Quick Reviews, Summer 2018, Part 1: How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Hotel Artemis, The Incredibles 2, Tag, American Animals

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2018): An alien touring the galaxy breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon.

I'm not gonna lie: this is a weird movie. In this case, unfortunately, weird is not that great a thing. To its credit, the film does make good use of its 1970s setting, and the costumes of the alien colony are pretty over-the-top and helpful for keeping track of who's who. And I really like Elle Fanning's portrayal of this alien (Zan) trying to find a sense of belonging and purpose. But, the film has its fair share of issues, particularly in the final act. There's a lot of convenient "If/thens" with the alien culture that happen to work out in the protagonist's favor, to the point that it makes the alien culture feel cheap and nothing more than a plot device. It's not really developed in an interesting way, but the film itself certainly thinks it does. This leads to some laughable moments in the third act that are supposed to be tense and filled with drama but are anything but. However, the journey there was pretty fun. As I said, Zan (Elle Fanning) was great, and her male counterpart Enn (Alex Sharp) was pretty good too. The two of them have great chemistry and really kept some of the sequences of the second act moving. If you want a great example of what chemistry can do for a film, watch this and Fahrenheit 451 back-to-back. Pretty stark contrast there. Also, Nicole Kidman played this punk lifer Queen Boadicea, and she was TOTALLY over-the-top. But boy did I love her screen chewing. So, end of the day.....this movie's fine. If you're a fan of Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman, or the 70's London music scene, there's enough here to keep you invested. Everyone else? Your time is definitely better spent elsewhere.

My Number: 5/10

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Hotel Artemis

Hotel Artemis (2018): ​Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, 'Hotel Artemis' follows the Nurse, who runs a secret, members-only emergency room for criminals.

Here's the perfect way to describe Hotel Artemis: this film is basically the Continental Hotel from John Wick getting its own movie. (And I'm not the only one who thinks that, clearly.) And....it's fun. It's superficial, sure, but still pretty fun. How can it not be when you have Jodie Foster and Jeff Goldblum hurling insults at each other while Goldblum's character is literally called "The Wolf King?" Then you have Sterling K. Brown and Sofia Boutella being charismatic and sexy, while Dave Bautista goes around picking on Zachary Quinto in what NEEDS TO BE a future Star Trek film. Not to mention appearances from Jenny Slate, Kenneth Choi Brian Tyree Henry, and Father John Misty because why not, right? Yes, this is a very fun film, but it is very superficial as well. The world here is explained rather poorly, (there are riots going on over a water shortage because.... some company bought all the water and is hording it for some reason?) the mere existence of this hotel seems hard to believe, and all the "rules" of this hotel are broken at one point or another with no real consequences for really anyone other than the Nurse, (Jodie Foster) so....they don't really feel like they serve much of a purpose. Also, the color palette of this film is TERRIBLE. Yes, I get the "future dystopian" look they're going for, but the film was SO FREAKING DARK. If you're going to shoot your film at night, you have to HAVE TO give it at least a somewhat bright color palette. You can have a shoddy set design, but then you gotta bring it with the lighting because otherwise the audience is going to be squinting to see, well, anything! Ugh.....obviously that was my biggest complaint, which, combined with very mediocre lore, leads to nothing more than a decent film that can't get out of John Wick's vastly superior shadow. It's fine.

My Number: 5.5/10

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Incredibles 2

Incredibles 2 (2018): ​Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is left to care for Jack-Jack while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world.

Yay! The Incredibles are finally back! Glad I got that out of my system because I, like many of you, I LOVED Brad Bird's 2004 Pixar classic, The Incredibles. And, there's a lot to like here too. The main storylines are clever, cute, and well-executed. The "stay at-home dad" bit with Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) had its fair share of hilarious moments, and because of that funny bit Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) became the focal point of the film and was the strong female heroine we all needed. However, there's one major issue with this movie that really does it in for me: the villain. The villain of the original Incredibles is arguably the strongest bad guy Pixar has ever put on film. Syndrome was a great statement on the entitlement nature of geek culture before it became an infectious virus that has led so many self-described "geeks" to complain incessantly when things don't go exactly their way. Not to mention the misogynistic and racist aspects of it. However, here in the sequel, director/writer Brad Bird and company just couldn't seem to find that home run villain, instead delivering a fairly run-of-the-mill character with a stereotypical villainous backstory and a largely forgettable quest to stop said villain that (mostly) avoided the dark undertones that were some of the strongest moments of its predecessor. But, this movie is fun, gets a lot of great laughs, and reunites us with some beloved and iconic characters from Pixar's universe. However, there's little doubt in my mind that if this was the third or fourth installment in the Incredibles universe, it would be treated very differently. It's above average, and not a whole lot more. But hey, at least it gave Michael Giacchino a chance to reprise one of the iconic scores that put him on the map in the early 2000s, so that's a nice plus.

​My Number: 6.5/10

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Tag

Tag (2018): A small group of former classmates organize an elaborate, annual game of tag that requires some to travel all over the country.

I think it's safe to say I had too high of expectations for this film. Tag isn't much more than a typical modern American comedy - loosely edited improv and very little else. It's no Game Night or ​Blockers from earlier this year. Rather, Tag moves briskly from one over-the-top gag to the next, and then in its final 10 minutes suddenly realizes that it needs to be about something. Its "lesson" is blatantly forced into the film via a major issue with one of the main characters that wasn't brought up at ANY POINT until the final moments. It's as jarring as it is nonsensical to believe that this ailment wouldn't have hindered this character in any way for the previous antics of the film. Is it funny, though? Mostly. I didn't laugh as much as I did in the aforementioned films, but it isn't a snoozefest either. In the laughs department it is merely.... average, with many of the best bits being the ones you saw in the trailers. But in a modern American comedy, "average" laughs is pretty damning since these films don't offer much else. And Tag falls victim to that as well. Jerry (Jeremy Renner) is a completely unbelievable character that is meant to be the focal point of the film, and Rebecca Crosby (Annabelle Wallis) is also a totally ridiculous and unbelievabl journalist. While the film is relatively diverse, (Wallis is good and no one tries to hit on her or anything, and Anna [Isla Fisher] is by FAR the best thing this whole comedy has going for it) it did totally butcher Cheryl Deakins, (Rashida Jones) who has nothing to do but stand there and get hit on by Randy (Jake Johnson) and Bob. (Jon Hamm) I will keep mentioning it until Hollywood stops doing it: there's no room for these shallow female characters anymore. End of the day, this comedy doesn't have enough going in the laughs department to make it an average film. If you're into comedies, check it out when it hits Netflix. Everyone else? Just watch the video special on these guys. 

My Number: 4/10

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American Animals

American Animals (2018): Four young men mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history.

This film can be summed up in two words: it's fine. It's well acted by some of the newer talent of Hollywood, (led by Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan) and it does have an enticing story that's told in a relatively unique way, but......meh? I don't know. In 2018 it's tough for me to watch a movie featuring four young white men commit a heinous crime and get off with minimal consequences (7 years for robbery and assault for what could have been a multi-million dollar heist? Please tell me how four young black males would get the same leniency.) and get a movie made about it where they, themselves get to be heavily featured and even sort of glorified? No, it's tough for me to by sympathetic towards something like that. And yet that's exactly what American Animals is. I think of something like Blockers from earlier this year, but if the original script for that film had been the final product and that movie was all about three dad-bros trying to stop their daughters from having sex on prom night. I do think there's an interesting premise to be had here in American Animals, but in order to make it more topical for the times the film's most unique asset would've had to have been lost. The film heavily features the real robbers in this story in asides that gives this film a documentary feel. It's certainly an intriguing way to tell a non-fiction story, but it did get a little gimmicky at times, particularly towards the end as it introduces a "did he or didn't he?" aspect that felt a little forced, to say the least. But, like I said: (mostly) well acted, and an (objectively) enticing story told in a unique way makes this film simply fine to me. Nothing more, nothing less. If only this was a more topical story. (Not that it would be because if so the perpetrators would still be staring at another 20 years in prison.)

My Number: 5/10