The Florida Project

The Florida Project (2017)

Starring Willem Dafoe, Brooklyn Kimberly Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jones

Directed by Sean Baker

Written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch

***This film is currently streaming via Amazon Prime**

Summary (in 500 words or less):  During her summer vacation, a young girl (Brooklyn Prince) hangs out with her friends at a her residence, a cheap motel called the Magic Castle which is just a short ways away Disney World in Orlando.  Her mother (Bria Vinaite) struggles to pay rent and resorts to some illegal activities in order to cover the costs.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C+

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Starring Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Hedges, Abbie Cornish, Zeljko Ivanek, Peter Dinklage, and John Hawkes

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Written by Martin McDonagh

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Following her daughter's unsolved rape and murder, Mildred (Frances McDormand) buys advertising space on three billboards questioning the effectiveness of the local police force headed by the sure-fototed Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and the off-the-hinges officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell). 

• Quite frankly, this is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while.  Very little of what happens in this film feels even remotely believable which, in a sci-fi film would be one thing, but in dramedy set in a realistic setting simply doesn't work.  
• I've seen a few plays and movies by Martin McDonagh and his blend of dark comedy and drama usually strikes a nice balance, but here the script's comedic moments feel ludicrous and its dramatic moments fail to resonate in the slightest.
• McDonagh throws the kitchen sink in to this one -- racist cops, foul-mouthed mothers, jokes about Catholic priests and midgets -- hoping something will stick, but nothing does.
• Frances McDormand is okay, but I feel like I've seen her do this before.  She could play this role in her sleep.  Sam Rockwell (who, like McDormand, seems poised to win an Oscar for this role) lacks nuance, with his character experiencing a change of heart that feels unwarranted.
• Characters do horrible things to others in this film with little repercussion which might've worked fine in In Bruges or Seven Psychopaths (other McDonagh films), but they weren't nearly as based in reality as this film is and when these characters fail to be punished for things, it irritated me immensely.
• In short form (as I'm writing all my "reviews" now), my reasons for my utter hatred of this movie aren't fully described, but rest assured this movie is completely undeserving of the praise bestowed upon it.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Get Out

Get Out (2017)

Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Lakeith Stanfield, and Catherine Keener

Directed by Jordan Peele

Written by Jordan Peele

***This film is currently streaming via HBO***

Summary (in 500 words or less): Visiting the family of his white girlfriend (Allison Williams) for a weekend at their home, a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) soon realizes that something ominous is afoot and that his life may be at risk.

• Almost like a modern-day retelling of The Stepford Wives
• A solid thriller with a nice performance by Daniel Kaluuya
• The debut direction of Jordan Peele shows promise, but I think it lacked a bit of finesse when it came to elevating the thrills, however Peele deserves credit for keeping his film moving
• The film's comedic moments -- Peele is best known for his comedy -- unfortunately fall a bit flat and feel generic as opposed to the rest of the film which feels a bit fresher
• I don't quite get the all out love for this film and should it win Best Picture at the Oscars, I'll really have lost faith in the Academy.  It's not that Get Out is bad in any way, but it doesn't have anything particularly special going for it except for its racial politics.  Once again, Get Out is decent...but it's not mind-blowing in any form.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Heaven Knows What

Heaven Knows What (2015)

Starring Arielle Holmes, Caleb Landry Jones, and Buddy Duress

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

"Uncomfortable" is perhaps the best descriptor of the Safdie Brothers' Heaven Knows What, the semi-autobiographical tale of the film's star and first-time leading lady Arielle Holmes who portrays Harley, a homeless twentysomething in New York City addicted to alcohol, heroin, and bad men.  As the film opens, Harley is desperately trying to please her on again-off again boyfriend Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones) after she has done something to disappoint him.  His response to her:  slit your wrists and die to prove your love for me.  In her drug-induced haze (a constant state for her), Harley does just that and after a trip to the hospital, she decides that time apart from Ilya may be what she needs.  She moves on to Mike (Buddy Duress) and he isn't much better for her, providing an abundance of heroin and convincing her to steal in order to make money for more drugs.

Heaven Knows What is devastatingly realistic, dropping its audience right into the mix and jolting us into the horrific environment of young homeless people in New York City.  There's certainly a sense that first-time actress Arielle Holmes has lived through the horrors onscreen as the semi-autobiographical nature would attest as she imbues Harley with a jittery anxiousness that makes the audience just as anxious watching the story unfold.  While I appreciate the realism, it doesn't exactly make for a pleasant or recommendable viewing experience.  I was onboard until the film hit the halfway mark (about forty-ice minutes in), but then I found the film to be repetitive.  While I believe the repetition is purposeful showing us a never-ending struggle of the homeless to find places to sleep, buy and sell drugs, and earn money however they're able, it grows tiresome, perhaps in part because of the low budget, unobtrusive, almost-documentary style of filmmaking.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - God's Pocket

God's Pocket (2014)

Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks, John Turturro, Eddie Marsan, and Caleb Landry Jones

Directed by John Slattery

Talk about a snooze fest.  One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last films, God's Pocket tells the tale of a working class Philadelphia neighborhood known as Devil's Pocket wherein tough guys and broads abound.  Leon (Caleb Landry Jones) is a live wire -- a twentysomething factory worker whose racist remarks and poor work ethic don't sit well with his co-workers.  One day, after a spouting a particularly cruel diatribe against an older black man, the elderly gentleman whacks him on the side of the head with a pipe and Leon dies.  The manager of the factory and the crew decide to cover up the death, saying that it was an accident...and one would think that the movie would be about setting up whether these crew members would be discovered for their crime.

But no...after the murder in the film's opening ten minutes, we don't really revisit the investigation in the slightest.  Sure, Leon's death looms over the rest of the film's proceedings, but the film instead focuses on Leon's mother and stepfather Jeannine and Mickey (Christina Hendricks and Hoffman) and Jeannine's newfound affair with a reporter (Richard Jenkins) investigating Leon's death.  Taking place over the course of three days, God's Pocket goes nowhere with all of its characters wallowing around in dank, dark places not talking about anything of much importance except how hard life is in The Pocket.

This is actor John Slattery's first film as a director and there are sparks of interesting moments, but nothing ever truly lights up.  The acting is all so dreadfully sullen and dull that there's never a moment of respite from the dreariness.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Byzantium

Byzantium (2013)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, Daniel Mays, and Caleb Landry Jones

Directed by Neil Jordan

As I draw to the end of my 2013 viewing (the RyMickey Awards will finally be forthcoming in September), I often wonder why I feel the need to see as much as I can movie-wise.  What's the point?  Surprises like Byzantium are why I hold off on my awards.  Now, I can't say for certain that Byzantium will land in the top of any of my categories, but I can at least say that this new take on a classic vampire story breathed new life into a genre that's been beaten down to kid-like, laughable levels as of late thanks to the popularity of the Twilight series.

The alluring Gemma Arterton is Clara and when we first encounter her she's stripping in a seedy bar in England in an attempt to bing in an income to look after her teenage sister Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan).  However, Clara and Eleanor have a secret and when one of Clara's customers reveals that he knows Clara is really a vampire, he meets an untimely end that forces the two sisters to flee their apartment for a new town.  As the two immortal women settle in, they become comfortable with their surroundings which is never a good thing considering the secrets that both Clara and Eleanor hide from everyone.

Neil Jordan's film not only tells the modern-day journey of Clara and Eleanor, but also the two hundred year-old story of how they became immortal vampires in the first place.  Both aspects of the effectively woven story written by Moira Buffini are surprisingly solid, each holding its own and deepening one another via their plots.  Jordan's film ratchets up the tension at key points, is nicely shot, and humorously gory at times -- the latter of which actually added some comedic moments to the otherwise heavy plot.

Saoirse Ronan presses on with her monopoly of mopey kid roles, but this works here because her Eleanor feels trapped not only in her sister's shadow, but also quite literally in her never-aging body that doesn't allow her to become close to anyone since her secret will be revealed should she form a long-term relationship.  Gemma Arterton continues to impress, exuding a dirty sexiness when Clara's pimping herself out to get money to pay the rent while also believably mothering the younger Eleanor in an attempt to save her from those who would do her harm.

Byzantium is much more fun than I expected it to be.  With solid craftsmanship on all levels, this one was a pleasant treat.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+