Collateral Beauty

Collateral Beauty is the sort of film that requires a more in depth review to explain just how appalling it really is. This review contains spoilers.

Are you one of the poor souls that went to see the infamous Movie 43? A film with an incredible array of stars, magnificently poor writing and a horrendous sense of direction that left everybody wondering how it was ever funded. Collateral Beauty has been similarly shot down by reviewers, and whilst the obvious comparisons to the aforementioned disaster might be unfitting, the minor glimpses of potential are far overshadowed by the fact that Collateral Beauty gets worse and worse at every turn.

Howard Inlet (Will Smith) is a successful advertising executive who falls apart after the harrowing death of his six-year-old daughter. Depressed, contemplating death, and worst of all, under performing at work, Howard’s concerned “friends” (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Peña) worry in supposed equal measure for Howard’s mental state, and the state of their own professional futures. The trio hire an investigator, Sally Price (Ann Dowd) to acquire evidence that would allow them to take control of the company from Howard (with his best interests in mind of course), and they soon find out that he is writing letters to Love, Death and Time – three constructs that he once used in his advertising work and is now blaming for the death of his daughter. With all obvious options ignored, Howard’s “friends” hire three actors (Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jacob Latimore) to each approach him pretending to be one of the constructs, hoping that he will have a public outburst whilst their PI is filming so that they can then - after digitally removing the actors - show it to the board to prove that Howard is unfit to run the company.

*Oh the humanity*

Written by Allan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 21) and directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me), Collateral Beauty had enough capability behind it to produce at least a half-decent film, but somewhere between the ethically-barren plotline and the kindergarten dialogue, the film collapses into a hilarious smoldering pile of Hollywood farce. The story in full is as unbelievable as it is in summary - a gently sickening ride through saccharine and syrupy messages, superficial plot twists and an array of A-listers trying to act their way out of one of the worst dramatic scripts in recent memory. One horrendous issue is the dialogue, which is more literary abomination than uplifting quotage - when you have Dame Helen Mirren spitting out lines like “Nothing is ever really dead if you look at it right” surely it must be obvious that you’ve created a steaming pile of script.

Putting aside the fact that none of the characters other than Howard are even remotely able to draw empathy from the audience because of their involvement in the repulsive scheme, we also have to sit through the hilariously-poor establishing of these token issues that each of them are struggling with. Norton’s Whit is drifting further apart from his daughter, Winslet’s Claire is running out of time to have a child, and Peña’s Simon is dying - we’re all dying Simon, but you decided to die an arsehole, so I don’t care. The acting is mediocre across the board, particularly when you consider the talent on screen, but the material is so atrociously bad that there’s hardly room for improvement. Will Smith’s is the only half-decent performance, but that’s mainly because he doesn’t have to talk.

There’s a swath of other annoying issues throughout like the fact that the investigator is “secretly” filming in the background with her phone in portrait mode, but when they show the footage to the board it’s in landscape and clearly shot with a cinema camera, or the hilariously stupid idea that they could simply digitally remove the actors without an expensive composite artist. Then when they show it to the board they acknowledge the fact that they’ve hired the actors anyway. What was the actual point of it then? I could go on, if not for the inevitable brain hemorrhage that analysing this excrement would give me.

Somewhere deep in the heart of this film there was a tinge of potential, completely lost in the overblown lunacy of this attempted storytelling. In the end though, watching Collateral Beauty is a bit like pondering how quickly your life is flying by, your crippling debt, the irreparable damage we’ve done to the environment, total nuclear annihilation, the futility of existence, the end of time, a Trump presidency; the more you think about it, the worse it gets.

Sausage Party

Cartoons for adults have popped up more and more in recent years with TV shows like BoJack Horseman, Rick and Morty and Archer being really popular examples, so it makes sense that that popularity should spill over into movies. And who better to make such a movie than Seth Rogen and his crew of comedy friends. At first glance, the trailer makes Sausage Party look like the same old movie from these guys, but it is actually really funny and original.

The day in a supermarket begins with all the items singing a song about "The Great Beyond", a magical place where you go when one of the gods (humans) buys you and you can live in harmony with them. Frank (Seth Rogen) and his girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig) are excited to be picked because of "Red, White and Blue Day" and they know that they will finally be together. Everything is going okay, until Honey Mustard (Danny McBride), who has returned from "The Great Beyond" and knows the truth, is put in the cart. He attempts suicide and as a result a whole bunch of items are thrown from the cart, including Frank, Brenda, Sammy Bagel, Jr (Edward Norton), Kareem Abdul Lavosh (David Krumholtz) and Douche (Nick Kroll). In the mess that results, Douche is severely injured (his nozzle is bent) and makes it his mission to take his revenge on Frank who just wants to get back to his shelf.

With all those characters, especially Douche, it sounds like Sausage Party is just filled with childish, infantile jokes that would only appeal to teenage boys. But it actually has a lot of jokes that go beyond that. A large chunk of the movie is dedicated to relationship between Kareem Abdul Lavosh and Sammy Bagel, Jr and is used as an allegory for the current Arab-Israeli situation (the Halal food was in their aisle first, but then the Kosher food just had to start taking over). There's actually a lot of this us and them mentality in the film that mirrors real life, everything from more land disputes (Firewater (Bill Hader) says that the supermarket used to be all Native American before other foods came in and took it away), historical genocides (the sauerkraut wants to eliminate all the juice) and even the blind acceptance of religious belief. It's not all real life, a lot of pop culture is made fun of too. My favourite was when the classic Meat Loaf song "I Would Do Anything For Love" is sung by, well, a meat loaf.

This is what we're doing to bacon? It almost makes me not want to eat it.

The characters in this are so fun to watch because special care has gone into creating nearly every single grocery item (both from a character and animation point of view). All the foods are the nationality that they represent, and while this can make for some cultural stereotypes, it's still pretty funny. Salma Hayek's lesbian taco is a bit too obvious but very fun to see (well, hear) such a big star in this role. The same goes for Edward Norton. I had no idea it was him, I actually thought it was Woody Allen. My favourite character was the villain Douche because his characterisation of a fraternity brother who just wanted to get juiced or jacked the whole time made complete sense. Another favourite was the Stephen Hawking style gum who had his own wheelchair and provided the heroes with vital information.

While Sausage Party is crass and vulgar at times, it's also really original. Who would've thought a movie about grocery items would be funny let alone evocative of history and current events (to be fair, it does gloss over these things). Overall, it's a top notch comedy and it's great to be able to go see how far animation has come without having to go to a movie for kids.

Birdman

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a fading movie star who was famous two decades. Fearing that he is losing relevance, he decides to star in a stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" that he is also directing, producing and has written. Riggan's best friend and attorney, Jake (Zach Galifianakis), is hoping for Riggan's sake that the play is a success, as his daughter and assistant Sam (Emma Stone).

This film has a lot to say thematically. The method of acting is explored in great depth, with a lot of focus on how actor's draw a solid performance from themselves, as well as which reality is real for an actor. Edward Norton's character Mike Shiner has trouble being honest in real life, but when he is on the stage, all his emotions are real. Riggan also has the same problem. Due to being thought of as Birdman for his whole career, he starts to believe that he actually is Birdman. Of course this fact draws a lot of comparison between Riggan and Michael Keaton, whose most famous role is undoubtably that of Batman in the Tim Burton films.

Riggan is also disgusted by the dominance of superhero movies that proliferate the real world of the movie. Seeing Downey Jr. on TV talking about Iron Man and hearing that he is unable to get actors for his play because they are acting in these types of films. It also has to do with Riggan (read: Keaton) being the precursor to the current crop of superhero franchises. The film also discusses the relationship between creators and critics, with Mike Shiner commenting to a critic that people only become critics when they can't produce something of their own. This comment made me laugh, due to this reviewer straddling the world between creativity and criticism.

Iñárritu has created a superbly technical film. Birdman is simulated to make it seem like the film is one single take. This makes the film feel not only more real, but adds to the sensation of being on the stage as the camera explores the St. James Theatre where the movie was filmed. Antonio Sanchez's drum score is perfect at building the tension that so many of the scenes have and it is perfectly placed.

All of the performances are mind blowing. Keaton flows from being manic to in control to being at his wits end and just all out insane so perfectly. Edward Norton's Mike Shiner is simultaneously loveable and extremely hatable for both his arrogance and brutal honesty. Emma Stone gives Riggan's daughter such depth and humanity that she feels like a real person. Both Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough play superb actresses who are just excited to be in a broadway play and Zach Galifianakis is so far removed from his regular idiot persona, here he is closer to his stand-up self, and his performance just feels refreshing.

Verdict: An amazing look at acting for the stage, whilst saying so many other things. Iñárritu is superb at making stunning and technical films as well as drawing the best from his actors. A must see.

Classic Movie Review: American History X (1998)

When I first saw American History X a few years ago, it had quite an impact on me. Since then I have re-watched it several times and have come to the conclusion that it is one of the most powerful movies ever made. What has really stuck with me over the years is its message. It’s a film that will keep you thinking long after viewing and will draw you back to it. This is definitely a film you have to see more than once to fully appreciate.

The film is a dark tale about Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a prominent Neo-Nazi figure in his neighbourhood, who after imprisonment returns a different man and struggles to prevent his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) from being caught up in the same situation. It deals with American race relations, the brutal nature of imprisonment, and the way in which family members can foster bigoted views in one another. The late Roger Ebert criticised the film for a disjointed structure, “The movie needs sweep where it only has plot”, but I don’t see this as the case. The scenes do jump around a bit, but I believe this adds to the story and is never done in a disorientating fashion. Considering the problems during production it’s an incredibly well formed film.

Tony Kaye (Director & Cinematographer) uses both black & white and colour film stock to contrast the flashbacks, with the period after Derek’s release. There are some beautiful slow motion shots in the colour segments but it’s the black and white scenes that have the most impact, magnificently filmed whilst quite distressing to watch. Though in many ways it’s the films editing which brings it together and much of the credit here should go to Jerry Greenberg (The French Connection, Apocalypse Now) and Edward Norton, who were brought in to restructure a third edit after Kaye’s first two did not fulfill New Line’s expectations. It was this third edit that would become the theatrical release, yet Kaye completely disowned it, even attempting to remove his name from the film. If you’re interested in what Kaye’s workprint cut would have looked like then this is a good compilation.

The heart-breaking ending is a fitting conclusion for a film of this nature, reminding us that all of humanity is capable of these actions, no matter what race or culture. This is a movie that is constantly playing with your emotions, through its many disturbing yet beautiful scenes. It is not afraid to rip your heart out and kicked it around like a hacky sack every once in a while. But the most enduring message is in the close. With the final shots of the beach at sunset as Danny quotes Lincoln, we are given a faint glimmer of hope for humanity amongst the darkness, and it is that hope that will stick with me forever.

Edward

On first viewing, American History X could be construed as a very controversial film. Indeed the subject matter is that of neo-nazism in America. But once you push past the surface layer, you find a film with some very diverse themes.

The major thread that runs throughout the film is that of redemption and rehabilitation. During his incarceration, Derek comes to see that the neo-Nazi rhetoric that was hammered into him may not be as solid as he thought. This comes as a result of his experiences with the other white power inmates, who don't quite believe in the cause as he does. He eventually changes his tune when he befriends a black inmate.

The other related theme is that of brotherhood. This is shown throughout the film with Derek's influence over Danny. It is probably true that Danny too would have been able to be rehabilitated if he didn't meet an untimely end. 

The performances are really what makes this film. Edward Norton gives a stellar performance. His is both heinously evil and, as a reformed man, kind, good hearted and tolerant of those who still belong to the life he left behind. Stacy Keach is fantastic as the leader of the neo-nazis.

The two other amazing performances come from Avery Brooks and Elliott Gould, whose characters come under attack from Derek's racist rhetoric. They play different sides of the same coin, Brooks' Dr. Sweeney has the ability to shrug off the remarks, whereas Gould's Murray internalises the mocking and shows how affected by it he really is.

This also is an example of a film that really benefits from a cinematographer directing. Kaye is a master at crafting evocative and meaningful shots. There are many uses of slow motion that give heavy meaning to the character's emotions and actions. The decision to have half the movie in black and white is a bold one, but ultimately pays off.

Jack

The Grand Budapest Hotel

If there has ever been a more esoteric film, The Grand Budapest Hotel is it. All the fans of Wes Anderson's films will immediately pick up on the formalities of his work and enjoy the film immensely. But don't think that if you haven't seen any of his films previously that you won't see it because you'll be missing out on some larger picture. Rather, it is a great introduction to his world. I think that may have to do with Ralph Fiennes, who comes fresh to the films of Wes Anderson.

Indeed, the majority of the film falls on the more than competent shoulders of Fiennes. This film, however, is a huge departure for him as he usually plays insidious characters (Harry Waters in In Bruges, Amon Göth in Schindler's List, Voldermort in the Harry Potter films). He plays Gustave H., the bubbly concierge at the titular hotel, where he wines and dines many of the older female clientele. One such guest, Madame D. (the wonderfully enigmatic Tilda Swinton), ends up being murdered and Gustave is the prime suspect. This is after he becomes the most profitable recipient of Madame D.'s will.

To help Gustave clear his name is the young lobby boy Zero Moustafa. He is played by the talented young Tony Revolori, for whom this is his first major role. He and Fiennes make an excellent comedic duo playing off each other perfectly and you can feel as though the role of mentor that Fiennes takes up must have spilled over to reality.

A lot of the humour in the film comes in very punctuated moments that are both absolutely absurd and shocking. But there are a lot of jokes that are very quick and funny, mainly quips spouted by Gustave, a lot of them to do with poetry or advice for young Zero.

Of course there are a huge number of other people in this film. F. Murray Abraham plays an older Zero and gives the film some of it's more emotionally insightful moments. Adrien Brody's foul-mouthed Dmitri also gives the film some more comedy as his swearing at times seems completely unwarranted (I should know).

From a technical standpoint this is a fun film to watch. Anderson's trademarks of models and fixed camera angles are all here, but the the most enjoyable thing about the film is that it's aspect ratio changes throughout the film. This has largely to do with the fact that the film is a series of flashbacks piled on top of each other.

Verdict: A hugely enjoyable film for everyone to watch. It is fantastically funny and at the same time has some beautifully reflective scenes. Watch out for the Schindler's List reference toward the end.

Director Appreciation: Wes Anderson

I've decided to introduce a new series into my blog and these are director appreciations. In this posts I am going to look a director, their style and a selected filmography of their works. To get everyone excited about the release of The Grand Budapest Hotel this week (if you live in Australia, that is) I am going to look at the works of quirky director Wes Anderson.

Wes Anderson has been making films for the last two decades. Over this period of time he has developed a very unique style and is one that everyone is able to identify when watching. Anderson is known for his deadpan comedy, where even the most absurd things (like the marriage of two children) is taken as completely normal, his vivid colours, the sense of family, his completely locked off camera shots (although every film has one sequence where the camera moves freely) and his cast off frequent collaborators which include Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton and Willem Dafoe.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): This is probably the one film of Wes Anderson's that most people have seen. It follows an estranged family who reunite after their father Royal (played by a wickedly funny Gene Hackman) reveals that he is suffering from a terminal illness. The performances in this film are all wildly funny and there is a great subplot where Bill Murray is studying a boy who has a rare disorder that combines amnesia, dyslexia and colour-blindness.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004): This is my favourite of Anderson's films because it was the first I ever saw and instantly fell in love with his style. The film itself is a parody of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, with Murray playing the titular character. Zissou sets out to make one last film where he will find the shark that killed his best friend. It is an amazingly vibrant film and has my favourite performance from Willem Dafoe ever.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007): This really is the evolution from The Life Aquatic. It follows three brothers who travel to India to bond after not having seen each other in a year. I feel like a part of Anderson was trying to break out of his style with this film. This is Adrian Brody's first film with Anderson and he really fits into his world and style.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012): A really beautiful film about two young children who fall in love and run away from home. After this the entire community gather together to try and find them. This film has a lot of stunning performances, especially from the two young leads, but for me Edward Norton steals the show as an inept scout master.