Room

Lenny Abrahamson, 2015

IMDB

4/5

In terms of modern day literary adaptations, Room is certainly pulled from dark subject matter. Told from the perspective of main character / five year old boy Jack (Jacob Tremblay) , in structure it resembles similarly disturbing adaptation “The Lovely Bones” which was adapted to screen by Peter Jackson in 2009. Bones was told by an abducted teenage girl slain by a serial killer. While Bones dives a little deeper into the darkness, Room definitely puts you in an unsettling place. Actually, it immediately puts you in it. The film opens up inside the small shed / tiny prison where mother Ma (Brie Larson) and her little boy are laying in bed. The film doesn't jump into the past, showing you what circumstances led to their captivity. Nope, just right to the shed. It goes on to show you that Ma has created a routine for him, clearly trying to maintain some kind of stability while housed in such a small space under horrific circumstances. Not only does it show her dedication as a parent but it shows her patience as well. When Jack erupts into small tantrums, she has no choice but to stay close to him and take a deep breath and try to let it go. Tough work as any parent realizes. Walking away, leaving the room (or "Room" as they call it) is not an option. An early success in the film is how quickly you become invested in their characters. Larson is no stranger to playing a troubled female lead, as she did remarkably in Short Term 12. Larsen and Tremblay are really the shining performances of the film, easily outshining veterans Joan Allen and William H Macy. Macy's talents don't really feel used properly in the film. He just sort of passes through quickly, and sort of fades away insipidly.

Room is a very different movie from Abrahamson's work last year in Frank. Although he does have a way of blending black comedy elements into a dark drama as he does in both pictures. Room is really a heart-wrenching story, uncomfortably tense at times, about a mother and her son forced to try and endure unimaginable circumstances. It's a provocative & unique drama, certain to make some kind of impression on you. 

Tangerine

Sean Baker, 2015

IMDB

3/5

Somewhere between the grittiness of Larry Clark's 1995 Kids and the unrestrained three-trans-female comedy To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything lies Tangerine - a micro-budget indie picture, produced by the always ambitious Duplass brothers, shot on 3 iPhone 5’s. Visually, it’s a luminous piece that has you immediately forgetting that it was created on something that’s in your own pocket. But it’s a character unraveling piece combined with a revenge drama, all taking place over the course of a single day. Sin-Dee (played by scene-stealer Kiki Rodriguez), is fresh out of jail and eager to unleash her fury on pimp Chester after discovering he had been sleeping with someone else while she was locked up. Aided by companion Alexandra, she promises her “no drama” and goes on to give her nothing but drama as she scours the back-alleys and decaying streets of Los Angeles looking for the guy. You get a sense that nothing very violent will happen when Sin-Dee reunites with Chester, that it’s more about the journey and not the destination.

It’s really a film about the lost souls of L.A. Most of the characters depicted are misfits just trying to find their place in the world. Some of them are not even looking for much either, maybe just some stability and a roof over their head. Sin-Dee, clearly the most short-tempered, is looking for security in a life filled with nothing but turbulence. Alexandra aspires to be on the stage with genuinely engaged faces watching from the crowd. Armenian Taxi Driver Razmik is stuck in a marriage that he is not interested in and looks elsewhere. But because of their jumbled place in society, they end up continuing to live their lonely lives that involve them roaming through the dirty streets. They are people that want to be acknowledged. Acknowledged by someone more than a random traveler willing to throw them a few dollars.

As mentioned before, Rodriguez is the stand-out performance of the movie. But there is much to remember about this film that can be accused of being aimless but is undeniably honest. It’s a well-crafted film that balances comedy with sadness. Focusing on some interesting people that have some real struggles in the world. Where having a dollar for the bus and having another dollar for a donut is a good day. The fact that it was all done on such readily available equipment just shows that anyone can make a film, and hopefully Tangerine inspires a generation of young filmmakers to do just that.

Doomsdays

Eddie Mullins, 2013

IMDB

3/5

Doomsdays is one of those films that focuses on a couple of characters that you really wouldn't want to spend a lot of time with in real life. These are people that have no regard for personal property. They have no moral barometer, no real sense of remorse for anything they've done or anything they will do. Instead, they drift through the Catskills. Home to home, day to day, drink to drink. They take what they need and they move on. But it doesn't just stop there. If they feel like smashing a window, or breaking what's probably valuable family heirlooms, they do that too.

Bruho (Leo Fitzpatrick) and Dirty Fred (Justin Rice) are just downright despicable human beings. Borderline sociopathic, surely nihilistic. Bruho hides behind an unrealistic earthy ideology and Dirty Fred is just kind of complacent. They make you want to double check that your own doors are locked, just to eliminate the possibility that anyone like them may show up at your door. Even though you are forced to spend the whole 90 minutes with them, there is something alluring about following them. There is an odd curiosity as to what the next house is going to offer them. They aren't just purely sadistic. Because they have some kind of code, it's not pure carnage. Fitzpatrick seems to always get cast as the dirtbag type, from his role as Telly in Kids or as junkie Johnny in The Wire. His Bruho character is surprisingly a little more approachable that former two characters. But still pretty venomous. But just like Reyna (Laura Campbell) and Jaidon (Brian Charles Johnson) become intrigued by the pair, you can't help but be intruiged by them as well.

Circle

Aaron Hann / Mario Miscione, 2015

IMDB

3/5

There a handful of films (Buried, The Man from Earth, 12 Angry Men, Pontypool, Rear Window and a lot of Hitchcock's work for that matter) that take place in a single location. With a limited setting, you need to have a good script powering the narrative. Because you are going to be stuck with these characters for 90 minutes or so, they NEED to be interesting.

Circle takes place in a single room. A bunch of strangers awaken from an mysterious daze and find themselves placed upon red circles like human board game pieces. They realize quite quickly that they are part of an odd social experiment. When one of them steps off of the red circle that they stand on, they die. Not long after they realize that it's not the only way to die in the circle room. Seemingly at random, the ominous eye at the center of the room zaps an innocent victim. But then they determine it's not random. Not only is it not random, they are actually in control of who gets exterminated. What transpires is a dark social experiment where everyone in the room makes a stand for their life, and also has to play executioner to the people standing around them. What starts off as superficial judging turns into moral examinations. The numbers dwindle down and the experiment turns into pure Survivor-esque strategy. It's interesting that you really don't spend a whole lot of time with the poor people in the room. But because of their dilemma, you are forced to learn a lot about them rapidly. Like they are making a stand for their lives, and because of that they reveal themselves much faster than they would over a cup of coffee where they have all of the time in the world. The end result is a really inventive and unique movie, one that feels like an indie hybrid of Saw, the aforementioned 12 Angry Men and the not-often-mentioned Cube.

Me Earl and the Dying Girl

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, 2015

IMDB

3/5

With a title like "Me Earl and the Dying Girl", you probably immediately anticipate something snappy, and the title itself almost sounds like a bad television sitcom starring Jason Lee. While the title may get you excited for a potential zombie rom-com like My Boyfriend's Back (deep pull alert), alas, it's a film about a girl with cancer. But hold up. It's more of the anti-film to last year's I dare you not to cry tearjerker A Fault in Our Stars. Fault puts the weight of the world on a relationship of two young kids stricken with cancer. Me Earl is more realistic in terms of showing a relationship between two people without being manipulative with oxygen tubes and Vance Joy songs. It even has hints of Jason Reitman's beloved snappy hipster-film Juno.

The movie focuses largely on high-schooler Greg (Thomas Mann). Greg is admittedly a neutral force in the world. He passes swiftly through the halls of the high school. He feels it's unnecessary to get involved with one particular clique of people, which may upset his balancing act that he has carefully orchestrated over his time there. A side effect of this is he never has to fully engage with another human on a deeply emotional level. So when his parents inform him of classmate Rachel's illness (Rachel being played by the delightful Olivia Cooke), he is concerned, but not DEEPLY concerned. He is pressured to hang out with Rachel, and humorously, they both acknowledge the obligation.

Greg's narration early in the film gives you the heads up that it's not going to be a cheesy love story. Instead the film for the most part runs on a different kind of energy. An energy that tends to be more upbeat, more quirky, more engaging. It ends up being a rather moving small film that has a lot to say about a particular period in life. That really selfish high school phase. That phase where all you can really think about is yourself and your future. And there's nothing wrong with admitting to living with that particular mindset. It's a period of pressure for most people. But this story shows us that while some people are focused on moving on to college, there's an unfortunate percentage of people that may be moving on to the next stage of chemotherapy. And that's just part of life.

Creep

Patrick Brice, 2015

IMDB

3/5

You realize after watching this film that it's not really scary per se, but just down right creepy. So the title is very suitable. Perhaps what separates the creepiness from pure horror is how realistic the film actually feels. Maybe it's the found footage style that they are working with. Maybe it's the whole responding to an ad on Craigslist story that we constantly read about in the headlines. 

There's something about the lonely guy who doesn't respect boundaries that's almost scarier than an empty eyed cold blooded killer in the woods like Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th. Duplass brings complexity to his character. Even while you are feeling completely uncomfortable in his presence, you feel confusingly sympathetic. Instead of the film falling into predictable twists, it breaks some of the conventions of the found footage style and plays with it. They aren't afraid to experiment with the genre here, and that benefits the film greatly. You are never really sure what depths the film is going to sink to, and you are never really sure what the limits are. It's sure to surprise anyone watching. The Duplass Brothers are out there creating things in film that other people aren't creating. We are living in the peak time for young creative directors to generate stories on small budgets, and they are fortunately taking advantage of their resources. 

While We're Young

Noah Baumbach, 2015

IMDB

3/5

Noah Baumbach can easily be called a young Woody Allen. He often focuses on relationships between couples, set against the backdrop of New York. His films are very dialogue heavy, with a lot of cultural examination and introspective mania. The story mainly focuses on three couples at different phases in their lives. Marina and Fletcher, an early forties couple with a newborn (Maria Dizzia and Adam Horovitz). Cornelia and Josh, early forties couple with no children (Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller). Mid twenties hipster couple Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Cornelia and Josh are feeling pressure from their peers upon seeing all of them procreating and living amidst the chaos of child-rearing. They feel refreshed when they meet Jamie and Darby, a young confident couple that seems to be so cool and sure of themselves. They are creative, optimistic, interested. Cornelia and Josh feel jaded and exhausted, and the young couple re-energizes them.

While We're Young starts off as more of a young vs old story, or at least a young AND old story. Growing older, becoming uncool. Being young, being inherently cool. Looking back, wondering where all of the years went. Being bold enough to wear that hat that all the young kids are wearing. There are some identifiable and really comedic moments early in the film when Josh is talking about all of the "cool" things that Jamie is doing, and you soon see a montage of Josh attempting to dress differently and step outside of his comfort zone. At one point Josh says of Jamie and Darby: "It's like their apartment is full of everything we once threw out, but it looks so good the way they have it."

Some of these moments probably transcend comedically to whatever perspective you are sharing with the characters. If you are married without a kid, you are probably identifying with Cornelia and Josh. If you are stuck in baby prison you are identifying with Marina and Fletcher. If you are a young hipster, you're probably not identifying with Jamie and Darby because that wouldn't be unitary and instead are probably identifying with the older generations attempting to pick up some on some of the trends of the millennial generation in terms of fashion or throwback technology. Baumbach decides to really double down on the hipster here, and double up on Adam Driver's Frances Ha hipster character Lev.

The problem with While We're Young is Baumbach's age breakdown is so energetic in the first half of the film, and the story really loses a lot of that energy in the second half of the film when the story primarily focuses on Jamie's documentary. Baumbach tries to go down another avenue to a statement on intellectual property theft and the sense of entitlement of the millennial generation and in the process sacrifices the excitement that fueled the beginning of the story. In the end While We're Young has a lot to say but doesn't feel as complete as some of Baumbach's other work such as Greenberg or The Squid and the Whale. 

Bluebird

Lance Edmands, 2015

IMDB

2/5

Edmands directorial debut features a film where the the weather conditions is almost it’s own character. There are films like this that have been made, where there is a built-in sympathy for town’s residents. Fargo, The Shining, Alive, Let the Right One in, The Thing. A portion of all of those titles are literally people just trying to ENDURE the unforgiving weather elements outside, of course all in varying degrees. It’s not much different in the rural blue-collar Maine logging town. The town is filled with people that are trying to get through their day to day life and are also facing the challenge of just trying to stay warm when it is absolutely brutal outside. Edmands is a director who certainly wants to show us some artistic flare. At one point in the film when the Marla character (Louisa Krause) is singing in the bar, it invokes memories of Christina Ricci’s character singing in the bowling alley in Buffalo ‘66. It triggers memories of that hypnotic darkness. Edmands employs some good acting: Adam Driver, John Slattery, Amy Morton. Nothing really falls short in the technical realm and nothing in the performances. Instead, it’s the story itself.

The title of the film is Bluebird, and as we see it’s a recurring symbol at different points in the film. In a sense it feels weirdly used. In Native American cultures the Bluebird represents spring. In the Iroquois mythology it is the singing of the bluebird that drives off the demigod Tawiscaron who represents winter. The Hopi tribes treat the bluebird as a guardian. Ironically, the symbolism of the bluebird, at least in this perspective, is disconnected. At no point does it feel like there is going to be any directional shift. These poor people in the town are starving for some kind of relief. Whether this comes in the form of warmer weather, better employment, better health. Anything. But it never comes. That’s the biggest problem with this film. It NEEDS a charge. Some deviation from the chill. Instead, it is mired in it’s own depression. It’s a story that continues to kick itself while its down. If only it could have provided a positive charge somewhere. And in the end, when there is a final shift, it’s too little too late. Instead we are forced to spend 90 minutes in a frigid town that we don’t want to spend five minutes in. Edmands deserves another shot, and he will get one. It will be interesting to see what he does in the future with a better (and maybe a little bigger) story.

Honeymoon

Leigh Janiak, 2014

IMDB

1/5

The Sci-Fi/horror genre has become so offensively saturated with mostly copycat knockoffs of past classics, reusing old tropes and beating them to death. Regurgitated themes. Re-purposed cliches. Sometimes when you watch something that feels like a huge waste of your time, making you think that maybe its all been done before. That maybe there aren't any new ideas in this genre. But then every now and then, something will float to the surface. Something will stand out. Films like The Conjuring, The Cabin in the Woods or Insidious will appear and it gives us all hope. It gives us hope that maybe there can be new things done with the seemingly forlorn genre.

Unfortunately, Honeymoon doesn't fall into this category of refreshing and unique horror films that are trying new things. Instead it falls into that category of pretty good acting spoiled by an awful script and amateur direction. Janiak tries to make too much with too little here. This one can be filed under the category of predictably stagnant alien films. It's a bit irritating too, because you are likely delighted to see Rose Leslie on screen after seeing her in Game of Thrones or Downton Abbey. She has already proven herself a good actress while working with good material. But she doesn't have a whole lot to work with here. In fact, her Bea character and husband Paul (Harry Treadaway) characters are actually quite annoying. You spend the first 20 minutes of the film watching them groping each other like a couple of spider monkeys. To be expected on ones honeymoon. But we aren't going into this movie hoping to spectate a weekend of lovemaking. That's another kind of movie that we can watch some other time. That one will probably be better directed as well. Because you will have two minutes of foreplay and casual dialogue and they will get down to business. Honeymoon takes a lot of time getting to where it wants to, when most of the audience will probably know where it's going the entire time. The decision making on the parts of Paul's character are frustrating. The most obvious of them all is his inability to get Bea in the car and away from the cabin. Her condition continues to decline, his solution is to fondle her more and tell her how much he misses her. His character seems to be desperately horny, like he should have been in Deadgirl and not Honeymoon. Honeymoon feels like a weak ripoff of a Stephen King story with too much build-up and an insufficient reveal.

The One I Love

Charlie McDowell, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

At the suggestion of their couple's therapist, Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elizabeth Moss) venture to a secluded retreat in an effort to rekindle their love for each other. But soon after arriving to the beautiful property they realize that the guest house has supernatural powers.

The One I Love is a smart little movie that someone could probably convince you was written by Charlie Kaufman and not Justin Lader (Bottom Floor, Errand Boys). Some of the mind-bending romantic elements are something out of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The layers of confusing exposition are something out of Adaptation. Some of the comedic imagery is something out of Multiplicity. Both Moss and Duplass are good together on screen, with Moss being the sensitive and emotional type and Duplass being the more cynical detached type. Both are struggling to keep the romance alive. They have reached a point of staleness in the relationship. The honeymoon phase is long gone. They are left with fading memories of what once was great, the more recent memories not being so favorable. Regardless, they decide to give it one last shot. The two manage to juggle the heavy mind-load of the movie, while also juggling their own multiple personalities. It fails to tie up some of the loose ends in the end, but it goes far enough into the abstract realm that it gives you quite a bit to come away with.

Happy Christmas

Joe Swanberg, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Young and not-so-responsible Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with her older brother (played by Swanberg), his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and their two year old son in their small home in Chicago and disrupts their quite peaceful life.

Happy Christmas is a bold effort by mumblecore director Swanberg who once again employs Kendrick in entirely improvised story. Much of the film is set in the Chicago home, ironically decorated in 1950's nostalgia from the kitchen cabinetry to the basement wooden wall paneling. Shot on 16mm, there is a deliberate grittiness to the picture and saturation to the lighting. The constant view of Christmas lights pops, glowing warmly. The film has some very authentic-feeling moments. When Jenny and her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) start pressing Kelly on some of the personal sacrifices she has made as a stay-at-home mom, everything about it feels pure. Blossoming feelings with Kendrick and her new friend in his apartment. The exchanges between her and her brother in the basement, listening to music and smoking pot. The one-too-many drinking nights and the lack of judgement associated with them. Swanberg puts some real faith in Kendrick, and it really pays off. She brings more to her Jenny character than she was able to deliver in her previous collaboration with Swanberg in 2012's Drinking Buddies. Ironically, here she is actually acting out of type. She's usually the goodie-two-shoes innocent type. But here she is an capricious self-serving twenty-something, lacking direction and discipline in her life. She either has found some more comfort with working with Swanberg, or the change in character dynamics gave her more to play off of, or both. Either way, the final result of Swanberg's holiday experiment is small but rich in realness and honesty. It decides to invest much of it's time into real scenarios rather than provide back-story and character development.

Frank

Lenny Abrahamson, 2014

Can I Stream it?

2/5

Struggling musician Jon Burroughs (Domhnall Gleeson) is having difficulty finding inspiration in his songwriting. He suddenly finds himself sitting in on a gig with Soronprfbs, an avant garde band with a lead singer who wears a paper-mache mask on his head named Frank (Michael Fassbender).

Abrahamson's Frank character is based on Frank Sidebottom, a persona of late English comic Chris Sievey. Sievey would channel an eccentric energy through his Sidebottom character on English stages from the 1980's to modern day until Sievey's death from cancer in 2010. Frank certainly draws similarities to some of Andy Kaufman's quirky stage work. 

Fassbender's Frank character is mysterious and complicated. He comes off as somebody more than a band leader, actually someone that is more of a cult leader. He never takes the mask off. He sleeps with it on, he showers with it on. He eats and drinks with it on, as manager Don (Scoot Mcnairy) humorously describes the straw and liquid supplementation process to Jon. While the film is a respective nod to Frank Sidebottom, it ventures too far into the world of weirdness. Very much like the music that they perform, it never manages to materialize into anything memorable. The film comes off as Wes Anderson eating mushrooms and having a bad trip. A contemporary British invasion piece with a bad version of Animal Collective leading the way. While it certainly deserves praise for not traveling down the typical Hollywood story path. But that's disappointing, because the group should have become more than a novelty act emitting Hipster frequencies. The final moments of the film are too little, too late. It becomes nothing more than a meditation on the internet's viral video culture and collective hype. It should have been more of a study on mental illness rather than lightly gliding over it like they did. The scenes in the cabin during the album recording were exhausting attempts to make something stick, and then it became claustrophobic. Some of the most humorous moments of the film were rooted in dark humor (mishandling of human remains, surprise suicide), but they were overshadowed by things like Maggie Gyllenhaal's angry character with her persistent rage toward everyone other than Frank. Frank basks in it's own peculiarity, which ultimately might please a Pitchfork reviewer but isn't enough for the audience. 

The Heart Machine

Zachary Wigon, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Cody (John Gallagher Jr.) finds himself in an online romance with Virginia (Kate Lyn Sheil), consisting of nightly Skype calls and communicating via other social networking sites. But Cody soon becomes skeptical of Virginia's actual location, doubting that she's in Berlin like she says she is. He begins to discover that she may in fact be a lot closer to him than she tells him.

Wigon's unique romantic mystery piece is his first full-feature film, employing some talent behind the camera and also some talent in front of the camera with leading roles by Gallagher Jr. (Short Term 12) and Sheil (You're Next, House of Cards, Listen up Philip). It zeroes in on a pair of twenty-somethings that are in a digital relationship in the busy bee-hive that is New York City. Wigon's New York is friendly and passive by day, and promiscuous and forward at night. In a sense it's a cautionary tale about not knowing who the person is on the other side of the screen, projecting your ideal self through the filter of the internet. Gallagher is not the purely innocent sap that he played in the great 2012 film Short Term 12. Instead here, he is much more relentless and apprehensive. Some of his moments on screen are very uncomfortable in his few moments of great persistence. He certainly isn't a clear protagonist, and there also isn't really a clear antagonistic force at work either. It's certainly not certain that it would be Virginia. She's duplicitous, but not completely malicious. She's filling a void, protecting herself, but you also get a sense that she's protecting Cody. She values the relationship, and when there are hints of it's demise she grows defensive. You wonder why she uses her real name in her online persona, you would think that she would be able to hide more effectively if she hadn't. After all, it's seems quite easy to do some amateur detective work when you have access to the person's Facebook profile. It's probably the point for Virginia, who wants to hide in some shadow secrecy but perhaps not completely shrouded. Cody is a morally compromised character, like a stalker detective who digs his heels in even deeper when it would be way more appropriate to pull out and move on. Wigon plays with tension quite well, it builds to the point of being unbearable. The Cody and Virginia characters are complex and flawed, very much like any real life dynamic. There is irony in the sense that the online relationship is giving Virginia stability while making Cody grow more instable. Wigon's micro story feels much bigger with it's impressive balance of suspicion and deception. 

Slacker

Richard Linklater, 1991

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Most of the great modern filmmakers have that one particular film early in their career. Typically a more primitive representation of their abilities, it showcases some of their ideas and thoughts but not in such an organized or refined fashion. Of course you need experience to evolve. Kevin Smith has Clerks. Steven Soderburgh has Sex, Lies, and Videotape. David Lynch has Eraserhead. While all of the aforementioned films have varying levels of quality associated with them, they all display a certain root quality to each director. Linklater’s Slacker is probably more messy than all of those, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Linklater is a man who has a lot to say, and before he made the Before films where he had an Ethan Hawke-led Jesse vessel to deliver it, it came off as a lot of disorganized stoner talk and philosophical ranting. All in the setting of a pre-Hipster Austin Texas. When you get a good look at this 1990’s Austin, you understand the inevitable influx of hipsterdom to the city that would come in the later years. The amateurish quality to the film is certainly revealed when you even see a finger at the top of the frame in one of the scenes. But there is something there, some qualities that you will see in Dazed and Confused and even in School of Rock. What separates these characters from Linklater's future characters is certainly a sense of purpose, or at least principle.

In a way it’s a film that questions a lot of things. Authority in it’s many forms. Uncle Sam, parents, the police, the boss. An examination of the aimless Gen X population. Drifters, couch surfers. People with a lack of conviction to virtually everything in their lives. Habitual moochers in the same vein as the Freegan movement. All laid out with Linklater’s signature tracking shots, only this time focused on people with fanny packs and acid washed jeans.

Blue Ruin

Jeremy Saulnier, 2014

Can I Stream It?

3/5
When homeless and broken Dwight (Macon Blair) receives news of a convicted killer's release, a killer who had killed people very close to him years before, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

Blue Ruin is a product of the world of crowd-funding, with the production costs funded by a Kickstarter campaign. A very nice looking film, albeit being a dark revenge piece about vigilante justice. Served by a man with nothing to lose. Blair plays that man, soliciting sympathy within minutes of being introduced to his Dwight character. He spends the first few minutes of the film simply gathering things to eat, picking garbage at a neighborhood carnival in coastal Delaware. As soon as he hears the news of Wade Cleland's release, he begins acting out a game-plan that was likely a worse case scenario for Dwight. It almost seems like if Wade was never released, Dwight would continue stumbling through the days like a lifeless zombie. He soon finds a sense of mild purpose, justice for his parents' cold-blooded slaying. What follows is a chain of events that is similar in tone to Jeff Nichol's Shotgun Stories in the sense that it explores family feuding, familial loyalty and unforgiving retribution.

One moderate criticism about the film is the source of anger for protagonist Dwight. His parents were murdered years back. Of course that would be enough to make anyone deeply angry, looking for some form of justice outside of the conventional prison system, which clearly went easy on Wade. But Dwight has basically shut himself off to the world, almost as if when his parents died he gave up on everything without ever attempting to move on with his life (like his sister). Would someone choose this path after their parents were killed? Not that anyone would take their parents' murder mildly, but at some point they would lick their wounds and move on with their life, right? Dwight turns out to be the anti-Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t use the tragedy as a motivator to rid the streets of crime. Instead once the killer is imprisoned he goes into complete isolation, taking a vow of silence. Living out of his car, dumpster diving. He doesn’t actually attempt to execute any reparation until the killer is released from prison early. Perhaps his story would have been more realistic if it were his wife and child that had been killed. The film could have flashed back to the happy moments in his life in his suburban home with the white picket fence, only to be stripped from him after a home invasion gone awry. That being said, the story isn't COMPLETELY unbelievable. It's actually quite the opposite. Just a well-made/complete revenge thriller.

The Dirties

Matt Johnson, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

High school outcasts Matt (Matt Johnson) and Owen (Owen Williams) work together on a film where they exact revenge on the bullies they call "The Dirties", who torment them on a regular basis.

The Dirties is a love letter to popular cinema almost immediately, as Matt and Owen throw around movie references. The young cinephiles continue to reference them as they work on their indie film for a school project, but it's really a movie they are making for themselves. Sort of an indulgent nod to everything they've loved on screen. They certainly don't take a whole lot seriously, as most of their jittery shots are them giggling mid-line and having to put their heads down as they surrender to laughter. This could easily go off the tracks and become a sloppy mess, but it somehow manages to harness that energy and keep you engaged. And while all the movie love is going on, there is an interesting satirical experiment being conducted on high school bullying and violence in the media's impact on American Culture. All of which is being done through the divisive found footage genre. But it's never done in a way where it feels like an after-school special or something made by someone who is out of touch with American youth. Matt and Owen are likable because there's a real authenticity to their characters. We all remember someone from high school that is sort of like them, or perhaps we were those guys. The types of people who didn't necessarily engage in a lot of extracurricular activities but instead spent a lot of time together playing video games or watching movies. This lifestyle decision unfortunately also makes them a target for bullies. But the film really nails that realistic complacency. Like they have ultimately decided to surrender to the abuse, assuming it will never go away. They decide to take their retribution to the screen, where movie-obsessed Matt begins to take it all a bit too seriously.

Awful Nice

Todd Sklar, 2014

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Brothers Jim (James Pumphrey) and Dave (Alex Rennie) reunite at their father's funeral and learn that they have both inherited the family lake house located in Americana-riddled Branson Missouri. Jim is hoping to turn over the property to local slimy businessman Jon Charbineau (Christopher Meloni), get paid, and return home to his wife and child. He reluctantly lets Dave accompany him on the trip to Branson and they soon find that the property is not in any condition to be sold that quickly.

The modern slapstick comedy has quite the mountain to climb to achieve any kind of notable status. For every There's Something About Mary, there are twenty bad ones that are probably starring Rob Schneider. Usually it's just a bad story with bad acting with overused premises. But sometimes one can pass through by not trying go over the top and not attempt to break any kind of new ground. Awful Nice succeeds in being a 90 minute junk food comedy session that doesn't require any real heavy thinking. The simple premise pits two highly competitive brothers against each other and lets them duke it out. It wouldn't work if there wasn't some real chemistry between the two, fortunately there is. Their sibling rivalry feels very real, as if they were actual brothers and were improvising their brutal exchanges through the entire picture. From chugging contests, to arm-wrestling, to all-out physical brawls, it's the battles between the two that keeps you engaged. Of course the picture is not absent of any imperfections. Christopher Meloni's attempt at being an Elmer Fudd-sounding crook doesn't really hit the mark. In fact you never really buy into his character and just write him off as Meloni with a hair piece on. He's no Les Grossman to say the least. The Russian crime family that controls the service industry in the city of Branson feels like an unnecessary distraction at times. And there's probably one too many montages of the two brothers engaging in many senseless activities. But when they are busting on each other, the confrontations feel fresh and should pull a few laughs out of you. How can you not laugh at a grown man taking Doggie heartworm pills hoping to get high?

Short Term 12

Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Grace (Brie Larson) is a staff member at a group home for troubled youth. She struggles to balance the day to say drama while also dealing with her own personal issues that plague her.

The first scene in Short Term 12 really sets the tone for the rest of the film. Staff members Grace and Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) are helping to orient new employee Nate (Rami Malek) to life working at Short Term, Mason giving him a detailed recount of an mishap that involved a teen escaping while Mason was struggling with "plumbing issues". The funny story is told with the backdrop of the not-so-funny facility behind them, a preview of the of humor blended with anguish concoction that will flow through the rest of the picture. The door flies open and out runs the predictable red-headed escape artist Sammy (Alex Calloway), and the couple springs into action to subdue him and calm him down. Back to work. The fading white cinder-block structure that houses these troubled teens is rich with authentic, complicated characters. Their struggles feel real. Your heart breaks for them as you are served with pieces of their past, what they have unfortunately experienced or are trying to work through. Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. They all have a story. It never comes off caricaturish, nor does it feel so heavy that the film becomes a pure downer. You come away knowing quite a bit about the youth even given the short amount of time that you get to spend with them. And the occasional comedic moments are so well-timed, proving that some welcomed decompression.

The film could easily could easily be considered Brie Larson's coming out party. Possessing both natural beauty and obvious talent, she had appeared in other 2013 films Don Jon and The Spectacular Now but didn't really get the opportunity to put it all out there like she does with her performance here. And she really delivers, bringing some honesty and nuance to her Grace character. She carries the weight of her own past and is able to leave it at the door and be there to support the teens who have gone through similar experiences. You see the burden of her past continue to strain her. You are reminded that there are many mistreated people in the world, people who don't necessarily have the best memories to reflect on. But it doesn't make them any less interesting.

Short Term is a little film with big emotions. Touching. Genuine. Impactiong. Moving without being painful. Funny without being a mockery. Cretton is a good storyteller and strikes a great balance here. He should be on everyone's radar for years to come.

Mistaken for Strangers

Tom Berninger, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Underachiever Tom Berninger, the less successful younger brother of indie-rock band The National's front-man Matt Berninger, joins the band's crew as a roadie while also attempting to shoot a documentary about the band with Matt's blessing.

Anyone who has a brother understands the concept of sibling rivalry. There is a sense of relentless competition that never really fades with age. As you get older, you have different successes. As you see these particular successes it's not difficult for you to still envision your brother as the child-version of himself. It's no different in the Berninger family where Tom has seen his brother go from gaunt Ohio boy to the lead singer of one of the biggest bands in the modern Indie Rock scene. Since then, Tom has largely lived in Matt's shadow. While Tom is not without his own artistic abilities (his impressive comic-like work posted alongside his brothers abstract piece in his mothers office), much of his life has consisted of listening to Heavy Metal on head-phones in his parent's basement while attempting to complete several low-budget indie horror films. He is someone that has some interesting thoughts and ideas but never manages to organize them enough so that they materialize into something constructive. When he decides to create a documentary focusing on his brother's band, you don't get an immediate sense that it's a well-thought out production. It could easily become another one of his unfinished projects. You soon see that Tom's documentary is not so much about the band much more about the dynamic between himself and Matt. He humorously interviews the band-mates who find it odd that he continues to press them on questions about Matt and not about the music.

But Tom's experiment largely succeeds because he has a bona fide charm to him, a sense of innocence. While he may be annoying the various staff associated with The National, he is inadvertently capturing some fascinating moments and providing some accessibility to a band that is mostly known for Matt's baritone vocals and melodramatic tones. Tom doesn't ask the typical interview questions. He doesn't let the camera hang on the stage and bore you with an obligatory music video. Peaking behind the curtains as the band is sleeping on the tour-bus. Capturing that moment where Matt loses his temper and pushes over a curtain rack because he is unhappy with that nights performance. He even effectively captures his own inner conflicts and shortcomings with the band's production crew, as he finds himself complicating matters rather than simplifying them. When you see Matt jump off the stage and venture into the crowd with the microphone, you see Tom following him not far behind attempting to grasp the mic cable which is so beautifully metaphoric.

Mistaken for Strangers may not be Tom Berninger's coming out party, but it's certainly a great piece of work that he can hang his hat on. His extraordinary eye combined with his impressive editing abilities manages to create a film that Michael Moore has said is "one of the best music documentaries I have ever seen". Moore is a polarizing figure known to embellish, but is not off base with that particular comment.

Stuck in Love

Josh Boone, 2012

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Novelist Bill Borgens (Greg Kinnear) has put his writing on hold after separating from his wife Erica (Jennifer Connelly). Instead he spends most of his days reading alone at his beachfront house, and nights in the company of his two kids Samantha (Lily Collins) and Rusty (Nat Wolff) who also happen to be writers themselves.

In a sense, Stuck in Love is the kind of film that sneaks up on you. At first glance, it could be simply discarded as another unconvincing romance piece about a lonely father writer still licking his wounds from his divorce. Not really venturing on any new ground there. When you see Greg Kinnear's name in the opening credits, your skepticism likely elevates. It's not because Kinnear is a bad performer by any means, but sometimes he can be a bit over-exaggerated (*cough* As Good as it Gets).

But if you give this a chance you soon realize that its actually a quite endearing piece by Boone that nails the love thing on many angles. Boone has a lot to say about love, at times the film comes off almost like a literary piece. Powered by a good script and sustained by good performances, by the time that you hear the Bon Iver song playing in the background you're on board with it. Boone really has a good sense of the whole love thing. The introduction with your guard up. Meeting the person who comes on strong, who seems too good to be true. The many attempts to discount the possibility of organic romance and just telling yourself to be a realist. The film also captures some true familial dynamics as well. Sitting with the younger brother on the rooftop, giving advice over a bowl of weed. Boone also effectively captures that very real moment of multiple conflicts colliding between a family as they are about to be stuck in a vehicle together.

Not to say that there aren't annoying aspects though. To be fair, Samantha's complete coldness upon meeting the persistent but genuine Louis (the under-rated young actor Logan Lerman from the similar(ish) picture Perks of Being a Wallflower) is frustrating. Also, when the parents come to Rusty's aid when dealing with a relapsed addict girlfriend it comes off completely like a bad Lifetime channel after-school special piece. But it hits the right beats and should get you out of whatever head-space you happen to be in momentarily. It will hopefully put you that old but familiar state of naive, scary, exciting, heart-beating twenty-something love for a little bit. Or it may remind you of some of the inner-family conflicts of your younger years, which may not be as inviting but at least it's identifiable.