The Art of Self-Defense

First Hit: Oddly compelling, crudely violent, and situationally funny are my takeaways from this film.

Jesse Eisenberg is an intense person. One look at his eyes, the way he moves them, the way he looks at anything, the intensity is the primary projected feeling.

In this story, Jesse plays Casey, a quiet accountant, working at a somewhat sizeable innocuous firm. We see Casey make awkward attempts to talk with three other men in the break room. These men talk about things in a silly testosterone way: “Let’s do some pushups,” and talking about their sexual exploits. In these gatherings, Casey has nothing to offer, stammers, and leaves the break room with a tail between his legs sort of way.

He goes home to his dachshund, his closest friend. One night, needing to get dog food, he walks to the store and is attacked by a group of people on motorcycles. They almost kill him. Having lots of sick time and unused vacation time, he stays home to heal. Hesitantly he ventures out of his home and walks into a Karate dojo run by a Sensei (Alessandro Nivola).

Casey finds that taking classes helps his self-esteem, and he begins to gain confidence. However, there seems to be an underlying agenda in the dojo. Anna (Imogen Poots), who is a brown belt (one under black), teaches the children classes but appears to be in disfavor with sensei. We don’t know why.

This disfavor is very pronounced when sensei gives awards out (new colored belts and stripes) on a celebration day. Favoring brown belt Thomas (Steve Terada) over Anna for black belt, Anna eventually gets revenge by beating Thomas to a pulp in one of their dojo practice sessions.

Eventually, Casey feels the power of his newly acquired yellow belt and takes over the testosterone boys club at work, punches his boss in the throat, and puts female breasts on his computer screen’s desktop. Of course, he gets fired from his job. In addition to this, by prompting from sensei, he changes the language he’s learning from French to German. French, says his sensei, is a loser feminine language and German is more powerful and masculine.

Then, Casey, prompted by sensei, kills an unsuspecting stranger because sensei tells him he’s sure that this man is one of the people who mugged him months earlier. This and the killing of his dog leads Casey to start investigating sensei and his cohorts.

This is where the film spins slightly different from its original axis and heads in a somewhat different direction. The question becomes, will Casey find his strength by standing up for his version of truth and justice, or will he go his own way and become a law-abiding citizen?

Eisenberg is always interesting to watch. I don’t often relate to his intensity, but he never holds back on being someone who is thinking and thinking deeply. He does this well in this story. Nivola is rather good as sensei. He brings a required level of force, making this role believable. Poots was excellent as the women who wouldn’t be denied in her quest to live unafraid. Terada is outstanding as sensei’s favorite student. Riley Sterns both wrote and directed this film. I thought the concept was good and some of the scenes superbly funny and intense.

Overall: I didn’t leave the theater with a positive feeling.

Knight of Cups

First Hit:  An interesting, esoteric and ethereal film of a man reflecting on his place in the world through his relationships.

This film is not and will not be everyone’s cup of tea. In general it is about self-discovery, our purpose in this life, and understanding ourselves individually and collectively.

Those who value self-reflection and contemplating their own life as a way to see and better understand their current place and have patience for the film to unfold in its own way may like it.

One particular sequence early on with Ben Kingsley’s voice over states something like; it takes us so long to begin to see the depth of who we are because we spend most of our time responding to outside stimuli. During this sequence the images on the screen are of a young Rick (Christian Bale) on the beach with his family and in other settings.

The film is divided into 8 named sequences. Each, except the final section called Freedom, are named after Tarot cards, as is the name of the film. The "Knight of Cups" is the heart filled Knight in the Tarot deck. Although the Knight is on a horse (strength), because the horse is in a walking position, the Knight and the other representations on the card represent calmness and being ruled by the heart when important decisions are made.

Rick goes through the film in this etheric way, little outside emotion is seen, and each scene gives a view into his feelings. The people speaking to him fade in and out and one can begin to sense that Rick is Hollywood connected.

Each of these sections, which reflect the names of the cards are about the women he’s been with, his angry and lost brother Barry (Wes Bentley), his controlling, angry, and demanding father Joseph (Brian Dennehy) (their section is named “The Hangman”), and an immoral playboy Tonio (Antonio Banderas) (his section is named “The Hermit”).

My sense was that the latter was Rick’s own reflection of his playboy ways. The women are Della (Imogen Poots) whose section is “The Moon” and she is young and rebellious. The section called “Judgement” is played by his former wife, a physician, Nancy (Cate Blanchett). “The Tower” is played by Freida Pinto as a serene model named Helen. Teresa Palmer, as a spirited playful stripper named Karen is the section called “The High Priestess”. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is “Death”, the person Rick wronged. And finally, “Freedom”, an innocent Isabel (Isabel Lucas) who assists him in seeing ahead.

All of these stories are mixed and matched with life events, like robbery, heated arguments, disagreements, moments of bliss, and each of them lying on a backdrop of natural reflective scenes of Rick in the desert and on the beach at sunset.

Bale says little in the film, much of his thoughts and feelings are shared through visuals of him solitarily reflecting, with others but almost always on the edge of being disengaged, and the scenes outside himself, what he’s seeing. Because he had no physical script to work from, he was genuinely perfect for the role because of his ability to be silent yet communicative at the same time. Bentley is very strong as the angry, lost brother. Dennehy was perfect as the father. It was so nice to see him again. Poots was very good as Della. She clearly provided an edge to Rick’s life. Blanchett was very strong as his former physician wife. Her compassion to the people she worked on was amazing. Banderas was great as the playboy and during the A-List Hollywood party, he was like a kid in a candy store. Pinto was elegant in her role as a serene presence in Rick’s life. The model shoot was very realistic. Palmer was strong as the enticing playful stripper. Portman was extremely strong as a tortured married woman who both loved and felt wronged by Rick. Lucas was very good in representing a path forward. Terrence Malick wrote and directed this film. His strengths are getting creatively strong improvisational performances from his cast. The visual shots in the film are often arrestingly beautiful.

Overall:  As I said, this film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was mine.

Need for Speed

First Hit:  The cars were cool and fun to watch.

The story line was lackluster – except for the excitement Monarch (Michael Keaton) brought with his fervor for promoting his annual race. How we get there to this race is supposed to be a dramatic story that we’re interested in.

But, most of the acting and scenes are simply a bunch of clichés strung together. Small town guy Toby Marshall (Aaron Paul) who comes from a racing family is going to lose the garage his father left him because... . And that question is left open and unanswered.

He probably put himself in this predicament because it appears to the audience he likes hanging with his friends working only on stuff he likes to work on - race cars. And because of this the business is going under with no real effort to change his business model. So they do a Hail-Mary pass by fixing a rare Carol Shelby car that was never finished and owned by Dino (Dominic Cooper).

The plot twist is that this arch enemy (who also stole his girlfriend) is the person offering him this opportunity. Interesting thing is that they created the illusion that this was an unfinished Carroll Shelby car which we know couldn’t have a body because Shelby died many, many years ago. But because Ford is promoting their new 50 year old Mustang model in the film this is the draw.

Yup, we got a new Mustang body on a Carol Shelby chassis and engine designs. He fixes up the Mustang, gets pulled into a street race and loses his best friend in the process. For revenge he gets into the cross country street race that involves "winner takes all" (cars that is). The race is orchestrated by Monarch.

The cars: A Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Koenigsegg Agera R, Bugatti Veyron Super Sports, Saleen S7, GTA Spano, and a McLaren P1. Of course the hero wins and gets basically nothing because the cars get destroyed in the film, but all’s right with the world because he settles a debt, and gets a new girlfriend Julia (Imogen Poots).

The cars were the stars – loved seeing them and wanted to drive them all. Paul was OK as the quiet type hero who does his talking through driving. Cooper was good as the guy who didn’t care much about how his actions hurt people. Keaton was great – the guy still brings so much energy to every role his does. My favorite today is still is role as Beetlejuice. Poots was really enjoyable and I enjoyed her role as it progressed in the film. George Gatins wrote a predictable script. Scott Waugh directed this and I thought it might have been better with less police interference and more open-street driving to see each car’s ability to perform because it was all about the cars.

Overall:  Just wanted more cars and less people.

That Awkward Moment

First Hit:  There were some very funny moments in guy oriented film about relationships.

Three friends since college come together again because Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) finds out his wife is having an affair with her divorce attorney.

The other two Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) work together at a book cover company. In order to help Mikey, the three make a deal to go out to bars, meet women, and make no commitment to a relationship - just have fun and get laid. Jason and Daniel have common theme with women – when a woman says “so, where is this relationship…”, these guys leave the women and the possibility of a relationship behind.

Mikey is still in love with his wife Vera (Jessica Lewis) and instead of enjoying the nights out with the boys, he pines for her. Daniel, on the other hand, uses his friend Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) to get himself introduced to women in bars and have sex with them. However, when they say "so...", he hightails it out of there. 

This is the same story with Jason, who seems to be headstrong about not getting into a relationship, but when he meets Ellie (Imogen Poots) his world begins to be rocked. The scenes of the guys hanging out together, joking with each other, and talking about life gives insight to guys afraid of commitment and to a younger (than me) generation.

A few of the bits are out-loud funny but mostly for a guys kind of humor. For me, one of the funnier scenes was when Jason showed up to a party at Ellie's house totally dressed in the wrong kind of outfit. His vulnerability and ability to deal with his mistake was well acted and very funny.

Efron is cute in his own sort of way and appears to have a good handle on the role. Teller is equally strong in his role and has the total feel of being a jokester. Jordan is a great straight man for the other two while staying clear about his role. Poots is very engaging and it is easy to care about her character. Davis is really good as a part-time free spirit and in giving hints at her longing to be close with Daniel. She was one of the most engaging people in this film. Tom Gormican both wrote and directed this guy oriented film with the women getting what they want in the end.

Overall: I enjoyed this film and although it wasn’t great – it was fun to watch.

Solitary Man

First Hit: Michael Douglas is perfect in this role and does carry the premise all the way to the end.

The basic premise of this film is about some men and their drive, desire and lust to conquer women by bedding them.

Douglas plays Ben Kalmen, a divorced former car dealer who got caught scheming and was convicted of fraud. He has no job, no friends but he’d like to get back into business. He also has a reputation of hitting on many young women and bedding them. He’s dating and living with Jordan (played by Mary-Louise Parker) and Allyson (played by Imogen Poots) Karsch a mother and daughter who have their own wealth.

Although he is living with Jordan, he is still picking up other women and taking them to hotels. He’s tasked with taking Allyson to her college for a meeting with the Chancellor. Doing this puts himself in good graces with Jordan who can pull strings to get him endorsements and support to build a new auto dealership.

However, he hits on Allyson thinking she won’t tell her mother. His former wife Nancy (played by Susan Sarandon) still lives in their old apartment and still has their furniture. There is nostalgia and comforts being with her but as you learn at the end of the film, he became this other person because he felt invisible.

There are numerous men like Ben and this film can serve as a view of how their lives could go. I did like that the ending of the film was left up in the air, but I’m pretty sure of the way he went.

Douglas fills the bill of this character with panache. Whether it is true or not; if you believe gossip magazines, he makes the role come alive with realism. His dialogue is spoken with experienced ease. Parker effectively carries off the role of a rich affected wealthy woman who is hurt but wanting to move on. Poots as Allyson is strong by being both angry at and complacent with her mom. Jenna Fischer plays Kalmen’s daughter and given the odd dialogue with her father about his exploits, I was both taken aback and intrigued. Sarandon has a small but effective part by grounding the the film. Danny DeVito plays a old friend who runs a deli near his alma mater and here DeVito is on course and on track.

Overall: I liked this film as it fairly portrayed the sadness of someone continuing to find their strength through seduction.