Film Review – Page 4 – Back to the Drawing Board Productions

HOW WOULD YOU DO THE OSCARS?

Posted on February 21, 2017February 22, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

It was February 2005 when I watched the 77^th Academy Awards hosted by Chris Rock. That’s the last great Oscars telecast I remember. It was a gradual thing Jon Stewart took over the following year and it wasn’t as good but that was alright because Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg hadn’t been as good as Billy Crystal right? As time dragged on though, and more ceremonies occurred I couldn’t shake the feeling that the Oscars just didn’t measure up the same away anymore. If I look back over the past few years there’s always bits and pieces I love from all of them but always something lacking. The host sucks, the host was the only good thing, not enough skits, the skits sucked, the speeches were boring, the people accepting were played off by the orchestra before they could start. I would not be surprised either if I popped in a tape of a show that I remember as praiseworthy from the 1990s to find its no worse or better than the ones we see today. The thing I can’t shake though is that at some point the Oscars got scared, it rushed itself not allowing time for individual moments to breathe and organically occur and it worried about getting viewers in rather than celebrating its own community. It would be too easy to pick apart the high pressure work performed by dozens of professionals on a grand stage in front of a worldwide audience. Therefore I thought it would be interesting to put forward some ideas of my own and inevitably celebrate that which has worked in the past.

The Host

Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Billy Crystal are the Kings of Oscar hosting. This year the television networks have allocated their respective late night hosts to the Awards Show they’re broadcasting, CBS gave James Corden the Grammys, NBC slotted in Jimmy Fallon for the Golden Globes and so ABC have given Jimmy Kimmel the Oscars. Kimmel is edgy, very LA and approaching gravitas that comes with long term tenure. There’s a hope he will shake up things but there was a similar hope when Seth McFarlane was named to host and we know how that turned out. Choosing a late night talk show host makes sense given Carson’s reign at the gig but Carson was lightning in a bottle, a superb comic performer, movie star good looking with average folks appeal in his Nebraskan sensibility. Jon Stewart did this twice with only middling success, my favourite David Letterman bombed big time with his snark going over like a lead balloon with the celebrities on their night of nights, Fallon the current king of late night looked intimidated at the Globes earlier this year leaving basically day time host Ellen DeGeneres as the best since Carson – and her Emmy Hosting gigs were far superior to her Oscar ones. I’d love to see Samantha Bee and Jon Oliver tear the place down and I think James Corden actually could do a real good job but I would be looking at a stand-up comic more than a talk show personality to be named host.

A few big hitters include Jerry Seinfeld (he’s so big and established he wouldn’t be afraid to push people around but maybe is too much of an outsider), Louis C.K. (same thing but again outsider) Aziz Ansari (too TV maybe go with Emmys or Golden Globes for him first) and Amy Schumer. Schumer is hip and cool, not an old white guy, has a hit movie and would take aim and fire at some of the absurdities of Hollywood. Would be more than happy to see her have a go but I can’t help but think that a funny Hollywood comic superstar would be a good choice. Crystal, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg have all had their go. You know who never did? Who has the gravitas, the comic chops and was king of the box office for a bit. Eddie Murphy. Now I know Eddie hasn’t been a big deal in a while but a few years ago he was announced to host with Brett Ratner producing, then Brett said dumb shit and had to pull out and Eddie stood by his friend and withdrew too. But Eddie can deliver if he has a good writing team behind him because I believe this sincerely, people would like to see a comeback from that kid who did Delirious. The monologue should be solid, few have been bad in the past few years (Franco and Hathaway I’m looking at you) and as a former stand- up he should be able to spot opportunities when they come up. My favourite hosts of the past decade are easily Tina Fey and Amy Poehler doing the Golden Globes three years in a row but they don’t seem interested and others like Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell and Kristen Wiig only seem interested in doing presentation skits in awards shows rather than the whole thing. By the way look for Key and Peele to host Oscars soon, they’re good comedians and solid actors in their own right and I find it hard to believe the Academy hasn’t already asked them at least once.

The Opening

In 1996 a landmark occurred when Billy Crystal returned after Letterman bombed. It had been a couple of years since he hosted and he was missed. He was inserted into old movies as himself and that year’s nominees. Letterman even showed he was a good sport and showed up in it to mock his failure from the previous year. It feels more played out these days but when done well it never really gets old. Hell even Anne Hathaway and James Franco had some good bits in one such skit. Last year there was an amazing opening montage, easily the best from the past decade that Oscar has done. It displayed moments from the nominees, blockbusters and everything in between; themed around personal perseverance in a day it brought tears to my eyes with its empathy and hopefulness. It does mean however that if the AMPAS want to they can go big this year, one year they had Cirque du Soleil perform up in the rafters. Maybe it’s time to go big again Academy. Imagine Eddie or Amy inserted in Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Fences or Arrival.

The Presentations

If you look back over the years there are always at least a couple of good presentations. Some from really good actors being given funny lines and some from some of the funniest people we have working in Hollywood.

Ben Stiller, the aforementioned Wigg, Ferrel, Fey, Poehler, Steve Martin, and it would be great to see them all back doing their thing. It probably doesn’t get more moving than Christopher Reeve in his wheelchair after the riding accident. Sometimes there can be real quirkiness in the choices, one year a sound effects choir introduced those categories. R2D2, C3PO and BB-8 came out last year. However not everybody has to have a bit, some can wax lyrical about cinematography “The camera allows us to see ourselves like we’ve seen ourselves before – looking like Ryan Gosling.” or something like that and then get off the stage. It would be nice if before presenting the nominees for technical awards like sound editing, sound effects editing to remind the nominees that there’s five of you and nobody gives a shit about your arse cause you ain’t famous so you know you got five seconds each. Thank your wife and then let your buddies thank their wives. Because if you want to get laid tonight you better thank your wife if you win. If there are any female nominees in the technical categories don’t worry, your husband will not hold out having sex with you if you don’t thank him. You get back to the hotel room and he’d be like I can’t believe it, I gave you twenty two years of my life, supported you in your career, helped raise the kids and you couldn’t remember my name in front of a billion people. I am so upset, I’m not having sex with you tonight…..oh you’re wearing those stockings. Never mind. And this is why you really are running the world. But seriously male or female nominees either nominate one person or let everybody thank everybody real quick. If one person in your group is shy or boring, they’re out. There can be no room for weak links. You have got 30 seconds. Actually that’s not true, Harvey Weinstein has 30 seconds, and a special effects supervisor has 12 seconds. If you’re ugly you got 10! So that’s two seconds for each of you!

Sketch Bits

In the old days this might have been a montage of animal performers before Mike Myers hurriedly grabbed the envelope off a grumpy Bart the Bear. These days it will have Neil Patrick Harris re-enact Birdman’s famous scene in his tighty whities or have Ellen DeGeneres get pizza for the stars in their million dollar frocks.

Nothing wrong with that, it’s the growing trendy of daggy celebrities done so well by Fallon. I believe the host should remain present throughout the rest of the evening but more of less reacting to what’s going on. I got a long night planned anyway.

Montages

Hollywood used to do the best montages and then a few years ago the kids on YouTube started doing it better. The day after a tribute to James Bond was done at the Oscars, better online contributions went viral. Jon Stewart even joked one year that the whole show was montages. Yet done well they elevate the whole thing, one year they brought performers on stage to perform a raft of best songs from previous decades and it linked you to previous generations. This year I would suggest two major montages. One saluting women of cinema, given the range of strong female performances this year it would be neat and also relevant given current cultural dialogue about gender politics. Hidden Figures for example taps into this in a big way. Imagine iconic moments from Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Bette Davis, Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Liv Ullman, Mary Tyler Moore, Lilly Tomlin, Noomi Rapace, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, Hattie McDaniel, Ginger Rogers, Lauren Bacall, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Jane Fonda, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Sigourney Weaver, Emma Thompson, Cher, Charlize Theron, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Amy Adams, Felicity Jones, Cate Blanchett, etc.

The second would be long overdue, the work of stunt performers. There’s been a push for at least the past decade for them to get their own Oscar category and maybe this would be a step in the right direction of proper recognition. Sure practical stunts are being replaced by CGI since the heyday of the 70s and 80s but there is still plenty of stunt work being performed and a montage could show the classic stunts we all know and love with behind the scenes footage giving these men and women their day in the sun. There are plenty of stories too. Rick Sylvester’s Union Jack Parachute Ski Jump from The Spy Who Loved Me, Jophery Brown’s bus jump from Speed “ If I’d been directly in the driver’s suit it probably would have broken my back”, Bud Elkins driving that motorcycle over the border fence in The Great Escape, Zoe Bell on the hood of that Dodge Challenger in Death Proof, Vic Armstrong’s work as Indiana Jones, Heidi Moneymaker’s work as Black Widow, Bill Hickman stunt driving in The French Connection, stuntwoman Lila Finn who doubled for Vivien Leigh and Donna Reed right through to doing work on Robocop 2, Yakima Canutt who pulled off that famous stunt in Stagecoach. Anyway the list goes on. The montage could include personal anecdotes about their injuries, close calls, relationship with stars they double for or love of the job. Perhaps mention of some stuntmen and stuntwomen who died doing what they loved. To introduce this montage get an actor who is noted for doing some of their own stunts, Burt Reynolds, Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise if you believe the hype, and Johansson who trains phenomenally hard in her role as Black Widow often doing more interesting stunt work than her male co-stars in The Avengers movies. Maybe the most perfect choice would be Jackie Chan.

Song Performances

Most song performances have been strong over the years, something as intimate as Dolly Parton singing Travelin’ Thru, to Beyoncé and Idina Menzel giving sterling performances right through to moving pieces as Lady Gaga was joined on stage by real sexual assault survivors performing Til It Happens To You. The energy of Everything is Awesome to the power of Glory. As a template, you could see the potential from this year’s best song nominees. Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling is idiotic but kind of catchy. Hopefully they’ll avoid trying to get the crowd involved with a bunch of middle aged actors looking uncomfortable although it would be worth it if Harrison Ford ended up punching Timberlake in the face – hey we can dream. Still it is an up-tempo number and if you put a bunch of kids there on stage enjoying it my cold heart will melt.

Superstar Sting showing up to sing Empty Chair with the lights dimmed and a montage of reporters lost in the field would be particularly moving. Don’t even say the clip was of all reporters lost doing their job until after the clip too. Not everybody is going to know it’s from the critically lauded documentary Jim about the sadly deceased correspondent James Foley. Audition (The Fools Who Dream) needs a big performance from a big star, Beyoncé, Gaga, somebody of that calibre. Maybe a Broadway star the film community doesn’t know. Think Idina or Kristen Chenoweth before everybody knew who they were. The big production number should go to How I’ll Go from Moana and come early in the piece in case any kids are still up. Lots of lights, moving props and dancers with Auli’i Cravalho singing her heart out.

Which leaves us with City of Stars; this should be sung by Emma Stone and Gosling at piano with their innate chemistry while dancers recreate scenes from the film in the background. The power of the ending should be recreated in this on stage performance. Think Eugene Levy’s wonderful touching of Catherine O’Hara’s cheek at the end of performing A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow in character or the heartfelt singing of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova doing Falling Slowly.

Speeches

Look there’s no denying we want to hear Emma Stone more than who won Best Film Editing speak and so she’ll be given more time. That is fair enough, but give the editor 30 seconds and if it looks like they’re wrapping up soon let it go. They might be about to tell you that their parent recently fought cancer. This can’t be stated enough, some of the most heartfelt and best moments of Oscars past are the speeches that were allowed to just happen in the moment. Don’t terrify people; let them tell their story at a moment of personal triumph. If after 30 seconds they’re bombing jokes or boring us nobody is going to have a problem if the music starts to kick in a little. Hell the recipient will probably thank you even. But stop apologising for the length of the telecast, this is your community you’re celebrating and the people tuning in aren’t just interested in the next blockbuster to pack their kids away in air conditioning for two hours, they’re cinephiles and they’re digging this as much as footy fans dig the halftime commentary.

Honorary Oscars

I know this is never going to happen, The Governors ball allows AMPAS to honour at least 3 recipients a year, focuses an evening more on just a few awardees and takes away the pressure of a live television audience but we’ve lost something with not handing out these Oscars on Oscar night.

Peter O’Toole, Sidney Lumet, Blake Edwards, Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, Deborah Kerr, Ennio Morricone, Michelangelo Antonioni. These were some of the lifetime achievement awards handed out in the years I started watching. Films like Bronco Billy and Honkytonk Man got on my radar because of Eastwood’s montage for the Irving G. Thalberg award. Who amongst us didn’t have tears in our eyes when Kirk Douglas made a speech having prepared endlessly for it following a stroke.

Michael standing with his brothers in the stands just a proud son. Deborah Kerr years after retiring flown over from the other side of the Atlantic who simply said “I’m amongst friends.” Anybody know who Michelangelo Antonioni is? He’s an Italian film director who I doubt I have seen the films of but I also doubt I have not seen the films influenced by his work. Oscars always echoed the ghosts of the past, gave a sense of community amongst this sea of celebrity that these rich pricks really just wanted to tell good stories and that the past was never forgotten. As a film buff my first awareness of so many classics came from Oscar ceremonies that remembered and championed work from the past as well as the present. A good choice for a foreign director of lauded classics now would be Wim Wenders who has influenced a whole generation of filmmakers. After ruining the perfect symmetry of Sly Stallone winning the Oscar for Creed last year it’s probably time to give him an Honourary Oscar but maybe some kids out there know who he is. They won’t know who Gene Hackman is; imagine a montage of his work on Oscar night followed by him making his first public appearance in close to a decade. The crowd would go ballistic!Al Pacino, Warren Beatty, Robert Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Frances McDormand are all potential presenters. Traditionally Honourary Oscars go to those who haven’t won in competition but to see Gene I’d just about do anything and if some young film buff out there notices his work and is inspired to watch The Conversation or Missippi Burning the way I was to watch Bronco Billy or Serpico then that’s a goal scored.

Well they’re just some thoughts, any pet peeves or treasured moments you have from previous Oscars or any things you would suggest for the broadcast. Whatever happens next Monday, I’ll be tuning in, judging the fashion with my wife and mother, texting my best friend during the ad breaks in another part of the country long into the evening about who won and who missed out. Maybe the ceremonies since 2004 haven’t been that bad, maybe the ones before weren’t that great. It doesn’t matter; it’s Hollywood’s night of nights and mine too.

-Lloyd Marken

BEST DRESSED AWARDS SEASON 2017 PART I

Posted on February 19, 2017February 20, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

I do not claim to be any kind of expert when it comes to fashion but like all art I know what I like and so in a change from my lengthy diatribes about film I figured I’d indulge in a quick recap of favourites from recent award ceremonies. Easily there are many dresses from them all that I could list but for brevity sake I’ll point out a personal favourite and leave it open to you the reader to share some of your picks. I’ll avoid pointing out ones that I did not like since I do believe risks are to be taken if we’re to have a vibrant variety of clothes at these things and life in general. Besides it’s all subjective right.

The Golden Globes

My belief is that as an actress you’ve got to wear your second best frock at this event. It’s got the second largest TV audience (20 million this year in the U.S.), it kicks of the awards season (so why not do it in style?) and Oscar nominee voting hasn’t closed at this point. Interesting to note as well while voting for nominees for the SAGs has closed at this point the voting for choosing the winning nominee has not. I’m not happy about this either but I’ve long suspected that sometimes a good dress at the Globes can put you and your film on the radar in a way that a stunning performance and critical acclaim cannot (don’t hate me, I’m as pissed off as you are). Alas special effects gurus for Star Wars facing down Marvel don’t sweat their tuxedo choices the same way. Case in point, Twelve Years a Slave was sizing up as a frontrunner a couple of years ago and Lupita Nyong’o was nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press but did not win. However after her Golden Globes Red Carpet appearance she was named Best Dressed of the night by various outlets and lit up the internet with her outfit. Later she did win the Oscar and also the Screen Actor Guild Award which indicates she was always in the mind of Academy voters but may have gotten a bump from her fierce fashion game.

That being said my favourite for this year was last year’s winner Brie Larson whose fashion game has been just as strong if not stronger than the year she was in competition. The dress was by Rodarte, a luxury label started in 2005 by designers and sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy that’s already scooped up many accolades. The ballet costumes in Black Swan…yeah they did those.

The Screen Actors Guild

Literally the Actor’s Union awards with a smaller audience watching this (3.9 million Americans in 2017) often leads to participants letting their hair down a bit and making riskier fashion choices. At this point Oscar nominees have been announced but voting for the winner won’t close for a couple of weeks yet. With the majority of voters here representing the same people who will vote on Oscar night it’s important again to nail a good speech too. Especially if you’ve been recognised here when the Hollywood Foreign Press was too busy giving it an overrated Hollywood celebrity they wanted to show up or some foreigner the old white guys of the AMPAS are never going to go for.

There were so many beautiful dresses at the SAG Awards this year that it says a lot about my lack of fashion sense that my choice came down to just loving a certain colour. Every now and again you get a clear front runner but there was nothing here for me and I just kept on coming back to Titus Burgess’s and his beautiful Malan Breton blue suit so sue me – it’s my choice. Originally a model in his youth Malan moved onto work as a stylist to several celebrities before becoming a globally recognised and respected designer.

BAFTAS

With a few stars not bothering to cross the Atlantic, the weather and Americans fearing somehow that the English are more prudish (English people are laughing everywhere at that statement) means the fashion is never as risky as the SAGS or as glamorous as the Oscars. However there’s still plenty of beautiful fashion on display and it’s getting more TV savvy. A few years ago the red carpet was rained out and all the ladies covered up in black coats and umbrellas on their way in. These days things are run differently and there’s choice frocks out there especially for home grown talent who maybe didn’t get nominated across the pond or are prouder to be here at their nation’s big gig.

Appropriately my favourite then this year was English rose Emily Blunt’s dress. I’m not entirely sure about the black skirt but it was my pick when I watched the show and I’m sticking with it. This is the work of Alexander McQueen (owned by Gucci) Creative Director Sarah Burton. She’s done some interesting work over the years, Princess Kate Middleton’s Wedding Dress being one.

NEXT UP

Next up are the lesser known Film Independent Spirit Awards on the eve of Oscars which usually sees more comfortable modern sexy dresses. Cocktail dresses as opposed to ball gowns if you will; I seriously have no fucking idea what I’m talking about.

I wonder who’s going to rock the red carpet come February 27. For me here are two particular favourites from Oscars past, Halle Berry in 2002 wearing an Elie Saab creation and Jessica Chastain in 2013 wearing custom made Armani.

What do you guys and gals think? What’s been your favourite get up during these recent Award Ceremonies? Evan Rachel Woods glamming up in suits for a change, those who got the twins out, those who upped the sequin game, those who went wild and avant-garde or those who kept it simple? Let me know below.

-Lloyd Marken

DENZEL GETS AS GOOD AS HE GIVES IN THE MOVIE FENCES

Posted on February 18, 2017February 19, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Fences is not an easy film to watch at times, at its centre is Denzel Washington shaking off his established screen persona to play a very flawed man but a human being none the less. He is Troy Maxson a garbage man in 1950s America raising a teenage son Cory (Jovan Adepo) with his lovely wife Rose (Viola Davis) in working class Pittsburgh. This is a man who holds centre stage in his house, he is the king of a court that usually numbers no more than four or five but it means a great deal to him. His best friend Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson) who he works with nods in agreement more often than not, Rose not always in agreement will let things slide as wives sometimes do, his son from a previous relationship Lyons (Russell Hornsby) and Cory exist as challenges to his authority to be shut down at all costs and then there is his brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson) damaged by the war who is the only one he can’t control.

For Troy no achievement is good enough, he’s 53 years old and the windows of opportunity are closing. After a wild youth he’s chosen being a responsible patriarch and he wants to ingrain into his sons that sense of responsibility but this maybe because he secretly envies their possible futures. Troy makes a decision that a lot of men make when faced with a mid-life crisis, this small court of admirers is no longer enough and like all men responsibility has made him forget that his burden as a patriarch is also his privilege. The consequences for his family will flow down through the years.

Viola Davis in her award acceptance speeches throughout this season has said that playwright August Wilson with Fences gave voice to the African American working class of the last century who kept the country running and allowed their children to finally gain college educations and with it opportunities. Everybody wants to know their life matters and for swathes of men and women who never got their names in history books August Wilson’s play is a tribute that powerfully tells their ghosts “Yes you mattered.” Yet it might be important to remember that not all of them were this deeply flawed and resentful as Troy. My own grandfather was a welder, he didn’t cheat on his wife he took care of her when she suffered a stroke at the age of 36 and he didn’t resent his children succeeding he encouraged it. I don’t know if he regretted any decisions, if he rued any missed opportunities or was haunted by any unfulfilled dreams. Because he never spoke of them but Troy Maxson speaks of them a lot.

Denzel Washington is arguably the greatest living actor of his generation, a man who has played many different characters, action roles for Tony Scott, punk runaway slaves in Glory, a variety of roles for director Spike Lee including Malcolm X but you may never have seen him like this. He’s not cool here. He’s lively, gruff and even a little old and worn out. As an actor lacking any vanity he gradually strips away Troy’s dignity. We see the hypocrisy of his actions, the pain in his outbursts and the fragility in his powerful but out of shape physique. This is Denzel as you’ve never seen him before, so effectively does he embody the spirit and life of a man like Maxson. A man who in one instant can beat himself up about owing owning a house to his brother, and then in the next lecture his son about how saving to afford repairs on the house is a man’s responsibility. Yet look at the small exchanges, the expressions on his face in moments where he does not speak. This man was capable of love even if not how to express or value it properly.

Mykelti Williamson starring as Gabriel Maxson who received a head injury in the Pacific and now acts erratic also gives a great performance. This is a time where understanding of what he was struggling with would have been limited and the burden of taking care of him would have been substantial. Williamson brings real pathos to the role but anybody who has been around those with mental disability, mental health or autism will tell you such people often take your breath away with insightful and timely words. Not to mention they often bring forth the better angels of our nature. Jovan and Russell play their roles effectively, we see they only want to earn their father’s love and respect while they are growing weary of their treatment at his hands. Henderson’s turn as Bono will be less celebrated because it’s all in subtle choices playing in the background while other people are saying their lines but he does have two stand-out scenes with Washington where the nature of their friendship take a turn.

For all the accolades Washington should receive, Viola Davis may give the best performance in the film. Viola Davis as Rose is a buttress of support not just to her husband but to her family and to her community (we see her leaving for Church with food in one scene.) Women like her endured much to hold whole towns together with their stalwart love and bottomless depths of forgiveness. In the film’s most powerful moment she lays bare the limits and hopes for housewives of that era and it is beautiful and devastating. If the character of Troy is hard to sympathise with, the film should be seen for Davis’s moment alone.

Denzel Washington as director is happy to stage the film as naturally as possibly, we leave the house for bits but we can see clearly this story was once told as a stage play. No showy flourishes are made with the camera but close ups are played for maximum effect. We see the hill, we see the house – the front and back and inside, we feel intrinsically what it was like to grow up in it and the world that is hinted at outside. It’s a strong straightforward telling of the story for the camera, this remains first and foremost a tale told through performances.

As the film goes on Maxson inhabits scenes he‘s not even in, after watching him with his family throughout we grow to feel some of their emotions. As he winds up for another lecture we shake our heads at the repetition and the lack of self-awareness and yet when he’s gone we feel the lack of his presence as keenly as the family does. We understand perhaps that for better or worse we are who are fathers made us and whether they did us proud or said they loved us we want to make them proud and we do love them.

-Lloyd Marken

FUNKY OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY NOT TOO FUNNY

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Frat comedies are fun, frat comedies peopled with middle aged characters can also be fun although I’m not sure where we decided we’d rather see middle aged people being irresponsible than teenagers. I guess when the teenagers were more interested in playing Halo 4 or downloading 22 Jump Street and middle aged schmucks like me were still habitually paying good money to watch Jason Bateman and Olivia Munn act up on the big screen opening weekend. Maybe it just reflects the arrested adolescence of Gen Xers. I don’t know. I didn’t expect a lot from this film but the trailer was good, all of the cast have been in good projects and I wanted to see a movie that weekend and my wife showed no interest in Hacksaw Ridge so there you have it. I’ve never been to an Office Christmas ‘party’, they were all lunches. There’s been drinks at work and some people sitting in laps they shouldn’t and I went to this work retreat once that I really enjoyed where I discovered I hate Cognac but enjoyed a conversation out in the courtyard about life as everybody wished me well for falling in love and proposing to the woman who has become my beautiful wife. I know I don’t have any interesting stories to tell and that’s kind of like this movie although it tries hard with mobster back rooms, car stunts, drug taking, nudity and emergency call inducing pranks. There are funny lines to be had mostly from Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell and Jennifer Aniston but the best bits…wouldn’t you know it they were in that trailer that was good.

Still let’s recap the plot in case you’re interested. So we were staying at the Brisbane Riverview Hotel except it wasn’t called that back then…..Oh yeah right the movie. So Jason Bateman stars as Josh Parker the Chief Technical Officer at a company called Zenotek and has recently gotten divorced. He is the right hand man of Branch Manager Clay Vanstone (T.J. Miller) whose father used to own the company. The CEO is his sister Carol Vanstone played by Jennifer Aniston who is closing down branches and firing staff. Clay proposes to Carol that if he can close a deal with financier Walter Davis (Courtney B. Vance) he can keep the Chicago branch open. Davis wants to work with companies who value people over the bottom line and to prove this Clay invites Walter to the office Christmas party to end all Office Christmas parties. Loud crazy shenanigans ensure the likes of which you may never experience in your life let alone at a work party but for all its raging the film rarely surprises or thrills and this is crucial keel over in fits of laughter. It has funny characters and funny moments but I really wished I’d seen Hacksaw Ridge to tell you the truth.

-Lloyd Marken

KUNG FU PANDA THROUGH

Posted on February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a perfectly serviceable family animated comedy to take the kids to. The first sequel remains the high point of this series and hopefully this trilogy capper will see the series bow out. Visually arresting, with comedy of a lower denomination, the empowering message of the first movie is all played out and we’ve come full circle dealing with lead character Po’s past.

In this film a new even more powerful villain than the last one Grandmaster Oogway (J.K. Simmons) defeats the Spirit realm and returns to our Mortal realm to take on everybody’s favourite Panda Po. Po (Jack Black) himself in the meantime has taken on being a training master from his former teacher Master Shithru (Dustin Hoffman) who has committed himself to mastering Qi. What is Qi? Well in Chinese traditional culture Qi is important to defeating other kung fu practitioners in this movie. Also something about life force or energy or something. I would be more deferential to it if it wasn’t for the fact that the film is not. It’s a plot device in the form of Jade charms and nothing more. kung fu A bigger development comes in the discovery of orphan Po’s father Li (Bryan Cranston) who sets off a jealous streak within mother duck like foster father Ping (James Hong). Po, Li and Mr. Ping travel to a secret Panda village where Po sets out to learn Qi by being true to himself. Like Black himself, this series has always enjoyed revelling in fat jokes for Po while also making the powerful message that taking people on face value is a mistake. That all of us are capable of great things if we believe in ourselves. This series has literally had its five bowls of dumplings and eaten them too.

kung fu panda

The first film was fine enough diverting fare with the character of Ping being an original take on the loving father of a warrior. The second film seemed to expand the series and the quality of DreamWorks animation, it was artsy using different animation style for a moving flashback, scoring a neat villain and even developing some of the relationships of the core group characters. By finally having Po meet other Pandas the film comes full circle and takes the character to a logical conclusion but the laughs aren’t as big, it’s getting harder to sell Po needing to train more to defeat an even more powerful villain than the last and the animation which has remained spectacular is only as good as what we have come to expect. There’s nothing wrong with that but there’s a difference between this and say Inside Out. It’s that difference that keeps an adult entertained at a kid’s movie. The kid, well they should love it.

-Lloyd Marken

THE LONG OVERDUE FILM ABOUT JADOTVILLE

Posted on February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Outnumbered and outgunned, forced into a defensive siege or a last stand against the odds. The Battle of Thermopylae. Battle of Camaron. Rorke’s Drift. The Battle of Long Tan. Black Hawk Down. Every country has a one legendary action of a small force fighting to the death against a much larger one. The modern Irish Army will turn 100 years old in 2022 and its battle of such status should be recognised as the Siege at Jadotville, Congo in September 1961. 86 Irish soldiers have died in the service of the United Nations since 1960 including at the Niemba Ambush in the Congo on the first deployment of Irish UN troops there, in Cyprus, Sinai, Lebanon, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Eritrea, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Liberia, Chad, and Syria. Make no mistake though their Rorke’s Drift though is Jadotville and Netflix has seen fit to finally make a movie about the siege there which lends itself to film storytelling so easily.

No expense has been spared by the streaming service, location shooting appears to have taken place in Africa and Ireland, a lot of effects are done practically and some work has gone into the computer generated imagery. It’s true in the old days they would have hired out a jet trainer for a film like this but I guess on the budget they had they’ve done everything they can to respect the story of these men and try to do it justice.

A lot of runtime sets up the politics of the region and era; the Congo is mineral rich having gained independence from Belgium and in particular in a breakaway region of Katanga. The United Nations went in to restore peace and stop the country from falling into a client state of the Soviets or the Americans. Diplomats in high offices wanting to make their mark started moving chess pieces, promises were made and phone calls to far lands requested many things. Mark Strong as politician Conor Cruise O’Brien is particularly smarmy and Emmanuelle Seigner is particularly effective as Madame LaFontagne who tells the arriving Commandant Quinlan the UN are not welcome here and Guilaume Canet as French mercenary Rene Faulques who shows him.

As interesting as the political stuff is for causing anger and setting up how the Irish ended up in that field alone and in danger it is not what we’re here for.

The Irish Army had been in existence for a little less than forty years. Career soldiers and officers within in had never seen combat with no wars being fought since the Irish Civil War following the struggle for independence from the British. Irish soldiers who had left and fought for the British in World War II returned in 1945 to be dismissed from the military and disqualified from any state based employment for seven years. The first rotation of Irish troops in the Congo were a blooding for the Army, men from the second rotation prepared not sure of how they would go under fire for the first time from 17 year old privates to the 42 year old Commandant Pat Quinlan.

As the UN put into effect an operation to enforce peace and route anti-government troops and mercenaries from the country, Quinlan’s A Company was dispatched to mining community Jadotville. Commandant Quinlan with a force of 150 took one look around his compound and decided their position was tenuous. He ordered digging in fortifications and requested reinforcements (of which none would ever come). Across the field Rene Faulques who had served in World War II, Indochina and Algiers led a Katangese force of 3,000 to 5,000 prepared to lay siege.

The Siege at Jadotville is a real throwback to old war movies that your Dad loved to watch on a Sunday. Modern production values are there and dry Irish sense of humour bleeds through every now and again but the cast are mostly types not people, the soldier with glasses, the sniper (Sam Keeley as Billy Ready), the gruff old Sergeant (Jason O’Mara as Company Sergeant Jack Prendergast). Their emotive faces tell enough and Jamie Dornan acquits himself well as Commandant Pat Quinlan who as a person gets the most rounded out beside the exasperating political figures.

Here were Irish troops far from home with no national interests in the Katangese natural resources defending their turf against insurmountable odds. Asked at one point why he is there, the officer replies I’m a soldier and I follow orders. Dornan conveys well Quinlan’s courage in the field, need for decisive action and simmering rage down the radio to bureaucrats far from the danger telling him to settle down while he is under siege. The old Irish humour shines through in one request via radio “We could do with some whiskey.” Every soldier at Jadotville says Quinlan was the difference between them living and dying over the six day siege. Historical reports put forward that the effective fire from the Irish caused the numerically superior Katangese force to almost route.

How much of the battle in the film is historically accurate? We know a helicopter did get through once with water supplies that were contaminated, we know the enemy used a Fouga Magister trainer jet fitted with bombs and machine guns and carried out air attacks. We know reinforcements were stopped at Lufira Bridge. Beyond historical accuracy the film revels in finding new ways to repel waves and makes the action well orientated and easy to digest to a lay person. It’s rip roaring fun, may not get across the confusion and desperation of such a bloody protracted action but it conveys well the heat of the region, the fear and bravery of the men and again and again supplies well staged spectacle. There is also one stunning statistic of the battle which I will not spoil here until you see the film.

The Siege at Jadotville was an extraordinary feat of arms by a smaller force against a larger one and that they’ve only recently been receiving the credit they deserve. In 2016 the Irish government awarded a Presidential Unit Citation to A Company, too late for some to receive it but certainly a worthy recognition finally for their actions. Better war films have been made but no braver men have existed, if this helps to get them more recognition then that’s a start and in the meantime watch this with your Dad, I think you’ll both enjoy it.

-Lloyd Marken

MOONLIGHT ILLUMINATES THE HARSHNESS AND HOPEFULNESS OF LIFE AND LOVE

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Moonlight is the dark horse that could upset 14 time nominee La La Land at the Oscars this year for Best Picture. A lot of people are championing this coming of age tale which represents a new form of African-American masculinity onscreen and is an emotionally moving character study and performance piece. I went in excited by the high praise given by others to it but I left applauding the heart and soul put into the film by its makers but not necessarily moved in my heart and soul as much as I had hoped.

The most moving scenes may be at the beginning where a young boy named Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert)is being bullied by schoolmates while his mother Paula (Naomie Harris) works shifts as a nurse and is starting to take drugs and have strange men around their apartment. Left to fend for himself, a drug dealer named Juan notices him one day and befriends him. Why he feels compelled to do this is only hinted at but he is played by Mahershala Ali whose performance looms over the rest of the film. He is the only positive male figure the boy nicknamed Little will ever have teaching him how to swim in one beautiful scene of the boy being cradled in his arms amongst the waves. This is a hard man who shows this boy nothing but gentleness, the most obvious answer to why is he immediately recognised something in Little of himself and wants to protect the innocence he has lost but this man is a criminal and there are limits to what he can do. Perhaps we’re all protective of children and their fragility, there is a scene where Chiron asks what a certain word his mother called him means and it kind of breaks your heart.

The second act is about Chiron’s (now played by Ashton Sanders) sexual awakening and a pivotal moment in his life where he reaches a fork in the road and decides on one path. One of his only friends from the first act Kevin (originally Jaden Piner and now here Jharrel Jerome)is still friends with him here as he is being bullied by a kid named Terrel (Patrick Decile)and his mother’s drug use has escalated. When we meet him in the third act he seems destined to follow the path he chose previously which offers a sense of strength but can only end up being a life half lived. Kevin (Andre Holland) calls him up from out of the blue and so Chiron now known as Black (Trevante Rhodes) meets with him, the two men now in their twenties discuss life like people much older. Decisions have given them responsibilities, limited their future choices and left them feeling stuck in very narrow existences and afraid to communicate what they truly want. One of them has broken free of the life of a criminal and the other has closed himself off to love. The third act offers no easy solutions but it leaves you feeling hopeful that the orbit of these two individuals will pull each other into happier lives for them both.

The casting of Little/Chiron/Black in this film is phenomenal, in particular Trevante Rhodes who looks very different from Ashton Sanders mimicks a lot of the facial expressions of Sanders brilliantly allowing us to see clearly the boy in the man. For a character often too shy to express himself it is an internal performance from all 3 actors and spellbindingly effective as representing the growth of someone from childhood to adult. Naomie Harris playing the mother through the three time periods shot all her scenes in 3 days and shows the nightmarish depths of an addict without becoming a caricature. Again though her best scene is maybe not with her son but her stand-off in the first act with Ali. Singer Janelle Monae is having a great award season with this and her work in Hidden Figures, here plays the most maternal figure Chiron has in his life.

This is a passion project for director Barry Jenkins who wrote the screenplay based on the play by Tarell Alvin McCraney In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue and honoured similar experiences they both had growing up in that time as black men in Florida with mothers who suffered from drug addiction. Jenkins builds up tension well in scenes by playing in real time with the limited perspective of an individual. We feel the danger of Juan’s work without a scene of violence just by following him on his rounds. One particular shot of Chiron when he makes a decision that will change his life is strikingly beautiful and sets up his actions with a bang. Finally the way a scene in a diner is shot at the end orientates us to the whole shop and lets the scene play out in real time as two men are now forced to say things to each other in person instead of down a telephone line and they’re terrified of what the other guy will say. I hope that’s not too vague but ten years ago there was a movie that everybody referred to as the gay cowboy movie and yes there were cowboys in it and yes they were gay but it was ultimately a tragic love story and I’d hate to see this film reduced to similar shorthand.

If there is one complaint it maybe that some scenes go on too long due to the real time nature of the pacing and the film therefore drags a little for such a runtime. Some scenes are in slow-mo and I understand the reasoning behind it but think it was not always necessary. Shooting on location, sunny Miami is seen in a new light here and another particular strong point of the way the film is made is the sound design and editing which always lets us feel the world around us. Sometimes we hear the beach without seeing the water and we know the diner is emptying in third act because we can hear the bell on the door.

A24 driving moonlight barry jenkins andre holland

This can be a bleak unsatisfying film for some but I ultimately left it hopeful having felt a great sense of empathy for the kind of life I’d never lived in a community I’d never been a part of. Empathy and understanding and love are some of the greatest things the arts can give us for others and for ourselves. At the end of this film I was hopeful for Chiron and I felt a great deal for him. If the film was at time slow telling its story it was no less an important story to have been told.

-Lloyd Marken

JACKIE RETELLS AN OLD TALE FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW

Posted on February 10, 2017February 13, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

Definition 1. A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

Definition 2. A widely held but false belief or idea.

These are the definitions given by the Oxford English dictionary for the word myth.

Jackie is a film about the aftermath of the last Presidential assassination in the United States of America. Television was starting to reside in most homes in America and President Kennedy in life and in death commanded it. The ideas that grew out of these images have left an indelible mark on the American psyche and the world. My Australian baby boomer parents remember November 22nd, 1963 almost as keenly as anything else from their lifetime, my mother remembers it as the first time you could see on television grieving in the streets openly in America. The fact that no easy answers have been found as to why and by whom have impacted the country ever since. Their President was taken from them and they never saw justice prevail. Now imagine what that does to a wife.

Jackie the movie is an ambitious undertaking seeking to retell a story we’ve already learnt several times over and render something new. When they say it is told by the perspective of Mrs Kennedy, they are not kidding she is in every scene and I’d be interested to know the percentage of shots. So much of the film are these lingering tracking shots following her around the White House playing records, fixing drinks and trying on clothes and jewellery. What is she thinking? How grief stricken is she? What is most important to her now? The only two adults she actually converses with at any great length are Robert Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard) and a priest (the late great John Hurt in his final performance). Bobby mostly expresses his own thoughts to her so it falls to the priest to allow her to lay bare any inner turmoil or peace. Director Pablo Larrain and writer Noah Oppenheim are more content to have each individual member of the audience piece together their own thoughts from watching small gestures from the first lady in these long contemplative tracking shots around the White House.

These kind of techniques are hard to pull off and require great discipline from the actress Portman and the production crew but this style of filmmaking can sometimes be too indulgent. The film is stronger when something on screen is happening but a film that deals with the nuance and contradiction of how we all deal with grief does well to show mundane actions being carried out by an individual cracking at the seams. Slowly we come to see the house she roams through she is being evicted from, the superficial items she tries on reflect wealth she may no longer have and carry memories of days when her husband was alive and with her, the alcohol is to self-medicate and the lack of action reflects an essential truth-she is alone. Staff is nearby but they won’t be soon and well-wishers offer sympathy but no real answers. Jackie is the widow of a powerful man in a patriarchal age but what power does she yield herself? Imagery and symbolism she decides and while women were told what to do an awful lot back in 1963 there were some things they couldn’t be refused either.

The film is not told in a linear fashion but concentrates on three time periods moving between all of them seamlessly setting up the actions of subsequent moments. One takes place during the filming of a special about the renovations the First Lady did to the White House (pivotal for showing the public persona of the First Lady and where she was schooled on it by Nancy Tuckerman played by Greta Gerwig), another begins that fateful day in Dallas and ends with the funeral procession through Washington, and the third takes place in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts where Jackie was interviewed by Theodore H. White for Life magazine less than a fortnight after becoming a widow. White played by Billy Crudup like any good journalist tries to capture a moment in time and gain insight into the personality of his interview subject. Mrs Kennedy like any famous person tries to sell a story that she wants told. Both know what the other wants but Kennedy is holding all the cards and it is here that Camelot was born.

Shot beautifully by cinematographer Stephane Fontaine and using a haunting and dreamlike score by Mica Levi the film at times has the aesthetics of mourning. One shot haunts of a cold gloomy highway with the Dallas motorcade driving at speed with a secret service agent riding on the booth towards the hospital. The camera catches up and flies above the car but stops at the point where Mrs Kennedy’s own head blocks her dead husband’s from the camera’s view. Arlington cemetery is first shown in fog and the only time the sun really shines is in Dallas before the President is shot, not after. A late sunset blooms during a rooftop conversation between Bobby and Jackie about their options. As the sun sets Jackie steels her resolve, Bobby the hope for the future is present and the reality that President Johnson must move into the White House comes forward as the sun sets only to rise again tomorrow.

Natalie Portman gives a tour-de-force performance here, never really looking like Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, at times not even sounding like either of her voices (the public and the private), she does however nail the depiction of a woman going through grief and the dichotomy of Mrs Kennedy’s priorities for family and legacy. Often in rooms surrounded by powerful men she stands her ground and gets her way with a backbone of steel people mistook at their own misfortune. Grief stricken at the loss of a husband who cheated on her, cool and collected at times and at others almost hysterical certain facts long known but never pondered come forward. She held her husbands blasted apart head in her lap all the way to the hospital. What the hell does that do to someone? Less than a week later she marched through Washington with world leaders despite all kinds of security concerns that as assassin could target them again. She took her kids to the coffin and she trained her son to salute it with the whole world watching. Why was ensuring President Kennedy’s legacy so important in helping her grief for an imperfect man that she loved?

She showed great foresight in the power of media to create myth but does that make these truths less true? President Kennedy was a war hero, a loving father and husband, a social progressive political leader and the leader of the free world during the Cuban Missile crisis. President Kennedy also oversaw The Bay of Pigs fiasco and fucked around, does that make him any less that first President? Maybe we just need our myths and certainly Mrs Kennedy needed us to believe in one. Does that make it any less real? Definition 1. A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Definition 2. A widely held but false belief or idea. Jackie the movie is about one myth that was both.

-Lloyd Marken

THE ACCOUNTANT KEEPS THE LEDGER EVEN

Posted on February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

The man drives a big old SUV onto a house on a hill in suburban woods like any old house you’d see in your neck of the woods. There’s a Gatling gun hidden at the front of the interior for home protection. At dinner with perfectly placed table settings and he sits down to eat food uniform in shape and temperature. Then he closes his bedroom door to go to sleep and plays heavy metal music. Lights flash in his room as he takes a wooden club and rubs it along his shins in a rhythmic and comforting manner. The noise, the visual stimulation, and the pressure it is all to help him cope with the outside world as a highly functioning individual with autism.

These are the scenes that makes The Accountant something new and interesting for an action thriller but they become less frequent as the different plot threads unravel to a third act of action sequences. For a while though this film delivered on the promise of its premise and thankfully it is always at worst at the very least a perfectly serviceable action thriller.

Ben Affleck stars as Christian Wolff, a forensics accountant who works for numerous criminal enterprises (I guess everybody has to make a living somehow in this economy). In fact Chrissy boy is doing just fine for himself with original copies of comic books from the 1930s and classic art pieces. Downside is his work makes him incredibly knowledgeable of said criminals so he needs to maintain a particular set of skills. Fortunately when he was but a poor autistic boy knee high to a grasshopper his Daddy dearest happened to be a psychological warfare officer in the United States Army and well he done fuck that boy up. A strong believer of nature not raise my boys to be some pussies Wolff Blass went from chasing some French boys down a rainy alley when he was twelve to being an elite trained martial artist and sharp shooter. There’s a bit more to it than that but part of the pleasure of the film is a series of flashbacks that unravel the mystery of Christian’s origins. In the meantime the FBI led by Ray King (J.K. Simmons) and data analyst Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is trying to ascertain if Wolff is just one person and where he is. Christian himself goes to work in a legit job auditing a private corporation Living Robotics who need help discovering the source of some financial discrepancies. He meets with the CEO Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) who immediately seems too nice to not be shifty and one of their accountants Dana Cummings played by Anna Kendricks who is too Anna Kendricky to not become some sort of ally who will challenge Christian’s long held isolation and reserved emotions.

Most of the cast it has to be said are playing the type of roles they’ve become known for. Kendrick is a little quirky and smart but also cute as, Lithgow charmingly untrustworthy, Simmons as sarcastic and authoritative, Jon Bernthal as a rival assassin who appears downright dangerous and unpredictable so shout out to Cynthia Addai-Robinson who I have not seen before. Ben Affleck as Wolff portrays his character well, no expert on autism I think he plays certain scenes of frustration well and is suitably dialled down and restrained throughout the bulk of the running time. Wolff has a kind heart and a keen mind and the punk ass kid from Armageddon sells it and anybody who has seen Affleck’s Batman knows the guy can sell a fight scene but I can’t help but wonder if there are other actors out there, maybe from Boston originally too, who would’ve created more sympathy.

The Accountant ben affleck now playing warner bros.

This is the type of film which impresses with its smarts and patience, more so in the first half. Whole scenes are given time to breath where people converse and get a feel for what the other character is planning (Addai-Robinson and Simmons particularly shine in one). When the action comes it is exciting and appears to utilise stunt work more than the manipulation of pixels. The Accountant could have elevated itself beyond the genre if it had been prepared to go a little deeper with the challenges of autism for a person in this line of work, in life in general. Certain threads and characters get dropped without realising their full potential and the finale may have one twist too many. Still after Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad, I’ll take a good film as a win, hell I might even line up for the sequel. In the meantime kids with autism around the world are turning to their parents and saying I now know I can dream big of being an assassin working for criminals when I grow up. So there’s that.

-Lloyd Marken

ARRIVAL OF A MODERN SCI-FI CLASSIC

Posted on February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Lloyd Marken

It’s tough to make an original film these days and maybe even tougher in the genre of science fiction. The classics are just so iconic and variations on the story about first contact between humans and otherworldly life have included friendly contact, war and something else. Ones where aliens so above us in technology and understanding that we’re just left to ponder and wonder. Once that story is told perfectly what else is there to tell. Think Contact in comparison to 2001: A Space Odyssey or Independence Day in comparison to The Thing or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Director Denis Villeneuve (he’s so hot right now) and screenwriter Eric Heisserer have not created a new fabric but they have stitched together elements from all these classics and a few new things to make something unique and perhaps most appropriate for our time. This is a sombre film that shows dreary landscapes and sees no excitement in spectacle while effortlessly rendering it. This is a film interested in big ideas but mostly shot with a sense of intimacy often in interiors and with close ups of the actors.

Appropriately it opens with a mother telling her daughter the story of her life and watching her die in hospital of cancer. It is intimate and it is moving, nothing quite tugs at the heart strings like parent caring for a dying child and the audience’s shared sadness hints at one aspect of our common humanity. The mother is linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) in a performance that hopefully along with American Hustle sets Adams up for the second part of her career. She’s played vixens and she’s played cute but here she plays strong, maternal and intelligent and perhaps most key – mature.Aliens appear in massive shell-like vessels that hover around the planet in 12 locations. The US Military arrives in the form of Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) at Banks’s university and recruit her to help them at a site in America. She is to work alongside theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly played by Jeremy Renner who has a more playful personality than everybody else he seems to be working with. At the site they are introduced to Michael Stuhlbarg’s Agent David Halpern who it is suspected works for the CIA and is more cautious as to what is the potential harm that could be rendered by the arrival of the alien vessels.

To reveal more of the plot would be sacrilege, although most promotional materials have already revealed you will see the aliens it is important to note that the film takes it time in introducing them wanting to present the scope and magnificence of their presence but also the mundane and banal conditions of the base that is set up near the vessel in America to investigate it. I for one wondered why the U.S. would place so many personnel near the vessel at the bottom of flat valley rather than helicopter people in from further away on higher ground but maybe they figured the aliens have already proven an ability to travel fast enough to sneak up on them anyway so why not save a few bucks on petrol. It feels right and real that contacts with aliens would be set up in a tent city with dimly lit rooms and the lime green shading of a hospital full of tired middle aged bureaucrats questioning each other’s ideas on a regular basis. The aliens themselves are always seen with a sense of wonder (their design is original and interesting too), how to get to them starts off in a simple fashion but is suitable otherworldly and unnerving.

As the film progresses the emotional arc of Louise dealing with her daughter’s death and the mystery of the aliens start to develop and the stakes get higher. Villeneuve has crafted a classic sci-fi tale here that deals with big ideas but goes back to questioning what is humanity and where are we headed in the distant future. There are twists that do not cheat, that have groundwork lay for them before hand and that are very satisfying but one development in the third act does not feel so profound and you may be left with more questions than satisfactory answers concerning one male character.

Yet something unique and emotional has been crafted here that will stand the test of time. Close Encounters of the Third Time may remain the best example of the genre of first contact with alien life. Steven Spielberg always laments though that of all his films it is the one that ages him. The lead character is a father who leaves his family to be with the aliens. Spielberg made the film as a young man and since becoming a father he has learnt no parent would ever give up being with their child – no matter what. Arrival is a film made by people who know this to be true.

-Lloyd Marken

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