Snowden (***1/2)

Oliver Stone's SNOWDEN does exactly what a film about a whistleblower must do in order to be an effective thriller: sets up the story, sets up the motivation, and presents an opinion of the subject. It's still a fairly hot-topic situation, as Snowden's massive leak to the press regarding NSA surveillance only happened a few years ago. Though the film has a few flaws that surely hamper it's overall effectiveness, the general thought presented is that "Ed" Snowden is our generation's Karen Silkwood; a hero of unlikely background.

The film is structured in a sort of flashback, with Snowden's initial leak to the press in a small Tokyo hotel room lending itself to flashbacks of his life to this point. It's hard to imagine most people not knowing who Edward Snowden is at this point, especially considering a documentary surrounding his espionage just won an Oscar not 1 year ago. The film seeks instead to provide a backstory and shade the infamous man in a more human light - painting a portrait of what would lead a patriot to betray his beloved country.

Joseph Gordon Levitt, I'll admit, has felt miscast in the past. He falls into roles greater than himself and fails to disappear into the character we see on screen. Surprisingly in "Snowden," he actually succeeds. Deepened voice, loose-fitting clothes, and the slightest stubble, Levitt all but transforms in the role (all the more compelling when the film concludes with footage of the actual man and we barely notice that it is a new person). It's hard to classify his performance as someone who is sympathetic, but overall he does an effective job playing a man who finds himself in between a rock and hard place - that is to say the internal struggle he faces seems genuine.

The backstory we follow finds Snowden meeting his long-time girlfriend, first seeing her chat on an online dating site while in military training, and finally meeting in Washington after he begins working for the CIA. Played by Shailene Woodley, the girlfriend role oftentimes falls into the category of "emotional obstacle" and in several scenes she and Snowden fight only to keep the story juicy and the plot flowing. While good in the past (The Descendants, The Fault In Our Stars) Woodley is given very little to do in this film and tries her hardest to make the role her own.

I was very much impressed with the front-half of this picture, and I found the setup and introduction to our characters to be very effective. Snowden is initially hired on to work for the CIA and has some great scenes getting to know his supervisors and teachers (one of which is Nicholas Cage in a curiously-small role). We learn about who he is, how smart he is, and how his early work with the government would ultimately shape his story. It's too bad that the rest of the film fails to match the energy. Overly-clanky with flashbacks and flashforwards, it becomes fairly tedious to journey back and forth between present-day Tokyo to Hawaii or Europe or any variety of places in the States. Oliver Stone (co-screenwriter) had a lot of material to sort through, but it seems like the structure of the story was flawed slightly along the way.

I still praise the film, with it's strong leading performance and intriguing (albeit biased) account of this decade's most notorious government leak. Yes, the film makes it clear that Edward Snowden should be regarded as a saint - someone who uncovered mass conspiracy within our government and worked only to protect the USA's citizens. The movie serves as a supplement to the real man, and perhaps can help in forming opinions of whether or not his actions were ethical. Though Oliver Stone has made better films in the past, "Snowden" is still an effective biopic that warrants a viewing.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (*****)

WERNER HERZOG is a world class director who seems to keep his projects revolving around the constant thought of dreams. What could have been, what will happen, what are we thinking, and ultimately who are we? To make a documentary about the Internet, which would seem so rooted in science, and then use it to explore humanity and all our flaws and desires, made for a movie that is both eye-opening and reflective. For Herzog, I would expect nothing less, but the documentary still surprised me in more ways that one.

It's a slow-churning story told in 10 chapters. The familiar voice of Werner himself narrates the action, through interviews and questions that attempt no less than to determine the progress of humanity with the dawn of the technological age; the age in which we are all connected and information is both limitless and ever-growing.

In a small room in a science classroom in California, the very Internet was born in the 1960's, and the first transmitted message "LOG" was cut off midway through. As one man explains, the importance and simplicity of that first message ("lo and behold what man has achieved") is the thesis on which Herzog explores the topics. We see how information grew, how newspapers were first programmed for people to view on their home computers, how emails began to document business needs at almost instantaneous speeds. What a marvel, indeed.

Smartly, Herzog also explores the darker shades of our brilliance: of hate mail and the lawlessness of the online community. From hackers to a family who received spam emails of their daughter's mangled body, nearly decapitated in a car wreck... The tapestries of any invention are countless, but as the documentary begins to explore, no man made invention in history has ever grown at such an exponential rate. A wide-eyed woman with a Stepford Wife's sensibility declares "the Internet is Satan."

In the hands of a lesser filmmaker, Lo And Behold would be a bore of talking heads and the breakdown of important dates and times. Herzog seems to relish the bore, asking his subjects questions that often throw them off ("do you love this robot?"). It's oftentimes quite funny, but when we explore the darker implications just below the surface, it could also be one of the scariest films I have ever viewed. With our reliance on the internet so thoroughly engrossed in our lives, one scientist speculates that potentially billions could die were a large solar flare to wipe out electricity as we know it. Nature give and nature take away, but has humanity moved beyond the point of simple survival without technological help?

With a haunting score that recalls precious Herzog themes, the movie is nonetheless a fascinating and endlessly entertaining journey through modern times, with Herzog's deliciously German accent piercing through the bland images of computers and wires. There seems no better director to tackle this subject matter, and in fact I doubt many other filmmakers could achieve something so remarkable from something so  apparently average as the Internet.

I left this movie, looked around, thought about life. There's an existential theme at work which forced me to think about how my life is wholly dependent on machines. They make life easier. I need them for daily support and connectivity. At this point in society, 2016, what is life if not the reliance on technology?

Little Men (****1/2)

LITTLE MEN is the story of two boys who become friends in the twilight year of their childhood: a time when they will move on from elementary to high school and begin to take the first steps into their adult lives. The title itself harkens back to  Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," a similar concept in which young girls come of age amidst personal and emotional struggle.

The story of these two boys is one that is at times extremely intimate and wholly universal. I was reminded of my times during childhood when the summer days couldn't stretch on long enough and the only concerns in the world were whether or not I could have dinner at a friend's house. Maybe you don't know what you have until it's gone. That is definitely true in a story like this, where the consequences of actions are not that of the children, but rather their parents, and the stirring drama that unfolds through the generations as a result.

Jake is an artsy boy, shy with long hair, who keeps his nose in his sketchbook when his teacher lectures other kids on being quiet in the class. He hears word that his grandfather has just died (on his father's side, who is played by Greg Kinnear) and soon they form a small wake at the deceased's apartment in Brooklyn. It's here Jake meets Tony, a street-smart kind of kid with a heavy accent reminiscent of a bowery boy and an attitude to match. Despite their apparent differences, the two boys quickly become friends. Simultaneously, Jake and his family move into his grandfather's building and inherit the shop at street level, a dress shop owned by Tony's mother.

Two stories begin to unfold: that of a carefree summer amongst boys, and the turmoil of legal battles over the ownership to the shop. Jake's father, Brian, claims legal ownership and requires a rent hike in order to make ends meet. Tony's mother, Leonor, a Spanish-speaking woman with a firm head on her shoulders, both refuses to give up the shop and also pay the rent at 3 times the price. We hear stories of her good relationship with Brian's father, and how he wanted Leonor to stay in the shop when he died. She only needs what's best for her family. So does Brian.

Between Jake and Tony, we learn that both seek to apply to a prestigious art school in Manhattan for the fall. Jake for drawing and art, and Tony for acting. While Jake's art is never fully seen (and in fact I can't recall a single drawing that is fully framed at any given time), we have a marvelous scene where Tony takes Jake to an acting class for children. Here, a balding teacher with thick accent instruct the pupils on how to use improv, how to react, how to interact. A long shot between Tony and the teacher sees both calling back and forth repeated lines of dialogue with different inflections. Even for a simple audience member, we can tell that Tony has what it takes.

The drama, at times heavy-handed, guides the boys through the maturation of their personalities and in turn becomes a story about the intimacy children share with each other, secrets hidden from parents and shared in private conversation. This is done through masterful mise-en-scene, where a parent's resolution with his son seems to end happy until we realize they are framed on separate sides of a room. When Tony is rejected by a girl at a dance and later we see Jake lean his head into frame to share the space with his saddened friend. There are ways one could interpret this movie as a love story, but in no way one that leads to romance. This is the love that friends have who are kindred spirits despite differences.

I applaud the director, who clearly knows how to photograph a film and stage his actors. Watching "Little Men" makes one feel like they are in safe hands, and as such there is never a time that we doubt the motives or actions of the people we watch on screen. The movie ends several months later with Jake now long-haired and dressed more in-tune with an artist. He travels a museum with some classmates and in the distance hears the distinctive sound of Tony's voice. It's clear that in the end Tony and his family move out, and their friendship quickly dissipates in such a large city. This voice is the first time Jake has seen Tony since. Looking across a gallery exhibit, he sees Tony from behind, still in a Catholic school uniform. He is friendly as ever, but he quickly leaves with his friends and Jake is left alone. There is no "hello" or catching up. There is barely resolution. We are left with two thoughts: that Tony's family was unable to send him to the high school he wanted, or that Jake is just reminded of his old friend at the sight of the old school uniform. I'd like to think that the second is more plausible, if only because we want a happy ending for these two boys. It's unfair to picture a life where the actions of our parents can forever change the next generation's future.

For a movie about a summer friendship, this surely left me with a lot to ponder. This is about as limited a release as movies come, but if you manage to find a screening near you I implore you to check this one out.

Sausage Party (**)

SAUSAGE PARTY is a good movie in the same way someone might describe McDonald's as being a satisfying meal. There are laughs, you get what you paid for, but in the end you leave feeling a bit sick for enjoying it and vow to change your eating habits before next time. I mean viewing habits. Seth Rogen's stoner homage to Disney & Pixar is surely filled with moments that will make audiences gasp and laugh, but if we are going to watch an R-rated animated film about talking food, is it bad for me to ask for better quality?

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was unaware it was an adult-themed movie until about midway through. We see a hot dog weiner flirting with a feminine-looking bun, and I recall thinking this was a bit risque even for a kid's movie. Then came the carnage and I understood. The basic premise is that food is alive. When we purchase it at grocery stores, they know little of the horrors that are soon to come. Humans are merely gods who are here to take food into the glorious afterlife. They even have a song welcoming our arrival each morning.

It's the Fourth of July so Bun and Weiner (I forget their names, but wouldn't that only confuse you?) are excited to finally get to spend time together. They are packaged near one another, and dream of the day they are finally selected to go to the great beyond. As plot would have it, they are purchased, but by a strange twist of fate, they esape their packaging and roll away in a deadly two-cart collision. The rest of the hot dogs go home to discover the true horrors of dinnertime, while Bun and Weiner meet some friends at the store (a Jewish bagel (complete with Woody Allen's accent) and a Middle Eastern flatbread, complete with beard). Their plan is to return to packaging to be sold tomorrow.

Remember "The Interview" and the buzz that was built up prior to its Netflix release? What a disappointment the film ended up being, and in many ways this movie measures up just as well. A sort of passion project for Seth Rogen over the past 10 years, it's sad to think this is the end result. The plot is meandering and the situations these foods find themselves in uninteresting. The dialogue is a barrage of the "f" word if for no other reason than the film is rated R. There's also an extended sequence where Weiner and some other non-perishables get high (what can we expect) and an ending that is quite literally a grocery store orgy.

There are laughable parts (a piece of chewed up gum as Stephen Hawking was brilliantly done) and some unfortunate parts (the film spends a large chunk of time joking about the political and global status of Israel), not to mention a barrage of racial jokes that are at times off-putting. The movie is an admirable effort to make animated features more for adults. Apparently adults can't get enough potty humor. Watch the trailer  - the funny parts are there. The rest of the movie is fluff.

Don't Think Twice (*****)

We meet an improv troupe called "The Commune." They are based in a small New York theater, perform nightly to a small crowd for $5 a ticket. Though they don't have much, and most work the odd job on the side, we know that this is their passion. They are best friends who stay in on weekends and dream of being cast on "Weekend Live" (an obvious play on Saturday Night Live, the ultimate goal of most comedians in their 30's). What this movie does so well is try to figure out what would happen if one of these friends actually hit it big. In a tight community of struggling actors, what would happen when it becomes apparent that not everyone is bound for stardom.

DON'T THINK TWICE is about as good of a movie as I have seen all year. It's directed by Mike Birbiglia (who also has a costarring role as an improv instructor who just can't seem to catch a break in anything besides romance) and has all the makings of a classic exploration of the human condition. Keegan-Michael Key plays Jay (you may recognize him from MadTV, and I wonder if this at all echoes his rise to fame over the past decade), the most recognizable of the troupe and one who is known to break out a Barack Obama impression when talent scouts are nearby. He is one of the group, but secretly dreams of breaking away. While the other members of Commune feel safe amongst numbers, Jay knows there is much more he is capable of.

Jay dates Samantha (Gillian Jacobs is absolutely incredible in this role), a quirky girl who is nearly the exact opposite of him. She is shy in front of large groups but performs improv with ease every night. Both her and Jay get asked to audition for Weekend Live (to the frustration of the rest of the cast) and yet on the day of her audition, she chickens out and decides that maybe it's not for her. Jay is cast on the spot following his audition. He tries to talk to her that night about what went wrong, and already we know that this relationship is doomed to fall apart.

The ensemble cast is all around remarkable. In a group of six performers, each is fleshed out and given a soul. Allison is the tiny girl who dreams of publishing a graphic novel. Lindsay comes from wealth and yet still collects unemployment checks to save her from having to find a real job. Bill is arguably the funniest of the bunch, awkward with glasses, trying to cope with the fact that his father is near death.

The fun with the movie comes from their performances on stage. Filmed handheld and constantly circling the cast, comedy seeps through the screen as though we were watching the intimate comedy routine in person. We start to understand the ins and outs of improvisation, and yet this is in no way a movie about improv in general. It's an honest, timeless human drama that simply uses live television where a classic story might have just used a knife in the back.

There is such heart in the story, in the characters, and by the end (as cliched as it may sound) it really felt as though I was beginning to know these people in and out. As Jay becomes more famous, the audiences begin taking requests for him to play some of his TV characters (though he is now cast on TV, he still returns to the Commune to help his friends and perform more casually alongside them). The rest of the cast becomes frustrated while Jay just soaks his fame up. Eventually it builds to the point where they perform a skit in which Jay has finally died and they circle his coffin, remembering him for the airhead he was. Everything they say is true, and the audience laughs and laughs. Amidst the realization of failure, maybe the movie is trying to tell us that the best thing to do is just laugh. It seems to work.