Stronger

★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

David Gordon Green, that amazing cinematic poet, has always been one of my favorite filmmakers. From his debut film, George Washington, to his magnum opus, All the Real Girls, Green has managed  to create an effortlessly human & poetic atmosphere.

And now, he has brought this human atmosphere to Stronger, a powerful but somewhat cliched film. Based on the memoir of the same name by Jeff Bauman & Bret Witter, & set in 2013, the film follows Jeff Bauman (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), a ne'er-do-well working at a Costco in Boston. He lives with his alcoholic mother, Patty (played by Miranda Richardson) in a small apartment. At the local bar, he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Erin Hurley (played by Tatiana Maslany), whom he still loves, but is unable to commit. He decides to help raise money for Erin, who is running in the Boston Marathon to raise money for her hospital.

On April 15, 2013, the day of the marathon, Jeff struggles to get to the area near the finish line, but he does just before Erin crosses it. Right when she approaches, a bomb goes off, & another one goes off 10 seconds later. After being sent to the hospital, Jeff has his legs amputated below the knee. Once regaining consciousness, he reports that he saw the bombers. After identifying them, & with their capture, Jeff is hailed as a hero.

But no matter how much Jeff is hailed, the aftereffects are astronomical. He struggles with the newfound fame & the interviews Patty sets up, much to Erin's chagrin. Patty eventually starts to enable Jeff's alcoholism, & causes him to miss many physical therapy appointments. But Jeff is afraid & his PTSD is becoming worse, forcing him to rethink his relationships.

The performances are exemplary. Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of the best performances of his career. Tatiana Maslany gives her best performance. And Miranda Richardson is almost unrecognizable, disappearing into her character. Honestly, I was shocked to discover in the credits that she was in the film.

David Gordon Green's direction is perfectly subdued. Another film that dealt with the Boston Marathon bombing, 2016's Patriots Day, was a good film, but my main criticism was that the film didn't feel human enough. Well, this film brought that human element that Patriots Day sorely lacked. And that's all thanks to Green & his knack for an inherently human feel.

And John Pollono's screenplay is good. It's a little cliched, & some scenes drag on, but for the most part, it's definitely more than servicable.

This is one of the better survival biopics in years, probably since 2010's 127 Hours. While it feels cliched & somewhat unbearably slow, the performances & direction elevate the film.

Stronger was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Saturday, September 23, 2017. It is no longer in theaters in the Detroit area. Its runtime is 119 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout, some graphic injury images, & brief sexuality/nudity.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

2015's Kingsman: The Secret Service was a way-overdue, fresh & fun addition to the spy genre. So it was a foregone conclusion that I would be highly expecting its sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

And what a sequel it was. It's just as gleefully action-filled, violent, & funny as the first film. Once again, the film focuses on Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, AKA Galahad (played by Taron Egerton), who has been an agent of Kingsman for a year. He is engaged to Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden (played by Hanna Alström), who he helped save in the first film.

While in Sweden, the Kingsman headquarters in London are struck by missiles, leaving Eggsy & Merlin (played by Mark Strong) as the only surviving members of Kingsman. Because of this, they must follow the Doomsday protocol, which leads them to the Statesman Distillery Co. in Kentucky, a secret organization posing as a Bourbon distillery. The head of Statesmen, Champagne (played by Jeff Bridges) briefs Eggsy & Merlin about a drug cartel called The Golden Circle, led by Poppy Adams (played by Julianne Moore), who is hiding in the jungles of Cambodia in a 1950's American-style hideout known as Poppy Land, where she has taken Elton John (played by himself) captive.

Poppy announces that she has put a toxin in every single drug in the world, causing death within days. Eggsy & Merlin must find her, stop her, & release the antidote. Three other Statesmen agents, Ginger Ale (played by Halle Berry), Tequila (played by Channing Tatum), & Whiskey (played by Pedro Pascal) also join into help. But an old friend, Harry Hart, AKA Galahad (played by Colin Firth), was discovered by Statesmen after his presumed death, & Eggsy & Merlin must help him get back to normal as well.

The cast is spectacular. Firth, Egerton & Bridges do great work. Moore is deliciously villainous & brings a side of hers to this performance that we've almost never seen in her career. And Elton John does an excellent job of playing a gleefully profane version of himself.

Matthew Vaughn's direction is excellent. His control over the action sequences is excellent, & he brings a huge jolt of energy to the film, just like he did for the first film.

And the screenplay by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn is brilliant. Just like the first film, this has a lot of scathingly funny dark humor that works excellently.

This is one of the better action films in recent memory. It's fun, action-packed, & absolutely awesome, & definitely more awesome than most action films out there currently.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, September 22, 2017. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 141 minutes, & it is rated R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout & some sexual material.

The Lego Ninjago Movie

★★★★½ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

The Lego Movie franchise has been a welcome addition to the animation genre over the past 3 years. Both 2014's The Lego Movie & this year's The Lego Batman Movie have been some of the best animation films of the century, adding a new style of animation & a new style of humor to a genre that had been going somewhat stale.

The Lego Ninjago Movie, while not the best of the franchise, still stands on its own as a different & brilliantly funny animated film. The film focuses on Lloyd Garmadon (voiced by Dave Franco), a teenager in the city of Ninjago. He lives with his mother, Koko (voiced by Olivia Munn). Since he is the son of the tyrannical Lord Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux), Lloyd is seen as a pariah by the townspeople.

But Lloyd has a secret. He is a ninja, along with Kai (voiced by Michael Peña), Jay (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani), Nya (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), Zane (voiced by Zach Woods), & Cole (voiced by Fred Armisen), who are all under the tutelage of Master Wu (voiced by Jackie Chan).

On Lloyd's birthday, Lord Garmadon happens to attack Ninjago again, & fails, thanks to the work of the ninjas. Lord Garmadon promises to return with a weapons-immune mech. However, when the ninjas return, Master Wu tells them they are not real ninjas, & that they must use powers from within. However, Master Wu mentions an Ultimate Weapon, but the Ultimate Weapon is forbidden to be used.

The next day, Lord Garmadon succesfully attacks Ninjago with a cat named Meowthra, & discovers Lloyd is a ninja. Lloyd denounces his father, confusing Lord Garmadon.

Now, with the city under attack, Master Wu urges the ninjas to use the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon & stop Lord Garmadon & Meowthra from destroying Ninjago, & Lloyd might actually end up bonding with his father, starting a relationship they never had.

The voice cast is excellent. Franco, Chan, Nanjiani & Woods are excellent, but the real standout of the voice cast is Theroux, who is so deliciously over the top.

The direction by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher & Bob Logan is good. Although there are a few rough spots (which I expected since they are all first-time directors), the direction is good enough to overcome those rough spots.

The screenplay by Bob Logan, Paul Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Jared Stern, John Whittington, Hilary Winston, Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman is brilliant. It has the quirky & always-hilarious humor that has been part of the first 2 films of the franchise.

And the animation is amazing. Like the other films of the franchise, the animation captures the Legos so amazingly.

This is one of the better animated films of the year. While it isn't the best of the franchise or the best of the year, it certainly makes up for its shortcomings with its excellent humor.

The Lego Ninjago Movie was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, September 22, 2017. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 101 minutes, & it is rated PG for some mild action & rude humor.

Mother!

½★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

"I'm sorry, but not even drugs could result in this film."

That quote from my friend, after I told her the entire plot of Mother!, perfectly encapsulates how I felt about this film. It's such a crazily put-together film that is an absolute cinematic abomination.

The film focuses on Mother (played by Jennifer Lawrence) & Him (played by Javier Bardem), a couple living in an isolated & recently renovated house. Mother is a housewife, while Him is a famous poet suffering from writer's block.

One day, Man (played by Ed Harris) shows up at the house, asking for a room, mistaking it for a bed & breakfast. Him is more than happy to let Man stay; however, Mother is reluctant to let a stranger stay in their house. Eventually, she agrees to let Man stay. Man coughs a lot while he is in their house, & Mother sees a fresh wound near his rib. It is made clear that he is dying, & that he wanted to meet Him before he died.

The next day, Man's wife, Woman (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), arrives at the house. Woman is very upfront with Mother on certain topics, including the fact that Mother & Him have not had children. Not too long after that, Man & Woman's children, Older Son (played by Domhnall Gleeson) & Younger Brother (played by Brian Gleeson) arrive, fighting over who gets more from their parents' will.

Eventually, more & more guests come to the house, all wanting to see Him. But Mother has had enough. She demands everyone leave, & when they don't listen, Mother becomes enraged.

The cast is acceptable. Lawrence & Pfeiffer give the best performances of the film, while Bardem & Harris are good as well. However, due to the material they were given, they don't really come out as great performances.

Darren Aronofsky's direction is unfocused. Aronofsky is a great director, but here, he focuses way too much on style over substance (namely violence for the sake of violence to the point where it becomes extreme overkill), especially in the third act. The film is intended to be a parable on how we're destroying Mother Earth, & I agree with Aronofsky's idea to critique our actions, but the way he did it ends up looking like a complete mess.

Aronofsky's screenplay is absolutely awful. His narrative ranges from confusing & boring over the first two acts of the film, to disgusting & absolutely sick in the final act. The last 30 minutes of the film are the worst I've seen in the history of cinema. It treats its characters terribly, especially Lawrence's character. Also, the way he executed it with the religious metaphors that are dumped like a blizzard onto the script are complete & utter overkill.

Matthew Libatique's cinematography is good. It's great in the first two acts of the film, but by the third act, it becomes so shaky & chaotic that it makes you feel like you're on a bad drug trip.

Andrew Weisblum's editing is horrendous. Weisblum is a great editor (especially for Black Swan), but his editing here is just purely terrible. The film is horribly paced, making the film's 121-minute runtime feel like 4 hours, & because of that, I felt like I was trapped in the theater against my will. Also, the editing tends to be too frenetic, especially in the third act.

And the sound design is a mess. It's too jarring that it completely takes you away from the film, especially in the third act.

I understand why people like this film. I really do. And I like films that are really outside of the mainstream, like this film. However, the way this film was made was just so frenetic & mediocre that I could not like this film one bit. It is the worst film I've ever seen. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, & no qualities that make it so bad it's good.

To quote the late, great film critic Roger Ebert, in his review for the 1994 film North, "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every stupid simpering vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to its audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."

I can't speak for everyone about liking & being entertained by it, but I certainly didn't. I never want to experience this film again.

Mother! was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, September 15, 2017. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 121 minutes, & it is rated R for strong disturbing violent content, some sexuality, nudity & language.

It

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I'm not a horror guy. I'll just put that out there.

I don't see many horror films because: 1. I'm a scaredy cat; & 2. Most recent horror films are awful, as they put an over-reliance on jump scares.

It is an extremely more-than-welcome horror film. It blends the jump scares with an overwhelming sense of dread, something that has been missing in horror films as of late.

Based on Stephen King's 1986 novel & set in the summer of 1989, the film centers on Bill Denbrough (played by Jaeden Lieberher), a twelve-year-old boy in Derry, Maine. Bill's seven-year-old brother, Georgie (played by Jackson Robert Scott), disappeared nine months earlier. Fearful of the bullies who will have free reign towards him for 3 months, Bill takes solace with his friends: foul-mouthed Richie Tozier (played by Finn Wolfhard); hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak (played by Jack Dylan Grazer); & mysophobic Stanley Uris (played by Wyatt Oleff).

Meanwhile, Beverly Marsh (played by Sophia Lillis), a burnout who has had rumors about her spread throughout the school, also has to deal with her father's (played by Stephen Bogaert) sexual & physical abuse. Before school ends for the summer, Beverly meets Ben Hanscom (played by Jeremy Ray Taylor), a new kid in Derry who is also bullied for his weight. They immediately take a liking to each other.

During the summer, many kids go missing, just like Georgie. Bill, Richie, Eddie & Stanley go to the Barrens to search for Georgie, whom Bill thinks is still alive. Ben ends up down there after being attacked by the gang of bullies.

The next day, everyone sees visions of their biggest fears & nightmarish visions of Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgård), a terrifying clown. The 6 kids encounter Mike Hanlon (played by Chosen Jacobs), a homeschooled orphan who is also terrorized by Pennywise. They find that Pennywise assumes the identity of their biggest fear, & appears once every 27 years for 12-16 months. They decide to fight off Pennywise once & for all as "The Losers Club."

The cast is one of the best ever in a horror film. Lieberher, Wolfhard & Lillis are the best out of the young cast. But the standout of the entire cast is Bill Skarsgård, who is absolutely haunting every moment he's on the screen.

Andy Muschietti's direction is astounding. Muschietti, most known for directing the 2013 horror film Mama, is at the top of his game here, setting an overwhelmingly dark & terrifying mood.

The screenplay by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga & Gary Dauberman is excellent. Their script does an excellent job of adapting Stephen King's novel, & It doesn't have the characters you'd usually see in a horror film (i.e. the stupid teenage characters). The characters feel really human, & are actually smart, & don't make stupid decisions.

Chung-Hoon Chung's cinematography is amazing. The way he frames the characters is excellent, & every shot looks perfect.

The editing by Jason Ballantine is excellent. Ballatine has perfectly paced & assembled this film, & unlike other horror films, he doesn't use a lot of jump cuts.

Benjamin Wallfisch's score is haunting. His score, primarily using a piano, makes an already scary film even scarier, building the terror to a breaking point.

The sound design is excellent. All the sounds in the film manage to scare the absolute crap out of everyone who hears them.

And the makeup & hairstyling is nothing short of amazing, especially the makeup used on Pennywise, which makes It extremely terrifying.

This is one of the best horror films of the century. They sadly do not make horror films like these anymore. I truly cannot wait for It: Chapter Two.

It was seen by me at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, September 8, 2017. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 135 minutes, & It is rated R for violence/horror, bloody images, & for language.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

This goes without saying, but Steven Spielberg is a master.

Since his theatrical debut, 1974's The Sugarland Express, Spielberg has captivated the minds of the young, the old, & everyone in between, with films like Jaws, the Indiana Jones franchise, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Hook, the Jurassic Park francise, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Lincoln, & Bridge of Spies.

Now, for its 40th anniversary, Columbia Pictures has re-released Steven Spielberg's 1977 sci-fi masterpiece, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This was my first time seeing this film. And it was such a glorious experience.

The film focuses on Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfuss), an electrical worker in Muncie, Indiana. He lives a mostly uneventful life with his wife, Ronnie (played by Teri Garr) & their three children: Brad (played by Shawn Bishop); Toby (played by Justin Dreyfuss); & Silvia (played by Adrienne Campbell).

One night, the power suddenly goes out in town, & Roy is called into work. While driving to work, the metal objects in his truck suddenly move around, & a strange craft appears overhead. It's a UFO. After returning home, he tells his family, but they don't believe him.

Another Muncie resident, Jillian Guiler (played by Melinda Dillon), lives with her son, Barry (played by Cary Guffey). The UFO appears by their house, & just like the metal objects in Roy's truck, Barry's toys suddenly start turning on & operating.

Meanwhile, French scientist Claude Lacombe (played by François Truffaut) & his American interpreter, cartographer David Laughlin (played by Bob Balaban) investigate the strange incidences of a pilotless flight in the Sonora Desert, a lost cargo ship in the Gobi Desert, & a five-tone sequence from a UFO in Northern India. The noise is sent to space, with the response being a set of coordinates, pointing to Devils Tower in Moorcroft, Wyoming.

Eventually, all three of these stories will converge at Devils Tower, leading to an eye-opening discovery.

The cast is excellent. Dreyfuss does an excellent job of documenting his character's descent into madness after encountering the UFO. Truffaut, in his only English-language performance (& his only performance in a film he didn't direct), shines in every moment he's on the screen. And Dillon gives an amazing performance that was well-deserved of her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Steven Spielberg's direction is phenomenal. He re-defined the sci-fi blockbuster with this film, & his vision for this film is unparalleled. At every moment, his direction exhibits a strong, childlike wonder in the audience.

His screenplay is also amazing. The characters are extremely well-written & feel so human, & the plot is so intricate.

The cinematography by the late Vilmos Zsigmond is nothing short of spectacular. Every single shot is immaculate, & the way he frames the characters is amazing.

The editing by Michael Kahn is excellent. The film is perfectly paced & assembled, & with this film, Kahn jumpstarted his way into becoming the most awarded editor in film history.

The production design by Joe Alves & Daniel A. Lomino is excellent. The sets are so immersive, especially the designs of the UFO's.

The score by John Williams, the greatest film composer of all time, is amazing. His large-scale orchestral style of music is definitely on play here (notably the famous five-tone sequence), & it is so perfect.

The sound design is impeccable. The five-tone sequence, the sounds of the UFOs, & all the other sound effects are so indescribably amazing.

And the visual effects are so awe-inspiring, & way ahead of their time. They don't feel like the style of regular effects from 1977. And honestly, they don't feel that dated. The effects here, along with the visual effects from the other sci-fi masterpiece from 1977, Star Wars, redefined the way effects can be put into film.

This is truly one of the greatest films ever made. It's a groundbreaking, wondrous, & overall perfect cinematic experience.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind was seen by me at the Emagine Macomb in Macomb Township, MI on Saturday, September 2, 2017. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 137 minutes, & it is rated PG for some intense sci-fi action, mild language & thematic elements.

Ingrid Goes West

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

I hate the world I'm growing up in.

Not just because I'm growing up in a world with a horrible political climate, but because I'm growing up in a world where so many people I know live for one thing: social media. They show us what they're doing, what they're eating, what clothes they're buying, & so many other things. They live for the likes & comments & shares & retweets & screenshots. It's so ludicrous.

Ingrid Goes West gives us an amazing satirical look at the age of social media & how it has made us more disconnected from life. The film follows Ingrid Thorburn (played by Aubrey Plaza), an extremely mentally unstable woman from Pennsylvania. Ingrid has been reeling after her mother's death. After macing an ex-friend at her wedding for not inviting her, she is institutionalized. Ingrid is absolutely attached to one thing: Instagram.

Ingrid learns of Instagram icon Taylor Sloane (played by Elizabeth Olsen) while reading a magazine. She then follows her on Instagram, becoming jealous of her seemingly perfect life. She comments on one of her post & receives a reply from Taylor that most would deem inconsequential. Ingrid, however, becomes ecstatic at Taylor's reply. With the $60,000 from her mother's insurance policy, Ingrid decides to move to Los Angeles to become Taylor's friend. She rents a house in the neighborhood of Venice from Dan Pinto (played by O'Shea Jackson Jr.), an aspiring screenwriter & avid fan of Batman. Ingrid gets a makeover & decides to emulate Taylor's lifestyle.

Ingrid follows Taylor to her house & kidnaps her dog when she's not home, & returns her saying she found him during the night & kept him overnight. Taylor & her pop artist husband, Ezra (played by Wyatt Russell), invite Ingrid inside their house for dinner.

And at that moment, Ingrid & Taylor become friends. At last, Ingrid seems happy. But as their friendship grows, Ingrid becomes more unhinged, & as Taylor's narcissistic recovering drug addict brother, Nicky (played by Billy Magnussen) arrives with his friend, fashion blogger Harley Chung (played by Pom Klementieff), Ingrid arrives at a breaking point, wanting Taylor as her friend forever, no matter what the cost.

The cast is spectacular. Aubrey Plaza's performance is a revelation, & she gives the best performance of the year so far. She is extremely crazy in the film, & we are absolutely shocked at the depths her character goes to. Elizabeth Olsen & O'Shea Jackson Jr. also give excellent performances, providing strong supporting roles to Plaza.

Matt Spicer's direction is excellent. In his directorial debut, Spicer has an excellent satirical edge in his work.

And the screenplay by Matt Spicer & David Branson Smith is brilliant. The dialogue is scathingly funny, & we can't help but laugh at the people in the film for being such stuck-up snobs.

This is one of the best films of the year so far. It shows us how we have become basically connected to social media & how we are so obsessed with how people react to our daily lives & activities, & that the people we see on social media whose lives look so well-planned & perfect are actually just as screwed up as we are.

Ingrid Goes West was seen by me at the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI on Friday, August 25, 2017. It is in 12 theaters in the Detroit area, including the MJR Troy Grand Digital Cinema 16 in Troy, MI, the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights, MI, the AMC Star Great Lakes 25 in Auburn Hills, MI, & the Emagine Canton in Canton, MI. Its runtime is 97 minutes, & it is rated R for language throughout, drug use, some sexual content & disturbing behavior.