Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (****)

To be honest, I don't remember a whole lot about 1995's "Jumanji" (with Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt) aside from some scary monsters and a curiously dark tone. What little anticipation I had to see such a curious sequel over 20 years later is well earned; WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE is something so pure that I assume the original was trying to be: a comedy.

The board game from the first film is back, washed up on a beach in 1996 (I remember the kids disposed of it somehow in the first film, but was it really dumped in the sea?) and discovered by a gamer teen in 1996. 20 years later, the film jumps ahead to stories about this missing boy and the haunted house he used to live in.

We meet a gang of misfit teenagers who find themselves in detention for one reason or another (the setup is identical to last year's dismal Power Rangers). It's the usual crowd: the popular girl, the football jock, his geeky childhood friend, and a shy but defiant girl who would rather skip gym in favor of history. The kids discover the Jumanji game in the bowels of the school (now transformed into a video game for purposes of plot, nothing more) and as unlikely as it is, they enter the world only hinted of by Robin Williams before.

The movie is absurdly goofy, full of nonsensical lines of dialogue and characters. And yet it makes sense. The kids are transformed into their video game avatars (the geek becomes Dwayne Johnson, the jock becomes Kevin Hart, and the hottie hilariously becomes an overweight Jack Black). They essentially play the game from the introduction of the villains all the way through increasingly difficult levels and bosses. The movie aims for nothing more than to be a silly laugh, and boy does it work. It's clear the movie is only a vehicle to get big-named stars to appear (otherwise, why not have the actual kids journey through the adventure?), but in the end, who cares?

Phantom Thread (*****)

In more ways than one, PHANTOM THREAD is a great movie, and perhaps the best work by director Paul Thomas Anderson since "There Will Be Blood" 10 years ago. The stories couldn't be more separated, and yet the central through line of many themes, perfection being one, is oh so present. This movie is getting 'buzz' after Daniel Day-Lewis announced it to be his swan song (arguable, in my opinion), but apart from that, this is a dazzling movie that is anything but predictable.

The story is set in 1950's London where a designer named Reynolds (Day-Lewis) works at one of the prominent fashion houses in the city. We can imagine him going head-to-head with Burberry and the like. He designs women's dresses and high fashion out of his impressive house alongside his business partner and sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville). It's a small operation. Reynolds designs, a team of women create the garments in the upstairs workshop, and the high society shoppers visit the home in private sessions to select looks for balls, galas, weddings, etc. The relationship between Cyril and Reynolds is immediately a curious one, and it's coupled with the man's obsession with his long-deceased mother who began him in the world of fashion.

There is a beautiful woman who stays with them, a woman who appears to be Reynold's girlfriend. When this ends in a mutual agreement between brother and sister, Reynolds takes a trip to the countryside to clear his mind and return to his creation. There he meets a timid waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps), who is rosy-cheeked and undeniably lovely. It's a quick infatuation in a memorable scene in which Reynolds orders a large breakfast. I can still remember his order, and I don't know why... The way the lines are delivered, or maybe it's because the food speaks to something much deeper. The two begin an affair, one that slowly began to baffle me as a viewer and made me wonder whether or not this man is capable of love at all. Maybe to him, Alma is simply a muse - a toy he can collect to get his fill.

The film takes a dreamlike approach to the material. We build up the repetition of Reynold's life and the habits he is accustomed to. Like a classic film like "Rebecca," this movie is about a naive woman who comes into a home and throws it off-kilter... Breakfast is to be served in absolute silence. Reynolds has a habit of wearing pink socks. He greets his clients at the top of the stairs with a kiss on each cheek. Anderson has a very clever way to tell the audience who this man is without really telling us anything. Through visuals and this ever-moving camera, we begin to know the man and realize that he is quite literally an enigma.

I loved this movie for its lush colors, all the more prevalent in the 70mm screening I saw at my local theater. I doubt a film could look as beautiful if filmed digitally, and the results here are spectacular. The green walls of the dining room, Cyril's piercing blue eyes... The colors of a pale pink dress... As much praise, if not more, must go to costume designer Mark Bridges (he won the Oscar for his work on "The Artist"). From scene to scene, there is not a repeated dress, and some of the designs we see are literally breathtaking. I imagine all the detail and craft that went into that particular pink dress with lace, built up by Reynold's in the film as a high-fashion collection of rare cloths, and then only seen in the film for maybe 20 seconds... There isn't an aspect of this film that is subpar. (High praise also to Johnny Greenwood, our composer, who creates piano compositions that you can't believe are original pieces written specifically for this film).

Our story takes quite a turn in the last half, twists that you might not anticipate from the mysterious trailer or plot summary. It involves Alma as a cook, Reynolds as a man of habit, betrayal, and passion. I can imagine many audience members being put off by such a turn, and I promise that many will find the last 10 to 15 minutes of the film preposterous. I admit that even I was at a loss as the film's credits began to scroll, and then I thought on Reynolds and his mother... In this character, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man obsessed with a powerful woman who guided his hand, and then in death left him feeling incomplete as to how to live on. Women (besides his sister) seem to be pawns in a game that he does not fully understand. What actions Alma takes - and when he discovers the secret, seems to answer that deeper mystery the entire film seems to revolve around. And maybe it all concludes on little more than some sort of erotic act of sadism, but in the end, that's the only logical conclusion I could find. If you find the ending upsetting, think on it a bit. For every flaw you may find in this marvelous picture, I promise I can find 3 more aspects that will make you say "wow."

The Post (***1/2)

Steven Spielberg is no stranger to quality filmmaking, in fact you might argue him to be the greatest living director. Like all formidable artists though, occasionally they hit a stumbling point. THE POST is the latest from the famed director, an overall fine picture that lacks the crispness of what we come to expect. This is in no way a bad movie. I think it's a stretch to call it great.

Before Watergate, the White House was the focal point of all major newspapers in the United States regarding the leaked "Pentagon Papers," over 4,000 top secret pages that outlined the Vietnam War from Kennedy to Nixon. Where the White House fought to present the war as a clear victory for the country, these documents showed it to be a losing battle, continued year after year only to prevent the embarrassment of America having ever lost. As millions of soldiers continued to die, you can see how these documents were front page headlines waiting to happen.

What we have here is a story of two people: Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), the chief editor of the Washington Post, and Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), the paper's publisher. The two couldn't have been more different. Bradlee, on the newspaper floor, was brash, to the point, and eager to come out ahead. This contrasts to Kay Graham, the timid woman who inherited the paper after the death of her husband without a year's worth of work experience to her name. She is better suited to host parties, cater to others, and is reliant on her board member and allies for her business advice.

What follows is essentially the prequel to "All The President's Men," a news caper in which journalists run back and forth, answer telephones, and type furiously all in order to make the morning's deadline. I will say that unlike recent films like Spotlight, Spielberg really has an eye for capturing the kinetic energy of the Post. The camera is in a constant state of motion, oftentimes without reason, and we begin to feel the paranoia and stress that 1970's journalism must have been like.

The star is really Tom Hanks, one of the great actors and who never fails to deliver. His Ben Bradlee is the highlight of the movie - unpredictable and crass. We believe him as a fierce leader, and through the gravelly voice and constant pacing, I really admired Hanks all the more for how he was able to paint this man with such broad strokes. It's remarkable how much he contrasts to Streep in one of her most timid roles. This is no Iron Lady. Graham is a shy, fearful woman who carries the film's emotional arc and we can't help but cheer for her in the end. Streep has some of the best comedic punches here, and there are surely a couple lines that will make you cheer. Where Hanks is boisterous, Streep is oh so subtle. Her eyes, her gestures... This is a woman whose biggest fear is to fail her family and tarnish the Graham legacy.

The cast here is stellar, from Bob Odenkirk all the way to Sarah Paulson. I wished so much that more of the cast were present in the film, that each character might have one more scene to show us their real intentions. I get that the film needed to focus in on the drama, but for such a juicy cast, they all felt stupendously underplayed. As went with the ending, a climactic anti-climax in the Supreme Court that takes place off camera and wraps up in the blink of an eye. The film transitions from rising action to end credits in no fewer than 10 minutes, and it left me jarred to say the least. For such a late 2017 release, I sense Spielberg was speeding to a final deadline, and the result shows in the movie's hasty edits and abruptness. We grow to like these characters and this story... I wouldn't have minded a picture that were even 1 hour longer. If the story is good, why trim it down?

2017 has been an interesting year for films. Maybe THE POST is the most timely of them all. With the blatant echoes of President Trump and his "fake news," the implications of Richard Nixon's presidency seems all the more a bellwether for times to come. The film concludes on a fairly obvious "cliff-hanger" that added nothing to the story except a handful of audience members I overheard say "a-ha!" Oh well. For a film so finely staffed and expertly written, this movie might still be a letdown for many viewers. Just as many might still find it all the more crucial viewing in today's political climate.

John's Top 10 Best/Worst Movies of 2017

Best movies of the year:

1. Lady Bird
2. Molly's Game
3. Good Time
4. The Florida Project
5. Get Out
6. Coco
7. A Quiet Passion
8. Darkest Hour
9. Menashe
10. Call Me By Your Name



Worst movies of the year:

1. The Mummy
2. Chips
3. Snatched
4. The Emoji Movie
5. Colossal
6. The Power Rangers
7. Life
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
9. Phoenix Forgotten
10. Mother!


Thank you for reading, everyone!

All The Money In The World (****)

Despite going through production hell with the sudden recasting of Kevin Spacey, and the tedious rush to release the film in 2017, and this being Ridley Scott's second directorial effort in the year (the summer miss that was Alien: Covenant), I will admit that ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD still largely works as its own movie, a story of corruption, greed, and desperation.

The story follows the kidnapping of a young man in 1970's Italy, but it is no ordinary boy: this is the grandson of the richest man in the history of the world. His name? J Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer), an oil tycoon who developed new ways to export oil from the Middle East and reaped all the benefits for it. The kidnapping, told in the first few moments of the film, begins a narration by the boy (Charlie Plummer) who describes the history of his family, the ups and downs, etc.

We learn that Getty, once estranged from his children, later sought his son for work, and along with that met his grandchildren for the first time. Plummer plays the role as sympathetic, warm and loving, and with an ever present bite of menace. The grandchildren (including John Paul Getty III, who would later go missing) are escorted by their mother, Gail Harris (Michelle Williams), a New York-type who wants her husband to work in the oil business only so that their family can live comfortably.

The movie essentially follows the time frame from the boy's kidnap to months later when he is eventually found. It's a long movie, oftentimes slowly paced, but we admire it for the performance of Michelle Williams, who is stunning as a mother barely keeping it together. Plummer is good, and famously filmed his entire section over a 10-day stretch this past Thanksgiving. Unlike the footage we saw of Kevin Spacey who was weighted down with makeup and prosthetics, Plummer is natural in the role, slowly going from loving grandfather to ruthless tycoon. The transformation is both subtle and effective. Mark Wahlberg as a detective leaves much to be desired.

We sense Ridley Scott's hand throughout the film, and in his age I wonder if he is still at the top of his game. The film's narration cuts out midway through, and the soundtrack is a blend of what sounds like an orchestral composition for a comedy film. It's a baffling choice for a film so riddled with suspense and drama. In what is also nearly a 2.5 hour film, we can imagine a good 30 minutes being cut and still leaving us with just as good of a caper. The ending churns to a climax in typical Hollywood fashion, and I found myself amply predicting each wrong turn and dead end until the film's final few shots. Perhaps the real story wasn't as thrilling, and the creation of a climactic ending was obviously wanted to help get the biggest bang for their buck. That's Hollywood, baby.

I still liked this film. Like I said, Michelle Williams continues to prove herself as one of (if not) the most talented actresses currently working. Were the film not so scattered over the stories of the old man and the detective, Williams' character is so compelling that I felt drawn to her even in the moments she was off screen. Likewise for Charlie Plummer as John Paul Getty III, this is a young actor who manages to steal the show in a few scenes of nothing more than eye glances and cries for help. For what it's worth, this is a much better film than it had the potential to be.