Sicario (2015)

Has anyone been watching Narcos on Netflix lately? If so, Sicario will fit right in with all the talk of cartels and hitmen on that show. Sicario feels like a distant, spiritual sequel to Narcos.

Sicario starts off with a bang, literally, and never lets up on the tension. It's so tense that I realized towards the end that I was actually sweating in my seat a little bit. There's a sense of dread that permeates the film. This is accentuated by the haunting soundtrack. I couldn't help but feel that something awful was going to happen at any moment. In a lot of ways, especially with the body count, it's a horror film. It's scarier than most modern horror films anyway.

It's super dark, complex and plays with moral and legal ambiguity. Sicario toys with you. Until I realized Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) directed, I thought I was watching a David Fincher movie. He certainly seems on a similar career path as Fincher.

The cinematography is beautiful as well. There are multiple shots where you're just following these guys speed through the border and Juarez, and it's oddly hypnotic. Then, there's some of the best use of heat and night vision I've ever seen in a movie. I don't play a lot of first person shooters, but someone should make a video game out of this if it doesn't already exist.

The cast is great and you'd have a hard time finding better performances from Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro. I was hoping for a little more Full Metal Bitch from Blunt, but she plays a little more vulnerable here. Still, she gives a great performance. Del Toro just kills it though. From the moment he shows up on screen, you know there's something up with him. I'd love a sequel just to see what he's up to after the events of Sicario.

Sicario is one of the best movies of the year and one of the most intense movies I've seen in a long time. It really sticks with you, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I can't recommend it highly enough. Put it on the top of your list of things to see in the theater. I can't think of anything wrong with it, so you know that means...

5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Looper (2012) - Movie Review

I think if Bruce Willis really came back in time, he'd want to stop himself from making The Whole Ten Yards or Look Who's Talking, Too.

The year is 2044.  Time travel hasn't been invented yet, but in 30 years it will be.  It's already been outlawed, but that doesn't stop the mob from using it.  What does the mob use it for?  Killing people, of course.  Why, you say? Apparently, disposing a body has become extremely difficult in 2074, so the only way to really get rid of someone is to send them to the past where there will be no trace.  It's a little confusing at first, but Looper doesn't spend a ton of time dwelling on the details, and just gets on with the story.

Loopers are contracted by the mob to do the killing in the present, and Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of the best in the business.  They get paid well for their work, but there is a drawback: when the mob decides your contract is up, they send your future self back to be killed by your younger self.  This is called 'closing the loop'.  You're paid off, and then you're free to live your remaining 30 years.  At first I thought that would suck, but then I realized it's kind of cool knowing how many years you have left and when you're going to die.  Plus, you're basically retired in your prime with a pile of money.

It's very bad when a Looper lets his future self get away, which you see an example of when one of Joe's friends, another Looper played by Paul Dano, lets this happen.  This shows you an early example of how the movie uses the cause and effect relationship of time travel in their world. Shortly after, Joe is awaiting the arrival of his next hit, but hesitates when he realizes that it's his future self (Bruce Willis).  Future Joe uses this hesitation to get away, but he has a bigger goal in mind than just staying alive.  This is about the end of where I talk about that plot, as I really don't want to spoil anything for you.  Looper has lots of nice surprises and is a movie you'll enjoy all the more the less you know about it.

Looper is one of the few time travel movies that didn't make my head hurt or confuse the hell out of me.  It never gets into the specifics of how the time travel worked or any of the science, and it's really not important to understand that.  There are all kinds of nice touches to make it work in our world.  Like, modern cars that all appear to be retrofitted with an alternative powersource, solar panels affixed to almost everything, and the occasional gadget shows up from time to time.  They didn't go overboard with futuristic elements, so it felt more realistic and like it was still set in our world.

It's great when you watch a sci-fi film that touches on a familiar subject, but does it in a way that it still feels fresh and original.  They do many cool things throughout, like how they handle memory. As with many time travel movies, you see characters struggling with their fate, but it takes time to stop and show you the motivations of why they behave the way they do.  While being serious and thought-proviking, it's much funnier than I would have expected and the dialog is very sharp.

Another thing I loved, is that without even trying, this becomes a much better origin story for Darth Vader than any of the Star Wars prequels.  I can't say why without spoiling a huge plot element, but you'll know what I'm talking about once you see it.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does his best Bruce Willis impression, and they even did a good job with the makeup to make him look like a younger version of Bruce Willis.  His performance makes the whole thing more believeable, since you don't have stray thoughts of how the old and young versions of Joe don't look or act enough like.  When these two square off, they play off each other well and have some great moments.  Willis shows emotional depth as he struggles with doing things he knows are wrong, but necesary to preserve his future.  Both are great and made the movie worth watching.

It's a great supporting cast as well.  Jeff Daniels plays a mob boss that's in charge of the Loopers, and he has the weariness of someone that's living in the present knowing how the future going to turn out.  You can tell he had a lot of fun with the role.  Joe eventually hides out in a country home where he slowly befriends a mother (Emily Blunt) and son (Pierce Gagnon).  Blunt was good as a tough mother that is just trying to protect her son, and Gagnon was surprisingly good in a role that plays a large part in the plot.  Garrett Dillahunt and Piper Perabo have small roles as well.

After having critical success with smaller films like Brick and The Brothers Bloom, writer/director Rian Johnson has a hit on his hands.  I think he's ready to move into Christopher Nolan territory, and I expect much bigger things from him soon.  I would love to see what he could do with a known sci-fi/fantasy franchise.

Looper is a smart, fun and thrilling sci-fi film that succeeds on multiple levels.  Because it doesn't hammer the audience with the sci-fi elements, and has some emotional depth to it, it will appeal to a much broader audience.  It'll make you think, and I'm already looking forward to seeing it again. This is something you shouldn't miss in the theater.

4.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Five-Year Engagement (2012) - Movie Review

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star as Tom and Violet, a couple living in San Francisco that have been dating for a year.  In what shouldn't be a spoiler to anyone, since it's the title of the frigging movie, they get engaged.  Due to career changes and other issues that come up, they have to keep delaying their wedding.  This gets stretched out over several years, once again illustrated by the title.  Can you have spoilers when the title is, in itself, a spoiler?

Right out of the gate, The Five-Year Engagement is very funny and San Francisco natives will probably get a kick out of seeing many familiar sites.  At one point, even I laughed when they went to a neighborhood a friend of mine used to live in and I was like, "Hey, I've been there a bunch before!"  The familiarity helped me get into the movie and identify with it.

Anyway, shortly after their engagement, Violet gets accepted to a two-year graduate program at the University of Michigan. As a compromise, they decide to postpone the wedding and Tom quits his chef job.  Unfortunately, this happens just as he's about to be named head chef of a new restaurant, so as they are leaving there's already an element of 'what could have been' for Tom. Things are going well for Violet after the move, but Tom has difficulty getting work and has too much time on his hands.  Having a lot of time to think probably isn't the best thing in this situation.

As the movie progresses, Violet's stay in Michigan is extended further due to her success and things continue to get worse for Tom.  It becomes less about their engagement and more about how they keep dealing with the strains of their careers, being away from their family and friends and Tom's resentment and depression about the whole situation.  Eventually, it gets to the point where they doubt their whole relationship. 

While that may make it sound like the movie is depressing, it managed to be consistently funny.  It's one of those movies where people were laughing enough that sometimes you couldn't always hear the next thing said.  Like many Judd Apatow-produced comedies, it's a little on the raunchier side for a rom-com.  However, it still manages to feel realistic and have a little more substance that you would normally expect.  I'm reminded of Funny People, another movie that was very funny but ended up dealing with some serious issues.  While The Five-Year Engagement is not a totally conventional rom-com, the way the story develops doesn't leave you with many places to go, so you know how it's going to play out.  The ending had an almost magical, fairy tale feel to it, but at the same time didn't seem cheesy.  

A comedy is usually only as good as it's supporting cast and this doesn't disappoint.  Many of the supporting roles really stand out.  Alison Brie is great as Violet's sister and fans of Community may be surprised to see her speaking with a British accent.  She ends up in a relationship with one of Tom's chef friends, played by fellow NBC Thursday night alum, Chris Pratt.  Those two steal every scene they are in.  Tom's co-worker, played by comedian Brian Posehn, has some great lines, and Chris Parnell was funny as a 'faculty husband'.  The research team Violet works with, featuring Rhys Ifans, Kevin Hart, Mindy Kaling and Randall Park are consistently funny.  I think I enjoyed the supporting characters more than the leads.

That doesn't mean I have an issue Blunt or Segel though.  Emily Blunt keeps up her streak of having great chemistry with whoever she seems to be cast against.  I think she might be the reigning queen of romantic comedies.  Jason Segel gives another good performance as well and it's hard not to sympathize with what his character is going though.  Together, they make for a cute couple and you want to see them work things out.

Director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller teamed up with Jason Segel again and did a pretty good job balancing out the cast and all the elements of the story.  They previously collaborated on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek and The Muppets, so you can find a lot of similarities to all of their previous films in The Five-Year Engagement.

It's not a perfect film though. The main problem with the movie is that it's a little long and starts to drag on a bit.  Granted, with it being 'The Five-Year Engagement' and not 'The One-Year Engagement', they have to cover a lot of time, but it gets to a point where you start to wonder exactly how much of their life we going to witness and if it was actually going to end.  This seems to be a recurring thing with other films in the Apatow family in that they run just a tad too long.  It's a minor complaint though.

There's a part (and I will try not to spoil it) that seemed to be edited very poorly, where a character is getting progressively drunker despite that you haven't seen him drink anything for a while.  While this is happening, their state of undress is also extremely inconsistent.  The scene was done for laughs, so it's easy to forgive and some may not even notice it, but it really stuck out to me as odd.  Oh and speaking of undress, I can probably use a little less nudity from Jason Segel moving forward.

As I commented in my Think Like a Man review, this is the second comedy I've seen in two weeks where one of the characters is a chef and eventually opens his own food truck.  Why is this becoming so common in films now?  I can imagine the start-up costs for a food truck are much lower than opening a restaurant, but they are always super successful and have great food, when normally I don't associate food trucks with either.  It just seems like it's getting to be an overused profession and plot device when they aren't sure what they should do with a character.

Sure, I'm nit-picking a little, but that's my thing.

At it's heart, The Five-Year Engagement is still a consistently funny and sweet romantic comedy about how love and relationships are never perfect, but when you find the right one, you'll find a way to make it work.  While it ultimately doesn't stray too far from typical rom-com conventions and runs a little long, the strong supporting cast helps makes it very enjoyable to watch.  It's a really good date movie to check out this weekend.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Movie Review

Winner of the oddest movie title of the year goes to...

I actually thought this was a documentary when I first heard about it.  While I like documentaries, it's rare when I make time to see them in the theater.  Documentaries have always felt like something you watch at home.  However, after seeing the trailer and that it stars Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, I realized it was just a very unusual title for what now appeared to be romantic comedy.  Contrary to popular belief, I do have a soft spot for romantic comedies and will usually see them as long as they aren't obviously cheesy up front.

The title is pretty accurate though.  The goal of the characters is to introduce salmon fishing to the Yemen.  McGregor stars as Dr. Alfred Jones, a fish expert working for the British fishery.  He's also famous, in fishing circles anyway, for creating fly fishing lures.  While he's very good at his job, he sometimes has difficulty relating to people due to having Asperger's.  Initially, he's tasked with a feasibility study for bringing salmon fishing to the Yemen.  He actually considers the idea to be ill-conceived, idiotic and the dreams of a bored, rich Sheikh.  However, he is pressed to do this by his superiors once the aide to the Prime Minister (Kristin Scott Thomas) decides they need a good PR story.

Dr. Jones then has to work with Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Blunt), who's handling the financials from the Yemeni side.  Although Jones still thinks the plan will never work, they provide him with all the resources needed.  He later meets Sheikh Muhammad (Amr Waked) and realizes that he's deadly serious about accomplishing this feat, as impossible as it seems.  The Sheikh doesn't just love fishing and is doing this as a hobby, but thinks this project will help his people and bring prosperity to the area.

The story was based on a book of the same name by Paul Torday.  I've heard that book is more of a political satire.  If that's the case, then that's kind of lost in the movie.  I think if it had been, in the vein of something like In the Loop, especially considering Kristin Scott Thomas' performance, it would have been much funnier overall.

That's not to say Salmon Fishing... isn't without it's charms.  The movie does have some nice themes regarding friendship, faith and finding love. I also thought the performances were good. Kristen Scott Thomas is probably the funniest thing about the movie.  While not nearly as vulgar as Peter Capaldi's character from In the Loop, her performance brought that to mind. Oh, and seriously, rent In the Loop (it's streaming on Netflix and Amazon) if you haven't seen it yet.  One of the funnier British films I've seen in years.

The two primary relationships, the friendship between the Sheikh and Dr. Jones, and between Dr. Jones and Harriet were touching and sweet.  It's always easier to care about what happens in a movie when you like the characters.  Emily Blunt seems to have that quality about her where she has a natural chemistry with people.  It's just like how I felt about her in The Adjustment Bureau (with MATT DAMON).  And, it's almost impossible not to like Ewan McGregor, even though he left me for dead by a lake of lava.  What am I talking about?!

Salmon Fishing..., like real fishing, starts off very slow and for a while I was having a hard time following what was going on.  That's not to say I was confused, but I couldn't get into it.  I'm not sure if there was something weird in the sound mix or the acoustics in the theater, but I just got a weird vibe from the start.  To make things even weirder, I had an unusual experience with the person sitting next to me and had to switch seats.  Once I got comfortable again was right around the time the story picked up and I started to get invested.

There are a few romantic comedy tropes used toward the end that felt a little contrived, and actually unnecessary.  It didn't completely ruin the movie for me, but considering the different nature of the film, I would have liked to see them take a few more chances. For the sake of spoilers, I won't say exactly what they did, but it isn't a spoiler to tell you that at the beginning of the movie McGregror's Dr. Jones is married and Blunt's Harriet has been dating someone for a short time.  It seems like a very unusual setup for a movie where it's clear from the beginning that McGregor and Blunt's characters are meant to end up together.

While I don't think director Lasse Hallström did a bad job, his track history shows he's better suited with light-hearted romance and family movies.  That's clearly the kind of movie he tried to make here.  Again, it seems like a missed opportunity with the political undertones of the film, the unusual circumstances and eccentricities of the characters.  Writer Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours, The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire), seemed like the right guy for the job, but I wonder how much of his final screenplay made it into the film.

I thought Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was a very average movie.  The film is carried by the chemistry of Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor, but it had an opportunity to be funnier.  Having said that, it's still a pleasant movie and I enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  It's a decent date movie if you want to catch a matinee.  It's playing over at The Vine in Livermore (www.vinecinema.com) for a few weeks, I believe.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars