Spotlight

Four out of Four Stars

Riveting, didactic, and unforgettable are some of the words to describe the new film, Spotlight. Between 2001 and 2002, The Boston Globe investigated an ongoing sex scandal in the Catholic Church in which 87 priests in the Boston area molested children and walked away without being arrested or exiled from the church. The Pulitzer-Prize winning exposé was reported by the Globe's Spotlight investigation team as they knocked on doors, chased down elusive and scathing documents and got unfiltered testimonies by victims. Directed by Tom McCarthy, and led by a stellar cast giving nothing short of incredible performances, Spotlight is one of the highlights of the year.

At the forefront of this amazing film is an incredible cast working off one another like a jazz ensemble. Michael Keaton, who plays Spotlight editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, gives a sharp performance as he tries to see through the corruption and BS around his city despite conflicting ethics and compromising results. Mark Ruffalo, an actor who hasn't made a false move even if he tried, gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Mike Rezendes, the religiously conflicted and tenacious reporter who wants to expose the case as much as his colleagues. Rachel McAdams gives a brilliant performance as Sacha Pfeiffer, the reporter who consoles and listens to the victims of sexual abuse. Stanley Tucci is entertaining as the snarky defense lawyer for sexually abused who confides in Rezendes over the conspiratorial nature of the church. Liev Schreiber and John Slatterly, who play editors Marty Baron and Ben Bradlee Jr. give solid and stoic performances reminiscent of Jason Robards and Jack Warden's performances in All The President's Men.

Drawing from the well of classic investigative journalism films like All the President's Men and The Insider, McCarthy and Josh Singer's sharp and stinging screenplay doesn't miss a beat or falls into a pile of cliches due to the timelessness of the story and its significance in today's world fueled by sex scandals and rape allegations. Masanobu Takayanagi's cinematography captures the tightrope of subtlety and suspense the film walks upon through reverse pull shots and tracking shots reminiscent of the cinematography of Harris Savides' work on Zodiac. Tom McArdie's editing is sharp and precise during the ongoing conversations between the reporters in and out of the newsroom. Howard Shore's ominous, piano-filled score projects the cathartic nature of the victims describing their traumatic experiences with their priests with the right amount of subtlety rather than going into melodramatic territory.

In a year that has not really been strong in terms of film quality as opposed to quantity, Spotlight is a breath of fresh air by going back to the basics of classic filmmaking by relying on solid acting ensembles, subtle cinematography, and strong storytelling.              

Brooklyn

3 out of 4 Stars

Brooklyn is a warm and lighthearted film about the struggles of finding love and finding a place in the world. Set in the early 1950s, Saoirse Ronan plays Ellis, a young woman who leaves her home in Ireland for America and learns about the hardships of leaving home while working at an upscale department store in New York City. Helping Ellis adapt to her new surroundings is a benevolent priest (Jim Broadbent), a sharp tongue and tempered boarding house mistress (A very funny Julie Walters), and letters from home penned by her sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott). As soon as she acclimates to the Big Apple, Ellis meets Tony (Emory Cohen), an Italian-American plumber who is over the moon for her. It isn't until an unfortunate event occurs that Ellis has to go back to Ireland where she meets the suave Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson) and she becomes torn between her new home in Brooklyn
and her Irish homestead.

The film is nothing new in terms of immigration love stories (i.e. Goodbye, Columbus and America, America), yet it shines from Nick Hornby's romantic and humorous script along with John Crowley's direction. Unlike other Irish-based films, like Angela's Ashes, Brooklyn does not fall into a pit of dreariness or into a cesspool of schmaltz as the film finds a balance that makes the experience enjoyable thanks to a solid cast of actors. Carrying the film from being a ho-hum romance is Saoirse Ronan as she gives a stunning and poignant performance as Ellis as she weathers the storms of conflicted emotions with such grace and heart, which is what Brooklyn is all about.    

A Poem Is A Naked Person

4 out of 4 Stars

Les Blank's rare documentary, A Poem Is A Naked Person, has finally been released in all its Southern Fried glory. The 1974 documentary, which revolves around Leon Russell and his home state of Oklahoma, was shelved by Russell until 2014 when Blank's son, Harrod, restored the film in collaboration with Janus Films. The film is a beautiful, comedic, and rollicking look at Russell on stage and in the recording studio with George Jones and Willie Nelson. Also, the film is a portrait of Faulknerian proportions as Blank interviews local Oklahomians, glass-eating parachute enthusiasts, and Russell's fans.

Les Blank, who passed away in 2013, was one of the great documentary filmmakers of the 1970s and was in the vanguard of cinema verite film-making along with his contemporaries like the Maysles Brothers and D.A. Pennebaker. For Blank, he not only focuses on Russell's music, but the people and culture that make up the bulk of his songs. The film almost comes across as Robert Altman's Nashville without Joan Tewkesbury's script as you feel the humidity of the southern heat or the glow of the full moon over the Grand Lake of the Cherokee while Russell's voice sings some classic Hank Williams ballad.  

Within this heady mix of music and southern culture, there is Leon Russell as one of rock and roll's jack-of-all trades. Whether he is performing at a local wedding or playing to a riotous crowd in Anaheim, California, this film solidifies him as one of the great musicians of his generation whose career was revived in recent years thanks in part to Elton John recruiting him for the 2010 album, "The Union," and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. A Poem Is A Naked Person is one of the great lost gems that can finally shine for all to see.  

Trumbo

3 out of 4 Stars

Trumbo, the new biopic by Jay Roach, is a witty and fascinating look at the life and times of screenwriter and provocateur, Dalton Trumbo. Trumbo was one of Hollywood's leading screenwriters of the 1940s, but his political views made him a target for the House of Un-American Activities committee leading to being blacklisted from Hollywood along with thousands of others in the film industry who were Communist sympathizers. During his period of politically motivated exile, Trumbo wrote screenplays for B-films along with Hollywood classics, like Roman Holiday and Spartacus, under various pseudonyms. Despite his hardships, Trumbo managed to fight for his right to express himself and represent the other screenwriters whose careers ended with imprisonment or death.

The major drawback in Trumbo is John McNamara's lackluster script as it has minimal originality and reads like a movie of the week, yet Trumbo's own letters and anecdotes keep the film afloat. Jay Roach, whose reputation as a filmmaker falls under comedy franchises like Austin Powers or Meet The Parents doesn't create anything that jumps off he screen that hasn't been filmed before. That being said, he knows how to cast a movie with the right actors.

Bryan Cranston gives an incredibly funny and perfectly nuanced performance as Dalton Trumbo as he emulates the chain-smoking, scotch-drinking radical who defied the studio system with his razor-sharp wit and endearing prose that led to the decline of a Hollywood under the thumbs of Joe McCarthy and Hedda Hopper. Helen Mirren shines as the commie-hating actress and columnist Hedda Hopper with an air of deception that is reminiscent of Cruella DeVille. Diane Lane and Elle Fanning give strong supporting performances as Trumbo's wife and daughter who both question and support Trumbo's actions against the HUAC and whether or not his crusade for civil liberties is infringing on his life as a husband and father.

Among the other great supporting roles, Louis C.K. gives a brilliant performance as Arlen Hird, the screenwriter torn between his political beliefs while financially supporting himself by writing hackneyed scripts. John Goodman is hilarious as Frank King, the bat-wielding B-movie producer who takes a chance on Dalton Trumbo with ambition and bawdiness. Michael Stuhlbarg steals the show as Edward G. Robinson by not succumbing to cigar-sucking mimicry by showing Robinson's conflict of appeasing to his closest friends along with the political powers that be.

Aside from a bland screenplay, Trumbo diverts from being a half-hearted televised melodrama into a film with substance as Bryan Cranston gives a remarkable performance  along with the supporting cast. Had it not been for the great
performances, I would definitely recommend seeing Peter Askin's 2007 documentary on Trumbo.

Room

4 out of 4 Stars

Lenny Abrahamson's new film, Room, is a harrowing, intense, and stunning tale of survival. Brie Larson plays Joy, a woman who lives in a confined space with her 5 year old son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay). After spending over seven years in the confined space, known only as "Room", Jack helps his mother escape. Throughout the film, we see and hear Jack narrate his interpretation of the world in the room. It isn't until he escapes that he experiences the real world with new eyes and sees the toll it takes on Joy when she reunites with her parents (Joan Allen and William H. Macy). 

 Jacob Tremblay is incredible as Jack; he gives a naturalistic and moving performance that cuts deep into this tale of sorrow and hope. Brie Larson gives a career defining performance as Joy. Like Jack, she is a survivor who treads between vulnerability and perseverance when confronting her past. Joan Allen gives one of her best performances in years as Joy's mother as she tries to heal the wounds she and her daughter have endured since her disappearance. 

Abrahamson, who directed last year's quirky and moving Frank goes deeper into the psyche of isolated people and how they try to adapt to a new world. His collaboration with cinematographer, Danny Cohen, is ingenious as the camera exemplifies the state of confinement Jack and Joy endure similar to Catherine Deneuve's experiences in Polanski's Repulsion. As Jack's perspective of the outside world grows, the camera captures more of an expansive view of the world. 

Room is difficult to watch without breaking out a few tissues. Not since Beasts of the Southern Wild has there been a film that has captured a child's perspective of the harshness and beauty of the world. This is, by far, one if the most endearing films of the year. 

Junun

3 1/2 out of 4 Stars

Junun, the new documentary by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a visual and aural treat for music lovers and film lovers alike. In February of this past year, Anderson went to Rajasthan to film the recording sessions for Jonny Greenwood's new album with Israeli composer, Shye Ben Tzur, and several Indian musicians. Anderson, only armed with a digital camera he managed to get through airport customs, captures the creative and radiant energy of the musicians as they record despite constant electricity problems. During their brief reprieves from recording, the musicians meditate and go into town to tune their instruments while Anderson follows them with his camera.

Although the film is fifty-three minutes long, Anderson brilliantly captures every second of the beauty of Rajasthan and the music with unbridled curiosity. Greenwood, the wunderkind guitarist for Radiohead and composer for Anderson's films, pensively plays with his guitar while Ben Tzur sways and sings getting lost in the music as the audience gets lost in the film.  This is Anderson's first documentary and film shot entirely in digital format and he plays with the digital camera and tests the limits of how far he can capture the ethereal aura of Rajasthan whether it be filming a circle of musicians in a 360 degree shot or strapping the camera to a drone and flying it around. Along with the dizzying and stunning cinematography, the film celebrates the union of different musical genres with the same vibrant energy as Wim Wenders did with The Buena Vista Social Club. All and all, Junun is a joyous spectacle of sound and vision.

Sicario

4 out of 4 Stars


Sicario, the new film by Denis Velleneuve, is a jaw dropping, knuckle-whitening experience. Emily Blunt plays an ambitious, chain-smoking FBI agent assigned to work with the DEA in bringing down drug cartels along the US/Mexico border. As soon as she sees the unorthodox methods used by a swaggering cowboy of a DEA agent (Josh Brolin) and a soft-spoken, yet intense protege (Benicio Del Toro), her outlook on going by the book falls along the wayside. Meanwhile, the film goes back and forth to the daily routine of a hard-drinking local police officer in Mexico going about his private duties leading to a surprising third act in the film.

Not since Traffic has such a film showed the drug trade in an unflinching and suspenseful manner. At times, the film goes into sensory override as you feel and empathize with the anxiety and pressure Blunt's character faces throughout the film. Velleneuve, who gained strong praise with his 2013 film, Prisoners, ups the ante by keeping you on the edge of your seat thanks to Talyor Sheridan's sharp screenplay and Roger Deakins award-deserving cinematography by showing the gore and fury of a world filled with corruption similar to his work with the Coen brothers, be it through close-circuit television sets or night-vision goggles.

Benicio Del Toro gives one of his most darkest and strongest performances in years as Alejandro. His world-weary presence and soft-spoken demeanor is underestimated by a compulsive drive similar to De Niro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Emily Blunt is great as she successfully walks the tightrope between being a no B.S. FBI agent and a lonely woman whose only merits she holds dear are loyalty and integrity. Josh Brolin brings out a wild and beautifully crass performance as a DEA agent who thrives on chaos like a stilted flower relying on rain to survive.

Velleneuve's harrowing vision on the war on drugs is complimented by Johann Johannsson's ominous score as you go into this two-hour abyss of action and suspense. Sicario is nothing short of riveting and raw that it stands head and shoulders over previous films that have dealt with geopolitical themes like Zero Dark Thirty. The film is not preachy as previous drug-war films as Velleneuve objectively looks at the thin blue line between honor and corruption.