Don't Think Twice

First Hit:  At times funny, occasionally awkward, and might have been better as a documentary.

The way this film begins it almost feels like a documentary, and there are segments that were documentary like, however it isn’t.

The Commune is a small group of improvisational comedians and this film follows them as they do performances that feel very authentic. Prior to each show the group riffs with each other, hug and reaffirm they have each other’s back, and touch a lucky charm before going on stage.

The theater is small and usually full and mostly because they are good and the seats are cheap. It is easy to see that this group loves improv and they are committed to each other. They barely make any money and live mostly together in shared housing and although one of the team might have access to family money, they take other jobs to keep themselves in food.

Their goal is to get on a television program called “Weekend Live” which is a takeoff of “Saturday Night Live”. Being on this program would mean fame and a regular, much larger, paycheck.

There is some competition among the group to get noticed by the Weekend Live staff. Some in the group are more talented, some are better bit writers, and some are more driven. However, there are others who just want to be in the cocoon of the group because it is where they fit.

The group consists of Miles (Mike Birbiglia) who is a teacher of improve at a school, Samantha (Gillian Jacobs) who loves the group and has a poor sense of time (in some ways), Allison (Kate Micucci) is one of the more introspective and talented member, Lindsay (Tami Sagher) is one who has access to money, but loves the bohemian lifestyle, Jack (Keegan-Michael Key) who wants fame the most and puts himself in place to make it happen, and Bill (Chris Gethard) who seems out of place, yet is a critical member.

The story is about how they react and support each other in finding a new place to create their form of art, how they act when someone gets noticed, and what they learn about themselves along the way.

Birbiglia wrote, directed and has a primary role in this film. Overall, his character is one that has to learn a lot about who he is and in this vein he was good. Jacobs is strong as the person who is clear about her wants, but has difficulty expressing them. Micucci, played a little like the character she has played on “Big Bang Theory”, which is the person unsure of her skills. Sagher is good as the girl who is trying to make her own way although the team knows her family has money. Gethard is good as the guy in the background who gets to express himself on stage. Key is very good as the big personality and the one who aggressively wants to make it big. He does well at showing his compassion for the others and engaging in his success. The writing was at times strong and other times seemed unclear of direction.

Overall:  This film didn’t seem quite focused enough to know where its strengths were.

Jason Bourne

First Hit:  Unnecessary shaky camera work got in the way of a sub-standard story about Jason Bourne.

I don’t mind shaky camera work when it adds to the excitement of a scene in a film. In some films it works really well (think “Breaking the Waves”). It can also be helpful when the audience is following someone who is running and other scenes like this. The technique becomes a mindless technique and distraction when unnecessarily used to create excitement.

The story needs to be exciting first and foremost. Paul Greengrass used a ton of unnecessary shaky camera work in this film. Examples abound, like when a sniper is setting up to shoot, the camera needed to be as still and calm as the in-breath and out-breath of a sniper making a clean shot. Internal and external landscape shots of an area so that the audience knows the the lay of the land instead of haphazard shots creating confusion for the audience.  

When I have the thought "why can’t the camera stop shaking", it is a distraction. The director doesn't want the audience thinking about why they cannot tell what is happening on the screen.

Greengrass may have used this technique because the story is less intriguing than the previous Bourne films (The Bourne Identity – 2002, The Bourne Supremacy – 2004, The Bourne Ultimatum – 2007, and The Bourne Legacy – 2012). The first three captured my attention mostly because the story was great, had passion, intrigue, and suspense. In the 2012 version, Matt Damon wasn’t playing Jason Bourne directly and therefore the film lacked the amazingness he brings to this franchise.

This version had Matt Damon back as Jason Bourne seeking to piece together his father’s death and involvement in Blackbriar while attempting to settle his own personal struggles of identity.

As an overall storyline it wasn’t the best, yet it did have a side story about today’s issue of using technology to track people and their actions. Here, the company creating software that can do this is lead by Aaron Kallor (Riz Ahmed). But the story and film are about Bourne and Damon is such a strong actor that he brings this character to life like no one else can. He makes Bourne complex, charming, physically capable, and chivalrous, or as much as a undercover CIA agent can be chivalrous.

The villain is still the agency as they believe he knows too much and will continue to expose their illegal covert programs. It was wonderful to see Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), his previous supporting agency agent, helping Jason to get additional information helping him to piece together the puzzle.

The film showing the kind of technology available to the CIA was very good and interesting. The new CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones), as always, wants Jason eliminated. He uses an Asset (Vincent Cassel) to do the dirty work and like, Bourne he’s relentless.

Another bright spot was CIA Agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) who takes on the previous Pam Landy (Joan Allen) spot as head of the task force to bring Bourne in (or take him out). Lee, like Landy, connects with Bourne as a person and shows a level of compassion for his plight. One last note, I thought the car chase through downtown Las Vegas overdone and unnecessarily unrealistic.

Damon is Jason Bourne. In my eyes he’s the only guy who can pull off the character Jason Bourne because he created him. As usual, I loved his performance. Jones was OK as the crusty, old school, CIA Director but felt he was too crusty to run an agency that is filled with new progressive technology. Vikander was perfect for the part. Her strong, aggressive, and young female portrayal of a top CIA Agent in this world of progressive electronics was perfect. She was the opposite of Jones. Stiles was great to see again and her role really helped tie together Bourne and the new players in the agency. Cassel was perfect as the Asset. He does focused single minded action as good as anyone. Ahmed does a good job as being a software vendor who got into bed with the CIA and now wants out. Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse wrote a barely adequate script, but it was Greengrass’s direction that lowed the Bourne bar.

Overall:  Although shaky, it is watchable because Damon makes it work.

Café Society

First Hit:  I was disappointed in this film.

The first thing was I couldn’t get over how quickly Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) spoke his lines with rejoinders coming almost as fast in return.

It just didn’t seem like anyone (Director or Actors) wanted the let the words breathe and have some sense of feeling with them. It is reflective of a poor Woody Allen film. Eisenberg is no Allen (and I like Eisenberg's work) and speaking Allen’s words the way he was directed didn’t work.

Nobody does Allen like Allen (good or bad). With this overriding problem with the film, it seemed hard to get into the story. On a good note, I thought that Kristen Stewart (as Vonnie) was very strong. She was the only main character that seemed to feel her way into her character.

Steve Carell as Phil Stern was OK, but at times it just seemed as though he was straightjacketed as the big time movie producer. I never felt his attraction to either his wife or Vonnie, it all seemed for show. I did like the feel of the 1930’s set with the nightclub being especially embracing.

Eisenberg, either got poor direction or wasn’t right for the role in that his machine gun approach to the lines lacked depth and feeling. Stewart was the best character in the film and she continues to show why she is so much more than the “Twilight” girl. Carell was mediocre as the studio executive, and my sense it was the direction that failed him. Blake Lively was good as Bobby’s wife and the scene of their meeting was one of the better scenes in the film. Corey Stoll as the criminal element of Bobby’s family was also good. Woody Allen, narrated, wrote and directed this film and in all ways it seemed to lack heart and comedy.

Overall:  One film that is easily forgotten.

Nerve

First Hit:  I sat down in my seat with a bit of apprehension, and this all changed as soon as the film rolled, it was a blast.

This film could have easily been a bomb. But what kept it from being a dud was the explosion of characters, “watchers” and “players”.

The main character Vee (Emma Roberts) who is the beautiful girl, who doesn’t know her beauty and she hides in the background. She's a watcher and engaged with people but through her creative (although we don’t see much of it) side as a photographer.

Her BFF is Sydney (Emily Meade), a risk taking girl that does what she can for attention. Yes, she's a player and it is obvious that by playing "Nerve" she attempts to convince herself and others that she is not insecure.

"Nerve" is like the old "Truth or Dare" game but the difference is that there is no "truth" in "Nerve"; it is all "dare". It has been created anonymously by a group of hackers/programmers on the dark web, and it invites anyone to be a player or watcher. The more dares completed and the more complex dares a player attempts to "complete", the more money the player can win.

If the watcher’s like you, you win more money for completing the dare. Watchers get to watch you do the dare live on any device. Emma gets goaded to becoming a player by Sydney and because her fear is real and it puts her outside her comfort zone, she instantly becomes a favorite of watchers.

The watchers hook her up with Ian (Dave Franco) and together they take on the dares presented to them. One that touched me was riding a motorcycle together with the driver blind. It touched me only because I was in a passenger car in my late teens with the driver’s eyes were covered by a back seat passenger who shouted out driving commands. It only lasted about 2 minutes on a quiet, no traffic street, but it was a bit nerve-racking.

Anyway the contest to win the big prize becomes engaging for the watchers with Vee and Ian as a team, Sydney and Ty (Colson Baker AKA Machine Gun Kelly) as the other front runners. Many of the dares are difficult to watch, some are inventive, while others are a bit odd. The intenseness and playfulness of each dare was well shot and most of the dialogue fit the players generational sound and meaning. This film was fun.

Roberts was spot on perfect. Her growing into a player worked well as her inner strength came through. Meade was really strong as the girl craving for attention but, in the end, still had heart. Franco was great and it was nice to see him in a non-comedic role. He brought charm to his character. Baker was perfectly intense as was needed. Miles Heizer as Tommy, Vee’s friend, was charmingly protective of Vee reflecting his hidden love for her. Juliette Lewis as Roberts' mother was wonderful. Jessica Sharzer wrote a script that was spot-on to the time, place, and feel of the characters and their situations. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman did a wonderful job of directing this with intense and thoughtful scenes. They got great performances out of the actors and script.

Overall:  This film surprised me with how good and fun it was to watch.

Star Trek Beyond - 3D

First Hit:  Although the script and visuals were dark in tone, I loved how the main characters embodied the Star Trek story and allowed me to enjoy this film.

It is not easy to keep a film succession, based on a television series, engaging while upholding the essence of the story that has been around since 1966.

To be clear, it is Chris Pine (as Captain Kirk), Zachary Quinto (as Commander Spock), Karl Urban (as Dr. “Bones” McCoy), Zoe Saldana (as Lt. Uhura), Simon Pegg (Montgomery “Scotty” Scott), John Cho (as Sulu), and the late Anton Yelchin (as Chekov) that make this film engaging and the story work.

I wasn’t a fan of this particular story or the darkness of the film, but the crew of the Starship Enterprise was amazing. They have magically embodied the original characters and brought them 5 decades into the future with dignity.

This is what I loved about this film, the characters and actors. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who plays a significant role in this film, isn’t added to the mixture of the Star Trek crew in future films. The villain in this film is Krall (Idris Elba) who is looking for a item that will allow him to destroy the Federation.

Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cho, and Yelchin are compellingly amazing at their ability to continue the growth and transition of these characters by bridging the 50-year gap from the characters’ inception to today. They all deserve heart felt kudos. Boutella is very strong and the character she embodies fits well with this film and the crew. Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wrote this script that allowed the characters to shine through. However, I wasn’t necessarily impressed with the overall story plot. Justin Lin did an admirable job of keeping the tone and focus on the characters.

Overall:  I enjoyed the film mostly because the crew of the Starship Enterprise was perfect.