Movie Review The Family Stone

The Family Stone (2005) 

Directed by Thomas Bezucha 

Written by Thomas Bezucha 

Starring Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker

Release Date December 16th, 2005

Published December 16th, 2005 

Streaming on Starz via Amazon Prime 

The amazing Diane Keaton has become an icon of grace and sensibility. Her Oscar nominated roles in Reds , Annie Hall and Something's Gotta Give are marvelous examples of her range and exceptional talent. Even lesser works like The First Wives Club are elevated by her presence. Casting Diane Keaton is like buying insurance against a bad script. Even a script as weak as the one for Keaton's latest film The Family Stone, looks a lot better for having her in it.

It doesn't hurt that Keaton's involvement helped entice an A-list of actors to play her children, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney and Luke Wilson, in this tepid holiday dramedy. Proof that a great cast can make the bitter pill of cliche go down like eggnog.

Diane Keaton stars in The Family Stone, as Sybil the matriarch of a large brood of grown children. With her college professor hubby, Kelly (Craig T. Nelson), Sybil is welcoming her five kids, and their various tagalongs, home for christmas. This year the Stone's are playing host to one particularly interesting guest. Her name is Meredith and if all goes according to plans she will soon be the oldest Stone son Everett's (Dermot Mulroney) fiancee.

Unfortunately for Everett, Meredith's stick in the mud, buttoned up personality has already rubbed his family the wrong way. Everett's youngest sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) has met Meredith and decided she hates her. Amy has busily poisoned the family well, including older sister Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser), middle child Thad (Tyrone Giordano) and his partner, Patrick (Brian J. White). Dad and his other son Ben (Luke Wilson) at least attempt to be open to Meredith.

The Family Stone breaks down to a sort of red state-blue state conflict. The Stones are liberal, ivy leaguers with a gay son who is also deaf and dating a black guy and Meredith represents the uptight, conservative business-minded red staters. The conflict is a battle for Everett's soul. Will he return to his old liberal open-minded self or marry Meredith and become a Bush voter?

Supposedly helping Meredith fight this battle is her sister Julie (Claire Danes) but unfortunately her late arrival only serves to make things worse.

The Family Stone attempts to mix screwball family comedy and heartfelt family drama with subplots including a dramatic disease and a chase scene to stop a character from leaving town forever. It's a difficult and well-worn mixture and one the film bears only because of the expert cast. There is nothing new or innovative about writer-director Andrew Bezucha's approach to this commonplace material, so he relies on this likable group of pro actors to carry it off and, to a certain degree, it works.

Sarah Jessica Parker delivers the film's best performance. Her Meredith is sympathetic as the outsider in a group of overbearing tightly knit liberals. In the hole from the moment she arrives, she has our sympathies.  However, Meredith is never merely a victim. Her lack of social graces and occasions of running at the mouth when she shouldn't combined with a complete lack of a sense of humor make some of the family's negativity toward her understandable. Parker plays the conflicts well, especially playing against her natural likeability.

Parker is let down on more than one occasion by the script that forces in nearly every well-worn trope of this genre. There is the aforementioned chase scene, a comically inept fight scene and of course plenty of spilled food for characters to roll around in. That we forgive many of these cliches is a function of the lovable qualities of this terrific cast.

The Family Stone is a cousin to a number of memorable family Christmas comedies like Home For The Holidays starring Holly Hunter, the romance and family drama from Love Actually and the movie-of-the-week style tragedy of Meryl Streep's One True Thing. Andrew Bezucha does not lift elements from these films as much as mimic them with his own twist. These are well known tropes that each of these films use to push dramatic buttons and The Family Stone is merely the latest film to engage them.

The cast of The Family Stone makes the familiarity work for them. Like watching old friends gather at a holiday party you can't help but enjoy the way the cast bonds, bickers and eventually falls in food. A more pessimistic viewer might expect more from this excellent cast but that is reviewing the film that The Family Stone is not. Remarking on the film it is, The Family Stone is not to be taken seriously and likely not to be remembered by this time next year.  It is just an average good natured holiday comedy.

Not for the cynical, The Family Stone is an overly familiar holiday family movie that pushes all of the same emotional buttons as is the norm of the genre. That it manages to be quite often funny and occasionally heartfelt is due to a cast of real pros. Like the revival of a favorite play, you know what is going to happen next because you have seen it so many times before, you watch to see this new group of actors give new life to the material. The Family Stone makes familiarity work by dressing it in a whole lot of star power.

Movie Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) 

Directed by Tim Burton

Written by John August

Starring Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Christopher Lee

Release Date July 15th, 2005 

Published July 15th, 2005 

Streaming on HBO Max

The first time Roald Dahl's childhood dreamscape Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was brought to the big screen, under the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the film became a beloved children's classic based on the gentle whimsy of Gene Wilder's cyanide-laced wit as Willy. However, writer Roald Dahl was never a fan of this adaptation.

The legendary writer passed on before another adaptation could be taken up. According to his wife Liccy, the latest adaptation, with the original book title, by director Tim Burton, is a version that Mr. Dahl himself would have embraced. We will never know for sure. What we do know is that Mr. Burton's version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a visionary and astonishing work of art from the set design to the music and the amazing work of one of our finest actors, Johnny Depp.

Willy Wonka's (Johnny Depp) chocolate factory in the center of London has been a source of mystery and wonder ever since Wonka fired all of his employees some years ago and shuttered the factory. When one day it reopened without hiring any new employees the mystery deepened. Now finally after years of being a shut in, Wonka has decided to allow five children to visit his factory. By finding a golden ticket inside a Wonka chocolate bar, five kids will have the adventure of a lifetime inside the legendary candy factory.

One of the children who prays for the opportunity to go to the factory is one Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore). Charlie lives in a ramshackle flat with an unintentional skylight above his bed. His bedridden grandparents (David Kelly, Liz Smith, David Morris, and Eileen Essell) take up most of the living room and we are never quite sure where Charlie's mom and dad (Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor) sleep. Still the family is quite chipper given the circumstances.

Charlie, however, seems the least likely child to get the chance to capture a golden ticket. Charlie gets one chocolate bar a year on his birthday, essentially a one in a million chance. Things look especially hopeless after the first four tickets are discovered across the globe by over-privileged little brats who buy in bulk or crack the system for the chance at a ticket.

There is Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), a terribly spoiled little girl whose father (James Fox) gets her whatever she demands no matter what the price. Violet Beauregard (Annasophia Robb) is a vainglorious little brat whose mother also buys in bulk to get her daughter a ticket, despite the fact that neither actually eats chocolate. Augustus Gloop (Philip Weirgatz) is a plump little German boy who stumbled on his ticket only after taking a bite out of it. Finally we have a venal, little twit named Mike Teavee who discovers his ticket via the internet and his hacking abilities, one of many subtle updates of the source material.

Well of course Charlie Bucket does get his golden ticket and he and his Grandpa Joe (Kelly) are off to the mysterious factory where Joe once worked when it had employees. Inside is a magical world of wondrous candied delights. Mr. Wonka is a bit of a nutball-- an effete dilettante who, despite his child friendly products and his invitation to children to visit, doesn't seem to like children at all.

As the tour commences, the strange surroundings evolve into even stranger situations as one child after another falls victim to their excesses, each child disappearing with a Greek chorus of Wonka's new employees playing them off. These oddball new workers who have helped Willy restore the factory are Oompa Loompas, a tribe of identical individuals all played by the astonishingly deadpan actor Deep Roy.

The child actors are very well cast, especially young Freddie Highmore as Charlie. Highmore caught Mr. Depp's eye as one of the child cast of his Finding Neverland. Highmore was Oscar-worthy as the youngest of the children that inspired the writing of the children's classic Peter Pan in Finding Neverland. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, his bright, crooked smile and boundless enthusiasm is the perfect complement to Depp's weirdness and the loving and beautiful performance of David Kelly as Grandpa Joe.

Then there is the ethereal Deep Roy as all of the Oompa Loompas. A wonderful change from the creepy looking green elves of the 1971 film, Roy has a detached air that seems perfectly at home in the weird universe of Willy Wonka. The curious little song and dance routines of the Oompa Loompas that somehow match perfectly with the actions of what just occurred to their child subjects in the story are wildly entertaining and yet just a little creepy. Oscar nominated composer Danny Elfman wrote and sings each of the songs but it is Roy's dry, deadpan dance numbers that raise the music to hilarious comic levels.

Director Tim Burton disappointed slightly with his melodramatic fantasy Big Fish, but returns to artistic form with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a visual masterpiece like nothing Burton has ever created. It seems that having a good story to start with allowed Burton to focus all of his energies on creating a brand new universe for this well known story. His accomplishment is breathtaking in every detail and production designer Alex McDowell can begin prepping his acceptance speech.

Never having read Mr. Dahl's book I cannot speak to the faithfulness of Mr. Burton's film, though as I said earlier, Mr. Dahl's wife, Liccy, who is credited as producer on the film, claims he would have been pleased. We do know that Mr. Burton and screenwriter John August (Big Fish, Go) did add one subplot that may become an essential part of the Wonka lore.

Burton and August create a backstory for Willy Wonka, a glimpse of his childhood and what led a seemingly normal kid to build a strange and very unique candy paradise. The backstory includes a stellar cameo by the legendary Christopher Lee and deepens the character of Willy Wonka, taking us beyond his simple weirdness.

The essential element of making the character of Willy Wonka work is not on the page. Johnny Depp, in a performance that is as winning as his Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean, creates a Willy Wonka that is earnest, deeply sincere and a little disturbed, but also quite savvy. His reasons for finally opening the factory to visitors are reasonable and intelligent with just a hint of overreaction. He has a sharp wit combined with the defensiveness of a small child. It is a multi-layered and wonderfully crafted performance.

While many critics lazily point out things they believe are inspired by the weirdness of Michael Jackson, a more active viewer will sense something far more original and brilliant. Completely at odds with the glib wittiness of Gene Wilder's take on the character, Mr. Depp takes the character in a direction that has more connection to his own Edward Scissorhands than with MJ or Mr. Wilder.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a joy for children of all ages. Even diehard fans of 1971's Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory will not be able to deny the wonderful artistry of this re-imagining. There is talk of Burton adapting the Charlie sequel Charlie and The Great Glass Elevator. I'm normally not one to encourage a sequel but if it can be promised to be as brilliant as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I will line up for my golden ticket right now.

Movie Review: A History of Violence Starring Viggo Mortensen

A History of Violence (2005) 

Directed by David Cronenberg 

Written by Josh Olson

Starring Viggo Mortenson, Maria Bello, Ed Harris

Release Date September 23rd, 2005 

Published September 23rd, 2005 

Streaming Rental through Amazon 

One unique trend in modern film is the connection between sex and violence. In thrillers and horror films these two disparate acts are often found at a crossroad. In horror; sex is punished, often with a bloody violent death, see Friday The 13th. In thrillers like Sin City sex and violence are married through characters. The prostitutes of Sin City are righteously violent vixens who mete out biblical justice when they aren't serving the few righteous citizens who prove worthy of their services.

In David Cronenberg's A History of Violence the sex-violence link is a little more murky. The sex is hardcore and the violence is bloody and excessive. There is no open link between sex and violence except that extreme forms of both are in the film. What in Cronenberg's mind links the two could be a philosophical circle of life, a birth and death connection. Or it could be that few things are more cinematically attention grabbing than sex and violence.

Whatever the reasoning, Cronenberg's A History Of Violence links sex and violence inside a thriller that never fails to titivate and fascinate.

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortenson) has achieved the American dream. Living in a small town in Indiana, Tom own's a diner, his wife Edie is a successful lawyer and their two kids, 16 year old Jack (Ashton Holmes) and 6 year old Sarah (Heidi Hayes) are healthy and thriving. The Stall family is the perfect Norman Rockwell idea of homey goodness.

Lurking beneath the surface of this small town paradise are some violent and dangerous secrets that come to life when two thugs show up in Tom's diner. We have seen these thugs in the opening of the film callously murder the operators of a small motel, now they have arrived at Tom's diner at closing time with the same ill intentions. In a scene that is stunningly violent and graphic, Tom manages to stop the thugs from robbing the diner and murdering his customers.

The violent nature of Tom's turning back these bad guys is overlooked by residents who are just thankful for Tom's heroism. However, when Tom's bravery makes the paper his violent acts and recognizable face draw the attention of people Tom may have been trying to forget. On the heels of Tom's heroic act, three more thuggish types arrive in town and at Tom's diner.

The leader of this group of bad guys is Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris) who claims to recognize Tom as a man named Joey who some years earlier disappeared from Philadelphia after having taken Fogerty's eye out with barbed wire. Tom incredulously explains that he doesn't know who Joey is and is eventually forced to call in the local sheriff (Peter MacNeill) to run Fogerty out of town. That doesn't work and eventually Tom is forced to face Fogerty at his home in front of his whole family.

While all of this drama with Fogerty is going on, tensions at home have amped up over Jack's sudden bursts of arrogance and violence. Being bullied at school, Jack finally retaliated and badly hurt one of the boys who had been harassing him. There is also tension between husband and wife over Fogerty's accusations and holes in Tom's past that he refuses or simply can't resolve. Fogerty confronting Edie in a shopping mall plants seeds of doubt in her mind that eventually leads Edie to believe her husband may not be who she thinks he is.

A History of Violence is a mystery and a thriller. Cronenberg deftly walks the line in teasing the identity of Tom and Joey, allowing for intriguing speculation and cathartic revelation. It's a difficult tightrope to walk and since this mystery plot isn't even Cronenberg's real subject, his skilled handling of it is that much more impressive.

In A History of Violence, David Cronenberg asks; is violence inevitable? Uncontrollable? Is it simply part of human nature? Cronenberg even wonders if violence is hereditary. Is it possible that because Tom is capable of so much violence that he has passed this genetic trait for violence to Jack? Geneticists have debated a violence gene but most feel it is often more nurture than nature. Man is inherently predisposed to certain forms of violence through evolution, the survival of the fittest, but the trait for a violent nature is not passed from one generation to the next through the genes.

Evolution and the survival of the fittest have been a favored subject of David Cronenberg for years. A History of Violence is yet another example of his fascination with the subject. The film displays a kill or be killed example of characters who show themselves to simply be superior in knowing how to survive. One character specifically demonstrates that he is the fittest of all.

Then there is the sex and violence I mentioned in my opening paragraphs. The sex and violence in A History of Violence are graphic and closely examined by Cronenberg's camera. The film opens with offscreen violence which we witness the aftermath of, large pools of blood and a pair of battered bodies, and a shocking finale that also takes place just offscreen, though is no less stunning for not having been seen.

The first sex scene between Tom and Edie begins right away with a bit of kink as Edie dresses the part of a cheerleader and Tom the captain of the football team waiting to take her virginity. The scene progresses to sex that is not often portrayed in a mainstream movie. The scene is not graphic per se, but it is surprisingly frank and revealing.

The violence once again erupts at Tom's diner when the thugs attempt the robbery. Tom defends himself and his customers with serious violence. First shooting one thug in the head, a scene in which Cronenberg captures this mans head exploding from the bullet impact in a vividly realistic flash cut. Tom then kills the other guy with a shot to heart that sends the thug flying through a window.

More scenes of violence proceed the films final sex scene which is completely opposite the tender, loving lovemaking of the first scene. After a major argument in which Edie wonders if Tom may really be Joey, Tom violently takes Edie on the stairs of the family home. The scene begins as a rape but soon an excited and very into it Edie begins to enjoy the violence. This is a highly controversial moment that Cronenberg couches as not being a comment on women and violence but as a comment on Edie's character and her own attraction to danger and the unknown. That's debatable, it's fair to say, many women will justifiably find this scene of violent sex hard to watch so be prepared.

What I really liked about A History of Violence is Cronenberg's depth and curiosity and his bravery in examining so many subjects inside one story. The film considers evolution, violence, sex, and genetics in a frank and intelligent manner. Cronenberg does not hold back at all. His violence is shocking, his sex is no holds barred and his mind is open to exploring; through these characters a wide variety of interesting topics.

There is also in A History Of Violence a smart mystery thriller plot. Is Tom really a mob thug named Joey? Does Edie know the truth? Who is this man Fogerty and who is this guy he works for who claims to be Joey/Tom's brother, played by Oscar nominee William Hurt? This thriller plot combined with Cronenberg's lively mind make a formidable movie.

A History of Violence can be written off as exploitative, but that is only if you look at the surface of the picture. Beneath the surface is a smart and always curious film in search of truths about human nature and our propensity for violence. Inside A History of Violence is a clever dissertation on the modern survival of the fittest.

We rarely acknowledge and certainly do not examine modern examples of the survival of the fittest and the various ways one human thrives ahead another. David Cronenberg is the rare person who is quite taken with this subject. A History of Violence, I believe, is just one of many examples of how Cronenberg has and will continue examining this fascinating and disturbing subject.

Movie Review: Brothers

Brothers (2009) 

Directed by Jim Sheridan 

Written by David Benioff 

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Clifton Collins Jr.

Release Date December 4th, 2009

Published January 10th, 2010

Streaming on Starz via Amazon Prime 

It's interesting how critics can disagree so thoroughly. When the movie Brothers was released in December of 2009 most critics praised the work of Tobey Maguire and touted him as an Oscar contender. When I considered the film I felt that Tobey Maguire's performance was the film's weakest link and that Jake Gyllenhaal was the standout.

Brothers arrives on DVD this week and you can weigh in on which actor you prefer or maybe you love them both. One thing is certain, while I have my reservations about Maguire's performance, this story of one brother thought lost in war and another finding himself in the company of family has moments of great power and deeply felt emotions.

Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) has long been the black sheep of his family. His father was a General (Sam Shepard) and his brother Sam (Tobey Maguire) has followed in dad's footsteps. While Tommy has bounced from job to job and finally a stint in prison, Sam joined the army, settled down with Grace (Natalie Portman) and had two beautiful daughters.

Despite their differences Tommy and Sam are close and Sam is there when Tommy gets out of prison. Soon after however he is off to war in Afghanistan leaving Tommy to try and reconnect with his family which because of strains with his dad is not easy and soon he is returning to some bad behaviors.

On a mission Sam's helicopter is shot down and he and another soldier are taken hostage. Grace is soon informed that her husband is dead. You likely know where this story is headed as Grace informs Tommy of his brothers seeming demise and the two begin to turn their mutual grief into a comforting romance that will become quite uncomfortable when Sam returns home.

Brothers was directed by the humanist director Jim Sheridan whose portraits of humanity In America and My Left Foot are filled such astonishing truth and beauty that it's no surprise they were mostly ignored by audiences though lauded by critics and awards givers. Sheridan's style focuses the action in the hearts and minds of tough, damaged characters and in Brothers that focus comes through in the remarkable work of Jake Gyllenhaal.

The actor once known as Bubble Boy continues to evolve into one of our finest actors and even when playing a role where he seems to have less range to play than his co-star he shines by so effortlessly bringing his inner turmoil to the surface with quiet dignity and not merely the grand gesture. 

Gyllenhaal's performance is illuminated next to the more showy and forceful performance of Tobey Maguire whose grandstanding shouting stand in for honest emotions and understanding. With far more range to play with from the trauma of war and perceived betrayal, Maguire fails to connect and simply falls back on scenery chewing. 

Natalie Portman is caught between the brothers and her performance is a little lost in the shuffle. Portman exudes pain and warmth in scenes with Gyllenhaal while cowering in fear in scenes with Maguire, Portman's performance struggles depending who she is sharing the screen with. 

Problems asides, Jim Sheridan's direction is masterful and the story evolves one powerful, emotional scene after another until it reaches exceptional climax. Gyllenhaal is MVP doing his best to ground the story in a believable emotional realm while Maguire overplays and Portman vacillates between the two extremes. 

Flawed but still moving, Brothers is worth renting for arguably the best performance in the career of Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake is making the big move to blockbusters in Prince of Persia this summer, here's hoping he brings the same strength he showed in Brothers to his first major blockbuster.

Movie Review: Armored

Armored (2009) 

Directed by Nimrod Antal

Written by James V. Simpson

Starring Matt Dillon, Columbus Short, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Skeet Ulrich

Release Date December 4th, 2009 

Published December 4th, 2009 

Streaming Rental via Amazon Prime 

Armored is the latest attempt by Hollywood to look engaged and aware of the current economic condition. At its center is a character making less than a living wage and about to lose his home and the desperate lengths he considers going to in order to save everything.

Columbus Short stars in Armored as Ty a former Iraq war veteran who returns home to a crumbling neighborhood and a teenage brother to take care of. The bank is looking to foreclose on Ty's house and the only job he can get is a part time gig as a guard working for an armored car company.

Ty's pal Mike (Matt Dillon) got him the job and does what he can to help him out. Mike has a plan, with the help of 4 other guards they will set up a robbery of their own trucks. 42 million dollars can go a long way toward solving Ty's problems but he only agrees to go along after a threat by child services to take his little brother away.

The plan comes off without a hitch, initially. Hiding the trucks in an abandoned industrial building the crew begins off-loading the cash when Baines (Laurence Fishburne) spots a homeless guy hiding in the building. He kills the guy and Ty realizes that things have gone too far. He locks himself in one of the trucks and sets off the alarm to try and draw attention. A cop (Milo Ventimiglia) does arrive and he too is shot. 

Ty makes an effort to save the cop and stop the bad guys and that is where Armored gets its juice. Directed by Nimrod Antal, Armored gets off to an exceptionally slow start but once it picks up some speed it gets pretty entertaining. Columbus Short is a likable actor who holds the screen well as well as our hero. Matt Dillon as the villain is backed up well  by Laurence Fishburne, Skeet Ulrich and Jean Reno.

As for how timely Armored is? The idea of a guy willing to rob an armored truck to save his house is more of a motivational conceit than a comment on our times. Armored isn't much related to our current economic conditions as it as a coincidence. This film has been made a few times before and could work just as well in a prosperous economy; there's always someone who’s struggling.

Armored is an old school action flick with good chase scenes, gunplay and a strong hero. Director Nimrod Antal takes a little while to get things going but the final act moves fast toward a satisfying action flick conclusion. If everything is tied up a little too neatly; call it a function of modern pop entertainment, modern audiences hate a down ending.

Movie Review: Avatar

Avatar (2009) 

Directed by James Cameron

Written by James Cameron

Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez

Release Date December 18th, 2009 

Published December 18th, 2009 

Back in theaters September 23rd, 2022

Streaming Rental on Amazon Prime 

New generation tech in service of a Bush era mindset, W or HW, Avatar is James Cameron advancing film tech to a place no one has seen before while also a response to American imperialism as Cameron envisions it. The tech is phenomenal, the politics are so 2003. The story of Avatar begins just as James Cameron was crowning himself the King of the World. After his Titanic effort to bring an ocean set romance to screen, James Cameron surveyed the landscape of movies and saw that the form, as it was, could not capture his vision of his project.

So, the King of the World abdicated for several years, biding his time until movie technology caught up with his vision. After seeing Peter Jackson give life to Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Cameron finally saw something he could work with. Employing engineers and film geeks Cameron went to work advancing existing technology. That was 2006. Just about 3 years later, more than a decade after its conception, Avatar has arrived.

Sam Worthington stars in Avatar as Jake Sully a former Marine who was left in a wheelchair after a battle injury. Jake's troubles are increased with the death of his twin brother, a scientist who was to shove off for a very important mission. Since Jake has his brother's DNA he is capable of replacing him and does on a mission to a place called Pandora.

On Pandora Jake's new life will have him taking over an Avatar, a human hybrid of the planet's alien population called Na'vi. Jake's mind is transferred somehow into the body of a 10 foot, blue skinned, Na'vi warrior. He will use his Avatar to interact with the natives and convince them to move to another home, opening the way for an industrialist (Giovanni Ribisi) to move in and strip the area of a mineral called, I kind you not, Unobtainium. 

Jake's mission goes off course when he meets a sultry Na'vi princess named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). She brings him into the Na'vi inner circle after a sign from her god tells her Jake has an important role in the destiny of the Na'vi. Indeed he does; Jake will become a true warrior and a leader after he gives up his militaristic loyalty to his human masters.

No points for guessing that Jake and Neytiri fall happily into cross-species love. The story is eerily similar to Dances with Wolves, minus Kevin Costner's ludicrous facial hair. A soldier in a strange land falls in with the natives and switches sides. I'm not spoiling anything unless you have managed to miss every trailer, commercial or review of Avatar.

Even if you have been living under a rock James Cameron's exceptionally weak script does nothing to hide its twists and turns. The script mindlessly telegraphs its every plot machination and character choice. However, as every other critic in the world reminds us, the plot is meaningless when such wondrous visuals are offered.

There is no doubt about it James Cameron's remarkable dedication to new film technology has rendered a mesmerizing digital landscape unlike any ever before on screen. The characters are stunningly realistic; the landscapes are marvelous and wait till you see the battles between flying gun ships and Na'vi on flying lizard-like creatures. Cameron has even rendered 3D in a way that isn't clunky and unnecessary.

For many the visual delights of Avatar will be more than enough to sell them on the idea of Avatar as a great movie. And, I must admit, the tech is phenomenal. I, however, needed something more.

The story told in Avatar is dopey, derivative and features dialogue so awful as to have Michael Bay look down his nose. Expository dialogue, sometimes necessary, is mind numbingly repeated throughout Avatar. Worse still are the awkward attempts at humor, most of which are dated to around the time Cameron conceived of Avatar.

Even worse still is Mr. Cameron’s preachy, dated subtext about war and natives, 9/11 and terrorism. Cameron is not the first, merely the latest, to exploit 9/11 imagery in order to manipulate the audience. The visual reference to 9/11 is part of Cameron's throwback to the Bush era politique.

It's a rather scattershot bit of commentary that regurgitates liberal complaints about a war for oil, in this case 'Unobtainium,' and an American policy of pre-emptive war that could fairly be called imperialism. All well and good except that these are the complaints of yesteryear.

Is it Cameron's fault that the zeitgeist passed him by? No, but he has to take the lumps for being unable to adapt. He's made a criticism of a President who is gone in an era when a new President looks forward to ending the policies of the past. Whining about a war for oil (Unobtainium) is exceptionally passé.

The soldier going native is even more dated. Dances With Wolves is over 20 years old now. The battle between the American government and American Indians has inspired far better and far less preachy defenses of a native people defending their way of life.

Returning, however, to the main point of Avatar, the technology, you will see this movie because the tech is far too fabulous to be ignored. You really must see Avatar just to say that you have seen what everyone will be talking about in film culture until the next time Cameron revolutionizes the medium. Just be prepared to ignore everything other than the visual splendor.

Movie Review Invictus

Invictus (2009) 

Directed by Clint Eastwood 

Written by Anthony Peckham

Starring Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Scott Eastwood 

Release Date December 11th, 2009 

Published December 10th, 2009

Streaming Rental on Amazon Prime 

In 1994 the world heralded the ascendancy of Nelson Mandela to the Presidency of South Africa, just three years after his release from Robben Island Prison where he was a political prisoner for nearly 30 years. Mandela and the man who freed him, then President F.W De Klerk were awarded jointly the Nobel Peace Prize as the political system called Apartheid was brought to an end.

Outsiders were aware that Mandela's election was not without strife but how close Mandela came to losing his country to racial, civil war is a story stirringly brought to light for the first time on the big screen in Clint Eastwood's “Invictus.” On the surface you might assume Invictus is a sports movie, rugby after all takes a major role, but the real story is about a leader, a politician and a legend.

The Rugby World Cup was less than a decade old when it came to South Africa for the first time. It wasn't really to be all that notable for the South African national team known as Springboks, the team wasn't supposed to go far. Then something extraordinary happened. One afternoon the captain of the team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) received an invitation to tea with President Mandela.

It was at tea in the Presidential palace that Mandela asked for Pienaar's help in uniting the country. How could he do that? Win the Rugby World Cup. From there these two very different men were bound on a journey neither could have expected with Rugby becoming a unifying cause in a country on the verge of being torn apart forever.

Is that dramatic enough for you? Director Clint Eastwood's great achievement in “Invictus” is giving weight to Mandela's decision to make Rugby a political cause. In 1993-1994 Rugby remained a sport beloved only to whites. Mandela made the calculated decision to relate to the white population through Springboks, a decision not at all welcomed by black South Africans who had hoped the team and its green and yellow colors would be banished to history.

Pienaar's challenge is no less dramatic. Mandela made quite clear to Pienaar all that was at stake in this victory and what might happen if their gambit failed. Damon plays the conflict with humble determination. It's wonderfully subtle yet powerful work from the chameleonic Damon whose last role was a pudgy corn company executive.

As one might expect, Morgan Freeman perfectly embodies the man he has been destined to play, Nelson Mandela. As Roger Ebert and numerous others have pointed out, Freeman has been linked to a number of Mandela biopics over the years. Freeman has met and befriended Mandela and that pays off in “Invictus.” Freeman loses himself in Mandela's accent and manner from moment one, easily conveying the charm, savvy and cool of Mandela.

The real challenge for both Freeman and director Eastwood was not deifying Mandela. That has been the tendency of the handful of previous Mandela movies and they have mostly failed for it. Audiences generally agree with Mandela's greatness, his achievements speak for themselves, but the overly reverent approach puts audiences to sleep.

Freeman's take and Eastwood's direction focus on Mandela's humane charms. The soft voice, his frail health, Mandela suffered from exhaustion amongst other ailments from day one of his Presidency. These are not the outsized traits of a deity but the feel of a real, if exceptional, human being. Freeman's performance is so clever and charming that it may seem too small for some, especially those expecting something more sweeping and dramatic.

Sweeping, epic drama is not what you get in “Invictus.” This is not a film that pauses to marvel at its own dramatic importance. “Invictus” deepens and becomes important when we consider what Mandela and Pienaar accomplished. “Invictus” works by letting us weigh the historic importance while the movie focuses on the story at hand. It’s a remarkable work from a remarkable group of filmmakers and one of the best films of 2009.

Column The Best Sequence in Hereditary

Hereditary (2018) 

Directed by Ari Aster 

Written by Ari Aster 

The Best Sequence in Hereditary 

The big death scene in Hereditary is the best scene in any movie in 2018. This article is about to go into great detail about this scene so if you have not seen Hereditary, which I feel is the best movie of 2018, you should stop reading after this introductory paragraph and come back after you have watched Ari Aster’s remarkable, debut masterpiece. This article will openly reveal a pivotal and shocking death of one of the main characters in Hereditary. 

A primer: Hereditary stars Toni Collette as Annie, an artist and stay at home mother. Annie crafts elaborate models of daily scenes from her home life, from the seemingly mundane, to the funeral of her recently deceased mother. Annie’s mother has recently died as the story begins but Annie is strangely lacking in profound emotion. Annie’s husband, Steve (Gabriel Byrne), is dutiful and supportive. While Annie and Steve’s son, Peter (Alex Wolff), is a typically aloof and above it all teenager. 

Daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro), however, appears to take her grandmother’s passing far harder than anyone else. Her emotion is not outward, per se, Charlie is a special needs child though the film is vague on her exact condition. Charlie expresses her grief in odd behaviors that include a disturbing fascination with a dead bird which she finds at school and brings home. What she does with the bird from there you can discover in the film. It’s a terrifying visual detail that pays off in terrific horror. 

Our scene is set when Peter wants to go to a party and his mother instructs him to take Charlie to the party with him. While Peter is off getting high at the party, Charlie has a piece of cake, unaware that the cake has nuts and she has an allergic reaction. As a paranoid and terrified Peter rushes Charlie to the hospital, Charlie struggles to breath and eventually leans her head out of the car window to get more air. 

An out of control Peter nearly crashes the car into a telephone pole but as he swerves to miss it, Charlie’s head strikes the pole and is taken completely off. Director Ari Aster never shows us what happened to Charlie. There is no outward gore in the scene. Instead, in a masterful, and far more terrifying move, Aster keeps the camera on Peter as the tragedy that has just taken place slowly dawns on him. 

A shocked Peter stays in the car, afraid to look behind him and confirm what has taken place. He lingers for some time before finally putting the car in gear and beginning to slowly drive away from the scene, a lonely, empty, highway not far from his family home but far enough from any city to remain empty for some time. Peter drives home and the only time Aster leaves Alex Wolff’s stunned face is to establish as Peter pulls into the family driveway, gets out of the car as if lost in a fugue state and wanders inside. 

We return to Peter’s incomprehensibly stunned face as he climbs into bed and lies there for hours unable to sleep and unable to remain awake to the terror that has befallen him. We sit with Alex as the night passes into morning. We stay on Alex’s face as the house comes alive with the sound of Alex’s parents rising and beginning their day. The camera never cuts away from Alex, the terror that is about to unfold is mostly in sound design and scraps of mundane dialogue. 

Annie and Steve call out for Charlie and Peter to come to breakfast. Annie begins to worry where Charlie is. She calls for her. She begins to go to the door, we hear only her footsteps and the sound of the front door opening, we’re still on Alex’s profoundly horrified and paralyzed face. The door opens, we hear the crunch of Annie’s footsteps on the rocks in the driveway, we hear her approach the car and finally, we hear a blood curdling scream before we finally cut away. 

Great directing is about choices and the choices that Ari Aster makes in this moment to stick closely to the face of actor Alex Wolff is a daring and ingenious choice. The horror of the moment can hardly match the horror of what we assume this moment looks like in reality. Our imagination fills in the horror and because we care for Peter, our horror is magnified by a deep and stomach churning empathy. 

This, for me, is among the finest pieces of direction I have ever seen in a horror or genre movie and really, among any kind of movie. It’s a relatively simple manipulation of our collective imagination and yet many directors would ruin it by trying to shock us with horror visuals. Aster knows that our imagination of this moment is more powerful than mere gore. Besides, the rest of the movie has plenty of gore to satisfy that part of our genre hunger.  

Movie Review Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 (2011) 

Directed by David Yates 

Written by Steve Kloves 

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis 

Release Date July 15th, 2011 

Published July 14th, 2011 

Streaming at BravoTV.com 

An epic end to an epic franchise; "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" brought to close one of the most remarkable film series ever crafted. Over seven films we have watched three young actors give glorious life to three extraordinary characters; characters who will go down in cinema history for their impact on the box office and our popular culture.

Where Were We?

When last we left Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), in "Deathly Hallows Pt. 1," our heroic boy wizard had buried his late friend Dobby. Meanwhile, the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) had discovered Dumbledore's crypt and taken possession of the deadly Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows.

The action of "Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" picks up with Harry confronting a goblin and coaxing him into leading him and Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) into Gringotts Bank. There, they hope to enter a vault belonging to the villainous Bellatrix LeStrange (Helena Bonham Carter) where one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes is being held.

What's a Horcrux Again?

A horcrux, for those unaware, is a piece of Voldemort's soul hidden in mundane form. Harry, Ron and Hermione have spent much of the past two films seeking several of these Horcrux and gone about destroying them. In the process they have weakened Voldemort but also made him angrier and ever more dangerous.

Our heroes believe that the final Horcrux resides at their old home, Hogwarts. This belief leads to a risky return to the school and a rendezvous with a few old friends who will play key roles in helping Harry in his final confrontation with He Who Shall Not Be Named. You really have to love the portentous language of the Potter Universe. In "Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" keep an ear open for the first time a character actually uses Voldemort's name, the reaction is priceless.

Movie vs. Book

I will go no further in talking about the plot as spoilers come far too easily. I will tell you that fans I watched the film with told me that book fans will be surprised and saddened by several of director David Yates's choices. Yates cut "Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" to the bone making it the shortest film of the series. In the process a few beloved scenes from the book have been excised and others have been shortened for time.

Fans I saw the film with were not angry about the changes from the book so don't expect to be too disappointed Potter-ites. Indeed, I don't believe anyone will walk away from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" disappointed. Director David Yates has done a masterful job of delivering adventure, excitement and pathos in heavy portions.

Powerful Emotional Punch

Thanks to the remarkable performances of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint fans of the Harry Potter series will be left breathless one moment, elated the next and likely will have shed a few tears along the way. "Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" delivers more than a few really powerful emotional punches. I was particularly moved by one character's long time unrequited love.

For me, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" is a perfect close to this epic series which thankfully has not overstayed its welcome. Yes, the series threatened to hang on too long but credit David Yates, screenwriter Steve Kloves, and this wonderful cast for helping to keep us patient and invested in this now decade long film series. Their remarkable hard work has made this final Potter adventure the best of the series.

Movie Review Horrible Bosses 2

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) 

Directed by Sean Anders

Written by Sean Anders, John Morris 

Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine 

Release Date November 26th, 2014 

Published November 25th, 2014

Streaming on HBO Max 

“Horrible Bosses 2″ is a strange experience. While it was happening I laughed and it seemed to be working. I step away from it however,  and time is unkind. “Horrible Bosses 2″ unravels like a homemade Christmas sweater when placed under a critical eye.

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day are back in the roles of Nick, Curt and Dale and out from under the yoke of their horrible bosses that they attempted to kill in the 2011 original. Striking out on their own they have an invention that they hope will make them their own Bosses. Unfortunately, though the product does attract financiers, our heroes’ business instincts leave them in the hole and forced once again to extreme measures.

2 time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz is the big bad Boss this time who quickly hoodwinks the trio out of their invention. Waltz’s Bert Hanson takes little time outwitting our heroes leading to the scheme that is the center point of the film: kidnapping Hanson’s son Rex (Chris Pine) in hopes to score enough ransom to save the company and the dream of not having a boss.

Starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Jennifer Aniston and Christoph Waltz

Energy is the main reason why “Horrible Bosses 2″ works in the moment but does not sustain itself in memory. The laughs that the film generates come from the immediate energy with which Bateman, Sudeikis, Day and Pine interact. Each segment of “Horrible Bosses 2″ plays out the same way: a scene begins with one character introducing a plot point and then the other actors riff on it until things get loud enough for Bateman to throw cold water on the whole thing as the straight man.

Scene after scene in “Horrible Bosses 2″ plays out in the exact same fashion and eventually the law of diminishing returns kicks in. As a change up, the third act turns nasty with an unexpected murder and the return to the plot of Jennifer Aniston’s sexpot and Jamie Foxx’s hustler each to lesser levels of excitement and humor.

I’m being hard on “Horrible Bosses 2″ and yet I really did laugh a lot during the movie. Bateman, Sudeikis and Day can’t help but be funny together and the obvious freedom they have to invent their dialogue allows them to bounce off each other in the colorful and familiar fashion of real friends.

Those interactions however, even as they are funny in the moment, don’t have a lasting quality. Nothing about “Horrible Bosses 2″ resonates long after you see it. The energy of the moment dissipates quickly after the movie ends and what remains is the vague memory of laughs and some of the nastier parts of the plot that failed to enhance the humor.

Essay On the Female Characters in John Wick

On the Female Characters in John Wick 

John Wick (2014) 

Directed by Chad Stahelski 

Written by Derek Kolstad 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Adrienne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Bridget Regan

There is an aspect of John Wick that has been nagging at me and that is the treatment of women in the film. The movie isn’t openly hostile to women but you can definitely sense that every person involved in the creation of the story was a man.

Two female characters exist in John Wick, three if you want to count women with dialogue, an extra has a line that could fit this discussion later. The first is John Wick’s wife, Helen, played by Bridget Moynihan. Helen is the driving force for John to abandon his profession as a professional killer and settle into suburban life in New Jersey.

Essentially, she exists to make John less of a man because she forces him to give up who he is, and while she’s not portrayed as anything of a harridan, he gave up his life as a killer quite willingly, it’s clear by how quickly and ferociously he returns to killing that she had attempt to rob him of his very essence, who he truly was. This is a common fear among weak men that women are constantly attempting to change them.

The second woman in the story is Ms. Perkins, played by Adrienne Palicki, Ms. Perkins is a particularly egregious creation because she’s hyper-sexualized and yet she’s supposed to be one of the boys, a fellow killer. If however, she were truly one of the boys would she have made such a clumsy and flawed attempt at killing John Wick.

Ms. Perkins is also portrayed as greedy, a classic, cliched, narcissistic male portrait of women. Ms. Perkins willingly flogs the rules of The Continental, a hotel for killers with rules specifying that no killing can be done on the grounds of the hotel, a rule that has seemingly held for years until Ms. Perkins broke the rules to satisfy her greedy pursuit of the 4 million dollar bounty on John’s head.

Spoiler Alert:

Ms. Perkins meets her end in John Wick with a sizable level of overkill. After betraying and killing Willem Dafoe’s John Wick ally, Ms. Perkins is called to return to The Continental. She arrives in a stylishly lit park area where she is ushered into the center and informed that she can never return to The Continental. The warning however, does not suffice, as four large men emerge from the shadows forming a box on all sides of her. She is then shot from all angles.

Being that she is the only LIVING female in the movie, essentially the female lead, a better movie might have allowed her fate to have some narrative necessity, instead she is used as a prop in a secondary story and then discarded like trash, literally, a mythic crime scene clean up crew, seen earlier in the film at John Wick’s home to retrieve the body’s of oodles of dead, faceless henchmen, arrive to sweep her away like trash after sporting event.

So, Ms. Perkins, (I can’t stress this enough) the only LIVING, female character in the movie ends the film as just another faceless goon. This after she had made her clumsy, faltering, greedy attempt to kill John Wick, a task she, of course, failed at. And don’t think I have forgotten her efficient killing of a random fellow hitman at the hotel. That scene does not demonstrate her competence as a killer, it demonstrates that she is simply, and purely evil. Being that she is the lone woman in the movie what does that say about the film’s opinion of women?

I briefly mentioned a third female type in John Wick and that woman is a bartender at the bar in the basement of The Continental. Her name is Addy and she is played by a very beautiful actress named Bridget Regan. Addy only has one scene and it’s not a very important one. She exists to build the cult of John Wick. She functions as a John Wick fangirl, fawning over his return to the world of killers. Now, there was certainly little time for the movie to give Addy much weight or presence, but she does demonstrate a lack of imagination on the part of the filmmakers to cast a woman in the role of the fawning fan. That lack of imagination however, extends to the entire film’s roster of female characters.

So what is the point of this essay? Do I not like John Wick because of the treatment of women in the film? A little, if I’m being completely honest. I noticed the film’s attitude toward women which certainly says something about how the film treats women. I’m sure there are many other examples of films with anti-female attitudes but it really stuck out John Wick and it does effect how I feel about the film.

In my podcast, I Hate Critics you will hear me praise John Wick for its dark wit and well choreographed action and the exceptional level of detail given to sidelights like The Continental or the cleaning crew. All of that praise is true, I loved those aspects along with the performance of Michael Nyqvist as the lead bad guy, and Alfie Allen as the bad guy’s son, the character who’s actions bring John Wick back to the world of killers. I also liked Keanu Reeves whose least interesting qualities are hidden behind the film’s well portrayed action and propulsive plotting.

It wasn’t until further reflection and the reading of a feminist essay on a completely different movie, that I thought to consider my reservations about the way women were portrayed in John Wick and my appreciation of the film morphed into something I now feel slightly guilty about.

These thoughts on John Wick may, in fact, lead to further investigation of the way women have been portrayed in recent Hollywood features. This isn’t the first time I’ve had these thoughts this year, a year in which it seems as if roles for women have been greatly diminished.

Essay On the Warping Effect of Fame in Birdman and Beyond the Lights

Birdman (2014) 

Beyond the Lights (2014) 

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu 

Directed by Gina Prince Blythewood 

The only things that the movies "Birdman" and "Beyond the Lights" have in common are that they are both movies and they both were released to a wide audience on the same weekend. Beyond that, the cast of "Birdman" is an entirely homogeneous group of white people and the cast of "Beyond the Lights," aside from Minnie Driver, are black. Both however, do share a common bond: Show business.

"Birdman" tells the story of Riggan Thompson, a Hollywood action hero, star of the comic book franchise "Birdman," who longs to be taken seriously as the kind of actor starring on Broadway. Riggan has decided to mount his own production of a play by Raymond Carver, a playwright who meant a great deal to Thompson when he was an aspiring actor in college. Unfortunately, the adaptation, by Riggan himself, is troubled. His co-star is a dope, and Riggan himself is coming apart at the seams.

When the dope Riggan can't stand gets injured, he replaces him with a Broadway veteran named Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), who immediately begins to improve the play … until he doesn't. Mike's “process” soon causes new headaches for the already-on-edge Riggan. Riggan has begun to hear the voice of his former comic book character “Birdman” as a running commentary about his various failures and shortcomings as an actor and a human being, all points underlined by Riggan's daughter, Sam (Emma Stone), his new assistant. Sam is a walking, talking, breathing symbol of Riggan's many failures as a father, husband and human being.

In "Beyond the Lights" Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as Noni, a Rihanna-like rising pop star who, as we meet her, has just won a Billboard award and is in the midst of a mild breakdown. Never having been much of a drinker, Noni hits the bottle hard, ditches her hangers-on and heads to her hotel in an attempt to end it all. Noni's mother/manager Macy Jean (Minnie Driver) arrives in time to see Noni perched precariously on her hotel balcony. She calls on a cop, Kaz (Nate Parker), working security for Noni on this night, and he manages to save her life.

From there, "Beyond the Lights" becomes a rather conventional romance, nothing remotely to compare with the high-wire act that is "Birdman." But the scenes of Noni's arrival backstage at the Billboard Awards, being poked and prodded, fussed and positioned are shot in such a way that they are completely disorienting, much like the entirety of "Birdman." One moment in particular stands out as an example of the warped nature of fame: As Noni is called upon to sign autographs, numerous fans shout “I love you!” and one particularly intense male fan seems to really want Noni to know how much he cares for her.

The scene isn't played as if the fan is a stalker or even a real danger, but it lingers long enough to settle on a question I've always had about fans: What exactly is their end game? Watch "A Hard Day's Night" and recall the fans that chase The Beatles down the streets of London and ask yourself what happens if they catch them? What then? What is it that these fans intend to do with their favorite stars? Sex? Love? Now imagine you're Noni. What is expected of you here? To complete the life of some stranger? To exist as some purely sexual fantasy?

It's really no wonder that Noni ends up on that balcony or that she comes to view Kaz as a savior; projecting onto him some of the same warped fantasy that has been projected upon her. That he happens to be real, stable and capable of understanding what Noni is attempting to communicate to him through her warped side of everyday life is part fantasy and part romance. But it works in the film because Mbatha-Raw and Parker make it work.

The warping in 'Birdman' is similarly tragic. While New York City gives Riggan Thompson slightly more anonymity than Los Angeles and Hollywood give to Noni, he still finds bizarre, surreal moments of fan interaction. For example, he is locked out of his theater in his tighty whities and marches, arms akimbo, around to the front of the theater trailed by fans. He narrowly navigates what may be a typical Broadway scene filled with characters and fans with cell phones who will capture every moment of his public humiliation.

Noni's humiliation in "Beyond the Lights" is also public. When a performance at the BET Awards turns into a real-life fight with a former boyfriend, Kaz rushes the stage to protect her with predictable results in the social media world. For both Riggan and Noni their viral moment is warping and weirdly positive. Riggan is feted for his commitment to finishing his scene at the cost of his dignity and Noni is able to get her record company behind her first album because she is now the name on everyone's lips, regardless of whether her music is any good.

Part of the wonder of both "Birdman" and "Beyond the Lights" is whether indeed the art in question is good or bad. We only get glimpses of each. In "Birdman" we see one intense scene between Riggan and Mike, and it contains fireworks. Norton and Keaton spark brilliantly off of each other, bouncing from script to direction to editing the script to reworking the scene in an extraordinarily tight close up that ratchets up the tension and excitement of this moment of creation. It's a remarkable scene that made me wish one of the Blu-Ray extras would be the play itself performed in full.

In "Beyond the Lights" the moment is less pronounced. Noni performs an a capella version of Nina Simone's "Black Bird" at a karaoke bar on a quiet Caribbean vacation with Kaz. To this point we know she's talented but we don't quite know how much of her talent is the smoke and mirrors or the work of her svengali-like mother. When Mbatha-Raw lets loose and the tears flow  the words of the song reflect her feelings. We are immediately informed of Noni's true talent; it only underlines what a farce her life has become.

There is something to be said of Macy in "Beyond the Lights" and of Zach Galifianakis's Jake in "Birdman." Both seem to care about the people whose lives they coddle and create. Macy has been stage managing Noni's life for years; imagine being born to Simon Cowell crossed with the ambition of an army general staging a battle plan. Jake is more shifty and reactive. He knows Riggan is his meal ticket but he seems to care a little about Riggan the person. Jake, at the very least, is supportive of Riggan's attempt to put on the play; Macy won't even listen to the songs Noni has written for herself.

But then, Riggan and Noni are at very different points of their famous lives. The celebrity bubble has encompassed Riggan for more than 30 years.  Jake is a step on the evolutionary ladder of fame. The first step is a svengali like Macy. She's typically followed by a well-meaning friend or simpering family member who is entirely overwhelmed but not unhelpful. And finally, for the truly successful there is a toady stage where Jake appears to support every idiot whim of his charge even as he hopes to push for something with a bigger financial payoff.

Noni can still avoid the fate of Riggan Thompson, trapped in his cocoon of fame and raging against the dying of his fame's light. Noni has Kaz to keep her grounded and loved, but there is trouble there too, in a strange way.  Noni's "Black Bird" only came from a place of heartache just as Riggan's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" comes from a place of desperation. Should Noni choose to remain grounded with Kaz, can her contentment remain artistically relevant?

And that is a pretty good reflection of the warped nature of fame. We wish our stars well but when they get happy and begin to produce work that reflects a life of contentment we likely aren't all that interested. Where is the pain, where are the tears, where is the sweat? We've loved these people as they described their struggle to us through their art but now they are happy and content and we're still where we always were. Noni could walk off the stage at the end of "Beyond the Lights" and never be heard from again and still be happy.

Riggan Thompson doesn't have that choice and thus we arrive at the end of "Birdman" and the voice that's been driving Riggan, the voice of 'Birdman' that has pushed him to nearly take his own life on stage, which has now driven him out a window to attempt to fly. For Riggan, contentment could only come in death. There was no Kaz there to see him and remind him that the real world existed in some form beyond the warped world of fame. No, death was the only way for Riggan to find peace and as I ponder the ending of "Birdman" I can't help but feel that the contentment of death was the only true way for the film to end. 

Ah, but is that how "Birdman" ended? With Riggan's death? I think so. The film has followed a course of fantasy throughout with Riggan's odd visions of Birdman and his running DVD commentary on Riggan's life. We have flown over the streets of New York City in a flight of fancy and watched Riggan make bombs explode and armies erupt from nowhere but these were merely his deluded visions.

The end of "Birdman" offers another brief bit of fantasy as Sam looks out the window and seems to see her father flying as we'd seen him in fantasy before. My preference however, is to believe that Sam saw her father's truth; that with all that had driven him mad for so long, only death was left for him, for his chance to finally rest and reconcile. There was no more blood to leave on stage, he'd vanquished his theater enemies, Mike and a theater critic played by Lindsay Duncan. And yet, he'd forever be "Birdman," a star who forever would be remembered for his success.

Riggan was fully warped by his fame. There was no Kaz for him and thus no turning back. His triumph was all that was left and he took that when he took the bullet to the nose on stage and left the audience wanting more blood. In Riggan's warped worldview there was nothing left. The cycle of fame had finally come to end with him having achieved all that he ever wanted: one beautiful moment of being taken seriously.

Riggan's death and Noni's life reflect us in the audience and what we've come to demand of our stars. Blood, sweat and tears. While we are blameless in how Riggan Thompson chooses to live his life it was the cycle that we abetted that led to his madness. Noni would be Riggan if she weren't so young and with such possibilities left in her life. It takes a police officer, a symbol of stability and safety to rescue Noni from fame and while it's hard to believe that Noni walked away from it all at the end, I'd like to believe that music became secondary to life after the lights faded and Noni found contentment if not success.

I wrote this article before I saw the movie "Whiplash" in which an abusive svengali, far more monstrous than Macy, drove Miles Teller's Andrew to a moment of sheer, unconscious, rapturous success. That movie made me glad that Andrew eschewed contentment in favor or greatness in the same way that Riggan Thompson was willing to give up life for one great performance.

Would Macy's machinations be worth more if Noni were a truly transcendent talent? That's not the movie that "Beyond the Lights" intends to be and I can't judge it as such. I can say that Noni isn't so talented that I'm sad she might choose contentment over fame; I would be disappointed if Andrew or Riggan made the same choice. I guess that's how fame has warped me.

The only things that the movies "Birdman" and "Beyond the Lights" have in common are that they are both movies and they both were released to a wide audience on the same weekend. Beyond that, the cast of "Birdman" is an entirely homogeneous group of white people and the cast of "Beyond the Lights," aside from Minnie Driver, are black. Both however, do share a common bond in show business. 

"Birdman" tells the story of Riggan Thompson, a Hollywood action hero, star of the comic book franchise "Birdman," who longs for the being taken seriously that comes in starring on Broadway. Riggan has decided to mount his own production of a play by Raymond Carver, a playwright who meant a great deal to Thompson when he was an aspiring actor in college. Unfortunately, the adaptation by Riggan himself is troubled. His co-lead actor is a dope and Riggan himself is coming apart at the seams. 

When the dope Riggan can't stand gets injured he replaces him with a Broadway veteran named Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) who immediately begins to improve the play until he doesn't. Mike's 'process' soon causes new headaches for the already on edge Riggan who's begun to hear the voice of his former comic book character 'Birdman' as a running commentary about his various failures and shortcomings an actor and a human being; points underlined by the inclusion of Riggan's daughter Sam (Emma Stone) as his new assistant. Sam is a walking, talking, breathing symbol of Riggan's many failures as a father, husband and human being. 

In "Beyond the Lights" Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as Noni, a Rihanna like rising pop star who, as we meet her, has just won a Billboard award and is in the midst of a mild breakdown. Never having been much of a drinker, Noni hits the bottle hard, ditches her hangers on and heads to her hotel in an attempt to end it all. Noni's mother/manager Macy Jean (Minnie Driver) arrives only in time to see Noni perched precariously on her hotel balcony and calls on a cop, Kaz (Nate Parker), working security for Noni on this night, and he manages to just save her life. 

From there, "Beyond the Lights" becomes a rather conventional romance, nothing remotely to compare with the mindfuck that is "Birdman." But, the scenes of Noni's arrival backstage at the Billboard Awards, walking through the backstage, being poked and prodded, fussed and positioned are shot in such a way that they are completely disorienting, much like the entirety of "Birdman." One moment in particular stands out as an example of the warped nature of fame as Noni is called upon to sign autographs, numerous fans shout I love you and one particularly intense male fan seems to really want Noni to know how much he cares for her. 

The scene isn't played as if the fan is a stalker or even a real danger but it lingers long enough to settle on a question I've always had about fans: What exactly is your endgame? Watch "A Hard Day's Night" and recall the fans that chase The Beatles down the streets of London and ask yourself what happens if they catch them? What then? What is it that these fans intend with their favorite stars? Sex? Love? Fame? Now imagine you're Noni, what is expected of you here? To complete the life of some stranger? To exist as some purely sexual fantasy? 

It's really no wonder that Noni ends up on that balcony or that she comes to view Kaz as a savior; projecting onto him some of the same warped fantasy that has been projected upon her. That he happens to be real and stable and capable of understanding what Noni is attempting to communicate to him through her warped side of everyday life is part fantasy and part romance but it works in the film because Mbatha-Raw and Parker make it work. 

The warping in 'Birdman' is similarly tragic. While New York City gives Riggan Thompson slightly more anonymity than Los Angeles and Hollywood gives to Noni, he still finds bizarre, surreal moments of fan interaction such as when he is locked out of his theater in his tighty whities and marches arms akimbo around to the front of the theater trailed by fans and narrowly navigating what may be a typically Broadway scene filled with characters and of course fans with cellphones who will capture every moment of his humiliation. 

Noni's humiliation in "Beyond the Lights" is also public. When a performance at the BET Awards turns into a real life fight with a former boyfriend, Kaz rushes the stage to protect her with predictable results in the social media world. For both Riggan and Noni their viral moment is warping and weirdly positive. Riggan is feted for his commitment to finishing his scene at the cost of his dignity and Noni is able to get her record company behind her first album because she is now the name on everyone's lips, regardless of whether her music is any good. 

Part of the wonder of both "Birdman" and "Beyond the Lights" is whether indeed the art in question is good or bad. We only really get glimpses of each. In "Birdman" we see one truly intense scene between Riggan and Mike and it contains fireworks. Norton and Keaton spark brilliantly off of each bouncing from script to direction to editing the script to reworking the scene in an extraordinarily tight close up that ratchets up the tension and excitement of this moment of creation. It's a remarkable scene that made me wish one of the Blu-Ray extras would be the play itself performed in full. 

In "Beyond the Lights" the moment is less pronounced. Noni performs an A Capella version of Nina Simone's "Black Bird" at a karaoke bar on a quiet Caribbean vacation with Kaz. To this point we know she's talented but we don't quite know how much of her talent is the smoke and mirrors work of her svengali mother Macy. When Mbatha-Raw lets loose and the tears flow and the words of the song illustrate her feelings we are immediately informed of Noni's true talent and it only underlines what a shame her life has been so far. 

There is something to be said of Macy in "Beyond the Lights'' and of Zach Galifianakis's Jake in "Birdman." Both seem to care about the people whose lives they coddle and create. Macy has been stage managing Noni's life for years; imagine being born to Simon Cowell crossed with the ambition of an Army General staging a battle plan. Jake is more shifty and reactive. He knows Riggan is his meal ticket but he seems to care a little about Riggan the person. Jake, at the very least, is supportive of Riggan's attempt to put on the play; Macy won't even listen to the songs Noni has written for herself. 

But then, Riggan and Noni are at very different times of their fame. For Riggan, the celebrity bubble has encompassed him for over 30 years. Jake is a step on the evolutionary ladder of fame that begins with an early svengali, like a Macy, and graduates to a caring friend or simpering family member for it reaches a toady stage where Jake appears to support every idiot whim of his charge even as he hopes to push for something with a bigger financial payoff. 

Noni can still avoid the fate of Riggan Thompson, trapped in his cocoon of fame and raging against the dying of his fame's light. Noni has Kaz to keep her grounded and loved but there is trouble there too, in a strange way. You see, great art does not come from contentment. Noni's "Black Bird" only came from a place of heartache just as Riggan's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" comes from a place of desperation. Being happy and content is seemingly what we all want but it is generally the death knell of artistry. 

And that is a pretty good reflection of the warped nature of fame. We wish well upon our stars but when they get happy and begin to produce work that reflects a life of contentment we likely aren't all that interested. Where is the pain, where are the tears, where is the sweat. We've loved these people as they described their struggle to us through their art but now they are happy and content and we're still where we always were. Noni might be better off walking off stage in England at the end of "Beyond the Lights" and never getting back on stage. Take your contentment Noni and just go home. 

Riggan Thompson doesn't have that choice and thus we arrive at the end of "Birdman" and the voice that's been driving Riggan, the voice of 'Birdman' that has pushed him to nearly take his own life on stage has now driven him out a window to attempt to fly. For Riggan, contentment could only come in death. There was no Kaz there to see him and remind him that the real world existed in some form beyond the warped world of fame. No, death was the only way for Riggan to find peace and as I ponder the ending of "Birdman" I can't help but feel that the contentment of death was the only true way for the film to end. 

Essay On 39 Movies for 39 Years

I turn 39 years old this week and as birthdays tend to put many of us in a reflective mood, I am reflecting. My life has been defined by my love of movies and so I decided to look back on 39 movies that have shaped who I am as a person. They are in no specific order other than how they simply occurred to me and the moments of my life that they evoke.

1. The Big Lebowski: It takes three viewings of “The Big Lebowski” before it dawns on you how brilliant the movie is. The looping dialogue, the odd characterizations, the way Jeff Bridges as The Dude comes into being by adopting the ideas and dialogue of those around him as a coping mechanism for a world he no longer understands, it’s a remarkably complex work that couches itself as a stoner comedy. Few films so well demonstrate the infinite ways that subtle character choices can define the way a story is told. I learn something new each time I watch “The Big Lebowski.”

2. “Casablanca:” Obvious choice, I know, but when I was a younger man forcing myself to watch classics in order to justify my choice to become a film critic, “Casablanca” was the movie that rewarded that choice. The history of the Hollywood studio system is woven through every inch of “Casablanca” from it’s modest origins as just another Hollywood ‘programmer,’ a film made on a movie assembly line by a workman like director, Michael Curtiz, who happened to a genius well ahead of his time, to the casting of Bogart and Ingrid Bergman that almost never happened and then became iconic. “Casablanca” teaches us more about the history of Hollywood than any single film Hollywood ever produced.

3. “Summer of Sam:” I have taken so many incredible lessons away from watching “Summer of Sam.” The most important of those lessons has been how singular the experience of a movie can be. For me, “Summer of Sam” is an epic masterpiece of energy, excitement and film construction. For most other viewers, “Summer of Sam” is a forgettable genre piece from a filmmaker who is more personality and flair than auteur.

4. “Memento:” What is possible in a movie? “Memento” showed me something I had never seen before, a narrative in reverse. It wasn’t new to fans of experimental film-making but for me it was a powerful revelation about what an artist could do with structure, with editing and with great acting. Christopher Nolan willfully risks confusing the audience to the point of frustration and that makes the film provocative. Beyond the provocation however, is a taut, narrative thriller that is as inventive as it is deeply compelling.

5. “Citizen Kane:” What student of movies hasn’t had the “Citizen Kane” experience. Watching “Citizen Kane” remains a rite of passage for movie lovers and what better legacy could a film possibly have.

6. “The Talented Mr. Ripley:” There was a time in my life when I was a strict, black or white student of the law. I saw no gray areas and gave no quarter to those who stepped out of line. What an extraordinary experience it was then for me to see “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and find the structure of my beliefs, my very morality turned on its head as I found myself rooting for the murderous Tom Ripley to win the life he so desperately wants. Matt Damon compelled me so deeply that the film snuck past my moral radar and messed with my sense of self. That’s quite an experience.

7. “Star Wars:” As a child there is nothing greater in the world than seeing your dream come to life before you. That was “Star Wars” for me. I dreamed of “Star Wars” while playing with the toys and then watched my toys come to life on screen. To this day “Star Wars” makes me feel like a child filled with wonder and amazement.

8. “Elizabethtown:” This movie is exceptionally personal to me. It was the first time that I didn’t connect with a Cameron Crowe movie and I was devastated. Then, I fell in love with a woman who loved the movie and she made me look at it in a new way. I still have my qualms with “Elizabethtown” but the bond the film built with this woman who is still an extraordinary part of my life today makes the film the film an important milestone of my 39 years.

9. “No Country for Old Men:” My gut was wrenched, I was sweating in my seat. My heart was pulled and tugged from beginning to end as I searched for the light at the end of the tunnel and found only the angry, desperate despair that is the heart of “No Country for Old Men.” Few films have ever had as powerful an effect on me from beginning to end as “No Country for Old Men” still has.

10. “Amadeus:” This is a fairly recent revelation. Even as I have long appreciated “Amadeus” it wasn’t until I revisited the film just last year for I Hate Critics that I realized that movies don’t change but we do. As a more mature and thoughtful man I looked at “Amadeus” with new eyes and found a remarkable masterpiece.

11. “Almost Famous:” The power an actor or actress can have over an audience is a remarkable thing and for me that is no better demonstrated than in Kate Hudson’s performance in “Almost Famous.” While her beauty is the initial impact, Hudson’s humanity, youth and frailty, come to be her defining and compelling characteristics. I can think of few more emotional moments watching a movie than the way Hudson attempts to deflect her despair at learning the man she loved had attempted to trade her for a case of beer. In just a look, a slight shimmer of tears in her eyes, Hudson devastates us as an audience.

12. “Waitress:” This film has an extra power it should not have. Director Adrienne Shelly was murdered not long after the release of the movie and what was the announcement of a brilliant new voice in American movies became the most tender and loving epitaph any filmmaker could ever have.

13. “Once:” True love can be found and still not be meant to be. Sometimes we sacrifice what we want, what we desire, even what we love in order for the betterment of other others. That may not have been the overall intent of “Once” but it was the lesson I came away with and it has stuck with me for years.

14. “The Tree of Life:” Terence Malick is the best visual storyteller in film history. His images are more moving than any line of dialogue ever could be. The visual journey he creates for “The Tree of Life” is a rollercoaster ride through the history and evolution of humanity.

15. “Lady in the Water:” M. Night Shyamalan set out to make a fairy tale about a mermaid and wound up making a confounding film containing some of his worst instincts as a storyteller. But, as I told a fellow film critic immediately after the movie was over, Shyamalan “Hung his balls out there.” Say what you will about how bad “Lady in the Water” truly is, the film has more ambition than any 10 modern movies.

16. “Clerks:” I once tried to show “Clerks” in a class at college and wound up shunned by most of the class. They were put off by the raunchy dialogue and low budget look of the film. Yes, “Clerks” was another revelation about individual tastes in movies but it was also a lesson in how I choose my friends and measure out how much of myself I’m willing to share with other people.

17. “Pulp Fiction:” As “Citizen Kane” is the ancient rite of passage for movie lovers, “Pulp Fiction” continues to evolve into the more modern rite of passage. A film of such incredible invention, “Pulp Fiction” continues to teach me about movies each time I watch it, with lessons in physical filmmaking and in dialogue.

18. “Amelie:” My first foreign love,”Amelie” gave me the courage and curiosity to pursue the works of Truffaut, Renais, and Godard. Without falling in love with “Amelie” my film education would have forever remained incomplete.

19. “Annie Hall:” As a kid from the Midwest I’m told that I should not be able to relate to Woody Allen. He’s too New York, too Jewish, for someone like me to relate to. And yet, with his fumbling and longing and his extraordinary sense of humor, I find no other filmmaker on the planet that speaks to me the way Woody Allen does.

20. “Things Behind the Sun:” The film is entirely forgotten within the mass of our popular culture but it still means the world to me. “Things Behind the Sun” moved me in ways I had never been moved before. It’s the story of a rape victim being interviewed by a boy who had been coaxed and bullied into being part of her rape. The power of this film can only experienced by seeing it for yourself. Me, I was forever changed by it.

21. “Jerry Maguire:” The reputation of “Jerry Maguire” hasn’t exactly grown over the years with people’s ever changing perceptions of both Tom Cruise and director Cameron Crowe. But, for me, the experience of the film has never changed. I am enchanted by every moment of “Jerry Maguire,” yes even “You complete me.”

22. “The Dark Knight Rises:” Why not say “The Dark Knight” you wonder? Why would you choose the seemingly lesser sequel? Because “The Dark Knight Rises” gave rise to the I Hate Critics podcast and a pair of new life long friendships that I never would have had without it.

23. “Bowling for Columbine:” I used to be a conservative Republican. Then I saw “Bowling for Columbine” which led me to “Roger &  Me” and then “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and a complete rearranging of my political thought process. Say what you will about Michael Moore, his work rings with humor and a deep seated compassion for all and that is what changed in me after “Bowling for Columbine.”

24. “Les Miserables:” I have never had a more emotional reaction to a movie. The scene where the priest rescues Jean Valjean and gives him all of the silver he was intending to steal so that Valjean could build a new life devastates me every time. I’m not remotely religious in my life but the power of the line “I’ve saved your soul for God” compels me deeply. There is so much compassion in that moment and that compassion radiates throughout the rest of the film.

25. “The Princess Bride:” Seemingly no one of my generation can escape the influence of “The Princess Bride.”

26. “Legally Blonde:” Too this day, I don’t know if I have seen a movie as genuinely joyous as “Legally Blonde.” Not kidding, whenever I am feeling truly despondent, I watch “Legally Blonde” because I find it impossible to be unhappy when I watch this movie.

27. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch:” A compelling story of gender identity, love, and the power of pure rock n’roll, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” forced me to confront childish biases I held against people who were different from me and helped me find common ground I had failed to recognize before.

28. “Waking Life:” In the entirety of my 39 years I have never used illegal drugs of any kind. I would like to imagine however if I did use an illegal drug the world of “Waking Life” would be my ideal trip.

29. “Magnolia:” Like “Les Miserables,” “Magnolia” is one of those deeply moving movie moments. When the cast combines with the music of Amy Mann its a moment of such incredible catharsis that I can’t help but cry.

30. “Seven:” My first great shock at the movies. I had seen twists before, but that head in the box and knowing that evil had unexpectedly and shockingly triumphed over good was so incredibly profound for me.

31. “Beyond the Mat:” One must weigh their empty thrills against the human cost of thoses thrills. That was the lesson for me from the documentary “Beyond the Mat.” A longtime fan of professional wrestling, I had long regarded it as a meaningless, empty thrill. “Beyond the Mat” was a revelation about the cost of what I thought was free of any cost. Yes, wrestling is scripted and its just entertainment but there are real people involved and real stakes in their lives and while I knew that on a deeper level I wasn’t forced to confront my own empty enjoyment until I saw “Beyond the Mat.”

32. “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back:” Where the original “Star Wars” still makes me feel like a little kid, “Empire” still feels like my first transition toward adulthood. Sure, I saw it when I was quite young but it brought about a revelation about tragedy and a hero’s journey that helped shape me as a critical thinker. Luke Skywalker is forced to come to terms with his father being the face of evil in the universe, Han Solo is captured and seemingly killed, the Empire stands tall. It’s greek tragedy at work here and it was unlike anything my young mind had experienced up to that time.

33. “The Pledge:” How does one compartmentalize the evils of the world and if you can’t compartmentalize or somehow come to terms with tragedy and failing what will it do to you as a person. “The Pledge” offers a full examination of this idea and forces its audience into the uncomfortable position of a confronting our apathy toward evil.

34. “Mulholland Drive:” I am, generally speaking, not the biggest fan of David Lynch and his surrealist take on movies. That said, I have had few experiences quite like “Mulholland Drive.” Watching the film was a formative experience for the young film critic in me who could not help but intellectually claw at the various knots that Lynch ties into this extraordinarily complex narrative. I can’t say I untied many of those knots but I never stopped trying.

35. “Nurse Betty:” One of the great forgotten movies of the past two decades, “Nurse Betty” features Neil Labute at his nastiest and his most gentle. The film is violent and graphic in some moments and yet contains the ability to be warm and gentle as a great romantic comedy in other moments. The gentle and sensitive way that Morgan Freeman allows himself to fall for Renee Zellweger’s Betty without ever meeting her moves me deeply and his hurt in the end when she isn’t who he wanted her to be is profoundly moving and instructive for anyone who’s ever built a fantasy around someone else.

36. “Chasing Amy:” My first “these characters talk like I do” experience at the movies. I recognized the characters of “Chasing Amy” in my own life and related to them like friends. Naturally, this made the experience of the film all the more powerful, memorable and shaping.

37. “A Serious Man:”  I fought “A Serious Man” as I watched it. I wanted something funny, I wanted something with a star I could relate to. Instead, I got a stubborn, narratively thick, very Jewish story of a Jobian character constantly the victim of life’s many unfair twists of fate. It took me half the movie to come around to it but once I did I found myself putting the pieces of the film together into one of the richest moviegoing experiences of my life. That ending, so out of left field, so abrupt, and yet so perfect. The film could not have ended in any other way and that revelation has stuck with me.

38. “Diehard:” Its about connection. For guys, emotions can be difficult to express. How do we bond with other men without it being awkward or uncomfortable. What if we don’t like the same sports teams? “Diehard” has been the ground floor of a few friendships I have developed over the years. There is something about this silly, well constructed action epic that makes it widely relatable to a disparate band of people. It’s not just men either, I know many women who love “Diehard” just as much. But as a shaping experience of my moviegoing life, “Diehard” is a touchstone of male bonding unlike any other part of my life.

39. “E.T:” The first movie of my life. My brother Chuck took me to see “E.T” in the movie theater when I was 5 years old. I have never forgotten the experience and I never will.