Lawless

John Hillcoat, 2012

IMDB

3/5

All you really need to do is take a look at the plot synopsis and cast listing to draw interest in John Hillcoat’s Lawless. A prohibition-era period piece about three bootlegging brothers that are at odds with a local deputy. Starring Shia Labeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane Dehaan, Gary Oldman. Basically a handful of some of the best actors working today. And although some of the casting decisions are a bit questionable (Chastain) for their respective roles, it’s hard for a film with that kind of fuel to go wrong.

The best quality of the film is probably the attention to detail in terms of the production design. The southern atmosphere is completely immersive. You really feel like you are there in the muggy heat with the bugs buzzing around you. You really get a good look at the natural beauty of the South - which is supposed to be Virginia but actually filmed in Georgia.

There isn’t a whole lot to the film other than a focus on the family dynamics between the Bondurant brothers and their battle against the eccentric special deputy Charlie Rakes, played by Guy Pearce (who really nails the role). Rakes provides a couple hints that he suffers from an OCD-type of condition, as he is visibly horrified by his suit being dirtied. But this conflict between the deputy and the brothers is enough for a serviceable period drama, even with a muted Tom Hardy. Because even a muted Tom Hardy is still good. The film succeeds in getting you engaged in the brothers, all while building anger toward Rakes. Probably because the hypocrisy is so evident, the cops turning a blind eye to the moonshining operations because they are getting their palms greased. Rakes does nothing but flex is muscle without having to do any of the dirty work.

But looking back on this film years from now I probably won’t be thinking about the gun battles. I might be thinking about Pearce’s Rakes character. But I will undoubtedly be thinking about that old porch with the various chairs and how I would just want to sit in one of them for a few hours and sip on a mason jar with some moonshine and look out into the woods. So ultimately Lawless succeeds in being alluring without having to break new ground in the genre.

The Revenant

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, 2015

IMBD

4/5

Watching The Revenant reminds you of how good our modern civilization has it. Not having to scavenge for fur in the wild to sell to get by. Not having to endure unforgiving weather in some rinky-dink shelter, cold wintry wind blowing at the thin walls. Living in the early 1800's involved you trying to avoid frostbite while also trying to avoid arrows piercing your skull from a Native American ambush.

Survival is a constant theme in the film. What it takes to survive. What you are actually living for. Or who are you living for. Do you have anything worth living for. These questions circulate through the Hugh Glass character, played by Leonardo Dicaprio. He had fallen in love with a Native American woman, had a child with her. The Pawnee people were able to give him love, skills, and happiness. He then had to watch so much of it being stripped away from him. As if his lost love wasn't enough hardship for him, he is then brutally mauled by a bear in the woods while trying to guide his fellow men. It's hard to think of a character in a film that has to bear so much misery as Glass, who really spends most of the movie being treated like a rag-doll hanging on by a thread. Dicaprio is really impressive with the Glass character. Instead of being a voiceless crawler through the film, he does a really good job of playing out all of the aches and pains as if you were able to feel some of it yourself. Tom Hardy is just as good as John Fitzgerald, the man who abandons Glass and leaves him to die. It's hard to even see Hardy at first through the thick beard and layers of clothing. Soon after discovering it's him you forget again.

What plays out in The Revenant becomes a duality of survival and revenge, all painted on a cinematic canvas that Inniratu and Co. clearly was trying to perfect - and maybe did. The nature pillow shots. The snow floating across the screen. There's even a scene where Glass is laying on the ground breathing onto the camera lens, and there's a seamless transition to some mountain mist and grey clouds. Credit must be made to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubeski, who worked with Innaritu on last year's Oscar Winning Birdman but has a career filled with working with skilled directors like Terrence Malick and Alfonso Cuaron. It's interesting because from a visual perspective, The Revenant feels a lot like a blend of Children of Men and The Tree of Life (which Lubeski was DP on) in terms of harsh erratic exterior elements mixed with abstract dream-like flair. The rumors were running wild during the production of the film, having you think it was going to be Innaritu's Apocalypse Now. Perhaps it is, as the entire film was shot chronologically over the course of three months, and Innaritu was adamant about only using natural light in the film which gave them only a few hours to shoot every day. Apparently there was production turnover from people who just couldn't handle the conditions. But The Revenant feels like one of those films that is going to be talked about for decades to come. Innaritu is clearly at the peak of his career, and those lucky enough to work alongside him are probably not going to regret enduring the harsh conditions during production.

If anything The Revenant feels a bit lengthy, partly due to the dream sequences and some of the more abstract elements, but nothing in the film feels unnecessary or dragged out. It's a movie that is bound to have more fruit to bear on multiple viewings, and I certainly plan on seeing it again as soon as I am able to. Undoubtedly one of 2015's best.

Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller, 2015

IMDB

4/5

In this era of too many reboots, forced franchises and unnecessary sequels, Mad Max seems to come out of nowhere and surprise everyone by outdoing itself and it's predecessors. Fury Road takes the franchise out of cult status and gives it a fresh aesthetic while also preserving what made the original films appealing.

Tom Hardy is a good fit for the role of Max; the guy that you are supposed to learn a lot when given little about him. What you do know is he is a man haunted by his past, the lost souls that he wasn't able to save. Now the world that he wanders through is a dystopian wasteland, where the world is run by various warlord-led factions. In the early moments of the film the pacing is set and it doesn't slow down much for the duration. Someone who doesn't typically enjoy the action genre can still get something out of Fury Road, especially stylistically. There is so much visual invention going on, so much attention to detail. It seems to be a movie that probably took a lot of effort to film in the desert, from a logistical perspective but also from a pure engineering perspective. There is a wide array of vehicles assembled by the war dogs in the film. A good portion of the story is the variety of these war-mobiles in pure battle with each other whether it's to protect territory, gather resources, or retain what one feels is rightfully "theirs". It's interesting to think of how many mechanics must have been on set to help with any operational quirks that must have occurred here and there. Fury Road seems like a really good candidate for the dvd / blu-ray extra features of the behind the scenes footage and directors commentary. The grand scale of the films stunts / choreography seems almost unfathomable. While all of this chaos was in front of the cameras, there must have been boom lifts, helicopters and drones shooting frantically.

Miller's world is really a hot rod hellscape. At times it almost feels like a Steampunked Sin City. Filled with deranged and death-inducing drag racing. It's an unforgiving universe that nobody would really want to spend any time in other than in a voyeur role. In fact, one could argue that it's one of the dilemmas with the story. The sense of pointlessness to it. The fact that in this world there aren't really any "good guys". The Mad Max world shows us that our race has failed. Yet, at least for the sake of the Mad Max narrative, there is a level of human resilience. Many of the remaining inhabitants live to serve a leader, live with some kind of religious ideology. The warlords manage to keep a grip on their populations, usually by limited their resources like food or water. But there are still babies being born in this horrifying society. And they won't ever know what the world was like before everything was destroyed.

Complimenting the attention to visual detail, there is a real impressive use of sound. A great synergy of music to action, whether it's transitioning from a death to an ambient heartbeat in the song to the heavy metal guitarist that is riding on a flat bed with dozens of amplifiers raging behind him. Fury Road is chaotic yet managed. Energetic but not to the point of pure lunacy. It's a style over substance movie that manages to go so heavy on style that the imagery will take root in your mind for some time after. Out of all of the 2015 films, it's one that basically lives up to the hype. Now let's just hope that this doesn't start some trend of motor-heads souping up their Dodge Rams and putting all sorts of unnecessary equipment on the exterior to look like some kind of badass. Who knows, maybe Fury Road will inspire countries at war to have their own heavy metal guitarist standing on top of a tank or something to get the soldiers amped up. 

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.