Monday, November 28, 2016

Hoot - 1 star out of 10

Hoot - 1 star out of 10

“Hoot” is a piece of work.  It is everything that is wrong with family films.  Every time that Disney releases a new film, families flock to the theater for an experience that will be entertaining and meaningful to all.  While the most important thing is for Disney to make families happy, they also make the critics happy.  If you look at their 2016 releases, Rotten Tomatoes rates them at 98% (Moana), 86% (Pete’s Dragon), 75% (The BFG), 94% (Finding Dory), 30% (Alice Through the Looking Glass), 94% (The Jungle Book), and 98% (Zootopia).  There is no excuse for a production company to release a film like “Hoot” that earned a whopping 26% when Disney can put out a consistent stream of quality, family-friendly films.  While this is a review for “Hoot,” I think it is important that we acknowledge that we all take Disney films for granted.

Now back to the movie at hand.  What makes it so bad?  Here is a short list: Poor acting, a bad script, an unnecessary Jimmy Buffet character, 17-year-old Brie Larson playing a middle school student, a soundtrack of Jimmy Buffet singing a compilation of his own and other peoples’ music, a tired “Save the Earth” story, and an unnecessary closing credits song by Jimmy Buffet called “Good Guys Win (Every Once In A While).”  It contains nearly every stereotype of a poorly made family film, complete with a big bully that gets beat up by a little protagonist, a clumsy cop (played by none other than… Luke Wilson?) and a Tiananmen Square-style showdown with a bulldozer.  I’m sure that kids were entertained by this movie but there is literally nothing in it for adults, which I consider to be a failure on the part of the writers.  Disney has shown us that kids movies can appeal to the entire film (and movie critics!) but “Hoot” completely fails to cater to anyone other than preteens.

[Pictured: Bulldozers make great hiding places - important lessons learned from "Hoot"]

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Before I Go to Sleep - 7 stars out of 10

Before I Go to Sleep - 7 stars out of 10

“Before I Go to Sleep” is a psychological thriller that explores the concept of short term memory loss.  The critics cited it as a poorly executed copycat of Christopher Nolan’s “Memento.”  As a huge fan of Nolan’s film, I was a bit suspicious after reading the unanimously unfavorable reviews but was pleased with the final result.  The storyboarding of the film was completely different (linear with flashbacks vs. non-linear), the video journal was approached differently than “Memento’s” idea of tattooing important information on your body, and the overall tone was very different.  While none of these differences hurt the film, some other did.  This story is less believable as the main character’s brain conveniently resets itself each night and several characters don’t ask questions in moments where they should; still, it is a riveting story that keeps you guessing until the very end.  Nicole Kidman gives her best performance since “Rabbit Hole” and, with better reviews from the critics, probably could have completely relaunched her career.  The script affords her the opportunity to give intense portrayals of several different emotions within her ever-changing character.  Colin Firth may be even more impressive in his surprisingly dark and mysterious role.  With these performances, it is hard to believe that the critics didn’t have some mercy even if they found the story to be unoriginal.  No movie will ever match the creativity of “Memento” but this film is still really good if you look at it through its own lens.  “Before I Go to Sleep” brings a fresh approach to creative nature of films involving short term memory loss and its unexpected ending might even leave a tear in your eye.

[Pictured: The relationship between Kidman and Firth is incredibly uncomfortable and drives the entire story]