The Nice Guys: Shane Black

Shane Black's The Nice Guys is The Big Lebowski (1998) meets Lethal Weapon (1987): an occasionally absurd, occasionally pitch black crime-caper-comedy that gives the buddy cop genre a stiff shot in the arm. The dialogue is razor sharp, the comedic timing exceptional. The action scenes are refreshingly inventive (I especially loved that gun fight at the car show where Ryan Gosling tried to hide behind the rotating car) and the plot surprisingly simple to follow despite its heavy noir leanings. I appreciate how the film was willing to get super dark and grim at times: the out-of-nowhere execution of the on-the-run teenager daughter was chillingly brutal. Russell Crowe and Gosling are a match made in heaven. Simply put, I want more movies of these two sad sacks running around California solving crimes.

8/10

The Jungle Book: Jon Favreau

I went into Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book expecting to like it. I didn't expect for it to become far and away one of my favorite films of the year. Here's a little reboot (or "re-imagining") that could: it managed to tell the story of both the original book by Rudyard Kipling and the original 1967 Disney animated film marvelously with a clarity of storytelling, pacing, and emotional control that in a strange way reminded me of George Lucas' Star Wars (1977). Not only was the storytelling magnificent, but it was visually incredibly as well. That one shot where we see the elephants for the first time where they emerge from the misty light of the jungle...My one nitpick is that the song sequence with King Louie didn't really work or fit with the rest of the film. They should have saved that song for the end credits.

8/10

The Lady in the Van: Nicholas Hytner

Nicholas Hytner's The Lady in the Van might be advertised as a quirky dramedy, but it works best as an examination of how the upper classes like to treat homeless people. One of the best scenes involves Maggie Smith, the eponymous Lady in the Van, traveling up and down an affluent street looking for a new driveway in which to squat. A rich couple laughs and makes fun of her...right up until she pulls up into her driveway at which point they run screeching at her like banshees. I liked the film's post-modern use of Alan Bennett's "twin brother" representing...his creative side, I guess? Anyhow, I also liked the last ten minutes which blended the boundaries of fact and fiction to a delightful degree. "Well, she always said she wanted an Ascension..."

7/10

Kings Go Forth: Delmer Daves

To read this review, go to: http://theretroset.com/b-roll-kings-go-forth/.

8/10

The Happy Ending: Richard Brooks

To read this review, go to: http://theretroset.com/realness-love-marriage-richard-brooks-happy-ending/.

8/10

The Idol: Hany Abu-Assad

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-the-idol-a-palestinian-star-is-born/79468.

7/10

Elevator to the Gallows: Louis Malle

[Revisit Review]

Rewatching Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows for the first time in years, something occurred to me: this film is very similar to Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002). Both films have a simple premise--a killer stuck in an elevator, a man living his last day before his prison term--that it mostly ignores. The main characters are shuffled to the side for extended vignettes concerning the supporting and ancillary characters. Both films are more about a mood, a tone, an atmosphere of dread and unavoidable fate more than they are their "plot."

8/10

The Other Side: Roberto Minervini

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-the-other-side-charting-the-american-nightmare/78971.

9/10

Hard Sell: Sean Nalaboff

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-hard-sell-makes-the-mistake-on-focusing-on-the-least-interesting-character-as-the-protagonist/78944.

5/10

Welcome to Happiness: Oliver Thompson

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-welcome-to-happiness/78779.

7/10

War and Peace: Tom Harper

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/tv-review-war-and-peace-2016-a-great-melodrama-a-mediocre-adapation/78711.

Toni: Jean Renoir

To read this review, go to: http://theretroset.com/b-roll-jean-renoirs-toni/.

6/10

War and Peace: King Vidor

This should have been the perfect match: Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and director King Vidor. In Tolstoy's immortal novel, Vidor could work with two of his favorite subjects: men searching for meaning, women [particularly Natasha Rostova] struggling for independence in unfair societies. But his 1956 adaptation is bloated and top-heavy. It wisely abridges the actual story, but that's just the point--it's nothing but the story of War and Peace. Gone are Tolstoy's historiographic and philosophical discussions. Gone are his debates over military history and strategy. Gone are the characters' desires for spiritual fulfillment. What's left is a tired, over-long melodrama. Audrey Hepburn is magnetic as Natasha, but she's underused and her character arc feels edited. Poor Henry Fonda is woefully miscast as Pierre Bezukhov. Overall, it seems like the demanding mannerisms of Russian high society clashed with Vidor's preference for naturalistic performances.

4/10

Eye in the Sky: Gavin Hood

The best part of Gavin Hood's Eye in the Sky is its ambiguity. It knows that the terrorists who want to set off suicide vests are evil and must be stopped, but it abhors the only means the West has to stop them: drone warfare. It knows that the lives of a few terrorists and an innocent young girl are worth sacrificing to save possibly 80+ lives, but it despises the fact that the decision must be made in the first place. It's a film about ambiguities and harsh realities. It's also the most suspenseful and tense film I've seen in literally years. I can't remember the last time I was so tense in a movie theater. In my opinion it blows Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker (2008) out of the water, both as a suspense film and as an examination of post-9/11 warfare.

8/10

The Ghost Ship: Mark Robson

Mark Robson's The Ghost Ship is a worth successor to Val Lewton's other RKO Radio Pictures triumphs like Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Seventh Victim (1943). Almost grotesquely atmosphere--thanks in large part to Nicholas Musuraca's chilling chiaroscuro cinematography--The Ghost Ship works as a superb thriller with stunning homosexual undertones. I just have one problem: Finn the Mute (Skelton Knaggs). He has internal asides that work as a kind of Greek chorus. But he only has about three of them in the entire film. You could view it as a dash of unapologetic pulp, but I was distracted by it. Here's an idea: what if the entire film was told from his silent point of view? With or without the asides, I think it would be fodder for an interesting remake. Not that I'm endorsing one...

8/10

The Birdcage: Mike Nichols

So, how evil was that son? Amirite? Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is a gorgeous, heart-felt, and hilarious film about tolerance and personal acceptance, but I couldn't get over what a selfish jerk Robin Williams and Nathan Lane's son was. It's funny, but in a weird way I hated the son more than I did Gene Hackman's ultra-conservative senator character. You expect fundamentalist senators to be narrow-minded and hateful. But a man who was selflessly raised in a loving home who then guilts his parents into playing straight? Pretty damn disgusting. On a side note, like almost every film I see him in, The Birdcage tore open the wounds of sorrow I feel in my heart for Robin Williams. When he first came on screen, I instinctively said out loud, "Oh, Robin..."

7/10

Bunny Lake Is Missing: Otto Preminger

To read this review, go to: http://theretroset.com/b-roll-bunny-lake-missing/?utm_content=bufferd0ab1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer.

7/10

Les Godelureaux: Claude Chabrol

Oh Jean-Luc Godard...you so crazy. What else can you say to Godard's selection of Claude Chabrol's Les Godelureaux as one of the "Six Best French Films Since the Liberation?" Of course, the list was made decades and decades ago. But the idea that this film could be one of the best French films ever is as preposterous as suggesting that it's even one of Chabrol's best. I had to watch it twice back-to-back to fully understand what happened. And even then I found it a fairly tepid romantic drama about a rich bastard messing with a young man after he humiliates him in public. I guess there's some level of cruel irony to a bourgeois fop devoting so much of his life to revenging a minor slight against him. But it wasn't enough to make the film truly interesting. I was originally going to write a B-Roll on this film, but I was so bored by it that I talked myself out of it, schedule be damned!

6/10

Tabloid Vivant: Kyle Broom

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-tabloid-vivant-is-the-strangest-and-best-film-you-wont-understand-youll-see-all-year/78184.

7/10

Dirty Grandpa: Dan Mazer

I hate the cliché of the romantic comedy where somebody gets left at the altar because their significant other had an eventful 2-3 days with an old flame. Of course, that's not the only reason why I hated Dan Mazer's Dirty Grandpa. It's almost nothing but horrifically unfunny cringe humor that almost never connects. This is the kind of film where everybody is an asshole to the protagonist because he has the audacity of being contented with a boring life. I don't like watching people act like jerks...unless they're the Marx Brothers. The film's attempts at being emotional and meaningful in the third act with De Niro coming through as a good grandfather and father feel hollow and unearned.

2/10

Captain America: Civil War: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

The first hour doesn't work and most of the action is mediocre. I'd put CIVIL WAR above ULTRON but below WINTER SOLDIER.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

If the whole film was as good as the airport fight, though, CIVIL WAR would be up there with the best of them.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

Also, both ANT-MAN and SPIDER-MAN stole the spotlight as successfully as the Hulk in the first AVENGERS.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

The creativity of the airport scene was phenomenal. Loved seeing them embrace the wackiness of their powers instead of just using punching.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

Still not sure if I'm totally onboard with this new Spidey. I think it'll take another movie for me to make up my mind.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

This is also the best written Tony Stark has been since maybe the first IRON MAN.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

In the end, despite my complaints, this movie was much, much better than the comic storyline it was based on.

— Nathanael Hood (@NateHood257) May 6, 2016

6/10

Dheepan: Jacques Audiard

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-dheepan-disappoints-doesnt-deserve-the-palme/78061.

5/10

About Time: Richard Curtis

I shouldn't like Richard Curtis' About Time as much as I do. Its rules regarding time travel make no damn sense, particularly the BS rule about how you can't change anything before a child is born because they suddenly won't exist. It all smacks of arbitrariness. But I still loved About Time because it's too smart, too original to dislike for those inconsistencies. It said some of the most poignant things about aging, life, death, and loss that I've seen in a movie recently. This is the kind of film whose emotions come about maybe once in a writer's life. Though the scene with the father and son at the beach makes no sense considering the "rules," it made me tear up. If I ever watch the film again, I'll probably react the same way to it.

8/10

The Best of It: Scott Pearson Eberly

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-the-best-of-it/77947.

5/10

Restoration: Zack Ward

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-restoration-is-burnt-out-on-bad-ends/77855.

4/10

The X from Outer Space: Kazui Nihonmatsu

If not for its politics, Kazui Nihonmatsu's The X from Outer Space would have been a very unremarkable kaiju film. The plot is a plethora of kaiju clichés: a monster from outer space drawn to sources of energy on earth, an ineffectual military failing to stop the monster's rampage, a team of scientists finally figuring out how to defeat it. But again, the politics make it interesting. First off, this is one of the earliest kaiju films I can remember that had a legitimately ethnically diverse cast--there are several non-Japanese actors. In particular, two white people whom I assume to be Americans are prominent cast members: a female astronaut named Lisa who is crucial to the plot and a tertiary scientist/advisor who helps helm the official response against the titular monster. There's one scene in particular that shocked me--the American scientist/advisor and one of his Japanese partners reflect on how some world leaders are calling for the use of atomic weaponry against the kaiju. They mention how it is America who seems most strongly against the use of atomic weaponry. You never can tell, huh?

7/10

We the People: The Market Basket Effect: Tommy Reid

To read this review, go to: http://theyoungfolks.com/review/movie-review-we-the-people-the-market-basket-effect/77761.

7/10

Crazy, Stupid, Love: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's Crazy, Stupid, Love is overlong, boring, and too contrived. At one point Steve Carell's character says in a moment of dejection, "What a cliché." When will writers learn that pointing out that something is a cliché doesn't magically make it not a cliché? Here's the film's biggest problem: none of the characters are interesting or lovable enough to make me forgive how unoriginal the narrative is. With the exception of the third act revelation concerning Emma Stone's character, almost all of the plot twists and developments can be seen a mile away. I did like how all of the plot-lines collided in the last 15 minutes like an old school screwball comedy. But even that couldn't redeem its plodding pace. And plus, the part at the end where the 17 year old gives the 13 year old naked pictures of herself is really, really skeezy.

5/10