Movie Review Only the Brave

Only the Brave (2017) 

Directed by Joseph Kosinski 

Written by Ken Nolan, Eric Warren Singer

Starring Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, James Badge Dale, Taylor Kitsch, Jennifer Connelly 

Release Date October 8th, 2017 

Only The Brave is based on a harrowing true story. In 2013 the Granite Mountain Hotshots wildfire fighting team was sent to Yarnell Hill in Arizona to battle a wildfire. When the weather turned and the wind kicked up the flames in a new direction, 19 members of the Hot Shots team was caught behind the fire line. All 19 were killed despite their use of flame retardant covers which proved ineffective for this raging blaze.

Director Joseph Kosinski, a fine director of such solid efforts as Tron Legacy and Oblivion, brings the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots to life beautifully and painfully in Only the Brave. Taking the tale from the perspective of a new member of the squad, and ultimately the only man on the crew to survive the Yarnell Hill Fire, he was away from his team working as a scout, the film boils down the experience to a very human and relatable level that packs an emotional wallop.

Though it departs from the true story a tad, Only the Brave follows Brandon McDonough, a jobless, seemingly hopeless addict, who cleans up and looks for work as a firefighter. He arrives at the headquarters of the Hotshots in his hometown of Prescott, Arizona, with little experience, aside from EMT training course and looks to be a laughingstock to the members of the Hotshots crew. However, Supervisor and Hotshots boss, Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) recognizes something in McDonough and hires him on the spot.

In reality, McDonough was a three-year hotshot's vet when the Yarnell Hill fire occurred, but the film character is meant as an amalgamation, as well as an audience surrogate. McDonough, who takes on the nickname Donut because his new friends don’t like his name, is made a rookie so the film can use him to explain terminology and give us more insights into what a Hotshot does. It’s a good choice, if one that defies the true story.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review The Foreigner

The Foreigner (2017) 

Directed by Martin Campbell

Written by David Marconi 

Starring Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Dermot Mulroney 

Release Date October 13th, 2017 

It seems that I am not a big fan of the work of actor Pierce Brosnan. It’s not that I have an active dislike for the man, but rather, in looking at my cumulative opinion of his work over his 35-plus year career, I have only given Brosnan two positive reviews. Grant you, I have only been a critic for 20 years, but Brosnan was on TV for most of the time before I came into my profession. He had arguably his biggest successes in the James Bond franchise during my time as a critic. Then again, I don’t have a particularly high opinion of that franchise, either.

Thankfully, with the release of the terrorism-centered action movie, The Foreigner, I can legitimately say that I liked a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and not have to qualify it. Brosnan is genuinely thrilling in the role of a duplicitous Irish politician and former member of the Irish Republican Army. Brosnan is magnetic, and I loved the tiny shifts of his manner when he switched from practiced politician to trained terrorist and back again.

The Foreigner co-stars Jackie Chan as a man who has just lost his daughter to an IRA bomb. Well, that is to say that a supposed new faction of the IRA has claimed the bombing while people like Brosnan’s politician do their damnedest to distance themselves. It's part of Brosnan's charm that he can switch easily between the worlds of modern politician and former terrorist. In real life, in fact, more than a few IRA members labeled as terrorists years ago now hold powerful government positions in Ireland.

Chan’s Mr. Quan isn’t interested in how politicians want to frame the attacks; he believes Brosnan knows who the bombers are and he intends to use his skills as a former army ranger in Vietnam to force Brosnan to reveal who killed his daughter. Chan, like Brosnan, is quite riveting in this rare, dramatic role. Toning down his usual physicality, due to age as well as the needs of the plot, Chan’s Quan is a precision killer who takes pains only to kill the people who deserve it.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017) 

Directed by Angela Robinson 

Written by Angela Robison 

Starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote Oliver Platt, Connie Britton 

Release Date October 13th, 2017 

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women stars Luke Evans as Professor William Moulton Marston, the man who created the Wonder Woman comic book. Marston was an academic who studied and taught psychology before he somehow found himself creating a comic book as a way to sneak his psychological theories into mainstream thought. The character of Wonder Woman was created, according to the movie, as a composite of the two women in Marston’s life, his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and Olive (Bella Heathcote) their lover.

In 1928 Professor William Marston and his wife Elizabeth were working on creating the lie detector when they brought on a student helper named Olive. The attraction between Marston and Olive was immediately evident but what came forward, in something of a surprise, was Elizabeth’s equal desire for Olive and Olive’s similar feelings for Elizabeth. When the relationship is consummated, it's not long before word spreads around campus and all three are shunned.

For the next several years the trio lived together, raised children and explored the depths of their sexuality, an exploration that led Marston to discover bondage and S&M, an area that appealed to his libido and his intellect. In bondage Marston found an area of human psychology that matched his theory regarding Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance or DISC Theory. Marston believed that DISC theory was the ultimate way to understand human interaction, even stating that it could stop wars.

Marston also believed that DISC theory proved that women were better for world leadership than men. Women are more caring and thoughtful than men and thus are better suited to keep from going to war. The theory reflected in Marston’s own life where he was essentially married to two women who defined his life, whom he submitted to and who submitted to him equally. Luke Evans effortlessly communicates the intellect of Marston and his willingness to explore his own theories inside himself.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Classic Movie Review Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day (1993) 

Directed by Harold Ramis 

Written by Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis

Starring Bill Murray, Andie McDowell, Chris Elliott, Michael Shannon

Release Date February 12th, 1993 

Something keeps nagging at me about Groundhog Day, this week’s classic on the Everyone is a Critic Movie Podcast. I like the movie but something about Groundhog Day seems to bring out my inner pedant. Whether it’s the questionable timeline, the questionable motivation for those many timelines or something in the manner of Bill Murray’s slightly awkward performance, I can’t seem to embrace the film as fully as so many others have.

Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray as Phil Connors, a narcissistic Pittsburgh weather man who is tasked with traveling to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for that yearly tradition of Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney has become famous for its Groundhog Festival at which the titular rodent, known around town as Phil, is pulled from his fake abode to announce whether he sees his shadow. The notion is that if the groundhog can see his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter.

Phil Connors can’t stand this assignment. He hates small towns nearly as much as he secretly hates himself. Phil is, to say the least, not a people person. He’s been to Punxsutawney for years for this assignment but has made no connections in town and barely stays long enough for the groundhog to finish his proclamation before hitting the road back to the big city. This year, however, will be different, very, very different.

For reasons that are never specified, Phil finds himself unable to leave Punxsutawney due to a snowstorm that he had predicted would not hit. Forced to spend another night, Phil finds himself waking up to find that it’s Groundhog Day all over again. Everything Phil experienced the day before is happening again in the exact same way. Phil is naturally quite disturbed but eventually settles on a nightmare that will end with another good night’s sleep. When the day repeats a third time, Phil is forced to accept that he’s stuck and how to deal with such bizarre circumstances.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review The Meyerowitz Stories

The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) 

Directed by Noah Baumbach 

Written by Noah Baumbach 

Starring Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Elizabeth Marvel

Release Date October 14th, 2017 

My friends and fellow podcasters on the "Everyone is a Critic" podcast like to joke about my disdain for Adam Sandler. They seem to believe that I harbor some personal grudge against the man. It’s not true but it makes for a funny running gag. In reality, I have a professional grudge against Adam Sandler, nothing personal. I am professionally irritated by Adam Sandler because he continually works so far below his talent.

That’s right, I believe Adam Sandler is talented. In fact, I believe Adam Sandler is remarkably talented. Unfortunately, he chooses to abandon his gifts in favor of a steady, high dollar paycheck and the chance to goof off with his friends. It’s irritating to me as a critic to watch a man I know can act pretending that he can’t. Make no mistake, Adam Sandler can act. When he works with a real director, one with vision and the ability to bend Sandler to his or her will, Sandler can deliver a genuine powerhouse performance. His new film, under the direction of Noah Baumbach, The Meyerowitz Stories, reinforces my point.

In The Meyerowitz Stories, Adam Sandler plays Danny, a single father to a college-bound daughter, Eliza (Grace Van Patten), and the son a respected sculptor and professor, Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman). Danny has a wonderful relationship with his daughter and a terribly fraught relationship with his father. Unfortunately for him, Eliza is leaving for college and having recently broken up with Eliza’s mother, Danny is going to stay with his dad and dad’s flighty gal-pal Maureen (Emma Thompson).

Danny has a sister named Jean (Elizabeth Marvel) and a half-brother, Matthew (Ben Stiller), whom his father adores and can’t resist mentioning in front of Danny. Where Danny has never had a job, he was essentially a house husband and father after abandoning his musical aspirations, Matthew has moved to Los Angeles and become a successful financial advisor to celebrities. That Matthew left to escape their father, is something Harold ignores, and Danny is unaware of.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Classic Movie Review Barfly

Barfly (1987) 

Directed by Barbet Schroeder 

Written by Charles Bukowski 

Starring Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige 

Release Date October 16th, 1987

Charles Bukowski’s writing transcends experience. Something about his words can penetrate all life experience. I’ve never been through the gutters that Bukowski frequented, I’ve never even had a drink of alcohol, but there is something so powerful, visceral, and evocative in Bukowski’s skid row poetry, it’s hard not to be moved or have your stomach turned or to smile and not even know why. Bukowski’s naturalism, his vivid realities, speak to human experiences in the most unique ways.

That said, Bukowski’s prose was never thought to be a natural for the big screen. And yet, here we are with Barfly turning 30 years old this weekend. Bukowski wrote the screenplay at the behest of director Barbet Schroder who promised direct the film exactly as Bukowski wrote. It took nearly a decade and the insane producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus to make it happen, but Schroder lived up to his promise. Barfly is fully and completely a product of Bukowski.

Mickey Rourke stars in Barfly as Henry Cisnaski, a Bukowski stand in. Henry is a drunk and a bum, but he has the soul of Bukowski. Henry is a writer when the moment strikes him. In the midst of another endless bender, Henry is occasionally inspired and writes short stories that in moments of clarity he sends to publishers. One such publisher is on Henry’s trail throughout Barfly with the help of a detective but that isn’t the story of Barfly.

What story there is in these non-traditional narrative centers on Henry’s relationship with a fellow drunk named Wanda (Faye Dunaway). The two meet in a bar, naturally, and share drunken hard luck stories before she takes advantage of a friend to buy more booze for the two of them. She brings Henry to her apartment, only slightly better than his hovel and invites him to stay but with the warning that she would likely go home one night with a man who could afford booze.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal

Movie Review Marshall

Marshall (2017) 

Directed by Reginald Hudlin 

Written by Michael Koskoff, Jacob Koskoff 

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Sterling K. Brown, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, James Cromwell

Release Date October 13th, 2017 

Marshall stars rising superstar Chadwick Boseman in the role of legendary Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Set years before Marshall rose to be one of the most respected judges in the country, at a time when black people were still fighting for civil rights, Marshall is a terrific introduction to the man. Boseman, future star of Marvel’s Black Panther, demonstrates the supreme intelligence and charisma that Marshall no doubt possessed as he came up through the ranks of the NAACP to become a leader.

Marshall is set in 1940 when Thurgood Marshall was just getting started with the NAACP. In Bridgeport, Connecticut a black man named Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) stands accused of raping the wife of his employer, a woman named Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson). The story being told is that Spell raped Strubing twice before forcing her into a vehicle and driving her to a bridge where he threw her over the side. Strubing survived and managed to swim to shore and flag down a passing vehicle to take her to the police.

Marshall arrives in Bridgeport with plans of representing Spell but first he needs a lawyer to sponsor him with the Connecticut bar. Sam Friedman (Josh Gad) had no intention of being that lawyer, but when his brother volunteers him to help, Friedman finds himself thrust into the limelight. Things get further complicated for Friedman when a racist judge, James Cromwell, decides not to allow Marshall to be Spell’s lawyer and instead assigns the case to Friedman, who’d never tried a criminal case before.

With the odds stacked against them, Marshall and Friedman must become a team and find some way to defend their client against a system eager to wrap up the case and move on. As you can imagine, the fate of black man in court in 1940 accused of raping a white woman probably seemed like a lost cause, even in the supposedly progressive Northern states. A racist judge and prosecutor, who have a personal connection to one another that should disqualify them, only stack the odds further against our heroes.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal