The End of the Tour

James Ponsoldt, 2015

IMDB

3/5

First off, I must admit that I am a person that entered this film not being completely familiar with David Foster Wallace. I knew of him, was familiar with the name but had no read his body of work. But there was a lot of intrigue surrounding this film. Jason Segal's dedication to the figure. The structure of the film has a unique construct, focusing solely on the final moments of Wallace's book tour for Infinite Jest - where he spent a week with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg).

The film explores the Wallace figure, through the eyes of Lipsky. Eisenberg is probably the perfect casting choice. Lipsky is persistent, sharp, starstruck, but also a bit abrasive and aggressive at times. He occasionally presses Wallace to a point where not only he feels uncomfortable, but he becomes distant and despondent. This creates an environment in which it's not just two guys who meet and become friends, and quickly disassemble the boundaries. Instead you get a sense that Wallace is ALWAYS aware of Lipsky's agenda, and when they have moments of intimacy it's due more to him being a lonely person and wanting someone to confide in.

Although there aren't any real BIG moments in the film, the exploration is interesting enough to keep you engaged. There's an enigmatic quality to the Wallace character, and being someone who isn't so familiar with the actual person, I have to rely on Segal's performance to provide some depth. But Segal is really impressive here, feels committed to the role. The End of the Tour is a film that's not going to push me to go and read Wallace's work, but it provides a glimpse into an interesting literary character that struggled with some real demons.

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 3rd Annual Coopies! The Top Five Films of 2015

Poopie Coopie (Most Disappointing film of 2015) - American Sniper

Original Review

American Sniper is so forgettable that I almost forgot that it was released in 2015. With some of the great war movies released in the past 10 years (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds) , the standards are higher than this and I expect more from veteran filmmakers like Eastwood. This was a shallow, one dimensional look an American hero who should have had a more elaborate film treatment that wasn't just a plain watered down Hollywood feature. 

5. Room

Original Review

An unsettling but completely memorable movie. Unbearably tense at times. An unforgettable story that introduced audiences to Jacob Tremblay and gave Brie Larson another opportunity to shine on screen. 

4. Kingsman: The Secret Service

Original Review

Sharp, refreshing, witty and fresh and fun. 

3. The Revenant

Original Review

Innaritu outdoes his work in last year's Birdman with this visual masterpiece. Certainly a style over substance piece, but there are some lasting images that will stick with me for some time. Especially the single take sequence early in the film. 

2. Ex Machina
Original Review

There are so many great things to walk away with from this cautionary AI tech tale. 

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
Original Review

This just felt like the obvious choice this year. I'm with the masses on this. Nothing was as energized, entertaining and inventive as Fury Road.

If you were wondering, here is a full list of the 2015 films that I saw.

1. American Sniper
2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
3. Bluebird
4. Circle
5. Creed
6. Creep
7. Danny Collins
8. Druid Peak
9. Ex Machina
10. Far from the Madding Crowd
11. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
12. Infinitely Polar Bear
13. Inside out
14. It Follows
15. Jurassic World
16. Kingsman: The Secret Service
17. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
18. Mad Max: Fury Road
19. Maps to the Stars
20. Me Earl and the Dying Girl
21. Preservation
22. Pressure
23. REC 4: Apocalypse
24. Room
25. Sicario
26. Slow West
27. Spotlight
28. Spring
29. Steve Jobs
30. Tangerine
31. The Big Short
32. The Lobster
33. The Revenant
34. The Visit
35. The Walk
36. These Final Hours
37. Trainwreck
38. Welcome to Me
39. While We're Young
40. White God
41. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

The Big Short

Adam McKay, 2015

IMDB

4/5

Adam McKay’s The Big Short is a bunch of things. It's explanative, it’s sobering, and it’s thorough. But its also erratic and a bit messy as well. But it still works. Maybe it’s because Mckay, who is normally more focused on making more goofy comedic movies, is able to channel some of that silly energy into the film. Because it’s definitely a funny movie. Maybe its because of the ensemble cast - with really superb performances by Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale and Steve Carrell. Gosling brings an energy to his Jared Vennett character that reminds you of the cockiness of his Jacob character in Crazy Stupid Love. Jared is certainly a cocky guy, but also a funny cocky guy. His quick wit is able to draw laughter from people on the other side of the room who are feeling screwed over by him. Bale, who plays genius money manager / on-the-spectrum Michael Burry, is completely immersed in his role as usual. Something different for him, playing a guy who rarely wears shoes and locks himself in an office with heavy metal blaring. But he pulls it off, because he always seems to pull everything off. Carrel is someone who clearly is in a different chapter of his career. A chapter in which he wants to take more bold roles in more dramatic environments. The days of waxing his chest and screaming are behind him, as funny as those days were. He continues to show that he has a lot more to offer. His Mark Baum character is fueled by a manic myopic energy, a workaholic that is constantly pressing the gas pedal hard. He is grieving over the loss of his brother, attempting to right many wrong things on Wall Street - where there are many wrong things that may never be right.

McKay is doing a lot of interesting things with this film. The constant injection of clips of Americana. Music videos, news footage. It blends real life with grand fantasy, trying to blur the lines between the two. The real life vs. fantasy is something evident in the film. Lots of people taking advantage of a system with a real short-sight. Not really worried about the ramifications, or the domino effect that it may have. The ones that are truly aware of the effect it will have feel insulated from the consequences. Clearly the most frustrating aspect of the mortgage crisis to begin with, the fact that the higher-ups on Wall Street weren’t threatened that they would face any real prosecution. Worstly, they would be bailed out at the expense of the average American taxpayer. The Big Short is really similar to The Wolf of Wall Street in that sense. This sort of greedy carpe diem. The subconscious thought that at some point the party is going to come to an end. But who cares, everyone is making money today. That sort of mindset. Both stories play with themes of taking advantage of loopholes in a currently unregulated environment. When the one loophole is closed, another one will likely exist and be penetrated.

The American mortgage crisis was a complicated one, with a lot of trade-lingo and layers of confusion. The Big Short attempts to boil it down and succeeds in a lot of ways. It certainly puts you in the action, makes you a part of the conference room conversations, and revives an inner frustration that you haven’t felt since 2008.