The Laundromat

The Laundromat (2019)

Starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, David Schwimmer, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeffrey Wright, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Nonso Anozie, Will Forte, Chris Parnell, James Cromwell, Melissa Rauch, Larry Wilmore, Robert Patrick, Rosalind Chao, and Sharon Stone

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Scott Z. Burns

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Isabella Sermon, James Cromwell, and Toby Jones

Directed by J.A. Bayona

Written by Derek Connolly and Colin Treverrow

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Movie Review - Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Featuring the voice talents of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, and James Cromwell 

Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams

Big Hero 6 is Walt Disney Animation's first collaboration with Marvel and while the film looks visually appealing and definitely has its successful moments, it falls into the same trap as most Marvel movies in that the film's final half abandons the importance of story and feels like action sequence atop action sequence.  Quite frankly, one of these days I'll get around to continuing my Disney Discussion and I think I'll save a more thorough summary until that point, however, the general gist of the plot is that young braniac Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) becomes unlikely friends with a robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit) created by his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney).  As the two bond, Hiro and Baymax uncover a plot by a sinister masked man to utilize some of Hiro's own robotic creations to commit dastardly deeds.

Eschewing the typical fairy tale stories or romances that usually inhabit Disney's animated fare, Big Hero 6 definitely has a different tone especially considering that the film's final half is completely one big battle between Hiro and his group of clever and humorous friends against the masked man whose reveal is supposed to be surprising but is completely obvious to anyone older than ten years old.  Unfortunately, the film isn't subtle in any aspect.  During the opening moments in which better written Disney movies would excel at exposition, Big Hero 6 very bluntly and laughably spells things out for us stating Hiro and Tadashi's back story.  While it sets a bad tone right off the bat, things perk up quite well during the remainder of the film's first and second acts.  Some nice voice acting from all parties -- the lack of "big name" stars is a definite plus -- and animation that is certainly a caliber above average aid Big Hero 6 in overcoming some of its denouement's problems, but it still falls into the 2014 animated credo of "We Must Have a Disappointing Finale" with nary a single release last year ending on a successful note.

I'll hold off on a more in depth analysis for now except to say that the fact that Big Hero 6 won the Best Animated feature Oscar really reveals what a disappointing year 2014 was for what is typically one of my favorite genres.  While I wouldn't hate another Marvel-Disney animated collaboration (and the film is certainly set up for multiple sequels), I hope that a better script creates a more subtle atmosphere for its cast of characters.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Artist

The Artist (2011)

Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Penelope Ann Miller, James Cromwell, and John Goodman

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

Certainly one of my most anticipated films of 2011, The Artist had a lot of likely impossible buzz to live up to and, unlike The Muppets (which lived up to and exceeded my lofty expectations), French director Michel Hazanavicius' ode to early Hollywood falls a tiny bit short.  Don't get me wrong -- The Artist is a very good film.  It unfortunately lacks a little bit of emotional oomph I was longing for and stands more as a technical achievement and acting tour de force than a movie that tugs at your heartstrings.

In The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius has crafted a black-and-white silent film about the end of silent films.  Certainly borrowing heavily from films like Singin' in the Rain and Citizen Kane (to name only a few), this flick is a love story to cinema which is why I could easily see it picking up many Oscars at this year's Academy Awards.  As the flick opens, popular silent film actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) finds his star still on the rise.  Along with his adorable tag-along pooch, George is much beloved by the public.  It is at the premiere of his newest film where he first meets Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), who accidentally bumps into him as he is being interviewed by the press.  Trying to make the most of her fifteen minutes of fame, Peppy becomes a "regular gal-turned-actress," and she and George begin a nice friendship that both wish could grow to something with more romantic undertones except that George is unhappily married to Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) who is constantly aggravated with her husband.

When the studio head Al Zimmer (John Goodman) approaches George to be in a newfangled "talking picture," George balks at the idea and leaves the studio that gave him his big break behind.  As he funds his own silent film, George finds his star power waning while Peppy's is on the rise thanks to her participation in sound films.  With George in the dumps and Peppy living large, their roles have reversed, but neither have forgotten about their suppressed love for one another despite the fact that their industry has attempted to push them apart.

The story is perfectly pleasant and certainly simple enough to be told with minimal title/dialog cards, yet it absolutely kept my interest the whole way through thanks in large part to some great performances from Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo.  Dujardin, in particular, is kinda fantastic as the charmer George Valentin.  Obviously, acting in a silent film (and a silent film that pays homage to those that came before it) requires a bit of what we may nowadays call "over-acting," but Dujardin rarely stoops to that level.  Instead, he takes a simple eyebrow raise and clues the audience in to exactly what his character is thinking, walking the normally precarious line between melodrama and seriousness (both of which are requirements for his character to perform) with great ease.  Ms. Bejo, on the other hand, does tend to favor (or was told to mimic) the more dramatic style of acting most would likely associate with silent films.  Don't take that as a detriment, however, as Bejo is exuberant and quite a joy to watch onscreen.

There are several moments of ingeniousness by director and writer Michel Hazanavicius that to reveal here would ruin their effectiveness on film, but needless to say, there were several moments that had me smiling simply because of his directorial and screenwriting choices.  The film looks absolutely beautiful as well and his vision of creating a 1920s-style flick with all the conventions that entails -- those "sweeping" scene changes, a near-constant musical score, to name a few -- is absolutely successful.

However, the film lacks a little bit of that emotional oomph I was hoping for.  Ultimately, I think the reason falls on the fact that the film, even in its most dour of moments, is wholeheartedly a melodrama and because of that, it never quite takes itself serious enough for me to get serious about it.  Still, unlike what is often the case for me, The Artist is sitting quite well as it stews in my mind as I type out this review. In fact, as I've pondered over the flick, I've raised my grade by half a point (although you'll have to forgive me if 24 hours from now, I feel like changing it back...which [edited to add] I did...I'm still internally debating the B+/A- here).  In the end, The Artist is a charming film that can't help but elicit many smiles out of moviegoers who give this old-school, black-and-white, silent film a chance.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Surrogates (2009)

Starring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell
Directed by Jonathan Mostow

Set in the near future, Surrogates depicts a life where nearly every human never leaves their homes, instead living their life through the robotic title characters. Crime has decreased tremendously, but there is a small sanction of humans who are against the rise of surrogacy. When a weapon is created that manages to ruin the mechanics of the surrogate and kill the human who is controlling them, FBI agents Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) try to solve the case before too much havoc occurs.

After a rather promising initial twenty minutes setting up the premise of the film (I rather liked the opening credits sequence detailing the history of the surrogate program), the film falls apart. First off, the film looks like crap. Incredibly obviously filmed on a studio backlot, the film reminded me of cheesy 80s/90s sci-fi films like Total Recall...and in this case, that's not a good thing. I will say, to the director's credit, he did keep this flick moving at a pretty fast pace. It never really got dull...but it never really gave me an opportunity to give a shit about anything onscreen either.

The flick was horribly acted across the board. I realize that these people are playing robots without emotions, but it was ridiculously bad. How am I supposed to care about these people if they aren't emoting at all? And when they do emote, it's laughable. And Radha Mitchell's Australian accent kept coming in and out. This was probably one of the worst acting ensembles assembled this year.

So, after a somewhat promising start, this one fell apart during the last hour.

The RyMickey Rating: D