High Rise

First Hit:  One of the worst spools of celluloid ever put together.

With two rather talented actors headlining this move, how did it become such a hot mess.

Tom Hiddleston (as Laing) and Jeremy Irons (as Royal) are living in a building that Royal has designed. The building is all inclusive meaning that is a gym, grocery store and other amenities allowing the residents to not leave the grounds if they choose not to.

The building they live in is one of five in the series Royal has designed. From a general design point of view, the buildings are supposed to look like a 4 bent fingers and a thumb lifting up from a palm which is the center courtyard. The status of a person is based on the floor they live on as demonstrated when there is a power shortage, the lower floors have more blackouts than the higher floors.

The theme, if there really was one, was lost on me and the actors, storyline, and lack of cohesion made it impossible to watch, although I will watch anything once.

Hiddleston’s character was not fleshed out enough to know why he acted and reacted the way he did. More than likely this was a story/screenplay issue as I do think Hiddleston is a good actor. Irons is a superb actor but his role as the high and mighty architect was flimsy at best. It was neither tolerable nor believable. I won’t bother with the rest of the cast as it isn’t worth it. Amy Jump wrote the screenplay and if this is her best work, she might think of another line of work. Ben Wheatley directed this with little thought about presenting a cohesive interesting story. It was more about bad behavior getting worse.

Overall:  Please don’t watch this film, as it will be a waste of time and money.

The Nice Guys

First Hit:  A dark comedy with some very funny bits and a fair amount of violence.

There are definitely some laugh-out-loud moments in this film. The juxtaposition between the personalities of the main characters made it work.

Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) a guy who uses his fists to set things right. He's hired by all sorts of people who want someone to leave them alone. He’s ruff, gruff and no-nonsense in his approach. He hits people and asks questions later.

On the other side of the coin we have Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a former police officer and currently a private detective who tries to take the easy way out most of the time. He gets is PI fees up-front and is not always fair to, or honest with, his clients.

He feels guilty because he lost his wife and house to a fire that he might have prevented had he been able to smell. March has taken to drinking most of the time and, although he has a great relationship with his young daughter Holly (Angourie Rice), he's not being a great example as a father.

Holly has become the strength of their home and most of the time she’s really taking care of him. Some of the funny bits are slapstick falls that March takes along with the physical and conversational interaction between Healy and March.

There are also fond remembrances of comics past, including Gosling’s version of Lou Costello’s attempts at calling for help with nothing coming out of his mouth because he’s in state of paralysis/shock because he finds himself lying next to a dead man. There are laugh out loud scenes (many at the big party) as well as a convoluted crime story they are attempting to resolve.

Crowe is perfect as the no-nonsense physical enforcer of right and wrong, according to him. Gosling was very strong as the confused, in mourning, and trying to find how to get of of his funk father. His ability to be both smart and not-smart in this character and make it work is wonderful. Rice was the star of the film. Her maturity while being able to be a young teenager with a conscious was stunning. We will see much more of her as she develops as an actress. There a number of other character actors in this film that were very strong including: Margaret Qualley (as Amelia), Beau Knapp (as Blueface) and Lance Valentine Butler (as Kid on Bike). Shane Black and Anthony Bagarozzi wrote an dynamically funny and engaging script. While Black’s direction was strong in bringing out the dynamics of the main three’s relationship.

Overall:  I enjoyed the story and the dark humor.

The Huntsman: Winter's War

First Hit:  A misguided film with a weak story and little relevancy.

As actors go, I like Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain. I’m not a huge fan of Chris Hemsworth as he’s shown little range in his acting.

Here, Theron (as Ravenna) plays the ruler of a huge kingdom that gets bigger all the time. She has a powerful magic mirror that tells her that she’s the fairest of them all, although Snow White in another kingdom ranks right up there - really?

Ravenna’s sister Queen Freya (Blunt) is subservient to her sister but when she falls in love and gets pregnant, the mirror tells Ravenna that the baby, when born, will be the fairest in the land. Ravenna is not going to let this happen and sets up so that the baby is killed.

Freya doesn't know her sister killed her baby and is so hurt she finds her inner anger and power (turning things into ice) and heads off to find her own kingdom where love is not allowed. She is so cold she steals children from families that her army’s defeat while turning those orphaned children into more soldiers to conquer more lands.

Two of her earliest child recruits Sara (Chastain) and Erin/Huntsman (Hemsworth) turn into her premier soldiers who continue to bring back new children soldier recruits along with new conquered lands. However they find love and .... the story becomes muddled mess while Sara and Eric end up with midgets as their supporters and the scenes fill with fairies and other odd beings become part of the storyline. Somehow they all want the missing and ever powerful mirror. The best thing about the film was some of the background scenery but little else.

Theron was appropriately evil as the person who needed to be driven by her beauty and ego. Likewise, Blunt was appropriately cold as the Ice Queen but the story let her down as well. Chastain had the most interesting role as a warrior who also wanted love. Hemsworth was his typical warrior self with tongue-in-cheek comments there to make him interesting. Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin wrote this script trying to find a story. It was almost as if there were great actors wanting to fulfill their commitments, so a script was thrown together for them to fulfill their contracts. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan directed this aimless script. He attempted to make a film of it by putting the scenes in order with some nice pictures. In the end the story and film didn't work.

Overall:  This was a waste of time and the story doesn’t deserve the actors in the film.

The Man Who Knew Infinity

First Hit:  An interesting film about a fascinating individual whom I knew nothing about.

I knew nothing about and had never heard about Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel) a young Indian man who, without any formal mathematical education, spewed out amazing mathematical theorems.

For him they were intuitive. natural and were derived directly from God. Being Hindu, vegetarian, and supremely focused on the formulas that came to him through long sessions that were combined with praying, he was an anomaly in the world of mathematics.

Being buried in the poorest sections of Madras, unable to get a job so that he could have a home with this wife Janaki (Devika Bhise), and no one believing what he was creating as valid, he thought his work would die with him. On this third letter to scholar mathematicians in England, G. H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), a Fellow at Trinity College in Cambridge, saw potential greatness and sponsored Ramanujan to visit him in England.

Upon his arrival Hardy and Fellow mathematician Littlewood (Toby Jones) began to work with Ramanujan to learn how to prove and publish his theorems. As this was during the time of WWI, Cambridge was bombed and Ramanujan became ill with tuberculosis.

The film takes the audience through, his battle to prove his work, his loneliness of missing his wife, and finding a way to be seen as an equal to his mathematical peers.

Patel is excellent as Ramanujan. I believed his character and got an idea of the struggle Ramanujan must have had. Additionally, he looks a lot like the real person. Irons was strong as the socially awkward, atheist mathematician who believed in Ramanujan but also wanted this new mathematician to have the same scientific rigor that all mathematicians are held to. Bhise had a small role but her love, angst and loyalty to her husband was sincerely palpable. Jones was great as Hardy’s friend and mathematician side-kick. Matt Brown both wrote and directed this film and it was obvious that he cared about sharing this story.

Overall:  It was more of a learning lesson to me about this amazing mathematician whose work is still being used and explored.

Money Monster

First Hit:  This film does not disappoint as it pointedly and powerfully touches on the themes of the day:  The struggle of the middle class, media’s (and social media) power to influence, the police’s response to a situation, and the rich manipulating the system for self-benefit.

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is an over amplified version of Jim Cramer’s afternoon program called “Mad Money” on CNBC.

In Gates’ daily program called “Money Monster” he uses sometimes crude, always flamboyant, and other over the top ways to share what he thinks is going on in the stock market. He’s got a huge following. His director is Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts).

The live show’s success is the combination of his unpredictability, verbal acuity, smarts, and unbridled flair as directed and in concert with her ability to know where he’s going with any particular point allowing the screen graphics to match Gate’s thoughts thereby maximizing the impact for the viewers.

Does Gates go overboard? Yes, and based on statements he made on an earlier show’s prediction for IBIS (an automated trading company), Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) loses all his money. In fact, just about everyone who invested in IBIS loses their money.

Kyle is beyond angry, he wants answers and makes his way onto the set of Gates’ live show with a gun and a vest bomb which he forces Gates to wear.

This film is about: How Kyle comes to this breaking point. How Gates responds to this life threatening intrusion. How some people manipulate money for their own greedy purpose. How the public responds to this live, on air, real-time drama. How the police respond to Budwell’s dilemma. And about Kyle’s pregnant girlfriend Molly (Emily Meade); how does she respond to this event?

I won’t tell you how the film deals with all these questions except to comment on one: How the police respond. Waking up this morning after seeing the film last night, I’m still saddened by the reflective shoot first mentality of the police. We are bombarded these days with the police shooting people as a solution to many situations. There seems to be little room in their mantra to learn more about the situation and the people involved before shooting them.

In this film, from the get go, they (particularly one cop) had one focus which was to kill (“take him out”) Kyle. It isn’t that I didn’t understand their position, guy with gun sometimes aiming it at law enforcement officers, but their actions were heavy handed and reflected the large number of police shootings that cross our headlines every day.

Clooney is perfect as the narcissistic TV personality that masks a lonely life. His portrayal of Gates is wonderful because his caring true self wins in the end. Roberts was beyond fantastic. I thought she caught all the nuances of a TV director and someone who was willing to risk her life to do the right thing for all. O’Connell was amazingly strong as the semi-unhinged guy who just wanted to not be ripped off any longer. His life as a $14.00 an hour guy, who had just lost his mother, his strong willed girlfriend being pregnant, and his concern for how his baby would survive in this world was palpable in all his actions. His moments of confusion, reflection, humiliation, and clear path to wanting to get answers were spot on. Caitriona Balfe as Diane Lester the girlfriend of IBIS CEO and Chief Publicity Officer for IBIS was very good as her subtle shift of consciousness from stonewalling the public to leading the charge and find out what happened was well portrayed. Dominic West as IBIS CEO Walt Camby was well done. His manipulative version of, I’m lying through my teeth about our company being transparent, ran true. Meade as the fed-up girlfriend was powerful as her character pulled no punches. Lastly, Lenny Venito as Lenny the cameraman was perfect. Jamie Linden and Alan DiFiore wrote a wonderfully taut and biting screenplay that covered a lot of bases. Jodie Foster did an excellent job of directing this film. There were some outstanding moments and cuts that were really strong and moved this film along at the perfect clip while covering a lot of ground.

Overall:  This real-time film was perfectly acted, had a strong script and was elegantly directed by Jodie Foster - kudos.