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.

The tarnished blades of I, Tonya

There's famous, and then there's infamous. And here in the Pacific Northwest, Tonya Harding is about as infamous as it gets. Local darling turned Olympian, her implicit guilt in the competitive kneecapping of rival skater Nancy Kerrigan put her on the same shelf as O.J. - amoral pioneers of the era of reality T.V. culture.

Director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, The Finest Hours) and writer Steven Rogers (Kate & Leopold) give us a take on Harding's rise and fall that as the title suggests, is told from her somewhat tunnel-vision perspective of someone who defaults to seeing themselves as the victim. After all, as shown here, Tonya (Margot Robbie) has been a magnet for abuse her entire life. Gillespie's tone is wry and full of winking at the rednecks irony - aren't they funny!? He works a similar side of the street as the Coen brothers in Fargo, seeming to appreciate the uniqueness of blue collar characters while simultaneously having fun at their clueless expense. It doesn't always go over well, and it can be tempting to let slide amidst the incredible early-nineties period detail, eyebrow-raising wardrobe and killer soundtrack that Gillespie weaves together. His filmmaking skill is stellar, and his teamwork with cinematographer Nicholas Karakatsanis and editor Tatiana S. Riegel jerks and hurtles through the ice rinks and double-wides of Harding's life like Henry Hill meets Appalachia. I'm betting Craig Gillespie is a big fan of Boogie Nights.

But Margot Robbie is just sensational here. Her Tonya Harding evolves from near child to flinty hard-case throughout the film, and she's in damn near every scene. It's an incredible performance, emotionally and physically, and this should catapult her to the front of the line (sorry, Jennifer Lawrence) for roles. She endures so much abuse from those close to her, when things finally go south, she's been reflexively programmed to feel like she's always the victim, how can she have any other response to events? Allison Janney is terrific as the stage-mom from hell, LaVona. It's a wildly over-the-top theatrical performance, with Janney wearing a Moe Howard bowl cut, oversized eyeglasses, draped in faux fur and perpetually chain-smoking. She's venal, violent and obscene, spewing horrifics to the human impediments foolish enough to linger in her wake.

It's wild to see Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier!) as Harding's brutal blank-slate of a boyfriend/husband. With his Republican crew cut and "unfortunate" mustache, "Jeff Gillooly" turns from soft-spoken hapless innocent to aspiring Svengali quicker than Harding can execute a Triple Axel. Stan is always terrific to watch, and he makes the most of Gillooly's ambitious frustrations. Huge kudos to Paul Walter Hauser, who's disturbingly convincing as Jeff's impulsively deluded co-enabler, Shawn Eckardt.

I don't really imagine Gillespie and Rogers think that Tonya Harding is blameless. But the conceit is their telling this story through her lens. It's a crazy mistake to think Harding is any kind of blameless heroine. Having seen this story play out locally, nobody here's going to feel very sorry for her. But what Margot Robbie makes resonate is the pain of a cultural class divide that's willing to dismiss her talent and athleticism because she lacks the breeding and image that the sport depends on. That "You don't belong here" sting is something we can all feel sympathy for, though it doesn't excuse what happened. But it does make you wish that somehow, her spirit and guts can find a way to help her avoid the train-wreck that we all know is coming.

Three Billboards and the pain of absent justice

Next up in our Oscar-palooza is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Near a small rural town, a grieving mother pays to have a trio of road signs read, "Raped While Dying," "And Still No Arrests," and "How Come, Chief Willoughby?" It's an act meant to provoke and get a reaction, and does it ever. Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) has lost her daughter to a horrific act of violence and nothing's being done. You don't just "move on" from something like that, and as the top law enforcement officer in the area, Mildred holds Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) accountable.

You just don't do that kind of thing in a small town. You fit in and you play ball - at least, you're expected to. But Mildred knows she's got more than the usual amount of leeway as a grieving parent, and she's not the type of personality who just goes along to get along. Not by a long shot.

While Three Billboards doesn't declare itself as "based on a true story," it was inspired by one. Director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) saw similar signs while on a cross-country road trip, placed outside of Vidor, Texas by the Fulton family. They stuck with him, and in our #MeToo era where too often women face an uphill climb for justice, the story resonates all too well.

Things are complicated by the Chief's second-in-command, a violent racist played by the superb Sam Rockwell, and by Willoughby's own personal secrets. I won't say more about the plot, as McDonagh's written a terrific script with excellent characters. Mildred is a challenging personality to begin with, but her grief and anger are driving her to extremes. McDormand does some of her absolute best work here, which is saying something. Rockwell is always a fantastic presence and he's superb here. The character is hateful and violent, yet like Game of Thrones' Jaime Lannister, you find your feelings towards him changing, at times very surprisingly. But I really felt it's Harrelson who impacted me the most. Willoughby is beautifully written and the humanity Harrelson brings to his work here is really something. Zeljko Ivanek, John Hawkes and Peter Dinklage all turn in terrific supporting performances as well.

As harsh as the plot is, there's a lot of dark comedy as well that's generally very well done. Though Three Billboards also joins the increasingly long list of films that painfully insists on using the R-word, thinking they somehow get a pass because they have an ignorant rural character say it, and that somehow that "realism" justifies its use. You're not doing anyone any favors, but perpetuating a hurtful stigma that just continues being repeated thanks to your exposure.

For me, the ending of Three Billboards is where it felt least like a true story, and more like narrative artifice, though I think I'm warming up to it. At the end of the day, Three Billboards is overall a tremendous film about loss and pain and anger, and what can happen when the emotions from both sides collide - and maybe even briefly see each others' point of view.

Lady Bird spreads her delightful wings

Did a fair amount of last minute homework prior to the Oscars this year, and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird was one of my most pleasing discoveries. This completely engaging and very personal-feeling coming-of -age story about a young girl’s senior year in Sacramento, California paints a truly superb portrait of someone on the cusp of adulthood desperately trying to break free of the confines of their present and launch themselves into their passionately imagined future. Saoirse Ronan is the oddly named Lady Bird (“It’s my given name, I gave it to myself!”), navigating the constraints of a Catholic school, fledgling boyfriends and a protective mother (a phenomenal Laurie Metcalf). 

Lady Bird does things you seldom see in American films: its protagonists aren’t rich. They’re realistically doing their best to get by, with the idea of affording a long-distance college seemingly insurmountable. Parents have to tell their kids “We don’t need to buy that,” in stores. Lady Bird also gives us an extremely believable (and sometimes flawed) main character who is instantly relatable – the pangs of yearning, of longing for more, of the need for greater prospects, are depicted all too well. It also actually gives us characters who fight and rage, without completely losing sight of the fact that they love each other – but who are ruled by emotion and the call of the horizon.

Laurie Metcalf’s Marion is one of my favorite performances of the year, and I really wish she hadn’t lost out on best supporting actress to Allison Janney’s showier role in I, Tonya. Don’t get me wrong, Janney is awesome – but that character is pretty over-the-top compared to the quieter and more real-world frustrations and sacrifices that Metcalf portrays. That holding onto a relationship with a spirited teenager can be an Olympic-level challenge at times. 

Gerwig does remarkable work as a director, with a story that one suspects has a fair amount of autobiographical shading (Gerwig is also from Sacramento with a nurse mother and a financial consultant/programmer father – and also went to Catholic school). The tone swings between both Juno and Napoleon Dynamite, but always feels unique and refreshingly truthful. I found myself pining right alongside Lady Bird, for her dreams to see light, for her to be understood – but also for the all too often underappreciated heroics of parenting. Either way, you’re going to care mightily – Lady Bird is a picture with tremendous heart.