MOVIE REVIEW: Sing Street

Sing Street (2016)

Drama, Music

Directed By: John Carney

Sitting alone in the cool dark theater this morning I had expected to see a well crafted coming of age story about a boy and a girl who fall in love. What I was treated to instead was a powerful film about the virtue of family, both blood and not, and what creating art can do for a group of kids who had no idea what they wanted out of life until they met each other. Writer/director John Carney brought to life a story that understands that family, be it loving or abusive, is something no one can avoid and it is in how they handle that family that shapes who they are going be and how they are going to get there. 

The film is set in Dublin, Ireland sometime in the 1980's and centers on Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) and his slightly dysfunctional family. His parents fight often due to hard financial times and it is revealed early in the film that Cosmo is transferring schools because of those money issues. Although he rejects the idea at first this is where he would meet the people that would set him on the path to his future. One of those being a young girl named Raphina (Lucy Boynton) who is the driving force behind the creation of Cosmo's new band. With the help of his new friends and his older brothers adoration for music they form a band that is far better than any of them ever expected it to be, but is it enough to find Cosmo the heart of the mysterious girl from across the street?

Though Sing Street operates mostly as a basic coming of age story that sees our main character chasing his first love, it becomes so much more than that by the end of film. Once we've reached the ending and know where the story and these characters have gone it is clear that it was about far more than young love, it's about finding out who you really are and why you have become that. Cosmo isn't just changed by his feelings for this girl but also, and more importantly, by his relationships with his new friends and his brother who never really opened up to him about why his life took the path it did. 

This is where I felt my strongest connection to the film, I grew up in a large family and have a younger brother of my own so I found myself connecting to the older brother Brendan, played phenomenally by Jack Reynor. The growing relationship between the two of them throughout the story felt more real than anything else in the film. John Carney understands what a true sibling relationship looks and feels like and I believe this is one of the most realistic interpretations of that we have seen on the big screen in a long time. 

Music, or in a broader sense, art in general is used throughout the film to represent the relationships between Cosmo and each of the other characters. He is writing and creating the music in order to impress a girl he likes, while everyone he is playing with is simply there to play music with friends. Brendan uses his old record collection as an easy way to connect with his younger brother and pass on what little useful knowledge he has to help Cosmo succeed. Once he has immersed himself in the world of music, Cosmo then uses it to rebel against those who have oppressed him, like the headmaster at his new school. In every relationship formed within the film art is in some way used to represent what exactly that relationship means. 

Instead of just using a stacked soundtrack of classic rock songs to populate his film John Carney went the extra mile and had original songs written and performed throughout the movie to directly express the emotions of the story. Cosmo writes numerous songs to explain his growing relationship with Raphina while also creating songs out of anger towards his crumbling life at home and at school. This allows us to really get to know who these people are without being told the specifics of their past.

While Sing Street may not offer up any new twists or turns to the coming of age movie it takes something we already know and turns it into a story of love, passion, and family that anyone can connect too. With a diverse cast of characters that are well thought out and clearly formed throughout the film there is someone for everyone to connect to. For me, it was the older brother Brendan, for others it will be Rafina or Cosmo or any of the band members, or even the angry parents. We all have some kind of family that is directly attributed to who we are today, and this film understands that on a level we don't see often enough on screen.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys (2016)

Action, Comedy, Crime

Directed By: Shane Black

As a general rule of movie geekdom, when Shane Black makes a new film you go see that film as soon as possible. When the guy who is responsible for such films as The Monster Squad, Lethal Weapon, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang gets back behind the camera it is kind of a big deal. He took his shot at spectacle with Iron Man 3, a divisive film which I love, and now he's back with his latest film The Nice Guys. A throwback crime comedy that pits itself in the heart of 1970's L.A. to tell the story of two Private Eyes on the trail of a mysterious death of a porn star.

Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and Holland March (Ryan Gosling) may share the same profession but they handle their business in vastly different ways. Jackson has an affinity for brass knuckles and Holland has a knack for exploiting old ladies for their retirement cash. When the two stumble upon the same case of a strange girl with connections to a famous porn stars death, they reluctantly team up to solve the case and split the payday. What they don't know is that this case goes much higher up than the sleazy 70's porn industry and they are going to have to do a lot more than just find this girl to make it all go away. 

As a film geek I am always sucked in by a story that takes me back to a past period of time in Hollywood, whether it be the golden age or whatever I love to see the streets of L.A. as they once were. The Nice Guys not only aesthetically sets itself in the 70's but by using impressive digital effects actually recreate the old streets and literally transport us back in time. Most notably with a gorgeous shot of the classic Tower Records with an amusing billboard for Jaws 2 plastered above it. 

Luckily for us this film has so much more to offer than pretty shots of a Hollywood we'll never see again. Black has crafted a classic L.A. murder mystery full of cover-up, collusion, and sketchy government activity. With every interview they take or clue they find their investigation slowly pieces together into something wildly different than they thought when taking the job. 

When we first started reading about the film some people had their reservations of the cast, sure Crowe and Gosling are A-list stars but how would they fair in a Shane Black action comedy? Put those worries to rest because they are a perfect fit and the two strike amazing on screen chemistry that makes them a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Even with this being an intelligent mystery watching them interact on screen is more interesting and enthralling than any whodunit plot. 

A large part of their chemistry is built through great comedy, if there was one thing that surprised me this this flick it's how laugh out loud funny it was from start to finish. Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozzi wrote a stellar script that achieves what even most straight up comedies don't. It kept me laughing all the way until then end, it never loses that bonkers sense of humor Black seems to do so well.

With all the spectacle at the movies these days it's easy to forget that sometimes all we want out of  a flick is a good story and great characters to fall in love with. I had an absolute blast being with these guys for two hours and could have easily sat through another sixty minutes. Gosling and Crowe are at their best here and with the chemistry they strike I can only hope well see the two together again in anything. The Nice Guys is the perfect counter-programming to all the massive blockbusters we are being flooded with this summer so get to the theater for some old school entertainment. 

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)

Comedy

Directed By: Nicholas Stoller

When the first movie in this series came out two years ago it had the tough task of making an audience care about another raunchy college comedy, and it succeeded. The first flick is surprisingly funny and has more heart than anyone thought it would, but I don't think anyone thought it could happen again. How do you turn the cliched college comedy into something audiences haven't seen before? Apparently the answer was quite simple; you make it modern.

Director Nicholas Stoller takes the subtle progression he brought to the first film and amps it way the hell up to make Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising one of the best social satires of the modern century. It all started with one easy step, instead of focusing on the fraternity side of things this film brings us into the world of a Sorority. Three college freshman (Chloe Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons, and Beanie Feldstein) who were outcasts in High School decide to start their own sorority in order to break free from the archaic "laws" that govern Greek life. The only problem is they need a house.

Bringing it full circle with the first film they clearly land on the now vacant property next door to Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne), who are now in the process of selling their house. Unfortunately for them their old acquaintance Teddy (Zac Efron) has hit a rough patch in his adult life and regresses back into his old frat house in order to help these girls get on their feet. As you can expect, with Mac and Kelly trying to sell their house, it isn't long before another prank war breaks out putting all of their futures at risk.

Though the basics of the story are quite the same as the first film they found plenty of clever ways to make it feel completely different. For starters these girls are motivated to move into this house by a good cause, whereas in the first film the frat moves in after burning down their last house. Out of the gate we are on the side of the sorority, especially after you see the frat party they find themselves at. While Teddy's frat showed the glamorous side of male Greek life that many like to think is reality, this film shows us how it really is. We are in the party for maybe thirty seconds and I felt I needed a shower after it. 

This is what makes this film so impressive, it never shy's away from social satire but instead it literally beats you over the head with it until you realize how stupid we as a society have been recently. So much so that at times it feels like a spoof of the exact kind of film it is and and yet the characters feel authentic. The girls in the house are your stereotypical loud and obnoxious eighteen year olds, but this movie reminds you that it is their right to be those people. Just because they are now at college doesn't mean they have to fall pray to the misogyny and rape culture that breeds in Greek life. 

It feels weird to write about a raunchy, in-your-face, college comedy with this sort of depth but they achieved something I never thought they could with this. Not only did Nicholas Stoller make a comedy sequel that rivals the original in quality but he found a way to give a real message other than the typical "life goes on after college" we get from all the rest. He took an over saturated brand of comedy that has a history of being sexist in nature and made it into a surprisingly progressive story that I never saw coming.

With all that added intelligence this movie still succeeds at being the obnoxious, slapstick comedy that we all expect from Seth Rogen. They bring back everyone from the first movie you want to see for at least a few scenes of face time and the new comers are fantastic. Maybe I'm reading too much into this film but it says many of the things people need to hear and in ways that will make your gut bust with laughter. This is the rare comedy that works and in all of the ways none of us thought it would and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on Twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

MOVIE REVIEW: Hush (2016)

Hush (2016)

Horror, Thriller

Directed By: Mike Flanagan

When talking about the many different sub-genres of horror I would never say the "home invasion" flick was anywhere near the top of my list. Its an area of horror that has never really sucked me in and ever since The Strangers became a hit we have seen an over saturated market for these movies. It's understandable, the formula is simple and cheap and for most people there is nothing scarier than someone breaking into your home to terrorize you. Aside from a select few films this formula has never done much for me so I always applaud any film of this nature that breaks the mold and adds something new to the table. 

The newest film from writer/director Mike Flanagan (Oculus) does exactly that and by using a simple trick that seems so obvious it's rather shocking it hasn't been done before; he made the victim deaf. Hush is a movie that doesn't seek cheap jump scares or use shock value to make it work but instead relies on its clever twist to unnerve the audience and keep them on edge throughout. Maddie (Kate Siegel) is a deaf writer who has moved herself into isolation in order to finish her most recent book in peace. She may have moved herself too far away from society though when a serial killer begins making rounds through her rural neighborhood. 

The whole movie is that simple, an advantage of the home invasion flick is a lot of character can be built up through context of their own home and how they interact within it. We are constantly learning new things about Maddie as the film goes on and in turn we also learn some more about her would be killer played by the wonderful John Gallagher Jr, who does such a phenomenal job that I didn't even realize it was him until after it had ended. 

The decision to make the main character deaf is what sells this film, without it we just have another by-the-books home invasion flick that offers up nothing new. Instead of that we get to see a scenario we have all watched dozens of times before get played out in entirely new fashion. There are some seriously unsettling scenes of the killer freely moving about directly behind Maddie without her having any knowledge, just the idea of that gives me goosebumps. 

The novelty of the new twist can only take the story so far though and with a few minor missed opportunities this film is kept from being a wonderfully different kind of experience. For all the brilliant new ideas Hush brought to the table it ultimately fell prey to a handful of cliches and trends that have always kept me from loving this sub genre, and in turn from fully loving this movie. I don't want to go too deep into the details of what pulled me out of the film at times due to spoilers but I will say that a rather kick-ass mask the killer is wearing is more or less wasted in this film.

Most of the missteps of the film are easy to overlook or ignore as the performances are fantastic. Kate Siegel, who co-wrote the film, stars as Maddie and gives a hell of a performance considering she doesn't really get to talk. John Gallagher Jr., who we have already see light up the screen in this years 10 Cloverfield Lane, gives an unrecognizable performance as the killer and the two characters strike an interesting relationship we don't get to see too often from a killer and his would be victim in horror films. Hush makes the rare achievement in horror of having characters that are more interesting than the actual story you are telling. 

Though I came away from the film not totally in love one thing was undeniable for me and that is that I cannot wait to see what Mike Flanagan does in the future with horror. So far he has crafted two films with original ideas we hadn't seen done before and executed in top form. He managed to create a home invasion story that wasn't totally predictable from top to bottom and that adds new ideas to a bloated sub-genre. It would have been nice to see this in a theater but its hard to complain about a Netflix release that allows to watch me from my own home. Check it out if you haven't already, it's a nice addition to the already strong horror of 2016.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!