A Loving Look At A Comic Genius... "A Futile And Stupid Gesture"

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)

TV-MA

Starring Will Forte, Martin Mull, Joel McHale, Domhnall Gleeson,

Directed by David Wain

The Story:

With the success of the Harvard Lampoon and their impending graduations coinciding with one another, Doug Kenney (Forte) persuades Henry Beard (Gleeson) that instead of moving on with their lives as expected, they go National with the Lampoon brand. It wasn't easy, but it sure was funny.

When paired with the amazing documentary National Lampoon: Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead (Review:  http://talesfromthequeue.blogspot.com/2016/05/their-impact-on-pop-culture-cannot-be.html  )

The two pieces compliment each other very well. Both streaming on Netflix, this Netflix Original fictionalizes a lot of what (and who!) will be found in the documentary on the life and troubled times of Doug Kenney.

In this version, an older, wiser Doug (Mull) laments on what happened to him in his life.

The cast gets the daunting task of retelling the story as comedy legends of the 70s and 80s as they try and channel the styles and mannerisms of those they attempt to portray.

Joel McHale? He nails it. :)

The big revelation, at least to me, is Domhnall Gleeson in a comedy.

I'm racking my brain, but I don't think I've ever seen that yet, and he's got really good timing.

Anyway, it's a bittersweet tale of the man who helped shape generations of comedians and actors and helped redefine what was funny for the latter half of the 20th Century.

Final Grade:  B+

Strange But True..."American Made"

American Made (2017)

Rated R

Starring Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright,

Directed by Doug Liman

The Story:

In 1978, Barry Seal (Cruise) was a burned out TWA pilot who was recruited by the CIA to fly reconnaissance missions for them. In the years that follow that would turn to drug and arms smuggling for both sides. However when you work for the cartels and they suspect you're double-crossing them, your story will not have a happy ending.

Naturally, based on a true story goes without saying here.

Liman and Cruise are together again in the exploits of Barry Seal.

The story jumps around with what happens next, inter-spliced with video narratives by Seal taping confessionals of his unbelievable story to a camcorder.

And it was a wild ride that Barry lived.

Dramatic license or not with the actual events, this is a guy who flew spy missions for the CIA and smuggled drugs for Pablo Escobar.

Throw in arms dealing in a little thing called the Iran Contra Affair and the story is just over the top crazy.

But it's true.

It's also a pretty good film.

And that's never a bad thing.

Final Grade:  B-

His Will Remained "Unbroken"

Unbroken (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Miyavi,

Directed by Angelina Jolie

The Story:

Louis Zamperini (O'Connell) went from being an Olympic medalist in Berlin to a POW in World War II in just the span of a few short years. When his plane crashes in the Pacific, Louis makes God a deal that he'll dedicate his life to following God if he surives. Louis and Phil endure 47 long, arduous days on a life raft with his friend Phil (Gleeson) before they are picked up by the Japanese and interned into a prison camp. There, he receives even more punishment under the brutal reign of the camp warden (Miyavi) but Zamperini's spirit remains...

wait for it...

Unbroken.

Cheesy, I know.

But then, this movie sometimes felt the same way.

On paper, it's one of those amazing but true, true life stories brought to life by Hollywood.

In practice, it was nearly 2 1/2 hours, and you literally feel every minute of it.

Zamperini suffered at the hands of the Japanese because he was a famous athlete. He was then given a chance to broadcast that he was alive and well back to America, much to the relief of his family.

When he refused to broadcast anti-American propaganda, he was returned back to the Japanese where further brutality awaited.

Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with the story, the actors, the direction, it just seemed like it was missing some key ingredient or two to make this film feel special.

If I'm going to devote over 2 hours of my life watching a film, I need that spark to keep me interested, and sometimes more importantly with movies, wanting to come back in the future to see it again.

This one was okay, but could have, and should have been so much more.

Final Grade: C+

You Do Not Have To Shoot Him Now..."The Revenant"

The Revenant (2015)

Rated R

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, A Very Angry Bear

Directed by Alejandro D. Inarritu

The Story:

Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is a scout for a fur expedition in the wild American frontier of the 1820s. After leading the group away from an Indian attack, Glass is attacked and brutally mauled by a bear. As they are trying to outrun the Indians that want them all dead, Glass is simply slowing them down.  They leave a few behind including John Fitzgerald (Hardy) to care for him. Bad idea. Fitzgerald wants to leave Glass high and dry. Now Glass has to survive his wounds, the weather, escape the Indians and find Fitzgerald and kill him!

Naturally you have to mention that his was inspired by true events.

How much, and what exactly was true, well that's a mystery lost to the ages.

But Glass was a real guy, and he was attacked by a bear and lived.

Other than that, feel free to take creative license and do what you will with the story.

That DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for this role is odd to say the least.

For the first half of the movie, he barely has any dialogue at all.

Then the last half, well he has a reason not to talk, but still.

It seems like anyone could have the role of trying to survive and seek vengeance. I'm not so sure what was so special about DiCaprio's performance in this film that finally pushed him over the edge with voters.

Matt Damon in The Martian or Bryan Cranston in Trumbo (review coming soon!) were much more watchable and entertaining in their roles than DiCaprio.

Of course, that's not the only example of actors to have lost that deserved to win (those reviews still to come as well!)

And seriously, what was with all the actors breathing heavily onto the camera?

We get it, it's cold out there.

Seems like amateurish filmmaking more than symbolic or anything else.

The good part, with the majority of the film being dialogue free, I was able to Fast Forward through much of the 2 1/2 hour (!!! seriously ?!? !!!) runtime to get to the scenes where things actually happened or people actually spoke.

It's a fine, watchable movie, but Best of the Year or Most Entertaining?

Not even close.

Final Grade: C

Has Nobody Ever Watched 'The Terminator' ?? "Ex Machina"

Ex Machina (2015)

Rated R

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac

Written and Directed by Alex Garland

The Story:


Caleb (Gleeson) is a winner in his company's ultimate giveaway: a weeklong stay with the reclusive CEO of their company (Isaac). When he arrives, he learns that he's actually there to test whether or not the Artificial Intelligence of Ava (Vikander) could legitimately pass as human. It will be a week that changes everyone, forever.

Well, this was certainly something.

It's a small, character focused driven drama that grabs science fiction by the hand and takes you along for the ride.

The plot is essentially man creates life. And then, oops.

:)

If we're being honest.

It's a quiet, suspenseful, gradual build to the final act, and you can almost tell exactly what is going to happen along the way.

Yet the interaction between the great trio of actors keeps you riveted to the film until the very end.

Which come on people, giving machines artificial intelligence is a bad idea! It never ends well!!

:)

Ex Machina is currently streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade: B-

It's About Finding Love... "About Time"

About Time (2013)

Rated R for language

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Directed and written by Richard Curtis

The Story:

Tim (Gleeson) learns from his dad (Nighy) that the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time.  Tim attempts to do just that, and finds that yes indeed, his dad was right.  So Tim is out to find true love, when he meets Mary (McAdams).  It will take some doing to get that meeting just right because like any time travel story, if you tinker just a little bit, you face repercussions.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film.

Curtis has given us Notting Hill and Love Actually among others.

So yes, a good romantic comedy was probably coming.

And it is.

But so much more.

As the film unfolds, subtly, it becomes about a love between a father and son.

When Tim learns of the limitations of what time travel can do, it sets up an emotional finale that will put the proverbial lump in your throat.

McAdams and Nighy do their usual perfect roles, but I was impressed with Gleeson.  This is the first starring role from him that I am familiar with.  He comes across as very charming and fun.

He's the new Hugh Grant.

Yes, that's a great compliment.

I also thought to myself as I watched it, that while I don't watch the show, this guy seems like he would make a great Doctor Who someday.

We'll see.

My only real complaint with this film was the rating.  I think the overall audience and reach of this film could have been greater with a PG-13 rating and dial the language back a notch.

Just my take.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I would be willing to watch it again.