Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe, 2001

Can I Stream it?

5/5

Publishing empire heir David Ames (Tom Cruise) struggles to put the pieces back together in his life after a horrible automobile accident with lover Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz)

Cameron Crowe is an interesting filmmaker, having taken many directions over the course of his career. He pursued his heart with Say Anything. He pursued his love of music (and of course his own history of journalism for Rolling Stone) with Almost Famous. He pursued personal reflection and personal unraveling in Jerry Maguire. He mistakenly tried to make a more populist kid-pleaser picture with We Bought a Zoo, but that feels like a film that didn't ultimately become what he had originally envisioned. But Vanilla Sky is his most interesting work, his most ambitious work, his most under-appreciated. It's already such a bold move taking one of the biggest actors in Hollywood at the time (Cruise), and disfiguring his face. That aside, he also demanded a big performance from Cruise who really did deliver. There are so many elements at work, some of them so obviously personal to Crowe. The way that this movie looks at love and death, memories, blossoming love. It hasn't been done exactly like this before. The effect of our memories on our subconscious. The impact of dreams. The toxic elements of our life that we fall into. Societal structure, technology, it's really all there. People often criticize this film for being too convoluted, confusing. That's actually quite surprising, because the reveal at the climax really does lay everything out there. The film really builds and builds, getting more complex. The final moments on screen our so powerful and emotional. It should have you questioning your own life, your own existence.

Locke

Steven Knight, 2014

Can I Stream It?

3/5

It's the night before commencement of the biggest construction project of his entire career. Instead of driving home to watch a football match with his son, Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) suddenly decides to drive away from everything to the shock of his employers and to his family. As he speeds down the highway, his life continues to unravel after each hands-free phone call.

At first glance Locke appears almost as if it's a sleek television commercial for BMW with the typical high-profile celebrity. As if BMW finally gave Tom Hardy an offer he couldn't refuse for a TV spot.  You soon realize that it's something much more compelling. Ivan Locke has made the decision to drive. And the decision to keep driving. Driving away from the much controlled existence that he has long been living in. Driving away from his high-pressure work duties that have long required his presence. Driving away from the familial obligations of watching football with his son and loyalty to his wife. For a good period of time you don't know what the limits of Ivan's conflicts are. The immediate seriousness of the situation gives you the impression that this could easily end in death for him. Does he owe someone money? Is he after someone? What is he hiding? He isn't silent about his personal history as he looks into the rear-view mirror, cursing his long deceased father. Almost as if he sees his father in his own reflection. Ivan has seemingly been an organized person. A man who thrived on strict order. A reliable person. As he keeps his foot pressed against the gas pedal, the reflection of the streetlights glide across the glass. The light constantly shifts from gold blurs to focused glows. A subtle abstract sound echoes in the background. Hardy is a commanding force, bringing a certain intensity to his complex Locke character. He is someone undoubtedly capable of carrying a film on his back.

In terms of construct, the film is actually quite similar to 2010's Buried starring Ryan Reynolds. A real-time limited storytelling piece consisting of one man and a phone. One could argue that Buried is more fierce, more forcible. Albeit undeniably more far-fetched. Perhaps that's the charm of Locke. The ordinary nature of the problems at hand. Ivan is a flawed man like so many in the world. The aftermath of a man who fell victim to his own impulses. But it's not a story of a man completely fleeing his personal shit-storm. He is actually in pursuit of something, some kind of shifting resolution to the mess that he has created. There is a determination to avoid repeating his father's mistakes. But Buried has a more lasting effect on the viewer. That particular story grips you until the very end, whereas Locke maintains a certain pace that carries on until the final moments without much excitement. We often go to cinema to take us to explore the incredible. Perhaps it would have been better if Locke took us on more of a journey with the story.

Cheap Thrills

E.L. Katz, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Craig (Pat Healy) is drowning his financial sorrows at a Los Angeles dive bar when he runs into old high school friend Vince (Ethan Embry) who he hasn't seen in five years. The two of them meet Colin (David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton) who are celebrating Violet's birthday. Craig and Vince end up performing various antics for the couple for quick cash in an effort to get out of their desperate financial state.

Back in my bar-hopping days, my friends and I would play a hypothetical game with each other. It was never an official game that would be scheduled for any reason, nor did we ever really give it an official name. It was very loosely called the whats your price game. Someone in the group would provide a shocking activity, something like losing a limb or losing an eye and the conversation would circulate between the group to see what everyone's price was to perform said action. It would generate some short-term provocative discussion, but would never result in anything physically. Years later comes along this film Cheap Thrills, which is probably the closest thing to the whats your price game in film form.

Two surprising elements in this film from the get-go are the casting decisions. You see Ethan Embry in the credits, yet it probably takes you a few minutes to actually realize WHO he is in the film. He's no longer the baby-faced twenty-something from Empire Records. He really looks like he's put some years on that face. He's now the middle-aged slob with the cheap beanie and two-week beard. Then you have David Koechner, who would traditionally be cast in an Adam McKay-led comedy. He has dipped his toes in similarly less-comedic waters (Final Destination 5, Piranha), but this is certainly a different flavor. There's comedy present, but oh boy it's dark. His Colin character is by no means a strictly serious personality, and Koechner's typical persona certainly comes through and really works here. The Colin character is a rich sadist throwing dollar bills at each deplorable stunt. The smug, made-up Violet sits by his side immobile like a mannequin. The deplorable acts get progressively worse as the stakes are raised. Nobody is watching the clock more than Craig, who has a worried wife at home with his baby. Craig figures that the next action will be his last, and then he can finally leave the madhouse that he has been spending the last few hours in, this madhouse that at times reminds you of the firecracker-popping crack-den in Boogie Nights. All that's missing is the Rick Springfield anthem playing in the background, instead here it's some biting Dubstep. And you only spent about twenty minutes in Rahad's den in Boogie Nights. Here, you are not going anywhere that quickly. You probably want to, but there's that next stunt. That next payout. For Craig, that next payout will help him and his family get out of the rut. He will no longer be an embarrassment. For Vince, it's a new beginning. A chance to start over. Who knows, maybe get on the right path so that he can have a wife and kid too. Each passing moment brings along another morally-compromising idea coupled with more diminishing intoxication. The two men may have been old friends but their loyalty is tested, then tested again, and again.

It's a disturbing, drug-induced game show. Almost like the suspenseful offspring of an Irreversible and Compliance (which also featured Pat Healy). A showcase of clouded judgement. Blind faith in absolute strangers. Diametric character unraveling. A downward spiral. Stretched limits. Two different life paths colliding, coming together for one night where the two forces are after the same thing. Brutal. Barbarous. As things continue to go deeper, you sit there wondering how it will end. How CAN it end? You should be compensated for getting through the film not because it's poorly made (it's not) but because it's challenges you in a way most films don't, or can't. At least not within the rating confines of the MPAA. Perhaps it's why Cheap Thrills unrated. Maybe it's better that way. A watered down version of this picture would have fallen into a different category, probably artless gore-porn. Cheap Thrills also deserves credit for it's clever tagline: "What doesn't kill you makes you richer".