Author: And Palladino

  • ‘Unicorn Store’ is a rare breed

    ‘Unicorn Store’ is a rare breed

    Brie Larson in Unicorn Store

    “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Roald Dahl

    Brie Larson the actress recently headlined a big action movie where she committed to intense training, but as a director has chosen her first project to be a small coming of age at post-college years drama. She’s gone from being the next Cynthia Rothrock to the next Lena Dunham.

    Tiny Furniture with a fantastical bent, Unicorn Store is a slight but nevertheless winning effort from its director/star. Funny and whimsical while also quite dramatic and grounded, it’s a portrait that captures the mindset of many in her generation.

    Kit (Larson) has failed out of college where she was pursuing an art degree and moves back in with her parents (Bradley Whitford and Joan Cusack). A brief bout of not quite hard depression but still feeling down in the dumps, she is motivated by TV commercials to get her life together. She buttons up and gets an office job, though has some difficulty acclimating or befriending co-workers.

    Before long, she receives an invitation to what turns out to be the eponymous locale. She goes there and meets the proprietor (Samuel L. Jackson). But instead of offering her a Capital One account, he claims that he can give her the one thing she’s wanted since childhood: a unicorn. An actual, real live unicorn. She’s excited at the prospect, but he tells her that she first needs to prove herself a worthy caretaker. 

    The tasks she needs to complete to show that improvement – building a stable, being able to pay for food and supplies, having a greater capacity for love – are all things that make it clear that this is all a metaphor for growing up. Unsubtle as it is, this part of the story gives her needed development and it’s interesting to see the events play out. As she begins to succeed at achieving these steps, her creative side comes back to her. When it does, it runs the risk of coming into conflict with the corporate life she’s gotten into. 

    Much like Dunham’s earlier film, this one speaks to those in a life period that’s a kind of purgatory. As someone straddling between the two worlds but not really finding a way into either, I found Larson and screenwriter Samantha McIntyre’s (her first feature film script after working on shorts and sitcom episodes) movie to be a great representation of the feeling. You really do want to go back to the other when you get a taste of it again, only to find that state incompatible with the conventional. 

    If there’s a list of things that the film needed for its own improvement, a couple can be put on it. There’s certainly an in or two to explore clinical depression and mental illness that aren’t taken. Although such material may have thrown off the tone, it would make the proceedings richer and her victories all the more joyous. The store itself could have been more ornate to match the level of surreality built up. Larson’s direction, though, is quite strong and she has a keen eye for visual flair. If she wants it, there’s a future for her in directing that’s as bright as any of the colors on display.

    While I don’t know if I’ll ever attain any lofty goals or the inner peace that Kit works towards, but I can say that Unicorn Store is a fine entry in its genre, whichever one you want to put it in. It reminds us that dreams are worth fighting for, no matter how old you are.

  • ‘Avengers: Endgame’ needed to assemble more

    ‘Avengers: Endgame’ needed to assemble more

    Chris Hemsworth and Brie Larson in Avengers: Endgame

    “A billion souls have known death at my hand. It is time you joined them!” – Thanos in Marvel Super Heroes (1995)

    As those who saw Avengers: Infinity War know, the above quote from the classic arcade game is no exaggeration. If anything, that’s being modest. Yes, we resume things as they left off with half of all living things in the universe wiped from existence by Thanos (Josh Brolin), and correspondingly a much smaller team to deal with the aftermath.

    Remaining are Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Rhodey (Don Cheadle), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Nebula (Karen GIllan). But missing from the last film and finally arriving are Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson). How will they manage to set things right? 

    Avengers: Endgame – all right time out, that is a really dumb subtitle. What is it with fourth installments using it (see also Highlander)? Plus it makes no sense in context since the villain’s endgame was already achieved in the previous movie.

    Anyway, the latest Avengers has been hyped up to a ludicrous degree as the grand finale of this era of the so-called “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Of course we know that that isn’t really the case and more movies are coming (one of them in just two months), but for what it is it’s a fun time with one or two genuine surprises in store.

    Much speculation and theorizing about the plot have gone on in the time between installments, and those turn out to pretty much be what happens here. A few suspicions are upended, but not nearly enough. For better or worse, what you suspect will happen pretty much does. However, it should be said that those unexpected moments do land strong in emotional impact.

    Throughout the ensuing events, characters and actors from various past adventures make returns. The appearances of most figures are welcome, but one definitely is not. Not to give away who that is, but as Marvel’s most heinous casting decision, this character was best left forgotten and moved on from. Apparently not.   

    But the focus here is on the central characters (it’s not really a coincidence that the whole first Avengers line-up is among the initial survivors) and they get to shine brightly. After plots over the past few years have kept them apart, it really is a treat to see them all united once more. On the downside, those expecting the newer team members to have a large presence are going to be disappointed (particularly Carol and Okoye). The standouts of the cast are Gillan, who gets more to do this time, and Rudd, making such a great addition to the group that you wish he was brought in earlier.

    The review for Infinity War on this site has its headline saying that the film “goes very very big.” But if you ask me, the problem with that movie and now this one is that they did not go big enough. There are a whole host of other characters who we have gotten to know and see prove themselves as effective heroes that are completely ignored here. Melinda, Daisy, Matt, Jessica, Luke, Danny, Frank, Alex, Nico, Chase, Molly, Gert, Karolina, Tyrone, Tandy, heck I’ll even say Black Bolt and Medusa absolutely deserve to have a place in these movies. There’s also the characters who have played a part in these tales that ought to be here, yet are MIA. Where’s Lady Sif? Nakia? The Nova Corps?

    All that said though, the climax is very engaging. Despite the aforementioned predictable developments, the tension runs high and the action is fierce. The denouement is satisfying, giving some characters more great moments. And the teases of future projects are quite enticing, especially for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a promise that had better be delivered on.

    Conclusion, new beginning, bit of both, something else entirely; whatever you want to call this, this could have been a lot better than it was. Still, it provides the audience with a solid journey that doesn’t at all feel as long as it is. Going forward, there’s more interesting places to go and sights to see. I for one can’t wait to get there.

  • Cast a vote for ‘Long Shot’

    Cast a vote for ‘Long Shot’

    Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron in Long Shot

    “The past is never where you think you left it.” – Katherine Anne Porter

    One year from now, the United States presidential election will completely dominate daily discourse. At this moment, anticipation is building for just who will end up competing and prospective candidates are out there trying to convince the public they’re the best fit for the job. Naturally, the movies have tried to cash in on this fever, and Long Shot is one of the better efforts.

    Though regurgitating some genre conventions and featuring a sense of humor that isn’t for everyone, this film gets by more than well-enough thanks to the charms and abilities of its stars. It’s a team-up that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does and amazingly so.

    U.S. Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) has just learned that President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk) won’t be seeking another term and would like to endorse her to run in 2020. Gearing up for a campaign trail, her strategist (Lisa Kudrow) shows that favorable opinions of her are high, but a little lacking in the humor category. Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) has just resigned as a reporter for a small-scale left-wing news outlet when they are taken over by a giant media conglomerate. Unable to bounce back and feeling low, he is taken by his best friend Lance (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) to a fancy party with big time guests like Boyz II Men and, unbeknownst to him, Charlotte.

    At that party, Charlotte and Fred bump into each for the first time in a quarter-century. As it turns out, they were neighbors growing up and she used to babysit him. This culminated in a very awkward and embarrassing declaration of love from Fred that left things on a sour note for him all this time. Fortunately, Charlotte doesn’t seem to remember the incident, and after he publicly chastises the mogul who bought his paper (Andy Serkis), someone who she also has a strong dislike of, she hires him as a speechwriter to help give her some more funny lines. In reconnecting, they find themselves not only crafting more honest and personable speeches, but also becoming lovers.

    The romantic comedy story beats are familiar and fit to pattern, but a little different in that they’re playing out within an uncommon context. Charlotte’s assistant Maggie (June Diane Raphael) frequently has to urge her boss to be conscious of her public image, and Charlotte herself is afraid that being the one with power will be a turn off as it has proven to her in the past. Fred’s inevitable clashes with Charlotte come in the form of stances on her official duties and what one would like to do versus what they’re forced to do.  

    For the most part, the political parties are made vague. Fred is certainly a leftist, but it’s said that he reported on corruption of the Chambers administration, which would seem to imply that the President and Charlotte are on the right. Yet, she is not lionized and in fact held to scrutiny by the presumably-conservative news channel, and of course Fred is willing to work with her. Also her main initiative in the plot is an environmental one, which is conservative in the literal sense but often taken up by the other side as well. The words “Democrats” and “Republicans” are mentioned specifically in dialogue towards the end, but still not said who of the politicians belong to which.

    The humor therefore isn’t really high-minded satire and leans more to Rogen’s comedy oeuvre than Theron’s, but the latter does show that she is completely game for whatever is thrown at her. She can certainly handle the stateliness aspect of the role, giving off an Elizabeth McCord vibe at those points. When it’s time to go into Selina Meyer mode and be crude, though, she gets right into it. Rogen, already reliable for this kind of material, gets some good physical bits in this time. And while underused, Jackson shows that comedically he’s a chip off the ol’ Cube.

    If this type of comedy doesn’t put you off, consider giving this one a, um, shot. Real-life elections sure aren’t as funny as they used to be.

  • ‘Back Fork’ deals deftly with drugs and death

    ‘Back Fork’ deals deftly with drugs and death

    A.J. Cook and Josh Stewart in Back Fork

    “There’s no tragedy in life like the death of a child.  Things never get back to the way they were.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Movies about drug addiction are not new. Movies about a death in the family are not new. Movies about small rural towns are not new. And yet, Back Fork feels like something fresh and needed.

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  • ‘Pet Sematary’ should have remained dead

    ‘Pet Sematary’ should have remained dead

    Church the cat in Pet Sematary

    “Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.” – Publilius Syrus

    Pet Sematary 2019 is essentially the novel and/or 1989 film buried in the cursed grounds of the plot and resurrected in the same manner: starts off seeming the same but a little off, then turns bad and wants to do you harm. Rotten and needlessly nihilistic, this version is ironic proof of its own message that sometimes it’s best to let the dead stay dead.

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  • ‘Three Identical Strangers’ is one of a kind

    ‘Three Identical Strangers’ is one of a kind

    'Three Identical Strangers'
    ‘Three Identical Strangers’

    “In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.” – Isaac Asimov

    Whenever one learns of an inspirational news story, that initial presentation is as far as they’ll ever hear about it. But for the people involved, life goes on. Sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse. Such is the case with Three Identical Strangers, a fascinating look at a set of triplets who never knew about each other until they were older and the effects that revelation had on them.

    When Bobby Shafran reached college, he was greeted by people who seemed to know him. He, however, was completely unfamiliar with them, wondering how he could’ve met them and why they addressed him by a different name. One of these people had a suspicion as to the situation after Bobby revealed he was adopted and put him in touch with Eddy Gallant, an identical brother who was separated at birth and adopted into a different family. When the story was reported on, David Kellman (also an adoptee) noted his own similarities to them and promptly made contact. Turns out, these three are in fact triplets.

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  • ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’ is kid-friendly superhero skewering

    ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’ is kid-friendly superhero skewering

    'Teen Titans GO! To The Movies'
    ‘Teen Titans GO! To The Movies’

    “The superhero movie wave doesn’t really seem to be ending. In fact, it’s more like a superhero movie rising tide that has now formed a permanent lake on top of the film industry.” – Bob Chipman

    How the superhero movie trend began can be debatable (put me down on the side of Blade being the starter), but at this point it can’t be denied that it’s going strong with no end in sight. It was only a matter of time then that the lighthearted entries would make them a focal point of the plot.

    While not on the level of The Lego Batman Movie, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies provides a fun enough time for kids and has a few things in store for adults.

    The Teen Titans team – consisting of Robin (Scott Menville), Starfire (Hynden Walch), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Raven (Tara Strong), and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) – operates in the shadow of more prestigious groups like the Justice League and doesn’t feel like they get the credit and recognition they deserve. This becomes more clear to Robin when not only are they not invited to the premiere of the latest Batman film when all other superheroes are, the trailers for upcoming movie spinoffs are about everything but him.

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  • ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ captures the magic of Fred Rogers

    ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ captures the magic of Fred Rogers

    Fred Rogers is at the center of the new documentary, 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?'
    Fred Rogers is at the center of the new documentary, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’

    “What we do for ourselves alone dies with us; what we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” – Albert Pike

    It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood now that Won’t You Be My Neighbor? has come to its theaters. A powerful work with profound emotional impact, this documentary is an informative picture of show business, a touching tribute to its subject, and a needed reminder of what a strong force kindness can be for change in the world.

    Fred Rogers (1928-2003) started out as a Pittsburgh-based minister who saw the direction of his life change when the medium of television came to prominence. Right away, Rogers recognized the potential it had for shaping the minds of the public and knew that someone needed to use it for good. Success with local access programming parlayed into Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the beloved children’s show on which Rogers was the chief creative mind behind as well as onscreen host and puppeteer.

    Interviewed are family, friends, castmates, and crew, who all provide great insight regarding both the show and the real man. It would seem that yes, when the cameras stopped rolling, he really was the same friendly and caring figure. All attest that he was a wonderful, sincere person who believed wholeheartedly in his messages. To that end various archive footage is shown, from commencement speeches and other public appearances to his testimony to the U.S. government for saving PBS funding.

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  • ‘Homefront’ is incomplete and underdeveloped

    ‘Homefront’ is incomplete and underdeveloped

    Jason Statham faces off against backwoods drug dealers in 'Homefront'
    Jason Statham faces off against backwoods drug dealers in ‘Homefront’

    While lately movies made from kids and teen books have been all the rage and able to develop as franchises, adult-oriented fare hasn’t been as lucky. Last year gave us the very disappointing Alex Cross and Jack Reacher, which likely stopped any plans for follow-ups dead in their tracks. Now Phil Broker comes to the screen in Homefront, and although not renaming the film after the character was a good start, more wrong choices were made than right.

    Here, Broker (Jason Statham) is a DEA agent who resigns when an operation ends with a suspect (Linds Edwards) receiving the Amadou Diallo treatment. Two years after that incident, he and his daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) move to a Louisiana town where the late Mrs. Broker grew up. One day at school, classmate Teddy Klum (Austin Craig) provokes her into a fight and gets his clock cleaned. The school calls in Broker and the boy’s parents Jimmy (Marcus Hester) and Cassie Klum (Kate Bosworth). Jimmy tries to attack Broker but his reflexes are still sharp and he easily counters.

    For some reason this really gets to Cassie, so she enlists the help of Gator Bodine (James Franco), her brother and the town’s meth dealer, Cassie herself being an addict. Gator breaks in and in the process of abducting a cat and stuffed animal, comes across something infinitely more valuable: Broker’s file. Familiar with the players in Broker’s final case, Gator has his sidekick/lover Sheryl Marie Mott (Winona Ryder) reach out to biker leader Danny T (Chuck Zito), imprisoned by Broker and the father of the suspect killed. Gator plans to spill the beans on Broker in exchange for state-wide control of the meth trade.

    James Franco is a bad ass
    James Franco is a bad ass

    I have not read the novel by Chuck Logan, but a look on Amazon’s page for it shows this synopsis:

    Nina Pryce, one of a select few women attached to the Army’s elite Delta Force, is on an extended medical leave, recovering from a firefight with a terrorist that claimed the lives of two teammates and left her badly injured. While her body has begun to heal, her psychic wounds are still raw; unable to care for her daughter, repair the damage to her marriage, or face the fact that her military career is over, she and her family take refuge in a remote Minnesota town. But trouble seems to follow in her wake, and what begins as a schoolyard fight between her daughter and a bullying classmate soon escalates into a terrifying standoff with a clan of backwoods methamphetamine “cookers” and a hitman bent on revenge against Nina’s husband Phil Broker, a former undercover cop. Logan expertly balances the tough and the tender, as Broker attempts to nurse his wife back to health, protect eight-year-old Kit from the effects of her mother’s post-traumatic depression, and guard those he loves from the legacy of his own violent past.

    While the second half of that matches up, that first half, the one that actually sounds interesting, is completely MIA. Heck, simply having that as a story would make a compelling picture in its own right, certainly moreso than what we ended up with. It’s curious too that the setting was changed for no good reason. Why the needless hixploitation?

    Winona Ryder in 'Homefront'
    Winona Ryder in ‘Homefront’

    But what did make it to the screen is still incomplete and underdeveloped. In Sheryl’s negations with the biker, they make it quite clear that they will not relinquish distribution, but this leads nowhere. Gator learning of this and turning on them – and thereby proving to be the true threat to Broker – is what should have ensued. Another noticeable place is with Cassie and her addiction. They go out of their way to show that Jimmy and Gator worry for her, with the latter accusing the former of not doing a proper job as a husband. However, this is neither followed up on nor given any prior hint towards.

    The plot holes are as glaring as they come. Halfway through the movie, it becomes established that Broker keeps in contact with the DEA and reaches out to them when he starts to learn of Gator. But later on when he inevitably realizes his cover’s been blown and is in serious danger, he doesn’t call them. He has plenty of time to do so, but doesn’t. Is this supposed to make any sense?

    But the action is pretty satisfying and the actors are more than serviceable. Statham continues to hold his mettle as an action star and Vidovic shows promise. But it’s Franco, fresh from a similar wild-card part in Spring Breakers, who is the most fun to watch.

    Director Gary Fleder coincidentally is also the director of Kiss the Girls, the first – and best – of the Alex Cross films. It’s really too bad he couldn’t do for Broker what he did for Cross. Then again, given that the most intriguing elements of the story were excised, it’s just as well.

  • ‘Gravity’ is likely the best science fiction film of 2013

    ‘Gravity’ is likely the best science fiction film of 2013

    Sandra Bullock fights to survive in 'Gravity'
    Sandra Bullock fights to survive in ‘Gravity’

    Gravity is probably the best movie in which the main character spends half the time in her underwear. But to leave it at that does the movie a big disservice; it may well end up being the best science fiction film of the year.

    Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), Commander Matthew Kowalski (George Clooney), and some redshirts are in space repairing a satellite, connected with NASA below (Ed Harris). But soon wreckage debris rushes through, destroying the satellite, the shuttle, and communications, and of course leaving the two of them as the only survivors. Tethered together, they must explore the immediate area to find an operational station and/or craft that can get them home.

    With this simple a set up, Gravity is kind of film that’s hard to believe hasn’t already been made. But when seeing it, the reason why becomes clear: 3D. It and the other visual effects are truly what make this an enthralling experience, so much so that a standard viewing will not impress the same impact. So pony up the extra money for this one, it’ll be worth it.

    Sandra Bullock spends a good portion of film in nothing but her skivvies
    Sandra Bullock spends a good portion of film in nothing but her skivvies

    To some, this might just seem like something that could be pitched as Open Water in space (a comparison to the more recent All is Lost might also be in order). And sure the basic tenants are there: man and woman marooned in a vast void, no one coming to the rescue, fast-ticking clock on survival, and so on. This however comes from a different place tonally. The focus is more on the adventure for survival rather than a meditation on hopelessness.

    Looking more into this movie, I was surprised that many young actresses were considered for Dr. Stone. Were that to pass, it would have been a major detriment. Bullock provides the maturity needed for a character who’s not only a scientist but an astronaut that we need to believe has had years of training and experience in these fields. While I’m sure that Blake Lively and Olivia Wilde look equally as lovely in their undergarments, they just can’t deliver that. Bullock’s work here is a career best and proof that the Academy Award on her shelf was no fluke.

    At this point I’m not sure how many out there haven’t yet experienced this film or if they are going to need any more persuading for doing so. But as the theaters are becoming crowded with space saga titles of a more fantastical sort, Gravity is the one to go to for something real. Something, um, grounded.