HER

HER Review

By Darin Skaggs

     Spike Jonze’s new film Her is a story about a man named Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls in love with his computer operating system.  The premise sounds ridiculous and like an exploration of our obsession with technology.  While the film does have that aspect going on, it is also a look at the very idea of love.

     Theodore lives alone, works a job writing “personal” letters for people and has separated from his wife for about a year.  The only interaction he has is with the characters in his video game and his computer.  The new Operating System comes out and he gets it.  While setting it up he is asked if he wants a male or female voice.  He replies female and the voice that emerges is Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.  Her software is so intelligent that it seems she can feel emotions proved by Theodore and Samantha joking during this first interaction.

     The two slowly fall in love.  The genius of the film is that Jonze, who also wrote the film, convinces you that these two people are happy together and then later convinces us that they are drifting apart.  The film is saying that we are more comfortable with our phones and the internet then talking to real people.  It also says that it is hard through rough times to talk to anyone.  Constantly in the background of the film are other people talking to their OS computers.  At times Theodore has to say he is dating an OS and nobody has any negative comments towards that fact.  With this relationship it explores all the aspects of love.  It says what sex can mean to people.  Sometimes people just want a one night stand but nothing serious and a few months later that same person could want a romantic experience.  It explores how people can seem so in sync and later the two people can change and want different things.  This film could have been told with two humans but Jonze’s makes it work with one human and a super smart computer.

     Phoenix really carries the film.  All he has to work against is his knowledge of what the dialogue is.  He did not hear Johansson’s voice while filming due to the fact she was cast after.  Her vocal performance is amazing.  She is playing a computer, she can learn a ton of information, but she is just a computer.  The film is set in the near future so she is smarter than anything we have now.  The whole cast is in fact wonderful including Amy Adams.  The script and the performances really lead to some funny and also touching moments.

     There are little touches in the film that have nothing to do with the story, but add so much to the film as a whole.  The video games have no controller which is probably where gaming counsels are heading.  The clothes look like they are from the 1990’s but a heightened version of what people were wearing back then.  The film ends with people staring at a beautiful view.  The whole view is buildings, all man made. 

     This film is weird, like other Jonze’s films.  It is a surprisingly touching film about love and technology and the dangers of them.  It is very hopeful with some sadness as well.  One of the best of the year and demands repeat viewings.

ONLY GOD FORGIVES

ONLY GOD FORGIVES Review

By Darin Skaggs

     One of the most critically acclaimed films of recent memory is Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive.  That is a super stylized film about an unnamed stunt man, played by Ryan Gosling, who goes around murdering people all in the name of love or something.  In Refn’s new film Only God Forgives the style is taken up to the next level with less story, less character development and limited dialogue.  That all works with great success.

     Only God Forgives begins with Gosling’s character, Julian staring off to the side.  His brother is looking for trouble and he finds it.  He rapes a 16 year old girl.  He is then murdered for his actions.  Gosling wants to get revenge, or not, though he leaves the murderer alone.  His mother comes to get the body and yells at Julian for not getting his revenge for her first son.  She hires people to assassinate the murderer, Chang.  Chang survives and tries to figure out who put the hit on him.

     The film will be divisive probably for the rest of time.  It is so stylized that you can’t help but look away and some will not want to watch after the first few minutes.  Most of the first half hour is wordless and lit so much in red lighting that all the characters are also lit in the red bulbs.  It is also hard to follow the story at times with some random characters and dream sequences that don’t present themselves as dreams. 

     The villain in this film is one of the most interesting of the year.  He is treated like an invincible man.  He spends the film with little emotion on his face with only his sword and occasionally other weapons.  Maybe the film says the good guy always comes in last or at least most of the time.  There is a scene where the Chang and Julian are going to have a fist fight.  The whole film has been leading to this moment because Julian has been looking at his hands in reality and in his dreams.  Yet, the scene goes a different way.  It goes a way you do not see coming and if you stuck with the film thus far you might become even more furious with it.

     The film is slow paced, no real payoff, but that is not the point.  At times Refn is trying to tell us how cool he is and what he can do, but there is enough style to keep the patient people interested.

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES Review

By Darin Skaggs

     Anchorman, the 2003 comedy, was a big hit when it came out and is one of the funniest films in recent memory.  When the sequel was announced, a sense of excitement mixed with nervousness as well came over me.  Mostly leaning towards a pleasant surprise rather than a disappointment Anchorman 2 keeps you laughing even after you left the theater.

     As the title suggests this is a continuation on the story of Ron Burgundy, played by Will Ferrell.  He has a child, Walter, with his now wife Veronica, played by Christina Applegate.  She moves up in her career as the first female lead anchor at night.  Ron is fired.  Down on his luck he gets an offer to join the first 24 hour news channel.  He then rounds up his old news crew to join him. He gets Brian played by Paul Rudd, Champ played by David Koechner and Brick, played by Steve Carell.  They join the crew and what soon follows is a feud with the good looking young anchor Jack Lime, played by James Marsden.

     There are many hilarious scenes in this film.  Each introduction to the characters is funny.  There is a recreation of the fight scene from the first film, which is taken to an extreme that makes you think it has gone too long and also you will never want it to end.  Steve Carell’s Brick character is again like the first film, the funniest part.  This is probably why they gave him more to do.  There are some weird scenes in this film that makes for some of the funnier moments in the film including a goodbye song for a shark and a slow motion car crash.

     Some jokes fall flat which is alright because the film is packed with so many jokes that they mostly work.  The film doesn’t really try to say anything new.  It takes place in 1980 and comments on news related material that the present audience watches including car chases and cute puppy videos. 

     The film is super funny, but not much else and that’s okay.  The movies main goal is to makes us laugh and be really weird.  A sure contender for funniest film of the year, the film could be on par with the first.

PRISONERS

PRISONERS Review

By Darin Skaggs

     One of the biggest fears a parent has for their children is that they will be taken.  There is a sense of dread every time you cannot find your child for even a split second.  If they were gone what would you do to get them back and would you stoop as low as the people committing the crimes to get them back.  Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners takes that idea on and takes it to many larger levels.

     It’s Thanksgiving and two families have joined together, the Dovers and the Birchs.  The two young girls take a trip over to the Dover’s house to retrieve a read whistle, but they don’t come back.  After looking all around the neighborhood the families are forced to call the police.  Then Detective Loki enters, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.  He does his best to get all the information on the possible kidnapping.  A furious Keller Dover, played by Hugh Jackman, immediately clashes with Loki because he needs to get his daughter back.  The only suspect is a mentally challenged man Alex Jones, played by Paul Dano, who was driving a RV around the streets when the girls went missing.  Alex is released from custody and then Dover takes the situation into his own hands.

     The film tries to examine all aspects of these horrible crimes.  Dover’s wife spends the majority of the film just lying in bed, depressed.  Dover himself starts drinking heavily and Loki becomes obsessed with solving the case.  It also tries to explore why someone would do this and why someone would not admit it even if they did it or not. 

This explains why the film is so long.  It needs to know everyone’s reaction to this tragedy.  This makes the film unfocused at times from the bigger story.  Also there are some twists that come out of nowhere and some scenes that fail due to them trying to keep the mystery a mystery. 

     There are a few moments that are creepy, heartbreaking and at times too on the nose.  It has good performances especially Gyllenhaal.  It was an interesting film that will probably not make a big impact.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY

 

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY Review

By Darin Skaggs

     We’ve all seen the story where one average man is struggling with the fact he has done nothing with his life.  Then, because of that fact, he decides to travel and have one of the biggest adventures he has ever had.  This story has been repeated over and over.  It has been run dry from giving us anything new.  Yet, Ben Stiller’s new film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty gives a breath of fresh air in this overdone tale with some missteps.

     The film is about Mitty, played by Stiller, works in a basement like room where he produces photos for LIFE magazine.  At this time LIFE magazine is about to close and become an online magazine.  His good friend and professional photographer Sean O’Connell, played by Sean Penn, has sent him the still for the final cover page.  Mitty and his co-worker cannot find it.  With the investigative help of co-worker and love interest Cheryl Melhoff, played by Kristen Wiig, Mitty sets out to find O’Connell and the missing picture.

     The interesting aspect of Mitty’s character is that he, every once in a while, zones out and goes into his imaginary world where he becomes heroic.  At one point he saves a dog from a building about to explode, the next minute he’s a dashing ice climber.  Mitty is mocked for zoning out, especially by his new boss Ted Hendricks, played by Adam Scott.  He imagines he has an epic fight on moving cars with Hendricks at one point.  The second half of the film is where his ”zoning out” moments are inspiration for having hero like moments in real life.

     The film is absolutely stunning.  The film gives you a sense that you’re in the places Mitty is.  There is a volcano that erupts and is incredibly beautiful.  Shots of mountains make you feel you like you are really there.  There is a trek across snow that makes you feel like you can do anything.  Though the film looks so good the themes it is trying to get across is often hitting you over the head.  The magazine just happens to be LIFE.  The final magazine is about to be released the same time Mitty decides to live every day like it’s the final one.  The film is constantly saying the motto of LIFE, which is inspirational at first but then becomes over rot.

     Ben Stiller is known for his comedies, such as the hilarious Zoolander and Tropic Thunder.  This time around he wanted to go for more of a light drama, sort of an inspirational light comedy.  All of that works for the most part with some great laughs including a misunderstanding of the plot of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and anti-climactic moment with one of the most inspiration sounding songs of all time.  With those funny moments a lot of the comedy does fall flat.  It seemed there were not a lot of jokes in the film so they looked at the script and just randomly added jokes to make it funnier.

     Walter Mitty is an enjoyable watch.  You will be glued to the beauty of the screen and leave wanting more.  The comedy works sometimes yet fails the majority of the time.  It is a film that says an over rot subject and gives it some new life.