REVIEW: Trainwreck

8/10 - Is The Dogwalker also a movie? I'd watch the hell out of that. 

2015 was the year of Amy Schumer. Her show Inside Amy Schumer went into its third season, winning a Peabody Award. She hosted the MTV Movie Awards, and opened for Madonna on her latest tour. She had a stand-up comedy special on HBO, and in the middle of all that, she wrote and starred in this film. I assume in 2016 she'll take a nap then do it all again.

Trainwreck is a return to form for comedy director/producer Judd Apatow. It's about a party-girl slash commitaphobe, Amy (Schumer) who finds herself falling in love with celebrity sports doctor, Aaron (Bill Hader). It feels like a very successful marriage of Schumer's brand of raunchy comedy, and the character stories that Apatow is drawn to.

While Amy's character might seem familiar to those who watch her show, it's a refreshing change of pace for romantic comedies. Even the most die hard rom-com fan has to admit, the all-work-and-no-play trope has really run it's course for women in these movies. Turning the tables put Amy's character in the front and center as by far the most interesting person in the film.

What came as a surprise was the amount of heart in the movie. Comedies lately don't seem to even need a story, just a loosely stitched together series of events. When Bill Hader's character begins dating Amy, I was waiting for the film to go off the rails. Maybe influenced by Judd Apatow, the story stayed realistic instead of veering into improvised lines. both Schumer and Hader showed refined dramatic chops. Hader was the perfect charming boyfriend, and Schumer showed a lot of vulnerability in her relationships, especially the scenes with her father, Colin Quinn. Just more proof that these two are big movie stars in the making.

The athletes that crossed over into acting for this film were some of the funniest cast members. John Cena plays a dimwitted boyfriend of Amy's with some of the best lines in the whole film. LeBron James plays a fictional version of himself who could star in his own spin off.

One of the best takeaways from Trainwreck is Tilda Swinton. She is absolutely unrecognizable as Amy's boss and magazine editor Dianna. Apparently her character was inspired by Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld, but it reminded me of a toxic combination Anna Wintour and Janice Dickinson. Tilda has been transforming herself on screen for years, but this transformation is so dramatic it should up up there with Charlize Theron in Monster.

If Trainwreck had been a funnier movie with over the top comedy sketches it would be a great disservice to the talent in the film. It's an old story told in a new, refreshing way. Definitely a standout for 2015.

IMBd - Trainwreck (6.5)

Wikipedia - Trainwreck

Rotten Tomatoes - Trainwreck (85%)

Amazon.ca - Trainwreck

REVIEW: Ant-Man

5/10 - Honey I Shrunk the Franchise

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has really become this behemoth of films. Among the cannon, I somewhat forgot about Ant-Man and when I sat down to watch it, I was hoping it would be more of a stand alone comedy type film, something to stand apart from the usual Marvel fare. While Guardians was funny, it was also establishing a massive sci-fi universe, and Iron Man is an action franchise. Paul Rudd is more romantic comedy hero, then Avengers hero. There was this potential to poke fun at the Marvel hero franchise and make a really great movie. 

Instead, Ant-Man shrinks among the superhero competition. Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, the criminal with a heart of gold. He's conned into wearing the Ant-Man suit by the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). They collaborate with Pym's daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) to battle the bad guy who wants to do bad things for bad reasons, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) aka Yellowjacket. 

Ant-Man reminds me quite a lot of the 2011 Seth Rogen vehicle, The Green Hornet. Both films were action movies that should have been funny, but weren't. I couldn't help but feel like Ant-Man was a different movie being crammed into the Marvel formula. There is no reason to cast Paul Rudd other than to make that character funny and charming. I can't say Scott Lang was either. Rudd is pretty established in the types of roles he plays, which is why this film felt like there was so much untapped potential. 

Michael Douglas is a respectable mentor for Ant-Man. He makes a good straight man for jokes, because on paper Hank has the personality of oatmeal. Douglas has that enough on-screen charisma to make it work, and he seems like a guy you want in your corner. Evangeline Lilly is sports a shockingly unflattering haircut that seems to steal every scene she's in. Corey Stoll is a great

character actor, but this role is pretty silly. He's somehow the head of what can only be a massively expensive military defense experiment and yet is clearly deranged. It's always disappointing to me when movie bad guys don't have a good back story. 

I think the right path for Ant-Man was to keep the scope of the Ant-Man universe small. By referencing the Avengers, and taking the story into Spider-man territory, Ant-Man forces itself to compete with those films. It just doesn't hold up. At it's heart, Ant-Man is a heist movie, using Rudd's charisma as a cat burglar, and the size advantage of an ant to pull the heist of the century. What happens is Ant-Man ends up in a fist punching battle with a literal army of Ants riding into war. Ant-Man lost the battle with a training montage. At no point should Paul Rudd's super power be throwing a fist. I love the guy, but I just don't buy it. 

IMDb - Ant-Man (7.5)
Wikipedia - Ant-Man
Rotten Tomatoes - Ant-Man (79%)
Amazon.ca - Ant-Man

REVIEW: The Great Gatsby

6/10 - At least Pitbull wasn't on the soundtrack.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years
my father gave me some advice that I've been
turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,"
he told me, "just remember that all the people
in this world haven't had the advantages
that you've had.”

I do have a great fondness for The Great Gatsby. I disliked the book when I was forced to read it in school but I've grown to really love it over the years. There's something beautiful, and poetic about the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

With far less poetic subtly, Baz Luhrmann adapted the novel into a visual showcase that is The Great Gatsby in 3D. I'm not the biggest fan of his films. I find they peak in the first act and I lose interest by the end. A a trend that continues with The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby is a tale of romance and heartache in the roaring 20's. The narrator, Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire), recounts the summer he spent reuniting with his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and discovering just who the mysterious and legendary Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) is.

The first half of this movie is really a spectacular. It opens on the legendary parties that Gatsby's reputation was built on. This is where Baz Luhrmann shines. The frantic pace works well, showing Nick getting swept away by the idealistic lifestyle of his upper class neighbors. But then the movie crawls to a stop. The Great Gatsby isn't a fast paced novel, it's a slow character story that shows how Nick grows disenchanted with the idols he once held in high regard. For the film that means an hour in there's a clunky halt to the once fast pacing, and suddenly it's a movie about long tea parties filled with subtext. Suddenly the lush environment becomes jarring, and distracting to the story. Suddenly the movie feels about 90 minutes too long.

The best reason to see this film, is without question for the fantastic cast. It's not often Leonardo DiCaprio plays a role where he's mostly happy. He embraces all of that Gatsby mystery, with a smile  that oozes charm and charisma, but with fear brewing beneath the facade. Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan are a terrific individually. They both bring dimension to their otherwise shallow characters. The missing element is the chemistry that pulls them together or pushes them apart, but that doesn't seem so necessary in this film as the relationships seem to take a back seat to the production design.

Baz Luhrmann's style is really appealing. He creates fantastic images that are better than the imagination. That scene from the trailer with Leonardo DiCaprio raising his glass with the fireworks behind him is stunning. It's a style that needs an operatic story, which Gatsby is far from. I'm not opposed to changing the original story, regardless of how revered it is. In this case even the most dramatic story changes wouldn't make the aesthetic and novel more compatible. Instead of being engaged in the characters, I found myself disappointed in how flat out boring the movie was. Perhaps that's a good reflection for the tragic elements of the story, but the audience should feel for the characters, not feel like they wasted their time.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future 

that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, 

but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, 

stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning-

So we beat on, boats against the current, 

borne back ceaselessly into the past."

IMDb - The Great Gatsby (7.3)
Wikipedia - The Great Gatsby
Rotten Tomatoes - The Great Gatsby (48%)
Amazon.ca - The Great Gatsby

REVIEW: Jurassic Park

10/10 - Hold on to your butts!

Jurassic Park is probably my all time favorite movie. 

It's got dinosaurs and it's awesome. That's it. I love it. 

It's also a tight, intelligent story, that totally holds up over 20 years later, with impressive special effects, wonderful characters, and a concept that permeated pop culture for decades. This is Spielberg at his best. One of the iconic adventure film. inauthentic raptors and all. 

To celebrate my favorite movie, I just want to share some of the great moments that make me love this film. 

That Alan Grant introductory monologue, telling a kid why a velociraptor is scary and not a six-foot turkey. This was a great moment to legitimize Alan as a knowledgeable scientist, with a healthy respect for dinosaurs, and foreshadow what was to come. But why is this kid on a archaeological dig? Where did he come from? Why is the kid there if he doesn’t know anything about dinosaurs? My biggest question, why do all the other adults let Alan tell this innocent kid about what it will feel like to get eaten alive? That’s kind of messed up. What a great scene.

"If The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists."

How freaking great is Jeff Goldbulm. In the making-of special features, Spielberg said Goldblum was a naturalistic actor who always sounded like he was coming up with the lines in the moment. It's so true, that's definitely the appeal of Dr. Ian Malcolm. Thank you Michael Crichton for this phenomenal character.

"I’m always on the lookout for the next ex-Mrs. Malcolm." 

I love the way the way the raptors are the mystery element. The very first scene shows an animal cage, and then something goes wrong and a guy gets eaten. Back to that Alan Grant monologue that happens to me more real than he knows. Then at Jurassic Park the pen for the raptors doesn't show anything, they're all hidden under big leafy trees and bushes, but get to destroy an airlifted cow. Even Muldoon, the Kenyan game hunter, says "they should all be destroyed." The T-Rex might have been the "star" but these guys were the unseen danger. J.J. Abrams has become famous in recent years for using the mystery element in his movies, and this is the sort of thing that inspired him. Raptors are all we heard about in the first half of the movie, so you knew when you saw one in the second half, you were in big trouble. 

"The park will open with the basic tour you’re about to take."

The combination of Samuel L. Jackson as the chain smoking Ray Arnold and Wayne Knight as the nefarious Dennis Nedry is just so delightful. Sometimes character actors make a movie, and in this case, the almost cartoony relationship between these two adds so much depth and texture to the world.

“Find Nedry, check the vending machines!” 

The inexplicable appearance of a cliff that didn’t exist 15 minutes earlier. If you ever noticed that,
congratulations you continuity expert! It's my favorite goof. The T-Rex paddock is a major set piece, as the jeeps break down next to it, and we spend a lot of time looking beyond the fences to see if our movie monster will appear. The little goat sits waiting just beyond the fence, we can see the ground inside the T-Rex pen, it's all flat. Then! A few scenes later! The Jeep the kids are in gets pushed like a kickball inside the T-Rex pen where it... falls off a big cliff. Where did this cliff come from? It's the exact same location the goat was in earlier, and now it's a 30-foot drop. What happened here? It's made even better when later, Ellie goes to look for their missing Jeep and somehow sprints down to the bottom of this cliff and back up to their search car in about a 3 minute round trip. Pretty impressive, Ellie!

"...He'll lose you if you don't move. But no, not Velociraptor. 

You stare at him, and he just stares right back"

It’s almost cheesy to look back on the set design now, but the creation of these elaborate set pieces are what made Jurassic Park so great. It wasn't just a location, it was a theme park. It was Disneyland for dinos. Everything from the animal cages to the door handles had such distinct branding, unique to this world. Now, those images are quite iconic, with the Jeeps going down in movie history as one of the more memorable vehicles.

"T-Rex doesn't want to be fed. He wants to hunt. 

Can't just suppress 65 million years of gut instinct."

Finally, maybe my favorite thing about Jurassic Park, the score. John Williams is just a genius. I think every movie score that gets stuck in my head has been composed by John Williams. It's hard not to love those themes. There's not situation where singing the Jurassic Park theme doesn't immediately make everything a thousand times better.

"Hammond, after some consideration, I've decided, not to endorse your park."

Even though Jurassic Park is so high on my list of movies, I haven't watched the new Jurassic World yet, as I'm re-watching the whole series before getting to it. I'm sure it's a great addition to the Jurassic franchise, but lets be honest. Chris Pratt is no Jeff Goldblum.

IMDb - Jurassic Park (8.1)

Wikipedia - Jurassic Park

Rotten Tomatoes - Jurassic Park (93%)

Amazon.ca - Jurassic Park