The Length of Love (The Book of Life, 2014)

La Muerta rules over the joyful Land of the Remembered, while Xibalba rules over the Land of the Forgotten. He tries to convince La Muerta to change sides, but she is not interested. He proposes a wager. Observing the rivalry of two young boys (Manolo and Joaquin) over their friend Maria, each god chooses a boy as the one who will marry Maria.

La Muerta disguises herself as an old woman who asks if Manolo might give her a piece of bread. Instead he generously offers a full loaf. Xibalba tries the same thing, but Joaquin is not so giving. Maria is sent off by her father, returning years later. Sensing Maria is favoring Manolo, Xibalba tricks Manolo into giving up his life.

In the afterlife, Manolo discovers he has been duped and seeks the help of La Muerta.

The design of this film is remarkably charming. The framing device is that a museum tour guide is telling the story, and all the characters look like wooden puppets.

The Land of the Dead is a wonderfully bright and colorful world. The characters are full of charm. La Muerta is a kind and gentle, yet fearless goddess. Xibalba on the other hand is both scheming and yet friendly (he is voiced by Ron Perlman, whose performance is just a lot of fun). And while the story frames Manolo as a kind and generous artist and Joaquin as a cheerful braggart? Joaquin is not a villain. The story is pitting the two against each other, and it obviously favors Manolo as the man for Maria. But Joaquin is seen as simply misguided and in need of a lesson. The film has sympathy for him. And then there is Maria. She is not interested in belonging to anyone and regularly challenges her two friends. And there is Chuy the pig who makes a sound like a goat.

The music of the Book of Life blends American Pop music with latin flavors to great effect. But the highlight are the two original tunes I Love You To Much and the Apology Song.

The Book of Life is a charming fairy tale of love, loss and rebirth.

March 6, 2018 0

Go Ahead and Jump (22 Jump Street, 2014)

After the success of the first film, a second was pretty much inevitable. And so Jenko and Schmidt are on a new mission that goes hilariously awry. This leads into the running gag of the film.

Sequels are soulless cash grabs, which admittedly, they often are. Here, they are told they screwed up the mission and it was just to different. They are sent to the new Jumpstreet. 22 Jump Street to be exact. It has a bigger budget, is in a new location and so on. Same boss, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) with the same attitude.

They send the boys on a new undercover job at a college to bust a drug ring…you know…like the first movie.

The end result is a movie that manages to live up to it’s successor. What really works, yet again, is the chemistry of Tatum and Hill’s characters. As college relationships seem to pull them apart, they start to fail at their mission. It is only their realization that it is their differences that make them a great team that they can solve the mysteries of the drug ring.

Schmidt meets a girl, Jenko meets a boy and friendships drift apart. There is a gay subtext to the relationship of Schmidt and Jenko, but surprisingly, it is not of the “Eeee!” kind of attitude so frequent in “bro-comedies”. There is even a brief scene were Jenko expresses remorse upon realizing how many gay slurs he used to use in high school.

I was skeptical when they announced the first film…by the end of the second one, I was more than willing for another round.

The end credits are must watch. I was in tears with the running gag of the endless sequels and merchandising. Though, the fact that there is a 21 Jump Street/Men in Black crossover makes the gag a bit ironic.

September 6, 2017 0

Might As Well Jump (21 Jump Street, 2012)

A trend began in the early 2000’s of making movies based on dramatic action shows from the 70’s and 80’s, but treating them as a joke. This has had…decidedly mixed results.

21 Jump Street was part of the line-up of a upstart new network called Fox. It was the story of a division of young cops who would go into schools undercover, posing as students, to bust drug dealers and the like. The show’s biggest claim to fame was that it introduced Johnny Depp to the world.

In the film, we meet loser Schmidt (Jonah Hill) who has a humiliating day at school. He is rejected by a girl and pushed around by his bully Jenko (Channing Tatum) . Except, Jenko is having his own trouble…his grades are so bad, he is not going to be allowed to go to prom. A few years later they are both at the police academy. At first, Jenko resumes his role as bully, but they quickly realize both can help each other get through. As Jenko helps Schmidt with the physical tests, Schmidt helps Jenko pass the mental ones.

They are disappointed to discover their first gig is as bike cops in a park. But an ill fated drug bust leads them to Jump Street, an old program that is being revived. They are sent into a high school to determine who is selling a new and dangerous drug.

The story is not entirely fresh, and yet, this is kind of the point. The filmmakers are seeking to have some fun with both cop and action film tropes. This leads to a lot of entertaining visual gags. The drug ring is run by hip and socially conscious kids. When Jenko tries mocking kids for being concerned about the environment, he is informed that this is just so uncool. In fact, the two friends find their social heirchy inverted. On top of that, they confuse who is which undercover character, forcing both into roles outside their comfort zone.

21 Jump Street is not an outright parody of it’s namesake. It is set in the same universe as the show (with original actors reprising roles from the TV Show), but it sees some of the absurdity in the concept. And it plays with the conventions pretty well (including the very problematic area of the “Inappropriate Love Interest”).

What really holds the film together though is Hill and Tatum. They are a genuinely enjoyable combo with a friendship that is a bit endearing. The action scenes are well choreographed. And, important to any action comedy film? The action and jokes do not step on each other, so to speak. 21 Jump Street is a pleasant surprise, with it’s combination of humor and enjoyable characters.

September 5, 2017 0

Curses (Logan Lucky, 2017)

Steven Soderbergh retired from directing in 2013. He directed multiple episodes of the Knick after that. He has three more films in the pipeline after this years Logan Lucky. The guy sucks at retirement.

But that is okay for me. Logan Lucky is about Jimmy Logan…should have been football star who hurt his knee and went on to live the blue-collar life in West Virginia. His brother, a one armed bar tender and vet Clyde, believes the Logan family is cursed. Tragedy follows the family everywhere. When he loses his job, Jimmy is desperate to find money to improve his situation. His ex wife plans to move with her husband and take their daughter with them. And this leads us to the heist at a race track on race day.

Like a blue-collar Ocean’s 11, Jimmy (along with Clyde and their sister Mellie) recruits Jimmy Bang (who in turn has them recruit his brothers) an explosives expert. The plan is elaborate, and you almost wonder if the kind but somewhat simple Jimmy can manage it. And here is the weird rub of heist films, for me.

I do not endorse robbing people. I do not believe it is okay to come up with big heists. But I sure do love a heist movie…watching the plan come together, watching the plan get executed…and the inevitable reveals of the stuff I missed.

And Logan Lucky does not disappoint there. It is charming and funny. Part of this is in the cast. Channing Tatum has been one of those guys who I under-estimated. As Jimmy Logan, he is soft spoken and gentle, but not afraid of a fight. And Adam Driver’s Clyde is somewhat heart breaking yet endearing. Riley Keough is the fast driving Mellie…and then there is Joe Bang…played to great comic effect by Daniel Craig. Oh yeah… Farrah McKenzie as Sadie Logan? Adorable little kid.

For the most part, the film loves these characters…the only characters that feel a little to over the top and cartoonish? Fish and Sam Bang…but even they have their moments. Logan Lucky was a lot of fun and even had a few moments that made me tear up. It plays out very in a very satisfying fashion.

The New York Post claims this film does not “get Trumpland”…but frankly? Why should a person who just enjoys a fun movie care about that?

August 27, 2017 0