Once Upon a Time...I Went On a Nostalgia Trip

I honestly don't know if this is a good movie or not. In some ways, I fall under the intended audience for it, meaning I am extremely well-versed in Hollywood history, black-and-white westerns, and the events surrounding the Sharon Tate murder. But...if there's a story, a progression, a reason the camera needs to keep filming, I couldn't find it. It's two days in the lives of an aging cowboy star and his close friend and stunt double, and the circumstances they run across...followed by a tag that has nothing to do with story and everything to do with spectacle. They also needed to justify the marketing and Margot Robbie's existence in this movie as Sharon Tate.

Let me qualify some statements. I can get behind reasonable nostalgia and a man coming to terms with his has-been status. There are some truly vulnerable moments in the movie, all of them come from DiCaprio, unsurprisingly the most talented actor in the cast. There's also a little bit of La La Land in that Tarantino documents a Los Angeles that no longer exists. The monuments have mostly been torn down and the city has a short memory.

On a personal level, I connected with the episode wherein Tate finds herself in Westwood and heads to the Bruin Theater to watch the movie she is in. I went to UCLA. I know Westwood and its twin movie theaters real well. Going to a movie by myself was something I did, hoping either to be entertained for a couple hours or for the creators to impart some wisdom I can use in my own filmmaking pursuits (I still do this, though I'm in grad school in Texas). I also got a kick out of watching how other film-goers reacted to what was happening on the screen.

Enough personal nostalgia, back to the review.

I once had someone tell me that Tarantino's schtick is "Look how many movies I've seen and how much I know about them!" He's a fan lucky enough to find himself behind the camera. It goes without saying that one should love movies if they're going to make them, but outside of a handful of moments, the movie is just interesting. The substance is lacking.

Being a big Bruce Lee fan, I have to address his inclusion in the film. Inadequate portrayals are nothing new to me. Not once has Hollywood gotten him right. Tarantino joins the list of failures. Yes, he talked a big game. Yes, he was a bonafide character big on theatrics. Yes, he knew Tate and Jay Sebring (who got Lee his first break in the American film industry). No, he didn't say he would cripple Muhammad Ali, he said the size of Ali's fists would be too big to handle. And no, he wouldn't lose a fight to a stuntman. Lee didn't just fight on screen. He was forced to leave Hong Kong at 18 because he got into street fights for fun. The point is, Bruce Lee isn't a joke or a strawman for Brad Pitt to certify his macho credentials.

I consider this movie an imperfect mess with the occasional high point.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man...Watch out for that hidden cam

Years ten and eleven of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been the most serious. No, the fun wasn’t entirely taken away, it’s just that there aren’t many laughs and good feelings to go around when the bad guy wins and wipes out half the universe, and when the man who started it all sacrificed himself to undo the “Snapture.” It’s like the Cell Saga from Dragonball Z. Earth destroyed, earth restored, and the original hero taking one for the team (FYI this is a highly inadequate summary; I’m being flippant). For those of you who haven’t seen Infinity War or Endgame…oof.

Fans have also bought in to the point where the Marvel heroes are veering dangerously close to deity territory. So there’s that, too.

Spider-Man: Far from Home is more of the same, right? After all, young Peter has often operated under Tony Stark’s significant shadow. Stark is like a second Uncle Ben, if you will, teaching responsibility. Now it’s time for him to step up when a new threat to the planet arises. Rest in peace vacation plans.

That’s par for the course.

…and then it’s not.

A superhero movie featuring Spider-Man, the hero responsible for reigniting the comic book blockbuster in 2002, shifts from the standard balance between duty and wanting a normal life with the girl he likes to a satire on the genre in the space of a single scene. That is a risky move. Self-awareness and drawing attention to CGI don’t exactly mesh with a brand built on escapism and suspension of disbelief.

The move pays off. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the illusionist extraordinaire, Mysterio, with the right amount of panache and narcissism. Read no further if you care about spoilers. For all intents and purposes, he is making a superhero movie, using advanced droid technology to present what looks a real threat to the world. He can then swoop in and save the day. Everyone buys into his just ridiculous enough origin story, even Spidey, who just wants a break.

Like with all standalone films centered around a major box office draw, there is never a doubt that he won’t win in the end. Most of the entertainment value comes through making fun of contemporary high schoolers. Ned remains a comic treasure. Flash posts everything on snapchat. Zendaya once again channels MJ’s weirdness for maximum effect. She is also responsible for the real tension in the story. The will they, won’t they dynamic between her and Peter is the part I was more interested in. Aside from a few interesting sequences, where the critique of the superhero genre is most clear, the virtual pyrotechnics and Mysterio’s nefarious plot were secondary to the love story.

That’s as it should be. We’ve had enough big, dumb CGI in the last two years, and enough melodrama. It’s time to have that suspension of disbelief broken (providing meme culture hasn’t already done so) time to laugh at the cynical idea that momentarily wiping out half the population would continue to hold weight. It’s time to sit back and enjoy a high school comedy-drama that fits somewhere between Cameron Crowe and John Hughes, hopefully closer to the former because Crowe’s films are superior in every way. Do yourself a favor and watch Say Anything.

One final note, Marvel isn’t stupid. Too many franchises are taking themselves too seriously this summer. That’s why they’ve crashed and burned at the box office. After Endgame’s closing act, the antidote to franchise fatigue is to poke fun at themselves…and do it well. There are good laughs and it doesn’t make audiences feel like they’re unintelligent for investing so much into the MCU. That’s a win for all parties involved.

Avengers: (is this really the) Endgame(?)

 

I’ll get this out of the way first: Endgame gets fan-service-y at times. If Marvel and Disney know anything, it’s giving audiences some fulfillment or vindication of their fandom. Does that create a few plot holes? Probably. Are there now question marks in the MCU continuity? Most definitely. Does this make the movie any less entertaining?

Not at all.

For those of you concerned about spoilers, rest assured, you won’t find any in this review. I’ll keep everything to a general knowledge level.

Following last summer’s colossal defeat to Thanos, an Avengers team whittled down to the core group tries to fight back in the hopes of restoring life to half the universe. The mission is not as simple or direct as it may initially seem.

Despite running over 3 hours, the film doesn’t feel overburdened or overstuffed in the way a Michael Bay explosion-fest would. The Russo Brothers understand the universe they’re working in. They get the pacing spot on. The story is always in motion, except for the occasional pause to contemplate the past and the future.

The balance between humor and darkness does not feel forced like it does in Captain Marvel. No one’s falling over backwards trying to throw in a snarky quip that unravels the tension. The Russo Brothers let the tension build when tension is needed. Humor often comes in throwaway lines and little observations. I think they understand that not everything needs to be given the Ragnarok treatment.

Performances, for the most part, are hard to judge. At this point, Chris Evans is Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. The only time we notice anything is if something goes against our understanding of the characters. That’s true for the rest of the roster, as well. If there is a standout, it’s probably Hawkeye. Jeremy Renner has mostly had to stand around looking cool and shoot arrows at the bad guys. He actually acts this time. Gasp. His story is among the more emotional arcs in the MCU.

In a lot of ways, Endgame is like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Many long-running arcs are wrapped up in an entertaining and satisfying fashion. The only complaint I have is in the final battle. There are too many moving parts, too many CGI aliens running aroundand the camera shifts through the scene to the point where it becomes a kinetic blur. The best fight scenes in the series have been in Captain America movies. They’re not glorified light shows. The battlefield has a physical presence and locations matter. I know it would’ve been a challenge to bring that to a larger scene, but Cobra Kai’s Season 2 finale did it, so no excuses.

Endgame is the most enjoyable 3-hour movie I’ve seen. It’s a celebration of an 11-year process that has been unrivaled in Hollywood history, one that will (for better or worse) define the current and future generation of film-making. I may go for a second round, something to tide me over until the next Spider-Man comes out.

(P.S. Marvel, you stole the ending I thought up for one of the characters 8 years ago. I’m suing. Don’t tell me you don’t have mind reading technology. I’m on to you.)

Crazy Rich Asians Isn't So Crazy After All

Rich guy and not-so-rich girl fall in love and encounter obstacles including but not limited to: unwelcoming family members, elitism, classist assumptions, and that douchebag everyone hates. Let's be honest, we've all seen some iteration of that story. Some may say they liked it better when it was called Pride and Prejudice or Cinderella. The point is: Crazy Rich Asians is nowhere near crazy where the storytelling is concerned. 

Don't get me wrong, romantic comedies work partially because of the paradigm and because of the familiar situations the characters get put into. They're like coming home after an 8-hour shift at the office and seeing your cat mark the shoe-rack for the umpteenth time. You've grown accustomed to it. Memorable romcoms, however, have distinct characters that you remember long after the movie has ended.

Crazy Rich Asian doesn't even have that. 

Take Nicholas Young (Henry Golding), for example. He's an intelligent dude. He was born into a rich, elitist family, but he's nothing like his family. Rather than a snob, Nick has become an all-around good egg, a nice dude who is head over heels in love with his girlfriend and wants the relationship to go to the next level. His defining qualities are his billion dollar smile and a heart of gold. 

Those traits don't sound overly unique. 

Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) has a little more substance to work with, but even she is bogged down by certain genre tropes. When it's all said and done, she's the hardworking girl with the gumption and the fight to prove to her boyfriend's family that she is more than good enough for their son. 

Both characters' traits point to a common theme in romantic comedies -- the leads are usually the least interesting people. The entertainment comes from the surroundings, the situation, and the colorful supporting cast. That's what happens here. 

Jon Chu sets up lavish sequence after lavish sequence. He takes us from the night market to an upscale hotel to McMansions to a private island and to that douchebag shooting a bazooka off a ship into the ocean. The pacing is quick. The movie doesn't get bogged down by explaining the details behind everything in the family dynamic. 

Michelle Yeoh, primarily known for her work in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and other martial arts films, puts in the strongest performance as Nick's traditionalist mother. She provides a necessary counterbalance to the laid-back ease and open-mindedness of other members of her family and has just enough nuance to keep the character from falling into the hard-line generic Chinese mother role. Gemma Chan, as Nick's cousin and his and Rachel's confidant, also adds poise to the screen.

For the off-beat and quirky stuff, Awkwafina and Ken Jeong and the cousin who is always concerned with "optimal angles" have you covered. Like anything in that brand of humor, it can be an acquired taste and is often hit-and-miss. 

It's pretty clear that Crazy Rich Asians isn't pushing any storytelling envelopes. It's slick, it's efficient and adequate entertainment. 

Asian leads and Asian faces, however, make the movie an outlier. Seldom does Hollywood give Westernized Asian actors a chance to be the romantic heroes. The project is a major step forward for Asian representation in Hollywood. That is this movie's primary value. Its success will open doors for more movies, and most certainly, better ones. 

If this leads to Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (do yourself a favor and read the book) finally getting the green light, an Asian-led live-action version of Your Name, and adaptations of Native Speaker, Chinglish, and other purely original projects (maybe one of mine lol), then Crazy Rich Asians will have done its job. 

(P.S The book is 300% better than the movie.) 

Amazon's "The Last Tycoon" is ambitious, but flat

A promotional poster featuring Matt Bomer, Lily Collins, and Kelsey Grammar.

The beauty about the hour-long TV Drama series is that it can be many things at once. Not everything is about the angst and the sturm und drang all primary characters must go through. A show can take turns being a tragedy, a comedy, a thriller, and a musical. What a show cannot be, if it wants to be successful, is too many things at the same time. After all, 60-minutes isn't that much time.

The Last Tycoon, Amazon Studios' latest foray into original programming, is guilty of this sin. The adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel - set in late 1930s Hollywood - takes elements from great cinema and great television and throws them into the blender. AMC's Mad Men is the Tycoon's clearest inspiration. Sterling-Cooper becomes Brady American Pictures. Don Draper becomes Monroe Stahr, both are the engines powering their respective companies' ambitions.

Hell, even the pilot episode's structure is the same as Mad Men's, only in reverse.

The buck does not stop there. Everybody's favorite classic to love, Casablanca, is transposed into a subplot concerning an enamored writer and a concert cellist who had to flee Europe because of the Nazis. Merle Oberon and her mother (and Imitation of Life) also get a nod.

And while the series title comes from a Fitzgerald novel, the show takes greater inspiration from Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run? - a hard-hitting novel that attempted to portray the studios at their worst.

The show, like the book every person in the movie business is supposed to hate, has the same flaw. It loves Hollywood a little too much. As a result, the story arcs are often too kind to the parties involved. Only the main character is denied what he wants.

That said, The Last Tycoon" is not entirely without merit. The look and design are brilliant to the point of distraction. A 1930s mid-major studio is brought to life, despite not showing us much of old Los Angeles (an impossibility for various reasons). This reviewer would not be surprised to see an Emmy nomination for such a high-quality visual product.

Jennifer Beals puts forth a solid performance as a demanding star with a secret, a surprise considering how little room her character is given to develop. She steals the show in almost every scene she is in. Matt Bomer (Monroe Stahr) and Kelsey Grammer (Pat Brady) are capable, so is Dominique McElligott - another actress harboring a double life. Lily Collins more than looks the part as the studio boss's daughter. All, however, are no match for Beals.

The writing, however, undercuts the show's strengths. Borrowing from previous successful works makes sense, yet it doesn't. Not everything turns out like Stranger Things. Monroe Stahr cannot be Don Draper, Rick Blaine, and Sammy Glick all rolled into one body. No character can without being stretched too thin.

Trite, cliched story lines and overly on-the-nose dialogue weigh down almost every episode. Nazis attempting to impose their will on everyone, a homeless man makes good, the boss's daughter attempts to prove herself, the double lives, the affairs, and the megalomaniac studio head growing increasingly rash. Even the dark side comes across cartoonish.

The Last Tycoon is, in the end, a show with lofty ambitions that falls short of not only its source material, but also the many works that inspired it.

Movie Review - X-Men: Apocalypse, All Surface and No Substance

If X-Men: Apocalypse was a Bond girl, then her name would be Cliche Galore. She would be an airhead, a simple-minded gold-digger with artificially enhanced looks and virtually no substance. 007 would rather order a martini (shaken, not stirred, of course) than waste his time on her.

To make matters worse, this girl wants to be taken seriously, to be something more than mere window dressing. Given the result, that should not happen. She may dream of something more and convince herself that such a role is possible. Unfortunately for her, however, the people responsible for filling her out and making her seem like a real, full-blooded woman have failed. She's there for surface enjoyment, nothing more.

Gratuitous promotional poster.

Harsh words, perhaps, but make no mistake, Apocalypse is likely the most disappointing installment in the X-Men universe. The film not only fell into one of the oldest traps in show-business, that more isn't less, it also managed to cover almost every cliche in the superhero book. This is true all across the board.

For a breather, let's address one of the few positives in the film: the relationship between Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor X (James McAvoy). The dynamic between the two is compelling because the actors portraying them put in solid performances, easily the best showings in the film. One might wonder how it would have turned out if the focus on them was tighter than the diluted final version.

Back to the bad stuff.

Bryan Singer, the director, obviously forgot the things that worked with First Class and Days of Future Past. Why else would he try to cram in five or six origin stories into an already overloaded film? The two aforementioned X-Men installments had a tighter lens and did not try to do too much, while Apocalypse did. As a result, the movie turned into a spin-off of celebrity spotting (minus the element of surprise). When a character popped-up, got his signature look, or became fully realized the audience would go: "Ooh, look!"

Then there's good ol' Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), the ancient mutant with a god complex. He rises from an ancient slumber to reclaim the world he believes is his to rule. To do this, he picks out his Four Horsemen, Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto. Also, he has absolutely no complexity, and he is prone to random fits of shouting seemingly bad-ass but pointless lines. In other words, Apocalypse could not be a more cliched bad guy. Simon Kinberg, the guy who got credit for writing the screenplay, seems to have taken the easy way out when it comes to creating an antagonist.

Can you get any more cliched? I think not.

The rest of the writing is also pretty flat. The story is almost non-existent and skims over the most compelling parts to throw in an overblown CGI action sequence that last much, much, much longer than it needed to.

Another thing that gets skimmed over are the performances. For every unnecessary line Apocalypse has, the rest of the cast loses an opportunity to give this film a greater class. This is especially true with Jennifer Lawrence, whose performance as Mystique is essentially ungradable. Nicholas Hoult's Beast, Rose Byrne's Moira, Tye Sheridan's Scott Summers, and Sophie Turner's Jean Grey also fall under this category.

This is the black sheep of the series, thus far.

Interestingly, the movie seems to be aware of its own badness. Alexandra Shipp's pre-film "we hope you enjoy the movie" message was hint number one. The next was a snide little meta-moment, where Jean Grey says, "We can all agree that the third movie is the worst." The characters may have been talking about Star Wars, but the filmmakers know the line is about Apocalypse. It is the third in a trilogy that includes First Class and Days of Future Past, and is undoubtedly the worst of the bunch.