Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 4 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: If you haven’t seen Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens yet, go do so now as there will be spoilers in this review. We’ll wait…

Welcome back!

The Force Awakens is the first Star Wars movie in 32 years, and is basically an amped up version of the original 1977 film.

Nick: Which was the film’s biggest problem. All it did was set new characters in the old shoes and the old characters in the shoes of the wise leaders. While The Force Awakens is a better film than any of the prequels, they at least had stories that had not been told before while expanding on the distant galaxy of the Star Wars universe. But this ends up being such a small problem because I was never bored or rolled my eyes at any of the dialogue, which was always a problem when George Lucas was writing the script.

Dustin: This was substantially better than the prequels and fit more easily into the series. It fixed a lot of the problems with the prequels, and in a way was sort of a reaction to them. The prequels were roundly criticised for the overreliance on CGI, wooden acting, tonal dissonance between scenes, boring/predictable shots, sensory overload in action scenes. This movie used more practical effects and only CGI where necessary, solid actors, was funny at times but also had emotional weight, and was exhilarating overall.

Nick: I’m sure Lucas will order that the films have upgraded CGI in ten years when they’re out on whatever we are watching movies on in that time!

The three main characters Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) are well sculpted and overall a more interesting trio of characters than the original three--Han, Luke and Leia. Rey is basically a version of Luke that is not annoying while being able to kick ass from the get-go. Though she was even forgotten by the merchandising crew! http://www.dailydot.com/geek/star-wars-force-awakens-wheres-rey-action-figure-set/

Sex sells, but apparently women don’t!

Dustin: They must not want the fanboys to think they’re playing with a doll rather than an action figure. #TriggerWarning

I immediately like Finn, I warmed up to Kylo Ren as the villain, but I still haven’t warmed up to Rey. But still, these movies had characters I would like to see again. They had personalities and are will carry on the series nicely.

Nick: I must say I don’t think Han Solo’s death was done to the potential a scene like that could generate. Harrison Ford was my first favorite movie star with roles like Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Dr. Richard Kimble. I should have cried, but it didn’t even register with me emotionally. It felt more forced with Ford not being a fan of the character, but doing one last film for the fans (and a huge paycheck) to give the character an ending. I think it would have been better to build him up again and kill him during the second film. Wasted opportunity. Maybe he will somehow show up as a Force Ghost!

Dustin: I think the biggest problem was it felt a little too much like the first movie. Information is put into a droid that falls into the hands of a nobody on a desert planet, they have to take it to Princess Leia with the help of Han Solo. Then they end up having to blow up a new Death Star. There’s a scene where they show the new Death Star (forgot what it’s actually called), and Han Solo just says, “So it’s bigger? How do we blow it up this time?” Sort of acknowledging then dismissing the expected criticism. I don’t really think that makes it any better.

Nick: The film is basically a polished version of A New Hope. Adding layers that were missing from elements that lacked depth while keeping the details that worked the first go around. Which hopefully means Finn and Rey are brother and sister! (fingers crossed)

Dustin: Even though I thought many elements felt too familiar, I still enjoyed a lot of it. The new Death Star can blow up an entire solar system, using the energy sucked from a sun to blow up the planets in another system. The stakes felt real, and I was actually on the edge of my seat for most of the movie.

Nick: Well the stakes felt real in the original! Blowing up one planet just isn’t enough to scare good ol’ Dustin! It has to be a whole solar system!

Dustin: I was comparing it to the prequels, where there was literally nothing at stake, making it hard to care. See, for example, the robots-making-robots conveyor belt scene in Attack of the Clones. It looks like a cartoon, then, when the machine pounds down on Anakin’s hand, it somehow forms a space around his hand. At that moment you realize the characters can’t even get hurt and you don’t care as the tension has been removed. That’s why so many people described the prequels as “boring,” despite the overblown set pieces.

Nick: Sorry, thought we were still on comparing it to the originals! Darth Maul still might be my favorite villain in terms of badassery! I wonder if Supreme Leader Snoke is pulling a Great Wizard of Oz with his size? I bet he’s a small fry like Yoda, but with a Napoleon complex!

Dustin: I was happy with this film overall. It felt like a legit Star Wars sequel, and got the movies back on track after the mess that was Episodes I through III. I was embarrassed to admit I was a Star Wars fan for a long time. I’m a fan of the original original trilogy (not the special editions that progressively got worse). I liked what they did with The Force Awakens, and hope they can keep up the momentum.

Nick: As long as the next one’s not a beat for beat reboot of The Empire Strikes Back.

Krampus

Dustin: 4.5 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 3.75 of 5 stars (Live canary)

***The following review contains spoilers***

Dustin: Krampus is marketed as a holiday horror/comedy mash-up. It has solid comedic stars such as Adam Scott and David Koechner, while also delivering on creepy horror imagery. It’s a comedy much in the same vein as Gremlins or Christmas Vacation.

Nick: After the first scene of the family having dinner together I had an inkling on how this film would continue and finish. We would see family members killed off in a non-gruesome way, but at the end everyone would be perfectly fine through some mystical thing that can’t be explained ala Click. This is exactly what happened, but I will say the way the film ends makes that all kind of OK. Mostly because it doesn’t end on a happy note, but the moment after the happy note ala The Graduate.

Dustin: I went into this film fresh, not familiar with the German legend that inspired it (although I seem to remember Dwight from The Office dressing up like such a character). For those of you too lazy to search Wikipedia, Krampus is like the evil Santa who punished the children on the naughty list. I only knew from the marketing it was a comedy/horror mashup for the holidays. The ads didn’t look very appealing to me. But I think the execution was wonderful. Yes, it was somewhat predictable because it felt like a morality play where it was clear who were the wicked children and who would be saved. Krampus was kind of a less creepy Willy Wonka.

Nick: At least in a non-pediphilia type of way! The film was enjoyable throughout even with that knowledge, but I don’t think it hit the comic highs nor the gruesomeness of Gremlins, which to me is the bar set for family horror/ comedy.

Nick: If you look at reviews of Gremlins, many critics think the film went too far and ruined its tone because of that, but I think the opposite. This film has no real bite, and therefore lacked the depth of character that Gremlins, for me, achieved. It could be because our main character is a child instead of a teen, like in Gremlins, that the film goes more on the soft side and is intended for children as they will be the only ones who get scared. The best scene is the animated sequence that shows the Grandma’s first encounter with Krampus. It was so good that I wished that was the film I was watching.

Dustin: I think the movie did a lot right. I actually thought it was really funny. Most of the jokes landed, even the more juvenile ones (the squirrels on the roof are “playing with their nuts”). I think the cast was perfect and were able to deliver lines that would fall flat in lesser hands.

I didn’t think it needed to be gruesome. There was enough creepy imagery, like the giant slug thing with the clown mask. Visually, the film was very impressive. CGI was used sparingly, and the monsters were well-designed, giving it all a more realistic look that was strictly necessary.

Nick: When I say gruesome I don’t mean gore just more dark in terms of the character’s “died” or that they actually died. The CGI was great, but I wish the shots were less edited when showing those amazingly designed monsters. The only ones that weren’t impressive were the elves. I was expecting a lot considering they were the last to be shown of his minions, and then they just ended up being creatures in cloaks with brass masks on. The giant slug creature and the Knife-Angel were certainly creepy and unforgettable. I just don’t think I heard a single gasp or shriek from our theater. There were certainly lots of laughs though so the comedy was undeniably spot on.

Dustin: The best thing I can say about this movie is that I want to watch it again. I definitely plan on catching it before Christmas next year, and if it still holds up, watching this as a holiday tradition.

Nick: So your Krampus is my Gremlins!

Dustin: Pretty much. I loved Gremlins growing up. I was terrified as a child, but laugh a lot now.

About the ending. I guess it could come off as a cop out the way the entire family seemed happy and safe, but I don’t think it was meant to be taken literally. The scene had a sheen of unrealism compared to other shots in the movie. It looked like it was filtered. I would describe it more as an emotional ending to the film rather than a logical one. Sort of like Taxi Driver or Edge of Tomorrow.

Nick: I think it was very emotional, but I’m quite torn between whether all those snowglobes were people Krampus has terrorized and trapped or if there a snowglobe for every family in the world and it’s how he keeps tabs on them. Either way it is very creepy considering I collected snowglobes as a kid and probably freaked me out more than anything else in the film. I ended up liking the ending, but it was still a slight cop out of the things that happened before. Just like how I felt about Edge of Tomorrow.

Dustin: Would you make the same criticism of Taxi Driver?

Nick: What do you exactly mean? He dies in the film…?

Dustin: No, after shooting up the brothel, and lying covered in blood, the next scene shows newspaper clippings of him in a coma, but being hailed as a hero for saving the young prostitute. Then you see him with normal hair again, driving his taxi, and Cybill Shepherd who thought he was creepy before now admires him. I didn’t know what to make of it, and my theory was Robert De Niro is in a coma and this is his coma dream, since it seems to be a fantasy where he’s the hero.

Anyway, I think the epilogue in Krampus is sort of the same thing going on. But I won’t be so forgiving of Hunger Games. Fuck that ending.

Nick: So Max is in a coma and his family is nice, but still saying the same awful things to him? “Maxipad!” But agreed on Hunger Games. Fuck that series!

In all honesty I don’t think it’s exactly the same. I think the image is hazy when none of them knew what had happened previously, but as soon as they start to realize what they had been through the screen becomes more clear (wink, wink) and that’s when the camera pans out of their “world” out of the snowglobe into Krampus’ lair (where there are a fuck ton of snowglobes).

I thought the adult actors did a phenomenal job with the comedic one liners and the overall lifting of all the dramatic tension, but the kids were forgettable. It might not be their fault, but their parts were virtually one-note and less interesting. The only one who stood out didn’t say a word (which was hilarious), but he was the second to be offed.

Dustin: So in conclusion, take the whole family to see Krampus this holiday season!

Creed

Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 4 of 5 stars (Live canary)

Dustin: Creed is a movie about a privileged millennial who forgoes a promising career in banking to follow his dream. He believes he is entitled to a shot at light heavyweight champion of the world not for his previous accomplishments (he only had one previous fight in the division), but because of who he is. Even though he loses, he is given a metaphorical participation trophy when the entire crowd chants his name and the reporters center the story on him.

Nick?

Nick: Creed gave me an opinion I never thought I’d have: Sylvester Stallone is a great movie actor! Every scene with him was the heart of the film. Either making us laugh with his quick quips or even cry with his tearful sentiments of his not-forgotten past. This movie is way better than anyone would have ever thought.

Dustin: Stallone did very well with the part, very much coming off as an older version of the character in the 1976 original (I haven’t seen any of the sequels). He seemed very sure of himself in the role and his performance was superb. This was a good movie, in some ways rivaling the original, even though it had enough of the same beats to almost feel like a remake.

Nick: I have seen all of the Rocky films (Rocky V being in my list of worst films ever made), and Creed is certainly close to being as good as the original. The director/writer Ryan Coogler has a lot to do with that. There are an astounding number of shots that resonated with me. Including the one that I see many people are writing about, which is the one-shot (means no edits) take of Creed boxing his first real opponent in the ring. All of the technical aspects of the film are great, and the homages of the Rocky films are placed nice and neatly to point where it doesn’t feel like it’s bogged down with the weight of its past--much like Adonis Creed himself. The one part I could have done without was the running sequence with the boys riding past on their crotch rockets. Many other critics seemed to like this sequence, I personally felt like it was trying too hard. It was something that worked in the original Rocky, but that kind of corniness doesn’t work as well today.

Dustin: I liked that sequence. Adonis prancing around while the boys circled triumphantly around him was a little over-the-top, but I liked that the montage was cut this time with Rocky going through chemotherapy. It created an ironic and deep parallel with the similar sequence in the first film.

Nick: I guess I should stipulate that it was once the kids started circling him that I begun to roll my eyes and everything prior was ruined. It could also be that it was very quiet scene and we had one hell of a rowdy audience. It was tough for me. I felt like the film wanted to be serious and the cackling and the screaming of “Get up, bitch!” and “You got knocked the fuck out!” made it hard for me to take it in a serious manner. It felt as if I was watching Mystery Science 3000: The Uneducated Edition. A second viewing is something I look forward to!

Dustin: I liked when one woman behind us, during the film’s suspenseful final fight, said to her friend reassuringly, “Of course he’s gonna win. It’s a Rocky film!” She must not have seen the first film where Rocky loses (spoiler from 1976!).

I must commend Ryan Coogler’s direction on this film, as well as the writing. It worked both as a stand-alone film and as a Rocky sequel. It established a stylistic voice of its own while also fitting into the series. It is an appropriate step forward after Coogler and Jordan’s previous collaboration, the excellent Fruitvale Station. So many directors today are handed the keys to a huge, multimillion dollar action franchise after a small-scale indie project, in which they’re set-up for failure and their careers are ruined (see Fantastic Four). This was also a welcome return to form for Jordan after a misguided step into the superhero world with Fantastic Four (not that a young actor in his shoes has much of a choice, I can’t blame him if it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime at the time).

Nick: Jordan was following another director into a bigger film like he did with Coogler and Creed. Fantastic Four was made by Josh Trask, who Jordan had worked with in his breakout role in Chronicle.

Dustin: While I liked this movie overall, there were some elements that fell flat for me. I never really understood Adonis’s motivation for becoming a boxer. He never knew his father, but he wanted to step out of his father’s shadow and make it on his own, even though he never really lived in his father’s shadow, no one knew he was Apollo Creed’s son, and no one expected him to become a great boxer.

Nick: The one thing the film couldn’t emulate from the original Rocky was the great love story between the titular hero and ADRIAN!!!!!. While I love Tessa Thompson as an actress, and she does a great job here, her character and Creed lack the same dynamism as the former. That’s fine and all, but what I remember most from the original Rocky were the cute dates between two very shy and awkward people. It doesn’t have the same punch when the love interest is basically in the same boat as the main character. She is an up-and-coming musician, who is slowing going deaf, who has her first big gig a fortnight away. Their story is fine, but not memorable. It is the one aspect of the film that makes it a slightly lesser version of the original Rocky.

Dustin: That romantic subplot was the other element that didn’t work for me. It seemed perfunctory, although it was still better than the one in Whiplash, another otherwise great movie.

Creed is about as good of a Rocky sequel/spin off as one could hope for. It’s stylish and almost as satisfying as Stallone’s original.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Dustin: 3.5 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 3.25 of 5 stars (Woozy canary)

Dustin: The Hunger Games - Part 4: Mockingjay - Part 2 is the last installment in The Hunger Games trilogy for real this time. Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as Katnip Evergreen in her personal quest to kill President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and bring balance to Panem.

Nick: I have to admit I am so happy this series is finally over with until of course they remake it in 10 years. Though I must admit I’m waiting for this whole YA franchise-into-movies thing to end even more. The Hunger Games is easily the best out of all the genre, but it still tries so hard to evoke drama that it feels more like a soap or Lifetime film rather than a drama on the silver screen.

Dustin: I’m getting tired of these YA movies too. Admittedly, I’ve only seen this series, the first Divergent movie, and The Host. They all pretty much follow the same formula, and I mentally check off each item as I sit through them. Pretty girl with bland personality who turns out to be somehow more specialer than everyone (check), some kind of training montage (check), two hunky male love interests (check, check). The best thing I’d say about the Hunger Games movies is that they do the formula better than the others.

Nick: I’m in agreement for the most part but there are so many grandstands and speeches in this film meant to give hope or drive a character forward that it becomes an even more diluted version of the drama it’s trying to create. As well every time there was a character telling another “Don’t worry everything is going to be alright,” I turned to my mom and said, “So, that character is going to die!” and they sure enough did. Also whenever there is a wedding between two tertiary characters one of them will surely end up dead. (R.I.P. Remus and Tonks)

Dustin: That’s a pretty famous trope.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 should have been combined into one film called The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Both movies had long spells that just dragged. I remember spending a lot of time during this one with my head resting on my hand just waiting for the movie to get to the point.

Nick: Though Harry Potter did the same thing with more of a reason (700 pages), it also stalled in its first Part 1 (my least favorite in that series) and the same happened with Hunger Games. The first part was such a drag with no uptempo, while this film drags a lot between its interesting action sequences. The best thing about this series is the casting of brilliant, established actors like Sutherland, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman and of course Lawrence while mixing with lesser known brilliant actors like Jena Malone, Elden Henson, Robert Knepper and Elizabeth Banks. They all do a good job, but their dialogue (which isn’t their fault) sometimes made me laugh for the wrong reason and kept me from EVER being truly instilled in the drama. Though Sutherland truly is remarkable as Snow.

Dustin: The all-star cast certainly lends these films some street-cred. I hated President Snow, and that is a testament to Sutherland’s performance. I couldn’t even recognize the smartalek character I loved in MASH (granted, that film is 45-years-old).

It’s interesting you compared this to the last Harry Potter, because like Harry Potter, this movie also had a pointless epilogue, which I will go ahead and spoil because it was truly pointless. Does the audience really care Katnip will go on to get married and have two kids?

Nick: It should have ended right before that with her in bed with the man she loves, but I think it went on to do that to end the film on a happier note, which I’m assuming the only thing the writer could think of was “Let's give her kids! Everyone is happier with kids! Especially two people with extreme PTSD.”

Dustin: I also thought when it cut to black right before the epilogue that was a perfect ending point. I groaned when the sunny meadow came up. The scene right before that was tender, but also had an ellipsis. The tweenage girls who are the most devoted fans of the series might wanted a happy note to end on, but I didn’t find the epilogue convincing, and it was pointless to boot. I could imagine if Stanley Kubrick had directed these, the epilogue would have been Katnip and Peeta in some kind of couples counseling for PTSD.

Nick: The most jarring concept to me was the character of Tygress. I only assume that’s how it’s spelled considering what series we are watching. Why couldn’t it have just been a normal (for Hunger Games) looking person instead of a seemingly spliced half-tiger, half-human character, which I had not seen any character look like throughout the series. Maybe I missed the spliced characters from before, but it sure didn’t stick out like Tygress (Taigriss).

Dustin: Well, there are people with body modifications in the real world too, and it’s jarring to see them at the mall, liquor stores, job interviews. But that is a funny point. Right after they take shelter with Tigris (thank you, Hunger Games wikia), Katnip and Gale put on a disguise to slip into the crowd taking shelter at President Snow’s mansion. Their disguise is a large black hooded jacket. I’m sorry, but I think the Storm Troopers, I mean, Peace Keepers, would be well within their rights to shoot them and ask questions later. In a city where outlandish makeup and hairstyles are the norm, they go with the most suspicious-looking cover ever. Were the writers lazy or just stupid?

Nick: I think the writer(s) were constantly lazy. When the twin sisters were left in the building of the rebels’ last known location they could have carried the wounded sister to the building across the street with them and left her there, which would have been at least a logical move. Also the most combat-ready character with the most experience is the one who runs head-first into a possibly mined area and dies. Also when the character who has been brainwashed and is hitting his head against his own gun you might want to put him in handcuffs. Also when Gale tells Peeta I’ll take you out if that time ever comes, so you mean the guy in your squad that he just killed wasn’t enough? I feel like I could go on and on and I don’t know who to blame, the writer of the book or of the movie? I get it, it’s nitpicking, but when the entire film can be nitpicked it’s kind of a problem.

Dustin: I have a feeling the problem stems from the books. I doubt these movies strayed too far from the source material given the fanbase they had to please. I think a lot of the writing had to come from the hack mind of Suzanne Collins. Men simply don’t talk like the characters in this movie. Two male rivals don’t sit down and talk about their feelings, or ask others what they’re thinking. Especially when they come from a dystopian future where you have to play everything close to the chest as your true thoughts can get you killed.

Nick: Long Live the End of The Hunger Games! Both the game and the book and movie series. Another part I found amusing was when Coin was afraid of the support Katniss had and was hoping she would die, yet she gave her the honor of killing Snow in front of all the unified forces. Would that not make her even more popular?! Also, the fact Coin stood on a ridge right above Snow with her hands outraised made that scene so ridiculous. It would have been better if she was standing far far behind Katniss on a ridge over-looking the scene and Katniss turns around and lets the arrow go quickly. Instead of a close up on Katniss, her obvious lifting of the arrow and letting that arrow go towards Coin. It was a very bland moment that should have been huge! It might have been bland because it was so obviously going to happen with everyone talking shit on Coin while later in the film she became a tyrant like Snow. I also love the way people die in films like this so beautiful and gracefully. Julianne Moore falls from the high-up ridge after being shot with the arrow and falls on a thin piece of cut stone laying there as if she had died of a heart attack.

Dustin: There was one set piece I loved in this movie, and that was the one regarding the lizard mutts chasing Katnip and the gang through the sewers. It was an intense, nightmarish scene that got my heart racing. It was like something out of a different movie.

Nick: It was a very well filmed and intense scene, but also had many obvious moments. When the new leader was the only character left on the other side of the stone wall while not a single other character aiming their gun through the hole to protect her! (These are all trained in combat people, besides Peeta). And also the death of the character who was married early on in the film. The way it was filmed kept telling me this is the scene where he would die. Maybe only film students would notice that, but it kept showing him more and more isolated. While it’s also a thing that a tertiary character who is kicking a lot of ass in a battle will more than likely end up getting hurt or dead and he of course was the only one kicking ass!

Dustin: I also liked the twist at the end. I won’t spoil it, but I guess it shouldn’t have come as a surprise Julianne Moore’s character (Hillary Clinton) turned out to be a duplicitous politico. Or that the rebels would turn into Robespierres as soon as they took over. I guess I did spoil it…

Nick: I already spoiled it! But not really! From early on the film sets up Coin as the real enemy who needs to be defeated by end. And she is, but in a very bland scene that lacks any true emotional weight.

Dustin: Suzanne Collins spoiled it when she consciously ripped off Battle Royale.