The Silent Screams of A Quiet Place

It doesn’t take much clairvoyance to predict that A Quiet Place is going to easily end up on my year-end best-list.

I’ve got a major soft-spot for economical genre thrillers that do a lot with a little, putting the oomph into a strong script over big budget – and does A Quiet Place deliver on all those fronts, and then some.

 

The small town streets are deserted, debris and the wake of pandemonium strewn everywhere. No people – just silence. A plague? A plague of monsters. No far-flung sci-fi premise, but just a few months up the road from where we are now, horrific creatures have descended on Earth, shredding the populace down to the most fleeting bands of survivors. A Quiet Place focuses on a single rural family, hiding out on a remote farm, just trying to exist together. Ever knock something over accidently? In this world, that’ll likely get you killed – because these alien beasts hunt by sound. The parents (Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, who also directs) must be constantly vigilant that their children maintain absolute silence, as any sneeze or sudden noise is enough to draw one of these things on you in seconds. They’ve taken great pains to put systems in place to maintain quiet and signal warnings. Bare feet pad quietly on sand-covered paths, every threat carefully planned for. Until it’s not.

 

A Quiet Place is practically dialogue-free, largely told via sign language and scant subtitles. The effect is beyond unnerving. John Krasinski is simply a revelation as a director here, working with a script from writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, it’s a master class in storytelling economics and structural effectiveness – all of which is only surpassed by the empathy of character. Blunt and Krasinski are also real-life husband and wife, and along with Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds create an all-too rare depiction of a close-knit family who genuinely care for each other and are trying to hold on, despite the crushing anxiety and dread around every corner. Simmonds is a tremendous find – the actress herself is deaf, as is her character, and having a character who’s lost in their own unique silence beyond what’s mandated by survival makes for fascinating family dynamics and superb acting. That’s all I’ll say as far as plot, but know there is a lot going on here in this simple and compelling premise.

 

Krasinski has made a sinew-taught thriller that stands tall among the likes of Get Out, Don’t Breathe and The Gift, that shares DNA with films as diverse as Pitch Black and The Mist, but that’s refreshing, unpredictable and unique. Danish cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen (The Girl on the Train) immerses her camera in every tight corner the characters experience, making the farm environment feel real and convincing. She and Krasinski do phenomenal work focusing on character faces, making sure their eyes and expressions deftly fill the void left by any absence of dialogue. Editor Christopher Tellefsen is the man responsible for the increase in heart medication prescriptions as a result of this relentless 90-minutes. Emily Blunt blew the doors off in Edge of Tomorrow, but this might be my favorite performance of hers. She never overcompensates to make up for absent speech, and goes through a gauntlet of emotions that’s astonishing to behold. Clearly this “family project” inspired everyone to be free to do their best work.

 

It’s interesting to consider how much awareness and empathy A Quiet Place will likely inspire among the hearing for the deaf community. The audience gets to palpably experience what it might feel like to have a different range of expression from others, likely often taken for granted. Krasinski is the real deal, and those in search of smart, unnerving thrills, miss this at their peril. Very highly recommended.

Ready Player One: Virtual reality - literal overload

Ready Player One is primed for success. Every ingredient is there. A beloved pop culture novel, adapted by a directorial living legend - and not just a living legend, but the very one whose eighties touchstones of nostalgia punctuated countless pages of Ernest Cline's wonderful novel. Dream come true.

I suspect many viewers (especially ones who didn't read the book) are going to love Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. I certainly enjoyed large dollops of it. Both book and film are real works of imagination. Cline's novel of a bleak near-future where everyone's plugged into an immersive virtual reality game called the OASIS, was a magical Wonka-esque riff on nerd culture's shared iconography, but also a lightly masked cautionary tale of our escapes threatening to turn into collective dependency. When the creator (Mark Rylance) of the OASIS dies, he reveals that a special Easter Egg has been hidden somewhere in the vast gaming landscape - bestowing wealth and complete control of the OASIS to whoever finds it. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World meets Tron.

No expense was spared, and it shows. And for this viewer, Ready Player One was an infinitely more enjoyable reading experience than a movie. One of the great appeals of the book is that each reader gets to conjure up their own imaginary mindscapes of the OASIS and the myriad characters. That really made for a fun read. Spielberg directs with great energy and vision, but there's something about seeing everything previously imagined made so literal that kind of deadens and overwhelms the result. There is just so much CGI on view, it's impossible to catch all the details, and it makes it a little hard to really get behind the characters. There are some substantial changes from the book. Hero Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) and his gaming avatar Parzival only meet fellow gamers Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Aech (Lena Waithe) at the end of Cline's book. Here, they all meet up "IRL" much earlier. Part of the fun of the premise is the uncertainty of who the actual person might really be behind their avatar. When Wade wants to meet Samantha, Art3mis's real self, she warns he might be disappointed in her, and when they do (gasp!), she has a birthmark on her face. Which is pretty ridiculous given Ms. Cooke's overall gorgeousness. She's not exactly the Elephant Man, or a leper.

As Wade's antagonist, oily corporate CEO Nolan Sorrento, Ben Mendelsohn does what's supposed to be a mid-Atlantic American accent of some kind, but it seems very odd - almost Southern at times, and it's pretty distracting. Sorrento's also given a Bond-girl femme-fatale called F'nale, who's unnecessary and a little R’diculous.

I wish Spielberg had taken more stabs at social commentary here. When a bad guy holding a gun is patiently told by a squad of police to "put down your weapon," it's pretty tone-deaf in this day and age. You're practically screaming for the cop to yell, "We're only not shooting you 'cause you're white!" You have to wonder what the Paul Verhoeven of the Robocop era would have done with this story. The cast is engaging, Sheridan in kind of an earnest, early Shia LaBeouf kind of way. But too often the tone feels more generic than piercing.

The book was a lot funnier, and there's not nearly as much humor here as there should be. The digital effects and design are all incredibly impressive (MechaGodzilla!), but they're also so inescapable that they become oppressive as well. I'll say this - the mid-section where the characters must journey into the movie of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is phenomenal - a real tour de force. That sequence is worth the price of admission - I only wish the rest of the film had been as clever and engaging. While your mileage may vary, if you’re on the fence, absolutely see the film in a theater, on the biggest screen possible - as the film’s visuals will be beyond diminished on any home video format. 

The tween-friendly robo-riot of Pacific Rim: Uprising

Pacific Rim: Uprising will at least be remembered as the movie that dethroned Black Panther after ruling the box office for five consecutive weeks. A short window, as Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated Ready Player One opened within the next week. This franchise-expanding sequel is by no means a bad movie - after all, if you're eager to see giant robots duke it out with huge monsters, that's ultimately how you'll measure the film's success - and I love my monsters and robots.

But know going in this is nowhere near the magic pulp explosion of the great Guillermo del Toro's original. While del Toro receives a producer credit (one of many), Pacific Rim: Uprising has little of his fervor and spark. Writer-director Steven S. DeNight cut his teeth in TV, largely as executive producer on Daredevil, Spartacus:War of the Damned, and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. So he's well-familiar with orchestrating mayhem, and Pacific Rim: Uprising is a great career stepping stone. It's very shrewdly aimed at the overseas box office, which is where the original made the lion's share of it's bank. The same things's clearly working here, so it's pretty certain the film will be seen as a success for DeKnight. He may not be Guillermo, but he's no slouch, and he's definitely a cat to watch.

But be advised, this Pacific Rim has a very different overall tone than the first film. John Boyega (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) stars as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character. But he's more of a rascal. He's had scrapes with the law, and his time at the Jaeger Academy flight school didn't go too well. Casting Boyega is another really smart move, as his charisma pretty much carries the picture. Co-star Scott Eastwood seems pretty lost in comparison. Boyega seems to be making sure every scene he's in has energy and fun. He's definitely the MVP here. Early on, Boyega's Jake Pentecost meets a young chipmunk-cheeked thief/salvager (Caileee Spaeny), who's so plucky she's managed to build her own Jaeger (!) out of spare parts that she's named (weary sigh) "Scrapper." Right there, that ought to tell you where we're heading, and who our core demographic is.

Because Pacific Rim: Uprising is basically a kid's movie. Of course Jake gets pulled back into duty at the Jaeger academy, and the young upstart-orphan Jaeger-maker goes along, too, where she joins a band of other young teens, training to be the next generation of Jaeger pilots. So there is a lot of teen acting going on here. At times, the film's tone feels more like a Disney Channel or Power Rangers episode. Nothing wrong with that, as you can actually feel pretty good sending your kids to see this one - it's just way less adult than the original.

Burn Gorman and Charlie Day reprise their scientist characters from the first film, and both do a great job, contributing to the surprise quotient of the film's plot, which is more unpredictable than you might expect. Cinematographer Dan Mindel (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) makes things look gritty and dynamic, and where a large percentage of the Kaiju-fighting chaos of the original was set at night, here much of the carnage and destruction is in broad daylight. The Jaeger and Kaiju designs are the real stars of this show, and they don't disappoint. You've got serious robot eye candy happening here. Though I did feel that here the Jaegers often move too fast and less realistically than they should. But, sequel - bigger, faster, yadda-yadda. The 3rd act finale sure doesn't disappoint. You want giant robots fighting colossal monsters, you've come to the right place. But if you're looking for more adult and intense monster mayhem, Kong: Skull Island is probably going to be more your cup of tea.

So grab the kids, and manage your expectations accordingly. But Pacific Rim: Uprising is definitely fun. And sometimes fun is enough. 

The Big Sick is the cure for what ails you

In an age where xenophobia and racism continue to climb up out of the mire, it can be easy to forget about the healing and connective power of love - of a romantic comedy. Well, of a romantic comedy with a medically-induced coma.

Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani doesn't just star in The Big Sick - and he didn't just co-write it, either. Along with his wife, writer Emily V. Gordon, they pretty much lived it. And as comedies go, it ought to be right up next to Lady Bird as one of the most refreshing and realistically hilarious movies in years.

Playing a character also called Kumail, who's deadpanning his way into a stand-up comedy career, Nanjiani is doing his act when a woman in the audience tries to get his attention. A whirlwind first night leads to cautious dating - very cautious on Kumail's part, forever dodging his Muslim parents' attempts to nudge him into an arranged marriage. Many of the delights of The Big Sick are best discovered unprepared, but the character of Emily (a delightful Zoe Kazan), does suddenly become very ill. Suddenly Kumail is dealing with Emily's parents, wonderfully played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano.

Director Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name is Doris) does a splendid job of staging small, intimate scenes between Emily and Kumail that feel natural and spontaneous. Kumail is a challenging guy, and part of the magic of The Big Sick is that their evolving relationship is so much smarter than the typical rom-com formula. They behave like real people, not formulaic "types." They screw up and make mistakes. They say the wrong things. And life's timing can be truly confounding.

Kumail Nanjiani is hilarious, and a real find. He does a fantastic job here, and it must have been incredibly challenging to write and perform a retelling of one of the most transformative periods of your own life. I loved how Kumail can't resist making comedy out of something, even in sometimes inopportune moments. The tone of The Big Sick isn't always rom-com either. These people went through a lot, and Hunter and Romano are wonderful as two parents dealing with their own problems, who are completely unsure of how to deal with Kumail's eccentric presence in their lives.

The Big Sick is refreshingly real and open at portraying family culture clash. There's virtually no exposition, and Kumail's dilemma of honoring his family while trying to stay true to his own life is something you don't have to be an immigrant to appreciate. Race may be a big deal when it comes to revealing your relationship to family, but between two people who are beginning to feel something together, not so much.

I should probably shut up, already. But see this movie. There's a reason Gordon and Nanjiani were nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The dialogue and characters here are fantastic, real gems. And the timing of a story that just realistically shows the angst of cultural differences amidst the normal uncertainty of dating, life and the unknown, is incredibly refreshing. These are the kinds of new voices we need in film, and watching The Big Sick was a great experience, and gave me a real dose of hope - take as often as needed. Available to stream on Amazon.

THE TERROR Takes Shape!

In 1845, British sea captain Sir John Franklin led two ships - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror - on a voyage of Arctic exploration, intending to divine the last unnavigated area of the Northwest Passage. The entire expedition was lost. Novelist Dan Simmons wrote a fictionalized telling of the mysterious events - The Terror - as Franklin and his starving crew are stalked across the Arctic by some kind of monster.

AMC unleashes The Terror as a new series premiering this Monday, March 26th. Executive Produced by Ridley Scott, The Terror stars Ciarán Hinds and Jared Harris.

Super excited for this one! Master and Commander meets The Thing? Have a look:

Black Panther’s Savage Box Office

Black Panther just got everybody's attention. If you haven't seen the latest Marvel Studios entry, you're truly missing out on both a tremendous entertainment, but also on a massive milestone that may well change the direction of action filmmaking.

Over the weekend, Black Panther was the number one film at the domestic box office for the 5th weekend in a row. That hasn't happened since Avatar, way back in 2009. Those two films, along with The Sixth Sense, are the only movies to win five consecutive weekends in the last nineteen years (Titanic ruled for fifteen straight weekends back in 1997). Do we have your attention yet? Its overall U.S. box office is now up to $605,027,218, and climbing. For perspective, Star Wars: The Last Jedi's domestic take was $619,791,373 - which means Panther will surely eclipse it by the end of the this weekend at the latest.

That's not just casual curiosity. For a film to earn those kind of numbers, you need to hit the trifecta: repeat business, diverse gender appeal, and families. Black Panther has transcended superhero hit to become a full-blown cultural phenomenon - and deservedly so. I'm thrilled to see it doing so well.

Gee, do you think there'll be a sequel? Well, before that happens, consider this: Fandango had reported that Black Panther had set the record for Marvel ticket pre-sales. Tickets for Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War just went on sale Friday, and pre-sales hurtled past Black Panther's record in just six hours. Six. Hours. Online ticket seller Atom Tickets believes Infinity War sold more tickets in its first pre-sale day than Black Panther did in its first month. Excited yet? Infinity War opens April 27th.

Marvel's gonna need a bigger bank. 

Darkest Hour: On the brink of the abyss

You might not know it (though your grandparents likely do), but there was a moment not that long ago where we almost lost democratic civilization. The absolute last hope to stave-off Nazi Germany was surrounded in a near hopeless corner, and had things gone just a little bit differently - had there been any lesser a degree of determination - of inspiration - all of Europe would have become the equivalent of the evil galactic Empire.

Joe Wright's utterly remarkable historical biopic of Winston Churchill's involvement at the fulcrum of history comes at a very interesting time. Just last summer we were spellbound by Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, and Netflix viewers have been held in rapt fascination by another take on these events in The Crown (which you should immediately binge-watch if you haven't already). So for some, this period of British history may seem familiar, but Joe Wright and screenwriter Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything) make it seem immediate, gripping and unpredictable.

Director Wright has spent time on the beach at Dunkirk before, as evidenced by the staggering five-minute tracking shot in his 2007 film Atonement. In Darkest Hour, we're seeing the forces that shaped the destinies of those at Dunkirk - the politicians and the generals, all of whom felt that it was likely only a matter of time before SS Storm-troopers were kicking in the door at Number 10 Downing Street. Grim doesn't begin to cover it.

Of course, Darkest Hour is anchored by the colossal central performance of Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. It's utterly fascinating to watch The Crown, where John Lithgow delivered an equally superb interpretation of the Prime Minister, and compare it to Oldman's work here. It's like seeing two master craftsmen's different takes on Hamlet or Lear. Each one is unique and fresh apart from the other, and both are simply hypnotic. Oldman is completely immersed in the character. His voice, his physicality - it's utterly remarkable. He's also abetted by what's likely to be considered the greatest prosthetic makeup work since the legendary Dick Smith, crafted by Kazuhiro Tsuji. Together, they create a truly unique and compellingly alive Churchill that will stand as one of the greatest historical depictions in modern cinema. Churchill is a flawed man, but more than that, he's willing to do what others simply don't have the spine for. He's not afraid to speak, and he's not afraid to be unliked.

Much of Churchill's power comes from his speechcraft, and Lily James (Cinderella) shines as his dedicated and beleaguered transcriber. The supporting cast is full of luminaries, including Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient), Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as King George IV, and Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones' Stannis Baratheon).

But Darkest Hour is all Oldman, all the time. It's such a simultaneously fierce and intimate performance - after a lifetime of showstoppers, it's wonderful to see Oldman being acknowledged for work that shows such range - an actor at the peak of his powers. He's just unforgettable here. A scene that finds Churchill trying to learn the will of the common Londoner had me nearly falling apart. Beautiful work by all involved. Special mention to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Amélie) for truly remarkable lighting amongst the hallowed corridors of power, that seems to take the iconic photography of the era and make it bloom in three dimensions. It's painterly work.

As outright dread looms ever-closer, Churchill faces a choice of negotiating "peace" with "Herr Hitler," or fighting on against impossible odds. Astonishing as it may seem, the stubbornness and will of one man, may have been the spark of inspiration that helped Europe find a way to change the dire course of history. As we look out into our own modern horizons, we can only hope there are still people like Churchill out there, who can recognize what's right and inspire others to push back. We're fortunate indeed to have artists like Gary Oldman and Joe Wright, to rouse audiences and kindle the lessons of history in new generations, who we hope won't have to endure such dark times.