That's Incredible!

One of my all-time favorite superhero movies is the 2004 Pixar-animated film ‘The Incredibles,’ featuring a likeable and highly relatable family of super-powered beings living in a world which shuns them.  Part ‘Fantastic Four,’ part ‘The Honeymooners’ and part vintage James Bond from the Sean Connery era, ‘The Incredibles’ is a delightful, fun-filled adventure for the whole family in large part because it IS about family.

 

Since then, I (and many others I’m sure) have always wondered when director Brad Bird will ever get around to doing a sequel.  Far inferior animated films (‘Ice Age’ anyone?) have been given far more sequels in far less time after all.  So it is that after 13 years our hopes and prayers have finally been answered with the highly anticipated return of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack we’ve all been waiting for so long.  I mean, seriously, no other animated movie had to wait this long for a sequel since “Dory” was found after “Nemo.”  But good things are worth the wait, right?

 

So how good is ‘The Incredibles 2’ exactly?  IMDB gave it 8.3 out of 10 and its Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at a whopping 94 percent.  Compared to its predecessor’s 8 out of 10 IMDB rating and 97 percent RT score, they are virtually identical in their fabulously cool awesomeness.  And I agree wholeheartedly without reservation.  Besides, who can resist superbaby and raccoon rassler Jack-Jack?  Who???!!!  Go see it already.

Grade: A

The Anointed Ones

There was a time when horror movies were never meant to be entertaining or funny. The most effective ones tap into our deepest fears and bring them to the surface, making us behave like irrational children and doing silly things such as leaving the light on or pulling our bed covers over our heads at night due to our overactive imaginations.  Nevertheless, many contemporary horror movies all too often turn out to be self-parodies, whether intentionally or not, resulting in experiences that are more funny than scary.  Oh, how I yearn for the days of yore!

 

First-time director Ari Aster aims to go back to how things used to be in his debut feature-length horror film, ‘Hereditary.’  A splash at the last Sundance Film Festival, this art-house indie gem from A24 starring Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro has been billed by some critics as the most terrifying movie since ‘The Exorcist.’  Well, I’ll be the judge of that.  ‘Hereditary’ centers on the dysfunctional Graham family (dysfunction is the least of their problems, believe me) as they cope with loss and an escalating series of inexplicable and unnerving events.  Sure, you can skip the movie and read all about it in Wikipedia instead, but then I’ll have to call you a big chicken while flapping my elbows and making “bok, bok, bok” noises.

 

I’m still not sure if ‘Heredity’ is the scariest film since ‘The Exorcist’ because the list of horror movies I’ve seen is a long and distinguished one, but I can certainly see why the comparison was made.  ‘Hereditary’ harks back to that golden age of vintage horror movies exemplified by such films as ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘The Shining,' The Omen’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby.’  It is unsettling, unnerving, and really, really scary.  The film’s overall slow pace is interspersed throughout by a series of shocking WTF! moments, often without exposition, making us wonder in fear and confusion until things manage to tie up in the end (though not to everyone's satisfaction).  The best horror movies are ones that make our skin crawl and leave a mark on our psyche.  'Hereditary' does just that even if not all of us get it.

Grade: A

 

Hotel California

I’ve always been partial to movies set in hotels, be it ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,’ ‘Hotel Rwanda’ or even ‘Hotel Transylvania.’  The latest movie with “Hotel” in its name is ‘Hotel Artemis,’ which is a bit of a misnomer because it’s actually a hotel-turned-hospital catering to low-life criminals in the dystopian, drought-ridden, riot-torn Los Angeles of 2028 when water is becoming increasingly privatized.  Regardless, because the trailer looked interesting enough and the movie looks a bit off the beaten path, I decided to check in for 90 minutes or so.

‘Hotel Artemis’ is one of those films which centers on a handful of colorful characters and how they intersect.  Central to the story are “The Nurse” (Jodie Foster), who runs her clinic (you call that a hospital?) like an overprotective head mistress, and her trusty loyal servant "Everest" (Dave Bautista). There are strict rules that must be followed at the Hotel Artemis.  Being a card-carrying exclusive Gold member before you are even admitted is the first and foremost.  It is therefore too bad that, over the course of one chaotic night, "The Nurse’" couldn’t manage to uphold nearly all of them.  Rounding out the cast of ne’er-do-wells are the bank robber-with-a-conscience “Waikiki” (Sterling K. Brown), the classic femme fatale assassin “Nice” (I prefer to think of her as “Naughty” because she’s played by Sofia Boutella), the loud-mouthed douchebag arms dealer “Acapulco” (Charlie Day) and the Godfather-like crime lord known simply as “The Wolf King" (Jeff Goldblum), who just so happened to be the one who bankrolled the whole operation.

Not knowing quite what to expect, HA turned out to be a mild disappointment for me because it really doesn’t have much of a plot to speak of.  The characters, colorful as they may be, are not quite interesting enough to hold our undivided attention over the course of one hour and thirty-odd minutes (the film’s running time).  HA is quirky and you might even call it the “Pulp Fiction” of hotel movies, but for all its sheer style it is ultimately devoid of substance to the core.

Grade: B-

 

Diabolus Ex Machina

Aussie directing-producing-writing-acting “quadruple threat” Leigh Whannell is at it again.  The geeky 41-year old filmmaker who (along with James Wan) gave us the ‘Saw’ torture-porn franchise and (along with Angus Sampson) formed one-half of the ghost-hunting duo of Specs and Tucker in the low-budget, otherworldly ‘Insidious’ horror series tries his hand at sci-fi with the low-key, atmospheric near-future dystopian thriller ‘Upgrade.’  Flying under the radar with nary an advertising budget, ‘Upgrade’ had already more than recouped its meager production cost over the first weekend of release against such heavyweights as ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story,’ ‘Deadpool 2’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’

 

Set in an unspecified future that could fall anywhere within the next 50 years, ‘Upgrade’ is the woeful tale of one Grey Trace (played by the heretofore unheard of Logan Marshall-Green, who bears a passing resemblance to Tom Hardy), an auto mechanic and restorer of classic muscle cars whose technophobia is at once at odds with the cyber-organic trends of his time.  In the wake of a tragedy which killed his wife and rendered him paralyzed, he’s given a second lease on life with a revolutionary AI implant that not only restored all of his faculties but made him a better machine, er, human.  Not quite the “Six Million Dollar Man” but still better and stronger, so we’ll just call him the “Four Million Dollar Man” in 1970’s dollars.  Driven by a need to find the culprits who ruined his simple but perfect existence and bring them to poetic justice, Trace became a one-man avenging Angel-of-Death even Charles Bronson would envy.

 

Fresh, suspenseful, gorily violent with a wholly unexpected twist ending, ‘Upgrade’ is what I would call the “Men Are From Mars” answer to the female-centric and demure ‘Ex Machina.’  Both films are relatively low budget indie gems in their own right and deserve all the positive reviews lavished upon them.  Both are also cerebral affairs disguised as pop entertainment, cautionary tales warning of technology running amok and the Robopocalypse that is to come.   Be afraid, be very afraid.

Grade: A
 

Kessel Runner

Classic Star Wars’ iconic smuggler and privateer-turned-reluctant hero is the subject of the latest Disney SW (not SJW) movie, the second such stand-alone story following the surprisingly good and hugely successful ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’  ‘Solo: A(nother) Star Wars Story’ seeks to further expand and enrich the SW cinematic vault by fleshing out one of the franchise’s most beloved characters, the one “who always shoots first.”  You tell 'em, Wil.

 

1:56 - 2:00

Sure, we all know that Han Solo is Leia Organa’s husband and sire of Kylo Ren, that he accomplished the “impossible” feat of making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs with the Millennium Falcon, and that he unsuccessfully tried to turn his son away from the Dark Side.  But who is he really, and how did he develop into the man he will become?  ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ answers these questions and more by delving into the checkered past of this complex, “morally flexible” character, showing us how his life’s harsh circumstances – and unique opportunities – made him a true Star Wars legend.

 

In the titular role, Alden Ehrenreich was more than adequate as the early twenty-something Solo, a fiercely independent and cocky maverick who had no doubt that he’s destined to become the “Best Pilot in the Galaxy.”  As a stand-alone film, ‘Solo’ is smaller and more focused than the typical run-of-the-mill SW “event” movies, and the screenplay by veteran SW scribe Lawrence Kasdan (and his son Jonathan) tends to play it on the safe side, but all this do not make the Space-Western Adventure caper any less enjoyable thanks to the capable stewardship of director Ron Howard. 

 

Grade: A-
 

Kiss him like you miss him

Marvel’s (and quite possibly comicdom’s) most uninhibited, homoerotic and LOAO superhero is back for more mayhem and shenanigans in ‘Deadpool 2,’ the much anticipated follow-up to the unapologetic and NSFW 2016 superhero parody which set a box office record for an R-rated comic book movie (so take that, ‘Watchmen’ and ‘Kick-Ass’!).  Whether that feat was due to parents unwittingly taking their kids to see it while assuming it’s “just another PG-13 Marvel movie” had been put to rest, considering that the $125 million domestic opening weekend take of DP2 (snicker) was only a slight drop-off from the original’s opening weekend gross of $132 million.

The vigilante hero in sexy tight red spandex who can’t be killed proved that — warning, spoilers ahead — even dismemberment twice (once by self-inflicted explosion and the other by the hands of Juggernaut) can’t keep him “down” for long or diminish his ability to deliver well-timed snarky one-liners as he develops a soft spot (hey, watch it) for a chubby kid who will later be known as Firefist and tries to stop Terminator, ahem, time-traveling supersoldier Cable from killing the kid in order to prevent him from murdering Cable’s family in the future.  Returning from the first film are metal-skinned Colossus and spunky Negasonic Teenage Warhead, as well as a slew of new characters such as Foxy Brown aka Domino, lucky sole survivor of Deadpool’s short-lived gender-neutral mutant superteam “X-Force.”  Nuff said.

As a fan of everything X-Men back in the ‘80’s (the John Byrne/Marc Silvestri era) and ‘90’s (the Jim Lee/Rob Liefeld period) who devoured virtually every comic book with an “X” (or “Mutant”) in its title, ‘Deadpool 2’ is like a wet dream come true.  If anything, I enjoyed DP2 even more than its predecessor, as the katana-wielding “Fourth Wall” breaker demonstrates that he’s no longer the selfish anti-hero he used to be and has a heart-of-gold.  The fact that the movie’s also a laugh riot and playful homage to the ‘80’s in its soundtrack and cinematic references (e.g., ‘Flashdance,’ ‘Say Anything’) is only icing on the cake.  Thanks, Canada!

Grade: A+ 

P.S. I probably shouldn’t have to say this, but do stick around through the end credits.  You’ll thank me later, believe me.

The Mother of All Wars

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the latest installment in the much ballyhooed Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the third of a planned four films in the all-star super team’s mega-blockbuster franchise.  After fan fave Joss Whedon (‘The Avengers,’ ‘Age of Ultron’) departed to take over the rather lackluster ‘Justice League’ from Zack Snyder for DC/Warner, The Avengers franchise was put into the talented and capable hands of the Russo Brothers (‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’ and ‘Captain America: Civil War’), whose pre-Marvel filmography as directors comprised of only two movies including the 2006 rom-com ‘You, Me and Dupree.’

Unless you’ve locked yourselves into a closet, I’m sure you all know that the Avengers, dis-assembled due to their philosophical differences as chronicled in ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ had split up and scattered to the four winds.  Only a world-shattering threat can hope to bring them back together against a common cause.  This threat came in the form of hulking, granite-chinned Thanos (Josh Brolin, who’s also Cable in the upcoming ‘Deadpool 2’), a demigod hailing from Titan who seeks to collect the “Infinity Stones” and cull the universe through his brand of controlled genocide, what he calls “balancing the universe.”  This hombre is so badass that he made even the Hulk tuck his tail -- if he had one -- between his legs.  Well-meaning (in his mind at least) but misguided, only the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Sorcerer Supreme master of the mystic arts Doctor Strange can stand in his way.  But is even all that power arrayed against him enough?

I don’t really have to tell you how good this movie is, do I?  Chances are, you’ve probably seen ‘Infinity War’ by now (if not, what the hell are you waiting for, goddam it?).  If I have to describe A:IW in one word, it would be "Epic." In two words?  "Epically Awesome!" of course. This film has already broken all kinds of box office records including the single weekend gross previously held by ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ swatting it aside like Thanos dispensing with so many Avengers.  Like Thanos, ‘Infinity War’ is a juggernaut that seemingly can’t be stopped, and it hasn’t even dropped in China (due this Friday) yet.  Why can't DC movies be like this?

Grade: A