New Release! Lady Bird (2017)

Yes, the title character attends Catholic
school, but the religious aspects are merely
background to the more human tale.

Director: Greta Gerwig

An excellent, if somewhat overhyped, movie telling of an aimlessly rebellious high school senior and her rocky relationship with her mother.

Lady Bird is the adopted nickname of Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman living through her senior year in high school in Sacramento, California, in 2002. Though fairly smart in her way, she has a rebellious streak common to most teenagers. This leads her into and through familiar trials of the age, including the poor decisions and overdramatization of relatively minor occurrences. It also regularly puts her at odds with her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf). Marion does love her daughter, though it is often buried under passive aggressive (sometimes outright aggressive) jabs at her daughters lack of greater ambitions beyond wanting to leave Sacramento. The story follows Lady Bird all the way through her senior year and the immediate months after, including the ups and down which, though relatively minor in the grand scheme, can seem to mean everything in the world to a seventeen-year-old.

This is a really solid movie, and could be seen as shorter, female-focused counterpart to Richard Linklater's award-winning Boyhood. However, instead of covering seminal moments along a 12-year span of a young person' life, Lady Bird keeps things tighter and hence more intimate. Virtually everything in the film feels highly authentic, probably since it is heavily autobiographical for writer/director Greta Gerwig. The shared moments of joy and anger between Lady Bird, her friends, perceived enemies, and family (categories which often overlap) should seem very familiar to many viewers. Many of the scenes capture the humor and gravity of key moments at that period of one's life, and nearly every moment enlightens us as to the characters' traits.

The acting is outstanding, with established talents like Saoirse Ronana following up her award-winning 2015 performance in Brooklyn with another great turn as the angsty title character. It probably helps that, at only age 23, Ronan is not terribly far removed from her own teenage years, and her ability to channel that attitude enhances her turn as Lady Bird. The other primary character, her mother, is equally brilliant, thanks to theater veteran Laurie Metcalf (best known as Rosanne's sister Jackie on Rosanne). The dynamic between the two is at the core of this movie, and it plays out exceptionally well. It also bears mentioning that every supporting actor hits their roles perfectly, with only one very minor role feeling a bit oversold.

Lady Bird and Danny, her boyfriend for a time. Danny's
rather conservative, well-to-do family highlights certain
feelings of inferiority that Lady Bird struggles with.

I appreciate that the movie doesn't try to present us with a neat, pat resolution to the character issues that we see in the still-growing Lady Bird. As it should be, she is a young person still fumbling through that awkward transition between adolescence and adulthood, and the fits an starts that accompany that transition do not smooth out in a mere year. The film depicts that with mastery, and it is to be lauded for it.

All of this said, and as strong a film as Lady Bird is, I must state that I did not feel that it lived up to the massive amount of hype that it received from the collective of critics. On Rotten Tomatoes aggregate site, the movie garnered 220/221 "positive reviews," and an average rating of 8.8/10. That latter number is stunning, as it places it above or among the greatest films ever. While the movie is very good, and one that I would recommend nearly everyone see, I would never suggest that it is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. I simply offer this as a caveat, in case you expect some sort of life-changing work of mind-blowing artistry. Don't. It's a very well-done film made by artists who knew exactly how to tell the relatively simple, subtle story before them. 

New Release! Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) - Spoiler-free first section

Spoiler-Free Section

Director: Rian Johnson

Boy, is this film a tough one to opine about in ten words or less. A very mixed bag, with very high highs and some head-shaking weaknesses.

The tale picks up not long after the events of The Force Awakens, with the rebel Resistance regrouping in an attempt to fend of the oncoming New Order. Rey found Luke Skywalker, with the desire for him to train her in the ways of the force. Finn is recovering from his harrowing fight with the powerful Kylo Ren, and Poe Dameron is back behind the stick of a starfighter, helping the Resistance defend itself against attack.

Without spoiling anything about the plot, I will only say that much of this story does not play out as you would probably expect. Certain standard plotlines of Star Wars movies and action/adventure tales in general are turned on their ears. Just when you think you will be able to anticipate what will happen and how, the story throws you for a loop. This is primarily what I really enjoy about the movie. With The Force Awakens, the only notable weakness was the movie's lack of originality in terms of plot and even character interaction. This aspect becomes The Last Jedi's one clear strength. Rian Johnson decided to offer us all a different type of Star Wars film, even more so than the impressive Rogue One from 2016. By the end of The Last Jedi, there really are several intriguing questions about where the story will go and how the primary characters' arcs will play out.

That said, the movie has some glaring weaknesses. A few of the plot lines seem a bit out of place, slowing down or speeding up the pace at inappropriate rhythms. And the dialogue is a letdown after Abrams' mostly sharp and entertaining writing on The Force Awakens. I found the dialogue here rather bland and unimaginative. This was surprising, given Johnson's strong writing on films like Looper and Brick. Maybe it was the fact that he was writing in a universe which he did not create, but I hope he does better on the trilogy which he's been pegged for.

This massive set-up from the end of the previous film almost
definitely will not go where you expect. And judging from
harsh viewer responses, not where they wanted it to go. 

When one looks at reviews for this movie, you'll see how critics seem to overwhelmingly like it, while fans are very love-or-hate towards it. The biggest bone of contention seems to be what the movie does with Luke Skywalker. While I understand certain die-hard fans' outrage at where his character goes, I mostly liked it. Again, it will likely not be what one expects, and even Mark Hamill himself has been very public about how he did not like what Johnson did with the iconic character. Still, I was satisfied with the risk that Johnson took, as I see it potentially taking this central story in the mythology into new places.

I'll be going out to catch the movie again soon, and I have no idea how I'll feel about it upon a second viewing. I may find that I like it even more, or I the warts may become even more glaring to me. This is definitely one of those movies for which it is difficult to predict what other viewers might feel about it. My general sense is that passionate Star Wars fans are more likely to be at least a little disappointed, while more casual fans will appreciate the more novel additions to the ever-growing universe that George Lucas created 40 years ago.


Spoiler-Laden Section - You've Been Warned!

When I consider the details of The Last Jedi, the bag becomes a mix of extremes, ranging from decisions which I really enjoyed to those which were puzzling at best and nonsensical at worst.

Most of the aspects which I like tended to be those which turned our expectations as fans on their ears. Although it seems to be the thing that has incurred the wrath of many hardcore Star Wars fans, I actually like the decision to have Luke as a tortured, crotchety old hermit. I have no doubt that legions of fans simply wanted Luke to be what Yoda was back in The Empire Strikes Back - a wise and sometimes humorous old mentor who would teach a young novitiate the ways of the Force. Instead, Rian Johnson decided to give us a story in which we see Luke who had already tried that, with Kylo Ren and others, and had it go horrifically wrong. Like several others, The Last Jedi goes deeper into darker places than any Star Wars film before. The pure cinema fan in me appreciates this added depth.

And it wasn't just with Luke that Johnson went deeper. By using the psychic bond between Rey and Kylo Ren, we get a developing relationship that offers a more personal view of the tortured Kylo and a Rey who is desperate for some purpose and guidance. What begins as a fairly predictable plotline of Kylo trying to turn Rey to the Dark Side becomes something unique and subtle for a Star Wars movie. And having one of the big "reveals" be that Rey's parents were nobody special whatsoever was a great turn. While Star Wars has almost always been a space opera, it would have felt way too pat to have her be yet another Skywalker or even a relative of Obi-Wan Kenobi or some other legendary Jedi.

And the unexpected plot turns were not limited to those. Poe Dameron's failed attempt to undermine his superiors' orders. Kylo's betrayal of Snoke. Many of these are quite effective, and the narrative risks separate Episode VIII from its predecessors.

Admiral Holdo, who looks and often comes off more like an
art therapy instructor than the hard-as-nails military leader
that she is explained to be.

Yet several worthy plot turns and focus points do not a masterpiece make. The film includes more than a few elements which felt wrong for one reason or another. Several of these were simply weak plot points. Why does Vice Admiral Holdo wait those extra, precious minutes for her suicide run at their First Order pursuers? Why doesn't Luke actually tell the Resistance fighters to flee while he buys them time with his duel with Kylo Ren? Why is Finn suddenly giddy as a schoolboy at the casino, when he's on an extremely urgent mission with the entire Resistance at stake? Why has Yoda waited so long to offer Luke some guidance, after the man has clearly suffered crippling guilt for years? These are just a few, but I felt like there was one of these types of illogical oversights about every fifteen or twenty minutes. None of them is fatal, and some can possibly be explained if you work hard at it, but most of them are hard for a critical movie-goer to ignore.

There are also some aesthetic oddities. While the deeper, darker, and more emotional scenes feature some solid dialogue, Rian Johnson does not seem at all at home with clever, light-hearted dialogue. What J.J. Abrams did extremely well in The Force Awakens, Johnson almost completely fumbles. The dialogue isn't "Episodes I through III" bad; rather, it's merely bland much of the time. And speaking of the original trilogy's sins, I felt that most of the Canto Bight casino segment of this movie bore many of George Lucas's mistakes from his prequels. Instead of the more desolate, "worn down universe" that has made Star Wars a unique fantasy adventure, we get overdone CGI to create a garish setting that looks far too much like a million other overly flashy, cheap science-fiction TV and movie tales. Oh, and why did Vice Admiral Holdo look and present like an art therapy teacher? This character is supposed to be tough as nails, and Laura Dern is better than that.

Despite the many little qualms I have, I still plan to go for a second viewing soon. I don't expect that my opinion will change much - that this is the boldest Star Wars film to date, but one whose strengths were dangerously close to being overwhelmed by its weaknesses. 

Idiot Boxing: Inhumans, season 1 (2017); The Punisher (2017)

This show is really the only example of a time when Marvel's
costume designers completely failed or didn't even try to
update costume styles conceived in the 1970s. The rest of the
show's aesthetic is equally hard on the eyes.

Marvel's Inhumans (2017)

Spoiler-Free Review

I really try my best not to be negative in my reviews. While it can be fun to write a pan of a film or TV show that I didn't enjoy, it can too easily become mean-spirited. In an attempt to avoid such, I will simply say that Marvel's Inhumans had me scratching my head as to how the vastly wealthy entertainment powers behind it let such a weak program make it to air.

The show builds from concepts introduced back in the first few seasons of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD show on ABC - that Earth was once visited by the alien race known as The Kree. The Kree introduced humanoid beings with genetic modifications that grant each of them unique and fantastic powers, once they are exposed to a gaseous substance known as terrigen. Although this original group of enhanced beings seems to have long since been wiped out from Earth, many humans still retain a genetic "activator" code which will still trigger the transformations when exposed to terragin. This is how SHIELD agent Daisy Johnson acquired her earthquake powers, just as dozens of other heroes and villains on earth have acquired theirs.

What had not been revealed thus far is that an entire population of Inhumans has long been living in a cloaked colony on the dark side of Earth's moon. This small city is led by a royal family, headed by Black Bolt, his queen Medusa, and a handful of family members and trusted confidants. The story of Inhumans introduces these characters and tells the tale of how Black Bolt's younger brother, Maximus, enacts a coup which sends Black Bolt and his loyal crew hurtling down to Earth. While Maximus rallies the group on the moon into desiring a takeover of Earth for their own use, Black Bolt must find his scattered confidantes and try to stop Maximus.

For its next 8-episode TV mini-series for the ABC network, Inhumans, Marvel Studios decided to offer something unique. One month prior to airing the first episode on television, they released the first two episodes of the show on IMAX screens. I went to see this curious premier, despite my misgivings based on two things: one is that the show runner is Scott Buck, the man who oversaw the Netflix Iron Fist series, which I thought was bland, at best. The second reason is that the few trailers and previews I saw simply did not look good. All the same, I am enough of a devotee of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that I gave it a shot. In short, it wasn't very good. Fortunately for the show, I had set my expectations extremely low, so I came out mildly intrigued by the few things that the initial two episodes didn't completely fumble.

To put it simply, the show only grew weaker with every one of its eight episodes. I could give a complete blow-by-blow of the problems, but that would take far more energy than I'm willing to give to a show that was bafflingly half-baked; arguably only quarter-baked.

The Inhuman Crystal's vapid stare and dialogue, along with
actor Isabelle Cornish's stilted performance and forced
romance with pretty-boy lunkhead Dave, is emblematic of an
entire host of issues with this show.

There was actually a potentially interesting mythology lying at the heart of the story: a royal family with perhaps a long history (we don't know because this significant detail is never addressed), who has lorded over its subjects with a now-aristocratic detachment. And the notion of the lone powerless family member enacting a coup is not a terrible start. There was even a workable idea about the royal family having to make due without their powers, a bit contrived though it may have been. But the show goes through so many nonsensical or simply dumb plot shifts that it becomes dizzying. The story constantly implies questions that are never answered, forces sentimental romance where is often seems completely out of place, and has some of the most unimaginative dialogue I've seen in an MCU product yet. It also didn't help that the aesthetic of the show - mainly the costumes and sets - were glaringly cheap, and that the acting was spotty at best.

How did this happen? I'm not completely sure, but I'm willing to bet that it had to do with the MCU executives just not knowing what to do with this show. It had first been announced a few years back as a feature-length movie. But that was ditched, leaving the show in limbo for over a year. Then, for whatever reason, it shows up on ABC as a product that bears almost none of the positive qualities of virtually every other MCU TV show.  Despite its years in some form of incubation, the show seems completely rushed and totally underfunded. If this is indeed the case, than I can hardly blame the creative forces involved.

Thus far, I have enjoyed nearly everything in the MCU universe, to the point that I've even watched its lesser offerings like The Incredible Hulk and a few TV shows multiple times. To this point, the only TV show that I felt no desire to rewatch was the tepid Iron Fist. Now, though, Inhumans has set a new low. I simply cannot envision myself sitting through this show again, and I will be amazed if ABC renews it for another season. If it miraculously does, it will take a massive change in approach to convince me to spend any time with it.

Fortunately, Marvel had a vastly better TV offering in the same month...

The Punisher (2017)

Spoiler-Free Review

I was impressed. This series wasn't flawless, but I was completely drawn into the story, themes, and characters of this, the darkest and grittiest story that the MCU has given us yet.

Frank "The Punisher" Castle was never the easiest character in the Marvel Universe to embrace, and I never really did. Even when I was eyeball-deep in Marvel comic books back in the late-1980s and most of the 90s, when the Punisher, along with Wolverine, was about the hottest and most popular comic book commodity around, I couldn't completely get into such a grim, depressing, and usually one-dimensional character. I understood the classic "Dirty Harry" appeal of him, but it was never totally my cup of tea.

Then last year, the Frank Castle character was introduced in the second season of Netflix's Daredevil series. I found this version of the character highly compelling. For me, he and his story arc were the highlight of that season. In it, Castle turns up as a vengeance-seeking killing machine - a former Marine sniper of nearly unmatched fighting ability whose wife and young children had been killed in a public shootout between rival gangs. By the end of the narrative in Daredevil, Castle has exacted revenge upon one of the men secretly responsible for the tragedy, but Castle also learns that there was a larger conspiracy at work. It is on those responsible for these machinations that Castle now aims his figurative and literal crosshairs.

This solo series picks up Castle's quest for bloody revenge. The story takes an unflinching look at warrior culture, military honor, and how those sometimes-noble sentiments can get manipulated and exploited by selfish interests in places of higher power. The story also looks closely at post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how veterans attempt to deal with it, and how it can warp decent people into unhinged monsters. Not every secondary story is handled with perfect deftness, but I respect its willingness to take a pretty hard look at some disturbing aspects of the very real culture of violence here in the U.S.

The dynamic between former NSA analyst and tech expert
David "Micro" Lieberman is fantastic - arguably the single
deepest and most complex protagonist/sidekick pairing in the
entire MCU.

The Punisher is easily the grisliest tale that the MCU has given us, which is fitting for the Frank Castle character. I found the tone completely appropriate to such a troubled and troubling figure. While one can admire Castle's sense of duty and honor, as well as marvel at his immense toughness and prowess as a fighter, he is ultimately a tragic figure of the highest order. What was explored a bit in the Daredevil series is given a closer treatment here, as the tale gets to the heart of Castle, which is that he has actually had most of his heart and soul ripped out of him. This is made more apparent and sadder when we get several moments to see that Castle was, before he lost his family, a loving husband and father. Fortunately, the show never gets overly sentimental about this, and it doesn't whitewash Castle's darker nature as a natural-born killer and survivor - a nature which was clearly always there, never too far beneath the surface.

Many critics, both professional and amateur, have stated how they found the show to be overly slow. I didn't feel the same. Yes, there are moments where there is no "action," so to speak. Plenty of time is given to Castle's interactions with fellow war veterans, his de facto partner via circumstance, Micro, and even Micro's wife and two children. I actually found most of these moments compelling, as they featured emotional moments that felt genuine and organic, adding depth to what has often been a boring, one-dimensional character in his comic book iterations. Thanks to solid writing and a great performance by Jon Bernthal, The Punisher gives us plenty more than just a one-man army mowing down bad guys for 13 episodes.

Of course, mow down some bad guys, he certainly does. And the action sequences and shootouts are done quite well, taking place in a variety of environments. We have a survival sequence in a Kentucky forest; a ninja-like assault in a tiny office; an Alamo-like stand in Micro and Frank's converted headquarters, and several other memorable battles. I will admit that the blood and gore factor does go a bit over the top for my taste, on occasion, though it does work well as graphic revenge fantasy on that level.

I suspect that this show met with some more tepid reviews because viewers, professional critics and casual ones alike, came in with certain expectations for the character and show. If one was expectinig either a shallow, Punisher: War Zone style start-to-finish bloodbath, this show wasn't going to give it to you. If one was hoping for a tight, Jason Bourne-esque espionage/action thriller, this show wasn't offering that, either. What this show did offer, though, was something that I found highly engaging, and a uniquely dark entry into the MCU canon. Though Frank Castle is ultimately a fatal character whose arc should probably end in his own gruesome death, I doubt that it will play out that way. All the same, I'll be completely on board with a second season of the show, which has already been confirmed.