The Quick and Dirties: Snow Days and Weekends

We haven't seen the insane amounts as other parts of the United States, but down here in the south east, we've had some snow of our own to contend with. This means I've had a number of days where I was stuck in the house with nothing to do. Of course, there's been some weekends in there, too. For me, that means lots of movies. Here are some of the ones I watched.

Coco

(2017)

Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) wants to be a famous musician when he grows up, like his hero Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). However, his family isn't exactly supportive of his dream. In fact, all music has been banned from his household. The rule was created long ago by his great-grandmother Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía) due to her husband left the family to pursue the same dream Miguel now has. Miguel wants to perform in a local talent show, but is in need of a guitar. He gets the bright idea to borrow the one from Ernesto de la Cruz's ofrenda. Next thing you know, Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead on Día de Muertos, not knowing how to get back to the Land of the Living. I had reservations going in to this because of the similarities to 2014's Book of Life, a film I enjoyed very much. They were quelled right away with an opening that ranks among Pixar's best. The film that follows is vibrant and engrossing. Miguel is a character we immediately root for and we really want to find out the full story behind the insanity of the music ban. It threatens to lose us when it appears to be becoming too predictable, but gives way to a nice twist that carries us through the spirited finale. Yeah, Pixar has hit another home run.

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

(2017)

After his friend and employer dies, lawyer/civil rights activist/rain man Roman J. Israel takes a job with a high-powered firm that doesn't necessarily share his values. Denzel Washington turns in a virtuoso performance that may well be one of his best. Roman is the character most opposite to Washington's screen persona. None of his trademark swagger is present within Roman yet he sinks right in making Roman a compelling figure. Unfortunately, the story doesn't come together quite like it should. The biggest anchor on this ship is the pacing. It runs a bit over two hours, could probably stand to lose twenty minutes to give this film some much-needed zip. The next problem is a shoehorned love story between Roman and Maya, played by a game (and always underrated) Carmen Ejogo. Finally, there's Colin Farrell practically sleepwalking through his role as Roman's new boss. Even with those issues, the film isn't as bad as many would have you believe thanks to Washington's outstanding work.

My Life as a Zucchini

(2016)

Icare (Gaspard Schlatter) is a little boy living with his perpetually inebriated mother who seemingly hasn't put the bottle down since her husband abandoned the family. One day, she goes on a drunken tirade. As a means of escape, Icare - who prefers to be called Zucchini - accidentally pushes her down the stairs and kills her. In short order, Zucchini finds himself in an orphanage, trying to get along with the other troubled kids there. This film takes some heavy topics and handles them with great care and maturity. However, this is no downer, and maintains the right amount of whimsy and youthful exuberance. In lieu of whiz-bang computer graphics, this is a stop-motion film, which bears mentioning because of how much love was obviously put into the making of this film. You can feel it in every frame and the screenplay never lets it down. It gives us humor, heart, and poignancy.

Peeping Tom

(1960)

By day, Mark (Carl Boehm) works on a film crew on a major production. He supplements his income by moonlighting as a photographer of dirty pictures. He has one other activity we must concern ourselves with. You see, he likes to kill women while filming them. Like most serial killers, especially in the movies, Mark is a socially awkward loner. Nonetheless, Helen (Anna Massey) takes a liking to him, unaware of his most nefarious activities, of course. Carl Boehm, as Mark, really makes this film. He makes the lead character one unsettling fellow. As his backstory unfolds, we develop some sympathy for him, but still keep him at arm's length. The effect is a rather interesting one. We become more aware of our own voyeurism as we're turned off by his. What the film lacks, however, is a character we like and care about. Helen is meant to be that person, but she comes off as pushy and manipulative. Therefore, we're never fully absorbed into the story. We're merely witnessing it through various stages of mortification. That may have been director Micheal Powell's intent, but it keeps us feeling out of the loop. Released the same year as the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho, the two films share a number of themes. Truth told, this film goes farther in establishing the tenets of the slasher genre, but Hitchcock's movie is the superior one. There are two reasons for this. Behind the camera, Hitchcock was a wizard and pulled us into the moment far better. The other reason is Psycho finds ways to make us care for one person or another while Peeping Tom never really manages that feat. It's still a fine movie, but misses on its chance to be great.

Neruda

(2016)

Legendary Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) was also a senator in his native country and he was staunchly and verbally opposed to the fascist rule of President Gabriel González Videla. Not surprisingly, a warrant is issued for Neruda's arrest. With the help of his supporters, he goes on the run while being pursued by the Chief of the Investigations Police of Chile Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal). This is based on a true story. The performances of Gnecco and Bernal carry the film and add to the natural intrigue of their cat-and-mouse. It is also a fantastic looking movie thanks to some outstanding cinematography from Sergio Armstrong. To that, add in a wonderful supporting turn by Mercedes Morán as Neruda's wife Delia and you get a film that's pretty hard to take your eyes off. My big issue with the film is that it desperately wants us to root for Neruda, but fails to make him likable. He comes off as selfish, and carelessly putting other people's lives in danger, while at the same time being a womanizer who has sex with everyone except his wife. I appreciated that the film doesn't worship him, but a little more on the positive side was needed for the film to extract the type of emotion it clearly wants from us.

Geostorm

(2017)

So global warming has finally reached critical mass and storms raged out of control. To combat this, Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) heads up a team of international scientists and they create "Dutch Boy," a satellite with the ability to zap large storms and immediately neutralize them, giving man control over the weather. As machines tend to do, Dutch Boy goes haywire and instead of stopping storms all over the world, it's creating them. If unchecked, a "Geostorm" will be created. Basically, this means storms will rapidly pop up and multiply until...well...we're screwed. It's up to Jake to get this thing figured out and save the day. This thing is beyond dumb from minute one. It makes zero sense, and doesn't even understand it's own premise. My evidence of that last claim is that the end of the movie merely puts us back where we were during the opening credits. The dialogue is a rip-off of about a thousand other disaster flicks, most notably Armageddon. And Gerard Butler Butlers it up with yet another of his hurry-up-and-cash-the-check performances. Nothing about this movie works at all...and I love every minute of it. It's so bad it's awesome!

Click here for more Quick and Dirties