It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a Reese Witherspoon led movie. She’s been consistently acting, but in smaller parts for the last few years. Wild is a great reminder of what a fantastic actor she is.

After the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed lost her way. After years of reckless choices catch up to her, she looks to nature to find herself. In the summer of 1995, she starts her on foot journey up the Pacific Crest Trail. For three months, she travels 1,100 up California, Oregon and Washington into Canada. Along the way she finds the person her mother always thought she was.

I liked Wild a lot more than I thought I would. A big part of how enjoyable this movie is is in the filmakers pacing and editing choices. It starts with Cheryl at the very beginning of her hike, struggling with the monstrous hiking pack she has. Her back story of her mother, her childhood and her failed marriage are perfectly spread without. It’s all given the right amount of time and context for the viewer to understand who Cheryl was, is and why she decided she had to hike an incredible distance.

On her journey, Cheryl is forced to be by herself. She can’t turn to any distractions or substance to run and hide from what has made her so unhappy. She has to learn and move forward, taking the time to understand why she’s done the things she’s done in her young life. Wild is the story of a person’s growth, a great introspective look on the human condition: what makes us tick, what makes us self destruct, and what makes us persist.

Along with the aforementioned terrific pacing and editing, is the sheer beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail. Some of the most beautiful untouched scenery the United States has to offer. Landscapes of all sorts, nature’s invitation to explore and conquer. Perfectly shot and presented.

Wild is the total package, I highly recommend it.

Everyone line up right here to see how an action movie should and can be made. This sequel, nearly 30 years in the making, Mad Max Fury Road thunders past all others giving audiences a ride of a lifetime.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I loved Fury Road. It’s amazing that this movie was even made let alone how fantastic it turned out. The last movie in the franchise (and action flick director George Miller directed) came out in 1985 and sits pretty far back in the minds of movie goers these days. Ideas for this movie came together in the mid 90’s and it wasn’t until recently that he got a budget (allegedly $150 million which is also shocking) and the green light to make it. Let’s get into the details.

You don’t need to see any of the other movies to enjoy Fury Road. Earth is a desolate place where only the strong survive. Food, water, gas/oil, human breast milk and blood (for transfusions) are the highest of commodities. The movie starts with Max alone, surveying the desert land that stretches out before him. He is discovered by a roving gang called the War Boys, captured and brought to their leader Immortan Joe. It is in his kingdom where Max is turned into a slave, to be used as they see fit. When Max inadvertently gets pulled into Joe’s trusted warlord Imperator Furiosa’s escape plan, the two must work together to fend off an unrelenting zealot army that’s determined to reclaim what belongs to Immortan Joe.

That’s right, Max is being chased for almost the entire runtime of the movie. Each action scene, except for two, take place on cars, bikes, trucks and big rigs that are careening through the desert. I can’t describe the visual insanity of these set pieces, so I’m going to use a frame from the movie.

Everything that could be done practically, was done for real, on set. CG was used to enhance, not drive, so Fury Road has this amazing complex kinetic carnage that is stunning to watch unravel in front of you. Stuff like Avengers just can’t compare because those are just pixels running into other pixels. Here it’s dudes with flame throwers and explosive tipped javelins and chain saws climbing around custom rigs jousting and dueling in a moving 90 mph war.

The spectacle of the movie simply sets a new bar, it’s a simple as that. The distinct make up and costumes for each clan (three are shown) are really cool (everything about this movie is cool). The designs for the vehicles are done way beyond cosmetic flair, they have a physical purpose. They don’t just have metal sticking out of them for no reason (looking at you Michael Bay). Nux’s car for example, has the exhaust pipes go along the side blocking the doors. This shields the sides and helps block off the back for a trunk mounted fighting post. Passengers have to enter through the roof (which has reinforced retractable parts for sand and incoming armament protection) and the front rack is used as a traveling space for a Blood Bag (which results in some of the most amazing shots of Max strapped into this contraption as they careen through the desert).  All of the right creative decisions were made on this production. It could have been a complete mess but the production design, killer soundtrack, editing and direction are simply top tier film making.

I also appreciated Fury Road’s restraint on gore. They could have gone full gore hound and splattered the camera lense with blood at every opportunity, but they didn’t. You’d expect to see explicit visuals of dozens of people getting crushed and blown apart in a film like this, but it’s not shown and exaggerated for shock value. Gunshot and stab wounds don’t result in blood geysers. For all the spectacle and chaos, gore is never the focal point (there is one big gag that I think works extra well thanks to the restraint leading up to it).

With the action out of the way, the killer cast of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne and Nicholas Hoult needs to be addressed. While the plot is very simple, the characters and their motivations are really well thought out. Tom Hardy as Max is the strong, but silent type, and even though his name is in the title, he’s not the main character. It’s Charlize Theron’s Furiosa who really powers the film. She’s on a mission to rescue her female friends from Immortan Joe’s inner sanctum. He runs their section of the world, he is their society.  Nicholas Hoult as Nux is a treat to watch as he goes from fanatical War Boy to a man making his own decisions to join a truly meaningful mission and existence. Together these three literally rage against the machine. Hugh Keaeys-Byrne as Joe makes for one of the most memorable on screen baddies ever conceived. He is a phenomenal villain, everything about him is striking and imposing.

There are only strong characters in Fury Road, whether they be antagonists or protagonists. The women have seen and gone through so much that charging into the desert against all odds in the hope of finding Furiosa’s utopia is seen as the only option. Max is a lone wolf, a man who’d rather keep to himself and gets swept into this tribal battle that challenges himself to fight for more than himself.

Fury Road had everything I wanted and more. Great characters that I cared about, perfect pacing, inspiring direction and truly jaw dropping spectacle. It has to be seen in theatres to get the full effect. I honestly think that this will go down as one of the best action movies ever made. We don’t get many of these.

It’s hard to believe anyone hasn’t heard of this movie or have some idea of what it’s about. Easiest way to boil down this overstuffed epic is that Tony Stark (with an assist by Bruce Banner) crams his hubris down everyone’s throat (again) creating a world threatening robot take over (again).

There’s a lot going on in Avengers 2 and that is it’s greatest weakness. It’s packed with characters and everyone has to get their own screen time to justify their existence. This means that the pace of the movie is shockingly fast. You just whip from scene to scene with very few breathers. Stuff just happens to happen. Tony and Bruce work for awhile on creating the Ultron Artificial Intelligence program and give up on it for the night to go to a party. Right after that (literally, a few seconds), despite making very little headway, the thing kicks off on it’s own and builds itself. Then there’s the stuff that makes little to no sense (like the physics of a moving train) and Thor’s heavily edited subplot where he disappears on a side mission for a bit and then flies back into frame just in time for an integral moment that couldn’t be done without his powers.

Two new characters, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, are brought in resulting what I thought were apathetic results. I didn’t care for either despite some valiant attempts (namely Hawkeye, who everyone rolls their eyes at when the heavy hitters like Hulk and Captain America are standing by) to make them fun and useful.

I think my biggest problem is that it much of the movie felt like a retread. Despite the scale being much bigger, it checks all the boxes. Teamwork fights, Tony Stark causing the central conflict, a big action piece solely for Hulk to be Hulk. A finale consisting of another disposable swarm getting shot and mangled. Having Hulk and Thor is actually rather redundant, because they both fill the heavy hitter role. You need something massive moved or punched? Either one can do it. Plus, just about everything is computer generated so once the action gets going, it’s just pixels running into pixels. There’s little weight to the movie.

With that out of the way, there is some great stuff too. It’s got a few great jokes and character flare ups that are well executed and perfectly placed (CA trying to pick up Thor’s hammer, Tony picking on just about everyone). Ultron and Vision look really good and Watching Hulk go bezerk is a blast (despite me ragging on it a bit in the paragraph above, it was my favorite action scene). The times when things slow down and everyone gets to interact are often great (Nat and Bruce is a neat and thoughtful dynamic). Hell, Hawkeye gets to actually do things! Avengers gets a lot of the summer blockbuster movie parts right.

Too much of a good thing applies most to Age of Ultron. With so much to juggle it’s easy to get distracted and lost. A streamlining of things is in order I think. Despite pulling in over a billion dollars at the box office, I hope the powers (the ones that wear dress attire) at Marvel recognize that they have to tend to their garden before it gets unmanageable and fans shy away.

I love it when I’m surprised by a movie. I mostly knew about this movie because it was James Gandolfini’s last movie. I put it in my “watch when I get around to it” pile and forgot about it as I made my way through my Netflix queue.  The Drop has many of my favorite elements with a small cast of well defined characters played by strong actors, a tight, localized crime story topped off by a great ending.

Bob Saginowsi is a quiet guy working in his cousin Marv’s bar. There’s a long history of organized crime in the neighborhood and the bar is occasionally used as a money drop location for sports betting run by the Chechens. One night, the bar is robbed by gun point for $5,000. The mob want their money back and the police are called because one of the employees gets his head cracked open by the fleeing criminals. Bob ends up giving the cops some identifying information he should have kept to himself which draws a lot of unwanted attention from both the police and the Chechens. From there, the history of Bob, his cousin and the neighborhood gets dredged up with shocking revelations.

First, Tom Hardy as Bob is amazing. He changes his mannerisms and speaking patterns to fit this character perfectly. He’s never Tom Hardy on screen, only Bob Saginowsi, I loved this guy from start to finish. His morals, how he interacts with people, the way he handles things that come at him. You can tell he’s seen a lot in his life, but he hides it so well that you can’t figure out exactly what’s going on with him. Noomi Rapace plays the damaged Nadia to perfection (I kept seeing Marisa Tomei in her performance) and is the perfect anchor for Bob. Their relationship is really well developed. James Gandolfini as cousin Marv holds it down as the shady relative with bitter dreams of grandeur. I was really blown away by Mattias Schoenaerts as Eric Deeds, who is the main antagonist to Bob. I’ve never seen Mattias before, but he’s perfectly cast to play against Tom Hardy (and Bob). He’s physically intimidating and plays the unstable type really well. Eric is bad news, the neighborhood boogeyman as he sulks about with his hood up and his reputation dragging around behind him.

While two men fighting over a woman (and an adorable puppy) is nothing new, I became completely enamored with how it’s handled in The Drop. The build up comes through the entire movie and doesn’t reach a climax until the end. Eric is introduced subtly and slowly and becomes a bigger and bigger threat with each passing scene. Bob and Eric’s conflict never breaks into a simple fist fight or screaming match at the drop of a hat. Eric is a menacing presence and the question of when he’s going to blow up and how Bob is going to (or even if he can) handle it is asked and amped up with each escalating confrontation.

Bob reminds me a lot of Driver from the movie Drive (which I also loved). They lead their respective movie as stoic hero. A rather poetic character with old school machismo and motivations to do good. They both don’t want any trouble, but if forced, they protect themselves and others as necessary. Such a great movie, highly recommended.

Birdman: Or (The Needlessly Long Title) is a trip of a movie.  It received a lot of buzz just before release but didn’t draw a very big audience. More stunning in it’s presentation than anything else (not to belittle the great actors), Birdman can take a lot of aspiring (and established) filmmakers to school.

In the late 80’s, early 90’s actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) played the title role in three “Birdman” comic book adaptation movies. They were massive movies and despite the fame and fortune it brought him, he declined to make a fourth movie. His career subsequently hits the dirt after making that decision. Having lived in the shadow of Birdman for so long, Riggan tries to reinvent his career and public image by writing, producing, directing and starring in the Broadway show, Raymond Carver’s “What  We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

The pressure to make a successful show squeezes Riggan as he fights back mounting problems during the three preview shows leading up to opening night. He needs to find a replacement for a bad actor, who then threatens a lawsuit after getting hurt on stage. Then, the replacement actor is a complete nightmare to work with and threatens to steal the spotlight from Riggan. His flailing family relationships continue to erode right in front of him and a Broadway reviewer is sharpening her blades to help flush his career down the toilet. Riggan’s stress also comes to frightening life when he starts having discussions with the Birdman character in his head about all of his insecurities.

The movie is presented as a single long take which is rarely seen. Everyone director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu told of his plans before filming must have told him he was nuts for even considering it. It’s incredibly taxing to do for everyone on set, eliminates just about every freedom that editing can provide and if not shot right, simply doesn’t work. I have to say Inarritu simply knocks it out of the park. Edits are tough to see and the fly on the wall presentation lends a certain amount emergency and legitimacy to the story. Transitions are beautiful to watch and the blocking feels natural. The movie flows from each event and day, it’s a really engaging way to go through Riggan’s troubles.

I really like the setting. Behind the scenes of a Broadway play isn’t done much so the environment was interesting to see with the playhouse’s dressing rooms, narrow hallways and interesting lighting. The movie briefly goes outside and even that looked cool (my favorite being the tiny liquor store, props to the production designer and cinematographer on that one).

The script is razor sharp too. Considering how the movie was shot (in order too, which is also almost never done), it has to be. Since there is no room for heavy editing, it’s important that every single character, scene and bit of dialog be important and effective. Inspiring writing.

The all star cast consisting of Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianaskis and Naomi Watts must be equally praised for pulling off what almost feels like a beautiful documentary. Everyone is believable and perfectly cast and it’s especially great to see Keaton strut his stuff. He’s one of the best actors and that we don’t get to see much. I hope we see more of him from here on out. Bonus points for Keaton and Norton’s characters for having shades of their real careers woven in.

As much as I like Birdman, I recognize it’s not for everyone. It’s a serious and heavy story, but I think there is a lot to like about it. It won a few Oscars for good reason.

I think Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the most under appreciated actors today. He seems to be stuck somewhere in the middle of the fame and starpower list until a movie he leads shows up and blows people away. Then he kind of slides back into the deck only to repeat it again. Nightcrawler puts him front and center again with another unforgettable and brilliant character performance.

Louis Bloom (Gyllenhall) is a man desperate for a job in Los Angeles. Struggling to make ends meet, he’s not afraid to hustle, steal and negotiate to get what he needs. He stumbles across the world of crime journalism one night and throws himself into the field, studying and learning as fast as he can to stake his claim in this dirty and lucrative line of work. He finds something that he not only loves to do, but he’s really good at it. With such fierce competition and deadlines, Louis becomes more bold with each passing night. It gets to the point where he starts manipulating crime scenes to give himself an advantage.

Gyllenhall is absolutely amazing as Louis Bloom. He just disappears into this sociopath. His mannerisms, his intensity, his weird and striking cadence. Bloom can talk his ass off. He can spin an interview like a master, but if the person knows off the bat that he’s too shady to trust (the scrapyard owner who turns him down because he knows Bloom is a thief), he never succeeds. He has to keep people at a distance. Despite being a loner, he knows how to manipulate people. Watching him work and spin conversations is some mesmerizing stuff. Writer/Director Dan Gilroy must have been over the moon to land Gyllenhall. He delivers his dialog with absolute perfection.

Riz Ahmed as Bloom’s first employee, Rick, also needs to be mentioned. He’s around Bloom the most out of anyone and pulls it off well, which is not easy. Bloom is such an intense character and Rick is really the opposite which creates a  bizarre working dynamic. Their story arc (and interaction) is a major highlight of the movie for me.

Loved the look and feel of this grimy story from start to finish. Great direction, well framed with smart camera movement. Wasn’t expecting any action, but the final crime we watch Bloom and Rick cover is simply brilliant. Topical, perfectly paced, many great characters with the right actors to pull them off. Go watch Nightcrawler.

The joy and insanity of stop motion animation! Possibly the ultimate culmination of craft and technology. The folks at Laika Animation Studios (Coraline, Paranorman) have made a stunning looking piece of art.

The Boxtrolls is the tale of a boy raised by underground creatures that people call, you guessed it, BoxTrolls. They’re considered to be like vultures, monsters who come out only at night to scavenge and steal babies to eat. The whole town is terrified of them and Archibald Snatcher has taken it upon himself to exterminate the whole lot of them…for a price. He wants a white hat, the signifying accessory of the ultra elite. With that he’ll be a real class act, able to join the town leaders in the cheese tasting room in Lord Portley-Rind’s mansion.

The BoxTrolls are far from monsters though. Rumors and lies have painted them as such. They’re actually very smart and caring creatures. When Eggs is orphaned as an infant (named after the writing on the box he was left in), they take him in and raise him. With Snatcher trapping every BoxTroll he can, the already small population of BoxTrolls gets smaller and smaller. Soon Eggs must stand up for them all, with the help of Lord Portley-Rind’s daughter, Winnie.

The BoxTrolls reminded me of a Ronald Dahl story a bit. It is a kid’s story/movie but there’s a lot of grown up themes and scary imagery (it’s rated PG for good reason). The cast of characters is great, most notably the character design.

My main adoration for this movie is how amazing it looks. It’s the highest quality stop motion animation around the just dazzles at every turn. The backgrounds don’t look like their props on elevated tables, but full scale stages. The lighting and effects are incredible. One of the first scenes where Snatcher first shows up with his cronies in his extermination vehicle is mind boggling. The depth added by the lighting and shadows from the headlights coupled with the fantastic character animation is unparalleled. There’s many scenes like this. The set pieces are gorgeous and varied, the town of Cheesebridge is greatly realized.

With a large cast of humans and various BoxTrolls (who all have distinct designs and personalities with animation to match so you can easily tell them apart), the stand out is Archibald Snatcher. He stands up there along side of Disney’s greatest villains. He looks like the living, breathing relative of Cruella de Ville. His long, skinny legs, rotund gut, gaunt face, busted smile and stringy hair make him an imposing figure. His spindly fingers and ultra detailed costume (look at his boots!) make him pop in every single frame he’s in. He’s just a rotten SOB, bad news down to the marrow of his bones. The perfect antagonist if there ever was one, I love him.

On the other side, Eggs is a great protagonist. Really likable kid, heart of gold and many of his interactions with Winnie bring much needed laughs to the movie  (her interrogation of him being a boy, not a BoxTroll and teaching him how to shake hands when greeting people in particular).

I’m a sucker for stop motion animation (among a few other types of movies) and I liked The BoxTrolls more than I thought I would. Had everything I wanted, I recommend it.

Far out. I think that’s the best way to describe Interstellar. It’s hardcore sci-fi, edge of humanity type story telling that really grabbed me and twisted my brain in knots.

In the future, humanity isn’t doing well. The weather has turned on us causing a major food shortage. Each year the variety and quantity of food grown lessens. Dust storms ravage the land as well as our lungs. We must look way into outer space for our salvation, it’s only a matter of time before Earth becomes completely inhospitable.

Professor Brand and other leading scientists at the now underground NASA, have a plan to save us. What appears to be a wormhole has appeared in our galaxy. This wormhole opens up the possibility to deep space travel, allowing mankind to go way farther in a reasonable amount of time in search for a new home. Two plans are put into motion when the first three expedition teams go out. A)Find a suitable planet and get everyone on Earth there to continue our existence. B) The contingency plan in case anything goes wrong: bring enough human DNA samples along for the ride to provide a diverse base for a brand new colony of humans to start life on the new planet. Time is running out, this must be done.

Enter Cooper. He’s a world class pilot that got his wings clipped early in his career after a mishap. Professor Brand wants him to pilot The Endurance shuttle to follow the three expedition teams that left years earlier to lock down and establish our new home. Cooper must leave his two kids in order to do so.

Interstellar is a movie you have to watch more than once. The beginning is a big set up, but once Cooper and his team lift off, it’s a wild and mind scrambling journey into the stars. The concepts at work are (mostly) all cutting edge scientific theory. It challenges and explores everything we know. The reality and complexities for us to explore and communicate through space. The very concepts of space and time itself.

Mankind’s existence relies on the success of The Endurance’s mission. There’s so much on the line, that conflict and stress just burst out of the seams. There’s a lot of fantastic set pieces, right from get go. The visit to the first planet is one you won’t soon forget. Plans don’t workout, secrets and lies are revealed along with hidden and shocking truths.

It’s a gorgeous movie with an all star cast as most Christopher Nolan productions are. There’s a lot of forward thinking futurist stuff on display (the robots really threw me out first, but they’re pretty great) as well as being discussed. It’s a challenging movie to watch as it challenges the the things you know and think you know (the end gets very far out, it’s a lot to take in).

As a whole, I really liked it. Future watches will mean skipping the first 45 minutes as that part is very by the numbers set up. The rest of the movie is where all the meat is. Cast is great, it’s well acted and written. Only one line by Cooper really jumped out as me as overtly Hollywood and I’m sure it’ll smack you in the face too. The girl who plays young Murphy is really good, which is major since she’s such an integral part of the story. There is some manufactured drama here and there, but none of it bothered me. For such a long run time (a good 2 1/2 hours), the movie is well paced, there’s always something interesting going on.

Interstellar is a hard movie to describe, but I think it’s one of the best sci-fi movies to come out in some time and it’ll stand up for years to come. I’m not sure if I liked this or Gravity more, but Gravity is much more accessible. You’ll leave Interstellar with a lot of questions, but I think that’s fun and necessary. Lots of great discussions have come from this film. If you’re looking for a new and fantastic journey to go on, I highly recommend it.