Crisp Criticism - "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2", "Secret in Their Eyes", "99 Homes", "He Named Me Malala"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

As the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts by the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen must bring together an army against President Snow.

The conclusion of a series of films that want to celebrate heroism and at the same time denounces imperialism; this final chapter is mostly clutter, becoming more dull and repetitive as it goes along.

d – Francis Lawrence

w – Peter Craig, Danny Strong   (Based on the Novel by Suzanne Collins)

ph – Jo Williams

pd – Philip Messina

m – James Newton Howard

ed – Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa 

cos – Kurt and Bart

p – Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Natalie Dormer, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Paula Malcomson, Stef Dawson

99 Homes *

A father struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real estate broker who's the source of his frustration.

The 6^th solidly-made film by a director whose cinematic suppositions I am yet to be convinced by. This one is engrossing for the most part due to its performances.

d – Ramin Bahrani

w – Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi 

ph – Bobby Bukowski

pd – Alex DiGerlando

m – Antony Partos, Matteo Zingales

ed – Ramin Bahrani

cos – Meghan Kasperlik

p – Ashok Amritraj, Ramin Bahrani, Andrew Garfield, Justin Nappi, Kevin Turen

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Noah Lomax, Tim Guinee

Secret in Their Eyes

A tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.

Unbearably tedious remake of the 2009 Argentinian crime drama that is both clumsily shot and acted.

wd – Billy Ray   (Based on the Screenplay by Juan José Campanella, Eduardo Sacheri)

ph – Daniel Moder

pd – Nelson Coates

m – Emilio Kauderer

ed – Jim Page

cos – Shay Cunliffe

p – Matt Jackson, Mark Johnson

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, Lyndon Smith, Michael Kelly, Mark Famiglietti, Zoe Graham, Don Harvey, Ross Partridge, Joe Cole

He Named Me Malala

A look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on the young Pakistani schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education and the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations.

A terrible documentary: Guggenheim does nothing with his fascinating subject other than assemble Wikipedia-level information on Yousafzai and dispense what he thinks is “stylistic” fact-based filmmaking. It is more of an infomercial, if anything.

d – David Guggenheim

ph – Erich Roland

m – Thomas Newman

ed – Greg Finton, Brad Fuller, Brian Johnson

p – Davis Guggenheim, Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes

Cast: Malala Yousafzai