Crisp Criticism - "Spy", "Poltergeist", "When Marnie Was There"

by

Julien Faddoul

Spy *

A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.

Sarcastic, choppy one-joke comedy that, despite some clever ideas, remains as slackly handled as its director’s previous films.

wd – Paul Feig

ph – Robert D. Yeoman

pd – Jefferson Sage

m – Theodore Shapiro

ed – Melissa Bretherton, Brent White

cos – Christine Bieselin Clark

p – Paul Feig, Peter Chernin, Jessie Henderson, Jenno Topping

Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale, Jude Law, Nia Long, 50 Cent, Morena Baccarin, Peter Serafinowicz

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015/US/Australia)

by

Julien Faddoul

*** (3 stars)

d – George Miller

w – George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris

ph – John Seale

pd – Colin Gibson

m – Junkie XL

ed – Margaret Sixel

cos – Jenny Beaven

p – George Miller, Doug Mitchell, P.J. Voeten

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Nathan Jones, Adelaide Clemens, Richard Norton, Courtney Eaton, Abbey Lee

"What a day! What a lovely day"! To call Mad Max: Fury Road a miracle is a pretty miserable statement. When a rugged action film that costs $150 million, a sequel made 30 years after it’s previous installment, and is released during the summer isn’t altogether embarrassing or inept, is, in the current cinema, a miracle…well…count your blessings. What’s so illuminating about George Miller’s film is that it isn’t magic at all, but a meticulously constructed piece of cinema made by a group of (intelligent) people, a fact that, when rooted in the film’s presence, seems inconceivable.

Crisp Criticism - "Ex Machina", "Pitch Perfect 2", "Woman in Gold"

by

Julien Faddoul

Ex Machina *

A young programmer is selected to participate in a breakthrough experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a female robot.

Outrageously overrated science exploration on artificial intelligence and the power/allure of women that, despite establishing its world deftly, offers nothing particularly new and is consistently and frustratingly undercut by arbitrariness throughout.

wd – Alex Garland

ph – Rob Hardy

pd – Mark Digby

m – Geoff Barrow, Ben Salisbury

ed – Mark Day

cos – Sammy Sheldon Differ

p – Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, Sonoya Mizuno

Crisp Criticism - "It Follows", "Tokyo Tribe", "Kumiko the Treasure Hunter"

by

Julien Faddoul

It Follows ***

A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after getting involved in a sexual encounter.

Although absurd in detail, this is a stressful, ingeniously constructed horror film, creating a palpable sense of unimaginable dread with very little. It also typifies as a brilliant examination of the fear and confusion of adolescent sex.

wd – David Robert Mitchell

ph – Mike Gioulakis

pd – Michael Perry

m – Disasterpeace

ed – Julio Perez

cos – Kimberly Leitz-McCauley

p – Rebecca Green, David Kaplan, Erik Rommesmo, Laura D. Smith

Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe, Bailey Spry, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

Crisp Criticism - "The Last Five Years", "Phoenix", "Actress"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Last Five Years

A struggling actress and her novelist lover each illustrate the struggle and deconstruction of their love affair.

An abysmal, clumsily filmed version of the stage musical that does nothing but heighten the source material’s flaws.

wd – Richard LaGravenese   (Based on the Musical by Jason Robert Brown)

ph – Steven Meizler

pd – Michael Fitzgerald

m – Jason Robert Brown

ed – Sabine Hoffmann

cos – Ciera Wells

p – Janet Brenner, Kurt Deutsch, Richard LaGravenese, Lauren Versel

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan, Meg Hudson, Natalie Knepp, Cat Lynch

Crisp Criticism - "The Age of Adaline", "Unfriended", "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2", "The Duke of Burgundy"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Age of Adaline *

After a 29-year-old woman recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older.

Despite engrossing moments, this romantic fantasy is clearly solely designed to show off its star, whose abilities rarely rise above the competent.

d – Lee Toland Krieger

w – J. Mills Goodloe, Salvador Paskowitz

ph – David Lanzenberg

pd – Claude Pare
m – Rob Simonsen

ed – Melissa Kent

cos – Angus Strathie

p – Sidney Kimmel, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg

Cast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn, Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew, Lynda Boyd, Hugh Ross, Richard Harmon, Fulvio Cecere, Anjali Jay, Hiro Kanagawa, Peter J. Gray, Izabel Pearce, Cate Richardson, Jane Craven

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015/US)

by

Julien Faddoul

** (2 stars)

wd – Joss Whedon   (Based on the Comic Book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

ph – Ben Davies

pd – Charles Wood

m – Brian Tyler, Danny Elfman

ed – Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek

cos – Alexandra Byrne

p – Kevin Feige

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Thomas Krestchmann, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Anthony Mackie, Stellan Skarsgard, Claudia Kim, Julie Delpy, Linda Cardellini, Andy Serkis

It’s difficult to subject Avengers: Age of Ultron to any kind of criticism without viewing it within the cinematic quicksand of superhero films that have swallowed Hollywood ideation. All Hollywood movies are now about superheroes whether it is explicitly stated or not. Many sequences in this particular film feel burden-laden. But is this a reaction to the film in question or to the culture that surrounds it?

Crisp Criticism - "The Longest Ride", "The Gunman", "Hot Tub Time Machine 2", "Last Knights"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Longest Ride

The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.

Typical Nicholas Sparks hogwash, this time involving Bull Riding and implausible love letters. Lifeless beyond belief.

d – George Tillman Jr

w – Craig Bolotin   (Based on the Novella by Nicholas Sparks)

ph – David Tattersall

pd – Mark Garner
m – Mark Isham

ed – Jason Ballantine

cos – Marry Claire Hannan

p – Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Theresa Park, Nicholas Sparks

Cast: Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood, Alan Alda, Jack Huston, Oona Chaplin, Lolita Davidovich

Crisp Criticism - "Furious 7", "Get Hard", "Cinderella"

by

Julien Faddoul

Furious 7 *

Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for the death of his brother.

A once singular series of films have in their recent installments becomes frustratingly systematized by the Hollywood cinema that surrounds them. Its 7^th episode remains intermittently thrilling when not dealing with cheap proverbial character-turns or its rather poor villain.

d – James Wan

w – Chris Morgan

ph – Marc Spicer, Stephen F. Windon

pd – Bill Brzeski
m – Brian Tyler

ed – Leigh Folsom Boyd, Dylan Highsmith, Kirk M. Morri, Christian Wagner

cos – Sanja Milkovic Hays

p – Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell, Neal H. Moritz

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Paul Walker, Lucas Black, Michelle Rodriguez, Kurt Russell, Elsa Pataky, Jordana Brewster, Ronda Rousey, Djimon Hounsou, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel, Iggy Azalea, Tony Jaa, Shad Moss, Ludacris

Crisp Criticism - "Home", "The Divergent Series: Insurgent", "Run All Night"

by

Julien Faddoul

Home **

A fugitive Boov (an alien race that has taken over the Earth) and a young American girl put their prejudices aside to find the girl’s mother.

An admirable if unsuccessful film: Queerly plotted, it gingerly explores notions of asylum and national security while providing characters and situations that never rise above the derivative. As per usual with DreamWorks, the animation is exquisite.

d – Tim Johnson

w – Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember   (Based on the Book by Adam Rex)

pd – Kathy Altieri
m – Lorne Balfe, Stargate

ed – Nick Fletcher

p – Mireille Soria, Suzanne Buirgy, Christopher Jenkins

Cast: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez

The Divergent Series: Insurgent

The Divergent girl must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance that threatens to tear her society apart.

Endless, shapeless film with no aesthetic singularity to make any of its mythology appealing. Once again, we have to deal with a central character whose deemed exceptional yet spends the film constantly sulking about that fact.

d – Robert Schwentke

w – Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback   (Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth)

ph – Florian Ballhaus

pd – Alec Hammond

m – Joseph Trapanese

ed – Stuart Levy, Nancy Richardson

cos – Louise Mingenbach

p – Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shahbazian

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Naomi Watts, Maggie Q, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Zoë Kravitz, Ray Stevenson, Octavia Spencer, Suki Waterhouse, Rosa Salazar, Daniel Dae Kim, Mekhi Phifer, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd, Keiynan Lonsdale, Emjay Anthony

Run All Night *

A mobster and hit man has one night to figure out where his loyalties lie involving his estranged son and his best friend who blames him for the death of his own son.

Slick, engaging action film with a frustrating plot that makes no sense.

d – Jaume Collet-Serra

w – Brad Ingelsby

ph – Martin Ruhe

pd – Sharon Seymour

m – Junkie XL

ed – Dirk Westervelt

cos – Catherine Marie Thomas

p – Roy Lee, Michael Tadross, Brooklyn Weaver

Cast: Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Génesis Rodríguez, Ed Harris, Vincent D'Onofrio, Common, Boyd Holbrook, Holt McCallany, James Martinez, John Cenatiempo, Beau Knapp, Bruce McGill, Malcolm Goodwin