A Reel Preview: Everything You Need to Know About READY PLAYER ONE

In 1993, famed director Steven Spielberg released two films which could not be more different from each other. In June of that year, he wowed the world with JURASSIC PARK; an action-adventure film which literally brought dinosaurs to life. Less than six months later, he brought us the WWII Holocaust drama SCHINDLER’S LIST, which won Spielberg Best Director and Best Picture. Today, the situation is similar. Less than three months ago, Spielberg was sitting at the Oscars being honored for his acclaimed political drama THE POST, and now this week he brings an sci-fi adventure which could not be more different in the form of READY PLAYER ONE. Here is everything you need to know about it.

What is this about? – READY PLAYER ONE is based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Cline. Set in the year 2045, humanity uses a massive virtual-reality called OASIS to escape the desolation of the Earth. A young man named Wade Watts takes on a challenge by the OASIS creator to discover hidden clues within the program, with the ultimate prize being complete control over OASIS.

Who is in this? – The main character of Wade is played by 22-year-old Tye Sheridan, whose credits include JOE (2013), and X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (2016). He is joined by Olivia Cooke, known mostly for her role in TV’s BATES MOTEL. The rest of the impressive cast includes Ben Mendelsohn (ROGUE ONE), Mark Rylance (BRIDGE OF SPIES), Simon Pegg (STAR TREK), and TJ Miller (DEADPOOL).

Who is behind this? – Anyone who knows anything about film knows that Steven Spielberg is one of the most influential filmmakers in history, having made some of the greatest films of all time…such as JAWS (1975), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), ET THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982), and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998). The script is written by author Ernest Cline, and Zak Penn. Penn’s writing credits include X2 (2003).

Random Facts – The virtual-reality world that Wade and his eventual companions venture through is populated by characters and items from pop culture, such as King Kong, the Iron Giant, and the DeLorean time machine from BACK TO THE FUTURE. More surprises have been promised * Before Spielberg took the job, other directors considered were Christopher Nolan, Robert Zemeckis, Matthew Vaughn, and Peter Jackson * Spielberg himself is mentioned in the novel, but the director has stated that he would be removing any references to his movies * The score was originally going to be composed by long-time Spielberg partner John Williams, but he stepped away because he was scoring Spielberg’s THE POST at the same time. This is only the third Spielberg film (out of 33), without a Williams score * This is Spielberg’s first science-fiction film since his lousy WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) * The novel gets its title from a phrase from the days of classic video games *

What to expect – It seems that Steven Spielberg is the perfect man for this job. Most of the pop culture references in the film seem to source from the 1980’s, and no other director influenced 80’s culture like he did. In a way it feels like he’s coming full circle by doing READY PLAYER ONE, and that alone is very exciting. The cast is very solid, and Tye Sheridan has proven that he can shine in large, big-budget productions as well as indie drama. The trailers so far have made this look like another CGI headache, but with Spielberg at the helm, we can expect some of his magic.

*

READY PLAYER ONE opens March 30^th in 2D and 3D formats.

A Reel Review: TOMB RAIDER

One of the most bewildering mysteries in cinema is why movies based on video games always turn out to be dead turkeys. With the advances in technology, modern gaming has become cinematic themselves, so the job of a filmmaker is to simply move things over from the small screen to the big. The latest version of TOMB RAIDER needed only to do that to succeed.

Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander), is an orphan working as a bicycle courier in London who has never accepted the disappearance of her father (Dominic West). When she finds a hidden clue to her father’s final mission, she enlists the help of a drunken sailor (Daniel Wu), to a journey to an unmarked island, where she races to find a mystical tomb with rumored powers…before it can be found by a shadowy organization called Trinity, assisted by Vogel (Walton Goggins).

The bulk of the Tomb Raider video games has always been simple; run through the jungle, avoid perils, shoot the bad guys, solve puzzles to get inside an ancient tomb to find a mystical thingy. Even if a non-gamer goes into the movie clean, the title TOMB RAIDER implies that’s the movie to be seen. Right away, this version of the game stumbles right out of the gate by saddling everything with a dragging origin story. Cutting to the chase: Lara Croft isn’t really Lara Croft until the closing minutes of the film, and she spends the other 98% of the movie stumbling into one fix after another. She’s an onlooker, and becomes a hero by accident.

Action and adventure should have been priority, and director Roar Uthaug, whose name sounds like a video game monster, takes the material way too seriously. The film tries to be a self-important drama which sucks the life out of the adventure. Set-pieces such as a chase through the jungle, a waterfall escape, and solving a few puzzles in a tomb (when the film mercifully finally gets there) have very little sense of tension or dread, and a bicycle chase through London in the early goings is pointless and feels like it belongs in another movie. The film lacks a true heartbeat with no sense of fun, energy, or the least little bit of joy. There’s also a lack of balance between the practical stunts (which are very good), and the lousy CGI spectacle (which are very bad). This is one bland adventure.

But there is one great quality that this TOMB RAIDER has, and that is the magnificent and lovely Alicia Vikander. Vikander gives it her absolute best in every scene, and the physical demands that she meets are very impressive. The character goes through some pain, both physical and mental, and she sells it. The rest of the cast is as bland as the rest of the film, although Walton Goggins is spectacular as always.

Vikander’s performance isn’t enough to save TOMB RAIDER from the turkey label, but it’s close. She’s great to watch during the action and the dramatic parts, and what she does is enough to want to see her again in the role with a better script and director. This version of TOMB RAIDER exists to set up further sequels, which is common in blockbuster filmmaking these days, and that would be fine if it wasn’t too much origin and not enough hero. If there was any rule that video game movies need to follow to succeed, it’s Don’t Be Boring, and this one manages to break it. Worthwhile for the lead actress only.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it

A Reel 20: THE BIG LEBOWSKI

“The Dude abides…”

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of Joel and Ethan Coen’s THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

A dark comedy with elements of a crime novel, LEBOWSKI followed an adventure by Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski; a laid-back, White Russian-drinking, pot-smoking, unemployed bowling enthusiast who has the bad luck of sharing a last name with a local millionaire involved in a kidnapping plot. Dude is joined by his friends and bowling teammates Walter, who is an aggressive Vietnam veteran, and Donny, a neutral fellow who never understands what’s going on. The three casually try to unravel the mystery of the kidnapping, which may or may not be real, in a film that unspools in a series of episodes involving ransom money, bowling rivals, the porn industry, performance art, wacky dreams, and the theft of Dude’s beloved rug.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI was the 8^th film by the producing, writing, and directing sibling team of the Coens, and their first follow-up to their Oscar-darling FARGO from 1996. The beginnings of the film go as far back as 1991, when the Coens began writing the script before abandoning it to work on BARTON FINK. When they revisited the project, the script was written with John Goodman (Walter), and Steve Buscemi (Donny), in mind, who had worked with the Coens before. The central character of The Dude was inspired by two acquaintances of the brothers, who had all of the traits from White Russians to going by “Dude”. That role would eventually go to Jeff Bridges. The rest of the outstanding cast would include Julianne Moore, David Huddleston, John Turturro, Sam Elliott, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Flea, and the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

With the city and culture of Los Angeles being so prominent in the script, shooting took place on location over a period of eleven weeks, with Dude’s dream sequences shot in a converted airplane hangar. Sam Elliott, acting as a narrator and making two cameos, shot for only two days. Famed cinematographer Roger Deakins gave the film a colorful look which popped off the screen.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI was not a hit financially and did not score well with critics, but over the years has earned a massive cult following. Fans hold festivals and the characters are the inspiration for cosplay at conventions across the country. There are over 450,000 ordained priests practicing a pseudo-religion called Dudeism, and the film has inspired competitions ranging from trivia, White Russian contests, and academic treatments. Entertainment Weekly ranked it 8^th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list, and the late, famed movie critic Roger Ebert added it to his list of Great Movies in 2010.

*

It took this Blogger several years to really appreciate the art of THE BIG LEBOWSKI. As a film it is a joy to take in through its twists and turns, the dialogue is instantly quotable, and the chemistry between Bridges, Goodman, and Buscemi is pure magic. The three characters benefit from holding to classic archetypes; the passive, the aggressive, and the neutral…and are executed so well that the film should be played and studied at every Film 101 class. It has elements of a Western, or even a Greek adventure through a series of perils and encounters…all while maintaining a sense of fun with a barrage of laughs (the gag with Donnie’s ashes cracks up this Blogger every time). After 20 years, The Dude is the role that the world relates Jeff Bridges to, and offers an important lesson; just take ‘er easy.

“All The Dude wanted was his rug back.”

A Reel Review: ANNIHILATION

The last time we saw writer/director Alex Garland, he brought us the brainy and most-excellent EX MACHINA, which was a closed-quarters paranoia sci-fi flick which shocked as much as it fascinated. Showing a knack for the genre, Garland returns to sci-fi, this time with ANNIHILATION, which is another closed-quarters paranoia story, only this time told on a grander scale.

Lena (Natalie Portman), is a doctor who has her military husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) return home from a secret mission with mysterious behavior. When his condition worsens, she and Kane are taken by a government agency to the outskirts of a “The Shimmer”, a quarantined bubble which is growing and taking over the Earth. Lena joins a team of scientists (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriquez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny), to enter the zone and discover the source before Earth is consumed.

Despite the grand stakes, ANNIHILATION is all Lena’s journey, which is two-fold. First, to find a way to stop The Shimmer from growing, and to solve the mystery of what happened to her husband Kane on his similar mission inside (spoiler alert – that’s what his secret mission was). Once inside, Lena and her team find themselves in a wild house-of-horrors, as they suffer from short-term memory loss, and are surrounded by revolting, mutated wild animals which take on the characteristics of anything they kill…including humans.

Garland is playing with a lot of horror elements here, as the team is stalked at night and attacked by the creatures. But at the same time he’s building a mystery in this fantastical little zone inside the bubble. With the stakes so high, Garland does manage to make it grounded; keeping Lena and her desire to save her husband always up front, while filling in the blanks of their marriage with some well-timed flashbacks. But on this journey, the mystery keeps on growing and growing, and the desire to over-explain things never bogs down the script to a fault; there’s a lot that’s left unanswered by movie’s end.

Garland flexes his muscle as a potential horror-film director with some truly frightening scenes, and the tension build-up is nicely done. The film looks beautiful as the team makes their way through the surreal landscape, and the creepy sound effects throughout the movie is unnerving. The landscapes are stunning, the creatures horrifying, although the beings we encounter near the film’s end suffer from poor CGI. With the exception of Lena, the team is all one-note and paper-thin and as disposable as a throw-away camera. And speaking of cameras, the old cliché of characters finding a video camera with a tape that explains things is used one too many times.

Acting is okay. Natalie Portman goes through a lot of torment, and her chemistry with Oscar Isaac is very good. Isaac’s role is an extended cameo, but what he does with his time is effective. The rest of the cast is forgettable with little to do.

The bulk of the film is spent building and slowly revealing, but in the last 20 minutes there is a lot of frustration to be had. The film goes for a shock ending that is very predictable and not as mind-blowing as it thinks it is, and there is way too much left unexplained; ambiguous doesn’t always mean genius. The wrap is very plain, and what’s odd is that there were hints throughout the film that there was something bigger going on, so it almost feels like the ending was changed at some point in production. It’s a frustrating destination because the journey was so good, and that type of imbalance earns ANNIHILATION a small recommendation.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it

A Reel Preview: The Year in Film 2018 - Episode III

There’s a lot to look forward to in the cinematic month of March. With the Oscars and awards season over, 2017 can be officially considered put to bed, and we’re also out of the dead months of January and February. This March, there are some big-name directors appearing with some special projects, giving us a nice warm-up before the Summer Movie Season brings the heat.

Here are the notable releases for March…

RED SPARROW – Based on the novel of the same name, Jennifer Lawrence (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK), plays a Russian intelligence officer dispatched to the CIA to uncover a mole. Co-stars Joel Edgerton (WARRIOR), Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Irons.

DEATH WISH – Bruce Willis stars in this remake of the 1970’s classic in which a doctor avenges the death of his daughter. Directed by Eli Roth (HOSTEL).

A WRINKLE IN TIME – Acclaimed director Ava DuVernay (SELMA) adapts the best-selling novel of the same name, in which a young girl sets off on a quest to find her father, who disappeared searching for a new planet. Stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Michael Pena, Zach Galifanakis, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine (STAR TREK).

GRINGO – This zany action-comedy is about a doctor who invents medical marijuana in a pill form. Stars David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried, Thandie Newton, and Sharlto Copley (DISTRICT 9).

TOMB RAIDER – Academy Award winning actress Alicia Vikander (THE DANISH GIRL), stars as the jungle-exploring Lara Croft, in this new adaptation of the popular video game.

7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE – This crime thriller is based on the true story of a 1976 counter-terrorist rescue mission. Stars Rosamund Pike (GONE GIRL), and Daniel Bruhl (RUSH).

PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING – The sequel to the 2013 sci-fi spectacle featuring giant robots slugging it out with equally-sized monsters, which does not have original director and creator Guillermo del Toro returning. It stars John Boyega (THE LAST JEDI), and Scott Eastwood (son of Clint), and also has returning actors Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi.

ISLE OF DOGS – Beloved director Wes Anderson returns with this stop-motion animated film about a world where all canines are quarantined on a single island. The massive cast features the voices of Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murrary, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, F. Murray Abraham, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Courtney B. Vance, Harvey Keitel, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, and Ken Watanabe.

READY PLAYER ONE – Legendary director Steven Spielberg directs this adaptation of the cult-favorite novel, in which the population of Earth spends their time in an interconnected virtual space. It stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance.

*

Next month, Reel Speak previews the month of April.

A Reel Opinion: Oscar Wrap-up - The Good, The Bad, & The Glorious

The 90^th Academy Awards were last night, bringing a fair amount of moments ranging from good, bad, and glorious. Here’s how the punches landed…

The Good

-Host Jimmy Kimmel, in only his second Oscars, looked right at home and set the tone early…which was high energy and showing no fear in skewering topics; topics that have plagued Hollywood in the past year, including the mistreatment of women by the industry, our vice-president, along with last year’s screw-up when the wrong Best Picture was announced. Gags such as the awarding of a jet-ski to the shortest acceptance speech and a field-trip to a movie theatre with a gaggle of nominees were excellent.

-In keeping with Kimmel’s early tone, actors and actresses were also fearless in going after Hollywood’s turbulent year. Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek, and Annabella Sciorra…victims of abuse by now disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, stood on stage together, as they introduced a very well-done montage of Hollywood trailblazers who are speaking out about inclusion and equality. Frances McDormand, during her acceptance speech for Best Actress, literally brought the place to its feet with a call for unity.

-Writer and director Jordan Peele made history as the first African American to win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

-In a rare crossover, sports and Hollywood came together. Best Documentary Feature went to ICARUS, which explored the Russian doping scandals, and NBA superstar Kobe Bryant took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film with DEAR BASKETBALL. And keeping with a theme of stars, Bryant was given his Oscar by the stars of STAR WARS, which included the basketball-shaped droid BB-8.

The Bad

-The In Memoriam piece was once again a show-stopping tearjerker; very well done with Eddie Vedder performing the late great Tom Petty’s Room at the Top. But, every year there seems to be an exclusion or two. Powers Boothe did not appear in the montage, and neither did Bill Paxton…who died on last year’s Oscar Sunday and was not included in that montage.

-Fans of the horror film GET OUT, which was nominated for four Oscars and took home one, have been in a rampage since the end of the ceremony, which did not honor their favorite film for Best Picture. The internet can be an ugly place for film criticism, and the overzealous fans of the film who don’t know when to quit are starting to give GET OUT a lousy reputation; which is the exact opposite of what the film stands for. No one likes a sore loser.

The Glorious

-This Blogger has been saying for years that the Academy needs to embrace their history more, and this year they listened. The lead-ins to the major categories were preceded by wonderful montages of past winners, and the four-minute 90 Years of Going to the Movies, which was a tribute to both film and theatre-goers, was nothing short of tremendous. Also great was a montage of past war films which served as a way to honor our veterans.

­-Famed cinematographer Roger Deakins and actor Gary Oldman finally taking home Oscars, with Oldman’s acceptance speech speaking directly to his mom.

-Guillermo del Toro’s Best Director win, for his fantasy love-story THE SHAPE OF WATER, made him the fourth Mexican director in five years to win that Oscar.

-Guillermo del Toro would also take home the top prize, with THE SHAPE OF WATER winning Best Picture. It was glorious moment because it made history while blazing a trail forward. It is the first female-led film to win Best Picture since MILLION DOLLAR BABY in 2004, and the first since 2014 that even had a Best Actress nominee in it. It’s also the first fantasy film to win since THE RETURN OF THE KING in 2003. What’s also interesting about its big night is that genre films usually win the technical awards (Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Editing, etc.), and drama takes home the big creative Oscars such as Director, Writer, and Best Picture…but this year that was reversed. THE SHAPE OF WATER is also the first film in 22 years to win Best Picture without a nomination from the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG). There are many stats and trends to follow when trying to predict Best Picture, but sometimes all of that can be obliterated by just being a good movie. And that is all anyone ever wants. With that in mind, the right film won.

*

The 91^st Academy Awards arrive on February 24^th, 2019.

A Reel Opinion: Oscar Picks - Part 2

When the Academy Awards were first handed out 90 years ago, the winners were known in advance. Things have changed since then, with the voters keeping their secrets closer than 007 in bed. That’s all fine, because part of the allure of the Oscars every year is trying to crack the code; as bloggers, critics, and fans of cinema use trends, stats, and gut-instinct to pick the winners in 24 categories.

Out of those 24, there are eight which are elemental towards Best Picture. Four belong to the actors (see Reel Speak’s acting picks HERE), and the rest belong to the hands and minds behind the camera. In this second and final part of Oscar picks, this Blogger makes selections in those all-important categories.

Best Editing

This is a vital category which is often overlooked. Two-thirds of all Best Picture winners have won this, and 35 out of the last 36 Best Picture winners got this nomination. This year the frontrunners are Christopher Nolan’s towering WWII epic DUNKIRK, and Edgar Wright’s snappy heist-film BABY DRIVER. BABY DRIVER was a surprise winner in this category at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), while DUNKIRK won with the American Cinema Editors (ACE), which could point towards what the society of editors (peers) are thinking. BABY DRIVER was an assault on the senses, as was DUNKIRK, but BABY DRIVER was like editing a music video, while DUNKIRK required a lot more thought with its non-linear structure. This will be Nolan’s big win of the night.

Winner: DUNKIRK

Best Adapted Screenplay

This is where this Blogger learns from last year’s MOONLIGHT; that gut-instinct can be defeated by stats and trends. The favorite to win here is the scummy overpraised CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, which won this category at BAFTA and with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). It’s also going up against weak competition; the other four are not nominated for anything major.  

Winner: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Best Original Screenplay

Jordan Peele’s horror film GET OUT won this category with the WGA in a minor surprise, but then lost to Martin McDonagh’s THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI at BAFTA. THREE BILLBOARDS has been gaining a lot of attention for its acting (three Oscar nominees and wins at all the other major awards), and great acting always begins with the written word. GET OUT may be a fan-favorite, but THREE BILLBOARDS wins; its powerful sequence with a suicide-note is worth the Oscar alone.

Winner: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro takes home this one for THE SHAPE OF WATER. He’s already won Best Director at the Globes, BAFTA, and the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), and his fantasy film checks off all the boxes in acting, cinematography, design, and editing…pulling in the most nominations of any film this year. His closest competition is Christopher Nolan for DUNKIRK, but Nolan did not direct any of his actors to a nomination, while del Toro sent three to the Oscars, which is tied for best. The Academy does love its actors.

Winner: Guillermo del Toro

Best Picture

As stated above, any film lacking a Best Editing nomination does not have the odds in its favor, so that eliminates GET OUT, LADY BIRD, DARKEST HOUR, PHANTOM THREAD, and THE POST. Continuing the process of elimination, Nolan’s DUNKIRK may be a grand achievement, but with no nominations in acting and writing, and scoring donuts in the Guilds, Globes, and BAFTA…sadly falls out of contention. That leaves del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATER to battle it out with McDonagh’s THREE BILLBOARDS. SHAPE has important wins with the Producers and Directors Guilds, and although THREE BILLBOARDS won big at BAFTA, the Oscars and BAFTA have not picked the same Best Picture in four years. McDonagh did not get a nomination for Best Director, but we’ve seen films overcome that before, especially if the writing is good…and THREE BILLBOARDS does have that nod. THREE BILLBOARDS has been dominant this season; winning at BAFTA, the Globes, and the all-important Screen Actors Guild (SAG)...and with SHAPE not even receiving a nomination for SAG, that’s where the race changes. The only movie to win Best Picture without a SAG nomination was BRAVEHEART over 22 years ago. Since then, no movie has won without it. Why is that? Because most of the Academy is made up of actors, and that’s the codebreaker.

Winner: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

*

The Oscars will be awarded March 4^th.