Christine

When it comes to depicting mental illness, suicidal depression is one of the most under-examined ailments in mainstream movies. Typically this level of depression takes place over a couple of scenes with one specific inciting incident before the suicide attempt followed by the aftermath, recovery, or those left behind. I bring this up because today's movie Christine does its best to determine why TV journalist Christine Chubbuck attempted suicide on live television.

The movie introduces Christine (Rebecca Hall) in the midst of an average day at work...which involves arguing with her station manager over her story selection and his push for ratings driven reporting. Though most view this as Christine's prickly no nonsense demeanor, it quickly becomes clear that Christine's dissatisfaction with her life and job may run deeper than anyone knows. Soon events are put in motion that may push the isolated Christine towards a fateful decision.

There's a critique of this movie we should address right away: that is exploiting a tragedy. Because I am not a member of the Chubbuck family, nor did I witness the event myself, I don't feel qualified to speak on it. However, this is the kind of story where you want explicit permission and consistent input from the family. If that's the case, that's great. But if not, and the family is upset, that feels quite wrong.

That said, Christine is a compelling, if not terribly fun film to watch. The primary reasons? The characterization and performance of Christine. In a lesser film, Christine would be a saintly martyr whose broken expectations for her personal life and career simply push her to the brink. As a film narrative, this doesn't quite work for two reasons. First, it's a view of human nature and life that borders on nihilistic and second is that is automatically makes villains of everyone else in Christine's life.

The movie's solution is to make Christine well-intentioned but excruciatingly uncomfortable. You know at least one person like Christine. Someone smart and competent who manages to say the wrong thing whenever possible and fails to connect with people in social circles. Thus the people around Christine may respect her, but they don't necessarily like her or try to meet up with her. This way we bot have sympathy for Christine's isolation, but also understand why her coworkers don't reach out or intervene.

This awkwardness is fully embodied by Rebecca Hall, who physically transform herself for the role. Hall's performance is masterful because of what she's able to convey with very subtle changes in body language and speech. A flirtatious encounter with her station's anchor (Michael C. Hall) is a perfect example. While she's still incredibly uncomfortable in the situation her bashful approach and averted eyes tells the audience everything they need to know: she likes this guy. It's great stuff.

Christine's humanizing portrayal of its subject also means that the audience dreads each new scene as Christine's disappointments begin to add up and her behavior gets more erratic. It's a slow motion trainwreck that the audience knows is coming which makes the eventual outcome feel inevitable but preventable at the same time.

The film's weaknesses are rooted in unexplored content. Chubbuck's puppet shows for children are endearing and show a charitable side of her, but the movie primarily uses them to show her deteriorating mental state. Likewise, for a movie that features extensive arguments about "if it bleeds it leads" journalism, and one could argue that the movie insinuates that this is a contributing factor to Chubbuck's depression, the movie doesn't seem to have anything to say about it other than "it sells....and that sucks." It's an especially odd take for a film considering Chubbuck's final on air actions.

Engaging but heart-breaking Christine isn't for everyone, but is worth watching for Hall's performance alone. A conditional recommendation if you will.

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The Social Network

With The Circle, a thriller about a potentially malevolent social media company, about to hit theaters, a lot of folks are revisiting the David Fincher/Aaron Sorkin collaboration: The Social Network. On its face this makes some sense, since both movies feature of a lot shady corporate dealings, troubled CEOs, and social media, but based on the trailers for The Circle the tone and purpose of each of these films will be very different. As such, let's revisit The Social Network to see what it's all about and how it's different than your average corporate thriller.

Told primarily in flashback, the movie details the creation of Facebook by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in the context of a multi-million dollar civil suit. Beginning with the Zuckerberg's original creation and the moves that would eventually anger his original partners, the audience gets a firsthand look into how a quiet hacker created a new method of connecting and became a billionaire.

The reasons that The Social Network works are fairly obvious. The actors, especially Jesse Eisenberg, turn in some of their best work, David Fincher has the technical mastery (seriously look at how they created the twins) and storytelling skills to make coding sessions seem interesting, and Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is full of his signature crackling dialogue and more interested in telling a human story than a methodical explanation of facts.

That said, I'm beginning to wonder whether or not the movie is already dated. First and foremost, Mark Zuckerberg has become a public enough figure that it's becoming progressively harder to picture him as the backstabbing insecure wreck that's presented in the film. He's a married man with kids, has more money than he could ever spend, and supports progressive organizations monetarily. While it's true that The Social Network is a fictionalized account of Facebook's creation and its primary theme is the irony that a person who created a method of connecting feels so alone and isolated still works.

However, if this film was to be made today, I think it would have bigger issues to tackle than petty personal squabbles between various levels of rich white men.

The biggest unaddressed issue is online harassment and stalking. The unfortunate trade-off that comes with social media's immediate connection is abuse of that access. While there are means to counteract this on the user's end, there's almost always a way around it. People get everything ranging from angry comments to death threats from people they may or may not know on a regular basis or worse will have their location tracked.

Likewise, Facebook's access to users' personal information and how its used is moving closer and closer to public knowledge. How does someone make a decision to use this information for profit? How do you reverse any adverse affects? How do you keep the consumer happy while still making money? How much do you have to cooperate with government agencies. That's morally murky waters that becomes far more interesting and relevant in modern society.

Clearly the focus on the creator rather than the creation is Sorkin's preferred method for handling tech magnates, (see Steve Jobs in Jobs) but I think that unless the individual is dead, the shelf life for your approach could be very limited.

Though not without its merits, The Social Network's failure to look at the product it takes its name from might deeply affect its shelf-life. It's still entertaining, but it's far from "the movie of a generation" that many dubbed it upon its release.

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Top 5: Jonathan Demme Movies

Jonathan Demme was a prime example of a director everyone knew and respected, but never developed a distinctive style. He helmed a diverse collection of films ranging from screwball comedies to hard-hitting dramas, earned an Academy Award for Best Director in 1991, and even directed Justin Timberlake's concert film last year. So in honor of his passing, we've picked five of Demme's best films.

#5 Married to the Mob

While the title might make the movie sound like a comedy version of Goodfellas, this good natured romance actually follows a former mob wife Angela (played by a gloriously accented Michelle Pfeiffer) looking to make it on her own after leaving her mafioso husband. What follows is an unexpected romantic comedy as the undercover F.B.I. agent assigned to her (Matthew Modine) sees Angela's good intentions and aims to defend her. It's the best kind of eighties cheese.

#4 Stop Making Sense

This Talking Heads concert film is one of the best music documentaries ever made, not simply because the audience gets to witness the iconic new wave band at the weight of their powers, but because of Demme's excellent shot selection, pumped up production values, and surprising new takes on Talking Heads' classic songs. There is also a large amount of awkward lanky white-boy dancing.

#3 Rachel Getting Married

The premise for Demme's collaboration with Anne Hathaway almost sounds like a sitcom episode, as a perpetual screwup sister arrives for her sister's wedding. But behind Hathway's acerbic Oscar nominated performance as Kym (noticing a trend yet?) and a script that refuses to pull punches, what the audience gets is an incredible look into the mind of a damaged person who can't help herself. Though the majority of the film is full of awkward interactions the film definitive high point is Kym's devestating confession in an addict's group. Not an easy watch, but certainly unforgettable.

#2 Philadelphia

At a time when AIDS was still largely misunderstood and gay rights were still struggling to gain traction, Philadelphia could've been an exploitative disaster. Thankfully it wasn't in no small part to the one two punch of Tom Hanks (in Oscar-winning fashion) and Denzel Washington. However, the film's defining attribute, and Demme's main appeal as a filmmaker, is Philadelphia's unshakable humanity makes the film both beautiful and heart-breaking.

#1 Silence of the Lambs

What else could it be? A movie so iconic even those who have never seen the film know its signature lines and what going to dinner with Hannibal Lecter could involve. The story is simple but intriguing as an F.B.I. trainee meets with a known cannibal to help profile and track a serial killer. But Demme's end result is far creepier, compelling, and memorable than a thousand other crime procedurals. And once again Demme directed Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins to Oscar nominated, and in this case winning, performances. A fitting definitive work for the multi-faceted director.

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Top 5: Salma Hayek Movie Roles

I think it's fair to say that Salma Hayek is the most famous Mexican actress working right now. Since making her debut in the nineties, Hayek has showed up in a variety of projects ranging from insane action movies, kids films, and serious dramas. So in honor of her latest film with Eugenio Derbez, How To Be A Latin Lover, I've picked five of Hayek's best roles.

#5 Elena in Savages

Female drug kingpin's tend to be portrayed in one of two ways: a vicious sociopath or an emotional mess. In a role that rejects both stereotypes, Hayek's Elena is a great blend of methodical, maternal, and edgy when needed. Her best scenes are her moments of bonding with Blake Lively's O, her captive, as she explains what drove her to the drug trade and why she has to behave so violently. It's far more complex and interesting than your average drug lord, male or female.

#4 Carolina in Desperado 

Director Robert Robriguez had to fight to get the Hayek into her American audience debut, and movie fans were very thankful that he did. Oozing charm and sex appeal, Hayek's Carolina spends the majority of the movie nursing El Mariachi back to health and covertly assisting him on his mission of vengeance. It's a simple role but Hayek certainly makes her mark. Her intro? Causing a traffic accident by crossing the street.

#3 Everly in Everly

In the best movie edition of a horde mode or tower defense game I've ever seen, Hayek stars as a prostitute fighting for her child's life after her intentions to inform on the Yakuza are uncovered. The role features a lot of fast transitions between righteous fury, emotional pain, and wise-cracking action hero and Hayek handles each of these jumps beautifully. Any actor that looks that confident holding a gigantic machine gun is a winner in my book.

#2 Serendipity in Dogma

Though introduced as a stripper, Hayek's fallen muse Serendipity operates as one of Bethany's wisest guides on her quest to stop two fallen angels from erasing existence. Getting a crack at some of Kevin Smith's best dialogue, Hayek makes the most of every word whether she's expressing frustration with the treatment of women in the bible or taking Azrael down a peg by comparing him to Elvis ("that's why he's the King...and you're a schmuck.")

#1 Frida Kahlo in Frida

It's no surprise that Hayek's only Academy Award nomination comes from her most complete performance. As the titular painting icon, Hayek not only embraces Frida's unibrom but also all of her complexities. Her fluid sexuality, the inspiration behind her paintings, and her strong will all shine through, especially in Hayek's scenes with Alfred Molina's Diego Rivera.

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Trailer Talk: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The original Kingsman is one of my favorite movies in recent memory, not only because it's a perfect example of how to make a campy R-rated spy film in the modern erea, but because I thoroughly enjoy any chance to see director Matthew Vaughn play with a full Hollywood budget. So of course I was plenty excited to see that the Kingsman adventures would continue in The Golden Circle. In today's trailer talk we see what the sequel has to offer.

Eggsy & Merlin Alone

Well it looks like we're going full Skyfall with this and pairing Eggsy with an older mentor and blowing up their base of operations. Presumably this is the work of the aforementioned Golden Circle, the leader's still unclear, which means Eggsy and Merlin will be going at it alone. I like this since it gives the movie a buddy comedy vibe which is a bit different than the first film's tone.

Kingsman Cowboys?

So it looks like we've got some Cowboys that are just as competent as the Kingsman and I believe these are the Statesman, a comparable group to the Kingsman. From the looks of it we've got Channing Tatum as one of their top agents, holy hell that's awesome yes, and Jeff Bridges as some kind of leader. It's so simple and silly and I love every second of it, especially if we get some misunderstanding fights followed by team-ups.

Colin Firth Alive? How?

So big spoiler for the original Kingsman but Colin Firth's Galahad doesn't make it to the end of the movie. He's shot by Samuel L. Jackson's villain. But from the looks of it Galahad survived the shooting and is being kept tucked away in some kind of secret bunker with a sweet eye patch. How did this happen and who's holding him? No idea, but I'm curious

More Slick Action

To my mind, excellently choreographed action scenes are Matthew Vaughn's specialty and this movie looks like it's got plenty from shootouts, to car fights, to another battle for Eggsy against a mechanically enhanced opponent. I can't wait.

Short Version: Doing Something Different And Yet....Not...I Like It.

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Live By Night

While Ben Affleck vehicles have always been a mixed bag, the majority of his biggest successes had the same director: Affleck himself. Gone Baby Gone was the beginning of his revival, The Town made him a viable actor once again, and Argo earned him Oscar nominations and a win. As such, it makes sense that Affleck would head back to another crime drama after the critical bashing from Batman v Superman. This time around its a Prohibition-era gangster flick called Live by Night.

Ben Affleck stars as Joe Coughlin, a WWI veteran turned small-time gangster that's taken up with a mob boss' girl in Boston. However, after a series of misadventures puts him in the hospital and takes everyone he cares away from him, Coughlin heads south to Tampa to assist a rival gangster's rum running business. Soon the former small time criminal is engaged in a struggle against the Klu Klux Klan, religious zealots, and mobsters for control of the region.

With bad movies you tend to get two camps. The first is a category which I'll dub "where do I start?" meaning there's so much wrong with the film from the script, the acting, and everything else in between it's really hard to find the true deal-breaker in the bunch. The second, which Live by Night falls into, are the "fatal flaw" movies which have one problem so distinctive that it torpedoes the entire movie. What is Live by Night's fatal flaw? A lack of focus or rather too much focus on the wrong things.

The best example is the movie's time spent in Boston where Coughlin gets involved with a mob girlfriend. In a different movie this would be a quick montage of images that sends Coughlin on the path to Tampa and establishes his skill set, his motivations, and his rivalries. Instead, the movie takes it's time in Boston trying to establish an emotional core that never sets in. At first it feels like it's about a doomed romance....until Coughlin's policeman father shows up to scold the way of life he's chosen. Then it looks like it's a run and gun gangster picture with a period appropriate car chase and shootout...until it becomes about betrayal, vengeance, and tragedy. And this is all in the movie's first act.

It's odd but the movie has a consistent problem with focusing just long enough to make us curious but not sticking around long enough to fully explain itself. The racial dynamics of the area at the time are fascinating and timely. So why doesn't Coughlin need a thorough explanation or an even better question how does this Irish-Catholic Boston gangster seem to need no time to adjust to a life among Black Americans and Cuban immigrants? The movie introduces a war between Coughlin's Cuban rum runners and the KKK, something you could frame an entire movie around, and seemingly ends the squabble in a brisk 15 minutes. There's so much meaty material here and all of it gets just enough life to get our attention, but not enough to make us care.

It's all incredibly frustrating because Affleck, despite the script's faults, remains a very competent director. The shot selection is very solid, there's a couple of interesting scenes, and the set pieces including the aforementioned car chase are well-staged and somewhat fun. Likewise, the movie is stacked with talented actors who clearly wanted to work with Affleck including Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, and Sienna Miller. The whole film is competently made which actually makes the script's failures more frustrating.

Intriguing with no payoff, Live by Night has all of the production values in place but a story that fails to execute. You can skip this.

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Silence

When the 2017 Oscar nominations started going around, some industry were surprised that the latest from Martin Scorsese was largely ignored (the film was nominated for Best Cinematography). Scorsese films receiving nominations and not winning is nothing new, but being ignored in favor oh another faith-based story starring Andrew Garfield, that seems strange. So today, I thought I would see if Silence was an overlooked masterpiece or something different.

Based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō, the movie follows two Jesuit priests on a secret mission to Japan. Their goal: find their former mentor and determine if his rumored renunciation of faith is fact or fiction. However, with danger for themselves and the nation's hidden Christians at every turn, the priests faith will be tested in ways they couldn't possibly imagine.

Silence is the epitome of a very well made movie that's only sporadically engaging. A lot of this has to do with the very different approach taken by Scorsese. With almost every subject, Scorsese is known for presenting his material in sensational fashion. There's a lot of stylish violence, a modern soundtrack with pop hits sprinkled in, and overall just a lot of energy. It's why even his least popular movies (i.e. Shutter Island and Gangs of New York) are at least memorable. Heck he's even brought more life to faith-based material in the past with The Last Temptation of Christ.

Silence, on the other hand, lives up to its title with a glacial pace, minimal sound design, and a generally subdued approach even in the middle of torture scenes or characters being asked to renounce their core beliefs. I understand why this approach was taken. We're meant to feel the priests' isolation in the face of inner turmoil and terror, and avoiding a cartoonish approach to touchy material (foreign missionaries being attacked by a native government) means the film counters any intentional offense. It's a meditation on faith and is presented as such.

The themes of the movie are strong. Clearly Scorsese is using this material as his own form of religious reflection and the film has some interesting points to make about forgiveness, faith, and what piety looks like (i.e. do you hold true for the sake of the faith or give in for the sake of others). However, because the movie is based around faith so strong that it's a core part of your identity, anyone who doesn't share a similar belief may have trouble understanding the lead character's logic.

It also doesn't help that the movie is nearly three hours long. This is another Scorsese trope that isn't surprising so much as increasingly noticeable when your story moves so slowly. The seeds of the film's eventual payoff are planted about halfway through the movie it will truly try the audience's patience.

That's not to say the movie isn't affecting. It's beautifully shot, as indicated by the Oscar nod, and some of the performances are moving, and the toned down approach to the scenes of torture often makes the scenes more personal and uncomfortably intimate, rather than exploitative.

Acting-wise it's a mixed bag. Andrew Garfield is good for playing tumultuous young men, but since the movie also asks him to be an authority figure at times his general look and demeanor rejects the notion. As you'd expected the best performance in the film is from Liam Neeson, though his part is rather limited.

Well constructed but flawed, Silence is a movie that's tolerable for cinephiles but tedious for everyone else.

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Assassin's Creed

At some point I've got to stop being surprised about a video game movie being awful right? You'd think so but every time a big budget video game movie comes about, I develop temporary amnesia. I get excited about the casting, tag the release date, and look at the trailers with nothing but hope. And time after time they let me down. And this one was no exception. Today I dive into the mess that is Assassin's Creed.

The movie follows Callum, a troublemaker on death row whom is rescue by a mysterious corporation Abstergo Foundation. Their goal is insane but clear. Using new technology they want Callum to relive the memories of an ancestor to help them locate a power artifact. Though skeptical at first, Callum quickly begins on a path that will give him the skills of an assassin, answers about his past, and possibly a purpose.

Much like the films before it, Assassin's Creed fails for a lot of the same reasons other video game movies fail. So instead of a standard blow by blow, I'll highlight the most notable flaws and how things could've been different.

The Plot Highlights the Worst Parts of the Game

In the video games, the business of reliving the memories of a past relative is a convenient device that gives the game some background and reasoning for when things go wrong. But, as any fan of the game will tell you, it's all the most boring part of the games. The fun stuff in this series has always been going to a different period in time and taking out targets with acrobatic murder parkour. 

As a movie this goes double because not only does it kill the tension during the action scenes in the past, it also tries to make the audience care about the current timeline (which the movie deems more important).

You'd be better off just setting this in the past and presenting the entire thing like a story being told to Callum via a diary or a book, and him working out his own mystery in the meantime. This would also give Callum something resembling a character since all of his most interesting scenes involve the past and his modern day incarnation only has one emotion: anger.

Even if you have to use the time sync or relived memories idea, you don't have to use the tired "evil corporation" trope. You can simply plant one bad person and make it the heroes job to find out who it is using the clues from his memories. 

Competent Action...Through A Grimy Filter

The typical problems for action in video games movies tends to be twofold: no budget or poor staging. While you can make competent action scenes on the cheap, video games tend to have supernatural or big budget elements built in so delivering anything less than bombastic feels inauthentic or cheap. Likewise, a lot of these movies are less interested with action choreography than they are with costuming or tone. Max Payne, for instance, a video game series built around gigantic gun battles has one moderately interesting shootout and the rest are an odd mixture of slow mo and hand to hand combat for some reason.

Assassin's Creed doesn't have either of those problems. They got a full budget and the action scenes are exceptionally well-choreographed. Here's the wrinkle: They look awful.

Like a lot of modern blockbusters this thing has been pushed through a bunch of horrible looking filters that muted all of the colors so much that a movie that primarily takes place during the day looks like it's in perpetual sunset. It's awful. It also doesn't help that we know nothing about the stakes or the characters, and have no emotional investment in ninety percent of the action scenes. It doesn't matter how good the hand to hand combat or wall jumping insanity are. If you don't care if the hero lives or dies, your action scenes will still be boring.

No Sense of Fun

The reason people play video games where they can be gravity defying assassin's isn't because they have a vested interest in the outcome. It's because escapist fantasy is super fun. 

I don't know why this is a lingering problem in the genre, but so many of these movies are obnoxiously unaware of how silly and melodramatic their stories are. I mean say the plot of this movie out loud and try not to laugh a little bit. It should be over the top, silly, and full of jokes like a solid adventure movie. But no, everything is life or death, super serious, and melodramatic. *Sigh* Another video game movie, another missed opportunity.

Though competently made, a terrible plot and joyless attitude kill any fun to be had. Skip this one.

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The Fate of the Furious

By now the Fast & Furious franchise doesn't need to try to make money. The series' deserved reputation as a diversely-cast fun action nonsense series has been chuggging on all cylinders for three movies and has steadily been making more and more money. Still with the loss of Paul Walker, another new director, and ever escalating set pieces, the question remained whether or not the the eighth film The Fate of the Furious could meet expectations.

Shortly after the revelation about their marriage and the recovery of Letty's memories, Dom and Letty are enjoying a blissful honeymoon in Cuba. However, this is quickly interrupted by a master hacker known as Cipher (Charlize Theron) who recruits Dom to her cause with an undertermined threat. With their leader turned against them, the Furious gang will do everything they can to stop Cipher's plan and hopefully bring Dom back into the fold.

So the first thing to get out of the way is that, no this movie is quite as good as the other films in the series' revival. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but I think it comes down to some of the new additions, slightly dulled down set pieces, and possibly direction. There's an attempt bring in a new straight laced white cop like character played by Scott Eastwood who is so forgettable that I literally don't remember his face, which really emphasizes how useful and endearing Paul Walker's good humored Brian O'Conner was. There's also something weird about Jason Statham joining the team so amicably after he literally killed a member of the team, but overall he's a fun addition.

Likewise, a lot of the set pieces (or the best parts of them) have been given away by the trailers or lack the same level of insanity as previous entries. There's no extended one on one brawl, and there's a lot of more standard driving than I'd prefer from a series that's been all about creative car usage. I also think director F Gary Gray emphasizes slow motion a tad too much during the finale.

But is the movie still fun? Absolutely. All of the characters remain well-defined, the comedy one two of Jason Statham and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could be a movie by itself, and if you're looking for vehicular insanity there's no series that does it better. There's a least five the six excellent action scenes ranging from basic shootouts to a prison brawl or the faceoff agains the submarine that was given in the trailer. I also enjoy how this series has entered an unspoken agreement with its fans that it's all about delivering fun over physics in everything from fight scenes to the car stunts. Interestingly enough, my favorite action scenes all involve Jason Statham getting to go ham in some excellent hand to hand combat scenes, which is doubly fun for a Transporter fan such as myself.

Likewise, the team dynamics are the still there. Ludacris and Tyrese exist as comedic relief while Nathalie Emmanuel is the scoffing eye, The Rock is the heavy who banters action cliches with Jason Statham, and Michelle Rodriguez plays our conflicted tough lady. It's not as smooth as previously entries, probably because the shifts between melodrama and comedy are much harsher this time around, but still plenty endearing for franchise fans.

The biggest surprise was the affecting nature of Vin Diesel's performance. Diesel's gotten a ton of flack from critics and even fans of the series for his muted mumbling, but Dom's challenges in this movie requires more range than expected and he handles this pretty well. It doesn't hurt that his acting partner is a deliciously evil Charlize Theron as Cipher. Theron is an actress who's good in anything but I really like it when she goes into high camp super villain mode. She's really good at demonstrating calculated composure when she's in charge and then emotional freakouts when things start to turn against her. I do wish her motivation was a little more fleshed out, there's some talk of holding nation-states accountable, but she gives everything you want out of a rogue hacker.

If there's a theme for this movie it's that everything is well-done and fun, but not as well as before. That's not to say it isn't good, it's just not quite as good as the series highs. Still if you want big budget unapologetic action insanity there's still no franchise that does it better. A must for Fast fans.

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Trailer Talk: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

It's hard to think of a more anticipated sequel than The Last Jedi. Sure The Force Awakens had a ton of curiosity and fans desperate to see another good Star Wars movie, but there were so many unanswered questions about the new characters to truly get involved. Not the case anymore. Now the hype train is through the roof as characters are eager to see Luke again, see Rey get some Jedi training, and find out how deep the rabbit hole for the villain's goes. Here's our first look!

Rey's Jedi Training

The coolest stuff in this trailer is definitely seeing Rey wielding a light saber on Luke's isolated island lair (the pan to see her practicing on a cliff with Luke watching is amazing). It also seems like this is going to be the movie's main focus point as Rey learns some force powers, raising up pebbles like Jean Grey and taps into the Force via Luke's guided meditation. Really like how Mark Hamill sounds in this too.

Rebels on The Run?

The rest of the trailer is heavily focused on what appears to be the Rebels under duress from enemy spaceships. The handsome Poe Dameron runs to a flight bay as it explodes, some fancy new speeders with red trailers head towards New Order AT-ATs, and we've got a Return of the Jedi level space fight between Rebel and Order forces. Still the question remains: is this an offensive move by the Resistance or desperate defense?

Luke's Motivation and What Happened With Kylo Ren

Hearing Luke Skywalker "The Force Balancer" say that the Jedi shouldn't exist anymore is an odd thing, granted considering how his family lineage could be responsible for two oppressive Empires I don't blame him. Still it does offer plenty of questions about what happened with Kylo Ren and how this affected his outlook. There's a couple of shots that hearken back to the apparent Kylo Ren Jedi school massacre briefly references in The Force Awakens but I need to know more.

Short Version: Looks Awesome But All I Have Is More Questions

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Trailer Talk: The Hitman's Bodyguard

While a lot of movie premises are promising, the execution is always the hard part. For instance, the premise for today's film, The Hitman's Bodyguard is something that could go horribly wrong if it embraced the wrong tone or cast the wrong people. Which is why I was delighted to see this trailer featuring an unexpected comedy duo of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson with an R-rated action comedy focus.

The Gist

The movie's title lays things out nicely. Ryan Reynolds is a bodyguard for hire assigned to keep Samuel L. Jackson's master assassin alive. However, Jackson isn't thrilled about a babysitter, despite the number of armed men coming his way. What appears to follow is a series of misadventures as the duo attempts to stay alive.

Hard R-Rating & Goofy as Hell

Apparently looking to cash-in on the piles of money you make when you give Ryan Reynolds a license to curse, this movie looks like a lost Shane Black movie with tons of cursing and violence for the adult kids. After a slow start it looks like we're gonna get a ton of shootouts, car chases, and more wreaking havoc in some nice European locations. Add in the banter between Reynolds and Jackson and a generally goofball tone to potentially dark material and I'm all in.

Notably Self-Aware

When you set your absurd movie's trailer to Whitney Houston's version of  "I Will Always Love You" in a movie with "Bodyguard" in the title, you're doing something right. Granted this is mostly meant to juxtapose the violence happening on screen but other lines like Reynolds saying Jackson's character has "ruined the word motherf***er" is gloriously on the nose.

What Is Salma Hayek's Role

It's great to see Hayek in her ass-kicking shoes once again, but considering her moment in the trailer is a brief and violent snippet, I'm very curious whose side she's on and what her role is moving forward.

Short Version: This Hits Me Right in the Action Comedy Feels

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Furious 7

While hype for Furious 7 guaranteed it would make money, there were a lot of questions leading up to its release. How would the film handle the tragic and sudden passing of series favorite Paul Walker? What direction would the series go with the addition of Jason Statham? What role would Kurt Russell play? Thankfully for fans this was all handled surprisingly well.

After putting Owen Shaw in a coma following their runway shenanigans in Fast & Furious 6, Dom and company have an unexpected new enemy: Owen's former black ops brother Deckhard (Jason Statham). When Deckhard quickly kills Han and threatens to rest of Dom's street racing family, the crew will team with a government operative (Kurt Russell) to steal tech that will give away Shaw's location. But the question remains, even if the crew survives, how much longer will Brian and Mia stay in this life?

By now you know what I'm going to say. This movie is bananas from the acting to the set pieces and everyone plays their part. Is it the best in the series? That's pretty hard to say. The finale isn't as impressive as the middle, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's role is slightly decreased, and the globe-trotting fun feels notably more contrived this time around. Still there's plenty of reasons this movie stands out.

Best Series Villain To Date

For Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 I understood why the bad guys weren't big names. The main cast might get decent money, but A-listers probably weren't lining up to be a villain in the The Fast & The Furious' fifth movie. But this time around they've got a major upgrade. Jason Statham's Shaw is not only the first big Hollywood name to play a Furious villain, but he's also the first one that feels like a true equal to any of Dom's family.

Not only does Statham bring bad-ass credibility, considering the laundry list of movie beatdowns he's given in his day, but it's also a treat for Statham fans to see him play a noteworthy villain for the first time. Add in fun added baddies like Tony Jaa as a henchman, Djimon Hounsou as an arms dealer, and Kurt freaking Russell as dual wielding government op and you've got a host of added fun.

Scenes You Won't Get In Anything Else

Increased budgets means bigger and better stunts each time around and this movie is no exception. This time around they drop cars out of planes, something they did for real, have a face off against a drone, jump a car between two buildings, with tons of hand to hand combat insanity added it for good measure. I've heard a lot of people say that these movies are like The Avengers with cars and I'm inclined to agree in the best way possible.

A Sweet Tribute to Paul Walker

If the Fast & Furious series rode into the sunset with this movie it would've been just fine because the send-off for Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner is moving in ways I didn't expect it to be. They don't kill him off, that would feel to on the nose, but rather let him go to domestic bliss with Mia and his son. And then they give him one last moment with Vin Diesel before some clips from Walker's moments in the series and voiceover begins. It's easily the most heartfelt moment of the entire series to date and I'm impressed with the level of sincerity and care they put into it.

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Fast & Furious 6 (Revisited)

It's hard to tell if the Fast & Furious team intended Fast Five to be a send off or something akin to a hard reboot. On the one hand the movie ends with everyone living a happy and seemingly peaceful existence. On the other hand, the after credits sequence indicating Michelle Rodriguez's Letty is still alive is only something you keep in when you're certain a sequel is in the works. Regardless, I'm thankful Fast Five did well because we got to continue the gonzo action series in this team vs. team battle movie Fast & Furious 6.

After sailing away with millions in the last film, Dominic Toretto and his former crew are living the high life, admittedly far away from home. That is until they're approach by Agent Hobbes who comes to the team with a deal: help me take down a car crew much like your own and get your criminal records expunged. Taking Hobbes' bait the crew sets its sights on Owen Shaw and his dangerous gang, which just so happens to include one of their own: Letty.

Much like its predecessor, Fast & Furious 6 is a very silly affair full of absurd action scenes, melodramatic heart to hearts, and its well-defined cast of characters. So what makes this movie stand-out versus the rest? Let's find out.

A Fleshed Out Team From the Start

As fun as the opening act of Fast Five was, the second half of the film felt like an entirely different movie as characters from the series were reintroduced and joined Dom and Brian for the heist. This time around the gang is back together from the get go including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Hobbes and Gina Carano. We also start to care a little more about these characters as Gisele and Han's romantic relationship moves forward, Brian's family unit comes under attack, and Dom tries time and again to bring Letty into the fold. This also enhances the script's decision to make their enemy a cloned soulless version of the Furious crew.

It's Funnier

While the movie is still melodramatic, aka played overly serious rather than naturalistic, this movie also features a lot more banter and jokier moments usually from Tyrese, Ludacris, or The Rock. This movie also dips into a slightly self-aware attitude towards the series big set pieces with characters frequently commenting on the ridiculousness of what has to happen. It's something Mission Impossible series has recently embraced as well and I'm all for it. It's a nice nod to the audience that says "Yeah we know this is silly...but you know you want to watch it."

Expertly Staged and Layered Action Scenes

Fast Five has a flurry of great action beats, but Fast & Furious 6 does something the best action movies do: it presents layers for these scenes. Here's what I mean. In a standard action you'll have one conflict. This person fights this person or everyone's chasing this person. Layered action scenes follow multiple points of interests or conflicts happening at the same time. For instance, while Letty and Gina Carano's Riley throw down in a female fight for the ages, Gisele is embroiled in a shootout, and Han and Tej try to take out Shaw's best martial arts fighter. It's a great method for long consistently engaging scenes that is perfectly epitomized by the runway finale (no matter how impossibly long the runway is).

With its new identity firmly in place, Fast & Furious 6 delivers tons of action with unexpected humor and character depth. Tomorrow Shaw's brother looks for revenge in Furious 7!

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