Arrival

There are days that define your story beyond your life...

The director of Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, is known for making movies that resonate: visceral works of art that bounce around in your brain for days after viewing them. You may recognize some of Villeneuve's past works - Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2014), or Sicario (2015).

Arrival, clocking in at 116 minutes, tells the story of Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist who is called in by the U.S. army to communicate with the inhabitants of an alien ship that lands in Montana.

A trend I've noticed throughout my movie-watching experiences is the victory that ensues when the tone of the movie is in sync with the essence of the protagonist. When the look and feel of the movie work together to show what makes the protagonist tick, the end product is satisfying every time.

That's the case for Arrival - the movie is just as intellectual, mysterious, complex, and somber as its leading player.  

As much as the topic of the movie is extraterrestrial, the story is grounded in humanity - the themes of globalism, cooperation, and communication weave through the narrative and shine in long reaction shots and vivid Terrence Malick-esque sequences.

Arrival also confidently walks the tightrope of not being too vague but trusting the intelligence of the audience - though it's not extremely difficult to understand, I definitely had to use my noggin to piece some stuff together.

I don't want to tell you anything about the aliens other than this: they're not what you're expecting and you won't be disappointed. 

The bottom line - go see Arrival. It's inventive narrative structure and sharp pangs of emotion have solidified Arrival as one of my favorite movies of the year and one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies ever. And right now, we could all benefit from its message of unity.

P.S. - Don't watch a trailer if you haven't already. This is a great one to go into totally blind.

Kubo and the Two Strings... and checking in.

Hey there. College is a lot of work. Until I can start to see some more movies, here's a review for Kubo and the Two Strings I wrote for the UTK newspaper...

Kubo Review - The Daily Beacon

Nerve

Are you a watcher or a player?

How much are you on your phone every day? You can check it out in the battery usage portion of your settings app, but I'll save you the trouble - you're on that sucker for way more than you think you are. 

In this era where entitlement is the law and instant gratification is the norm, smartphones and social networking have become a staple of our daily lives. We beg for attention in our apps and are quite literally addicted to scrolling through our Twitter feeds. These days, it's all about being "connected". Did you see that tweet? Did you watch that Periscope? How many Pokemon have you caught today?

Nerve takes our culture's social media obsession one step further; what if there was a way you could get paid to do dares, or pay to watch people do these dares? Better yet, what if all of this could be done on your cell phone, in a "social" context? Better yet, what if it could all be done anonymously? 

The result is a thrilling, thought provoking movie. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are both excellent and fun to keep up with through the rollercoaster of a night they have. I was on the edge of my seat - it's a nerve-wracking movie (get it haha I'm sorry), not only because of the insane spiral of dares they endure, but also because of the threat of the game itself and the forces behind it.

Watching the movie was, in a way, similar to being on my phone. It's fast paced. It's bright. It's colorful. It's got fantastic music. 

I think that's why, in the end, I felt so slimy. After a slightly on-the-nose speech by Emma Roberts' character, I felt just as bad as the "watchers" - the people who use this app and watch people suffer for their twisted enjoyment. After being a part of all of the flashy (yet incredibly well done and effective storytelling mechanisms) graphics and interfaces of the movie and it's game, I realized that, in the moment, I liked people less. And I liked myself less.

So though I could give this movie crap for it's sometimes overly cliched "high-school" characters or its slightly twisted understanding of technology when it aids the plot or the not forward-thinking-ness of the main character, I think all of it adds to what the movie is supposed to be - off-putting. Uncomfortable. Reflective.

Go watch Nerve and go think about all the questions it makes you ask. That's what makes it a great movie.

P.S. - The game is already coming to life. Yikes.

Lights Out

Everyone is afraid of the dark.

The fear of darkness is such a universal, primal fear. Whether you sleep with a nightlight, with the door cracked, or if you wait until you're under the covers to flip your switch, I guarantee you have experienced discomfort at the absence of light before. It's pretty human.

Lights Out takes that weak spot and completely exploits it; it gives you something tangible to associate with the perceived threat of darkness.

The result is terrifying.

The basic premise (only watch the trailer if you want some great scares to be ruined) is a creature that can only hurt you when the lights are out. Though this sets you up to be scared the exact same way multiple times, it's executed so perfectly and the tension is built well in other ways. Nothing feels cheap or lazy about it.

Overall, you're going to get what you're expecting - a thrilling, jump-in-your-seat horror movie. There are some really cool things done with the "science" of the monster, and the movie does come up with creative shots and inventive usages of light to keep the creature at bay. 

It's a heart-poundingly fun time, and you might have trouble turning the light off that night. It's not without its faults, (which I'll explain in spoiler-territory) but if you like horror, you'll enjoy this movie for sure.

SPOILERS AHEAD

One of my favorite scenes of the movie is when Bret, the protagonist's boyfriend, is in an intense chase with the monster, "Diana". He manages to make it out to his car when Diana grabs him before he can get in. In the most clutch, badass move I've ever seen in a horror movie, Bret uses the keys in his hand to turn on the car's lights, which make Diana disappear. 

This was such a great moment, and the theater clapped and cheered. I wish the movie could have found more of these moments - especially given the ending.

Another cool moment in the movie was when Rebecca, our hero, gets Diana's arm stuck in a door and proceeds to shine the light directly on Diana's arm. When she does, it begins to disintegrate before Diana struggles and escapes. I thought this was a big deal. "Maybe they can defeat her this way," I thought to myself.

The whole movie, the mom is extremely creepy and talking to Diana, who seems to be her friend. The movie spells it out for you that the mom struggles with depression, and has since she was a kid. In this way, Diana becomes somewhat of a metaphor for depression. This is why I have problems with the ending of the movie.

In the climax of the movie, at the "all hope is lost" moment, Rebecca is about to be destroyed by Diana when Mom comes downstairs with a gun. "I told you not to hurt my children." Mom says.

Mom tries to shoot Diana, which of course doesn't work. I suddenly got really excited. Surely there was gonna be a really big, cool climax where light is used in a creative way to get rid of Diana for good and this completely shattered family can begin to come together again.

Nope.

The mom says she knows how to fix it and shoots herself in the head.

Donezo.

I felt pretty cheated by this ending. They had explained that Diana was attached to the mom's mind, so it's not like it didn't make sense. It just felt lazy, unfulfilling, and anticlimactic. When you establish a metaphor for depression, I don't think it's smart to make the solution to that depression SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE HEAD. 

Maybe I'm just a stickler for happy endings, but especially after the cool car keys stunt and the flashlight flesh-burn, I was thinking that there was gonna be a really really innovative light show at the end to finish Diana for good. I don't know. The suicide rattled me. 

But seriously, other than the ending, this movie was loads of fun for me. It's still worth checking out.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Over the years of our family gathering, you two show up, aaaaaaand... you ruin it.

It's the story of two young men struggling to gain their father's approval and give her sister the wedding she deserves. It's the story of two young women desperately lost in their own lives, going through the motions and fighting the demons of their past. It's the story of two lovers who need to be reminded that their love is anything but boring.

It's all of these stories combined - and I almost pissed myself laughing.

I've seen plenty of raunchy comedies. Many of them make me laugh a lot, but end up being forgetful minus a couple of one-liners. Mike and Dave is extremely raunchy, and has plenty of solid one-liners, but also packs a great story and characters (with a wonderfully surprising amount of depth) to carry it.

Efron and Devine are both hysterical - though Adam Devine basically plays his character from Workaholics, I really didn't mind.

Kendrick and Plaza also don't disappoint. Their chemistry is believable and endearing - they're both batsh!t crazy and provide plenty of laughter.

All of these characters blew me away with their own personal stories. It would have been so easy for the two duos to have been generic and filled with fluff, but all four of them had wonderful quirks and backstories, unique motivations and relatable fears. If the actual humor of the movie was an ice cream sundae, this was the cherry on top.

This movie is also edited so sharply. The physical comedy never comes across as dumb or cliche and almost all of the jokes land right where they're intended to.

It's quotable, memorable, and even sweet. It's so, so, so funny. Go check it out.

Finding Dory

Just keep swimming...

The ocean is absolutely insane. It's huge, it's teeming with life, and we've discovered less than 5% of it. Mind boggling.

Disney Pixar's latest sequel does a fantastic job of not only capturing the wondrous spirit of the sea, but also capturing the spirit that made Finding Nemo so special.

Good news - it doesn't feel like a rehash. In fact, Finding Dory takes us in a whole new environment, with brand new characters and surroundings to explore. The new characters are equal parts charming and funny, and fit right in with the fish we know and love.

I can compliment Pixar's animation all day, but you can seriously tell they've improved in 13 years. When you combine these beautiful visuals with a score by Andrew Stanton (who splendidly scored Finding Nemo), it's unbelievably easy to immerse yourself in the water and the story it encompasses. My jaw was dropped at several points during the movie out of pure awe. Sting rays are awesome.

My biggest fear going into this movie was that Dory wasn't going to be able to pull her own weight as the protagonist of the story - I was so wrong. This movie only makes Dory more endearing to the audience. Though her short term memory loss is frequent and abundant, not once did I find her annoying. Dory is the heart of what makes this movie emotional (in typical Pixar fashion). This was the most important part, and Pixar nailed it. 

The main question people have with sequels, whether they vocalize it or not, is something along the lines of, "Is this movie a worthy sequel to its predecessor?"

When I say worthy, I mean exactly that - does the movie provide more worth to the franchise, expanding in creative and fulfilling ways whilst not departing too much from the quintessence of what made the first film so enjoyable. And Finding Dory does just that. Go see it.

Also - stick around after all the credits to see what could be my favorite post credits scene of all time. You don't wanna miss it!

Captain America: Civil War

The number one comment I hear from people after they see a good superhero movie is this:

"That movie was awesome."

In Spider-Man, the city-swinging was awesome. The webs were awesome. That upside down kiss. Awesome.

In the first Avengers movie: The flying ship. Hulk. More superheroes working together on screen than ever before. NYC being destroyed. Shawarma.

All awesome.

When you think of the "awesome" parts of a movie, these are the parts that are most memorable. The parts that stick out. The parts that have a chance of becoming iconic. Civil War has plenty of these. 

The Russo brothers, who also directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, knocked this out of the park. It's magical how they can bring forward so many characters without a single one of them feeling like a shoe-in. The way they handled the Avengers working against each other in such a perfect way really gets me excited for Avengers: Infinity War - two movies that will also be directed by the Russo Brothers.

The action is everything it needed to be - exciting, new, and fun. There are plenty of surprises, and the way everyone fights with and against each other is a dream come true for any Marvel fan. The airport scene could turn out to be just as iconic as this one.

Let's get this out of the way - Spider-man. Holy crap. First, let me lay down my opinions of the past two Spider-men.

TOBEY MAGUIRE: Big fan of how much of a loser he comes across as. Knocked it out of the park.

ANDREW GARFIELD: Love this Spidey when he's in the costume. His quips are all fantastic. As Peter Parker, however, this guy is way too cool for the role. Skateboarding to graduation. Making out with Emma Stone. Hair product. Come on.

Both of these actors, however, didn't have something to offer to the role of Spider-Man that the Spider-Man in this movie can - being a teenager.

Tom Holland is the new face of Spider-Man. As opposed to Maguire, who was 27 when he donned the spandex, and Garfield, who was 29 - Holland is 19 years old.

Holland steals the show. The Russos don't burden us with an origin story we already know the details of. One quick scene is all they need to show us to paint the picture of a scared teenager who is burdened by his newfound abilities. Then we get to see him fight. As a cherry on top - this kid is hilarious. I can not wait for Spider-man: Homecoming.

Also - Black Panther! I knew nothing about this guy going into this movie. 

He is a total badass. And Marvel knows it - so he gets his own movie too.

I'm kind of confused why this is labeled a Captain America movie - it's just as much a movie about Tony Stark, and Robert Downey Jr. stole the show for me. This is for sure RDJ's best performance since the first Iron Man. 

The main complaint I hear about Marvel movies is always with the villains. Too boring. Too bland. Too predictable. This new guy, Baron Zemo, is very intriguing. His whole motivation ties in nicely with the movie's themes of destruction caused by heroes and the effects of collateral damage. He's chilling.

Anyway - go see it. It's - well... awesome.

POST CREDITS? Two scenes! Don't you dare move.