MANAKAMANA (Nepal/US/2014)

by

Julien Faddoul

** (2 stars)

d – Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez

ph – Pacho Velez

ed – Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez

p – Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

MANAKAMANA begins in absolute darkness. We hear a loud clank, confusing and unnerving. It is soon visually clarified as the noise of a cable car set into action.

Crisp Criticism - "Boyhood", "Magic in the Moonlight", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

by

Julien Faddoul

Boyhood ***

12 years in the life of a Texas boy.

An affecting, at times overwhelming experience: A film about the process of the organic specimen shot over the course of 12 years. For 165 minutes, one is walking on a tightrope of humanity vs. menace both fictively and aesthetically. Not all of it works – Linklater’s narrative is so glib and generalized – but it certainly is a vital document.

wd – Richard Linklater

ph – Lee Daniel, Shane F. Kelly

pd – Rodney Becker, Gay Studebaker

ed – Sandra Adair

cos – Kari Perkins

p – Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland

Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater, Libby Villari, Marco Perella, Jamie Howard, Andrew Villarreal

Magic in the Moonlight *

A master magician begins to doubt his chronic skepticism when he meets a medium whom he believes is the real deal.

Another delightful film by the 78-year-old master done completely on autopilot, exploring themes he has covered countless times before.

wd – Woody Allen

ph – Darius Khondji

pd – Anne Seibel

ed – Alisa Lepselter

cos – Sonia Grande

p – Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Edward Walson

Cast: Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A group of mutated warriors face off against an evil kingpin who wants to take over New York.

Atrocious, loud and brainless reboot of the children’s franchise with ugly images, incoherent action and poor performances.  

d – Jonathan Liebesman

w – Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Evan Daugherty   (Based on the Characters Created by Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman)

ph – Lula Carvalho

pd – Neil Spisak

m – Brian Tyler

ed – Joel Negron, Glen Scantlebury

cos – Sarah Edwards   

p – Michael Bay, Ian Bryce, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Scott Mednick, Galen Walker

Cast: Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn, William Fichtner, Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub

Crisp Criticism - "If I Stay", "Into the Storm", "As Above, So Below"

by

Julien Faddoul

If I Stay

While in a coma after a fatal accident, a teenage female musician ways her options to decide whether she wants to live or die.

A ludicrous premise is presented here with a literal approach. This would have worked had the drama itself not been so bland. Therefore, the approach only heightens its obnoxiousness.

d – R.J. Cutler

w – Shauna Cross   (Based on the Novel by Gayle Forman)

ph – John de Borman

pd – Brent Thomas

m – Heitor Pereira

ed – Keith Henderson

cos – Monique Prudhomme

p – Denise Di Novi, Alison Greenspan

Cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley, Joshua Leonard, Liana Liberato, Stacy Keach, Gabrielle Rose, Jakob Davies

Crisp Criticism - "Palo Alto", "Draft Day", "Coherence", "The One I Love"

by

Julien Faddoul

Palo Alto **

Stories of lust and boredom that take place in a Palo Alto high school.

Encompassing, nomadic drama of Californian High School life that is not altogether unfamiliar given the last name of the director. Ironically, it falters not from being too nebulous, but from being too conspicuous.

wd – Gia Coppola   (Based on the Short Stories by James Franco)

ph – Autumn Durald

pd – Sara Beckum Jamieson  

ed – Leo Scott  

cos – Courtney Hoffman

p – Vince Jolivette, Miles Levy, Sebastian Pardo, Adriana Rotaru

Cast: Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, Nat Wolff, James Franco, Zoe Levin, Val Kilmer, Keegan Allen, Margaret Qualley, Chris Messina

Crisp Criticism - "The Hundred-Foot Journey", "A Most Wanted Man", "And So It Goes", "The Expendables 3", "The Maid's Room"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Hundred-Foot Journey

An Indian family clashes with a proprietress of a celebrated French restaurant after they open their own nearby eatery.

Another piece of manipulative creamy soup from Hallstrom with characters that are more stale than usual.

d – Lasse Hallstrom

w – Steven Knight   (Based on the Book by Richard C. Morais)

ph – Linus Sandgren

pd – David Gropman

m – A.R. Rahman

ed – Andrew Mondshein

cos – Pierre-Yves Gayraud

p – Juliet Blake, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey

Cast: Helen Mirran, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Amit Shah, Farzana Dua Elahe

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014/US)

by

Julien Faddoul

** (2 stars)

d – James Gunn

w – James Gunn, Nicole Perlman   (Based on the Comic Book by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning)

ph – Ben Davis

pd – Charles Wood

m – Tyler Bates

ed – Fred Raskin, Hughes Winborne, Craig Wood

cos – Alexandra Byrne

p – Kevin Feige

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldahna, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Haddock, Sean Gunn, Peter Serafinowicz

  

With the exception of The Avengers, I have found every film from Marvel Studios to be a toiling experience. A sweaty one, thrown into the pressure of knowing all the answers and acquiring every allusion or feeling bad if I don’t. Devotees either can’t believe anyone wouldn’t consider these the pinnacle of cinematic paragons or gripe with what isn’t there instead of griping with what is.

Lucy (2014/US/France)

by

Julien Faddoul

** (2 Stars)

wd – Luc Besson

m – Eric Serra

ph – Thierry Arbogast

pd – Hugues Tissandier

cos – Olivier Bériot

p – Virginie Silla-Besson

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk, Analeigh Tipton, Nicolas Phongpheth

Lucy is not the kind of movie that should be examined lightly. Even if it has a premise as ludicrous and over-calculated as this one. By which I mean, one can detect the pulpiness of the material and organize their mind accordingly. I would accept the response of anyone who disliked the film on those grounds alone, but there's something quite brilliant about Luc Besson’s latest film that paradoxically can only exist adjacent to the silliness.

Crisp Criticism - "Hercules", "Sex Tape", "The Purge: Anarchy", "Persecuted"

by

Julien Faddoul

Hercules

1400 years ago, a tormented soul walked the earth that was neither man nor god.

A vehicle for its star that takes a gritty approach to the Hercules legend. It provides intermittent pleasures, but is mostly dull and unattractive.

d – Brett Ratner

w – Ryan Condal, Evan Spiliotopoulos   (Based on the Comic Book by Jack Kirby)

ph – Dante Spinotti

pd – Jean-Vincent Puzos

m – Fernando Valezpuez

ed – Mark Helfrich, Julia Wong

cos – Jany Temime

p – Sarah Aubrey, Beau Flynn, Barry Levine, Brett Ratner

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Reece Ritchie, Joseph Fiennes, Tobias Santelmann, Peter Mullan, Rebecca Ferguson

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014/US)

by

Julien Faddoul

* (1 star)

d – Matt Reeves

w – Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Mark Bomback   (Based on the Novel by Pierre Boulle)   

ph – Michael Seresin
pd – James Chinlund

m – Michael Giacchino
ed – William Hoy, Stan Salfas

cos – Melissa Bruning

p – Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Cast: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Nick Thurston, Judy Greer, Terry Notary, Karin Konoval

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place 10 years after the previous incarnation. In the wake of the enormous ape discharge from the Gen-Sys Labs and their rampage through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County, the infectious Simian Virus has now exterminated the majority of Earth’s human populace and left the rest desperate to survive in a dystopian world.

Crisp Criticism - "They Came Together", "Locke", "Calvary", "Deliver Us from Evil"

by

Julien Faddoul

They Came Together *

A small business owner is about to lose her shop to a major corporate development. An arch parody of romantic comedies that is only occasionally funny. More often than not, it’s merely insipid.

d – David Wain

w – Michael Showalter, David Wain

ph – Tom Houghton

pd – Mark White

m – Matt Novack, Craig Wedren

ed – Jamie Gross

cos – Dana Covarrubias

p – Michael Showalter

Cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Meloni, Max Greenfield, Bill Hader, Ellie Kemper, Jason Mantzoukas, Melanie Lynskey, Ed Helms, Michael Ian Black, Michael Murphy, Kenan Thompson, Jack McBrayer, Ken Marino