I Have No Reservations About This One..."Wind River"

Wind River (2017)

Rated R

Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene,

Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan

The Story:

Cory Lambert (Renner) works for the Department of Fish & Wildlife near the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. When he stumbles upon the frozen body of a local, they call in the FBI for help. They send Jane Banner (Olsen) to help, and the duo begin to uncover what may have really happened to her.

Bleak and beautiful, often at the same time, Taylor Sheridan has carved out a great future for himself as both a writer (Sicario, Hell or High Water) and now as a director as well.

It's a harrowing story of revenge and redemption, with subdued performances by the entire cast.

While the story as presented is a work of fiction, it is based on too many cases of Native American  disappearance and deaths.

Renner plays the tortured tracker who has demons of his own to atone for, and they are slowly spelled out as the movie clips along.

Olsen works the fish out of water angle perfectly, trying to balance the fact that she's in charge with the obvious despair that she's in way over her head.

In case you missed this when it first came out, it is now available on Netflix to stream as of this writing.


Final Grade: B+

The Tragic Life of Hank Williams..."I Saw The Light"

I Saw The Light (2015)

Rated R

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Cherry Jones

Written and Directed by Marc Abraham

The Story:

Hank Williams (Hiddleston) goes from a local act to the Grand Ole Opry in his brief 6 year career. Starting under the guidance of his mother (Jones), he begins his national ascent after marrying Aubrey (Olsen) until he is one of the most prolific singers and songwriters in the nation. And then just like that, a series of destructive behaviors took him from us at the too young age of 29.

This is his story...

In some movies, you can say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (thank you Aristotle) where all of the acting, writing, directing, etc. add up to a great cinematic experience.

This isn't that movie.

Nope.

This movie is all about Tom Hiddleston becoming Hank Williams.

Gone is his British accent, buried beneath a southern drawl.

And, unlike most biopics of this nature, Hank Williams does not sing.

It's all Hiddleston, all the time.

And he is amazing. Both as a singer and an actor.

When I was growing up, it was country music that permeated the household until I realized I could change the channels and discovered rock and roll. :)

But this movie, it took me back to a ton of songs that I heard growing up and probably hadn't heard in 30 or 40 years.

Unless of course, they had been remade by rock and roll artists.

Which many had.

Hank Williams made so many hit records in his brief lifetime, he wound up in just about every music hall of fame that there is.

Deservedly so.

But back to the movie...

;)

The problem with the film, and there are several, the movie only implies a lot of what was happening to Hank Williams in his life.

Is he a bad/abusive husband to Aubrey?

Is Aubrey a bad wife to Hank?

Much of this is left ambiguous, at best, perhaps to avoid tarnishing the Williams family legacy.

Hard to say.

You probably don't get the kind of cooperation you need from the family and friends and establishments for making a biopic if you say we're going to show everything, warts and all.

So much of the dramatic flare in the movie is kind of missing any oomph.

Williams isn't a monster that you want to hate, but have to love whenever he starts singing.

He's just a guy who loves to sing, and also really likes to drink.

However, whenever the movie puts us behind the microphone, it becomes magic as Hiddleston belts out a variety of Williams' hits throughout his career. Whether with a bit of rock, or straight gospel, whenever he hits the stage, it's magical.

He and Olsen elevate their parts above the movie and give you performances worth watching.

The rest of the movie bounces between the what you're watching, and apparently some pseudo-documentary filming where it asks important people in Williams' career about the man.

It's odd, and rather unnecessary.

The movie ends with tragedy of course, but the beautiful tribute of the title song is enough to make you a little misty-eyed.

Imagine how music could have been changed if Hank had survived even another 10 years?

Come for Hiddleston and the music of Hank Williams, you won't be disappointed.


Final Grade: B

There Was A Lot Of Hate Directed Towards "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle,

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon

The Story:

Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) enlists the aid of Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) to create a worldwide peacekeeping solution called the Ultron Program. However when the program becomes sentient and becomes Ultron (Spader), it decides that the Avengers are part of the reason why there is no peace on the planet and sets out to exterminate them.

Avengers, Assemble!

So, was Avengers 2 as good as the first Avengers film?

Absolutely not.

However, not for really a lack of trying.

Avengers was the first time that crazy concoction of teaming up all the characters had ever been done before, and it was lightning in a bottle.

But if you go back and look, you'll find glitches and plot holes abound in that one as well, fans were just eager to see the big-screen spectacle, we either didn't notice, or didn't really care.

This time around, the bar was already set too high, and it was bound to fail to reach those lofty heights, but you might as well try, right?

And they did.

And there is SOOOO much to enjoy about this film. The banter amongst the Avengers is wonderful, and it makes them human and it also foreshadows what's to come in upcoming films. There's a lot of different opinions and egos on this team, and it will come to a boiling point in the next film, and it should.

However, I happily watched this installment and walked away very happy.

The action sequences were well done, and the giant cast of characters seemed to share the screen and story in equal chunks so that everyone, and no one, is the absolute star of the film.

It was nice to see Hawkeye's (Renner) role fleshed out a bit more. I always enjoyed the Avengers that weren't super-humans, yet found a way to hold their own with the big boys, and Hawkeye and the Black Widow (Johansson) continue to shine in this role.

In fact, the only thing I didn't really care for was Ultron. Spader put too much personality or himself into the role, and it came across as...weird... I guess.

Ultron is a relentless program whose sole purpose is to upgrade, upgrade, upgrade in an attempt to be the best possible Ultron...and kill the Avengers...

Cracking wise... that's not Ultron.

My biggest gripe, but when he's the main villain, it starts to stand out as the film wears on.

Still, a good movie, but not the best Marvel film of the year.

Final Grade: B+

"Godzilla" Returns! (And Doesn't Suck)

Godzilla (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, and of course, Godzilla

Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Story:

Joe Brody (Cranston) discovers some dangerous seismic activity at a nuclear facility. However, before it can be shut down, an accident kills his wife (Binoche). 15 years later, the activity is starting up again, and Brody is determined to find out what killed his wife. Meanwhile his son, Ford, (Taylor-Johnson) is trying to get his dad out of trouble one more time. However when the two stumble upon giant creatures that feed off radiation, while man may be powerless to stop them, perhaps there is hope in trusting...

Godzilla!

I found two things amusing in this movie, and there may have been more (un)intentional homages as well.

Brody's vs. monster creatures. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies!

A quick shout-out to Lone Pine, California. This is heavy, Doc!

That said, for a movie that featured the title character for maybe, maybe... 15 minutes of the 2 hour running time, it really wasn't boring.

The story kept moving forward at a frenetic pace, and similar to the aforementioned Jaws, much of the monsters are kept under wraps, under water, while the destruction that they leave behind is what is on display.

Sometimes less is more, and I think that may have worked in Godzilla's best interest.

The redesign of the big guy works, for the most part.

Definitely better than the Broderick film, but call me sentimental, I miss the old Toho suit.

I actually want one just so I can wear it and step on toys and chase my kids around.

:)

So now that we've established that Godzilla is a force for good, so what happens in the sequel?

Final Grade: B... B- range.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again down the road. It wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it could have been. That said, it could have been improved here and there also.