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MOVIE REVIEW: Surviving Confession

(Image: imdb.com)

(Image: imdb.com)

SURVIVING CONFESSION—3 STARS

I don’t know how many Catholics are walking through this movie classroom, but if your impression of the holy sacrament of reconciliation looks and sounds like Steven Colbert’s “Midnight Confessions” bit on The Late Show, you are not all that far off according to Surviving Confession from director Matthew Tibbenham. There is a peculiar yet fascinating internal and external posturing match occurring between what is inane and what is spiritual that cannot be denied. Imagine the scenario, if you will.

LESSON #1: WHAT IT’S LIKE IN THAT LITTLE ROOM — You, the participant, have mustered the courage to come forward and willingly confess your mistakes in strict privacy. Juggling guilt and honesty, you find yourself face-to-face with a trustworthy figure of godly representation. That priest is there to listen without judgment, yet they now know intimate details. Even though “the seal of confession is absolute,” you have to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with this person when you leave the room and life goes on. This resulting absolution is meant to be a gift from the church, but not feeling some level of shame in doing so seems impossible.

Now imagine you’re the priest in this exchange. You have to both witness and share this wrenching process and ordeal repeatedly, with every visitor on every occasion, and remain unflappable and restrained in doing so. Who has it harder now? Breaking the fourth wall and spilling waterfalls of internal monologue, Surviving Confession pokes and prods the person who is supposed to be the pillar of strength. The film debuted July 30th on VOD platforms.

Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 actor Clayton Nemrow’s Father Morris is meant to be that man. He is the spiritual sponge soaking up the regurgitation of sins for years now. What used to carry odd pleasure that led to sterile gossip has become abrasive to the reverend’s patience. Father Morris chose this life of sacrifice, but questions whether it’s worth it anymore. Looking us in the eye and detailing his assertions, the crassness and exhaustion couldn’t be more clear, and Nemrow’s performance nails that exacerbated weight. His pointed monologues and irked unraveling raises our eyebrows and capture our immediate attention.

The hardest present button-pusher of this rapid deterioration is the troubled teen Amber, played with acidic bubble by Jessica Lynn Parsons. Crudely claiming she’s killed someone and cussing up a storm, she seems to be making a mockery of the activity. The wise side of Father Morris plays along with the doubts. He thinks he can beat her immature wit and not fall for her competitive games that try to pry and challenge so-called truths. Even the belligerence you see coming or see through can still wear down wills.

LESSON #2: HOW LONG CAN ONE TOLERATED POOR EFFORT OR RETURNS — Parishioner after parishioner, including an adulterous love triangle between a married couple (Kevin Ging and Jayne Marin) and a guilty mistress (Sarah Schreiber), come to the confessional just to say they tried. What’s the point when no one wants the help? The repetition is the bother. They’ll complete their tidy prayers of penance halfheartedly or less and end up right back with the same errors. Many on Father Morris’ watch do not attempt full redemption or corrective change. This adds to his growing disappointment in both the world and his lot in life.

LESSON #3: APPROPRIATE VS. INAPPROPRIATE — Like the wild swings of actions and intentions acted on by the core characters, Surviving Confession skirts the boundaries of this lesson’s contest. More than a little of Tibbenham’s movie is off-kilter and out-of-bounds, but that’s the point. Someone’s blasphemy alarm is going to launch if they take this movie too seriously. Still, even by satire standards, too many walls fall a little too easily and too many guarded principles get splintered. The power is in the talk and folks here talk hard.

The biting commentary of Surviving Confession makes for a wringer of self-reflection versus outward honesty. Writer Nathan Shane Miller, in his debut feature, penned this standoff of unhinged patronizing. The million-dollar line of his script is the big question of whether Father Morris can be “a bad priest but still a good man.” With each revealed secret, the debate rages and the language piles on to turn inner musings into brash outward disdain. Director Matthew Tibbenham charges Nemrow and Parsons to echo that growing rage. Staying tight and shrewd, Tibbenham effectively creates a precarious single-setting picture. The result is a trying yet damn interesting jaunt through prickly pressures and uncomfortable themes.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on July 29, 2019

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Notable and notorious IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich recently put out a social media call for film critic peers to join a weekly survey to discuss movie topics, answer questions, and highlight their work.  Representing Every Movie Has a Lesson, I, along with over 60 other emerging and established film critics including some of my fellow Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle members and Aaron White of Feelin’ Film, accepted the invitation to participate.  I'm honored by the opportunity, and I hope my responses are chosen each week.  

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best Quentin Tarantino movie and why?

Friends and followers of my work and opinions on social media know that I differentiate “favorite” from “best.” Favorites are personal and very subjective. The things that are best tend to have a few more objective qualities and victories going for them. Sometimes a movie is both. For Quentin Tarantino, that’s not the case for me, but it’s close. My personal favorite is Jackie Brown. I love seeing what QT does within the boundaries of material that’s not his own, which, for me, shows more range that his absolute best self-made stuff. The best-of-the-best, though, is still an easy pick.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Astronaut

(Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

(Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

ASTRONAUT— 3 STARS

Through the niches and comely library aisles of off-label modest independent cinema, talent can elevate material. Sometimes the material isn’t the best at this level. A high class performer can come in and buoyantly lift an effort that wouldn’t have a chance to register or resonate with less. Little movies like that are easy to root for and even better to discover and appreciate. Richard Dreyfus bringing his talented capacity to Astronaut is exactly one of those exemplars.

Debuting recently at the wild and hairy Fantasia International Film Festival where science fiction and genre weirdness can get dialed to 12, Shelagh McLeod’s Astronaut softly chooses sentiment over spectacle. Dreyfus turns straw into gold for a character piece and family drama that makes for an earnest and touching afternoon charmer. The 72-year-old screen favorite may have missed the invitation to join Clint Eastwood’s rag tag cantankerous crew of geriatrics nineteen years ago for Space Cowboys, but he’s taking a decidedly different route to floating above the Pale Blue Dot.

Dreyfus plays Angus, a semi-recent widower saddled with his late wife’s financial debt from a farming real estate scam that preyed on her Alzheimer’s state. His cardiovascular health has declined to the point where he can no longer drive and is becoming an emerging burden on his adult daughter (Narc’s Krista Bridges) and her disapproving husband Jim (Lyric Dent of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It TV series). When he’s not reminiscing his personal history through alcohol-fueled coping time out in his workshop shed, Angus is a devoted and lovable “granddad” hero in the eyes of his grandson Barney (Richie Lawrence of The Best Man Holiday) as they share quality time gazing into his telescope at a timely visiting comet. Sadly, a nursing home is Angus’s next stop.

Nearby, a worldly billionaire tech mogul named Marcus Brown (Thor’s Colm Feore) announces the Ventura competition to lead the first civilian space flight and offers a nationwide lottery contest to select the first lucky passengers for a two-week trip. As a child of the Space Age hey-day from a half-century ago, this opportunity is irresistible dream fulfillment for Angus. Even though he is older than the cut-off and very likely unfit physically, Barney talks Angus into entering. Sure enough, Angus gets his name called, shocking his family, fellow senior residents, and the general public at large.

LESSON #1: DON’T LET AGE STOP YOU FROM ANYTHING — Angus’s demotion from living an independent married life to the snail’s pace of Sundown Manor and family nitpicking would normally sap a person’s spirit. Instead, he becomes a bonding presence and symbol of hope to his new peers, especially his nearly mute friend Len (film veteran Graham Greene). The determination to accomplish something grander than the day-to-day monotonous march against mortality is lovely message from the film.

LESSON #2: STAND BY YOUR EXPERTISE — Angus is former civil engineer who spent his life building roads. Underneath the white hair and mildly fuddy-duddy exterior, the man knows his stuff when it comes to concrete, asphalt, and every pebble in between. Piggybacking with Lesson #1, when Angus questions the structural integrity of Marcus’s takeoff runway, he seeks to be heard for the knowledge he brings to the table, even in a room full of high-end scientists. You will learn more about oolite than you ever thought possible from Astronaut.

LESSON #3: TAKE RISKS FOR THE RIGHT REASONS — As Angus puts it, this kind of trip to space answers a question he has wondered his whole life. He wants to see where he belongs, and he doesn’t mean sightseeing. For him, this potential journey of self-discovery and personal validation is chiefly important. It is worth the rigors that could make his fragile heart fail.

With respectful intelligence and a steady hand, the easy tone sought by Shelagh McLeod stays between wisdom and whimsy. Much of the potential quirk factor is wisely subdued. Lesser and louder movies would turn Angus’s housemates into a buffoonery buffet for the sake of comic relief and Colm Feore’s entrepreneur into a contemptuous villain. Even when twinkly musical score from Virginia Kilbertus slows and the background drama of Angus’s immediate family inserts itself into the forefront, the confident trajectory stays upward and true. Sure, other science fiction movies of this sort would be aim to be more daring, but there is a narrative and character-building integrity worth celebrating here.

The glow and glue that makes this all work remains Richard Dreyfus. As aforementioned, the Oscar winner lifts everything and everyone he touches as if they were featherlight. His astute tenor and honorable dedication shine. Age knows no bounds to his generosity as an actor. A different star would be a ball-hog about this kind of character piece. Instead, Richard is out there sharing scenes for an up-and-coming female director and squeezing emotions out a multitude of connective co-stars and supportive presences that make Astronaut a broadly pleasing family affair. Tip your spacesuit visor to that kind of effort.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood

(Image courtesy of Sony Pictures via EPK.tv)

(Image courtesy of Sony Pictures via EPK.tv)

ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD— 3 STARS

One of the noun variations of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition for “fairy tale” reads “a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending.” Another explains “a made-up story usually designed to mislead.” Sprinkle in the term’s use as an adjective with the descriptor of something “especially marked by seemingly unreal beauty, perfection, luck, or happiness” and you get the drift. One could argue that every single Quentin Tarantino movie is, from various bandits getting away with their crimes to Adolf Hitler getting Tommy-gunned to the face and every pervasive twist in between, essentially a spectacular fairy tale, just more crass, extreme, and violent than the variety we put in front of kids.

Slapping a “once upon a time…” to the title of his ninth film, Tarantino makes that label and its yarn of unlikelihood, misdirection, and heightened allure an upfront certainty. Following that classical starter with his chosen target of story setting, the director’s usual approach of homage becomes readily apparent. Making so many fairy tales with a fat creative license to revise whatever he wants, fancy, zeal, and style are never Quentin Tarantino’s problems. The tightness of his brand of chatty and meandering excessiveness is usually the hangup. This movie has some of the best of the former and still plenty of the latter for a dippy mix of sunny sauntering and tiresome puzzlement. Chicago’s Music Box Theatre is one of the handful of exclusive venues in the country to have this in true 70mm. 

The scene is the City of Angels in February of 1969 during the rise of dingy flower power fadness clashing with the waning glitter of Old Hollywood. Actor Rick Dalton (Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio) has seen his stardom fade in the last decade from gracing movie marquees as a leading man down to the second tier market of television. His second wind of glory, starring as the western hero on the long-running successful show Bounty Law, has come and gone. Now, unwilling to really change, Rick is chasing typecast guest star spots as villainous heavies during pilot season on shows like The F.B.I. and Lancer for nutty directors like Sam Wanamaker (long-lost original Spider-Man Nicholas Hammond).

LESSON #1: THE FEELINGS OF USELESSNESS — Career decline is a clear catalyst for this lesson. The slow drain of shrinking work has Rick beginning to believe if he’s not even a good actor anymore. His talent is completely still operative. It’s the perception that eats him up with fear and anxiety. During this time period, television was an insult and looked down upon as lower work, very unlike today. A profitable offer to go to Rome and lead spaghetti westerns from ritzy producer Marvin Schwarz (a richly smarmy Al Pacino) is not quite enough to lift spirits either.

Rick’s ever-present squire is his longtime stunt double Clint Booth (fellow Oscar winner Brad Pitt), a chiseled specimen of fervent loyalty and relaxed firmness. He’s the kind of man who could knock Bruce Lee (Mike Moh of Empire and Inhumans) on his ass because he can on a dare while doting on his pet pit bull with kisses and hugs at the end of a day’s work. The beaming Booth does all the domestic measures to tie Rick Dalton’s shoes, so to speak, from handyman housework to chauffeur services. Their fates are tied, which means Clint’s spark has its flickering failings as well as he crashes in a rusty trailer outside the old Van Nuys Drive-In.

Orbiting alongside their cigarette-ashen decline is the foil of the bright rising stardom of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), the model-turned-actress wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski (RafaÅ‚ Zawierucha) coming off The Valley of the Dolls. The newlyweds just so happen to be Rick’s new neighbors on his Hollywood Hills cul-de-sac of Cielo Drive. The foreboding attention Tate garners from Charles Manson (TV vet Damon Herriman) and his freakish flock of lip-biting jailbait followers (notably including Margaret Qualley of The Nice Guys, Dakota Fanning, Lena Dunham, the future Elvis Presley Austin Butler, and others) looms and intersects with the dalliances of Rick and Clint by the time the fateful night of August 9th rolls around on the calendar.

The dichotomy of dread and luster peaks in a dynamite scene where the beautiful ingenue flavor-of-the-moment strolls through Tinseltown with carefree smiles while the self-anointed has-been drowns sorrows feeling inferior. Before a tirade of hating his lines and trashing his trailer later, Rick is chatting up his eight-year-old Method co-star (American Housewife kiddo Julia Butters) between scenes about the paperback western book he’s reading to pass time. When asked to describe it to the kid, Rick realizes its plot is a downright mythic match to how he sees his own career, which reduces the senior actor to a blubbering mess. Played brilliantly parallel to this scene is watching Sharon Tate kick her feet up at a daytime matinee to watch herself in the Dean Martin vehicle The Wrecking Crew. She cannot help but grin with enjoyment and accomplishment for knowing that she has entertained a captive audience in her own way. In their contrast, the dueling sequences show exactly the crossroads of the time period the notorious filmmaker is lovingly capturing.

Do this critic a favor. If you read one pretentious person bitching about the so-called “fan service” of a popcorn Star Wars movie in one place while praising the throwback accuracy, endless references, and the buffet of cultural callbacks of this or other Tarantino movies, punch them in the face for being a hypocrite (or write them a mean tweet, either one). Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood has massive nostalgia for fan service aimed a different generation at quadruple the rate of the younger genre fare those cinephiles frown upon. Geeky, blatant homage has always been the part of the hodgepodge of Tarantino. It’s an expected calling card, a borrowed ladder, and part of what makes him brilliant. If it’s standing ovation praiseworthy for an so-called auteur like Quentin, then it should be for other filmmakers.

LESSON #2: 1969 WAS A HELL OF A TIME TO BE ALIVE — With that rant in mind, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood is a blast of a picturesque party life postcard to inhabit for nearly three hours. The production design work of Barbara Ling (Batman & Robin, Falling Down) to bleed into the neon-soaked vintage location scouting from supervisor Richard Schuler (A Star is Born, Her) and his team is richly creative and extraordinary. Subtle visual effects from veteran artist and two-time Oscar winner John Dykstra (Star Wars, Spider-Man 2) blur the edges to put the people of the present seamlessly into the past when necessary. The stellar costume work from frequent Tom Ford collaborator and Kingsman series designer Arianne Phillips has the right blend of gaudy and gritty. Fittingly, Tarantino’s longtime music supervisor Mary Ramos has assembled a bottomless pit of deep cuts and cool tracks for an outstanding soundtrack album in an underscore-free film. This is more than a love letter for the pivotal year. It’s an entire wing of a modern culture museum. Soak it in.

Honestly, get some sunblock because almost too much often counts as strutting fluff. There’s a good chance 25% of this movie is driving around or lounging to the background entertainment of the era while mundanity happens on-screen. As kitschy and peppy as it all may be to give the actors chances to shoot the sh-t and cruise around doing their own driving, when the most amusing element of tone for much of the entire movie is the diegetic radio and television advertisements in scenes of pause and transition, you’re doing a few things right and a few things wrong. On the plus side, your sumptuous details of style and production value flourishes provoke multiple senses of attention and engagement. On the negative side, you must not be doing much interesting with your characters if that replaces people as often as it does.

LESSON #3: FRIENDSHIP GOES BOTH WAYS — There is a supremely interesting core in Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood comprised of the professional relationship and tight kinship between Rick Dalton and Clint Booth. Together, they’re a hoot. Both really look out for each other despite their different castes and picadillos. The sheer talent creating these instantly engaging characters is off the charts.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s wacky acting to portray a volatile overactor is pitch-perfect and very often hilarious on his own. He remains in his expressive and wrought wheelhouse. Make no mistake, though, Brad Pitt is the swooning heartbeat of this movie and climbs the storied charts of the director’s best and coolest movie tough guys, a QT specialty. Pitt stirs all the drinks, pokes all the bears, fills every frame, and steals all the scenes every chance he gets in his most liberated performance work in years. Aging like fine wine, meet your new Best Supporting Actor Oscar favorite.

Had the film used all its energy to tell this compadre story with all the shine and sheen of the setting with a mere tickle or two of the background history nearby, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood would be a tighter and more effective film. As knockout as she gaze upon, Margot Robbie is given criminally little to do with her sizable talent. Further, the revisionist history of her exterior inclusion and the acid-fueled ending feels unnecessary when you have Leo and Brad scoring in unison this solidly on the dour messages of changing times and career crossroads. Yes, this is Quentin Tarantino’s flair for fetish and his free-swinging eccentricity for rank parody, but it is also why he still sorely needs an editor at the table read and screenplay desk. This isn’t a complete clunky slog, but there’s plenty of fat to trim on this prime cut of meat. Luckily, two swinging dick Hollywood studs make it strong.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on July 22, 2019

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Notable and notorious IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich recently put out a social media call for film critic peers to join a weekly survey to discuss movie topics, answer questions, and highlight their work.  Representing Every Movie Has a Lesson, I, along with over 60 other emerging and established film critics including some of my fellow Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle members and Aaron White of Feelin’ Film, accepted the invitation to participate.  I'm honored by the opportunity, and I hope my responses are chosen each week.  

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is one unfairly maligned and/or overlooked movie from the last 10 years that you hope people will reconsider in the future?

With several months of 2019 to go, I think IndieWire and company are getting ahead of themselves with these “best of the decade” list and editorials, but I’ll bite at play along this week. My personal research here was going through my year-end “10 Best” lists and finding a movie that had a demonstrably lower Rotten Tomatoes score than its peers while being smaller and overlooked. Favorites of mine that fit those would have been The Way Way Back, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The One I Love, but they’re not really “maligned.” Instead, my pick is a movie that’s never left my head and one I cannot seem to complete a full film review for years later.

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COLUMN: 5 Upcoming Epic Movies To Watch This Summer

(Image: Country Living Magazine)

(Image: Country Living Magazine)

5 Upcoming Epic Movies To Watch This Summer

It is again that time of the year when you are trying to take a break from the heat and look for a way to cool off. While some people enjoy drinking cocktails at the pool or escaping in the mountains, there is no doubt that cinema lovers just like you, are constantly refreshing their Netflix pages. Now that you have already watched the Avengers: Endgame, John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum, and Toy Story 4, don't despair, there are a lot of other epic movies that are just around the corner. 

So many remarkable stories to be watched, from sport and action to comedy and drama, spiced up with unpredictable and breathtaking endings. Prepare your popcorn and invite your best buddy to accompany you through the legendary journeys, because there are many more unforgettable movie nights to come. Below are listed five upcoming movies that will brighten up your summer.

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Ride Like A Girl

This movie will likely catch every sports lover's attention. Based on a true story, the film will get you through the life of the amazing Australian jockey, Michelle Payne (Teresa Palmer) who was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup four years ago. She was dreaming of winning the cup since she was little, and with her dedication and skills, she finally succeeds. Her achievement amazed everyone and even surprised bookmakers back then. If you are an Aussie, interested in finding more information about horse racing bookies, bet365 Australia is a popular choice. The Australian sports drama is a total inspiration for everyone who has a passion for horse riding. Directed by the Oscar nominee actor Rachel Griffiths, Ride Like a Girl will be released in September.

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

This comedy-drama movie is directed by Richard Linklater, and the story is adapted from Maria Semple's novel. The title says it all - it is obviously about Bernadette, who is an architect, a woman and a mother who kind of forgot about herself while taking care of her family. Bernadette decides to escape and disappears, while her family members would do anything to find her. The comedy is starred by the absolutely amazing Australian actress Cate Blanchett as Bernadette, Kristen Wiig as Audrey,  Judy Greer as Dr Kurtz and more. Where'd You Go, Bernadette will be released in mid-August.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Action lovers, prepare for one of the most exciting adventures this summer! It is 100% sure that the legendary director David Leitch, who is very well known for the Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, has provided us with a quality action once again. The main characters are Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). After a villain appears and it endangers the whole humanity, Hobbs and Shaw decide to make an alliance and fight against the villain. This fascinating action is going to be released at the beginning of August.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

For the ninth time in history, Tarantino has prepared something really phenomenal and exciting, a comedy-drama that is a must-see in the upcoming hot days. In this movie, Tarantino is representing the story of two TV stars who are looking forward to succeeding in their careers. The story was set in LA back in 1969 around the time when everyone in America was in shock because of the series of disturbing murders, committed by members of Manson's followers in four different locations. The movie's main characters are Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) who are fictional characters. However, Sharon Tate's (Margot Robbie) was a real model and a Hollywood star who was a victim of the Mansion's murders. The movie is going to be released this month on the 26th of July. It is time for you to get your cinema tickets!

The Lion King

Disney gave it's best in order to return you to your childhood memories through the story of The Lion King. It's been exactly 25 years since the original was released. Feel old yet? This animated movie is just perfect for everyone who wants to awaken its inner child. The remake's plot is the same just like the original: it tells the story of Simba. The famous pop singer Beyonce will voice Nala, and Donald Glover will voice Simba. The movie will be out this week.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Into the Ashes

(Image courtesy of RLJE Films)

(Image courtesy of RLJE Films)

INTO THE ASHES— 3 STARS

Restraint is not a common artistic or narrative characteristic in revenge films nowadays. We live in an explicit world where the louder and more outlandish outpourings of violence are what grab attention and audiences. The stern and sullen are taken as dull and tedious. Like its title, Into the Ashes resides in the crackling smolder instead of the bright flames. There is plenty of heat to burn and brand from that calmer temperature of cinematic coals. The movie debuts on July 19th in limited theatrical release and VOD outlets.

Aaron Harvey’s fifth film and third feature following 2018’s The Neighbor resides somewhere between a “southern” and rustic neo-noir. The end is the beginning as we see who we will come to know as Nick Brenner, played by Yellowstone’s Luke Grimes, presiding over a fire pit with a shotgun by his side. The disheveled and solitary man utters no words as he takes draws from a cigarette watching the erasure of whatever items went into that small blaze. A direful voiceover from Robert Taylor’s sheriff Frank Parson does the talking by waxing on the cruelty of The Bible, tipping you off to the level of morals in play and the likely belted section of the country standing as the film’s setting.

LESSON #1: THE STORY OF SAMSON — Between the on-screen flickers, the Frank speaks on the paradox of love coming from stories of violence in The Bible and highlights the famous Israelite warrior from the Book of Judges. He marvels at the story’s horrid details that get left out of Sunday School. He formulates the conclusion that “a man can only see so much darkness before he goes blind.” We are meant to see Nick as another Samson, a fighting soul pushed to the brink of focused rage bent on personal justice. Imagine unshackling Samson.

That is precisely the trajectory of Into the Ashes as it shifts backward from this opening and rolls forward through the events leading up this cleansing fire. Nick keeps a meager existence in rural Alabama. He is married to the devoted Tara (prolific actress Marguerite Moreau), holds down a steady job at a furniture shop, and helps his work buddy Sal (James Badge Dale of 13 Hours) rehab a cabin and hunt on the weekends. This placid station in life has sought to heal the visible and invisible scars from an unseen violent past.

Frank Grillo’s Sloan represents the viciousness of that former history. Newly released from prison, he re-assumes leadership of his criminal crew (TV character actors David Cade and Scott Peat) to hunt down the one missing man who betrayed his so-called “understanding family.” When Sloan brings his strife to Nick’s door while he’s away with Sal, the confrontations turn fatal and grim.

LESSON #2: COMBINING REVENGE — Sloan’s savage acts of reprisal against Nick ignite good old-fashioned revenge from three men to even the odds: a husband, a father, and a loyal friend. Sloan’s line of “you killed her the moment you put that ring on her finger” only provokes the coming fury of this patient thriller even more. Multiplying the number of people you incense will come back to haunt the provoker.

It’s not too hard for professional film heavy Frank Grillo to be the toughest and scariest guy in any given room. Grillo’s supreme presence, both on-screen and as an executive producer off-screen, is a boon for Aaron Harvey and this movie. Luke Grimes steps up to Grillo’s level with his own quieter strength just fine. When he breaks, he breaks with grit to match the menace. James Curd’s predatory musical score pulsates alongside both of their looming and stalking gaits with tremendous atmosphere.

LESSON #3: HANDLING MATTERS OUTSIDE THE LAW — The balancing lawful presence of Robert Taylor (The Meg) expands Into the Ashes. His character could have been one-dimensionally painted as the outmatched straight arrow or the frazzled pursuer. Instead, his narration and investigatory presence in that triangle of revenge from Lesson #2 gives the film a parallel perspective to Nick’s. When Frank tells Nick he “should have let the law handle it” and “the law is the one thing that keeps us from being savages” only to have Nick reply simply “the law wouldn’t do what I did,” there is a pause of grizzled understanding without further preaching that shapes solid depth to this movie’s rueful voice.

Into the Ashes is lean, mean, and never gaudy with over-acting. Once again, its restraint is its top quality. The static lens of cinematographer of John W. Rutland and the brisk sound editing of Brett Murray control the frenzy and measure the punches. Other retribution films and pseudo-westerns would fill characters like Nick and Sloan with cheap words and impossible acts of action that would reek with implausibility. Showdowns would be operatic and loud. Sure, something like that could make for pulpy spectacle and giddy thrills (You know who you are, Quentin Tarantino), but there is gainful power to be found in this movie’s brittle fortitude. Remember, a quiet glowing briquette will singe just as severely as the wildest flare. Send a hat tip to Aaron Harvey’s wiser choices.

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GUEST EDITORIAL: Best Movies of All-Time Every Law Student Should Watch

(Image: The Ace Black Blog)

(Image: The Ace Black Blog)

Best Movies of All-Time Every Law Student Should Watch

Out of several niches such as thrill, drama, romance, and sci-fi, movies related to the law have always remained mine (and I am sure for many others) all-time-favorite niche. For many screenwriters, lawyers make the least interesting movie setting, however, there are few movies that have made this task exciting and worth filming.  Here is the list of top law school movies of all times that are worth-watching for every law student. You may agree to some of the movies from the list, and can also suggest more.


The Paper Chase (1973)

This movie is really a serious tap on law school life. It is intense and captured perfectly the dynamics between the student and law professor. Academy award-winning actor John Houseman’s performance as Professor Kingsfield alone makes the movie worth watching. He excellently plays the role of an intimidating professor. The movie accurately shows what studying for finals in a law school actually is like. 


Legally Blonde (2001)

Unlike The Paper Chase, this movie is a really good comedy movie which shows a girl joining Harvard Law School to pursue her ex-boyfriend. She decides to leave behind a comfortable, sorority lifestyle in California and takes admission in Harvard. She has to readjust her priorities. Although the movie is a fantastic comedy, however, it truly depicts the reality and the admission process, especially, when Elle Woods prepares for LSAT! 


The Verdict (1982)

It would not be untrue if I call this movie among ‘the greats’ about the washed-up lawyers. This fantastic movie offers justice in an amazing way- Frank rises from the obscurity of alcohol and moral uncertainty and corrects injustice. The movie is an excellent depiction of a courtroom proceeding. The movie also makes it fun for a law student, and truly feeds the inner idealist. 


A Few Good Men (1992)

A movie that gives a perfect account of explosive trial confession. This movie probably has inspired hundreds of subsequent movies and lawyers shows. The movie truly reflects the phrase “when you can’t handle the truth.”


My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Those who still want to be lawyers must watch this movie. Despite very small chances of success, Vinny, who at 6th try, finally passes his bar. The movie gives a good lesson of persistence! The courtroom procedure is quite near to reality and accurate. There is incredible chemistry between Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei. Like the Legally Blonde, this is a hilarious yet impactful movie for future lawyers.

So, whether you are intending to be a corporate lawyer or criminal lawyer, these movies are a must-watch. You can add to the list if you are up to share more movie names in the lawyer niche. 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Adams writes about law and entertainment for Every Movie Has a Lesson. He encourages his readers to improve their quality of life by incorporating positive and good things. As he loves to share his insight about life experiences, he has contributed to the various online platform in the same niche.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Farewell

(Image: Premiere France)

(Image: Premiere France)

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Official selection and Centerpiece of the 7th Chicago Critics Film Festival

THE FAREWELL— 5 STARS

We all have to fake a goodbye in our lives to someone terminally ill. We all don’t want to, but we will. We’ll say “I love you” and “see you soon” to someone close to us we won’t see again. And we won’t. We will mean half of those last words said to them, the former and not the latter. More often than not, it will be reality likely where both sides know the finality being faced. Each will try to soothe the other with their words and be themselves as if everything is alright. No one is really alright and both likely know it.

Imagine a kicker of dramatic irony to the circumstance above where the critical side of that difficult conversation does not know they’re near their end, yet everyone else does. For a great many, that’s an impossible perspective to fathom, yet an accepted norm to others. Heavy in that melancholic milieu, you have The Farewell. Drawing from a deeply personal story, director Lulu Wang’s sophomore feature film shines comedy into drama on a culturally unique situation of gallows humor.

Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians breakout Awkwafina stars as Billi, a Chinese-American struggling writer who learns the news from her parents (film mainstays Tzi Ma and Diana Lin) her beloved grandmother Nai Nai (Chinese TV actress Zhao Shuzhen) back home in the towering city of Changchun has stage 4 lung cancer and little time left to live. It is a Chinese tradition that those terminally ill are not told their diagnosis of inevitable truths. In a brawny bout of championed biculturalism, Billi disagrees with her family’s stance, but must put on her smiling face.

LESSON #1: COULD YOU DO THIS WITHIN YOUR OWN FAMILY? — The crux of The Farewell makes for several of those soul-searching quiz questions every viewer must ask themselves in a film plot as specific as this one. Should, or even could, you carry on like this? To do so would be illegal in the U.S. Can you justify your position? How long could you live with or act out what everyone calls a “good lie?” Is there even such a thing? In this culture, it is characterized as the family carrying the emotional burden for the dying. Sure, but if you’re helping them, who’s healing your internal injuries of the heart living with that weight? How you answer these will inform your connection to this film straightaway.

As an excuse to bring everyone home to see the fading matriarch, the family throws a shotgun wedding for Billi’s younger cousin. Reunited for the first time in decades, the family is torn between celebrating on the outside and grieving on the inside. Emerging cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano fills the frame deeply with nuptial jubilee or a bustling urban environment in the background while staying close and focused on the collective smiles that morph into constrained frowns scene after scene. Backed often by Alex Weston’s classical string score led by Mykel Kilgore’s haunting vocals, the clan plods with pathetic pity in a nightly sad-sack march back to their hotel to refresh their growing sorrow. Everyone tries to make the best in emotional and often hilarious results and releases.

LESSON #2: EATING IS A CLEVER WAY TO HIDE SADNESS — Want a good cover to prevent breaking down and sobbing? Take another bite of food. Chew some sustenance and gnash your pain. Help hide your failing and fearful face. Fill your mouth with something to take your tongue away from whimpering or weeping. Between the walks, the meals, and unspoken truths in The Farewell, there is so much emotion in silence. Lulu Wang, a renewed artistic talent, wove a brilliant narrative in such domestic simplicity and brazen boldness to be “based on an actual lie.”

LESSON #3: THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRANDPARENT AND GRANDCHILD — Nai Nai is your mildly meddlesome grandmother, one who is opinionated yet quick to return to a good mood after fluster or bluster. Billi is her grandmother’s favorite, the unmarried and independent American woman who still gets affectionately admonished with a jesting “stupid child” label of endearment. Between Billi and Nai Nai, their bond is an affirming one built on mutual appreciation and wise support, not the usual elder spoiling. You will watch this movie and undoubtedly miss your own grandparent, especially if you too, had one you connected with on the same level as Billi and Nai Nai.

The rapport, shared spaces, and confiding conversations between Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen are absolutely lovely in demonstrating such a warm and winning affinity. Between flickers of joy, Awkwafina’s husky voice and liberated will break showing she’s more than just a crass comedienne. Her star grows even greater here. Making her American film debut, Zhao Shuzhen is a treasure in every scene. Read more about her in a wonderful interview from Variety by Jenelle Riley. Precious is not strong enough of a superlative for her presence, nor might a future Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. The two lead an outstanding cast performing every level of emotional containment and drain. No chatterbox comic relief side characters are needed.

Even with this divisive indigenous practice happening to challenge the sensitivity of audiences, the universal human condition feels are extremely strong in one of the most entertaining and freeing film experiences of recent memory. The writer and director herself attests there is “not a wrong moment to laugh.” Lulu Wang is right. The catharsis, the grief, or both are intensely relatable. With that humorous dread and paralyzing poise, this distinct film carries poignant spirit. There is room in any season for an unexpected film to surround and heal one’s self in the difficult or awkward stakes of familial love and loss. This Sundance Film Festival darling from A24 is primed to be a summer favorite and one of the year’s eventual best, a sharp work capable of captivating folks of any culture.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "You'll Probably Agree" podcast talking "The Lion King" and Disney's future

(Image: Facebook.com)

(Image: Facebook.com)

Mike Crowley of the steaming-ahead “You’ll Probably Agree” brand welcomed yours truly back on the podcast microphone again, this time to talk about The Lion King. Neither one of our childhoods were married to the 1994 original, but we recognize its greatness while questioning and critiquing the new Jon Favreau visual achievement. Mike and I gaze ahead into the Disney crystal ball and wonder where they are heading with these reimaginings that border on creative bankruptcy. Fire up the audio! Give the show episode a listen, his YouTube channel a new subscriber, his Facebook page a like, and his Twitter a follow!

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GUEST EDITORIAL: The Relevance of "Fight Club"

(Image: Film on Paper)

(Image: Film on Paper)

The Relevance of ‘Fight Club’ in Present-Day Western Society

A Story of Consumerism, Perfectionism, and Toxic Masculinity

By Jacob Tucker

If you want to be a member of society, you need to follow some rules. You’re expected to earn money, to keep fit, and to obey the law. You’re expected to smile when you’re sad, to be nice to the neighbors, and to buy things you’ll never really need. You’ll barely go ten minutes of your waking life without being advertised to – products, slogans and corporation names are flashed at you from every direction. You’ll own everything you need (and much more besides), but at some point you may realize that the things you own actually own you.

If you rolled your eyes while reading that last paragraph, it’s unlikely that you’d enjoy David Fincher’s 1999 post-modern film Fight Club. Based on a book written by Chuck Palahniuk, it under-performed in the box-office when it was released, and quite a few critics wrote awful reviews for it. In the last twenty years, however, it’s become something of a cult classic, and many have tried to dissect what the film actually means. To me, it’s mainly a satire on the American consumerist lifestyle, the prevalence of advertising, and masculinity. Some see it as a very political film, throwing around words such as “Marxism” or “propaganda.” To others, it’s about spirituality. Everyone has their own take on Fight Club. Personally, I think it’s some kind of combination of all of these ideas, and I’m dedicating the rest of this article to explaining why I believe that Fight Club has inadvertently become much more relevant now than it was in 1999. 

Fight Club focuses on consumerism, and especially how consumerism and the lifestyle it creates is bad for the mental health of the people who live in a society where it is prevalent. The Narrator (the character played by Edward Norton, otherwise referred to as “Jack”) is plagued with insomnia at the beginning of the movie, which causes him to, in effect, sleepwalk through his life, depressed and sluggish. It’s clear that The Narrator is meant to represent the “everyman” – the perfect member of a consumerist society. He has a neat, nine-to-five office job, a well-furnished apartment, and is in good shape physically. But he’s empty inside – he has no known personal connections, and when he leaves work all he does is go back to his apartment and clean. It’s not explicitly stated whether his insomnia is caused by this lifestyle (I personally think that it is), but it functions as a sort of ironic metaphor – he’s a good member of society, but he has sacrificed his humanity (his soul, if you like) to achieve this. And for what? He’s just one in millions of people who are exactly the same – The Narrator has no real name in the film, because he could be anyone.

“Worker bees can leave 
Even drones can fly away 
The queen is their slave.”

That haiku, written by The Narrator, is an often overlooked part of the film. It could be taken to mean many things, but personally I think it sums up the entire point of Fight Club (the actual, in-universe club, not the actual film). The worker bees are, of course, a metaphor for the workers in society. The queen, in my opinion, is the corporations that the workers “feed.” The haiku expresses the sentiment that corporations depend on those who buy their products, and anyone is free to quit the consumerist lifestyle and “fly away.” It’s safe to say that we live in a more consumer-based society now than we did then in 1999 – everyone “needs” to have the latest mobile, the latest car, the latest television, even more so than when this film was originally released. Fight Club’s message on consumerism is only getting clearer, and more relevant. 

Marla represents the people who are oppressed by the current system – she’s forced to steal clothes to get money for food, and evidently has lost all hope in life. The Narrator states that “Marla’s philosophy is that she might die at any moment. The tragedy was that she didn’t.” Like The Narrator, Marla also needs to seek out support groups in order to achieve genuine connection with people. She’s been driven into this state of isolation and hopelessness by society, and has no means to better herself. Marla rebels by refusing to even give the pretense that she is a perfect member of this society – she smokes, steals, is openly sexual even with strangers,  and is not ashamed of any of it. The Narrator rebels openly and is openly confrontational towards society, while Marla rebels more passively. Both of them have been completely hollowed by the society they live in, but find solace with each other, knowing that eventually more people like them will make a stand. 

Tyler Durden (the other side of The Narrator’s personality) wants to tear society down, and rebuild something from the rubble. He’s also a hypocrite. He’s repulsed by a society where individuality has been crushed, and where men are forced into gyms to fulfill the standards of physique they’ve had imposed on them. In contrast, Tyler Durden subsequently rejects these ideas – in Project Mayhem (the natural successor to Fight Club) none of the members are given names. Another nameless character, as I already mentioned, is The Narrator – this hints that Tyler Durden, in his quest to create an equal society, has simply replicated the old system in miniature. The only member of Project Mayhem referred to by name is Tyler himself – inequality has arisen. Tyler also criticizes the way in which advertising has imposed an unfair standard of beauty on society – men are expected to be handsome and muscular, and women are expected to be thin and pretty. This is entirely hypocritical – Tyler himself is the ideal male in a physical sense. Brad Pitt (who plays Tyler Durden) is well known to have resented body-building for the role – if Tyler upheld his principles, he would not feel any need to conform to any standard. Beauty, society will tell you, is achievable for everybody. This is not true. Not everyone is a model, and not everyone can maintain the physical standards deemed ‘ideal’ by advertising. But this is not a flaw within ourselves; it’s a flaw in society. 

Masculinity (and the repression of it by society) is a key theme in the movie, and can be perceived in different ways. Some say that the movie is an indictment of “toxic masculinity,” where violence is idealized and physicality is everything. I personally think the movie is really a parody of these ideas – the movie does not approve of the violence, and instead treats it as rather absurd. The masculinity expressed by the members of Fight Club is a release for them – the film presents males as aggressive by nature, and shows how the repression of this tendency by society only leads to more violence. In the same way that The Narrator finds some kind of release when he cries at support groups, members of Fight Club release all of the aggressiveness that’s been building up inside them. The movie does not condone “toxic masculinity” – it parodies it, and shows how it’s the result of societal influences. 

Fight Club was an eye-opening movie for me. It made me realize that corporations are not the friends of the consumer, and material possessions are not as important as happiness. Those are the main messages I took away from the movie – some critics at the time saw it as some type of propaganda, intended to incite violence. Anyone who thinks that that’s the message of Fight Club simply did not understand the movie. It’s a rather beautiful story of freeing yourself from the society you live in, and reconciling the different parts of yourself to achieve happiness, as opposed to sticking to the eternal cycle of working and consuming. There’s probably enough to say about Fight Club for an entire book on the topic, but these are just my main thoughts on the themes and ideas presented in the movie. Is it a perfect movie? No, but then again no movie is perfect. Has it opened the people’s eyes to the negative impacts society has on them? I wouldn’t go so far as to say that every person who’s ever seen this film came away as a more enlightened person, but I’m sure that there are many people, like me, who appreciate the ideas the movie conveys, and the ways in which it conveys them. Is Fight Club more relevant now than it was when it was released? Definitely, and I see no reason why this relevance won’t become even clearer in the coming years. Society is evolving very quickly now, and it’s important to realize that you’re not obligated to live up to the standards it imposes on you. After all, you’re the reason society can exist at all.  

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GUEST CRITIC #30: Crawl

(Image: imdb.com)

(Image: imdb.com)

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me.  As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there.  Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy.  Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering.  In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.


TODAY’S CRITIC: Jeremy Calcara

calcara.jpg

Jeremy Calcara

Guest Critic and Contributor at Feelin’ Film

Meet Mr. Jeremy Calcara, a Facebook friend of mine and fellow movie-loving father. If you frequent my work with the Feelin’ Film Podcast, you may remember seeing the time we co-hosted the podcasts for Mr. Mom . Jeremy resides in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife and five (yes, 5) children. He is not a film critic. However, Jeremy, most likely, just watches a lot more movies than you do.  He is without question the funniest contributor at FeelinFilm.com and can be found on Facebook and Twitter (@jayinlincoln).


HIS REVIEW:

“You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster…Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick and so thrilled all together. Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.” - from Parenthood (1989)

My favorite horror movies are like roller coasters. The director sets up their story, you buckle your seat belt. As the object of terror is introduced, the car lurches off the platform while a giant chain slowly pulls its riders to the top of the hill. The tension builds until there’s calm. You’re at the top. All seems safe. But then something lurches onto the screen as the bottom drops out. You gasp, you scream, you recoil in fear. You reach the bottom, you laugh, you wipe your brow, you breathe a sigh of relief just in time for the next hill.

(Image: imdb.com)

(Image: imdb.com)

As far as roller coasters go, Alexandre Aja’s Crawl is a pretty damn fun trip. It’s a ride that doesn’t rely on twists and turns, but just simple tension-building rises and stomach-dropping falls. The story is as simple as can be. When a category 5 hurricane threatens to level her hometown, Hailey (Kaya Scodelario) takes a quick trip to check in on her father (Barry Pepper), who no one has heard from in a while. She finds him injured in the crawlspace of her childhood house where he’s been trapped after an attack by a giant alligator. It’s as straight forward as movies get. Can they get out before either the gator or the rising water gets them? You get it.

Crawl succeeds because it does a couple of things really well. First and foremost, the performances are outstanding. I’ve long been a fan of Barry Pepper and after Crawl I’ll be keeping an eye out for what Kaya Scodelario is up to as well. While there are other people who pop up here and there, they’re the only two actors credited in the opening titles and everything that happens revolves around them. They don’t have to merely sell the terror of the situation they’re in, but they have to sell the drama of an estranged father and daughter who have to put aside the baggage between them to overcome the obstacles at hand. In my opinion, they do so in spades. I was blown away by the emotional impact that their relationship had on me.

I came into Crawl expecting Sharknado with better production value. I did not expect to be impacted emotionally by the dynamics of a strong but complicated father/daughter relationship. Some of that praise goes to screenwriters Michael and Shawn Rasmussen. The script is tight. The conversations are short, to the point, and very much reflect the tone and language of two people who need to have a serious talk once all of this is over.

All of that would go for nothing if it weren’t for the direction of Aja, who manages to not only squeeze a 87 minute movie (I give an extra ½ star to any film under 90 minutes) out of this thin of a premise, but does so in a way that doesn’t drag or leave the viewer checking their watch. He achieves this by never opening a release valve to allow the audience to relax. From the storm clouds in the opening scene until the credits roll, there’s a persistent sense of impending danger. Its action sequences are terrifying and executed superbly in the sense that one always feels like they know what is going on. That’s more than I can say about many films in this vein that rely on CGI creatures as antagonists. If I had to pick nits, I’d say he stumbles a bit in giving the movie a sense of place. I don’t feel like you ever know where the characters are in relation to the other characters, other than just a generic big ass crawl space. But that’s a minor quibble, and something that didn’t at all detract from my enjoyment of the film.

Overall, Crawl is one of my favorite movies of the summer. I’d encourage interested parties to see it with a crowd this weekend because that’s just going to add to the fun. I’m sure that there will be those out there who find a lot more faults in its story and execution than I did. They should probably just ride the merry-go-round. I wanted to go on a roller coaster. And I find myself wanting to go back and ride it again.

4 STARS


CONCLUSION

I’m pleased as punch that Jeremy led the 30th “Guest Critic” review here on Every Movie Has a Lesson. Feelin’ Film’s loss is my gain because Crawl clearly deserves a fun and wide audience. They snoozed on posting Jeremy’s review. I was happy to oblige. These are the kind of movies summer was built to host. Thank you, Jeremy, very much for stepping up for the great take! Friends, if you see a movie that I don't see and want to be featured on my website (and get a fun fake biography written about you), hit up my website's Facebook page and you can be my next GUEST CRITIC!

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Lion King

(Image courtesy of Walt Disney via WDS Media File)

(Image courtesy of Walt Disney via WDS Media File)

THE LION KING— 3 STARS

The opening line of my review for Aladdin less than two months ago read “It is becoming increasingly tedious to both critique and enjoy these Disney “re-imaginings.” That hasn’t changed. Go back two months before that with Dumbo and I said “Audiences constantly question the values of duplicated enjoyment or tangible purpose for needing anything new and shiny made from something that worked just that way it was intended decades ago.” That hasn’t changed either. Now, when I go back two years to Beauty and the Beast and read my words of “Let them be different, whether that’s better or worse, because they are different. View them separately and independently. Judge them separately and independently,” I see where the situations have changed for me and for this line of movies. I can’t do that anymore.

Jon Favreau’s The Lion King stands as the biggest test to all of that progress and the attached criticism because of how little beyond the pristinely pixelated exterior is actually “reimagined.” So incredibly and, dare I say, unnecessarily much is nearly a shot-for-shot duplication of Disney’s most popular and most successful film of their Renaissance era. To go back to Dumbo, duplicated enjoyment may have been the goal, but that makes one question a tangible purpose for truly needing any such update. Luckily, the shininess, so to speak, is an undeniably impressive and redeeming feature to a lack of implemented originality.

With around thirty minutes of extra marination here and there simplified by screenwriter and former steady Brett Ratner and Steven Spielberg collaborator Jeff Nathanson, the well-worn tale of The Lion King, with all of its hefty Shakespearean elements, is retold for a new generation. The habitat-sustaining balance of predator and prey on Pride Rock and the coming-of-age journey of an impatient young lion cub named Simba are derailed by the tragic death of his kingly father Mufasa (James Earl Jones). The pourer of snake oil and the engineer of this tragic royal coup is Mufasa’s rebuffed and cerebral younger brother Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his enlisted army of hyenas. Shamed to believing his idolized father’s death was his fault, Simba leaves the savanna and grows into an adult (Donald Glover) in a lush jungle far away under the practical tutelage and scrappy friendship of a meerkat named Timon (Billy Eichner) and a warthog named Pumba (Seth Rogen). When his former betrothed lioness (Beyonce Knowles-Carter) and a spiritual soothsaying baboon (John Kani) from his past discover Simba is alive, they urge him to return home and claim his birthright.

LESSON #1: KIDS, LET’S LEARN ABOUT FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS — Depending on your chosen educator in the movie, Timon or Mufasa, you either have a straight line (food chain) or a grander circle (food web) to describe linked survival. It’s like the duel between facts and “fake news” only sung as an anthem to help you remember. Everything that lives will die and become the ingredients to a future living thing. We all are the products of that matter ourselves. It’s just what order you observe or place you occupy in the chain or the web.

LESSON #2: CARRY NO TROUBLE OR PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE — Just as in 1994, the catchy “Hakuna Matata” comprises your specially packaged teachable nugget for the target demographic. The Swahili phrase meaning “no trouble” or “no problems” remains good advice for moving on from past mistakes and perceived failures with an attitude change to focus on the present and future.

It is the present entertainment landscape and the future dividends that have powered this 2019 presentation to an immense level of anticipation. There is no disputing this movie’s immediate and constant wow factor as a stunning visual and technical spectacle. The photo-real animation of The Moving Picture Company supervised by three-time Oscar winner Robert Logato, fellow Jungle Book Oscar winner Adam Valdez, and promoted top supervisor Elliot Newman add divine ethereal layers and qualities to every corner of Caleb Deschanel’s laboratory cinematography, right down to the wind, bugs, hair, and dust. The conjured natural beauty and animal physicality is easily some of the best-looking CGI work Disney has ever attempted of film.

The trade-off with the hyper-detailed realism is the loss of engaging and exaggerated personification of characters and performances from traditional hand-drawn animation. This happened for The Jungle Book as well. Nearly all of the expressive eyes, mouths, and other emotional facial features are flattened and reduced by limits of physiological accuracy. Cartoons, more often than not, will always do that better. It shows here and it is showmanship that is dearly missed.

Stellar voice work would supersede that weakness. However, this update lacks a standout showy performance, even with a “let’s do this” and “I got this” modern attitude sprinkled throughout the diverse casting. Now 88, the returning Jones has lost little timbre, but counts as another ingredient of replication rather than an opportunity for newness. Ejiofor is a less oily Scar than Jeremy Irons and his calculated line deliveries of sinister intent and ruthless edge are underplayed and too calm to a degree. Glover and Knowles feel like they are reading more than emoting and hitting high drama. The most zeal, naturally, comes from the characters with the most personality. The chicanery of Eichner and Rogen charms to embezzle each episode of their participation.

What gave 1994’s The Lion King its lasting importance is the trait of majesty. In my eyes, that always came from the music as much as, if not more than, the characters themselves. The songs composed by the famed Elton John with lyrics by Disney hitmaker Tim Rice brought magnetic appeal. Hans Zimmer’s percussive and choral musical score, which stands as his only Oscar-winning work to date, elevated the entire movie’s powerful presence for show-stopping impact. That memorable music, recomposed and reworked by all three men with the infusion and addition of Beyonce, is the smartest and, in the end, the most essential anchoring element of this carryover. That vital strength is successfully retained rather than lost. Now, the musical majesty has a matching and radiant visual one primed to stir both new and old amazement.

LESSON #3: BE A GIVING KING — The generosity of a ruler’s wisdom and actions gain more fealty among their subjects than any fear or oppressive control. Mufasa and Simba earned that loyalty. The other animals in their organic orb of influence genuflect in respect. Can the same effect be evoked from the watching audiences of Jon Favreau’s new achievement as they gain or lose trust in Disney’s reputation with these second comings? The regal resonance of this parable wins. No matter if the version of The Lion King being shown is sketched or coded, we too may bow to the grand splendor on display.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#806)

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#806)

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