Vice

First Hit: I liked this oddly created film about a powerful yet enigmatic man who really ran our country for a period of time.

Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) powerfully found his way into and as a guiding influence in our government especially during the President George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) years.

The scene that points out his guile was when during the transition from Clinton to Bush, when he, not only had is standard office in the Senate (as a tie-breaker vote), but also had his team find an office in the House side of Congress (that’s where the money bills are created), in the Defense Department, and other places in the seat of our government. He moved in and out of these offices to wield the influence of the Executive branch where ever he could.A

He believed in the Unitary executive theory whereas the President possesses the power to control the entire executive branch of government. Sort of like Nixon’s belief when interviewed by David Frost; “If the President does it, it isn’t against the law.” Cheney believed he, as the lever puller for George Bush, he could do no wrong and nothing he did was illegal. A couple of his feats include; torture of captured combatants, invading Iraq when there was no proof that the country had anything to do with September 11 attack on world trade towers.

It was a focus group that indicated that the American public wanted a country as an enemy and not a concept (Al-Qaeda), so we invaded Iraq, because both Bush, H. W. Bush, and Cheney had wanted to this for a long time. This is just a smattering of the bold divisive actions Cheney took as VP.

We see his earlier years as a college drunken mess. His stint as a lineman in Wyoming. Drinking and fighting in bars after work. His comeuppance by his wife Lynne (Amy Adams), who said after one drunken bout, you either shape up or ship out.

He does shape up and becomes an intern in Congress working for Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) – (the truth is that he worked for Congressman William A. Steiger), then into the White House, eventually rising to Chief of Staff for Gerald Ford (Bill Camp). Then he was elected to Wyoming’s only Congressional seat. This was followed by becoming Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush and oversaw Desert Storm, which he believed didn’t go far enough.

The film shows many of these events with sincerity while mixing in scenes with a level of irreverence, and also scenes of Cheney fly fishing in Wyoming. But watching Dick and George’s mistake in both leaving Iraq while pumping up a radical person, resulted in ISIS (Desh). These mistakes are Bush’s and Cheney’s legacy.

Like with the Big Short, director Adam McKay mixes his film’s stories up in ways that various impacts on people. For me this approach was effective, but it was Bale’s Cheney that was amazing.

Bale was Cheney. I believed I was seeing the real guy on the screen. Nothing he did seemed out of character with whom the public knew something about but not how the man thought. And even with this film, most of Cheney’s screen time is watching him think. He wasn’t an impulsive man, that’s clear. Adams was fantastic as Lynne Cheney. Her drive and power over Dick were clear and direct. Carell as Rumsfeld was strong. I never got much of an impression from the real Rumsfeld through his brief public appearances so I’ve nothing to compare this performance to. Rockwell was wonderfully cast as George W. Bush. His breezy, thoughtless manner comes through just as one saw the real Bush in public. Justin Kirk as Scooter Libby was good. LisaGay Hamilton played Condoleezza Rice one of the people Cheney didn’t see eye to eye with. Tyler Perry played Colin Powell who reluctantly spoke at the UN for the bombing of Iraq, although he never believed it was the right thing to do. Alison Pill played Cheney’s older gay daughter Mary whom is stood behind by her family early on in the film and then when the younger daughter Liz (Lily Rabe) runs for office, Dick turns against Mary’s lesbian ways so that Liz can get elected as the Representative of Wyoming. Power was what drove Dick in life and not even family got in the way. Adam McKay wrote an interesting script that reflects the way he likes to create a movie. Dancing across the information while willing to mix it up in ways that are different. I happen to like it.

Overall: The acting is superb and the way this story is told is probably not everyone’s cup of tea.

Nocturnal Animals

First Hit:  Outstanding acting in a film that lives to the feeling of its name.

The opening credits are viewed on the backdrop of one of the oddest art displays I’ve ever seen. The display is of very large and overweight naked women dancing live. The rest of the exhibit is of live heavy women in various positions on platforms in the gallery.

The art gallery owner is Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who lives with her husband in an amazingly large modern house in the LA/Hollywood hills. Her husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) is distant from her, appears to be wealthy, but also indicates there’s money trouble. His illusive and distant behavior points to something else going on in his life and then he abruptly tells Susan he has to go back to New York for business.

Susan receives a package from her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) and it is a book he’s written. She opens the book and sees that it is dedicated to her and the title, “Nocturnal Animal”, was Edward’s nickname for her. As she lies awake in bed, she begins reading the book hoping to help her sleep. However, the story is very intense and it peaks her interest immediately.

From here the film slips in and out of the book’s story, the present time of her reading the book, and past reflections of her former husband and their life together. The past story is about how much she loved Edward and finding that her mom, Anne Sutton (Laura Linney), may have been right that eventually Susan would seek out someone more financially successful and strong than Edward.

The book’s story is very intense as it describes Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal in a different role), his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber) being driven off the road during a road trip through Texas. The men shoving them off the road Ray, Lou and Turk (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Karl Glusman and Robert Aramayo respectively) are local miscreants known for having a slightly troubled past.

The story continues where they give the Hasting family a hard time and end up separating Tony from his wife and daughter. Eventually finding assistance, Sherriff Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) takes the case to help Tony find his family. Finding them raped and killed, Tony is crushed while Andes makes it his focused mission to find the killers.

As the film slips from the present of Susan reading the book, to her memories of her relationship with Edward and then to the intense book she’s reading, you can tell that she’s unhappy with her current lot in life, and wants to accept an invitation offered to her by Edward to meet for dinner.

She says yes to the dinner invitation and doesn’t seemed surprised by the outcome.

I really liked the way this film moved between the three different sets and scenes. The coolness and sadness of the current time, the intensity and fury of the book’s story of Tony, and the ideal and joy in Susan and Edward’s budding relationship of the past. These stories and their settings were wonderfully choreographed and  delivered. Additionally, the  transitions between them were wonderfully done.

Gyllenhaal continues to deliver top notch performances. The way he delivers his two characters which have a common theme was excellent. This is an Award worthy performance. Adams, is divine. She’s perfect as the hauntingly beautiful “Nocturnal Animal”. Sitting in the theater, I could feel her struggle. Just as with her role in “Arrival”, Adams is showing everyone why she is so good. Shannon is really on his game here. I’ve really come to appreciate his work and here as an intense, "I don’t give a fuck" sheriff, he’s wonderful. He is this role. Fisher and Bamber were wonderful as Tony’s wife and daughter. I also loved how director Tom Ford used their red hair to tie in Adams’ character as well. It created connections and a tie between the book and Susan’s current life. Hammer was perfect in this small role. Taylor-Johnson, Glusman and Aramayo were great as the books antagonists and the way for Tom to express his rage and gain strength in the end. Linney is perfect as Susan’s well-healed mother. Her look and use of language was great. Ford wrote and directed this film with a clear vision for what he wanted. His effort is worthy for Award consideration to say the least.

Overall:  This is a dark moody, thriller that really worked.

Arrival

First Hit:  A very inventive and powerful film effectively illuminating the complexities of non-liner time.

This was my kind of film; it had suspense, was beautifully presented, the sound, including the music, was dynamic, and was it intellectually challenging. However, none of this would work without a clear commitment from the actors and the production team. They are to be commended.

The basic story is that 12 alien ships arrive on earth and hover in different countries. Each country having a ship assigns a team of people to try to figure out why they are here on Earth. Heading the military led team for the United States is Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker). His focus is to communicate to the US Government and the rest of the world what his team has learned. Looking for experts he approaches Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) who is a professor of communication and linguistics at an unnamed College/University. She has certain criteria of how she will work on this project and when Weber rebuffs her, he searches out others. However, a short time later he has a change of heart, she is the best.

This scene, for me, sets the tone of the whole film. How Weber's team picks her up, the noise of being inside the helicopter, the tense excitement of the assignment ahead of them, had me ready for an adventure. The filming and sound were perfectly industrial and presents a sense of realism, the kind that tells you that you are in good hands under the direction of Director Denis Villeneuve. In each scene he beckons the audience, to sit back, open your mind, and enjoy the ride because this will be like no other alien invasion film you’ve ever experienced.

On the helicopter ride she meets her working partner Dr. Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) who is a physicist. Although their ways of finding out and interpreting the information is they gain from the aliens is very different, they both agree it starts with communication.

There are a number of amazing scenes when they enter the alien ship; how gravity is upended, how they view the aliens through a glass like structure, and the fascinating scenes of Ian and Louise learning the alien’s language. All through this film we are treated to Louise’s memories of her daughter and little do we know how all of this comes together until the very end when she and Ian “get” the picture the aliens want to share with all of us.

Although I cannot say more about the plot, I will say the screenplay, cinematography, the concept, the acting and directing are top notch. But what really got me, was the ability of everyone who worked on this film to commit to the vision and present an amazing way to help people think more about understanding non-liner time.

Whitaker is the kind of man and actor that elevates every film he is in. For me he is one of the very best living actors and in this movie he's no different. He knows just how much of his intensity and kindness to put into every role and every scene. Adams is sublime. She plays a very complex character and there are few that could have pulled it off as well as Adams. I’m not sure how she felt about the role, but for me it was a role of a lifetime. Renner did a fantastic job in support of Banks. He led when he needed to and buttressed Banks inroads to the science of communicating with aliens. Eric Heisserer wrote an extraordinary screenplay. His ability to create a cohesive, engaging, entertaining and intellectual story while tackling the concept of time was amazing. Villeneuve had a clear vision of what he wanted and how this film was going to get there. From the odd look of the alien spaceships (they looked like large contact lenses), to the music striking the perfect background sound and mood, to how he got so much from each actor, his clear deft hand took us on an amazing journey for which I applaud him.

Overall: This was an extraordinary film and based on all the movies I’ve seen this year, this one is one of the top three.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (3-D)

First Hit:  A very long, overly complicated, saga that makes little or no sense and is a waste of 151 minutes.

To make a film where Superman/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and Batman/Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) meet each other, let alone go to war with each other is a flawed concept because each are heroes in their own towns.

The film begins with a very convoluted sequence of scenes that attempts to build a story. It doesn't do this well. The strongest acting and segments of this film include Jesse Eisenberg (as Lex Luthor) because he’s actually interesting. That we have “Gotham” and “Metropolis” just across the river from each other is even more ridiculous.

Somehow a government Senate committee led by Senator Finch (Holly Hunter) is investigating Superman’s unfettered and unguided way he decides whom to help and when. Given that he is indestructible (faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful that a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…) the government wants to have more control about his deeds. The motivation for Batman's actions against Superman is that he believes that when Superman saved the human race from aliens, his actions hurt his family’s business and all the people inside the family's building that was destroyed.

In the meantime Luther is doing his best to stir the pot because he knows that getting rid of Superman, he’ll have more power. The film also finds a ridiculous way to introduce Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Gal Gadot).

That the resolution to Batman and Superman’s disagreement ludicrously comes because their mothers’ shared the same name (Martha) seemed far fetched and was telegraphed from the opening scenes in the film.

Cavill is OK as the stiff, socially uncomfortable, other worldly and powerful Superman. Affleck was interesting as the brooding Batman. Many of Batman’s fight scenes seemed stilted with Affleck’s lack of smooth movement. Hunter was wasted in this unneeded role. Eisenberg was perfectly manic, intense, and strong as the antagonist. Gadot was somewhat interesting as Wonder Woman. Laurence Fishburne was wasted in his role of Perry White managing editor of the Daily Planet. Amy Adams was sincerely doing her best in the role of Lois Lane. Jeremy Irons was OK as Alfred, Batman’s gentlemen's gentleman. Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer wrote this absurdly convoluted script that was created only to draw box office receipts. There was no effort to make an interesting film. Zack Snyder directed this mess.

Overall:  All told, the story, the direction, and much of the acting was poorly fabricated and executed.

Big Eyes

First Hit:  Captured the era in a great way and was effective in telling this story.

Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) painted the “Big Eye” paintings that captured the hearts of many. The question is would the paintings have been so well known, distributed, and sold if it weren’t for her husband?

Probably not, however Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) also took credit for painting his wife’s paintings. Walter wanted to be a painter but his skill was in selling. And because he could sell his wife’s work, he also wanted to feed his ego and take credit for painting them as well. Why Margaret agreed to this deception wasn’t explored very deeply.

Although the story was interesting, noteworthy, and gave credence to the power of owning one’s own power, what I liked about the film, were the cars, dress, and representation of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The brightness and newness of the time after WWII was palatable. To me the defining scene about the time period was early when Margaret and daughter Jane (young Jane – Delaney Raye) escape in the green Ford and head out across the country. The roadside signs, the car and other cars on the road was representative and magical of the time.

Adams was very good as Margaret. She really embodied the time and spirit of a woman wanting to own her power in a societal time where it was felt that men ruled the roost. Waltz was delightfully deceitful, charming and snarky. I loved the courtroom scenes where he ranted, raved and showed that he struggled to paint anything. Both Raye and Madeleine Arthur were wonderful as Margaret’s child Jane. Danny Huston as the reporter Dick Nolan, from which this story is told, was very good as well. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski wrote this dialogue rich script. Tim Burton, as expected, focused on the cinematography, rather than creating interest in the characters.

Overall:  Although I really liked the story, there was something missing from it to make it memorable.