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Geekscape Movie Review: Richard Jewell

by MCDaveDecember 15, 2019

Father time is undefeated. And like a professional athlete who’s showing signs that they can’t quite keep up with a younger generation of competitors, Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood’s latest offering leaves me questioning how much quality filmmaking the 89-year-old has left in him. In typical Eastwood fashion, he places his sights on the true story of title character, Richard Jewell, the security guard and cop-wannabe who became a controversial figure following the bombing of the 1996 Olympics at Centennial Park in Atlanta. Eastwood uses Jewell’s heartbreaking experiences as an exposé on the careless and destructive behaviors of the mainstream media, the film’s clear antagonist. Yet, what transpires feels more like the incoherent grumblings of a miserable old man than an enlightening and eye-opening examination of what’s actually a legitimate issue.

Richard (I, Tonya’s Paul Walter Hauser) is a poor, overweight security guard with such a deep-rooted desire to protect people that it leads to some questionable behaviors that cost him a couple jobs along the way. But when Richard jumps on the opportunity to help protect his country at the security-needy 1996 Olympics, he can’t possibly prepare himself for the horrors that he’ll encounter after he stumbles across a bag of explosives. Richard Jewell may have saved countless lives by diligently doing his job on that fateful evening, but his sketchy past and a lack of other leads make him a prime suspect and anti-hero that a local journalist, Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde), completely exploits with her reckless reporting.

Clint Eastwood’s film is a revolving conundrum. His intentions are deliberate, but meandering. His interpretation is clear, but clouded in hypocrisy. All of which make Richard Jewell a muddled mixed-bag of ideas and emotions. Eastwood waves a shameful finger at the news media and its desire for higher ratings and career-advancements built on the back of inconsiderate reporting. The film even goes as far as to accuse the now-deceased journalist Kathy Scruggs of obtaining private information from the F.B.I. by sleeping with an agent (played by Jon Hamm), none of which has ever been corroborated publicly, and this blatant disregard for truth and authenticity feels awfully hypocritical when you take into account the root of Eastwood’s story. It’s a back-handed low-blow by the director and his screenwriter, Billy Ray, who attempt to tackle the media’s obsession with releasing a story quickly rather than accurately, and the personal ramifications of those actions. Richard Jewell lived a grueling 88-day nightmare in the aftermath of the Olympic bombing, one in which he morphed from an instant hero to a devilish mastermind in the blink of an eye. In fact, this is the film’s most accomplished feat, hammering this burden and personal anguish into the viewer. However, Eastwood’s characterization of nearly every other facet of the story is shallow, superficial and deceptively inaccurate. Richard Jewell has the hopes of making an awards season splash but I’m not buying into this likelihood, even after Kathy Bates’ recent Golden Globe Nomination for her supporting turn as the security guard’s mother. Instead, Richard Jewell is another ho-hum effort from a once legendary filmmaker struggling to deliver a cohesive story in the twilight of his career.

GRADE: 2.5/5

Geekscape Movie Reviews: Tag

by MCDaveJune 14, 2018

Oscar Wilde once said that “life imitates art far more than art imitates life”, but that isn’t the case with Jeff Tomsic’s debut feature film, Tag. The comedy opens with a claim that the film is based on true events, prompting me to immediately turn to my guest and casually remark at the looseness of the inspiration. And as the film navigates through its wild premise into a warm and heartfelt conclusion, Tag closes with real-life footage of the actual men behind the decades-long game that influenced the film, most of which closely resembled the hilarious onscreen moments captured by Tomsic and instantly spawned a newfound appreciation for the story.

Five childhood friends embrace the mantra that “we don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”, and it’s resulted in an intricate lifelong game of Tag that spans the entire country during the month of May every year. These committed participants use the elaborate game to strengthen the bond of their friendship and keep correspondence as they grow older. Yet, the stakes get raised when Hoagie (Ed Helms) informs the other guys that Jerry (Jeremy Renner), the game’s most accomplished player who’s never been tagged before, plans to retire at the end of May. Therefore, Hoagie and the rest of the crew engage in multiple plots to finally tag Jerry once and for all.

Jeff Tomsic’s perfectly cast debut feature comes with many strengths and weaknesses en route to a satisfying finale that culminates on a completely uplifting note. And while this softens the blow regarding the film’s various miscues and shortcomings, Tag‘s wonderful closing sequence fails to mask blatantly egregious issues within the movie. For starters, I immediately picked up on a clear violation of the game’s “no tag back” rule. An error like this is small and forgivable, yet a massive writing blunder surrounding Tag‘s unexpected “twist” at the end of the film proves much more detrimental. An earlier line of dialogue completely contradicts the story’s attempted misdirection and this careless lack of attention to detail stains an otherwise decent effort. Admittedly, Tag‘s characters are relentless in their quests for laughs, mostly at the hands of comedy stalwarts Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson and Isla Fisher, hitting on jokes nearly as often as they whiff. Consequently, this approach keeps a light-hearted and persistently funny foundation constant throughout the film, however it also shines a bright spotlight on the frequent failed attempts at generating laughs. And although Tag begins with a clever and unique story, the novelty begins to wear off throughout the film’s latter stages, which mounts pressure to deliver on a strong conclusion. Thankfully the film does just that, leaving Tag as a teetering comedic effort whose countless highs and lows will tip the scale in different directions for each individual viewer.

GRADE: 3/5

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Geekscape Sits Down With Edgar Wright to Discuss ‘Baby Driver’

by AllieHanleyJune 22, 2017

Out next week is Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” which played at Austin’s SXSW earlier this year to high critical acclaim. We are talking 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and that’s unheard of for an action film!

The movie is about an extraordinary getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) who uses music to hyper focus on driving getaway cars in robberies. After being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he dreams of the day of escaping with his soulmate into the sunset. Part romance but mostly thrilling action, Edgar Wright creates a visually spectacular story, that pays close attention to creating compelling characters with a pounding sound track.

As music played a large role in both ‘Guardians of the Galaxy” films, music is incorporated in a similar way from director/writer Wright in his new film “Baby Driver.” I got invited to sit down with the director and discuss his music and location choice for the heist film out June 28.

Take reading this interview to the next level and play the soundtrack here on YouTube at the same time!

Allie Hanley: Music plays such a fabulous role in “Baby Driver.” When you originally came up with the idea of the story how did the music play into it?

Edgar Wright: As much as the music is a main motivator factor in the main character’s life, the whole idea for the movie came about because I would be listening to music and visualizing these scenes. It goes back as far as, -I wouldn’t say I’ve been working on the movie for 22 years, but I’ve been thinking about it in some sort of form because the opening track of the movie, “Bell Bottoms” by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. When I was 21 I use to listen to that on audio cassette tape the whole time. And I use to sort of visualize a car chase. And way back then, I wouldn’t even call myself a film director but I would start to visualize this action scene, -which was a million miles away from what is actually on film 2017. So that’s crazy to me.

So really, the music was sort of the inspiration for the movie and then it developed into a movie about a character that is obsessed with music.

On setting the story’s location:

EW: Well it’s interesting to me because it was written when I first got the idea I was in London but I knew it couldn’t be in London because you don’t really get car chases in London. London is car chase proof! Mainly because of the one way system, and banks are not likely to be next to freeway systems so it just doesn’t happen. When you get robberies in London they’re usually on scooters and such.

Then I wrote it in Los Angeles and set it in Los Angeles. Then when we were actually getting ready to make the movie you start having budgetary concerns and things like tax-breaks in a city, certain places become more attractive to the producers. And initially I was a bit reluctant to that but I ended up doing a little tour of tax break cities and I was like fascinated. So me and my production manager went to Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans, and then Atlanta.

Atlanta was where I had been to a number of times but only at a press capacity. I’d been to a studio there that was miles away from anything. So I had never really gotten to know the real place. It was in spending more time there and asking to location manager to take me to places I had never been to before and other places that people weren’t filming in that sold me on writing it for Atlanta. It’s the biggest location right now doubling for LA and New York.

It’s also a big music city and a big car city too. It’s also a main travel hub, so it’s a target for crime. So a lot of the stuff that happens in the movie genuinely happens in the city. So, all of those things came together. Once I had rewritten the script for Atlanta with the help of a friend of mine who was from there,… I rewrote it and it was cool.

Setting it in Atlanta distinguishes it a bit from many of the LA heist films like “Heat,” “Point Break,” “The Driver.” It also makes more sense for the characters to be heading west, so when they get on the road it’s like they are heading to the other ocean. Even though it wasn’t my first idea, now Atlanta is synonymous in my head.

On treading the line between incorporating nostalgia and creating something new:

EW: Essentially you start to see it through the eyes of your actors… early on in the audition process. …Music if used properly essentially can be timeless. I really didn’t want to have too many contemporary songs in the movie because I didn’t really want to date the movie the much. Everything in the movie is a little bit dates, -the cars, the IPod Classic, the fact that he doesn’t have a smart phone. I thought he would be off the grid, even when he makes that song, he uses all analog equipment. He did it tape to tape, like not ever having a computer.
You take things that are familiar and unfamiliar and nostalgic and new, and hopefully through that you create your own flavor that feels of itself, ya know. That’s the idea anyway.

Originally screened at SXSW.

Rating:

R (for violence and language throughout.)

Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Directed By: Edgar Wright
Written By: Edgar Wright
In Theaters: Jun 28, 2017 wide
Runtime: 90 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures

‘Baby Driver’ Cast, Film Style Make This Movie Stand Out

by Courtney DossettMarch 12, 2017

I’m not really into action movies, for me, after a while, they all seem the same. The same stunts, the same explosions, the same bad jokes, the same plot.

The plot for Baby Driver seems a little simplistic. Quirky, young guy with a weird name (Baby?) has a gift for driving fast, gets involved with some criminals. He meets a girl, falls in love, despite the warnings of his criminal cohorts (Jamie Foxx tells him “You catch feelings, you catch a bullet.”). Boy and girl now have to find a way out so they can be together. Not necessarily a fresh story.
But Baby Driver has caught my interest. It could be because it has two of my favorite actors in the line-up (Kevin Spacey and Jon Hamm, mmm yes PLEASE!). Or it could be the film style, which seems much different than the classic action movie (to me, anyway). The shots seem to be more artistic, and sometimes remind me more of a Wes Anderson movie, then Fast and Furious.

Either way, I’m ready to go see this movie when it comes out later this summer in August.

Check out the trailer for yourself below, let us know what you think!

Geekscape Movie Reviews: Million Dollar Arm

by MCDaveMay 14, 2014

The greatest sports movies find a way to transcend their athletic focus. Films like Rocky transform a deadbeat bruiser for a loan shark into a heavyweight boxing contender determined to “go the distance” with the champ, and Remember the Titans develops a unified high school football team in Virginia during the Civil Rights Movement. With Craig Gillespie’s Million Dollar Arm, the unlikely real-life story of the first India-born players to sign major league baseball contracts, tugs at the heart-strings and does an exceptional job of elevating its story beyond the baseball diamond.

Jon Hamm stars as JB Bernstein, a financially strapped sports agent who ventures to the untapped market of India in order to find a pair of up-and-coming MLB pitching prospects. With the assistance of an India-native named Amit who promises to work for free, JB holds a country-wide pitching contest that discovers the potential of two young men named Rinku (Life of Pi‘s Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Slumdog Millionaire‘s Madhur Mittal). These athletes decide to leave their tiny humble India villages for the first time and travel to the United States determined to master the difficult game of professional baseball.

We’re all familiar with “the Disney touch” and its potential to turn an amazing true story into an over-dramatized and sappy affair. While Million Dollar Arm refuses to shy away from the sentiment, it uses an expansive and refined script from Tom McCarthy (director of the overlooked independent film Win Win) to mold together a conflict-filled story of struggle and perseverance. It’s a joy watching Jon Hamm excel in his leading role, reminding us all that his talents go well beyond the AMC drama Mad Men. The entire supporting cast earns their label, and the result is a well-balanced blend of comedy and drama. Lake Bell, Aasif Mandvi and Alan Arkin play a delightful second fiddle to Hamm and the rest of the film’s stars, creating no shortage of likable onscreen personas.

A remarkable real-life story and brilliant cast propel Million Dollar Arm to praiseworthy heights, however, an overly long running time stops it in its tracks. Scratching and clawing its way to a two hour finish line, the film could have easily shed 20 minutes without losing any of its charm. Instead, we wait and we wait for a predetermined resolve that could have packed a much more meaningful punch if we hadn’t laboriously journeyed to get there. But despite the occasional drag and out-stretching the story as far as it will go, Million Dollar Arm succeeds in shining a light on such a truly amazing tale.

It would be an unjustified exaggeration to try and argue Craig Gillespie’s Million Dollar Arm among the finest sports movies of all time. Yet, this sincere and heartwarming narrative goes well beyond mediocrity and warrants a viewing. Thanks to a PG rating, Million Dollar Arm is a suitable family film that keeps the laughs consistent and sentiment tolerable.

GRADE: 3.5/5

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Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis Hijack ‘The Daily Show’!

by Scott AlminianaJuly 27, 2012

Will doing press for their new movie The Campaign, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis stopped by The Daily Show for an interview with Jon Stewart. It was a standard interview that quickly turned deadly serious and led to a hostage-like take over of the show (reminiscent of Hans Gruber taking over Nakatomi tower) by Ferrell and Galifinakis. Luckily Jon Hamm was around to save the day like John McClane. You can watch the horror for yourselves below…

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Zach Galifianakis & Will Ferrell

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

The Campaign opens August 10th, be sure to check out a great red band clip from the movie here. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart airs Mon-Thurs at 11pm on Comedy Central.

Geekscape Casts The Invincible Movie!

by Matt BlackwoodMarch 31, 2012

Between the increased interest in comic book adaptations and the success of AMC’s The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman is poised to become a real force in Hollywood. So it’s only a matter of time before we see a film version of Kirkman’s other hit comic Invincible.

With the right cast, it could be the next blockbuster franchise. So who would Geekscape like to see bring to life probably the coolest superhero comic book in the universe?

ZAC EFRON as INVINCIBLE

If only the goggles didn't hide those eyes...

Boyish good looks, perfect body, earnest eyes- has there ever been anyone more suited to play a superhero than Zac Efron? The High School Musical heartthrob has yet to find the role to propel him to super-stardom. Playing nascent hero Mark Grayson would require him to display both vulnerability and raw power.

For those who have their doubts about Efron’s acting chops, check out his charming performance in the little-seen Me and Orson Welles.

LYNDSY FONSECA as ATOM EVE

Neither a female iteration of a male character nor a mere damsel in distress, Atom Eve has quickly become one of the strongest women in comics, and Lyndsy Fonseca is the perfect choice to convey that strength on film. Fonseca effortlessly lit up the screen as the girl next door in Kick-Ass, begging the question, “Wouldn’t it be more fun just to watch her kick ass?”

JON HAMM as OMNI-MAN

The moustache is fake. The rest is all Hamm.

Besides being the only man alive handsome enough to be credible as Zac Efron’s dad, Jon Hamm is also one of the finest actors working today. In the past few years, fans have suggested Hamm for the roles of both Superman and Captain America for the same reason he is perfect to play Nolan Grayson, the premier super hero of the world of Invincible: the steel authority he personifies in The Town and Mad Men.

BEBE NEUWIRTH as DEBORAH GRAYSON

Mom I'd Like to Film- wait, that still sounds bad.

Rounding out the best-looking family in movie history, Bebe Neuwirth is ideal to play Mark’s doting mother and Nolan’s long-suffering wife. The Emmy-winning actress is more than capable of portraying the pride and pain of the ultimate bystander.

PETER WELLER as CECIL STEADMAN

A former superhero himself, Weller has been alternating between good guy and sleazeball his entire career. The role of ruthless patriot Cecil Steadman would allow him to split the difference.

KANE HODDER as THE MAULER TWINS

Kane Hodder played Jason Voorhees, the ultimate grunt, in four Friday the 13th films. He would be both fun and intimidating in a Social Network-style dual role as the contrary clones.

ORLANDO JONES as ANGSTROM LEVY

Funnyman Jones is one of those actors whose chameleonic range has kept him from becoming a household name. Playing nice guy scientist-turned-mutated villain Levy would give him the chance to show both his affability and acting chops.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of Invincible? Let us know who YOU’D like to see in a movie version!