Sequel 2: The Sequel: A Prequel

I saw a headline of an article that upset me. It read: "'Frozen' Producers Crush your Dreams, Says Sequel not a Priority."

What upset me was not the fact that a sequel to the popular Disney movie was not a top priority, what bothered me was that I realized that movies are now made in order to make sequels, and we're supposed to expect them from every movie from now on.

Hollywood, like almost everything in America, is a business; and in a business, you are foolish to stop producing a commodity if it sells. Why the hell would anyone do that? Big-shot producers these days are less interested in what's "good," and are more interested in what makes them rich. Okay, maybe they were always interested in what makes them rich, but the quality of a film has become the lowest priority when it comes to making movies today. They hire models, youtube stars, singers, and Kardashians because they sell, and then slap a familiar brand name on the marquee because instead of making something new, they'll stick with something safe.

"Screw talent," they say, "she's got big boobs! Let's find a place for her in the sequel and we'll call it Sophie's Choice 2: Silicone or Gel."

Businesses are also no stranger to outsourcing: delegating work to an outside supplier as opposed to completing it internally. Yep, Hollywood outsources too.

How, you ask? By going to Barnes and Noble, seeing a cover for a young adult novel about a dystopian future, and making it into a movie. "Phew!" they say, "we can make money without even thinking of something original! Let's celebrate with more cocaine!"

That is not to say, however, that all adaptations are bad. I mildly enjoyed the first two Hunger Games movies and will probably see the last installments, and let's not forget that The Godfather was also an adaptation. But when 8/10 of the highest grossing films of this year were either sequels or adaptations, one might begin to ask, "Where's the originality?"

Songwriters, artists, photographers, and dancers create pieces of art as a way of expressing themselves. When they make something popular, they don't simply remake the song or dance, they find something else to express and they produce something new. Films, at least for me, are for art and enjoyment. I'm not claiming to be a movie snob by any means, I love the Super Mario Brothers movie and I'll fight anyone who bashes it! But I also love movies that are the result of a filmmaker's literal blood, sweat, and tears. An expression of true art. It's difficult to have your cake and eat it too in this business, I get that, but what used to make movies so great was that they transported you to another place and time; nowadays I'll see a poster for an upcoming movie and say, "Meh, I've already been there."

I wait on the edge of my seat for the day when Hollywood truly crushes my dreams and creates a sequel or prequel to a movie that holds a tight grip around my heart. I've heard rumors about a Back to the Future reboot, I've even heard that a remake to The Wizard of Oz might happen as well.

Where do we draw the line? When can we get it through our heads that art and business are not the same thing? The day that a producer looks at a script and says, "Yeah, it might sell, but I don't think Indiana Jones 4 is such a good idea," will be the day that I regain my respect for Hollywood.

...wait. What? They already made Indiana Jones 4?

Dammit.

The Oscars: Who Will Win? Who Should Win?

It’s that time again! The Academy Awards are right around the corner (March 2^nd), and for any movie buff, aspiring actor, fashion maven, or for anyone who has nothing to do and wants to kill 3+ hours, the Oscars are always an exciting time.

Below you’ll find my picks for this year’s ceremony. I’ll break it down into who will win and who should win.

Now, I don’t necessarily claim to be an Academy Award expert, but hopefully, with this post, I can help some of you win some Oscar Ballot Competitions!

BEST PICTURE

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

Should Win: 12 Years a Slave

This one was kind of a tough choice for me. As a filmgoer, it wasn’t my favorite movie of the year, not by a long shot. However, you look at what the subject matter is, the fact that it’s a period piece, and the true story element that screams “Oscar bait.” 12 Years a Slave reminded me a lot like Schindler’s List: a movie that is important to see, but you don’t really feel good about it. The overwhelming lump in your stomach takes you all the way through the movie and long after you get home.

BEST DIRECTOR

Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón

Who Should Win: Alfonso Cuarón

This will be a split year. We saw this split throughout the award season, and it will continue to the Academy Awards on March 2^nd. Gravity is a director’s film. I say that because, as a story, the film isn’t anything really new: a disaster happens in outer space. This is a very common plotline. Although Sandra Bullock delivered (and carried) a tremendous physical and emotional performance, Gravity was Cuarón’s opus. Visually and technically, this film, I think, is a masterpiece. Obviously, it has potential to take the award for Best Picture too, but the Director award will and should go to Cuarón.

BEST ACTOR

Will Win: Bruce Dern

Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio

This one was the toughest choice for me. Most years, there is always a clear favorite for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis rings a bell), but this is the one category where I think it could literally go to anyone. But, for the sake of this post, I’m going to make some choices. I love Leo, I think he’s always been an actor that brings it with each and every performance, and although he’s been seemingly shout out of the Oscars year after year, his performance in The Wolf of Wall Street should be the one to finally give him the statue. Take a look at the scene involving an overdose of Quaaludes and you’ll agree with me. As far as who will win, I think this could be a situation where the Academy will go with a veteran. The entire category is stacked with unbelievable actors, most of them a certain age, except for Dern. I think it will go to him.

BEST ACTRESS

Will Win: Cate Blanchett

Should Win: Cate Blanchett

The Oscar was practically given to Blanchett the moment Blue Jasmine premiered. That’s all I’m gonna say

BEST SCREENPLAY (Adapted)

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

Should Win: 12 Years a Slave

BEST SCREENPLAY (Original)

Will Win: American Hustle

Should Win: Her

American Hustle wasn’t as good as everyone thinks it is. There, I said it. But it’ll win because everyone loves David O. Russell. Her was original.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Will Win: Jared Leto

Should Win: Jared Leto

I honestly don’t know who else is nominated. It’s been all about Leto this season.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence

Should Win: Lupita Nyong'o

I am both immensely jealous and respectful of Jennifer Lawrence, but her performance in American Hustle was not nearly as strong as her performance in Silver Linings Playbook. She’s good, don’t get me wrong, but an Oscar? Especially against Lupita Nyong’o’s heartbreaking performance in 12 Years a Slave? No way. Lawrence is likable, and more importantly to the film industry, bankable. It’ll go to her.

Obviously, there are more awards to be given out that night, but these are the main ones that I feel the most knowledge of. We’ll see what happens!

Winter's Tale Review

I’m not sure what was less romantic: Winter’s Tale or the fact that I saw this film with my mother in the middle of the day on Valentine’s Day. After seeing the movie, I can safely say that I went home with my mom, and no desire to see Winter’s Tale a second time. You be the judge.

This film, written and directed by Akiva Goldsman (adapted from the novel by Mark Helprin), simply doesn’t know what it wanted to be. Looking back on it, I should have seen it as a warning sign that whenever I saw previews for the film I thought to myself, “What is this movie actually about? What’s the story?” Well, the answer won’t be found by watching it. Goldsman gives us a world of love, magic, angels, demons, magic, beauty, hope, and magic (did I say magic? Oh, there’s a bunch of magic in this movie…). There’s so much going on, and so many scenes of poorly crafted expositional dialogue that the actual story is simply lost.

Beverly Penn (played by Jessica Brown Findlay) is a sweet, young, optimistic girl who suffers from consumption in this film. The fevers she undergoes give her visions of beauty, leading her to believe that we are all connected by stunning rays of light, and our souls become stars in the sky after we have completed our life’s mission. She then meets the rugged, dashing thief Peter Lake (played by the ever-charming Colin Farrell) and they, of course, fall in love. This set up is definitely sweeping romance, Valentine’s Day movie material, but the pay off really falls flat. Aside from the fact that these two do, indeed fall in love (spoiler alert?), the romance in this film is not nearly as sweeping as the film thinks it is.

The problem is lack of structure and cohesion. Writer/director Goldsman throws in Russell Crowe’s devilishly grinning Pearly Soames to add some sort of conflict. Pearly has a personal vendetta against Peter Lake that is never really explained; along with a set of rules that dictates certain plot points just for convenience.

There were moments in this film that were laughable, and let me remind you that this is not a comedy. Of course Peter Lake is rescued by a white horse when chased by Pearly and his goons, and there is a cameo in this film that I will not spoil, but I could not help myself from chuckling quite a bit. 

I came into this film not really expecting much, but I don’t think it clouded my judgment for this review. Movies can be mediocre but still enjoyable. Romances can certainly be schmaltzy but still be romantic; Winter’s Tale just came up short and hovered over borderline ridiculous.

All in all, I’d say Winter’s Tale has the potential to be a really fun date-night movie…but maybe not for the right reasons.

The Spectacular Now Review

“I’m 100% serious about not being serious.” This seems to be the life-motto of one Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), the incredibly charming, out going, big man on campus that is seen in most high school dramas or romantic comedies. The one thing about Sutter, though, that separates him from those other teenaged archetypes is that he actually has substance. There’s a sadness inside of this young guy that proves to be the cause of his exuberance and leads him to go down a path of self-discovery in this simple yet outstanding coming-of-age film.

From the outside, this movie will seem like the typical “popular boy meets shy girl and learns an awful lot about himself” high school movie—it is but it goes much much deeper. Instead of Sutter being a jerk, he actually has a problem: alcohol; and instead of the “shy girl” Aimee (Shailene Woodley) being that ever-present Manic Pixie Dream Girl, she’s actually a normal girl, who just so happens to fall in love with the boy who doesn’t love himself. The result is a very sweet and moving story about the people who have the ability to change us; whether it be a sweetheart, a deadbeat dad, or an encouraging boss. The people in Sutter’s life truly care about him, but throughout the film he learns that life isn’t always about pleasing others, it’s about making the right decisions for himself.

Being a true, Dillon Panthers, Friday Night Lights fanatic, I must first mention Kyle Chandler’s performance as Sutter’s absentee father. Fans of the show will surely be proud of Chandler’s range in this film; he’s charismatic, he’s energetic but he’s also a pathetic skirt chaser. It’s nice to see that Chandler can play someone with a lot more vulnerability than his previous roles (Clear Eyes, Full Hearts!)

Now to our young leads. Those familiar with her work will recognize Ms. Woodley as the teenager in trouble in The Secret Life of the American Teenager as well as the daughter with an attitude in Alexander Payne’s The Descendants. She truly has grown into a very fine young actor—which isn’t easy for me to say as I would gladly steal her career if I could. Her ease and fluidity in each of her scenes was very refreshing to watch; she never pushes, she’s just present. Those will most likely recognize Miles Teller as the comic relief in most movies (Footloose, 21 and Over), but here he truly holds his own as a great, dramatic actor. Similar to his father, Sutter’s charisma overflows the audience, and yet we suffer parental cringes whenever he reaches for his flask.

Besides a few—very few—moments where the scenes seem to drag on a bit, I truly enjoyed this film, and I think it’s an important one to catch for any aspiring actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, and movie fan out there. 

Fruitvale Station Review

Life is all about choices. We go about our daily routines—taking the eight o’ clock bus instead of the eight-thirty or having hamburgers for dinner as opposed to hot dogs—without ever really thinking about how these little, seemingly insignificant decisions can affect the course of our day. For Oscar Grant (played by Michael B. Jordan) the decision to take the train on December 31^st, 2008 was a fatal one.

Writer/Director Ryan Coogler’s feature-film debut “Fruitvale Station” depicts Grant’s last day on Earth and the decisions he made as a father, partner, friend, and son up until the moment that caused an upheaval in the Bay Area, as well as the rest of the country.

Oscar’s choices in this film are all about protection. Though desperate for cash, Oscar abstains from going back into weed dealing in order to provide for his young daughter a legitimate, safe upbringing. In a rather gut-wrenching flashback, we see Oscar in prison defending his mother’s honor after another inmate causes a stir, and while stalled on the tracks at Fruitvale Station, we see Oscar protecting himself and his friends, which ultimately leads to his death.

Coogler cleverly uses the actual footage of the shooting as a prologue for the film; the daily routine of Oscar and his family is shrouded in a cloud of foreboding tension as a result. The majority of audience members will be fully aware of the ending to this film; showing us the end at the beginning heightens the preceding scenes, forcing us to really concentrate on who Oscar Grant was as a man, and how his decisions affected those around him.

Michael B. Jordan (in a role that will surely warrant him an Oscar nod) leads this film brilliantly with both tremendous warmth and contained ferocity. We can see the frustration and embarrassment in his eyes when he’s laid off from work, and we can feel the unconditional love for his daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal) and girlfriend (the wonderful Melonie Diaz) in his great, big smile. Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer supports this cast as Grant’s mother, Wanda, who suggests to Oscar that taking BART might be the safer choice.

It is quite difficult to view a film like this and not be reminded of what is going on in today’s news, but Coogler admirably abstains from using his film as a soap-box for issues such as these. Coogler's screenplay is natural and current and depicts these characters as real people without any sort of agenda. This film is not so much about Grant’s death as it is about his life and the impact he had on those whom he loved dearly. The decisions he made during the hours before his death may have seemed insignificant at the time, but for Oscar they were all done with the mindset of protection, love, and even inspiration. 

The Conjuring Review

Here’s the formula: Take one creaky house; add a simple but loveable family; throw in a few demons and you’ve got yourself one helluva scary movie, right? Not exactly.

The Conjuring, directed by James Wan (who brought us Saw and Insidious), falls short in an attempt to resurrect the horror genre by simply being lazy. Sure, there are some scares as a result of many—too many—jumpy moments, but anyone can make an audience jump with loud noises and a creepy doll; it doesn’t make it good horror.

This film tells the supposed true story of the Perron family and their terrifying ordeal when they move into a centuries-old farm house (secluded of course!) and a haunting presence starts to torment them. With the help of ghostbuster/demonologist couple Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively), the Perrons undergo terror, violence, and a lot of screaming children when the dark force becomes disturbed.

Doors begin to move independently, the family dog won’t enter the house, the creepiest child begins to sleepwalk, and perhaps the most chilling is the clock that always stops at 3:07am. These little moments begin to build at an alarmingly slow rate, giving off the sense of foreboding but ultimately falling flat. Curiously, the non-scary moments are simply on screen for expositional dialogue, and even then the characters and plotlines are not completely well rounded or tied up in the end.

It is clear that Director Wan tried so desperately to use this film as a cultural and artistic nod to the great horrors of the past. Genre fans will see resemblances to The Exorcist (the cold rooms, the Catholic undertones, etc.) as well as some allusions to The Shining but what once seemed new and fresh in the eyes of the scary movie-going crowd is now just a barrage of clichés.

The performances were fine; Lilli Taylor and Ron Livingston as the Perron parents are convincing, and Wilson and Farmiga do a good job of delivering the oh-so cringe worthy expository lines, but the film’s real flaw is simply lack of originality. Wan succeeded in reinventing the genre with Saw, and he did a decent job with Insidious, but I’m afraid The Conjuring did not live up to the hype. Spooky camera angles and creaking doors can only take a film so far.