| Image

Review: ‘Ad Astra’ is a Journey Deep Into Space and the Soul

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

Exploration — whether into the vast expanse beyond our atmosphere or simply deep into Earth’s own uncharted territories — has become one of the most identifiable aspects of humankind over its short history. In modern times, it is done to reach beyond our understanding of the world or universe and our place within them, to discover that which we were previously unaware of in order to expand the reaches of human knowledge, or perhaps to conquer the universe as much as we can. Stories of exploration are abundant throughout the history of cinema, from Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon all the way back in 1902 to countless sci-fi epics and action-adventure films, and Ad Astra is no exception.

James Gray, director of Ad Astra, is no stranger to stories of exploration. In 2016 he released his film The Lost City of Z, a recounting of the journeys of early 20th century explorer Percy Fawcett deep into the Amazon jungle in search of a hidden city of gold and unimaginable treasures. Although largely overlooked by many and passed on by every major award ceremony, the film garnered great critical success and is soundly among the better films released this decade. It was a deep examination into the outward and inward motivations for journeying into the unknown, a theme that Gray would dive even deeper into in Ad Astra.

Set sometime in the near future, the story follows a fearless astronaut named Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), a taciturn and austere individual and son of legendary astronaut H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones). Following an incident in which a massive and mysterious power surge nearly kills him and sweeps across the planet, McBride is informed that the surges originate from the Lima Project, a previous mission with the intent of finding extraterrestrial life helmed by his father, from which nothing had been heard from in sixteen years. Informed that his father may still be alive, McBride accepts a mission to Mars and beyond with the intent of communicating with the Lima Project and uncovering the truth about the dangerous surges that threaten life on Earth — and to find his father.

Although it is filled with intermittent bursts of effervescence — especially a Mad Max-like moon battle on wheels — the film is much more concerned with taking its time to flesh out the psychological complexities of the stoic Roy McBride, and the shock to his system that his mission becomes. Roy sees his father as the legend and the hero that all astronauts perhaps ought to be seen as, and thus has modeled his entire life and being after the man. He is not only a lauded astronaut famous for his cool-headedness in the face of great danger, but he has crafted himself a shell through which he blocks his very self from existing in hopes of subconsciously eliminating his connection to his own and others’ emotions. In truth, he is terrified of opening himself up to others, and as a result he subconsciously destroys his sparse personal relationships out of pure unresponsiveness and rigidity. While his coldness is what makes him so excellent at his job, and such an asset to the government agency for which he serves, his unflinching exterior is in conflict with the cacophonous ocean of thoughts that roar in his head throughout the film. Gray makes use of repeated Malick-esque voice-over narration from McBride to emphasize the tumult of his psyche, as he struggles more and more to remove all vulnerabilities from himself as he delves deeper into his journey. Here, DP Hoyte van Hoytema’s intimate close-ups paired with Max Richter’s tremulous score complement Pitt’s restrained despair excellently, often holding for longer than expected on scenes with McBride alone in order to allow the audience to gain an incredible deep understanding of the character, even in moments of silence.

As the film goes deeper and deeper into the infinite, focus grows more and more intimate. Gray begins to hone in on the motivations for men taking off into the stars with a tight and uncompromising precision, asking if perhaps the men who go off to the stars for the sake of mankind are actually going to escape something, maybe even themselves. Beyond this, the film shows that for all of us hoping to continue running from that which we are afraid to reckon with, at some point there will be nowhere left to run. In McBride’s case, the film examines his own fears and startling realizations more deeply, as he grows more and more at odds with his seemingly inevitable fate of turning into his father, the man he once revered as a near God-like figure. In this sense, the film’s approach towards McBride’s voyage to find his God feels almost misotheistic, perhaps suggesting in this case that God is not dead, but that he has simply abandoned us.

Films like Ad Astra are diamonds in the rough. Rarely do deeply contemplative psychological examinations as good as this one get slapped with $90 million budgets and the full IMAX treatment, let alone even get made by a big studio at all. Modern masterpieces like this don’t come around too often.

5/5 STARS

| Image

Review: “First Love” is the Film You Don’t Wanna Miss this Year

Takashi Miike’s First Love (Hatsukoi in Japanese) is a brilliant film that incorporates tragedy, comedy, romance, and action all packed into a mere 108 minutes. There is something for everyone in this movie (assuming you are at least 18) and the themes are refreshingly bright in this drug-fueled yakuza, or Japanese mafia, world.

The narrative follows Leo (Masataka Kurota), a promising boxer with a not-so-promising future. Leo lacks motivation in his boxing and in his life, but this changes when he encounters Monica (Sakurako Konishi), who is being chased by corrupt police officer Otomo (Nao Omori). Leo delivers a swift yet comical punch to Otomo’s face, and suddenly finds himself tangled up in the messy dealings of the underworld. Simultaneously, Kase (Shota Sometani) cooks up a plan to make big bucks from inside the fading yakuza. He partners up with Otomo to steal drugs from the yakuza. However, Kase quickly runs into a lot of obstacles in his pursuit of fortune, and his quick-thinking to achieve his goal is nothing short of a thrilling ride.

There are so many commendable attributes to First Love, including the acting, the cinematography, the action, and the themes. The variability in the acting is extensive, from comical and extravagant to subtle and refined. Kurota has excellent control in delivering suppressed and muted emotion, a style akin to a still ocean that snaps into storm at any given moment. Sometani is a master of dramatic facial expressions. He can warp his face into a myriad of reactions in mere seconds. Konishi does a splendid job portraying the wide-eyed damsel in distress, and her progression in making her own decisions and confronting her fears is performed with alarming precision. Seiyo Uchino, who plays the yakuza boss, Gondo, asserts the cool sternness of a gang leader while he commands the attention of both the characters and the audience alike. All of the actors in the film perform with such commitment to their characters and it pays off. Mind you, there are quite a few characters in this film, but the movie is able to pace each new face in a digestible manner. Important characters are given distinct traits and habits that make them easily memorable, and minor characters end up dying soon anyways, so you won’t have to worry about memorizing every face.

The cinematography is realistic, focusing on the exchanges between characters and creating an in-world experience for the audience. The vibrancy of Tokyo nights provide for beautiful shots with a grunge edge so every scene is visually interesting. The film does use animation for one scene to depict a contradiction of physics, but it does so in such an over-the-top manner that the film acknowledges its own silliness. The short animation is similar to the pop art style and is filtered with bright neon colors, which adds a measure of relief after one of the most anxious scenes in the film.

The action scenes are executed so well that each fight sequence is given its spotlight instead of being drowned in slashes and gunfire. The action in the film’s climax is a beautiful whirlwind of guns, swords, and hand-to-hand combat to the point where it borders on the edge of dance. The themes are remarkably profound for a film that also focuses on heavy action. The film does a wonderful job of wrapping up loose ends. In a way, every character finds closure in death, revenge, or meeting a face from the past. One central theme in the film is learning to live like there is no tomorrow. The main character grows past his lukewarm attitude and begins to find true meaning in his life, letting go of his uncertainties and fears of failure, which is a lesson we can all implement in our own lives.

Another important aspect of the film is its characterization of the antagonists. The film’s antagonists are glorious scumbags who the audience can clearly identify as bad people. But, Miike also makes sure to humanize the antagonists and give them some sympathetic qualities. When Kase’s plan starts to spiral out of control, the audience can’t help but feel a little bad for him. The film really tries to make the villains relatable, and the result is convincing.

One incredible choice Miike makes is how he portrays the yakuza. He does not glorify them or signal a rebirth of a new age of organized crime. He does, however, give them dignity, which is a nod to the years of history yakuza has played in Japan’s past. The falling out of the members and the suppression from the Chinese mafia shows how the yakuza has regressed from its glory days, now selling drugs to support the syndicate. But despite its shortcomings, the core of the yakuza maintains its integrity, which is a beautiful metaphor for the persistence of ancient cultural traditions in an age of constant change. Across the board, First Love knocks down every category in style, message, and execution. The characters are glamorous and well-written, and the film somehow manages to stay clear of disorganization in its complex narrative.

5/5 STARS

| Image

Review: ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ Lives Up to the Hype

Zombieland: Double Tap, directed by Ruben Fleischer, director of the original Zombieland, has Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin reprising their roles as Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock respectively. Zombieland: Double Tap follows the four as they encounter more zombies, remaining survivors, and the advanced deceased. The narrative begins with the four protagonists facing their own individual challenges, but as the film progresses, they are united as they encounter the remaining survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

What made this film impressive was its acting, especially the performances of Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. Once again, Columbus’ narration about Zombieland is clever and quirky, giving out both old and new details to the audience. From his recap of the first film to his introduction of rules for surviving Zombieland, his character sheds light and humor on the story. As for Tallahassee, his character development was unexpected, given to what happened to him in the first film. Here, his personality takes the spotlight more, especially when he meets and interacts with the new survivors. Additionally, when it comes to his zombie killing moments, he’s still as entertaining as he was in the original Zombieland.

Part of what didn’t contribute positively to the film were its obvious attempts to be “cool,” and some of the supporting cast. The frequent pop culture references were unnecessary and distracting from the plot. While some of them made sense, most felt like they were put there just for the audience to have a shallow laugh that they’d forget immediately afterwards. Madison (Zoey Deutch), one of the new supporting characters, seemed like she should be fitted into a high-school flick as the alpha female instead of a comedy/horror zombie film. In the film, her character is depicted as a spoiled child that the main protagonists just found in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s clear her purpose in the narrative is to offer some fresh humor, but she just comes off as annoying and adds little to no value to the story.

Overall, for the most part, this sequel was enjoyable and fun. There were a couple places that were stale and unworthy of praise, but considering the ten year span between the original and the sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap lived up to the hype. The acting was superb, the zombies were amazing to witness, and Ruben Fleischer clearly knew what he was doing.

4/5 STARS

| Image

Review: ‘El Camino’ is a Thrilling Epilogue to ‘Breaking Bad’

Vince Gilligan, creator of the Emmy Award winning series Breaking Bad, brings us back into the Breaking Bad universe with El Camino. In this “epilogue” to the series, Aaron Paul returns to give a more definitive ending to his character, Jesse Pinkman. Some of the series regulars return as well, although only in flashback sequences. They include Jesse Plemons as Todd Alquist, Bryan Cranston as Walter White, and Krysten Ritter as Jane Margolis. As a continuation of the TV show, the story’s narrative relies on the audience’s preexisting knowledge of Breaking Bad. The film picks up right where the TV series ended; Jesse is driving away after Walter has liberated him from the gang that was holding him hostage. After Jesse heads to the house of his friends Skinny Pete and Badger, who give him a change of clothes, some cash, and a new car, he tries to find a way to make a new life for himself while also escaping the law.

It comes as no surprise that a movie based on a TV show feels like a TV show. Every piece of the film resembles the TV show that inspired it. The shots look the same, the score sounds the same and the dialogue flows the same as in the series. The film feels like it could have been a bunch of ideas that Gilligan had for two extra episodes in the final season, but didn’t make the cut because they also would have felt out of place with the trajectory that the show had built as it headed for the ending it had. Because of this, the return to the series in the film form worked as a much better way to tell the rest of Jesse’s story.

Jesse-El-Camino

However, expanding upon a series that is already highly revered seems unnecessary, and in the case of this film, it is. Regardless, Gilligan manages to enhance Jesse with meaningful character development and somewhat of a happy ending. The return to a beloved series also runs the risk of failing high expectations from longtime fans. El Camino does a good job of executing TV references by making them relevant to the plot or to the development of Jesse’s character.

While the original series gave us an ending for Walter White, the future of Jesse Pinkman was left for the audience to interpret on their own. El Camino presents a well-written and more defined ending for Jesse that leaves you with more hope for his future than before. Anyone who thoroughly enjoyed the series should go check out this thrilling epilogue that gives a proper ending to the story of Jesse Pinkman.

3/5 STARS

| Image

Review: ‘Lucy In The Sky’ is a Wonder to Behold, If You’re Into that Sort of Thing

Noah Hawley’s Lucy In The Sky was not exactly anticipated by the population at large. With a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of this review, it seems destined to fall into obscurity almost as soon as it has been released. Which is, in this moviegoer’s opinion, a crying shame.

Lucy In The Sky’s titular Lucy Cola is an astronaut in some undefined, vaguely present-day era who comes back from a mission to space only to find herself changed. Not in a horror movie sense, by some alien contagion, but in a philosophical sense. How do you go back to your daily routine once you have seen all of humanity from above? How do you return to your old perspective now that you know what is out there? As Lucy struggles to return to herself and qualify for the next spaceflight, she begins to unravel, and a series of dire choices leads her farther from the heavens than ever.

As anyone who has ever seen one episode of Legion will know, Noah Hawley has a unique, directorial eye. The editing of this movie was crazy, but, more importantly, engaging. Its most abrasive quality is its constantly shifting aspect ratio. While this didn’t bother me, I can easily see how it could start to get on others’ nerves. On a less visual note, I thoroughly enjoyed Natalie Portman’s portrayal of a woman in love with the beauty of the world, desperate to maintain control of her life and herself while also achieving her goals.

However, with visuals and a story this crazy, this movie should have had a watertight narrative. Unfortunately, it just felt jumbled at points, with metaphors and motivations mixing together and losing clarity as the film reached its climax. Additionally, the script isn’t always easy to take seriously, and characters sometimes make choices that seem to be wholly unmotivated.

At its core, Lucy In The Sky is a film about boundaries, and the cost of transcending those boundaries. As the film’s aspect ratios bend, distort, and break, we wonder how much of the picture we’ve been missing, and we too begin to miss the transcendent moments of visual freedom from the film’s opening spaceflight. And, not to give away the ending, we learn that we don’t have to go all the way to outer space to find beauty. We can find beauty everywhere we look.

Lucy In The Sky is the kind of movie that doesn’t come out every day. It’s bold. It takes risks. Some of those risks pay off, and some don’t, but it certainly gives every choice its all. And shouldn’t that be rewarded? Shouldn’t we celebrate creativity, even when it’s not pitch perfect?
Lucy In The Sky is not for everyone. It is certainly not an easy movie to enjoy. However, I would encourage you to not let this film drift into the abyss. It’s certainly worth seeing on the big screen. Maybe you’ll leave the film like I did, with your perspective just a little bit different.

3/5 STARS

| Image

UW Film Club Podcast #53 – Tron: Legacy

“Podcasts have a way of moving you past wants and hopes.”

In honor of the release of Gemini Man, the brand new Ang Lee film featuring revolutionary de-aging visual effects, we’re taking it back to 2010 with one of the most notable examples of cinema de-aging: Tron: Legacy! In this podcast, we discuss the film’s groundbreaking visual effects, its portrayal of the dynamic between father-son relationships, and, among many other things, its brilliant world-building and set design. Do you fight for the users? Then tune in now to the 53rd episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

On this episode: Jim Saunders and Levi Bond.

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every Monday for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast

| Image

Review: ‘Gemini Man’ is Here For a Good Time, Not a Profound Time

Ang Lee’s Gemini Man is a movie that has many things going for it: technological gimmicks, a celebrated director, an experienced team of writers, and Will Smith among others. It also has a few things working against it: a historically polarizing high frame rate, an overdone plot, and a younger CGI Will Smith.

It’s a classic set up: Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is a DIA (get it? DIA, not CIA) agent who just wants to retire in peace. However, as we all know, retirement in the spy business is never that easy. His escape after being attacked by his own government leads him around the world and, surprisingly, back to himself, or at least a younger clone of himself. The two must then decide where their loyalties lie, what they mean to one another, and how to go head to head with a private defense company.

Gemini Man is a fun movie. If you are a person who enjoys action movies, you will most likely enjoy this film. Lorne Balfe’s score, like his work on Mission Impossible: Fallout, is high-octane and engaging. The fight scenes are all entertaining and wonderfully choreographed, especially the one shown in the trailer for the film involving motorcycles. The film is beautifully shot, with postcard perfect snapshots of Budapest and Columbia. Many of the fight scenes use mirrors to frame the action, which is thematic and also just really fun to watch.

On the subject of visuals, the high frame rate may bother some people, but personally I was largely was unaffected. It didn’t really add anything to the film, but it didn’t actively harm it either. And while we’re on the subject of technological gimmicks: Junior, young Will Smith, doesn’t look half bad. He also doesn’t look very much like a young Will Smith, but he isn’t an uncanny valley horror show, which is a plus.

Where Gemini Man somewhat falters is in its exploration of its premise. There’s a lot of thematic depth to be had when doubles are in the mix, especially when the double is our younger self. There’s just no shortage of potential metaphors. Aren’t we all, in a way, haunted by past versions of ourselves? Are we not chased by that idealized and undamaged ghost who whispers to us, “what if you could try again?” Do we not all dream of what we could be without the pain we’ve accumulated through life? Gemini Man addresses these ideas at a surface level with its motif of mirrors and its discussion of mistakes and flaws, but it does not truly engage with them. We only hear of Brogan’s damage in passing, an absent father and a life spent killing, but we never really get to see or feel the weight of his pain. Without that weight, how can we really feel engaged by the concept of a younger, undamaged, Brogan? Without that layer of depth, this movie fails to elevate itself from the average and generic action flick.

That being said, the lack of depth doesn’t detract from the film overall. It’s action-packed, crazy at certain points, and even a little bit sweet. I can’t fault it for not being more than what was advertised. There’s some potential that’s missed out on, but what’s left is still a pretty good time.

3/5 STARS

| Image

Review: ‘Ms. Purple’ Tries Too Hard to be Sad

It always seems easy to make a good movie. With the poorly constructed, substance-lacking, frustratingly moody mess of narrative that is Ms. Purple, Justin Chon proves conclusively that it is not. While Mrs. Purple attempts to evoke the sad tale of two estranged siblings, Kasie (Tiffany Chu) and Carey (Teddy Lee), caring for their father on his deathbed in Koreatown, it really only creates a confusing atmosphere of expired family dynamics.

I once heard someone say that Sophia Coppola is the master of creating an atmosphere. You can definitely see that in Lost in Translation, where every element of the film works in perfect synchronization to put the viewer in a hotel in Tokyo, longing for something undefined just outside their reach. Nothing is too aggressive or too blunt. Every subtly adds to the mood. Too often, filmmakers forget that subtlety. They brush emotion onto their story with the eager incompetence of a child learning to watercolor. And like that child, their work descends to watery confusion, with no real peaks and no real valleys. The viewer is overwhelmed and set off by the single tone, and they quickly lose interest. Ms. Purple makes exactly that error. Characters trudge from scene to scene, shoulders sagged and head in their hands. Any form of joy is uncommon and short-lived, lest the audience confuse their tragedy for something else. Sulking becomes a crutch, rather than an embellishment.

If this were the film’s only fault, it may have been forgiven. It’s beautifully shot, after all, and there’s a few scenes that, in isolation, have considerable potential. Unfortunately, it’s hardly the beginning. The dialogue is something out of a high-school project shot in 30 minutes after school in the courtyard. The editing is done with confidence of a veteran with miles of red carpet behind them and the proficiency of a first-year film student who only ever read the textbook and never actually watched any examples. The music is intrusive and poorly chosen and seldom fits the scene. The flashbacks are too infrequent to add anything to the story, and the narrative has no identifiable structure. In fact, the film’s most blatant flaw may be that it ends in exactly the same place it started, with nothing learned along the way. The characters begin sad, stay sad, and end sad. Building atmosphere is tossed aside in favor of overwhelming the audience.

There’s definitely more, but exhausting the list is a useless exercise. The movie is not enjoyable and it deserves little recognition. Not worth the price of admission.

1/5 STARS

| Image

UW Film Club Podcast #52 – The Dark Knight

“You either die a special guest or live long enough to see yourself become the host.”

Featuring a stellar lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips’ “Joker” is the talk of the town in popular culture right now, so in honor of its release, we’ve decided to cover the film that catapulted the iconic villain into the zeitgeist: Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking superhero epic “The Dark Knight”! In this podcast, we talk about the film’s impact on the superhero genre, its weighty (albeit heavy-handed) themes of morality and justice, and, of course, Heath Ledger’s unbelievable, terrifying performance. Is Batman the hero we deserve? Find out now by tuning into the 52nd episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

On this episode: Jim Saunders, Cynthia Li, and Aleks Jovcic.

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every Monday for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast

| Image

Review: ‘Monos’ is Visceral and Poigant

Concealed on an ethereal mountaintop in the Colombian wilderness, a band of rigorously trained teenagers are tasked with guarding a prisoner of war by an enigmatic militia referred to only as ‘the Organization’. Within this situation of extreme isolation and self-governance, the group have to navigate leadership, love and rivalry as they guard their captive for an otherwise unknown political purpose. Monos is an overwhelming sensory experience that portrays the extremities of raw human emotion with both disturbing intensity and artistic dexterity.

The eight ‘recruits’ at the center of the film’s narrative form a unique community in a makeshift habitat amongst the clouds with no contact with the outside world other than through the sporadic visits of their mentor-cum-trainer, Mensajero (Wilson Salazar). Far removed from the rest of civilization, living in their own distorted reality, these teenagers bask in their virtually lawless existence. But when the group are forced to negotiate democracy and codes of morality and loyalty, their relationships become increasingly strained. Descending from their mountain-top base into the depths of the jungle, they become even more removed from any semblance of order or control and interpersonal grievances run the risk of transforming into fatal disagreements.

Monos certainly bears comparison to Lord of the Flies in its depiction of a group of youngsters who turn on one another under the strain of self-imposed, oppressive social order. The film forces us to see how when in an extreme environment, removed from normality, everything can so easily break down. The unforgiving and beautiful landscape becomes a central character within the narrative and through skillful cinematography and sound-editing, you ultimately become enveloped in its vivid and terrifying milieu. This film is visceral, brutal, poignant, and at times can be deeply unsettling, but it is certainly one of the most memorable cinematic experiences of the year thus far.