2017 Oscar Nominations: La La, or Blah Blah?

The Oscar nominations are usually a pretty big deal in our house, but for the first time in quite a few years, the field has just failed to ignite much excitement.

 

I think a lot of it is the overall lack of more sprawling, epic films this year. Last season we had pictures like The Revenant, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Hateful Eight. This year, out of nine Best Picture nominees, only two have captured my attention so far – Arrival and Hell or High Water. I’m sure I’m going to love Fences, Hidden Figures, La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, et al – but none of them have so far captured my imagination enough to lure me out to the theater – a rare thing – and none of them are available on home video yet, with the exception of Hell or High Water. I have a feeling I’m not alone this year, and I think that Jimmy Kimmel and the gang might want to brace themselves for some lower-than-average ratings for the broadcast on Sunday, February 26th.

  

One thing for sure, it's going to be the longest, saddest "In Memorium" segment in broadcast history.

 

Of course, being a little less engaged than previous years isn’t keeping me from having opinions.

 

Arrival nabbed eight nominations, a really substantial number, and a bit of a rarity for science fiction films, including Denis Villeneuve for Best Director – but shockingly, Amy Adams did not receive recognition for her work and was overlooked for Best Actress. This is ludicrous, as Adams pretty much is Arrival. She’s in nearly every scene and is basically the heart and soul of the picture. A truly embarrassing omission.

 

It’s great to see Jeff Bridges get the Supporting Actor nod for Hell or High Water, but where’s Ben Foster’s nomination?! It’s some of his absolute best work. Likewise, Chris Pine still hasn’t received the recognition his craftsmanship deserves, especially here.

 

I’m thrilled to see Life Animated receive a nomination for Best Documentary Feature – it’s a tremendous, insightful and uplifting film about the human condition. It’s among some pretty tough competition this year, but wonderful to see it acknowledged. 

 

After last years’ #OscarSoWhite, it was a better year for African American actors, with a record seven nominations representing people of color being recognized across every acting category. Though several news outlets managed clumsily merge two of these films via “Hidden Fences,” a hasty amalgamation of Hidden Figures and Fences. Perhaps some stronger coffee and better editing?

                                

Cinematography is one of my personal favorite categories, as this is frankly, the very heart of cinema. Again, the field feels a little muted this year. While I still haven’t seen it, La La Land seems to be the favorite with 14 nominations, tying both Titanic and All About Eve, and it will likely take the category, with Arrival, Lion, Moonlight and Silence rounding out the category.

 

Interestingly, Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation, once considered the unstoppable front-runner, could not escape the revelations shadowing its star and director, failing to capture a single nomination. Meanwhile, Mel Gibson is officially back in the fold, with Hacksaw Ridge garnering both Best Picture and Best Director nominations.

 

The gown-shilling and lobbying is now officially underway. Here’s hoping this inspires me to make time to seek out some of these films and discover their magic before the big night. It’s always good to explore new films and fresh voices, and there’s undoubtedly an immeasurable mountain of craft and vision in these films. I’m looking forward to getting to know them and to kicking myself for waiting so long to do so.

 

Here’s the complete list of the nominees for you:

 

 Best picture:

"Arrival"

“Fences”

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“Hell or High Water”

“Hidden Figures”

“La La Land”

“Lion”

“Manchester by the Sea”

“Moonlight”

 

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Lead actress:

Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge"
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
 

Lead actress:

Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins"
 

Supporting actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Supporting actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best director:

“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle

"Hacksaw Ridge," Mel Gibson
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
“Arrival,” Denis Villeneuve

 Animated feature:

"Kubo and the Two Strings," Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner

“Moana,” John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
“My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras and Max Karli
“The Red Turtle,” Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
"Zootopia," Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

 Animated short:

“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev

“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Robert Valley and Cara Speller
“Pearl,” Patrick Osborne
“Piper,” Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Adapted screenplay:

“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer

“Fences,” August Wilson
“Hidden Figures,” Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
“Lion,” Luke Davies
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

 Original screenplay:

“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills

“Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“The Lobster,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan 

Cinematography:

“Arrival,” Bradford Young
“La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
“Lion,” Greig Fraser
“Moonlight,” James Laxton
“Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto

Best documentary feature:

“13th,” Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish

"Fire at Sea," Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
“I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck
“Life, Animated,” Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
“O.J.: Made in America,” Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow 
 

Best documentary short subject:
“4.1 Miles,” Daphne Matziaraki
“Extremis,” Dan Krauss
“Joe’s Violin,” Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
“Watani: My Homeland,” Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
“The White Helmets,” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best live action short film:

“Ennemis Interieurs,” Selim Azzazi

“La Femme et le TGV,” Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
“Silent Nights,” Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
“Sing,” Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
“Timecode,” Juanjo Gimenez

Best foreign language film:

"A Man Called Ove," Sweden

"Land of Mine," Denmark
“Tanna,” Australia
“The Salesman," Iran  
“Toni Erdmann,” Germany

Film editing:

“Arrival,” Joe Walker
"Hacksaw Ridge," John Gilbert
“Hell or High Water,” Jake Roberts
“La La Land,” Tom Cross
“Moonlight,” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Sound editing:

“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare

“Deep Water Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
"Hacksaw Ridge," Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound editing:

“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare

“Deep Water Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
"Hacksaw Ridge," Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound mixing:

“Arrival,” Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye                                                     

"Hacksaw Ridge," Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace           

“La La Land,” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow                                         

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson     

“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

Production design:

“Arrival,” Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
“Hail, Caesar!,” Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
“La La Land,” David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Passengers,” Guy Hendrix Dyas, Gene Serdena

Original score:

“Jackie,” Mica Levi

“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell
“Passengers," Thomas Newman
 

Original song:

“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls” — Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
“City of Stars,” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story” — Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana” — Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Makeup and hair:

“A Man Called Ove,” Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
"Star Trek Beyond," Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
“Suicide Squad,” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson

Costume design:
“Allied,” Joanna Johnston
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Colleen Atwood
"Florence Foster Jenkins," Consolata Boyle
“Jackie,” Madeline Fontaine
“La La Land,” Mary Zophres

Visual effects:

“Deepwater Horizon,” Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton     
“Doctor Strange,” Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould           
“The Jungle Book,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon

"Kubo and the Two Strings," Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
 

We have a title: "The Last Jedi"

"Luke, when gone am I...the last of the Jedi will you be."
                                         -Yoda, The Return of the Jedi

We have a title, and it's awesome - Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII will be titled The Last Jedi. That's a slightly ominous and attention-grabbing title, and I think it works wonderfully. It's got a definite Sergio Leone vibe to it - you can't help but picture hardened exile Luke Skywalker, his robot hand just itching to throw down some serious lightsaber smack on whoever disturbs his solitude.

It's also a title guaranteed to get us talking, because as we all know, "Jedi" is also plural, so The Last Jedi could easily refer to a small group of surviving Jedi Knights, or one lone Jedi who's determined to pass on what he knows to another, so no matter what, at least one Jedi will remain to be the keeper of the faith. None of this should come as any surprise, as the title phrase actually appeared quite prominently in the opening crawl of The Force Awakens: 

It's been a pretty downbeat, discouraging week over in our little corner of the galaxy, so today's news was frankly downright thrilling! It reminded me that yes, we do have more of these films to look forward to - to escape to - and sometime in the next month or so, odds are good we'll be getting our first look at a trailer. The first teaser for The Force Awakens dropped in November of the year prior to its release. So we're already past that timeline for The Last Jedi. We've got The Super Bowl coming up in a couple of weeks, so that just might be when we catch our very first glimpse.

I, for  one, can't wait!

2017 Movie Preview: Be the Year We All Need

That was a pretty brutal year. We lost more celebrities in 2016 than we can even process, from David Bowie to Carrie Fisher, and we discovered our eclectic little nation is more divided - and more racist - than most of us ever imagined. And no matter your politics or personal experience, it seems everyone I talk to couldn't wait to close the book on this year - despite how sobering and uncertain 2017 is looking. My guess is we're going to need our escapes more than ever - and movies are at least one thing that we can often come together over, and find some common ground. "You liked Rogue One? Hey! So did I!" And if the world does decide to give us a little too much of a wild ride again this year, you can bet we'll be clinging to the shared experience of retreating to the movies as a life preserver to help us get through it. 2016 wasn't all that generous, film-wise. While many of the bigger awards season favorites have yet to open wide, there were really only a handful of releases this year that truly got me fired up, including Finding Dory, Doctor Strange, Arrival, Rogue One and Hell or High Water. One thing's for sure, there are lot of potentially very exciting releases coming our way this year. I've narrowed it down to the top twenty films that have me most intrigued and likely to race out to the theater. Perceptions are bound to change, but these are the ones I'm most looking forward to, listed in order of their release. 

Logan - Hugh Jackman's final outing as Wolverine, once again directed by James Mangold (The Wolverine), tackles the fan-favorite Old Man Logan storyline. Logan's likely coming at us with an R rating and promises to go out with a bang, giving fans what they want. Nice use of Johnny Cash in the trailer - so why aren't I more confident?

Kong: Skull Island - The trailers look fantastic, and this iteration of Kong is enormous, dwarfing earlier versions. It's got a definite Apocalypse Now vibe, by way of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I love this kind of thing, so I'm definitely on board and ready to see Kong go ape.

Beauty and the Beast - Disney's been on a crazy roll, reimagining their catalog of animated classics into live action films (Cinderella, The Jungle Book). This one looks terrific, and expectations are high. This should be Emma Watson's big leap to adult roles, and Dan Stevens is a terrific, edgy actor. Director Bill Condon's big challenge? Getting audiences to buy the literalness of talking clocks and candlesticks from the whimsy of their animated ancestors. I think it's gonna be huge.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - And speaking of huge, there's these guys. Director James Gunn knocked the cover off the ball with the first Guardians, and audiences have been going nuts for the trailer. Disney and Marvel have redefined what success looks like, and Gunn is a massive fanboy himself, with a whip-smart sense of humor. Prepare to be very happy.

Alien: Covenant - Man, do some people really hate Prometheus - and I do not happen to be one of them. With all the fan sniping, I was surprised Ridley Scott would go back into the lion's den again, but I don't think anything scares Ridley. So hot off The Martian, he's openly embracing the connection to his 1979 masterwork. Fox bumped this sucker from August up to May, so they're likely very high on what they've got. Me, I can't wait!

Wonder Woman - The folks shepherding DC over at Warner Bros are also all too familiar with fan-spitting bile, having taken a massive pounding over Batman v Superman. But even those who pile on the film mostly agree that the character of Wonder Woman was a bright spot, and director Patty Jenkins' film looks absolutely amazing - and funny. If Wonder Woman kicks as much ass as it looks like it does and responds to criticism that the DC movies are too solemn and joyless, Gal Gadot should have a massive hit on her hands. I'm super excited for this one!

Spider-Man: Homecoming - The old web-head's brand has become a bit of a muddle since about 2004, but now Peter Parker has been folded into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, and based on his debut in Captain America: Civil War, it's going to be a good fit. Having Michael Keaton as the villainous Vulture feels like a cool move, too. Should be a massive July hit.

War for the Planet of the Apes - Director Matt Reeves is back (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), and the first two outings of this franchise have been excellent. Now we've got all-out war between Caesar and a military zealot played by Woody Harrelson, who seems like a rural militia Colonel Kurtz. Will we turn the corner into a new trilogy, in a future more like that of Dr. Zaius? Fingers tightly crossed.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Luc Besson returns to his Fifth Element mode, and while this could very well be another John Carter or Jupiter Ascending, I'm betting Besson blows our minds. It's a must-see visually, regardless. Dane DeHaan is a terrific actor, but we've also got Rutger Hauer and Clive Owen in this thing, too. Besson has made some visionary films and I'd love to be stunned by him here.

Dunkirk - Christopher Nolan does World War II. This is going to be insane. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance - this picture screams Oscar nominations, and there's every chance this is going to be Nolan's masterpiece. Chew on that.

The Dark Tower - This one's been a long time coming, daring to depict Stephen King's massive opus of the gunslinger and the man in black. I so, so want this to be the start of something major, to fulfill the surreal amazement that lives in these books. I want Idris Elba to make Roland his own character. But Matthew McConaughey worries me a bit. As awesome as he was in that first season of True Detective, he's become that ethereal Oldsmobile guy now. And to me, that guy ain't the Man in Black. But wild horses couldn't keep me from checking things out to see where they went with it.

Baby Driver - Are you kidding me?!?!? It's Edgar Wright, man!!! I'm all the hell over anything Edgar makes, and this is a crime thriller about a novice getaway driver. Mandatory.

IT - More Stephen King, daring to "reimagine" the iconic Pennywise the Clown. It's risky, but this is a phenomenally great story - if you've never actually read the book, oh, baby. Terror incarnate. I'm very open-minded and hope this one dares to go the distance and truly disturb.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle - The original Kingsman was wonderfully deranged, and director Matthew Vaughn is back, so expect gleefully stylish depravity. The biggest concern is how much of a role Colin Firth has, because he made that film. 

Blade Runner 2049 - Have we met? Then you know that Blade Runner is one of the Holiest of Holies, and I consider director Denis Villeneuve to be one of The Great living directors. Plus, they've got ROGER EFFING DEAKINS as cinematographer, the most visionary DP of all, along with original screenwriter Hampton Fancher. October can't get here soon enough. 

Thor: Ragnarok - There's that whole Fun Marvel thing again, and this one's going to be fantastic. Personally, I'm more excited about this than Spider-Man: Homecoming. It sounds like we're going to be diving into the legendary Planet Hulk storyline, which just screams mayhem. Plus the amazing Karl Urban has joined the show, and Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange is back, too. This is going to be a knockout, and I can't wait. 

Justice League - Like I said, Batman v Superman got a lot of hate. It also got $872 million, so consider that. I think Warner Bros wants to make good films here, and the early trailer they showed at Comic-Con sure seemed to signal that they'd heard fan's issues and were taking steps to address them, adding more humor. I'm definitely excited to see DC's version of The Avengers, and hope we get a story worthy of this massive team-up.

Murder on the Orient Express - I'm a great admirer of Kenneth Branagh, both as an actor and a director. He brings both talents to bear here, and an incredible cast including Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Judy Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer and Derek Jacobi. I'm drooling for this. 

Star Wars: Episode VIII - I mean, come on...the word on director Rian Johnson's screenplay is whispered awe, and I'm dying to spend a movie getting to know old man Luke. We know that Benicio Del Toro has joined the cast, as well as (rumored) Tom Hardy, so this is going to just floor us all. I don't know if my heart can stand it. 

The Six Billion Dollar Man - Now this has a December 22nd release date, but if I had to pick one of these films to get bumped to 2018, this is the one. Peter Berg is directing Mark Wahlberg as Steve Austin, but that's about all we know, and there' very little info about this picture yet. But I'm listing it here out of a combination of my affection for the old series, and the completely ludicrous shot this movie has of even vaguely resembling what inspired it. 


PHEW! I think I need a cold one, after that. Looking back at last year's preview, things didn't shake out too badly. There are always disappointments, and until that first wave of reviews hits, all you can do is keep your glass half full, and stay cautiously optimistic. So here's a half-full glass raised in your direction - may most of these films fulfill their promise and give us the escape, wonder, and insight that we all truly need and depend on from our time hunkered together in the dark. 

Hell or High Water - Love Letter to a Throwback

When you think of seventies cinema, there are certain films that help define the era by their sheer rebelliousness - Badlands, Mean Streets, Dog Day Afternoon, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Last Picture Show - films where authority was not only distrusted, but where the law was a gray area you punched through when you'd been pushed too far by those in control. It was an amazing era, and those fond of it often wonder if films of that stripe would ever come again.

Make no mistake, Hell or High Water is one of the best American films of the year, and if you missed it in theaters, it’s on home video now, so do not let this amazing slice of adult awesomeness slip through your fingers. If there’s any justice, it’s a Best Picture nominee, hands down. 

Set in modern-day Texas, Hell or High Water grows out of the dust of the Western outlaw genre. Two brothers, Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby (Chris Pine) are starting up a string of low-rent bank robberies across small towns in west Texas. They don’t seem to know what the hell they’re doing. All they know is that they need to raise enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing on the family ranch – and while these two are breaking the law, the real villains in Hell or High Water are the banks. Banks who offer to “help” struggling farmers with a reverse mortgage, knowing they’ll never be able to get square, cross-hairs set the entire time on getting their land – period.

Focusing purely on smaller, untraceable bills, the brothers’ activity soon draws the attention of the Texas Rangers, led by Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges). Bridges is on the cusp of retirement, and where lesser men would avoid being drawn in, Bridges' measured, irascible curiosity can’t leave anything alone, especially a very specific, modest crime wave that seems to be following a careful recipe. Bridges and his partner (Gil Birmingham) have a great dynamic, where annoyance and fondness have blurred into a begrudging co-dependence. 

Ben Foster’s long been a live-wire supporting actor doing amazing work in film and TV, from Six Feet Under, 3:10 to Yuma, Thirty Days of Night to The Messenger. He’s an electric, uncontained presence, and he nabs a role here that really lets him step forward in a terrific character dynamic with the always reliable Pine. These are two fantastic actors who play a complex sibling relationship. They’re at opposite ends of a moral spectrum, but when push comes to shove, they’ll each draw cards from the others’ deck as the situation demands.

Directed by David Mackenzie and written by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario), Hell or High Water has the same fondness for character, realism and dialogue that would make Elmore Leonard proud. Indeed, if you’re at all a Leonard fan, Hell or High Water is bound to have roped your attention by now. The tone and sense of place evokes films like Lone Star and No Country for Old Men. In this new west, outlaws still brandish iron, but as much of modern America has come to learn, when the adversaries are financial institutions, patience and planning are likely to trump good aim every time. Very highly recommended. 

Blast from the Past: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

 

SPOILER-WARNING: DO NOT PROCEED until you’ve actually seen Rogue One... 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any doubts that Disney could find an audience for stand-alone Star Wars films that don’t directly involve Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Knights were obliterated in a massive box office blast crater this weekend, as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story took in a massive $155 million in domestic sales.

 

Now I wear my heart on my sleeve – lifelong Star Wars fan, and my expectations here were super high. Rogue One has wildly surpassed them. In many ways, this is the first Star Wars movie aimed squarely at grown-ups. We’ve all heard the pitch – this is the story of how the Rebel Alliance got ahold of the plans to the Death Star that R2-D2’s carrying in the original film. And while we know where things are going, that in no way lessens the suspense of how we get there. Godzilla director Gareth Edwards has directed a simply phenomenal, thrill-packed entry to the Star Wars franchise, that easily ranks among the series’ best. That’s right – it’s as entertaining and gripping as The Empire Strikes Back or The Force Awakens. Rogue One is a war movie, a sci-fi Guns of Navarone or Where Eagles Dare. There’s not a lot of cute in the picture, and the stakes are high. The one child is glimpsed in the film’s prologue, heroine Jyn Erso, seen as a young girl, when agents of the Empire come to take away her father (Mads Mikkelsen), the scientist necessary to complete construction of the Death Star. 

 

Jyn Grows up to be a headstrong insurgent, played by Felicity Jones. Jones is in nearly every scene, and she does a great job of carrying the film and making Jyn a compelling character. Alongside Force Awakens’ Rey (Daisy Ridley), Lucasfilm is going out of their way to provide young moviegoers with strong female role models who drive the action, and aren’t just along for the ride. The Rebel Alliance figures out who Jyn is, and sees her value as a means to get to her father. The Rebels (lead by Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor) are a murkier group here, who aren’t above taking extreme measures to serve the greater good. Jyn and Cassian are part of a Dirty Dozen band of warriors who are all terrific characters. Donnie Yen is a real standout as a blind follower of the Force from the Zatoichi school, whose cheerful serenity doesn’t impede his ability to knock the tar out of a squad of Stormtroopers. Destined for classic character status, reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (motion-captured and voiced by Alan Tudyk) is outright phenomenal. Towering and intimidating, he’s like a cynical, uncensored C-3PO, and is 100% convincing and captivating.

 

Let’s talk Imperials: As the military project manager responsible for the Death Star’s completion, Ben Mendelsohn is an exceptional bad guy, desperate to be appreciated by those he answers to, including a couple of major players from Star Wars’ inception. We’re talking about events on the Death Star, so we all figured there’d have to be some kind of glimpse of Grand Moff Tarkin, despite the fact that actor Peter Cushing died in 1994. I was expecting a brief cameo, at best – so nothing prepared me for Tarkin appearing as a pretty major supporting character! While it’s bound to generate controversy, the combination of digital effects and the work of actor Guy Henry is flabbergasting. I’ve heard some wags take issue with the character’s rendering, but I strongly disagree – Tarkin’s a favorite, and Henry’s diction and delivery – the facial expressions, his insidious contempt – all eerily evoked Cushing incredibly well. I felt positively gleeful every time he appeared onscreen. Say what you will, it’s an amazing achievement.

 

Then there’s Vader. James Earl Jones is still very much alive, and to have Darth Vader back in a new Star Wars film is…is exhilerating! I don’t want to give too much away, but if you were expecting Vader to just glower through a scene or two making fists, think again. Vader is very much an active antagonist, and we see him join the fray like we simply never have before – and it’s chilling. 

 

There are plenty of surprises throughout Rogue One that are guaranteed to delight fans, but like The Force Awakens, the new characters are engaging and welcome additions. Wen Jiang, and Riz Ahmed round out the rebel squad, and Forest Whitaker is sensational as legendary insurgent Saw Gerrera. He’s been fighting the Empire all his life, and it’s taken its toll, like a crazy cross between Eli Wallach and Richard Roundtree. Special shout-out to Mads Mikkelsen as Jyn’s father. Mikkelsen has seemed sleepy and detached sometimes to me, but not here. I found him complicated and sympathetic and it’s some of his best work. I really liked him here. 

 

Yes, there’s a lot of digital work going on in Rogue One, but I found it all done with great skill, and always, always in service to the script. Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy have combined their talents to deliver some top-notch storytelling. Things people have sometimes carped on from the original Star Wars now have a deliberate purpose. That weakness in the Death Star? It’s there for a reason, and that somehow makes it that much more incredibly cool. Parents of younger children might want to think twice with Rogue One, as this is a War Movie, and there’s way more shooting and loss than they might be used to in the less combat-driven saga installments. There’s also a lot more slowed-down conversation, as characters talk about the stakes and choices at hand. Youngsters may fidget. 

 

But hands down, this is a tremendous Star Wars film. It’s busting at the seams with thrills and action, with awe and ideals, and it screams repeat-viewing like few films I’ve seen lately. It should easily give Force Awakens a run for its money, as the audience I saw it with had plenty of three-generation family attendees. It’s definitely more adult, but it never stops being fun, and Rogue One is simply one of the most entertaining films of the year.

 

Arrival is Top Shelf Sci-Fi with Brains

Fear of the unknown. The impulse responsible for more of our behaviors - both good and bad - than nearly any other aspect of the human condition. It practically defines us. So when a dozen colossal spaceships appear at various points across the globe with no explanation, how do we react?

Arrival is the anti-Independence Day. It spoils nothing to say that there are no colossal battles or CGI annihilated cities in Arrival. It joins the short list of science fiction films like Close Encounters and Interstellar aimed squarely at adults, that stays smart and uses the tropes of the genre to say more about the nature of mankind, than about the nature of alien life. This will be a pretty short review, as the less you read about Arrival before you see it, the better. Amy Adams is Dr. Louise Banks, a university linguist recruited by the government to try and find a way of communicating with our mysterious visitors, in hopes of cracking the big question - why are they here? 

Written by Eric Heisserer (from a story by Ted Chiang) and directed by the great Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario), Arrival is a breath of fresh air on so many levels. Example: there's a lot of tech on display in the military command center beneath the ship, but for once we're not inundated with electronic product placement - there's no jarring close-up screaming "CISCO" or "NOKIA." Arrival also steers away from the trend of CNN-branded faux newscasts with real-life anchor cameos, which always seem to lessen the feeling of realism, rather than increase it. Villeneuve has become such an accomplished filmmaker, I'm frankly giddy knowing he's the guy directing next year's Blade Runner 2049. Are we ever in good hands.

Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker are both terrific here, but this is all Amy Adams, who's in nearly every scene and delivers a nuanced, at times heartbreaking performance. It's so refreshing to see a realistic adult female character who's not dependent on men or approval or who's a prisoner of her emotions. I suspect audiences are going to welcome her character and the rich emotional storytelling of Arrival with open arms. Very highly recommended.

In Through the Out Door: Doctor Strange Will See You Now

It was a hard trick to pull off, but once again, Marvel’s done it. After the nuts and bolts success of Captain America: Civil War, adapting the more mystical and esoteric story of Doctor Strange could have gone wrong and felt tone-deaf any number of ways. You think Thor is psychedelic and astral! But there are two things Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige always seems to excel at: hammering the story into shape, and casting. And with Doctor Strange, Marvel has delivered one of their most unique and satisfying films yet.

Created by Steve Ditko in 1963, Stephen Strange is a brilliant neurosurgeon who rivals Iron Man’s Tony Stark in the arrogance department. When a devastating car accident turns his surgeon’s hands into mangled pulp, Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) embarks on a quest to find the rumored healing knowledge that can restore his defining abilities, the spark that lets his narcissistic ego blaze brightly. Without the power (and vanity) of his peerless skills, he has no idea who he really is.

His journey takes him to the Himalayan temple of Kamar-Taj, a remote sanctuary where Strange hopes to find the secrets necessary to restore himself. What he finds there is much, much more. He becomes a pupil of The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), an ageless Master of the mystic arts from whom Strange learns more about the cosmos – and himself – than he ever dared imagine. Swinton’s casting was pretty controversial. The Ancient One was always Asian in the comics - so whitewashing accusations flew fast and furious. But I have to say, I think it’s an effective choice. If they’d kept the character Asian, I think we’d have another hoary Pai Mei/Master Po stereotype, and Swinton is just superb here, making The Ancient One a being who seems to transcend age, race or gender. It’s a cool choice and it works. Her scenes with Cumberbatch are tremendous, and a sequence where she essentially pulls back the curtain on the universe to Strange, sending his consciousness reeling, is a fantasy tour de force. I saw Doctor Strange in 2-D, and for the first time in ages, I found myself thinking that this just might be a film actually worth seeking out in 3-D.

Massive credit has to go to director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil), whose horror pedigree brings a real sense of atmospheric “otherness” that gives Doctor Strange a unique flavor that really does make it seem a few degrees from normal within the Marvel Universe. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s fantastic to see that Feige has the confidence and scope to have different tones and styles that make up this massive tapestry. Screenwriter Jon Spaihts (with Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill) has done a fantastic job of keeping Strange clever and full of wit, without ever seeming snarky or aloof. It’s a smart adaptation, but it’s always fun, which isn’t easy to pull off. A sequence where Strange lies dying in an operating theater, while his disembodied spectral self does battle with an ethereal foe is an imaginative, nail-biting crowd-pleaser. Cumberbatch is a perfect embodiment of the character, detached and severe at times, but never insufferable.  As the villainous Kaecilius, Mads Mikkelsen is threatening, but a bit too mellow and low energy. Guardians’ Ronan (Lee Pace) is an erupting volcano in comparison. Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benjamin Bratt and Benedict Wong are all great additions to the cast. Bratt is particularly cool.

I won’t spoil the plot or surprises of Doctor Strange, but fans of the comic are going to find themselves thoroughly satisfied, and audiences hungry for something fresh, smart and engaging are going to have a fantastic time. Like any Marvel saga, stay all the way through the end credits, for more than one bonus scene. I loved Doctor Strange, and my hunch is you'll be looking for a red cape of your own once you've seen it.