REVIEW: Life Itself

8/10 - It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster...

Life Itself (2014)

In 2013 when Roger Ebert passed away, something interesting happened. There was undeniably a massive loss felt by many people who Roger had touched, but the wave of grief went far beyond his friends, family and colleagues. There was a struggle to articulate why his loss was so profound. Ebert was a pop culture icon as a film critic, his job and his work is something that's largely impersonal. For example, I've read at least a hundred film reviews this week for different movies and I don't think I could even give the name of one off hand, let alone tell you anything about their personal life. For so many of us, Roger Ebert represented something different. His work cultivated a personal relationship with the public that separated his job from his life.

That's what made Roger special. His job was to give opinions, but he gave us honesty and sincerity. He was a passionate person, and wasn't ashamed to be outspoken and vulnerable. That quality is rare. His gift for writing that reaches deep down to the heart of the matter, made him stand out. In a culture that has rejected poetry and fine arts, movies have become our outlet and reflection of selves. Ebert brought an art back to that medium. He elevated what films were and reminded us that while we go to be entertained, we are writing our own historical narrative and searching for humanity.

The documentary Life Itself was released in 2014 but it took me some time to come around to see it because I anticipated I would be crying throughout. The film is based on Ebert's own memoir that was released in 2011 of the same name.

Siskel and Ebert: At the Movies

The documentary began filming in 2012, and is filled with new footage, his own stories and jokes, exerts from the book, interviews from friends and family, pictures and old clips. It chronicles Roger Ebert's life from a young man with the gift of the gab, to his cancer treatment and dealing with having his voice literally taken away from him. It's an insight into his life with Chaz, Gene Siskel and At the Movies, and the ups and downs of his life.

Although there isn't a lot of terrible revolutionary information or shocking new scenes that I've come to expect with contemporary documentaries, there is a lot to enjoy about this film. Particularly, admiration for his generosity and tenacity. It wouldn't be a interesting film if he was portrayed as a saint and nothing else, however it's easy to see how he became such a likable figure even at his worst.

At 2 hours, Life Itself was a longer documentary than I was expecting, but I recommend it wholeheartedly. It is, without question, a movie designed to pull at your heartstrings, but I might venture to guess, that's the reason most people see it anyways. I'm not sure if there will ever be a critic so renowned as Ebert, and this is certainly a tribute to his legacy.

Two thumbs up.

IMDb - Life Itself (8.0)
Wikipedia - Life Itself
Rotten Tomatoes - Life Itself (97%)
Amazon.ca - Life Itself

REVIEW: Big Hero 6

7/10 - Way to go Disney, you didn't totally mess this one up!

Disney's Big Hero 6

After ripping apart Frozen for the past year I was hesitant to even approach Big Hero 6 fearing it would be the far stupider step child of an already dumb family. What a terrible metaphor. I digress, Disney animation has cranked out some pretty poor family films in the last few years, with movies that have lots of shelf appeal and no substance. Big Hero 6 looked to be about the same. And after hearing Doug Loves Movies refer to the infamous "YEAAAAHHHH SCIENCE" line ad nauseum I was expecting something along the lines of Wreck It Ralph. A movie painfully paint-by-numbers.

So, when I put on Big Hero 6 it was because I was looking for something wafer thin, and as light and fluffy as a cloud. To my surprise, it's actually not a bad story.

Hero, a robotics-loving/prodigy kid. His older brother, Tadashi is working on a robot project of his own at his university, a personal healthcare robot named Baymax. Some spoilerish stuff happens and the group of friends band together with their robotics know-how to save San Fransokyo.

First of all, San Fransokyo. That's where they live. A semi-futuristic version of San Francisco meets Tokyo. That also means many of the main characters are Asian inspired white people. There's something about white washing the characters that doesn't sit well with me. It would have been nice to see some racial diversity in a Disney movie, aside from aliens and talking animals. It doesn't really help that all the friend characters are themselves MASSIVE cliches.

Main Cast from Disney's Big Hero 6

The robotic lead, Baymax is like someone made a robot out of a Wii U. It's got none of the
functionality you actually want in a robot, and it's "non threatening hug-able" appearance is accompanied by soft lights and synthetic tones. It's an inflatable Wii Fit game.

Once you get past that, the fantastic performance by Scott Adsit makes Baymax a great character. His actions are a reflection of the person who did the programming and that's a delightfully fresh approach to robots on film.

I really enjoyed the overall story arc and the approach to themes in this film. It's a collision of violent vengeance with compassion and healing. Although there are some annoying cliches that come with an "origin story" the superhero aspect is somewhat of a b-plot. It's an excellent adventure movie along the lines of How to Train Your Dragon. It's charming with a lot of humanity.

Big Hero 6 also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature this year so congratulations! You beat The Lego Movie because it wasn't nominated.

• IMDb - Big Hero 6 (8.0)
• Wikipedia - Big Hero 6
• Rotten Tomatoes - Big Hero 6 (90%)
• Amazon.ca - Big Hero 6

REVIEW: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Picture Nominee

Best Original Screenplay Nominee

3/10 - I don't like this movie. 

I literally don't know how to review a movie so polarizing, when I'm on the hate side. Actually it's not even polarizing. It's pretty much unanimously acclaimed. I just straight up don't get it. 

I've enjoyed a few Wes Anderson movies, like The Life Aquatic and Fantastic Mr. Fox. They were ok. I get the two two dimensional stylization. I understand that some people love it and think it's the bee's knee's. I'm on the side of loathing one word defined characters and paper thin plot lines. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel is about some random stuff that I didn't care to follow. I swear to god, I watched this movie twice and that's the best I can come up with. A bunch of white guys run around, some of them have guns. I don't know what to say. It was like watching a foreign film without subtitles. 

For me, I simply cannot connect to an endless stream of identical characters who all look and behave the same. Compound that with my utter lack of interest in following the story of these people and I'm done for.

I've watched a lot of movies. I've seen a lot of weird stuff. I usually try to get the weird stuff, and understand the point of view, even if I don't like it. This movie... The Grand Budapest Hotel is a brick wall. This is going to a concert to see a band and getting a puppet show. 

This is not the movie for me. I hope it loses everything. Sorry not sorry. 

IMDb - The Grand Budapest Hotel (8.1)

Wikipedia - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Rotten Tomatoes - The Grand Budapest Hotel (92%)

Amazon.ca - The Grand Budapest Hotel

REVIEW: Whiplash

Best Picture Nominee
Best Adapted Screenplay

9/10 - At least half the audience left thinking they were jazz music experts.

Whiplash was the surprise sleeper hit of 2014 for sure. I'm pretty sure if you asked people on the street they would be like "uhhh I think it's a movie?" For a film nominated for Best Picture it's certainly not making waves the way best picture films have in the past. But you know what? None of the nominee's this year have been big movies. So maybe it was just a weird year all around.

Damien Chazelle wrote and directed this semi-autobiogrpahical film, which frankly makes me a little terrified of him. It's a film about an aspiring drummer named Andrew (Miles Teller) who's ambition while attending a prestigious music college lands him in front of the most intimidating man to ever hold one of those tiny conductor batons. J.K. Simmons plays Fletcher, the conductor, teacher, mentor, and living nightmare who demands greatness from his students through insane threats of violence.

It really it a compelling story. The journey that these musicians take really is comparable to the rigors of athletics, as the film so graciously points out. It's an examination of dedication and what it means to have personal stakes in something you're so driven and passionate about. We've all seen the sports movies about sacrifice but the music industry doesn't usually get depicted in such a way. Typically on film, musicians are just gifted natural born talents. I think Whiplash sort of throws that in the face of the audience. Everyone has something to prove, but are you going to do the work to get to the place where you actually can prove it?

What really strikes me about this kind of film is how perfectly the tone enhances the storytelling. For a minimalist movie about two characters, there are some vivid images and scenes of tension that I just can't shake. The concept of jazz music being the source of so much conflict seemed like an oxymoron before I saw the film, but the sharp and surprising musicality fits wonderfully into a story that does the same.

Don't even get me started on JK Simmons. What a perfect role. Whiplash is one of those great movies where you actually forget it's a movie because those characters are so real, with such an honest and genuine performance. Fletcher is a truly unpredictable character. I can't think of the last movie I saw that featured anything close to that.

I do hope Whiplash wins a few trophies on Oscar night. As a film, it's perfectly succinct and brilliant. It's a real modern drama, without needing to be a historical period piece, or human tragedy. Whiplash is dark and thrilling, with a story every bit as worthwhile as those other typical drama winners.

IMDb - Whiplash (8.6)
Wikipedia - Whiplash
Rotten Tomatoes - Whiplash (95%)
Amazon.ca - Whiplash