'Trophy'

'Trophy' Movie Review

'Trophy'

Posted on September 29, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Trophy (2017)

The documentary opens up with a father and son heading to a hunting blind. They climb inside, and the discuss the strategy for getting a big deer. The son can barely control his excitement when done deer appear in their line of fire. The father gives the son last minute advice, and then the son shoots a deer. The father takes the gun from the son and fires the kill shot. They drop down from the blind and admire the deer they shot. The father poses the son with the buck and takes a couple of pictures. The father says his son is now ready for the big trophies.

We cut to a truck driving in South Africa along a road that has some Rhinos run by it. A woman gets out and shoots a tranquilizer dart at a big rhino. More men get out of the truck, and they start measuring the rhino. Using a portable electric saw, the workers cut off the rhinos two horns. The woman next gives the rhino a shot to wake him up. A proud man by the name of John Hume explains that they will cut off the horns of this rhino again in two years because the poachers would rather kill a rhino with long horns. The rancher says, “If the rhino could talk, he would say that he is happy to sacrifice his horns in order to save my life.” As we see the men saw off another rhino’s horn, the rancher says that he has the solution to saving the rhinos.

We cut to a lamb farm in Texas where a farmer, Philip Glass, talks about his raising lambs for high-end grocery stores and a few select restaurants. He tells the camera that he loves his lambs, even the ones that will wind up as lamp chops on somebodies table. We cut to a ranch in South Africa where workers are struggling to capture a big crocodile. The men finally catch the crock and begin measuring it, preparing it for transport. The camera interviews Christo Gomes from a safari ranch where people can hunt cocks, rhinos, lions, and other big-game animals. They raise some of the animals to be breeding stock, and others are meant to be killed by hunters who pay thousands of dollars for the privilege. The interview is interrupted by the news that a crock has escaped. The men find the crock walking across the bridge and recapture him.

In the year 1900, there were 500,000 rhinos in the world. Today there are less than 30000. Since 1970, the world has lost over 60 percent of all wild animals. Trophy, brought to us by the directing team of Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz, is an even-handed look at the big-game hunting business, its hunters and one man who is trying to save the rhinos. Rancher Philip Glass has a dream to hunt the ‘big five’ (rhino, lion, elephant, leopards, water buffalo) and sees himself as a conservationist. He admires the beauty of the animal that he has just killed. Early in the film, Glass tells a story about how his mother told him not to shoot redbirds. Of course, he did, describing how he held it in his hand, and Glass says, “I realized that I could not have loved that redbird more, even though it was dead.” Christo Gomes believes he is saving the species of lions by breeding them on his ranch, even though some of them will be killed by hunters sometimes paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a chance to kill one. He does have a point as there are more lions in South Africa now than there were at the turn of the century.

Early in the film, we go to Las Vegas to see the largest big-game hunter convention in the world. We see just how huge the big-game industry is with stuffed animals; even elephants adorn the convention floor. It’s very evident that money drives the big-game industry and is aimed at wealthy Americans. While the film shows both sides of the conservation business, it does show a lot of animals being shot, and several times in the movie, we see (and hear) animals in deep distress as they slowly die. A particularly horrific sequence is a hunter is shooting a crocodile in a man-made pond. His first two shots don’t kill the animal, and a worker has to drag the dying animal out of the pond so the hunter can shoot it again. The hunter then picks up his beer and lighting a cigarette to celebrate the kill. There is a heartbreaking scene of a rhino that has been killed and sliced up, rotting under the sun as its baby is running around his mother crying.

Trophy is a complicated and messy business that has no real solution. John Hume, the rhino rancher, has over 1300 rhinos on his ranch and hopes to expand it by 200 each year. Those rhinos come at a price as he has invested millions of dollars in keeping the ranch going. The irony is that he has probably 50 million dollars’ worth of rhino horn but can’t sell it because the South African government has banned it. The ban, making the rhino horn more valuable, has done the opposite of what it was intended to stop; poaching of rhinos has increased threefold. A game warden who looks for poachers is faced with a dilemma when a lion attacks a village, killing all their goats. He has to decide to either hunt down and kill the lion or let it continue to attack the village, with the possibility that next time it will be a person that the lion kills.

The only group that the film does judge is the human race which through just being on the planet is causing wild animals to die at an alarming rate. It’s a maddening and frustrating film to watch because there isn’t any easy answer to the question of how to save these animals. I didn’t know much about big-game hunting, but this film gave me a lot to think about.    My Rating: Full Price

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

Trophy Website

'Year by the Sea'

'Year by the Sea' Movie Review

'Year by the Sea'

Posted on September 22, 2017 CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Year by the Sea (2016)

We first see old super 8 films of two brothers growing up, experiencing Halloween in Captain Hook and Peter Pan outfits, singing Christmas carols, and the first day of school. You can hear the mother of the kids interact with them off screen, apparently running the camera. As the school bus drives off taking the kids to their first day of school, the screen goes to black. We cut to Joan (Karen Allen), who is much older now, making breakfast for her sons. She looks at the pile of mail and picks up a postcard that is advertising a hotel on Cape Cod. She gathers up the breakfast spread on a tray and heads to the boy’s room. She opens the door, and we realize that the two kids we saw in movies are now adults. Both are home because one of them is getting married today. Just then, Robin (Michael Cristofer) comes in and tells them to get up; they have a lot to do today. We then cut to the boys and their father playing a game of paddle board. Robin drives a ball into one of his almost married son, and as he suffers in pain, the father says, “Get used to it son!”

We cut to the wedding and the groom making a toast to his parents. Joan walks over to Liz (S. Epatha Merkerson) who is loudly making sort of deal on the phone. Joan admonishes Liz for doing business at her son’s wedding. Liz asks Joan where her book that she is writing is. Joan then finds out that her husband is being transferred to Kansas, and their house is being put up for sale. Robin looks over to his wife who is rendered speechless by the news. As the reception goes on, Joan is drinking wine alone in a bathroom looking at herself in the mirror. We can tell that she greatly affected by this earth-shattering news. We cut to the ballroom where the reception is being held, and Joan is giving it to Robin over not being told about the move. The movers have come, and Joan is spending the last night in her house of many years. She goes into her son’s room, which is now empty, reflecting on her life that she led in this home. As they get ready to go to sleep on an air mattress, Joan pours the two a glass of wine. Joan talks about having not ‘gone on an adventure’ for over 30 years, which Robin doesn’t really care about. The two get into a discussion about getting time for each other. Joan asks why Robin loves her and is not satisfied with his answer of ‘Because you are my wife.’ As her husband goes to sleep, she looks at the postcard from Cape Cod. We see Robin and Joan out in the yard, packing up to cars, as Robin moves stuff from his car to hers. It’s obvious that Liz has decided to go out on her own. She is going to live up in Cape Cod and go on an adventure that will change her life forever.

I loved that fact that this film’s biggest star is an over 60 aged woman. Karen Allen is the best part of this film, bringing some life to a script that doesn’t know exactly where it wants to go. She radiates almost pure energy on the screen and is a joy to watch. She has excellent chemistry with Yannick Bisson, who plays Cahoon, a local fisherman who takes an interest in Joan and even hires her to work in his store.

As good as Allen is, she can’t overcome the dialogue that seems to come right out of a self-help book. The dialogue is especially painful in scenes with Allen and Celia Imrie, who plays Erikson, a free-spirited woman who is prone to breaking out in dance at a moment’s notice. Imrie’s character, Erikson becomes a spiritual guide for Joan is always spouting out advice on how to live. This is a film about self-exploration and finding oneself; I just wish the characters didn’t have to spell out every feeling verbally.

The film is not helped by a soundtrack that sounded like every bad song from the 70s. There are a ton of great scenes of Cape Cod in all its glory, but those scenes are ruined by music that doesn’t fit the mood of the film. It’s interesting that the music is so wrong in this film because its first-time director, Alexander Janko, is an award-winning composer/orchestrator. Janko, who also wrote the screenplay based on a series of books by Joan Anderson, wants us to believe that Cahoon, the fisherman, would start to have romantic feelings for Joan, making the scene where he tries to kiss her an incredibly cringe-worthy moment. There isn’t any feeling that his marriage is in trouble and as energetic and appealing as Allen’s character is, it’s just not enough to believe that he would ever have any interest in her romantically.

Overall, Year by the Sea feels like a Hallmark film that is married with some of those inspirational posters that you used to see in the mall. The film never finds the passion or the heart of the movie, wasting an excellent performance by Karen Allen.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

The film is playing exclusively in Atlanta at Regal Tara Cinema 4

Year by the Sea Website

"First They Killed My Father'

'First They Killed My Father' Movie Review

'First They Killed My Father'

Posted on Sept. 15, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

First They Killed My Father (2017)

We see news reports on the screen from the 1960s about the United States involvement and bombing of Cambodia in the US war with Vietnam. The US first says that they respect and honor the neutrality of Cambodia. Then America secretly sends bombers to Cambodia to attack Vietnamese forces that were in Cambodia. The news reports talk about the failure of Nixon’s Southeast Asia doctrine, and the Vietnam War rages on; protests in the US mount and a communist faction in Cambodia called the Khmer Rouge is gaining power.

We cut to Loung (Sareum Sirey Moch) watching news reports in her family’s apartment. The news reports talk about how the US is pulling out of Cambodia as its capital is surrounded by the Khmer Rouge forces. The US is abandoning the Embassy and has told its citizens in Cambodia to evacuate. Loung goes out onto the balcony to watch as an American helicopter flies by. Loung’s mother (Sceng Socheata) comes out and tells Loung to get down and get inside. Loung comes inside and begins dancing with her brothers and sisters. It is evident that this is a happy and loving household as everyone is enjoying each other’s company as a couple of older brothers come into the room to join the dance party. Loung’s father (Phoeung Kompheak) enters the apartment and Loung races to hug him. Loung’s dad is a military man and is accompanied by another soldier. The two men, with Loung, go into another room to discuss what is going to happen to Cambodia now that the US has pulled out. Loung’s father dotes on his young daughter, giving her loving attention before going back to discuss matters with the other soldier.

We cut to Loung playing hopscotch in the street with her friends when the people in the street start shouting and celebrating. A tank filled with army men comes by with the crowd reacting gleefully that the Americans have left the country. As one of her brothers gathers her off the street, the Khmer Rouge troops march into the city, taking the government soldiers hostage. Loung’s family begins quickly packing to escape the city, a trip that will test Loung’s faith and love for her family. It’s a journey that not all of her family will survive.

First They Killed My Father is an amazing and touching film about a young girl who under horrible conditions never loses her humanity. Co-writer/director Angelina Jolie brings us a true tale of the unspeakable suffering that the Cambodian people endured under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. This is Jolie’s best work to date and the care and affection she shows on the screen for the people of Cambodia, and Loung Ung (Sareum Srey Moch) in particular, is immense. Jolie has written this film with an emphasis on seeing the journey through the eyes of Loung Ung and our heart breaks throughout the film as she struggles to survive an unjust world. Jolie and her cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, give us plenty to look at, many times from Loung Ung’s viewpoint. At one point in the film, Loung Ung is laying on the floor of the house, looking up at the ceiling that her father is building with palm leaves. Her father looks down and smiles at her before putting in the last bit of the roof. Later in the film, Loung Ung resists the house and looks back up at the ceiling, remembering a better time. This film is filled with small moments like that gives us insight into the characters, making the film full of poignant and sometimes tragic points in the movie. Those scenes show this family’s love for one another and their compassion for each other.

Sareum Srey Moch is dazzling in the role of a little girl who is forced to grow up much too soon, bringing an emotional performance to the screen that is worthy of someone three times her age. She is one of those rare actors who no matter who is in the scene with her, she has instant chemistry with that actor. This chemistry is especially evident in her scenes with Phoeung Kompheak who plays her loving father. Their scenes together are some of the most impressive and emotional pieces in the film.

First They Kill My Father is a remarkable tale of survival, one that is even more phenomenal because it’s a true story. I will warn you that there are several very graphic scenes of people dying in firefights, but that’s Jolie’s intention; war is an ugly, dirty thing and its families that suffer the most during those times.   My Rating: Full Price

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

The film is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

First They Killed My Father Website

'Columbus'

'Columbus' Movie Review

'Columbus'

Posted on September 8, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Columbus (2017)

We see a woman walking through a very stylish house calling out in Korean for the professor. She heads outside under an umbrella and walks around the house, still calling out of the professor. She finds him standing in the rain admiring the view of a lush lawn with a row of trees beyond the grass. We cut to the professor and his friend underneath a large overhang of the house. While the woman talks on the phone with her back to the professor, he wanders off picking up an umbrella to head out under the rain. She finally realizes that he is gone, and then sees him collapsed on the sidewalk. She drops her purse and runs after the professor.

We cut to the outside of a library when Casey (Haley Lu Richardson) is taking a smoking break. As she stares at some of the other buildings in the area, she practices some sort of tour guide talks about the local architecture. We see her go through her day, helping customers and putting up books. Casey finds a fellow coworker, Gabriel (Rory Culkin) sitting on the floor reading a book. Casey asks if Gabriel if he wants to catch a movie, but Gabriel has other plans. Casey brings up the point that she won’t get hired full-time if she doesn’t get a Master’s degree. Casey apparently has an opportunity to go to college, but it would mean moving away, and she says that she just can’t do that now.

We cut to nighttime and Casey gets out of her car, sits on the hood and looks at the lit up hospital in front of her. The building is very unusual looking, with big windows that tinted yellow and green. She sits on the car and sinks in the building’s atmosphere. She notices that a man gets out of a car in front of the hospital entrance with a suitcase on rollers. As he heads inside, we see that Casey has been waiting for her mother to get off her shift. We cut to inside the hospital as the man, named Jin (John Cho) walks down a hallway towards a woman (Parker Posey), and they hug each other. They head inside one of the hospital rooms where Jin’s father is in a coma. Jin and Casey haven’t met yet, but they will, and when they do that meeting will change both of their lives.

Writer/director Kogonada brings us a magical film about family, relationships and dreaming of things that you think can’t come true. The film takes place in Columbus, Indiana, the “Midwest Mecca of Architecture” and its magnificent buildings are the backdrop for this film. Every shot utilizes these brilliant buildings, making you really feel a part of the landscape. From the first scenes of the woman looking for the professor, all in long shots that showcase the building, we almost instantly learn that architecture will be paramount in this film. The camera is always placed to highlight the buildings and their surroundings. And it’s not just the outside of the buildings that Kogonada adores in this film; it’s also the pillows and knickknacks that catch the camera’s eye.

Relationships are the key to this movie and the one that develops between Jin and Casey, two damaged souls who are both living under the shadow of their parents, is handled slowly and sweetly. Casey, a woman who loves architecture and Jen, the son of a man who is an expert in the field, seems unlikely to strike up a friendship but each person sense that there is something more to explore. What I love about this film is that the two characters slowly peel back the layers of Jin and Casey as their conversations continue. The characters become part of the architecture, interacting with it and exploring it. Casey has even numbered her favorite buildings like a film lover would rate movies.

John Cho, as the son who would rather be anywhere other than Columbus and Haley Lu Richardson as the woman who loves Columbus and its architecture, work extremely well with each other on the screen. This helps their conversations feel real and emotional, which is important as the film uses these conversations to give us insight into the makeup of their characters. Cho has a grace about him on the screen that makes you like him and want him to succeed. Richardson is a little awkward, making her endearing to the audience and Jin. Richardson sparkles on screen, lighting it up every time she appears.

Columbus is a film that will hold you spellbound as it explores the importance of relationships, the ones that we honor and the ones that we have to leave to better ourselves. It’s a film that values conversations, interactions between two people who are finding out what is important to them. Columbus is a film that will stay with you for a long time.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

The film is playing exclusively in Atlanta at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

'I Do...Until I Don't'

'I Do...Until I Don't' Movie Review

'I Do...Until I Don't'

Posted on Sept. 1, 2017 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

I Do…Until I Don’t (2017)

As a narrator talks about marriage and how it’s for life, we see a funeral taking place. We see a bunch of tombstones with inscriptions such as “Beloved Wife” or “Fidelity and Death.” The narrator talks about the word ‘betrothed’ which is another word for ‘pledge’ and how we give the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ and then throw trash out our car window. The narrator talks about how we aren’t meant to be married for too long now that we are living into our eighties and nineties, all the while we see shots of happy people getting married. We go back to the funeral, with everyone in mourning while the narrator continues to talk how we aren’t meant to living with the same person for fifty years. The narrator says that we either have two choices; we can die early or rethink the system.

We cut to Harvey (Paul Reiser) and Cybil (Mary Steenburgen) that are at the funeral. Harvey and Cybil, are a couple that has been married for a long time. They are both unhappy, not because they are at a funeral, but because they are tired of living with each other. We cut to documentary filmmaker Vivian (Dolly Wells), who has been our narrator. She is giving a speech to the ‘Vero Beach Cultural Society’ on her idea that marriage should only be a seven-year contract with an option to renew. Alice (Lake Bell) is sitting the audience and stands up to ask a question. Alice tells Vivian that she loved her earlier film and wants to know why Vivian selected Vero Beach to make her film. She has picked Vero Beach because it’s the divorce capital of America and it’s the basis of her new movie.

We cut to the window and blinds store that Alice and her husband, Noah (Ed Helms). Noah is using a towel to mop up some water that has fallen from the ceiling. Alice is going on and on about Vivian’s presentation and how much she admires her. Neither one of them is listening to the other one as Noah is talking about how bad business is. Alice has come up with a bunch of slogans to make the shop appear more modern. Noah brings up the fact that he knows that Alice is ovulating (he has an app for that) and suggests they have sex in the bathroom.

We cut to Vivian and her assistant standing outside in front of a restaurant. Vivian gets into an argument with her ex-husband over the phone, hangs up on him, and Vivian and her assistant go into the restaurant. Inside Cybil is dictating an email on her phone as we see through a window that Harvey has arrived on a motorcycle in full biker attire, including a black helmet. Harvey sits down across from Cybil and refuses to take off his helmet, just to annoy Cybil. It’s obvious that this marriage is not working and it seems that Cybil and Harvey have contempt for each other. Harvey leaves to go to the bathroom, and Vivian uses that moment to ask Cybil if she and Harvey want to be in her movie. Cybil negotiates payment and promises that the film will end with her divorce from Harvey. Vivian is about to get involved with the lives of not just Mary and Harvey, but a whole host of couples including Alice and Noah and she just might change all their lives.

I loved writer/director/actress Lake Bell’s In a World… film from 2012. I thought it was original, bright and hilarious. Unfortunately, I Do… Until I Don’t doesn’t have those qualities that In A World… had. The film is an ensemble comedy, and I think that’s where Bell went wrong. There are just too many characters in the movie that you just don’t care about. Vivian, the documentary filmmaker, is the character that mucks up this film. Every scene with her seems to suck the life out of the movie. Vivian is the least interesting character in the film, but the way the plot is laid out she interacts with all the couples and therefore has a lot of screen time. Bell has created a character in Vivian that is grating and predictable. When I was thinking about this film, I wondered if this would have been a better film if Bell had just had Vivian give the speech at the start of the film, with all the couples attending and then maybe appear at the end as a narrator, cut her out of most of the movie. There aren’t many laughs in this film and boy; it could use some. The plot is predictable, and you can see the ending to this film almost from the start.

Lake Bell and Ed Helms work well together on screen and feel like a real couple. There are some interesting scenes between the two, and you can feel the love the two characters have for each other on the screen. I also like Paul Reiser and Mary Steenburgen in the film. They also seem like real people that are stuck in a marriage that neither of them wants. There is a third couple in the film; two free spirits who have an open relationship, played by Amber Heard and Wyatt Cenac, are the weakest characters of the three couples. Their hippie, everything is cool wears out very quickly, with Heard playing Bell’s sister, who is just there to contrast with Bell’s straight-laced character.

I Do…Until I Don’t is an uninspired mess of a film that rarely is funny and most of the film is dull and tame. Instead of originality, we get a movie that seems to use every plot device of a bad TV comedy from the 80s to try and find laughter. I love Lake Bell as an actress and look forward to her next film she decides to write and direct, but I hope I never have to see this film again.   My Rating: Cable

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

I Do…Until I Don’t Website