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Geekscape Movie Reviews: The Revenant

by MCDaveDecember 24, 2015

Last year’s Best Picture winner, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman, amazed audiences with its single-shot appearance and paved the way for the director’s next project. Even though the Mexican filmmaker has successfully lured impressive acting talent to his highly regarded past works, The Revenant has always been different, it’s supposed to be “the one”. With the Oscar-less Leonardo DiCaprio set to star in the role of a lifetime as he rides the wave of Inarritu’s recent success, all eyes have shifted to their upcoming collaborative effort.

Set throughout a massive uncharted American wilderness during the 1820s, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as famed explorer, Hugh Glass. Following a viscous grisly bear attack that leaves him fighting for his life, Glass is abandoned and left for dead by fellow frontiersman, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Against all odds, Glass is forced to withstand blistering winter conditions as he embarks on a vengeful quest to find and kill Fitzgerald.

The Revenant is a relentless survivor tale that motions fluidly between an intense drama and a visceral revenge thriller. Despite all the attention placed on Leonardo DiCaprio’s leading performance, it’s Inarritu’s direction that shines brightest. Unlike his fine technical achievements in Birdman, Inarritu slightly tones down his flashy filmmaking skills and utilizes them solely as a complement to Hugh Glass’ remarkable true story. This naturally brings us to DiCaprio. Although I’d argue against this being the finest work of his career, the performance still warrants global attention and I do believe that he’ll win his first statue on Oscar night in February. Sometimes the stars just need to align and DiCaprio’s exceptional turn is further elevated by surprisingly weak competition within the Best Actor race. Don’t be fooled, however, The Revenant is more than a one man show. The entire ensemble is worthy of immense praise and that includes each of Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter and the rest of the film’s brilliant cast.

While The Revenant is an epic story of one man’s staunch pursuit of revenge that exceeds Inarritu’s previous Best Picture winner, it still fails to mask a few noticeable shortcomings. First, the film packs an immediate punch and culminates with a phenomenal climactic finish. Yet, the second act of Inarritu’s Oscar contender trudges along aimlessly with a Terrence Malick-like sense of artistry that keeps the plot at a standstill. Despite being existential and filled with marvelous imagery, this two and a half hour feature suffers from a sluggish midsection. Furthermore, The Revenant‘s continual reliance on violence and brutality stays loyal to the main theme of the film, but it will undoubtedly repel a large faction of moviegoers and Academy members. Therefore, I see The Revenant as a major Oscar player but an unlikely choice for back-to-back Best Picture winners from Inarritu.

As someone who enjoyed Birdman for its exquisite direction and not as much for its middling story, I had a few reservations regarding Alejandro G. Inarritu’s latest offering. However, The Revenant surpasses last year’s top-honored film in both style and substance. The feature doesn’t boast a high re-watch factor, but it still manages to set itself apart as an instant classic from one of Hollywood’s most talented visionaries. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to get Leo that well-deserved Oscar win.

GRADE: 4/5

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Geekscape Movie Reviews: Spotlight

by MCDaveNovember 11, 2015

I’ve always revered the overlooked work of screenwriter and director Tom McCarthy. More respected for his earnest screenplays filled with wonderful character development and light-hearted comedy, McCarthy quickly hops into the directors chair once again following a critical bashing of his previous well-documented dud, The Cobbler. But despite McCarthy’s recent poor showing, he bounces back in notable form – as you would expect from any artist and visionary with his talents – delivering one of 2015’s hottest titles, Spotlight.

When Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) is hired as the new editor of The Boston Globe in 2001, he assigns the paper’s finest team of investigators (known as Spotlight) to look into a surprisingly disregarded case of sexual abuse allegations against a local Catholic priest. And as Spotlight digs deeper into the facts, they begin to uncover a massive conspiracy by the church to cover-up decades of known misconduct. But with the powerful institution pulling strings throughout the entire city of Boston, unveiling this shocking true story proves to be mighty difficult task.

Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight unravels as one of the most compelling investigative dramas in decades. Tied to a national story that strikes a nerve in all of us, this entertaining fact-based tale commands the audience’s attention with elite acting from its entire cast. Michael Keaton follows up his Oscar Nominated turn in last year’s Birdman with another upper echelon performance that should return him to the big dance. Keaton not only finds stiff competition in the Supporting Actor race from Bridge of Spies’ Mark Rylance, co-star Mark Ruffalo could quite possibly give Spotlight the first pair of actors nominated in the same category since Bugsy‘s Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley accomplished the rare feat in 1991. And while critics and insiders have touted Keaton’s performance, there are moments throughout the film when the excellence of Mark Ruffalo dwarfs his co-star by comparison. In addition, Stanley Tucci continues to impress as one of the best character actors in the business. Spotlight‘s perfect blend of a hard-hitting story and an unmatched ensemble leave the film as a primed Best Picture contender.

Despite all of the feature’s shining attributes, Spotlight is weighed down by a few glaring blemishes. The film does an adequate job of keeping the audience’s attention throughout its more than two-hour running time, yet there are a few noticeable lulls the viewer is forced to push through. Generally, these poorly paced moments occur as a result of McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer’s quest for Hollywood dramatization. A collection of these scenes feel inauthentic and unnecessary to the progression of the film, which ultimately leave Spotlight as a flawed, albeit successful, title.

Considering the minuscule number of elite films in 2015, Spotlight positions itself nicely as one of the top tier entries. McCarthy relies on numerous fine performances to transition his gripping factual script to the big screen. If history is any indicator, for more than the last decade every Best Picture winner has debuted to audiences in some form prior to November. Therefore, there’s a strong chance Spotlight could be a major player during this year’s run to the Oscars, and it’s definitely one you won’t want to miss.

GRADE: 4/5

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Here Are The 87th Annual Academy Award Winners!

by Derek KraneveldtFebruary 22, 2015

The Oscars are over for one more year, and after an amazing event hosted by man-crush Neil Patrick Harris, I’m still reeling over the wonders of this year’s show. I still can’t believe that Boyhood didn’t take it home, but it was still an amazing few hours (that John Legend and Common performance, right), and I can’t wait to hear what everyone thought.

Now, who won!? Take a look at the full list of winners below, and be sure to let us know who you’re glad took home the gold, who you’re disappointed didn’t, and anything else about this year’s Oscars that you may want to share!

Best Picture: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne – “The Theory of Everything”
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons – “Whiplash”
Best Actress: Julianne Moore – “Still Alice”
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette – “Boyhood”
Best Director: “Birdman” – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Best Animated Feature Film: “Big Hero 6” – Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
Best Animated Short Film: “Feast” – by Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
Best Original Song: “Glory” from Selma – Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
Best Original Score: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Alexandre Desplat
Best Production Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Best Editing: “Whiplash” – Tom Cross
Best Cinematography: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Sound Editing: “American Sniper” – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Best Sound Mixing: “Whiplash” – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
Best Documentary Feature: “CitizenFour” – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
Best Documentary Short: “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
Best Live Action Short Film: “The Phone Call” by Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Best Visual Effects: “Interstellar” – Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
Best Foreign Language Film: “Ida” – Poland; Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
Best Costume Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – Milena Canonero
Best Original Screenplay: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” – Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Best Adapted Screenplay: “The Imitation Game” – Written by Graham Moore

There you go! Again, be sure to let us know what you thought of the ceremony in the comments below.

Geekscape Movie Reviews: Birdman

by MCDaveOctober 17, 2014

The 23rd annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicked off last night in a less than grand fashion. After an unexpected last-minute issue with the projector, a venue change was quickly arranged and delayed the evening by nearly an hour and a half. Set to jump-start the festival was Alejandro G. Inarritu’s latest cinematic achievement, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Inarritu has taken the industry by storm with prior successes such as 21 Grams, Babel and the foreign hit Biutiful, so needless to say the buzz was swirling for his upcoming release. Unfortunately, for me, the expectations soared high above the finished product.

Michael Keaton stars as Riggan Thomson, a has-been actor who once ruled the entertainment world as the lead man behind the iconic superhero franchise, Birdman. Since his time atop the proverbial mountain, Riggan has faded from the limelight but is making one final attempt to reclaim past glory with the premier of his Broadway play. However, Riggan struggles to balance his overwhelming ego with a volatile new castmate (played by Edward Norton) and a crumbling family life.

Films like Birdman make for easy critiques. Guaranteed to be a polarizing watch, one that my gut believes the general public will find disappointing on many levels, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s new title leaves the door open for massive amounts of discussion. On one hand, the technical accomplishments surrounding Birdman are nothing short of immaculate. Intended to feel like an uncut and unedited film, which is by no means an easy task, Inarritu’s effort requires fully committed performances from all of its actors. And believe me, there is no shortage of brilliant tour de force performances here. It all begins with the feature’s leading star, Michael Keaton, who shines brightest. Keaton feels like an all-around perfect fit for the role, only to be complemented by other towering performances from co-stars Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Zach Galifianakis. Thankfully, each and every character is delivered with a soulful turn that ultimately keeps an otherwise damaged film afloat.

For all of Birdman‘s technical conquests and wonderfully acted efforts, Inarritu’s film is a falsely advertised and tiresome tale. Being pitched as a dark comedy, the laughs are far too sparse to justify such a label. And for anyone expecting an action-fueled superhero-eque type of movie, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, Birdman straddles the line of surrealism in order to tell the unoriginal story of a man’s obsession with reclaiming the spotlight and, more importantly, leaving behind a legacy. After nearly two hours of the same old song and dance, the film blows past a golden opportunity to gift wrap its message and regrettably overextends its finale in an irritating fashion.

Birdman is well deserving of its praises as a spectacular piece of filmmaking, further elevated by grand performances from a long list of gifted actors. However, Inarritu’s common history of poor pacing and prolonged endings leaves a bitter mark on the film. While I entered the Philadelphia Film Festival with the belief that Birdman was a viable contender for Best Picture, I certainly have my doubts now.

GRADE: 3/5

Check out more info on MCDAVE’s Philadelphia Film Festival Preview