The Lego Batman Movie

Plot: Lego Batman is hopelessly self-absorbed and egotistical. New police commissioner Barbara Gordon tells Batman he isn't needed. Joker, who is also feeling unappreciated, gathers a band of villains from Lego sets like King Kong, Voldemort and Sauron to attack Gotham City.  Meanwhile young orphan Dick Grayson shows up at Wayne Manor. Batman, and Barbara learn that they must work with together to succeed.   [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Lego Batman is a clever & funny spoof of a superhero movie. From the opening credits, they are skewering superhero movie tropes like the solemn music, dark visuals, fancy gadgets and unlikely victories in fist-fights.

As the story spools out, it focuses on Batman's egotistical personality and how he needs to cooperate. This simple message is the most juvenile aspect of the movie. Much of humor goes over kid's heads especially the allusions to the other Batman movies and especially the 1966 TV show. With Batman's ego and superhero humor there is more than enough material for 104 minutes.

Director McKay said he wanted to make a film like Jerry McGuire, About a Boy and Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. "Movies that are about these people who are remote men, who aren't in touch emotionally and have got, maybe, a big pain in their heart, a big hurt that they fear going through the same kind of pain again. And having them overcome it."

I liked  2014's The  Lego Movie too. That movie was exploring new ground with the form, and it had modern American workplace theme. In that movie, I often thought about how unusual this Lego format is. I didn't think about the format during this movie at all. It was about the story, and it could have worked with another style like Claymation or more standard CGI animation.

All in all, Lego movie succeeds on its satire, simple redemption story, and humor. It is also fun-to-watch. 

Cast: Will Arnett and many other voice actors including Siri as the computer. 

Directed by: Chris McKay

The Music: Some catchy rock & roll songs in addition to standard orchestral music

The Visuals: Great Lego-stylized animation

Rating: 3.0 stars: Fun to watch

More: I liked that Siri was the voice of the computer. It sounded just right.

Even More: A Lego Ninja  movie is coming in September.

Yet More: I saw Lego Batman on a plane when I was sleepy, and the opening sequence that I thought was so funny before just didn't work. Maybe I was too tired.

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Top Depth of Processing Movies of All Time

2016

Jackie

Hidden Figures
Girl on the Train

Doctor Strange

2015
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Inside Out
Sicario

2014
Birdman
Gone Girl
Boyhood
Lucy
Chef

2013
Saving Mr Banks
American Hustle
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Side Effects

2012
Lincoln  Lincoln was the most and enjoyable and most substantive movie of the year. Daniel Day Lewis was great, and the story of the Civil War and slavery in America gives Lincoln heft. Yes I want to see it again.

End of Watch  End of Watch is proof that a movie that comes out too early in the season has no hope of an Oscar. This is a gritty crime story about the personal sacrifices of the police.

Cloud Atlas     One of my favorite movies of the year. It was a very creative and massive work that I loved, and want to see again and again. I wish I could get motivated to read the book.

2011
The Descendants
Young Adult
Moneyball

2010
Black Swan
The Town

Top Movies 2002-2009

The Hurt Locker - Gripping, nail-bitting, suspenseful movie about defusing bombs in Iraq

Avatar - A great time at the movies with an epic sweep.

Wall*E - Wonderful, heart-warming, clever, fun-to-watch

Borat - Clever, very funny, memorable, and socially aware

Sideways - great dialog, great characters

Passion of the Christ - a religious experience; unlike any other movie

Bruce Almighty - Very funny, clever, with a serious message

Spiderman 3 - Top action adventure film; fun, and with something to say.

Munich - Gripping serious drama about revenge for the Olympic hostage taking

Dreamgirls - It's about the lives of the singers, the dream of being famous, and lots of songs

Revenge of the Sith - Capstone to a cinematic adventure that I've grown up with.

Jackie

Plot: Jackie is the story of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy from the assassination of President Kennedy to his funeral.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I loved Jackie because as it tells one woman's tragic story and at the same time talks about what is important to a nation, to a family with small kids, and even to be alive. It's about politics and history and it's all through the eyes of Jackie Kennedy. Natalie Portman is so emotional and perfect the whole time.

Jackie seems to have had a sense of artistic aesthetic, and I wonder how accurate that was. She seemed so convinced of what the right thing to do is. On the outside, the nation saw this poise, style and grace. The movie explores what was going on in her head.

I really liked it, and Natalie Portman really should get the Oscar. Amazing performance.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard

Directed by: Pablo Larrain

Written by: Noah Oppenheim

The Music: Powerful electronic and orchestral music by Mica Levi. Not too many female movie score composers. The whole score is online at least for now.

The Visuals: They recreated many 1960's scenes and  simulate old-time television footage. 

Rating: 4.0 stars - clearly.

More: Director Larrain said of the original Jackie Kennedy White House tour footage that it looked like Jackie was either going to explode or melt.

Even More: A movie about an American president shot in France by a Chilean director.

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Moonlight

Plot: This is anthology of three stories that follow a Florida boy, Chiron, through high school and into young adulthood. Chiron is bullied in grade school and in high school.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: 
I kept waiting for something to happen that so Moonlight would make sense or create a payoff for all the set-up. The payoff is so deeply hidden that it takes a lot of work to find it. The first story is a drama about a damaged child. The second two stories are morality tales about damaged children becoming damaged adults and then healing of damaged adults. The second two stories don't work as dramas and they are kindof dull--they only work metaphorically. The story's meaning is only available on contemplation of the whole later on. The second two stories are not enjoyable to watch in the theater.

The childhood story is the best; it is gripping and the characters are deep & interesting. The second story has weaker-acting and stereotypic school-yard antics. The third story of the adult Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) is insubstantial. The subplot about homosexuality isn't edgy in 2017, but it is a metaphor for male friendship.

The scenes of bullying are hard to watch, but strangely they were the best part of the movie. They were dramatic and well acted. The bullying was emotive and created sympathy for Chiron. In the first segment the characters were well-developed and acted appropriately.

I loved Mahershala Ali as the heroic local drug dealer who took care of Chiron when his Mom (Naomie Harris) could not. He has a great presence. Too bad he wasn't in the latter 2 stories. I want to see more movies from him. Andre Holland, who played Kevin in the third story was also a stand out actor. I loved his performance in the diner scene.

Moonlight isn't preachy, but there is a social message in there about caring for people, about growing up, and about how our society doesn't take care of the weakest among us.

The story arc is about the emotionally-damaged, drug-dealer man, who seeks solace from compassionate near-strangers. It encourages everyone to be compassionate to strangers because we don't know their stories. 

Cast: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Alex Hibbert, Andre Holland

Directed by: Barry Jenkins

Written by: Tarell A. McCraney and Barry Jenkins

The Music: Wide variety of music from pop to classical

The Visuals: A number of artsy shots of people talking, especially early in the movie. 

Rating: 2.0 stars: Not fun to watch. Not well constructed, but you can find the story arc if you look hard for it. 

  

More: Seems like a boring art movie, and it is, however, there is a core there to chew on.

After I got home, I wrote "I am disappointed to have wrecked an evening watching this." Today, the first story is sticking with me. The characters were deep, and I spent time thinking of them.

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Hidden Figures

Plot: Hidden Figures tells the stories of three black women who worked at NASA during the 1960's Mercury missions as computational mathematicians. Katherine (Taraji Henson) solved difficult orbital mechanics problems. She is a widow; we meet her kids and a potential husband. Dorothy (Octavia Spencer) supervised a group of other mathematicians and early computer programmers. Mary (Janelle Monae) overcame Jim Crow segregation to become a professional engineer at NASA.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Hidden Figures is a positive and uplifting story about three black women in 1960's Virginia who overcome obstacles and accomplish something. It is a reminder of how backwards the 1960's were in terms of race relations and women's rights. Simultaneously somehow, it shines a spotlight on how many of these things remain the same.  Director Melfi talks about how the time has become right for this story to be told.

It is easy to cheer when the women overcome each small obstacle. The story is told with some humor and patience. I liked that there was a little mathematics too, including Euler's method for solving a differential equation. (I suspect they must have done this with the IBM, but perhaps they really did do that by hand -- a long rote calculation.)

Taraji Henson's Katherine is the main story. Her performance was great: both emotional and subtle. The other two woman's stories subplots were somewhat stand alone. I liked Janelle Monae's energy, and she sends a more political message that works dramatically and as a social message.

It is nice to see black women were able to overcome so much back in the 60's. I was thinking about how much segregation existed 97 years after the Civil War. Now it is 152 years after the Civil War, and slavery's social residue remains yet.

Overall I enjoyed watching it, and I learned things too. I will probably buy the book on tape to learn more. 

Cast: Taraji Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner

Directed by: Theodore Melfi

Written by: Allison Schroeder & director Melfi wrote the screenplay based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly 

The Music: Many good R&B songs by Pharrell Williams. There were two slow songs by costar Janelle Monae -- not her best stuff. 

The Visuals: The best part of the visuals is the period setting including the old time space capsules that looks so much like somebody's science project. No fancy special effects. They do a lot with chalk on a blackboard.

Rating: 4.0 stars: I liked it. Makes you think. With a happy ending that makes you feel good. 

Why is it a 4.0 star movie and not 3.5 stars? It is not a perfect movie because the three stories play a little like an anthology. Taraji Henson deserves an Oscar, but Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner not so much. I liked Janelle Monae, and I am going to forgive her 2010's sensibility.

On the bright side, Hidden Figures is an interesting and important story about overcoming injustice. It is also fun to watch.

The rating depends on how much you value the social message against acting & film craft.

In 2016, I have two four star movies, Doctor Strange and Girl on the Train -- very different movies from each other and from this one.

I tipped toward 4 stars since the other top movies this year were so fluffy. 

More: 1961's America was seventeen years past WWII, and the ethic of national unity against foreign powers was strong. I liked the seriousness and dedication of the society at the time. We could use more of that.

Even More: I wonder how much of the story is amped up for Hollywood. Was there really a hold in the countdown while the landing calculations were checked? Did the NASA administrator really pull down the Colored Women's bathroom sign with a crowbar? Did Katherine really run 1/2 mile to the bathroom? It makes me want to read the book.


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Passengers

Plot without Spoilers:  Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) are mistakenly awoken from hibernation on a interstellar spaceship, and no one else is awake. They can't go back to sleep so they try to make the best of it, until spaceship malfunctions threaten to kill them. [imdb]    [photos]

Review without spoilers: It is hard to discuss Passengers without knowing the plot twists and the questions of sacrifice and selfishness. There are multiple levels and most obvious is the Sci-Fi problem solving like The Martian at the beginning and the special-effects heavy action scenes at the end.

Most interesting are the moral quandaries Jim and Aurora puzzle through. In their impossible situation we see what the characters do, and I wondered what I would have done.

Because the moral situations are the driver, the plot twists are contrived to make the choices more stark and absolute -- whereas on a Star Trek episode focused on adventure Scotty or Jordy would  find an Sci-Fi engineering solution to avoid a moral catastrophe -- this give a happy ending and avoids immoral or questionable choices that would make a network executive cringe. Here writer Tyldum wanted the characters to figure it out.  (See the Even More section below.) This change in tone is a little unfamiliar, but it is the core of the movie. 

Passengers is staying with me. I keep thinking about what would I have done. The moral dimension is why it is getting three stars.

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Plot with Spoilers: After a spaceship accident, Jim (Chris Pratt) is awoken from hibernation by a malfunction decades early with no way to return to hibernation and therefore fated to die before rest of the passengers awaken. He is lonely so he awakens cute female passenger to keep him company through the remaining decades, Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence). It's great for a while, but then she finds out that he woke her on purpose, and she is pissed. The spaceship continues to malfunction threatening their lives until Jim & Aurora work together to save themselves and the sleeping passengers.

Review with spoilers: Passengers is primarily about one or two people stuck in a life threatening situation. It is really about the moral choices especially Jim's selfishness in awakening Aurora, Aurora's choice when she learns about it, and the how Jim and Aurora choose to spend their future. While it looks like a Sci-Fi movie: most obvious is the Sci-Fi problem solving like The Martian at the beginning and the special-effects heavy action scenes at the end; it really is about the moral choices.

The soul of the movie is the moral lapse where Jim awakes Aurora just because he is lonely and in doing so sentencing her to death. This permeates every scene both before and after Aurora knows, and it deeps the ending where she agrees to stay with him. Jim seems likeable, but we know he may be a predator, and Chris Pratt's acting conveys that.

In their impossible situation we see what the characters do, and I wondered what I would have done.

Because the moral situations are the driver, the plot twists are contrived to make the choices more stark and absolute -- whereas on a Star Trek episode Scotty or Jordy would  find an Sci-Fi engineering solution to avoid a moral catastrophe -- this gives a TV happy ending and avoids immoral/questionable choices that would make a network executive cringe. Here writer Tyldum wanted the characters to figure it out.  (See the Even More section below.) This change in purpose is a little unfamiliar in Sci-Fi movies, but it is the core.

I liked Jennifer Lawrence a lot. She has a subtly in her expressions. Chris Pratt is more comic, but he is relate-able and amiable. It is easy to see why Aurora likes him. Michael Sheen shows up as a robot bartender, and give the characters someone to talk to. His deadpan delivery provides levity.

I liked the movie. Passengers is staying with me as I roll over the moral issues in my mind. 

Cast: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence

Directed by: Moren Tyldum

Written by: Jon Spaihts, who also wrote Doctor Strange. It is not based on a novel

The Music: Nice instrumental music by Thomas Newman.

The Visuals: There are many well-composed shots evoking loneliness and the beauty of space. I  liked the swimming pool and the window. I like the helical ship too.  

Rating: 3.5 stars: 

Even More:  This interview with writer Jon Spaihts talks about the moral quandaries at the core of the film, and some interesting insights into his process. He likes to minimize exposition at the beginning of the movie, and then dole it out as the audience needs it. In a Sci-Fi this can seem phoney in that it seems like -- Oh look the write set up this new twist in the "universe" just to enable this plot twist. On the other hand, the lack of exposition at the beginning made the film more lonely and beautiful.

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LA LA LAnd

Plot: Mia (Emma Stone) has been trying to break into acting for four years, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a frustrated, overly-idealistic jazz musician who is paying the bills playing restaurants. Mia and Sebastian meet, flirt, and after singing a few songs become a couple. They discuss their frustrated dreams and try to inspire each other keep trying to be successful in acting or music. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: LA LA LAnd is a musical with some good songs and earnest storytelling. The songs are spotty: there are good ones like the opening song on the freeway, and less good ones like Mia's audition for the French film. It's always interesting, but the drama is not dramatic enough, and the songs are not fun enough.

I like musicals, like 2015's Into the Woods or 2012's Les Miserables. I loved Evita (2006) or Moulin Rouge (2001). Musicals can be fun and imaginative.

The photography and art direction are great. There are some great images. Emma Stone's looks great in her stylish retro dresses. We get great images and dispense with the realism, which is fine with me.

Emma Stone has some great facial acting, and Ryan Gosling is OK, but not as good. The other supporting actors are not well developed, but they do get to sing and dance.

There is a part where the screen goes black, so we can concentrate on the audio. I thought that was effective. It was foreshadowed earlier in the film when a film stopped in a theater where Mia and Sebastian were.

The best part is that LA LA LAnd is different and fresh. It is strong on style, but the conventional drama of the story is a little weak. 

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

Written and directed by: Damien Chazelle

The Music: It's a musical, and its all about music. Most of the songs are show tunes with additional piano and jazz instrumental music. 

The Visuals: Very stylish photography throughout. Great images.

Rating: 3.0 stars: a 2.5 star movie with an extra half star for the visual style and imagination. Not fun enough for 3.5. It will make my 2016 top ten list.

More: Writer-director Damien Chazelle made the music-oriented and very intense Whiplash in 2014. This is his third movie.

SPOILER - Even More: People are too cynical for a happy ending. Mia can't live happily ever after with Sebastian because our depressed zeitgeist. Chazelle gives us the happy ending as a dream sequence and a wan, tired smile across a crowded room as the real ending.

I liked this ending.

I am also happy that Mia and Sebastian both get satisfaction in their artistic lives too. I wonder how realistic that is.

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