Fahrenheit 11/9 Is An Impassioned Call To Action - And Michael Moore's Most Effective Film In Years

The biggest enemy in Fahrenheit 11/9, Michael Moore's latest film, isn't Donald Trump... But rather apathy.  Sure, the headlines from this film are that it's "Michael Moore's Trump Movie," and the 45th president plays a big role throughout the film.  However, he is presented as the result of a larger evil, and not the cause of it.  Moore states that we are at a tipping point in the world, and the rot and decay that has been building up in our political system is already boiling over.  Are we ready to stop it, or will our apathy destroy us?

Michael Moore has been making films for three decades now, fighting injustices as he sees fit.  He is a talented filmmaker, but even he doesn't escape Scott-free in this one. You see, we're all to blame 45... Including Moore.  There are call backs to each of his films in this one.  He questions whether he has used his considerable public effectively enough.  He questions the entire democratic process and shows how apathy has settled in throughout the voting base.  He calls the 100 million registered voters who didn't vote in the last election the most powerful political party in America. 

This film is by no means an attempt to try and sway Trump voters.  They have already been lost.  Fahrenheit 11/9 is a call to action for people who have been disenfranchised... and for the people on the left who felt betrayed by their own party to overthrow that machine.  Moore goes after the democratic establishment who he (and many) feels helped cheat Bernie Sanders out of a fair shot at office.  He goes after President Obama for staging a political stunt in Flint, Michigan.  He effectively draws the parallels between Trumpism and Nazism.  He excoriates Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder for poisoning the people of Flint in the name of profits.  Sure, there are occasional moments of Michael Moore showmanship (he sprays "Flint Water" on the lawn of Rick Snyder), but he is much more subdued in this film.  Moore uncovers the rot in our country with a surgeon's precision, while at the same showcasing the people making real difference in this country.  He shows how the effective West Virginia teachers strike was the result of people fighting for what they believe in.  He introduces us to roots activists that are taking the future of this country into their own hands.  Most importantly, Moore says that there is no more time to sit on the sidelines.  It's time for action.  The future of the country is now.

This is a cinematic gut punch, for sure, but I couldn't help but feel encouraged.  I'm already seeing the positives to come out of the 2016 election.  People I know who have never held elected office before are now holding positions in state and local government.  The Women's March (which I attended with my family) and the March For Our Lives were landmark events that show that the fight for real positive change is still out there.

Fahrenheit 11/9 is like taking your medicine.  It may taste nasty, but it's good for you.  It's someone telling you bad news about you that you know to be true, but  you've tried to make justifications for.  I'm giving it 3.75 stars out of 4.  It's an effective call to action and a small sliver of hope in an otherwise dark time.

Ocean's 8 And The Downside Of Hollywood's Obsession With Existing Intellectual Property.

Off the bat, I want to make clear that there's a good movie inside Ocean's 8... it's just too bad that they decided it was necessary to tie it into the Ocean's Universe.  I think that had this movie been made as an original heist movie, I'd probably view it more favorably.  Unfortunately, Ocean's 8 doesn't work for me because it felt like a bad cosplay of the original (remake) of Ocean's 11.  And that's unfortunate, because this cast deserved better than what they were given to work with.

From the very first moment of this film, Ocean's 8 feels like a poor woman's copy of Ocean's 11.  Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, the also incarcerated sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean.  We meet her on her last day of a 5 year prison sentence, where she uses her cunning and skill to convince the parole board that she's a changed woman (hmmmm, where have we seen this before???).  Not so shortly after getting out, Ocean is immediately back to her old ways.  Sandra Bullock gives it her all.  There's a sequence of scenes very early in this movie that are an absolute delight, where we see Bullock's character con her way into a stay at the Plaza hotel in NYC.  From there, she immediately hatches a scheme to rob the Met Gala and puts together a team of criminals to pull of the heist of the century (again, nothing new to see here).  The rest of the film just feels like a copy of Ocean's 11 with a few tweaks to update the story and location.

In my opinion, there are three reasons why this film failed.  The first (and biggest) is that these characters are never really developed.  We get a brief introduction to each character, but they all left me wanting more.  Each character has a personality, but these personalities aren't different enough to distinguish them from the other characters.  Ocean's 11 wisely took its time to give each character a distinct personality that when put together in a team setting could shine as an individual and contribute to the team as a whole.  I kept forgetting what each character was supposed to do in Ocean's 8.  I wanted to see more of Mindy Kaling's jewel thief.  Cate Blanchett was basically doing an impression of Brad Pitt's Ocean's character.  Sarah Paulson was given an interesting backstory of a criminal gone suburban that needed a few more callbacks to be fully realized.  Anne Hathaway, while great as a vapid actress, makes an almost unbelievable turn in this one that ruins her character.  I could go on and on through each character and come up with the same conclusion.  It's like they took the first draft of the script and went with it.

Speaking of script, the second reason why this film failed was because of it.  This film was hampered by forcing it into the Ocean's Universe.  Major plot points were just copy and pasted into this film.  Bullock's character wanted to get revenge on the person who put her in jail.  In fact, there was an almost word for word remake of the scene were Brad Pitt's character confronts Clooney's character over his motivations in this one.  There's also a visit from an original cast member that completely ruins the vibe of this film for me.  These actors and characters deserved more than what was written on the page for them.

My final reason for the failure of Ocean's 8 is that while the idea of a heist of the Met Gala was a cool idea, the stakes never really felt that high.  Ocean's 11 was so great because there were many moments throughout the heist where you thought the characters were doomed.  Every time there was a moment like this in Ocean's 8, there was a quick and easy fix waiting around the corner to fix it.  Even the big reveal fell flat because there was never a moment were you felt like the gang was truly in over their heads.

Overall, Ocean's 8 was a bad start to the continuation of the Ocean's franchise.  If they do make a sequel (and it's a big if), I hope they take the time to flesh the characters out and up the stakes to something a little more perilous.  I'm still convinced that the film was hurt by tying it into existing intellectual property rather than making an original, female-led, heist film.  The creators of this one played it too safe, and if we've learned anything from heist movies, playing it safe is never very much fun.

The Fantastic 'Hereditary' Is A Slow Burn Of A Thriller That's Worth The Wait

Tonight, I finally had the chance to view the incredible new thriller, Hereditary.  I didn't have the opportunity to see it in the theater, but I was intrigued by the terrifying trailer and the incredible reviews.  It was billed as "The most terrifying movie since The Exorcist," but I found that to be a little misleading.  It has its terrifying moments, but it's much more than a typical thriller.  Hereditary takes its time to simmer, but once it reaches its third act, it's totally worth the wait.  The pacing of this film is on purpose.  Director, Ari Aster, lets the story build, and the tension boil until it explodes into a truly terrifying and ultimately satisfying finale.

Another reason that I was interested in this film is the divide between its critical and fan response.  It has almost universal critical praise, but audiences were turned away by it.  I think that in a summer dominated by a more typical horror movie, A Quiet Place, (a movie that I also really enjoyed), Hereditary chose to be different.  I think that the marketing of this film is partially to blame for its poor audience response.  Audiences went in expecting The Exorcist and were treated to something more akin to The Shining (another film with an early poor audience response).  It's more of a thinking character study than an outright horror picture... and I loved that about it.

I don't want to ruin the plot by giving away spoilers, but essentially it's a study of a family dealing with the loss of a loved one, that also has some supernatural elements to it.  I really enjoyed this character study, in part because the actors were all exceptional. Toni Collette shines as the mother trying to keep her family (and sanity) together as things around her unravel.  She gives such an honest and haunting performance that you never know whether she's actually seeing what she's seeing.  Gabrielle Byrne also gives an understated performance as a husband who is clearly in love with his wife, but also begins to expect that she's lost her mind.  Finally, newcomer Milly Shapiro gives a Shining-esque performance as the daughter of the family who may or may not have a form of evil inside her. 

I really enjoyed Hereditary.  It dared to be more than a typical thriller and I believe its stature will only grow over the years into the horror classic that I believe it to be.  Stick around for the incredible third act. 

BlacKkKlansman is an indictment of the past and present of America... and Spike Lee's best movie in years.

I've always been a big fan of Spike Lee.  Malcolm X, Do The Right Thing, and He Got Game were some of the seminal films of my youth that made me appreciate how directors can use their unique voices to tell impassioned stories.  His films always felt alive and lived in.  His characters were raw and always seemed like real people.  His movies felt and looked like they could very easily have been fly on the wall style documentaries.  But a funny thing happened to Spike Lee... he lost a step.  After his biggest commercial hit of his career, Inside Man, Spike Lee's films seemed to show up with a whimper and not a bang like they used to.  I've largely avoided them recently.  Critics reviled them and audiences largely stayed away.  However, Hollywood loves a comeback story and I'm really happy to state that BlacKkKlansman is the comeback we've been waiting for.  It's the perfect film that both looks back and takes note of where we are as a society.  BlacKkKlansman is THE movie of the Trump era.  It excoriates the past, while at the same time tying it into our political culture.

Klansman is the "based on a true story" of Ron Stallworth, an African American cop who successfully infiltrated the KKK in the late 70s.  He spoke with them on the phone and his partner showed up to the meetings to deal with the Klan in person.  The two sides of Stallworth in this movie are played impressively by John David Washington (Denzel Washington's son in a breakout role) and Adam Driver.  They work brilliantly together to expose this terrorist group, and their story is put together with great energy.  For the first time in awhile, Lee seemed like he was having fun making a film.

Make no mistake, this is not a subtle movie.  Spike Lee takes great delight in tearing down the Klan, and portraying them as bumbling doofuses.  In particular, David Duke (not so subtly shown chanting "America First") is shown as the complete ignoramus that he is, and you could almost feel Lee's energy bursting through during these scenes.

What I really enjoyed most about this film was that while it played out like an action comedy, it took great measures to show how much damage this line of thinking has done to the country.  The film directly mentions two films that have done more to glorify the Confederate South... Gone With The Wind and The Birth Of A Nation.  Images from these films are inter cut with a Klan monologue at the very open of the film shows just how much of an impact that they had on the modern Klan.  Lee takes great strides to connect the dots between these films and our current president's MAGA agenda (there's even a MAGA line thrown in there for fun).  Lee ends the film with a heartbreaking nod to the tragedy in Charlottesville.

The most powerful moment of the film was a scene showing the initiation ceremony of the Klan that was inter cut with a monologue from Hollywood legend Harry Belafonte.  His character speaks to an horrific incident of the Klan's history that shows the real life impact of the hate group.  It was a truly somber scene that has stayed with me since I saw the film.

I'm giving BlacKkKlansman 3.9 stars out of 4.  It's a must see and should hopefully be a major player come awards season.

Mission: Impossible is a more consistently entertaining franchise than 007

There have been 6 total Mission: Impossible movies since the original came out in 1996, and I would argue that 5 of them have been great to excellent.  With the exception of the wildly disappointing second installment, these films have set the gold standard for the spy genre.  Yes, even more so than James Bond or Jason Bourne.  For my money (no thanks to MoviePass blacking out all showings of M:I 6), these films top all others in terms of quality and entertainment.  If you compare the best 5 Bond movies and all 5 Bourne movies, The Mission: Impossible stories are tighter, the stunts more extreme, and the entertainment more rewarding.  Mission: Impossible Fallout is no different.  It may be the most exciting M:I movie yet, and after 22 years, this franchise shows no signs of slowing down.

Fallout is a direct sequel to 2015's Rogue Nation, and picks up a few years after the events of that movie.  Ethan Hunt and company (minus Jeremy Renner for some reason) are tasked with picking up the pieces after the downfall of the Syndicate.  Now known as the Apostles, this group of faceless terrorists wants to steal plutonium and finish the Syndicate's work by exploding three nuclear bombs, simultaneously.  It's up to Ethan Hunt and the IMF to stop them before it's too late.  This film doesn't disappoint in any level.  Queue the best theme song in the game... here's 6 reasons why I loved Fallout.

1)  At 56 years young, Tom Cruise proves he's still the king of the action movie hill.  Much has been written about Cruise performing his own stunts for these movies.  His stunts have become iconic.  From the CIA break-in in the first movie, to hanging off the highest building in the world in Ghost Protocol, to breaking in to a plane mid-air in Rogue Nation, Cruise pushes the limits like no one else.  Fallout is no different.  Two scenes really stood out to me.  The first was a motorcycle chase through Paris that would leave Jason Bourne jealous.  And the second is the climactic helicopter chase scene that you have to see to believe.  Cruise actually learned how to fly a helicopter to add to the drama of this chase.  They may have to shoot Cruise into space in the next one to top himself.  Speaking of stunts...

2) The stunts don't take away from the story.  Lost in all of the hullabaloo is the fact that Fallout had a kick ass story that was fun to watch.  It tied together previous films nicely and set up the series for future espionage.  Fallout was probably the closest to the first M:I film in terms of espionage, and I felt like that was a welcome surprise from the more recent action oriented films.  Speaking of espionage...

3) There isn't a more fun movie moment than the M:I mask reveal.  There were so many twists and turns in this one, that just when I thought I had it figured out, they switched it again and again.  I like that after 6 movies, I can still be surprised.  There was a twist early in the film that I won't ruin, but it had me chuckling out loud.  Kudos to the entire team for keeping it fresh and exciting.  Speaking of teams...

4)  The IMF (Impossible Missions Force) team is fantastic!  From Cruise, to Ving Rhames, to Simon Pegg and down the line, there's not a team in movies that works better than the IMF.  They all compliment each other really well.  The newest addition to the team, played by Henry Cavill (Superman himself), was a welcome character to this series.  Speaking of Cavill...

5)  The mustache that ruined the DC Cinematic Universe is displayed in all its glory.  This didn't actually add anything to the film, it's just nice to see Cavill without a weird CGI face that was so distracting in Justice League.  And finally...

6)  Mission: Impossible is a series that knows what it is.  The M:I movies blend the right amount of seriousness while at the same time being completely self-aware.  Just when you think these movies are taking themselves too seriously, there will be a wink or nod to the audience to keep the mood light.  The best part of these moments is that they never take away from the story.  At times, the Bond movies are guilty of being too cheeky in their humor.  I never got that sense in these Mission: Impossible movies.

I'm giving Fallout 3.8 stars out of 4.  It's not the best film in the series, but it's damn close.  It's the most exciting action movie of the summer and a definite must-see.

Ant-Man And The Wasp is a fun escapist movie... even though nothing really happens in it.

Ant-Man And The Wasp is in a weird position in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  It is being released after Avengers: Infinity War and yet it takes place before the events of that monumental film.  It's a largely self-contained story that seems to be unrelated to the larger events of the MCU.  Yes, there are references to Scott Lang's (the always enjoyable Paul Rudd) role in previous MCU films, but this one shies clear of any references to Thanos and his powerful glove.

This film shows what happened to Scott Lang after he got out of jail at the end of Captain America: Civil War.  He's on house arrest for his role in the battle in that battle royale.  He's trying to go legit once again by starting a security firm.  Michael Pena steals every scene he's in as the CEO of the company.  Stay alert for any time his character has to tell a story.  The only problem is that he can't leave his house... which also tells you why he wasn't fighting alongside his fellow Avengers during Infinity War.   Yes, it's a lame excuse, but I'm OK with it since that movie was overstuffed with superheroes.

Ant-Man And The Wasp focuses on the effort to get Hank Pym's wife (played by Michelle Pheiffer) back from the quantum realm.  There's a lot of scientific jargon thrown into this movie to make it feels like it's smarter than it actually is.  What I love about this is that Scott Lang acts like you and I would during any of these over-scientific lingo scenes.  He's basically just as confused as anyone would be.  His best line that reflects his confusion is "do you guys just put the word quantum in front of everything?"  It's the great comedic timing by Paul Rudd that makes these scenes work.  Evangeline Lilly is also effective as The Wasp in this film.  She's equal parts badass and super genius, and a refreshing addition to the MCU.  Though, her over-affection for Scott Lang seems a little over the top.

In addition to getting back the original Wasp back from the quantum realm, our heroes have to stop The Ghost, a mysterious phasing character who nips at their heels the entire movie.  She's a decent yet forgettable villain that gets a little wasted here.  The true star of this film is the comedy.  There's no doubt these characters have impeccable timing with one another and that's what makes this film so much fun to watch.  I feel that it'll be largely relegated to a forgotten entry to the MCU, and that's OK.  Not every film needs to have the impact of a Black Panther or Infinity War.  Sometimes, you just need a good laugh.

I'm giving Ant-Man And The Wasp 2.75 stars out of 4.  It's a fun yet forgettable romp that doesn't really add much to the MCU.  Stay tuned for a mid-credit and post-credit scenes.  The mid-credit scene ties this film into the events of Infinity War in an interesting way.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom doesn't have an original bone in its Dino sized body

I'm not so sure why it's so hard to make a good sequel to the original Jurassic Park (which is now 25 years old!).  They sure have tried over the years.  The Lost World came close... until it decided to have a T-Rex run amok through San Diego during its third act.  Jurassic Park III (the first without Spielberg at the helm) looked like it ran out of money at the one hour mark and decided to abruptly end the film.  The failure of JPIII looked like it spelled end for the Jurassic franchise... but then along came Jurassic World, which set the box office on fire a few years ago.  It was an OK film, but I felt it was largely overrated.  It felt like a remake of the original film, only with a working amusement park and better CGI.  There were some good moments in that film.  It was a joy to see how John Hammond's (the creator of Jurassic Park in the original film) vision eventually came to life.  However, there were a lot of parts that I felt just didn't work... namely, the militarization of the dinosaurs.  It didn't add anything to the film.  It only served to introduce us to the villains behind the curtains.  Sadly, this is what they decided to focus the entirety of the new film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, on.  Fallen Kingdom essentially boils down to a slasher film with dinosaurs replacing a Mike Myers type killer... throw in some morally repugnant capitalists and you have the makings of a lackluster sequel (again).

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom picks up a few years after the events of the previous film.  The dinosaurs are still running loose on the island, but the big twist is that the once dormant volcano on Isla Sonar is about to explode.  There's a debate going on about whether or not humans owe it to these creatures to save them from re-extinction.  Bryce Dallas Howard's character is heading up a humanitarian effort that is trying to lobby members of Congress to allocate resources to go in and save the dinosaurs from extinction... to no avail.  Enter the Lockwood estate.  He (played by James Cromwell with a barely there British accent) was the co-creator of Jurassic Park along with John Hammond.  Lockwood is on his dying bed and feels a sense of guilt over his creation.  He enlists Howard's character to go to the island and save eleven species of dinosaurs in order to send them to a proper sanctuary.  The only problem is that Blue (the super-smart raptor from the last film) is one of them, and those evil military types want to use her to develop a super weapon.  This is where the film quickly goes off the rails.  They get Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to go along because he helped raise Blue.  And it's not long before they're all double crossed.  The island portion of this film lasts maybe 20 minutes.  We learn that the man in charge of the Lockwood estate is secretly developing weaponized dinosaurs and wants to sell these dinos off to a who's who of foreign bad guys.

The rest of the film takes place inside the Lockwood estate where the auction doesn't go as planned.  Scariness ensues (along with one too many Pratt one-liners), and the film sputters to a close.  The director (can't remember his name) tries to insert some morality lessons about the down side to genetic engineering and our roles in the world, but these lessons feel forced.  We get a cameo or two from Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm character, but that too felt unnecessary.

I'm giving Fallen Kingdom 1.75 stars out of 4.  It's essentially a remake of the third act of The Lost World (i.e. the bad act) mixed with a slasher film.  There were a couple cool moments, but it felt like a giant cash grab.  I didn't buy the plot in this one and it was severely lacking in cool moments that made you say "wow."  There was a moment that will make you choke up a little bit as they're leaving the island, but I won't ruin it for you.  I've never bought Bryce Dallas Howard as an actor in these films.  She lacks the range of emotions necessary for a role like this.  Chris Pratt also does nothing for me.  He lacks the comedic timing of his other big ticket roles (namely Guardians of the Galaxy), and he's a little too cheesy when he tries to get serious.

If you want a purely mindless action romp (and with the world the way it is, you probably will want an escape), Fallen Kingdom is serviceable, but as an attempted great JP sequel, but falls short once again.