Check out the first poster for the next “Jurassic World” installment. It doesn’t show much but it looks pretty cool nonetheless!
DIRECTOR – Colin Trevorrow
STARRING – Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Mamoudou Athie, Omar Sy, BD Wong
RELEASE – June 10, 2022 (?)
Antione Fuqua has a filmography marked by an interesting assortment of action thrillers. Not all of them are hits, but even his misses are reasonably entertaining and have a particular level of grit and verve. His new film “Infinite” stands out from his other movies and not in the way you would hope. It essentially lacks all of the aforementioned grit and verve he’s known for. After seeing it it’s clear why the movie’s theater release was scrapped and it was sent straight to Paramount+ streaming platform with practically no promotion whatsoever.
In terms of concept, “Infinite” borrows from a number of other science-fiction thrillers including “Inception” and “The Matrix”, but never comes remotely close their level. I can only guess it’s a case of a film’s script (written by Ian Shorr) sounding a lot better on paper. The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, an actor not exactly known as the most emotive. Here he’s at his most emotionless, never showing an ounce of feeling other than occasionally raising his voice a pinch out of irritation. I still haven’t figured out if this was how Wahlberg was directed or if he is just bored out of his mind.
Wahlberg plays Evan McCauley, a diagnosed schizophrenic with a history of violence who is in desperate need of a job to pay his rent and to get his meds (in some early narration we’re warned that things can go bad if he doesn’t get his meds). On the stranger side of things we learn he possesses a number of peculiar skills yet he has no idea where he learned them. For example, one second we watch Evan getting turned down in a job interview and then the next he’s forging a samurai sword. He has no idea where he learned how to do it. It’s just something he’s always known how to do. It sounds ludicrous, but along with dreams that feel like memories and a strange exhaustive knowledge of history, it really gets into one of the cooler elements of the story.
But that’s about as close as we get to exploring the the human implications or the emotional struggle that would come with such an unusual condition. Instead we get a story that is essentially drab and endless world-building bookended by an action-packed opening and ending. There are some cool car chases to start the movie and it has some preposterous yet amusing showdowns to finish. But the tedious and thoroughly uninteresting middle is hard to endure.
The movie tries to sell us on a world full of reincarnated warriors called Infinites. We hear about how they have split up in to two warring sides, the Believers (the good guys) and the Nihilists (the baddies). The Believers feel it is their duty to protect humanity, much like they have done throughout time. The Nihilists…well you know. They’re led by Bathurst, a centuries old Infinite now running around in Chiwetel Ejiofor’s body. He has “lost faith” in the Infinite’s mission and is after a world-ending “egg” that will wipe out all life (trust me, it’s better not to ask too many questions). But the egg’s location is buried somewhere in Evan’s head making him the target of both the Believers and the Nihilists.
Perhaps the movie’s biggest shortcoming is that it spends a lot of time talking about relationships from the past rather than building any meaningful new ones on screen. So we end up following a bunch of hollow characters as they slowly move towards the inevitable bombastic finish. The compelling idea of a man haunted by other people’s memories has all the ingredients for a fun movie. But the lack of interesting characters, the relentless exposition, and the bland world-building make “Infinite” a humorless and soulless slog that a few well-shot action scenes can’t cover up. “Infinite” is now streaming on Paramount+.
Nicole Riegel makes her eye-opening directorial debut with “Holler”, a richly textured movie with a deep personal connection with its creator. Riegel grew up in the American Rust Belt and shot “Holler” in her hometown of Jackson, Ohio. While the town and the characters in the movie are fictional, they’re very much inspired by Riegel’s own lived experience growing up in Jackson. And the lead character (wonderfully played by Jessica Barden) is a reflection of Riegel’s youth where as a young woman she worked hard to break a cycle and make it out of the crumbling town she came from.
But everything came full-circle when she returned to Jackson, this time as a young woman who had made it; as a filmmaker with both the opportunity and the perspective to tell an authentic and thoughtful story about growing up in a struggling Southern Ohio community. It’s something movies have often touched on but rarely with the lived-in point-of-view that we get from Riegel. Her touch can be felt throughout the film and while not perfect, the truth she conveys on screen makes for some riveting viewing.
Riegel opens her film with a quick introduction to the story’s central character Ruth Avery (Barden), a smart and resourceful high-school senior. It doesn’t take long to recognize how the deck seems stacked against her, and in many ways she seems resigned to her fate. There’s no sign of a father and her mother Rhonda (Pamela Adlon) is in the county jail for refusing to go to rehab. Ruth lives with her well-meaning older brother Blaze (Gus Halper) who does his best to provide for his sister but can’t afford to keep the water turned on and is constantly dodging foreclosure notices from the bank.
Riegel wrote the screenplay (which is based on her own short film) and she makes the brother/sister dynamic a key part of her story. Blaze wants his sister to have a better life and to go to college, something none of their family has ever done. Ruth has a strong loyalty to her brother and the idea of leaving him behind on his own is out of the question. This conflict, while centered around the sibling’s love for each other, stretches through the entire film and intensifies as their circumstances worsen.
The supporting characters are just as important and play a pivotal role in filling out the story and the town. Tops on the list is Austin Amelio as Hark, a local junkyard owner who hires a desperate Blaze and Ruth to collect scrap metal that he then sells on the side. Hark is an intriguing presence – a product of the town who always has a sly way of rationalizing what he does whether it’s legal or not. Yet it feels like there is so much of his story that’s left out making him a hard character to figure out. Becky Ann Baker adds a welcomed warmth to every scene she’s in playing Linda, a close friend of Ruth’s family. She too is a character we’re left wanting to know more about.
But it all mostly comes back to Barden who’s actually 28-years-old yet is utterly convincing as a high-schooler. She gives us glimpses of Ruth’s youthful spirit – a young girl full of potential, bouncing around in her red knit toboggan and full of curiosity. Yet we mostly see is a girl mature beyond her years, forced by her circumstances to grow up early and reflecting the hardships that have been a part in her life since she was a child. It’s a remarkable performance and Riegel is smart to lean into her talented star.
DP Justin Lane shoots a lot of scenes in somber blue tones emphasizing the misery and the despair. At this point it’s a technique that has been done so much you almost expect it. Lane’s camera really shines in the more intimate and personal moments where the characters are the focus. He also does a great job capturing the town and grounding us in the setting which is such a vital component to the story. But the visuals stumble a bit in what you may call ‘action scenes’. Mostly shot at night, these few scenes can be dark and murky to the point of being indecipherable. It’s more frustrating than problematic.
“Holler” ends up being one of those rare movies that doesn’t just talk about small town life. Instead it offers a clear-eyed undiluted vision of living under the poverty line. It’s gritty, authentic, and without a ounce of pretense. And not only is it an impressive feature film debut for Nicole Riegel, it also highlights Jessica Barden whose thoughtful and layered performance drives much of the movie. Both are immensely talented women and you can’t help but be anxious for what each will do next. “Holler” hits theaters June 11th.
Full disclosure: I was never a part of the original “Space Jam” craze. I was 25-years-old when the movie came out in 1996 and never felt inclined to see it during its initial release. I watched it later (at least most of it) and nothing about it has stuck with me. I say that to fully admit my lack of nostalgia for the upcoming sequel, some 25 years after the first film. Yet I still found myself mildly interested for a handful of reasons, mainly because I grew up on Looney Tunes. But I have to say, the latest trailer for the $150 million live-action/animated mash-up did nothing to ease my apprehension.
This time around LeBron James takes the place of Michael Jordan and must save his son from a diabolical A.I. played by Don Cheadle. How does he do it? By putting together a team of classic Looney Toon characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, etc.) and beating the A.I.’s evil all-stars in a game of basketball. One thing I will say about the trailer is that the blend of live-action and animation looks great. Both the characters and backgrounds and vibrant and full of color. On the flip-side, after seeing the trailer I don’t know if I can sit through 90-minutes or more of Lebron’s cringe-inducing acting. Whew!
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” releases July 16th in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
In 2016 Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz brought some much-needed spice to the movie musical with “La La Land”. The film was a hit with critics and audiences alike and offered proof that the movie musical was still very much alive. And then you have Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton”, a Broadway musical that went from Tony Award winner to full-blown cultural phenomenon. Those two productions helped pave the way for a film like “In the Heights”, a new musical that borrows from both “La La Land” and “Hamilton” yet for the most part still manages to make something uniquely its own.
There had been talks of an “In the Heights” film adaptation for at least ten years, but it was the success of “Hamilton” that really got things moving forward. Based on a stage musical by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Miranda, “In the Heights” is directed by Jon M. Chu of “Crazy Rich Asians” fame from a script written by Hudes and music by Miranda. It’s set in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, a tight-knit and mostly Latino community pulsing with pride, music and culture.
Much like “Hamilton”, Miranda’s music speaks its own unique language, often using rap, singing, and something in between in place a straight dialogue. It’s a skill no doubt, but one that can at times be frustrating and a little exhausting. The movie shines brightest in its big musical numbers where everyone is on their feet and the block bursts with energy and local flavor. It’s that hard-to-define lyrical style (not quite rap, not quite song, not quite spoken word) which turns out to be hit-or-miss. The good scenes crackle with fun free-flowing rhythm. But there are times when you wish Miranda would dial it back and just let his characters just speak.
While Miranda’s lyrics do most of the talking, Hudes gives us some welcomed moments of conversation that help form the backbone of the story. But her writing can be a little shaky, jumping from emotionally rich and moving to on-the-nose and even a bit cloying. Meanwhile the story as a whole struggles to find the right balance of tone. The first half is the best as we hang out with the characters, listen to their stories, and soak in the neighborhood through their eyes, ears, and voices. The final third is all over the place both narratively and tonally. It has several good moments, but much of it feels pasted together and lacks flow. And both Miranda and Hudes fumble their opportunities at political commentary by sloppily wedging in a couple of attempts that couldn’t feel any less organic. One ends an otherwise sublime swimming pool number while the other comes out of the blue and feels completely manufactured.
All that said, despite its hefty two-hour and 20-minute running time, there really isn’t that much story. But you barely notice because Miranda and Hudes do a great job of making us care about their characters and the deep communal bond that connects them. It’s what makes their individual stories both endearing and in some cases heartbreaking. And it’s the characters and our emotional commitment to them that brings Washington Heights to life. The characters ARE the story and everything from Miranda’s music to Hudes’ words to Chu’s camera emphasizes that. Meanwhile a top-to-bottom terrific cast elevate the script and Chu is smart enough to let them take the lead and carry the load.
The story unfolds over several hot summer days before, during, and after a blackout hits Washington Heights. We mostly follow two young couples, both obviously in love but poor at expressing it. Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) is a bodega owner who has his eyes firmly on Vanessa (Melissa Barrera) who gives him every opportunity to finally ask her out. The problem is he has big dreams of leaving the Heights and going back to the Dominican Republic to run a beachside business like his late father. She is an aspiring fashion designer with plans to move uptown closer to the industry she loves. The other couple is Nina (Leslie Grace) who has just returned home following a difficult first year at Stanford and dreads telling her father that she is considering quitting. She’s in love with Benny (Corey Hawkins) who works for Nina’s widowed father Kevin (Jimmy Smits) and is caught between the daddy-daughter tension.
The stories of the two couples cross over and include many of the same neighborhood people. There’s the aforementioned Kevin who can’t fathom his daughter not going back to California for her sophomore year. We get Usnavi’s fiery teen cousin Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV). And the barrio’s matriarch Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) who raised Usnavi and almost every other kid on the block. There are the three high-energy gossips who run the local salon (Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco). Even Miranda pops up now and then pushing a cart and peddling flavored shaved ice to the local kids. They all form the beating heart of the movie. And led by a star-making turn from Ramos and the eye-opening presence of Barrera, this is easily one of the best ensembles of the year.
While Chu struggles with some awkward pacing on the film’s back-end and his movie is around a half-hour too long, he has no problem pulling us into the titular neighborhood. Alongside his terrific DP Alice Brooks, Chu captures the effervescent spirit of a changing Washington Heights and give us a taste of the music, personality, and culture that is so deeply a part of its identity. At the same time Christopher Scott’s kinetic choreography pops off the screen, mixing with Miranda’s hip-hop and Salsa infused beats to give us the film’s most vibrant scenes (an absolutely electric nightclub fiesta may be my favorite). It all leads to an imperfect yet rousing crowdpleaser that may be the ideal movie for those looking to finally burst out of quarantine. “In the Heights” opens today (June 11th) in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
These days everything Lin-Manuel Miranda touches turns to gold. We’ll get to see if that trend continues later this year with the real ease of “Tick, Tick… Boom!”, an upcoming musical drama that will mark the 41-year-old New Yorker’s feature film directorial debut. The movie is based on the stage musical of the same name by the late Jonathan Larson. It has been called an autobiographical work about Larson’s struggle to make it in theater. Sadly he died tragically in 1996. He was only 35. The first trailer dropped today courtesy of Netflix.
“Tick, Tick… Boom!” adds some extra detail but it looks to be the same story at heart. Scripted by Steven Levenson, the film stars Andrew Garfield as Jon. He’s an aspiring theater composer who finds himself amid a midlife crisis as he nears his 30th birthday. In a clip we see Garfield singing romantically about the Bohemian lifestyle, yet deep down Jon doesn’t feel a day closer to reaching his dreams than when he first started. It makes for a potentially compelling story. The film also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesús, Alexandra Shipp, Judith Light, and Bradley Whitford. Again, will Miranda’s hot streak continue?
“Tick, Tick… Boom!” is set for a Fall release. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Keith & the Movies 