The Invitation

Karyn Kusama, 2016

IMDB

2/5

Do you know that feeling when you go to a restaurant and you are totally hungry and eager for some food. You sit down and order your food, only to wait another 1 hour and 20 minutes to actually be served? Well, in a sense that's what this film is like. The table is set early, as a group of friends gather for a dinner party. They haven't seen each other in 2 years. You slowly are served little tiny pieces of backstory. There was a divorce between main character Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and Eden (Tammy Blanchard). You soon find out why, and its important to hold back details here because it's an easy film to spoil. But she has changed to say the least. Will doesn't like this change. Because she appears to be numb, to be drugged up somehow or in some kind of trance. So after the figurative table is set, you are now waiting to see why they are there at this party. And you wait, and then there is some more waiting, and then you wait some more. Finally there is a payoff in this film, but it just comes too late. There is clearly not enough story here to create an elaborate film. There's the Hitchcockian method of skillfully building tension and then releasing it masterfully. Then there's this more elementary method of relying too much on that very tension and then not offering up enough when it is released. When the big revelation comes toward the end, there's not a whole lot of shock. Then the film just becomes gratuitous. Frustrating. None of the characters other than Will are really believable characters. Nobody you would encounter in real life. In any real life situation everyone would have walked out and left after they were forced to watch the awkward cult video. Perhaps its the weak script. Perhaps its the inconsistent casting choices. Marshall Green and Michiel Huisman offer good performances but the rest of the cast is just kind of blah. I think the script and inferior direction is to blame here. But there is one redeeming factor in this film.  There is a detail in the end of the film that is quite clever. Clever enough that you could say that this is one of the rare Bad Movies with Good Endings. 

Goodbye World

Denis Henry Hennelly, 2014

IMDB

1/5

We are living in an age of numerous apocalyptic movies. Nuclear wars, zombie plagues, global pandemics, terrorist attacks. The list goes on. Seems like every year we are served a dozen or so of them and we are forced to weed through them to find one of quality. Goodbye World, is one of the ones of little quality. The film starts off interesting. An ambiguous text starts to circulate saying "Goodbye World", puzzling the recipients. As a group of old friends plan their arrival to friend James' (Adrian Grenier) remote mountain house, order is beginning to break down. The group of friends are reuniting after years of not seeing each other for various reasons. Their reunion just happens to coincide with the collapse of civilization. And coincidentally, James happens to be a doomsday-prepper type who happens to have everything they will need when shit hits the fan. How convenient! The fact that he has all of the supplies, solar power, medicine neutralizes the panic and for most of the film all we really have to indicate that things have really collapsed is some smoke way off in the distance. Oh, and the occasional invader such as a pair of soldiers aggressively trying to claim their place on the compound. 

It's a movie that would have certainly benefited from being much simpler. It could have been an effective limited storytelling piece in an enclosed setting. But the stakes would have needed to be higher. Instead of pure panic and main conflict points were marital troubles, which would seem so trivial in a time like this. There were also just way too many story threads in general. Business conflict between the men. An old couple that still has feelings for each other. A woman still dealing with political fallout from a sex scandal. An ex con lecturer who does college tours.

The movie would have been a great opportunity for Adrian Grenier to do something that he was never able to do during his many years on HBO's Entourage: prove that he is a viable actor. Unfortunately, he fails to do that here. There actually isn't really a memorable performance in the film. Goodbye World is an frustratingly confused film. Probably a movie that was didn't end up materializing the way it was intended to. Instead of keeping things simple, it fell into a web of unnecessary complications. It's a movie that also has some glaring flaws, like kids just standing there when someone is shot to their death or when there is a stranger screaming at a mother. One of the most irritating points in the film is when one of the main characters reveal themselves to be a an absolute computer aficionado. How convenient!

Chef

Jon Favreau, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Celebrity Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) has become jaded with the stale menu on his restaurant's menu. When restaurant owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) refuses to let him change things up, he decides to leave and attempt to pursue his own interests which lead him to starting up a Cuban Food truck.

Favreau writes, directs and stars in this film which is a story of a guy taking a risk in a new business blended with some sentimental family elements. Carl is a very proud Chef who has grown insecure with his abilities, especially after getting ripped apart by online blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). His vulnerability breaks him, bringing him to his rock bottom after an explosive tirade that inevitably goes viral on social media. But Carl isn't a one-dimensional hot-head; there are many layers to him. He's still licking his wounds from the divorce of his beautiful (and out of his league) Cuban wife Inez (Sophia Vergara). He is having trouble bonding with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony), who is also hurt by the separation. He is basically broke, or close to it, living in a run-down apartment that is probably worth less than the high-end cooking equipment that he uses on a regular basis.

With these elements in play, there are a lot of directions the film could go in where it could fall apart. But it doesn't, and credit is due to Favreau for holding it together. With compelling performances, good direction and snappy editing, he manages to create a heartwarming piece that keeps you rooting for Carl to become a beloved culinary all-star once again. The film examines social media's impact on American culture through the blogosphere, at times using visual elements like pretty tweets flying across the screen (similar to the texting effects used in House of Cards). Not to say there aren't a few faults. When Carl storms out of his restaurant after Riva tells him he needs to cook whats on the menu and nothing else, he returns to his apartment where he goes off on a cooking spree. He puts together a lavish array of seemingly delicious and artful items. He cooks his heart out. You think: okay, he's going to tell that blogger to get his ass down to his apartment and force feed him. But he doesn't, and he appears to only cook the meal for himself. Of course if Ramsey came to the apartment and ate up, he would likely be put Carl in high regard again and movie over... but it was a weird how it played out. Favreau probably wanted the audience to really get on board with Carl's abilities to cook great food, but they were pretty evident already. Like, we knew that after the first scene. Or when he spent all of that time perfecting the grilled cheese sandwich for Percy. Later in the film Martin (played by perfectly-cast John Leguizamo) is pushed into taking a photo of Carl and a South Beach bike-cop. Martin shows you that he is the only person in America that has never used a touch-screen phone before, and is puzzled as to how to snap the picture. Those things are easy to let go, though. The good easily outweighs the bad. Favreau's culinary piece is charming, original, enjoyable. It seems like it was probably a fun film to make. Everyone must have left the set everyday with a full belly.

Big Sur

Michael Polish, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

The adaptation of Kerouacs tormented stream of consciousness madness novel is sacred ground for the die-hard fans (like yours truly). A novel that so well cataloged Jack's complete plummet into an alcohol-ridden state of psychosis where he would ultimately spend the tragic final years of his life. The film is set in the beautiful coastal Big Sur region of California. Many years have passed since Jack and Dean Moriarty hit the road in the beloved beat-nick bible "On the Road" (another recent Kerouac adaptation to be reviewed here at a later time). Jack has become jaded, exhausted, fed up with the world around him. The world around him has changed as well, people are more reluctant to pick up the hitchhiker. There's been a suburban sprawl. He finds himself unable to live up to the expectations of others. Seeking isolation, and then becoming frustrated and tormented by that very seclusion. Everyone around him bears witness to his downfall. And amid all of the inner turmoil there remains a certain optimism, a soul searching, pursuit of something. It's that very energy that gives this picture a good construct. Without it, we are just watching a (possibly bipolar?) genius drink his life away. And maybe we are watching that either way, but there is at least some positivism.

The continual narration ensures loyalty to the source material, although there's never a true sense of synchronicity with what is on screen very much due to Kerouac's signature rapid, run-on writing style. There's detailed set design. A dreamy score maintains a certain daydreamy quality, while some great camera work helps to deliver that same feeling throughout. Beautiful shots of the lush, foggy Pacific Northwest forests. Sped-up shots of the mist gliding over the Pacific Ocean. Jean-Marc Barr is impressive as the aged Kerouac, with Josh Lucas and Patrick Fischler also providing noteworthy performances. People may criticize the film for being a bit spiraling, aimless. And perhaps it is. But it hits the desired beats. It should leave the original readers satisfied. 

Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea

Chris Metzler & Jeff Springer, 2004


3/5

The Salton Sea was a rapidly growing tourist destination. A accidentally created man-made oasis in the California desert, it looked as if it were going to be another Palm Springs. Unfortunately, the engineers didn't foresee the increased levels of salinity caused by agricultural runoff, or the varying water levels which would eventually flood the area. This would ultimately cause a fish die-off, which didn't exactly smell inviting. The vacationers stopped coming, and by the 1990's the only people who remain are nostalgic retirees and eccentric loners.

John Waters does a good job in narrating this quirky documentary. The archival footage of the Salton Sea really paints a vivid picture of an exciting vacation spot. The remaining residents are left with nothing other than distant memories of a thriving local economy, and all that remains are salt-encrusted abandoned buildings. The images of the corroded building skeletons feel apocalyptic. The current community, who look like people who got lost on their way to Burning Man, don't exactly give you the sense that your home would be safe unlocked. From the nudists to the urban dodgers who wanted to escape the L.A. gang-violence, the rough-talk and vulgarity doesn't appear to be a family-friendly environment. There is not one view of an educational establishment or grocery store. The unofficial mayor greets passer-bys by mooning them. There doesn't even seem to be a police presence. When you see building lots on sale for as low as $400, it seems as if they are just giving away land now, and even that price feels inflated. Unfortunately the innocent 1950's water-sports has given way to teenage keg-parties and opportunistic desert-thieves. The wet-paint on the motel sign has dried and decayed. All that remains is the scattered arrangement of RV's on the cracked desert landscape. Sonny Bono tried to save the area but his untimely-death only seemed to reinforce the Salton Sea's inevitable demise. Some optimism remains of the Salton Sea being restored, but I am not one of the believers.