Author Archives: Keith Garlington

REVIEW: “Florence Foster Jenkins”

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When it comes to Meryl Streep one thing is for sure – you can expect her to put out a new movie each year. And if you’re a betting man or woman you can consider it a sure thing that she will get some type of awards attention. Her 2016 effort, “Florence Foster Jenkins” has once again led her to a Best Actress Oscar nomination despite it feeling like an incredibly familiar Meryl Streep performance. 

“Florence Foster Jenkins” is a weird one – a bit off-balance yet entertaining. It’s an offbeat biopic about a New York City socialite and music lover and I bet you can guess her name. It’s 1944 and Florence (a quirky character custom-made for Streep) spends her time and fortune promoting opera and who aspires to be a singer. The problem is she hasn’t an ounce of talent. Her husband St. Clair (Hugh Grant in his best role in years), a failed Shakespearean actor, knows she can’t sing but he doesn’t dare reveal that truth to her.

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That becomes a bit tricky after Florence decides to invest more time into her singing ‘career’. St. Clair goes out of his way to protect her from the truth including paying off her voice coach and secretly screening those who attend her small performances. At first it seems a bit nutty, but we quickly learn Florence has a terrible disease. So is St. Clair looking out for her or is he looking out for himself? It’s never that clear thanks to another layer of the story regarding St. Clair’s secret mistress Kathleen (Rebecca Ferguson).

As this stranger-than-fiction story unfolds it’s hard to gauge exactly how we are to approach it. Much of Florence’s flamboyance and caterwauling is framed as comedy and effectively so. But later the film wants to scold us for laughing even though it basically does the same thing. It’s a strange and confusing moral high ground to take.

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Something the film nails is the casting. Streep excels with these eccentric characters that she constantly falls back on at this stage of her career. Hugh Grant is very good as is Rebecca Ferguson in a much smaller role. But it’s Simon Helberg who steals the show. He is a hoot playing the skittish yet ambitious pianist Cosmé McMoon. He’s hired to be Florence’s personal piano player but is dumbfounded by her horrible singing. Helberg can be wildly expressive which adds to the humor.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” is an impossible movie to nail down. It’s a veritable stew of comedy, drama, and commentary. Yet despite being uneven and a bit stodgy, it’s hard not to be sucked in by its quirkiness. It can be laugh-out-loud hilarious but also tender and heart-breaking. At the same time it does little to stand out and its uneven story is a problem despite being entertaining.

VERDICT – 3 STARS

REVIEW: “Blue Jay”

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Mark Duplass has found himself in an enviable position. He’s making the films he wants to make with complete creative control. And he’s doing so not by making it big in Hollywood. Instead he signed a four-picture deal with Netflix that offers him artistic freedom while also ensuring the financial backing that many independent filmmakers struggle with.

For the most part Duplass has steered clear of Hollywood’s courting, instead making small intimate films with miniscule budgets. His first movie for Netflix certainly fits that description. “Blue Jay” is Duplass completely in his element and it gives us a good idea of the creative leeway he has been given. It’s shot in black-and-white, it stars essentially a two-person cast, it took only seven days to film, and it was green-lit by Netflix without seeing a script. That’s a trusting partnership.

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Duplass not only writes the screenplay but stars in “Blue Jay”. He plays Jim, a 40-ish bachelor who returns to his small California hometown to renovate the house left behind by his late mother. While in the grocery store Jim bumps into his old high school sweetheart Amanda (Sarah Paulson) who happens to be back in town to visit her sister. Their meeting is bit awkward but a cup of coffee at the town’s diner loosens things up and before long they are reminiscing about the good old days.

We learn all we need to know about these two characters through their conversations and recollections. As we slowly piece together their deep connection it becomes clear that their entire lives have been effected by the past they shared. There’s also this neat bit of early 90s nostalgia that shows itself in the scenes where Jim and Amanda cast aside their present-day cares and playfully immerse themselves in their history together. But their memories aren’t wound-free which becomes evident the more time we spend with them.

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Director Alex Lehmann wisely keeps himself in the background and allows his two actors to carry the load. Duplass and Paulson have a convincing chemistry and there is an organic flowing rhythm to their dialogue. Much of it is due to a considerable amount of improvisation in place of a conventional script. While Duplass is a natural fit for his character, Paulson is the true highlight. Watching her navigate her character’s many emotional layers left me wondering why she doesn’t get more of these roles.

“Blue Jay” manages to be funny and playful while also taking an honest look at the insecurity and fragility of its characters. Later on it does get a touch melodramatic but it always remains truthful and feels plucked from real life experiences. The wonderful choice to soak the film in black and white adds a wonderful layer of nostalgia and melancholy. It’s a bold choice for a 2016 character drama, but again it demonstrates the audacity filmmakers can show when given creative liberties. That’s why I’m excited for what else this Duplass/Netflix partnership will deliver.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

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REVIEW: “Split”

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It’s probably a bit of an understatement to call M. Night Shyamalan’s career one big roller coaster ride. I’m actually far more fascinating by the mass reactions from moviegoers who treat him like a true auteur who has fallen from cinematic grace. I think that’s giving Shyamalan a tad too much credit. “The Sixth Sense” is really good. “Unbreakable” is superb. I’m a big fan of “Signs”. These are three solid movies with a certain cultural standing, but they are hardly great enough to make his subsequent decline so fiercely noteworthy.

Still there is no denying that the quality of Shyamalan’s movies fell like a ton of bricks. And I will freely admit that getting the taste of “Lady in the Water”, “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth” out of your mouth is next to impossible. For many people hope returned with 2015’s “The Visit”, a movie I had a lot of fun with. But for those unwilling to entertain the idea that Shyamalan’s career was back on the upswing, let’s just say “Split”  just might change your mind.

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For the most part the trailer sets up the entire premise. Three teenaged girls are kidnapped while leaving a birthday party. There abductor is Kevin Crumb (James McAvoy), a man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. We learn through his sessions with his psychologist Dr. Karen Fletcher (played by Betty Buckley) that Kevin possesses 23 unique personalities. Collectively they refer to themselves as The Horde.

While held captive the three girls encounter several of Kevin’s identities including the creepy  “Dennis” and the creepier “Patricia”. But they also meet gentler personalities from within Kevin’s mind, a sign of the intense internal conflict going on inside of him. McAvoy dives into his role head-first and shows off how crafty he can be when let off his leash. He is one of the film’s biggest strengths and it’s mind-boggling watching him bring out personality in each of the identities. It may be through accents, mannerisms, or even the slightest facial expression. Incredibly he makes each of them easily recognizable without any blatantly obvious markers.

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Of the three girls, Casey proves to be the more resilient. She’s cool-headed and observant – qualities learned from her deeply troubled past which Shyamalan feeds to us through a smattering of flashbacks. Casey is wonderfully played by Anya Taylor-Joy who gave an equally strong performance in last year’s “The Witch”. Performance-wise her fellow captives don’t fair as well. In their defense Shyamalan hands them some of the movie’s worst dialogue before leaving them locked up and in their underwear for the entire second half of the movie. Aren’t we tired of that yet?

Shyamalan leans heavily on scenes between Dr. Fletcher and one of Kevin’s more amiable personalities “Barry”. There is a psychological cat-and-mouse element to their sessions which is compelling. Shyamalan may lean on them a tad too much, but that’s not to say the scenes are without meaning. Also they allow for some of McAvoy’s best work. Through these scenes (and for that matter the entire film) Shyamalan maintains his sharp instincts for suspense and his skills with the camera are as good as ever.

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Then you have the finale. You’ll find no spoilers here and do yourself a favor – avoid them at all costs. Shyamalan has an impressive knack for causing you to immediately reevaluate his film after seeing its ending. It has never been more true than with “Split”. Shyamalan twists are a signature of his movies but prior to “The Visit” you could say he had become a parody of himself. “Split” proves he can still completely broadside any audience.

Shyamalan once again shows he is still a filmmaker worth paying attention to. “Split” is a movie with a few problems, some of which were easily avoidable. At the same time James McAvoy gives a stand-out performance and Anya Taylor-Joy continues to show she is the real deal. But most importantly Shyamalan sticks his ending with an insanely clever twist I never saw coming and that immediately compelled me to see the film again. Rarely has a conclusion surprised or impressed me quite like this. See it for yourself.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “A Man Called Ove”

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While not exactly a genre in itself, movies about grumpy old men were once pretty common and came in all forms. Think about this variety for a second – Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol”, Clint Eastwood’s “Grand Torino”, the Pixar gem “Up”, and of course the two “Grumpy Old Men” movies. This is just a handful of examples yet none of these films are quite like the Swedish dramedy “A Man Called Ove”.

Rolf Lassgård stars and plays the title character Ove. He’s a crusty old curmudgeon who runs his neighborhood association with an iron fist even though he was deposed as its president a few years earlier. His zero-tolerance policies puts him at odds with some residents while others laugh him off as Ove being Ove. Things get even worse after he is squeezed into early retirement by his young supervisors.

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The cantankerous Ove meets his match when a young family moves in across the street. Things get off to a rocky start with Ove letting them have it for every little infraction. But the young mother Parvaneh (Bahar Pars) is impervious to Ove’s belligerence. In fact, she kind of gets a kick out of it. What follows is an unexpected friendship with potential life-changing effects for Parvaneh but especially Ove.

This odd relationship helps to crack open the Ove character and reveal the reasons for his misery. He slowly makes more sense to us. The frequent visits to his wife’s grave and a series of flashbacks paint a picture of a man stricken by heartbreak, sorrow, and loneliness. But don’t let that fool you. This is a black comedy at its core. There are some really good laughs some from unexpected places. Writer-director Hannes Holm juggles the wacky range of emotions and the periodic time hops fairly seamlessly which is no small task.

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Lassgård deserves a lot of credit as well. His stone-faced persona is helped by some really good makeup (for which it earned an Oscar nomination) but is mostly carried by the actor’s charisma. There’s also Lassgård’s snarling snark which is so finely in sync with Holm’s wickedly funny dialogue. And when he’s asked to tone down the crabbiness (ever so slightly) the actor pulls it off without coming across as manipulative.

“A Man Called Ove” was a huge hit in its native Sweden becoming the third highest-grossing domestic movie in the nation’s history. It’s easy to see why. Despite his prickly nature the film’s protagonist is easy to enjoy and eventually sympathize with. That’s mainly due to the surprising amount of tenderness packed into the story and a fabulous lead performance. And now two well-deserved Oscar nominations are icing on this surprise hit’s cake.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

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REVIEW: “The Founder”

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The true story of a 53 year-old milkshake machine salesman who builds a fast food franchise may not come across as compelling cinema. But when that franchise is none other than McDonald’s and the salesman is as fascinating as Ray Kroc, let’s just say there is plenty there to anchor your interest.

McDonald’s has come a long way since its humble beginning in 1940. What started as a barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California has become a global phenomenon. Currently McDonald’s employs nearly 450,000 people and sports over 36,500 locations worldwide. They are everywhere. My wife and I even came across one while strolling down Paris’ famous Champs-Elysees? Ray Kroc’s shrewd and ambitious vision turned McDonald’s into a multi-billion dollar franchise and he barreled over anyone who got in his way.

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Ray is played by Michael Keaton, a crafty actor with plenty of variation to bring out his character’s many layers. When we first see Ray it’s 1954 and he’s peddling milkshake machines to drive-in restaurants across the midwest. Despite numerous failing business ventures he still manages a modest comfortable living with his supportive but neglected wife Ethel (Laura Dern). But contentment isn’t in Ray’s vocabulary. He firmly believes he’s one deal away from his ship coming in.

After a small California diner named McDonald’s orders six of his five-spindle multimixers a surprised Ray heads out to San Bernardino to check out their restaurant. There he meets the owners, the sociable Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and his intuitive brother Dick (Nick Offerman). Their family-ran diner is built on the idea of good food and fast service (Dick defines it as a “symphony of efficiency”). Ray immediately sees the franchise potential and persuades the reluctant brothers to let him in as their partner.

The screenplay from Robert D. Siegel (who also wrote 2008’s “The Wrestler”) was inspired by Ray Kroc’s 1977 autobiography but also an unauthorized biography. This enabled Siegel to learn the good and bad sides of this complex man. He and director John Lee Hancock move through Kroc’s story with a clear-eyed rhythm, hitting most of the high points and avoiding any lulls. They portray the businessman as both sympathetic and repulsive. Siegel himself said that after seven viewings he still didn’t know whether he liked Ray Kroc or not.

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Underneath its biopic epidermis is a surprisingly rich character study that can be as shrewd as Kroc himself and that doesn’t shy away from looking at him with a skeptical eye. It also gives Michael Keaton good material to work with. He is magnetic and endlessly charismatic, so much so that we remain glued to him even as our impression of his character sours. Offerman is also very good as is Dern. Unfortunately she gets left behind (as does a lot of the of Kroc’s personal details) in favor of the business end of the story. But you could say that’s an authentic portrayal – business before everything else.

Over the years McDonald’s has certainly changed. The food you now get is a far cry from the delicious all-beef patties we see on the McDonald brothers’ grill. And it’s funny, the same can be said for the Ray Kroc character. He’s a much different person by the end of the movie. That’s what makes “The Founder” such a fascinating watch. Sadly it hasn’t gotten much traction in theaters, but hopefully people will give it a look. It’s a great way to start the 2017 movie year.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

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The 5th Annual K&M Random Movie Awards

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Today marks the fifth (yes fifth) year that I have put together this highly esteemed and barely anticipated final look back at the previous year in movies. I simply call these the K&M Random Movie Awards. Even the name drips with prestige and significance. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill awards drivel. They are completely random categories yanked out of the air and presented to you. Now, without further delay, the red carpet ceremony is over. Lets get to this year’s ‘winners’…

Best Ensemble Cast – “Hail Caesar!”

The Coen brothers do a lot of things right in their films. One of them is assembling a cast. Just look at these names from “Hail Caesar!” – Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ray Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson. And that’s not even including the young star Alden Ehrenreich. What a cast.

Worst Movie Title – “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”

I mean come on. Just say it to yourself a couple of times? Every time I say it I compulsively add an 80’s movie trailer voice-over to it. It’s so corny I can’t help myself.

Best Animated Film- “Kubo and the Two Strings”

I was late coming to this movie but I’m so glad I did. What a visual and emotional delight. The animation is gorgeous and strikingly unique. The same could be said for the story which was a fresh escape from the normal stuff we get.

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Funniest Scene – “Church-Hill” (“Love & Friendship”)

When Tom Bennett gives us a proper introduction to his character in “Love & Friendship” the result is comic gold. In this particular scene his lovable buffoon is hysterically awkward trying to explain his unannounced arrival to Churchill. I will leave it at that so you can enjoy the rest on your own.

Best Soundtrack  “La La Land”

What can I say, I love the music of  “La La Land”. It ranges from romantic to heartbreaking, aching to exhilarating. It’s a joyous mix of big orchestration and old-school jazz with some incredibly catchy riffs that I’m still humming today.

Best Fight Scene – “The Lobster”

Who says a fight scene has to be full of great choreography and visual effects? That certainly isn’t true for the brief and utterly absurd fight in “The Lobster”. A conversation about animals turns into a fight between John C. Reilly and Ben Whishaw. It’s just as hysterical as it sounds.

Best Shootout – “Anthropoid”

Out of all of the cinematic gunplay of 2016 nothing matched the climactic firefight at the end of “Athropoid”. Since it does come at the end I won’t spoil anything, but it is intense and incredibly well shot. It also plays heavily into the the story which makes it all the more enthralling.

Creepiest Movie Animal – Black Phillip (“The Witch”)

Of the many creepy things about “The Witch”, who can forget the film’s horned villain Black Phillip? This menacing billy goat terrorized a New England family in the 1630s. How can a goat be so chilling?

Biggest Surprise Movie – “The Jungle Book”

I had zero expectations for this film. None whatsoever. What an incredible surprise. Not only does the film look amazing, but its story was far more satisfying than I ever anticipated.

Best Child Performance – Sunny Pawal (“Lion”)

For the first half of “Lion” Sunny Pawal is the focus. It’s a difficult role but the expressive young boy is marvelous. In scene after scene he breaks our heart and all at the tender age of six.

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Weirdest Casting – Morgan Freeman (“Ben-Hur”)

While “Ben-Hur” wasn’t quite as bad as some people said, it still made some odd choices. Perhaps the biggest was casting Morgan Freeman as a Nubian sheik. Here’s the thing, he never gets out of Morgan Freeman mode which makes it impossible to see him as anyone else.

Best Directorial Debut – Garth Davis (“Lion”)

Directing feature films can’t be easy which is why Garth Davis’ debut is so impressive. “Lion” is a wonderful that balances two timelines. Davis handles it brilliantly. On top of that his film has received six Oscar nominations. How’s that for a first movie?

Goofiest Scene – Geoffrey Rush vs Giant shadowy space demon (“Gods of Egypt”)

Doesn’t the above description say at all? I don’t really know how to put the absurdity into words. A shorn, flaming Geoffrey Rush duking it out in space with a big smoky mass of evil. Seriously, what else needs to be said?

Best Chase Sequence – “Assassin’s Creed”

It’s far from your traditional chase sequence, but the rooftop chase in “Assassin’s Creed” was nothing short of exhilarating. It’s fast-paced, intense and beautifully shot.

Worst Sequel – “Independence Day: Resurgence”

Twenty years since the first film and this is all they can come up with? “Resurgence” is such a bland and lifeless sequel not to mention full of some of the year’s worst performances. I feel for whoever green-lit this mess of a movie.

Best Performance in a Horrible Movie – Margot Robbie (“Suicide Squad”)

“Suicide Squad” wasn’t good in any regard except one – Margot Robbie. Her version of Harley Quinn was the one true highlight. She gives it 110% and ends up capturing what makes that character such fun. Too bad no one else involved could do the same.

Best Ending – “Arrival”

I was already sold on “Arrival” before it reached its finale, but those final 10 minutes cemented it as a truly great film and my favorite of 2016. It’s not only  cerebral, it also packs an unexpected emotional punch.

Best Movie No One Saw – “The Innocents”

I pains me how few people have seen “The Innocents”. Whether its moviegoers or film critics, hardly anyone talked about it by the year’s end. What a shame. “The Innocents” is such a powerful story told with great vision.

Best Villain – The Shark (“The Shallows”)

Forget the routine super-villains, terrorists, or psychopaths. The shark in the surprising thriller “The Shallows” was a terror. This giant predatory menace made Blake Lively beach visit an absolute nightmare.

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Best Horror Movie – “Train to Busan”

Zombies on a train. Sounds silly, right? Actually “Train to Busan” is fantastic. This South Korean horror film is a master class in pacing and tension-building. I couldn’t turn away.

Most Eye-Opening Performance – Kate Beckinsale (“Love & Friendship”)

I’ve always liked Kate Beckinsale but never considered her among the top actresses in the business. That was until “Love & Friendship”. Beckinsale shows acting chops that rivaled any performance from 2016.

Best Voice Acting – Idris Elba (“The Jungle Book”)

I could listen to Idris Elba read a telephone book. He has that type of hypnotic voice. In “The Jungle Book” he gives us one of the year’s best villains. Elba is so entrancing that it doesn’t matter he is a scar-faced tiger. You completely buy it.

Most Overly Praised Film – “Zootopia”

Messages are good. Bludgeoning your audience to death with them is not. “Zootopia” starts off good, but the second half becomes a heavy-handed drumming at the expense of its story. Yet it still has a huge following and will probably win the Animated Feature Oscar.

Most Unfairly Maligned Film – “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice”

Before it even hit theaters “BvS” became a fashionable punching bag for many. It has let up a little, but it’s still showered with overblown criticisms and now Razzies in every category. Good grief.

Best Non-La La Land Dance Sequence – “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”

Happy Birthday Ricky Baker! There are several things in “Wilderpeople” that come completely out of the blue. One is the forest dance scene where Ricky busts some serious moves. Sam Neil’s expression makes it even better.

Worst Comedy – “The Do-Over”

Adam Sandler. Do I have to say anything else. I probably could but I would rather not.

Best Superhero Film – “Captain America: Civil War”

The Captain America movies have been some of the very best from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That continued with “Civil War”, a film that could just as easily be called “Avengers 2.5”.

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Best Movie Mustache – Colin Farrell (“The Lobster”)

I could come up with all sorts of oddball categories for “The Lobster” – Best Use of a Toaster, Best Cameo by a Peacock, and so on. Instead I’ll stick with Best Mustache, an award that Colin Farrell wins with ease (depending on how you define “best”).

Best Visual Effects – “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”

Okay, a couple of CGI characters may have been a bit a little jarring, but aside from that “Rogue One” looks absolutely stunning. From the space battles to the new worlds, it’s hard not to be wow’d by the incredible effects.

Best Western – “In a Valley of Violence”

Ethan Hawke verses John Travolta in the wild west? That’s an automatically selling point. Actual the film is a lean, fresh take on the western genre from writer/director Ti West.

Biggest Letdown – “Jason Bourne”

“Jason Bourne” isn’t a bad movie. It’s just incredibly flat and utterly forgettable. Not at all what I expected from the returning Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. Maybe I need to give it another chance. The first viewing left no impression.