BLACKFISH

BLACKFISH Review

By Darin Skaggs

     What is the main purpose of a documentary?  Is it to explore a day in the life of an interesting figure?  Is it to explore inspirational or depressing themes?  Is it to get the word out on tragic events happening right now?  These are probably all right answers and if all of these are equated in the film that is what makes a great documentary. Blackfish only attempts to be one of those aspects and that is getting the word out on SeaWorld not admitting that keeping Killer Whales in captivity is making them hostile.

     Blackfish makes the case that SeaWorld should not keep their Killer Whales in the small pools because it makes them go crazy and attack trainers.  To prove to us that this is true they show us real footage of several attacks from these Killer Whales including a whale holding a man’s foot and dragging him down to the pool floor, a man being crushed by two whales and several accounts of the whales pushing around the trainers.  It also takes interviews from former employees telling tales of disturbing moments while in the park.  No one currently in SeaWorld is interviewed to give their side of the story because it is claimed that they refused to be interviewed.

     A lot of the footage is hard to watch.  You’ll most likely spend a lot of those scenes blocking your eyes from seeing them like it is some sort of horror film and rightfully so.  It makes a good case for SeaWorld being monsters and you will probably come out of the film not ever wanting to go there again.  The film works completely on what it is trying to do.  That is all though; the film is not or does not try to be anything else.  It is just a persuasive documentary.  Other great documentaries are about so much more like the recent Searching For Sugar Man explores the idea of changing a life with anything you do, even if you do not know about it.  This film only wants you to boycott SeaWorld.

     At other times the documentary tries too hard to make you hate the monsters at SeaWorld.  When the man gets crushed, it is disturbing to watch but sort of looks like an accident.  He is riding a whale, then out of nowhere another whale jumps up and lands on the other one.  This could be on purpose or it could just be a crazy accident.  Other moments like a homeless guy sneaking in to the park and dying are treated like it is SeaWorld’s fault but if a man sneaks into any wild animal cage they will probably be killed.  The film is so desperate to convince us that the whales should be free that it goes overboard at times even though there is plenty of information to persuade us to think that way.  The documentary is harrowing and makes you feel sad for these animals.

BLUE JASMINE

BLUE JASMINE Review

By Darin Skaggs

     Woody Allen is a director who probably feels the need to keep working on a count he makes a movie every year.  Sometimes the film is a miss like Whatever Works and others hit the mark like Annie Hall, Vicki Christna Barsalona or his new film Blue Jasmine.

     Blue Jasmine tells the tale of a middle aged woman named Jasmine, played wonderfully by Cate Blanchett.  She is moving in with her sister Ginger, played by the great Sally Hawkins, due to Jasmine’s husband going to prison and eventually killing himself.  Her husband Hal, played by Alec Baldwin, is arrested for fraud which means before his arrest him and Jasmine lived in luxury.  Her sister is not living the high life.  She is divorced with two kids and they’re just getting by.  The two sisters try to get used to their new lives.

     The drive of the film is Jasmine and Blanchett carries the film the whole way through.  Her opening scene is Jasmine blabbering to an elderly woman on a plane.  The woman meets up with her husband and he asks if she knows Jasmine.  The woman replies that Jasmine was talking to herself, then started talking to her.  She spends the whole film going into these trances of talking to someone who isn’t there.  It is revealed throughout the film why she is like this and Blanchett is funny and sad in the role.

      The film is full of great characters.  Ginger is doing well on her own but still feels insignificant when talking to and about her sister.  She has a boyfriend that she seems perfectly happy with who is named Chili.  She becomes so captured with the negative thoughts about Chili coming from Jasmine that she cheats on him.   Jasmine says she is all out of money then complains about first class not being up to snuff.  Jasmine has been living a rich life so long that she does not know what “regular” life is like.  Hal is a jerk towards people who are lesser than him and other characters are bitter of them being less fortunate.

     At times the films motives seem to be a bit confusing.  Allen is rich just like the characters.  So is he trying to say that the rich have just as many problems as the middle class?  That is true but is he defending them or is he trying to find out what it would be like if he had to live a normal life.  Sometimes it feels more like Allen is trying to make us feel bad for the rich than feeling bad for all kinds of people.  This does not bruise the film too much because it is a nice exploration of mental illness and how it is caused.

THE SPECTACULAR NOW

THE SPECTACULAR NOW Review

By Darin Skaggs

     The 1980’s is known for many things, one of them is the teenage film series including The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  In recent years that genre has come back with a similar comedic/dramatic tone with films like Perks of Being a Walflower, Superbad and the most recent The Spectacular Now.  A film that explores the difficultly of being a senior in High School

and not knowing what to do next.

     The film stars Miles Teller, who plays Sutter Keely, a senior in High School.  He lives with his mom, who he doesn’t get along with.  He has just broken up with his girlfriend, which he is taking pretty hard.  He doesn’t know his father which constantly eats away at him.  He also drinks a ton, so much he seems used to being drunk or buzzed most of the time.  His life is just starting and he is already near rock bottom.  That is true until he meets Aimee Fincky, played by Shailene Woodley.  They spend their time together deciding how to grow up and what to do with their lives while forming a bond.

     Teller plays Sutter so well you see this character and not the actor.  There is no moment where he or any other character says what he is feeling in a big climatic emotional monologue.  The emotions they feel are subtle.  No one ever comes out that he is an 18 year old alcoholic but we know he is from the script.  There are many moments in the film that are not played up to make you feel.  It is a slow ride of teenagers learning to love, learn and be okay with themselves.

     The relationship of Sutter and Aimee is one of the best of the year.  They are slowly falling in love.  Aimee is changing Sutter for the better and vice versa.  Yet, Sutter introduces Aimee to drinking, so he is also teaching her this bad habit.  You can tell he wants to be with his ex-girlfriend but throughout the film he gives less and less thought to her.  You can tell he starts to only care about Aimee.  They form not only a romantic bond, but a great bond of friendship.  They are patient with each other and forgiving which is something you don’t see in most films.

     This is one of the more touching films of the year and a great exploration of teenage alcoholism and sadness.  It captures leaving High School with no plan and yet gives hope to that situation.

UPSTREAM COLOR

UPSTREAM COLOR Review

By Darin Skaggs

     In 2004 Shane Carruth made the time travel film Primer.  Since that many people have studied, dissected and over analyzed it due to the strict time travel elements.  Nine years later Carruth has come up with his sophomore film Upstream Color.  This is a film that is not based on logic like his previous, but based on human emotion.

     From the way it is told the story is difficult to pin down.  Kris, Amy Siemetz, is at a club when a man drugs her, drags her out and they end up at her place.  She is “hypnotized” into drinking water and telling where her most valuables are, which are coins.  After a morning of panic, an afternoon of stress, Kris is then drawn to an RV during the night time where a man removes the worm that she was drugged with.  Sometime later she meets Jeff, played by the director, and they are drawn together.  At the same time the man who removed the worm is watching over many pigs that seem to be living in parallel with Kris and Jeff.  There are many other pigs that make you think that other people have gone through what Kris did.

     This film is full of emotional moments and is a study of pain, love, loneliness and togetherness.  The two leads when they meet are at their worst.  When they talk they don’t have much in common at all.  Yet, they spend every waking moment they can together.  You can tell they care for each other and want to be with each other because it makes them feel better.  The man with the pigs is confused why the surrogate pigs for Kris and Jeff are also hanging out.  They have both been through a tragedy.  They are not aware it was the same event but still their sadness makes them bond more than if they were feeling normal.

     With all of that confusion the film is hard to digest and take in.  The mainstream audience will not be patient with this but loyal viewers will be majorly satisfied.  This is a film, like many films this year, which can mean different things to different people.  The film can be seen as sci-fi.  You can also see it as only metaphors.  You can even meet those opinions half way.

     It is a beautiful meditation on tragedy and love.  The acting is great especially Seimetz.  It is a crazy and weird film yet ends with a lot of hope. 

LEE DANIEL'S THE BUTLER

LEE DANIEL’S THE BUTLER Review

By Darin Skaggs

     In Forrest Gump the title character meets the President of the United States, fights in Vietnam, and helps the first African American students that attend a whites only campus, makes a speech at Washington DC, wins a ping pong competition, goes on the Johnny Carson show and starts his own fast food chain.  This is supposed to be an exploration of our countries history told through this simple man.  He does so much that it feels ridiculous.  In Lee Daniel’s new film Lee Daniel’s The Butler, those very themes are also explored which makes the film just as ridiculous.

     Forrest Whitaker plays said butler, Cecil Gains.  He starts as a child who is a slave and when his father is killed becomes a house slave.  He leaves to start a life in the north as a hotel clerk.  He marries Gloria, played by Oprah Winfrey in a mediocre performance.  At one point he gets a call from the White House and ends up getting a job there.  There he serves through several presidents including Kennedy and Reagan while inspiring all of them to make their most important speeches.  At the same time his eldest son is protesting in every major event in the civil rights movement.

     The theme of the film is exploring our nation’s history, specifically the civil rights history.  This film is based on a true story though it seems to be all coincidence in what happens.  Every single President asks Cecil a question about race rights, which leads them to make a speech about the race issues.  Meanwhile, his son is a protestor for the race rights and happens to be at every big rally and moment that is well remembered in our history including being with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther party.

     They also decide, not sure if this is based off fact or not, to make Cecil’s life at the White House near perfect and the life at his own house very flawed.  There is rarely a moment where he is happy at home in fact. 

     The film’s obsession with showing us everything about our nation’s history with race is that the story begins with Cecil as a young slave and ends with him seeing Obama being elected as the first African American President.  Again, maybe the math is off but that seems like an impossibility.  Would he be too old? Oh well, the film shoves down our throat about race, which is important, but better films have come out about it.  The butler is filled with good performances for the most part as each President comes and goes you will want to know which actor is playing who, but that’s the only interest you’ll have in the film and will most likely fade away after viewing it.