Tag (2018)

In Theaters Now
Directed by: Jeff Tomsic
Starring: Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Isla Fischer, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Burress, Leslie Bibb, Rashida Jones, Annabelle Wallis

Man, directorial debuts have made their way into tMbU over the past few weeks. Jeff Tomsic is the latest rookie to have a film make its way into my eyeballs. This one is supposed to make you laugh. That really is it’s only job. If you go into a movie like this and are waiting for substance (the movie tries, and fails) or romance (tries again, fails again) that’s on you. If you go in ready to laugh at the absurdity of a 30-year game of tag, well done. You have allowed yourself to have a good time.

Hoagie (Helms), Jerry (Renner), Bob (Hamm), Chilli (Johnson), and Sable (Burress) have been playing the same game of tag since they were kids. The entire thing is done in an effort to keep from going up. But that didn’t stop these kids from becoming ridiculously sucessful (except for Chilli, I mean, his name is Chili, looking at the cast list kind of spoils this character for you). Jerry is like the Lebron James of tag. I mean it’s amazing. He is so good at not being touched you wonder why he doesn’t give up his life as a gym owner (I can only assume crossfit) to play professional football. I mean, he has a 30 year “untouched” streak in a game of tag for Christ’s sake. But you don’t care about that. Jeremy Renner is an absolute delight in the role of a villain (if this movie even has one, I would argue it does not). His charisma is allowed to shine and also not really forced to share screen time. When it’s Renner, it’s only Renner and that’s probably  the way it should be.

Jeremy Renner finding his inner parkour super star in Tag (credit: imdb)

Ed Helms plays the straight but not too straight guy well, although he is constantly outperformed by the aforementioned Renner and Isla Fischer, who plays his wife Anna. The deadpan style of Hannibal Burress fits in well with this group, and Jon Hamm is, well, Jon Hamm. 2nd place in this movie, behind Renner, goes to Jake Johnson. Playing the stoner of the group like a pro, this guy provides pretty consistent laughter whenever on screen, and it just doesn’t get old.

The only problem with Tag is that you now know pretty much everything about the movie (besides the poor effort of a twist at the end). But you know what? That’s okay. It’s actually kind of refreshing. Is this movie Shaun of the Dead, Dr. Strangelove, or Groundhog Day? Of course not, but not many movies are. Those are 5-Star films and instant classics. Does that mean Wedding Crashers or Mean Girls suck? Also, of course not, it just means you need to know what you are watching, and with a movie about 5 40-somethings playing tag, you should have known well before you walked into the theater.

Is it Watchlist-Worthy? If you like fun, then definitely add it to the list.

Talkie Talk #103: Watchlist / Back to the Future / Wall-E / New Releases

Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk #103: Watchlist / Back to the Future / Wall-E / New Releases
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Brent and TJ get together and discuss what they’ve watched, including Back to the Future, one of Brent’s automatic inductees into the Talk of Fame! They also talk Breezy on the Street (news) and they tell you what new release you should watch this weekend, as if you had a choice!

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Brent: Back to the Future (1:35), Taxi Driver (10:50), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (15:22), Wall-E (17:35), Friday Night Lights (24:09), Make it Rain! (26:09)

TJ: Dogtooth (29:00), 42nd Street (35:35), Hereditary (38:15)

 

Warning: Some mild language. Some language is picante.

> Intro theme courtesy of The Willow Walkers
> Outro song “Extemporaneous  Birth” courtesy of Boo Reefa 

Hereditary (2018)

In Theaters Now
Directed by: Ari Aster
Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, Gabriel Byrne

**************SPOILERS IN REVIEW*******************

There are certain ways that will they/won’t they or did it/didn’t it stories can succeed. Unfortunately I’m not sure what those ways are, but I know it doesn’t have to do with continuity. The Sixth Sense isn’t great because you never see anybody but Haley Joel Osment talking to Bruce Willis. That just makes it neat upon a re-watch. Ari Aster’s debut film doesn’t bother with that “neat” factor, and even when you are told, pretty much point-blank, what is going on, you still question it. That is why Hereditary succeeds.

Hereditary tells the story of a family. A mother (Annie, Toni Collette) who works as an artist building and creating miniatures, a father (Steve, Gabriel Byrne), a teenage stoner son (Peter, Alex Wolff) and a 13-year-old daughter (Charlie, Milly Shapiro). Annie’s mother has recently passed away, the film opens up with an original idea, a text of her obituary. Annie as well as her mother, father, and deceased sibling all suffer from some form of mental illness. There are strong hints that her children suffer this same fate. It’s never explicit what they suffer from, but it’s some form of D.I.D., bipolar disorder, or dementia. So when the sinister story comes into play, you don’t know, for most of the film, weather or not it’s something seen as a viewer or seen through the eyes of one of the characters.

Toni Collette’s wardrobe changes to something from an “insane asylum all-white” collection as the questions regarding mental illness and evil come more into play (credit: imdb)

Things are escalated quickly when Charlie passes away in what is probably the most violent way I’ve seen a 13-year-old die in a movie. Her brother blames himself (and his mother) and both, to some extent, are indeed to blame. Then again, there is an odd symbol seen at the scene of the death (just before Charlie’s passing) that makes you think it’s possible that there are external forces at work.

Ann Dowd plays Joan. If that sentence alone doesn’t freak you out you should watch some more of Ann Dowd’s work. Joan is a really fun character. She meets up with Annie outside of a support group for people who have recently lost loved ones. Things quickly escalate when Joan shows Annie how she can connect with the other side. Her manic attitude toward talking to her deceased grandson is maybe the most uncomfortable I felt during the viewing. It’s during the climax of the film where you see Joan yelling at Peter and realize that you haven’t seen Joan talk to anybody besides Annie this whole time. Casting even more doubt on the evil at play.

The standout of the film is Toni Collette. The character of Annie has to show a range of emotion as wide as I can recall in recent memory, and plays a mentally unstable person as well as Jack Nicholson in pre-axe The Shining.

Toni Collette as Annie in Hereditary (credit: imdb)

First time writer/director Ari Aster impresses with story, plot, and direction skills. The use of light is nothing short of jaw-dropping at times and the games he plays with imagery are really fun. You aren’t sure if you are in the Utah residence (think the Overlook if it only could sleep 5 people) of the family or in a 2 square foot model of a hospital. It’s jarring just to see someone walk into a room at times.

The film ends with evil winning. I’m not going to spoil details. It wouldn’t add to this review and that is a lot of the fun (that feels gross) in Hereditary. But I will say this. You are told, without a doubt, that the super natural evil you have been learning about the entire film is real. And you STILL don’t know it to be true. The film plays with mental illness in a very aggressive and impressing way. And while I’m not sure I would recommend this to anybody, it definitely deserves to be seen by horror fans and art film fams alike. 

Is it Watchlist-Worthy? Yes – but don’t yell at me after…

Talkie Talk #102: Following / Directorial Debut Draft / Homework

Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk #102: Following / Directorial Debut Draft / Homework
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A rare semi-disagreement from your Talkie Talkers when we discuss Christopher Nolan’s debut film Following! We segue that conversation into a draft of directorial debuts. Check out the Facebook page soon and decide whose picks you like the best!

BONUS: You may or may not find out the title of Drew Goddard’s next movie…

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> Contact: email, Facebook (movies, TV, games), and Twitter!
> Check out The Media By Us Facebook Page too!
> Review us on iTunes, Google Play, or anywhere! 

Warning: Some mild language. Some language is picante.

> Intro theme courtesy of The Willow Walkers
> Outro song “Extemporaneous  Birth” courtesy of Boo Reefa 

Talkie Talk #99 – Watchlist/ Solo / Survivor

Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk #99 - Watchlist/ Solo / Survivor
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TJ, Brent, and Chris talk about what they’ve seen including Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Survivor finale! Be warned – the Richard Hatch cameo in Solo will be discussed at length…

> Direct podcast RSS feed: here! 
> Contact: email, Facebook (movies, TV, games), and Twitter!
> Check out The Media By Us Facebook Page too!
> Review us on iTunes, Google Play, or anywhere! 

Chris: Dear White People (:41), Evil Genius (2:01), God of War (3:14), Solo: A Star Wars Story (10:44)

TJ: The Night of the Hunter (26:12), Game Night (26:32), Avengers: Infinity War (27:06)

Brent: Ron Howard Films (Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Angels & Demons, The DaVinci Code, Rush, Solo: A Star Wars Story) (34:34), Lord of the Rings Trilogy (38:26)

Reality Roundup: Survivor: Ghost Island (40:30)

 

Warning: Some mild language. Some language is picante.

> Intro theme courtesy of The Willow Walkers
> Outro song “Extemporaneous  Birth” courtesy of Boo Reefa 

Talkie Talk #88 – Watchlist / Breezy on the Streets

Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk
Talkie Talk #88 - Watchlist / Breezy on the Streets
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Getting back to the ol’ rigamole as Chris, Brent, and TJ talk watchlists, do the Talkie Talk Reality Round-Up, and talk this weeks news, aka, Breezy on the Streets!

> Direct podcast RSS feed: here! 
> Contact: email, Facebook (movies, TV, games), and Twitter!
> Check out The Media By Us Facebook Page too!
> Review us on iTunes, Google Play, or anywhere! 

Annihilation (01:10), Adventures of Baron Munchausen (06:40), Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (10:52), The Good Wife (14:10), The Quiet Place (15:37), The Amateur (27:38), The Titan (33:30), Survivor (38:35), The Challenge (50:15), “IT” Casting (52:05), Breezy on the Streets (52:05), This Week in Theaters (58:45)

Warning: Some mild language. Some language is picante.

The Best Ten Years: Tom Hanks – Catch Him If You Can

 

I spend a silly amount of time thinking up random trivia questions. Questions that almost certainly have no answer, well, not one that I could ever know or prove, anyway. For example, today on the way to the office I spent about an hour wondering what year dead homo sapien sapiens outnumbered living homo sapien sapiens. When did the population boom make that the case? Did we ever look back? Was it just, like, 100 years after the first of our species? Also, what actor or actress had the best ten-year run in the history of film? Hmm. Well my first guess is Tom Hanks. I’m not as good with years as some of my fellow tMbU contributors, but I’m thinking 1992-2001. So, as the great James Lipton says, lets start at the beginning.

A League of Their Own (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes – 77%
Metacritic – 67
Box Office – $132.4 Million
Budget – $40 Million

Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own (credit: imdb)

I’m a huge baseball fan. This movie has little to do with baseball. Other than it’s line, which came in at #54 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Quotes list (“There’s no crying in baseball!”) which Hanks says over and over again at one of the funniest moments of the film, it has almost nothing to do with baseball. It’s almost a war movie more than a sports movie. But whatever you call it, it’s damn good. It’s also the film that not only launched the period it Hanks career we’ll be taking a brief look at, but it changed Hanks mindset from goofy, lovable, guy who can’t get the girl because of the thing, and made him look for more challenging roles. As Hanks himself said it “I’m tired of playing pussies.”

Hanks absolutely kills as Jimmy Dugan and we are off to a great start.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes – 71%
Metacritic – 72
Box Office – $227.8 Million
Budget – $21 Million
Oscars – Best Original Song, Best Original Screenplay

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t quite done playing helpless romantics. But if you are going to make one, it’s not a bad screenplay to pick. Sleepless reunites Hanks with his Joe Versus the Volcano costar, Meg Ryan. It won’t be the last time we see this pair. The screenplay is great and Meg Ryan gets to say she was in two (maybe three, if you’re me) of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Tom Hanks is great, but this might be the only film discussed in this article where Hanks doesn’t “win the movie.” He’s good. But Ryan takes this one. It doesn’t make this movie any worse or any less impressive to have on Tom’s resume. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance. While we at tMbU genuinely despise the Golden Globe’s, it’s still something to mention.

That’s a bunch of money.

Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (credit: imdb)

Philadelphia (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes – 78%
Metacritic – 66
Box Office – $206.7 Million
Budget – $26 Million
Oscars – Best Actor*, Best Makeup, Best Original Song, Best Original Song Again*, Best Original Screenplay

If he wasn’t on the map already (he had already been nominated for an Oscar in 1988 for Big) he was now. Director Jonathan Demme was coming off of The Silence of the Lambs which performed about as perfectly as you could hope any movie to in the box office and in awards season. He followed it up in 1993 with a movie about aids and rights. He wanted Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington to play the lead roles. He got two of the greatest actors of the 1990’s in a movie together before everyone knew they were the greatest actors of the 1990’s. Anytime you can out perform Denzel in a film (Hanks would probably disagree) that’s something you can hang your hat on.

So, just so we’re clear, in 1993 Hanks appeared in two movies that cost about $40 million total to make and cleared about $400 million in the box office internationally. Wow.

Forrest Gump (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes – 72%
Metacritic – 82
Box Office – $677.9  Million
Budget – $55 Million
Oscars – Best Picture*, Best Actor*, Best Director*, Best Visual Effects*, Best Adapted Screenplay*, Best Film Editing*, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing

All Robert Zemeckis had done up to this point was direct Romancing the Stone a decade earlier, three Back to the Future films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Death Becomes Her, the last getting his films recognized by the Academy for its visual effects. But man, he took this Winston Groom adaptation and ran with it and struck gold. This movie ages well, is hilarious, has a great supporting cast, a fantastic lead, and took the world by storm in the mid-90s. Everyone loved this film at the time even if people now have decided it’s not worthy of its praise. Forrest Gump suffers from being released, and winning Best Picture in a year that also included Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption, Ed Wood, Bullets Over Broadway, The Lion King, and the stunning live-action adaptation of The Flintstones (Oh man, it’s so bad).

SAY FORREST GUMP ISN’T THAT GOOD ONE MORE TIME!

Apollo 13 (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes – 95%
Metacritic – 77
Box Office – $355.2 Million
Budget – $52 Million
Oscars – Film Editing*, Best Sound*, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, Best Picture, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay

Demme, Zemeckis, now Howard. Yet another award-winning film from Hanks and an amazing supporting cast. Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan deliver along with another Gary Sinise/Hanks homer to follow up Forrest Gump. This movie seems to be the one that gets lost in the mix. Apollo 13 has a valid argument for being the best film in the set, however. It’s a very easy watch, it made a ton of money, and cleaned up on the awards circuit. It’s almost a perfect movie.

What’s he gonna do next? Lend his voice talent to what many people at the time thought was the best (at least most innovative) animated movie of all-time.

Woody, voiced by Tom Hanks in Toy Story (credit: imdb)

Toy Story (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes – 100%
Metacritic – 95
Box Office – $373.5 Million
Budget – $30 Million
Oscars – Best Score, Best Song, Best ORiginal Screenplay, Special achievement for John Lasseter*

Jumping on board with Pixar’s first film was a move that would show the world Tom Hanks had range. Not that he hadn’t done comedy and drama before. But this seemed next level. There’s no other voice for Woody. It’s an odd combo of knowing that it’s Tom Hanks talking but it not bothering you in the way that can in other films. Obviously this movie launched a studio, changed animation forever, played a big part in the Academy Awards creating new categories, and created a non-Disney animated film that kids and adults love. Huge get here for Tom.

Voice-over, check. Dramas, check. Action, sorta check. Comedy, check. Write music and direct a film. Challenge accepted.

That Thing You Do! (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes – 93%
Metacritic – 71
Box Office – $34 Million
Budget – $26 Million

Without Tom Hanks this movie probably cost the studio more money than they would make. But, to quote Hanks himself, “I went to the 20th Century Fox and I told them they had to let me do whatever I want because I was big star. And they told me I was absolutely right.” Hanks wrote and directed That Thing You Do which, along with Toy Story, is one of the most delightful Tom Hanks’ movies ever made. The movie featured wonderful pop tunes written by a handful of songwriters, including Hanks. The title track was written by Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger. Where the movie misses, it makes up for with its top-notch charm.

Nothing in ’97? So this is post-peak, right? Heading down the mountain now…wait…what? One of the best war films of all-time? DIRECTED BY WHO?

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes – 92%
Metacritic – 90
Box Office – $481.8 Million
Budget – $70 Million
Oscars – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director*, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography*, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing*, Best Film Editing*, Best Sound Editing*, Best Makeup, Best Score

Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (credit: imdb)

Couple of things – HOW IN THE HELL DID 8% OF CRITICS NOT THINK THIS MOVIE WAS WORTHY OF A “YES WATCH IT”? C’mon…what the hell? Blows my mind. ALSO, Shakespeare in Love for Best Picture? Best I can think is Saving Private Ryan split some Academy votes with the Terrence Malick war epic The Thin Red Line. Anyway, this movie, in my opinion, is the best war film ever made. The character development is superb. The way the director and the cast, especially Hanks, make death seem sad and relieving at the same instant is almost unreal. The way so many characters are developed rivals many books. Which is insane. They also found that elderly gentleman who looked JUST LIKE MATT DAMON.

Remember earlier when that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan feature made all that money. Well, sequels always make more.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes – 69%
Metacritic – 57
Box Office – $250.8 Million
Budget – $65 Million

These characters are absolutely adorable. Meg Ryan owns a tiny book store. The kind where you have no idea how they’d be open in that part of NYC. Tom Hanks is an executive at Big Book Stores R Us or some such. They characters don’t know who each other are until the end and it’s just a fantastic reveal for the watcher. The chemistry between the leads is great. And it’s got one of my favorite lines in any romantic comedy. “I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” Hanks got game.

…sequels make more…

Toy Story 2 (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes – 100%
Metacritic – 88
Box Office – $497.4 Million
Budget – $90 Million

Pixar originally envisioned Toy Story 2 as a direct-to-video sequel (LMFAO) but knew what they had in post. It’s everything Toy Story was with more crying. So much crying.

The Green Mile (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes – 80%
Metacritic – 61
Box Office – $290 Million
Budget – $60 Million
Oscars – Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Mixing

If you thought Saving Private Ryan was a rough watch…get ready. The Green Mile tells the story of John Coffey, a magically gifted, mentally challenged, physically intimidating man. Wrongly accused and convicted of a heinous crime, Michael Clarke Duncan plays him as a frightened man who doesn’t understand the world he inhabits. This is another movie where Hanks doesn’t steal the screen, come to think of it. He may not even get the silver medal here, as Sam Rockwell‘s early performance was definitely a sign of things to come. It’s more good choices here for Hanks. A great movie based off a great novella, and a great surrounding cast.

One more, and it’s Tom’s most ambitious role since Philadelphia.

Cast Away (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes – 90%
Metacritic – 73
Box Office – $429.6 Million
Budget – $90 Million
Oscars – Best Actor, Best Sound

Tom Hanks in Cast Away (credit:imdb)

Cast Away tells the story of an average man, a FedEx worker who gets stranded after a plane crash on a deserted island. Tom Hanks spends 90% of the movie acting alone (or with a volleyball). It’s always tough to act alone, and anybody who pulls it off will get points from me, but Hanks’ most impressive work in this movie is working with Academy Award winner Helen Hunt in the end of the end of the last act. It’s heartbreaking and real and great. Cast Away reunited Hanks with Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis and the result was a great movie, better reviewed by some than Forrest Gump itself.

This is technically only a 9 year run as Hanks had no films in 1991 or 2001. Expanded to 2002 you would get to add Road to Perdition and Catch Me If You Can, two movies that would rival some on this list. I chose to start in 1992 because  A League of Their Own seemed to be a turning point for Hanks. Tom Hanks would continue his good choices throughout his still active career. In fact, he hasn’t starred in a movie that lost money since the horrible 1990 adaptation of The Bonfire of the Vanities. He was a bankable star who had an incredible 10-year run, critically and commercially.

I am not opposed to others that you think are better! Who had the best 10-year stretch in your opinion?

*denotes a win for that Oscar nomination
-all box office numbers are worldwide

State of the Race: Best Documentary Feature

An early glimpse of the Best Documentary Feature category has presented itself in the form of the Producer’s Guild of America nominations. While the rest of the PGA nominations aren’t announced until January 5th, the documentary nominations are released in November. They are:

Chasing Coral (Netflix)
City of Ghosts (Amazon Prime)
Cries from Syria (HBO)
Earth: One Amazing Day (in theaters)
Jane (in theaters)
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower (Netflix)
The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee (HBO)

City of Ghosts – 2017 (image: imdb)

All these films are eligible, and on the “short” list (170 docs) for the Academy except The Newspaperman. Every other documentary should be happy for this bit of news. Ben Bradlee is being portrayed by Tom Hanks in The Post which is sure to clean up on nominations next year at the Oscars. If I’m picking a lock to be nominated out of this group it’s probably Jane. City of Ghosts and Cries from Syria seem like your usually Academy bait, but Jane just looks too good.

Happy watching! And be sure to check back in for more articles in our ongoing State of the Race series as awards season heats up.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Currently available to rent on iTunes, Vudu, and Redbox
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Dane Dehaan, Cara Delevigne, Clive Owen, Rihanna

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