A Monster Calls

First Hit:  Although intellectually interesting, this film fails to engage.

This film deals with acceptance, letting go, and facing fears. Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is a pale and frail young man who is picked on in school, is keeping house because his mum (Felicity Jones) is very sick, and has horrible dreams at night.

This film is dark not only in color in the scenes and topic it addresses, but in the way, all the characters are drawn. Although mum was optimistic in her engagement, there was a melancholy nature in her scenes that seemed to drive all the movie’s scenes.

The main part of the story is about Conor and how his dreams fuel his ability to create an alternate reality by which a Monster (Liam Neeson) appears to Conor at 12:07 and tells him three stories. In return the Monster requires that Conor to tell his truth and tell the Monster his horrible dream.

Adding to the difficulty Conor was having with his mom’s illness and dreams, his Dad (Toby Kebbell) lived in the United States, schoolmate Harry (James Melville) was beating him up, for no reason, on a daily basis, and his Grandma (Sigourney Weaver) was very strict and seemed unloving.

As this film works through this story to resolve the character’s difficulties, I struggled to stay engaged. This film seemed to languish as it unfolded. The slowness of the film, the lack of  character development, and the darkness left me wondering, through sections of the film, what was next.

This is not a children’s film although it is told through the eyes of a young boy. It is complex as the Monster tells stories that are supposed to help the boy however they are a bit esoteric and were lost on the boy and maybe the audience.

MacDougall was amazing in this role. He was very good at being, sullen, a picked on weakling and strong in the face of his mother’s death. Jones was OK. Unfortunately, it was my perception that her youngish look in this film made it hard for me to believe she was Conor’s mom. Neeson’s voice for the monster was really good and portrayed the darkness of this film really well. Kebbell was good as Conor’s dad who loved his son but not enough to bring him to the US and live with his current family. Melville was OK as the bully. Weaver was oddly cast and only until the end of the film did I engage with her in this role as Grandmother. One failing of this film was that there was little back story of the characters which caused me to have too many questions while watching. Patrick Ness wrote the screenplay. The lack of each character's history made it a difficult to believe and engage with. J.A. Bayona created some interesting segues between the fantasy of the dream world and the real world, but the lack of backstory, left me wondering most of the time.

Overall:  The film was lifeless with sparks of wonderful engagement.

Chappie

First Hit:  At times disappointing and at other times interestingly introspective.

I’ll start with the interestingly introspective thoughts:  Can consciousness be identified, digitized, and downloaded/uploaded?

I loved thinking about this. In this film, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) thinks he can create a computer program that will allow an electronic brain to learn like a child does (although faster). He’s already created programmable robots that act like police people which dramatically brings down the crime rate in Johannesburg South Africa, where this film takes place.

There is also a part where there is an uploading followed by a downloading of the “consciousnesses” of two humans and a robot named Chappie. This stuff is interesting and can cause one to think about the possibilities. However, the criminals Ninja (Ninja), Yolandi (Yo-Landi Visser), and Yankie (Jose Pablo Cantillo), where at times clown like and too obvious and overt in their actions to make it work. I found it unbelievable that the thieves let Deon go and return on his own free will.

Additionally, I’m not sure the Vincent Moore character (Hugh Jackman), who had developed a large aggressive armored robot, was required to make this film work. He became the antagonist for the criminals, Deon, the company Deon and he worked for, and society.

In the end it seemed like the writers and directors could have made a more thoughtful film without the demoness of Moore’s character and his robot (which was vaguely too similar to other robots in other films).

Patel was good as the caring “maker”. Visser was oddly and engagingly interesting in her role and verbal cadence. Ninja was overtly too much in both ways; as a uncaring bad guy and as someone who missed his girlfriend. Cantillo was the most interesting criminal. Jackman was good in his role but I didn’t think the role was needed. Sigourney Weaver was weak in her role as decision maker in the company that made the robots. Terri Tatchell’s script was both strong and weak. Neill Blomkamp’s direction followed the script, and used some interesting sets (like the round cylindrical building with the Vodafone sign) but this film lost site of the most interesting subject.

Overall:  The concept in this film was really good and the execution faltered in many ways.

The Cold Light of Day

First Hit:  Poorly constructed story with mostly pitiful acting.

Will (played by Henry Cavill) is meeting his family for a sailing trip on the Mediterranean.

His parents Martin (played by Bruce Willis) and Laurie (played by Caroline Goodall) have rented a boat for themselves and their sons Will and Josh (played by Rafi Gavron) and Josh’s girlfriend Dara (Emma Hamilton).

The boys view their dad as a difficult man, especially as a culture coordinator for an embassy. In a fit of anger Will dives off the boat and heads to town. Upon his return, the boat is gone and he soon discovers that the police are not really interested in helping him.

With his mom, brother and Dara kidnapped, Martin decides to let Will know that he is really CIA and there are enemies after him for a briefcase he stole a few weeks earlier. Martin’s boss Carrak (played by Sigourney Weaver) is a bit twisted and seems to be on the wrong side of equation. Will soon dies and the story becomes about how his oldest son will save the day.

The script does not create any real excitement nor does much of the acting, which seems pressed at best.

Cavill is about as lackluster as can be and this is a huge red flag in anticipation for his role as the man of steel next year. Willis, as he can and does often, steal scenes he is in and when he dies, the film dies with him. Gavron and Hamilton have minor and uninteresting roles. Goodall does her best as the concerned wife and mother, but there is nothing worth showing up for. Weaver is absolutely bad as the twisted CIA boss and she needs to quit taking parts like this. Scott Wiper and John Petro wrote an ill-conceived script which was poorly executed by director Mabrouk El Mechri.

Overall: A complete waste of time and so poorly acted by Cavill, worries will crop up about his Clark Kent role in the upcoming Man of Steel.

Rampart

First Hit: Outstanding acting performance by Woody Harrelson in a non-glorious role and story.

Set in 1999, love the cell phone and antenna, this story is about a renegade cop from the Rampart Division of the LAPD.

This division was going through extremely tough times from internal mismanagement, theft, and public scrutiny of their police practices. Dave Brown (Harrelson) smokes all the time, never eats, drinks too much and numbs himself with drugs.

His family includes two ex-wives Catherine and Barbara (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon respectively) and two daughters, one from each. They all live together while Dave lives in a small apartment unattached from the house the others live in. This is his family and he thinks he’s responsible for everyone in this family.

His police department moniker is Date Rape Dave for his hand in killing what was perceived as a date rapist.

The opening scene, where he is speaking with two other cops from Rampart Division at a parking lot food stand, sets up Dave perfectly. He thinks he’s king of the hill, all knowing, in-charge and operating almost as an independent contractor. At one point he is driving in his car and is hit broadside. He gets out of the car, seemingly to find out what is going on and the driver of the other car abruptly opens his door and hits Dave. Then the perpetrator starts running away. Dave catches him and is filmed beating him almost to death.

This makes all the news stations and becomes yet another PR nightmare for LAPD. Dave is smart, won’t retire and doesn’t back down from his departments’ investigative team.

They are after him. It is clear that they can make him part of the Rampart problem and they can make him the focus of other problems as well. His family wants him gone because they cannot stand the public scrutiny and all things are stacking up against him.

There are some shots here in this film I found fascinating, specifically; when Dave and LAPD department heads and Dave’s lawyer all are talking in an office and the camera just goes in a circular clockwise motion from person to person. This was extremely effective in relaying the tenseness of the discussion and the circles we can create in conversations and the way conversations can go round and round.

The scenes, dialogue and references to actual issues of the time created a well focused film.

Dave’s belief that he is the guardian of our time and LA is profound and extremely well done by Harrelson.

Harrelson shows why he is an amazing actor. Look at his resume from "Natural Born Killers" to "Zombieland" to "Friends with Benefits" to "The People vs. Larry Flynt" to "White Men Can’t Jump", he has a wide range and each time the audience knows he is invested in the part. Heche is great as one of Brown’s wives, the one who is more emotional about the relationship. Nixon is good as the other, more centered, wife. Brie Larson as Helen, one of the daughters is very strong is reflecting the life she has. Sigourney Weaver as Joan Confrey and part of the LAPD team investigating Brown is powerful in her role and a great addition to this film. Robin Wright as Linda Fentress is an attorney who tricks Brown into sex and information is great. Ned Beatty as Hartshorn a former police officer is downright great as a puppeteer pulling the strings. James Ellroy and Oren Moverman wrote a very strong script. Moverman really nailed this script and the characterization of this real life character.

Overall:  This film is dark, has little joy, but is relentless in providing a strong and clear picture of a man digging deeper into his own hole.

You Again

First Hit: Generally a very poor film with a few splashes of laughter.

The moment this film starts you know how it will end. Kristen Bell plays Marie who was bullied by the cool girls at school. They played mean tricks on her and she was labeled a Loser.

The leader of bullying girls was Joanna (played by Odette Yustman) who was very mean and picked on her all through high school. In current time they meet again as Joanna is going to marry Marie’s brother. When they meet prior to the wedding Joanna pretends to not recognize Marie.

However as they spend time together they both know their history and Marie makes one final direct plea for Joanna to say she’s sorry for her past actions. Joanna refuses and Marie gets revenge. In an attempt to make it more interesting Joanna’s Aunt Ramona (played by Sigourney Weaver) and Marie’s mother Gail (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) had a falling out in high school which hadn’t been repaired.

So now we have two sets of women who have a grudge against each other. It does get worse but I won’t share that as well. The goal of the film is forgiveness but the film is so poor the aim of the film barely stays with you a day after watching it.

Bell is cute, has a great smile and is engaging enough and this film was a waste of her energy. The same goes to Yustman and especially to accomplished actors like Weaver and Curtis. There are some funny lines in the script written by Moe Jelline but overall the script is childish and Andy Fickman directed it with this sort of energy.

Overall: This film is forgettable the moment one leaves the theater.