitey and what scares him? Cooper and his writing team seem to be as clueless about this as I am and it reflects in the film throughout.

The only kindling of interests this movie has to offer burns in FBI agent John Connolly, played by the spectacular Joel Edgerton. Here, a transformation can be witnessed by the audience, but it is still eclipsed by the face of Whitey, who always hovers over all other people in the film. The role is masterfully played, but the film doesn't know what to do with it inside of the bigger picture. This mistake dulled the film substantially and turned it into a TV documentary about an appalling man from Boston�s Southey.

Even thought it is a Depp-worshiping film, it cannot be called a disaster because it looks good from a visual standpoint (a new pattern of a fascination with the late 70�s can be seen here). But, A Most Violent Year develops a similar storyline in a similar environment but pulls it off it with a lot more tact and immersions. I�m sure that Black Mass does a lot of justice to the real events and people, but a rude question begs to be asked � who cares about the real James Bulger?