Adaptation

Movie Name: Adaptation
Year of Release: 2002

Director: Spike Jonze

Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Cara Seymour, Curtis Hanson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Judy Greer, Brian Cox, Ron Livingston, Doug Jones

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis:

Following the success of his first feature, "Being John Malkovich", director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman reunited for another collaboration. "Adaptation" which is a loose adaptation of the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean, became something quite different. The film follows the story of Charlie Kaufman, a screenwriter in Hollywood, who is trying to adapt the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean. Charlie soon finds himself with a serious case of writer's block when he realizes the book isn't adaptable. Much to his frustration, his twin brother Donald moves in, and decides to break into screenwriting also. Unlike Charlie, Donald is more outgoing, and has more success with women. Both brothers get entwined with Susan Orlean's personal life, and herself is romantically involved with the man featured in her book, John Laroche. These relationships have an unexpected outcome as Charlie desperately tries to finish his screenplay.
"Adaptation" is another great example of two unique voices in film meeting and creating something distinctively original. The film is a testament and a glimpse into the creative process, also giving an interesting and ironic view at the art of screenwriting. The irony also lies in how Charlie Kaufman portrays himself to be insecure and neurotic, giving his twin brother (or alter ego), all the qualities he wishes he had. It's a very intelligent film, that works on many different levels, all the while giving the trio of lead performers a chance to truly excel. Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper are phenomenal, as is the entire supporting cast (including Tilda Swinton and Brian Cox). The cinematography from Lance Acord is beautiful, as is the score of the eternally underrated Carter Burwell. A great film worth watching!

Death Note

Movie Name: Death Note
Year of Release: 2017

Director: Adam Wingard

Stars: Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham, Willem Dafoe, Jason Liles, Paul Nakauchi, Jack Ettlinger, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Chris Britton

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

Score out of ten: 4
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Synopsis:

Another one of Netflix's original productions, "Death Note" is the adaptation of a popular Japanese manga series. The film is directed by Adam Wingard, who has made a name for himself with a few thrillers, including "The Guest", which had some good reviews and propelled his name further. "Death Note" follows the story of Light Turner, a high school senior whose mother has recently passed away, leaving him scarred and in a somewhat tense relationship with his police officer father. He comes into possession of a strange book by the name of Death Note, which gives him the power to kill whomever he writes in the book. The supernatural entity that comes with the book, explains to him that he can also choose how people die. Light with this new surge of power, starts using the book to target criminals, eventually creating a reputation for this vigilante persona, causing the attention of multiple individuals, including a very talented investigator by the name of L.
"Death Note" is a film that comes a few years later after the trend of remaking Japanese films/properties died down (the last big film from that trend was probably Walter Salles' "Dark Water" with Jennifer Connelly). This one however, unlike some of the films from the early 2000s (such as Gore Verbinski's "The Ring"), feels more like a distant cousin from those features. For starters the core demographic is younger, but also the material itself lacks a sense of menace that made those popular features somewhat memorable and enticing (look as an example the mediocre and popular "The Grudge" from Takashi Shimizu, which came out in 2004). The film is definitely light in the creation of an effective environment and also in style. It features the great cinematography from David Tattersall and the score from Atticus Ross (and Leopold Ross), but the cast is just barely memorable, even the always reliable and great Willem Dafoe. A forgettable endeavor.

About Schmidt

Movie Name: About Schmidt
Year of Release: 2002

Director: Alexander Payne

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, June Squibb, Howard Hesseman, Harry Groener, Connie Ray, Len Cariou

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis:

Director Alexander Payne followed his breakthrough film "Election", with another critical hit. "About Schmidt" which came out at the end of 2002, ended up on the lists of the best, and garnered Jack Nicholson another Oscar nomination. The film follows the story of Warren Schmidt, an actuary with a life insurance company in Omaha, Nebraska. After his retirement, and the passing of his wife, Schmidt decides to drive in his Winnebago to Denver, to attend the wedding of his daughter. Though he disapproves of his daughter's choice of husband, Schmidt ends up going through the motions, and meets the eccentric family of his future son in law.
As usual in Alexander Payne's films, his stories are comprised of people leading ordinary lives, but who are thrown into some chaos that disrupts their known habits. His universe is somewhat melancholic and inhabited by people with flaws, but always punctuated by humor. He successfully mitigates the harshness of situations, with a dry (sometimes dark) sense of humor, something that has been a constant in all of his films. "About Schmidt" is almost a one man show, giving Jack Nicholson a perfect opportunity to play a character that is more subdued and quieter than his usual larger than life characters. The actor relishes this opportunity, and gives the character the melancholy, sadness and humor that Schmidt experiences, as his life changes. The film also features a great performance from Kathy Bates, as the mother of the groom, who makes some advances towards Schmidt. It's a film that lives from the richness of its characters, and in that sense it's an endearing and compelling watch. Recommended.

Logan Lucky

Movie Name: Logan Lucky
Year of Release: 2017

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Katie Holmes, Katherine Waterston, Seth MacFarlane, Jack Quaid, Brian Gleeson, Sebastian Stan, Hillary Swank, Farrah Mackenzie, David Denman, Jon Eyez, Dwight Yoakam, Edward Gelhaus, Macon Blair

Genre: Comedy, Crime

Score out of ten: 8
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Synopsis:

Celebrated director Steven Soderbergh is back, after a brief hiatus, and after his well received dual releases of 2013, "Side Effects" and "Behind the Candelabra". "Logan Lucky" follows the story of the Logan siblings, comprised of Jimmy, Clyde and Mellie. All three live in West Virginia, and are very close, even if they all have had a fair amount of bad luck in life. Jimmy, the eldest, loses his job in construction due to a knee injury, while Clyde works at a bar since coming back from enlisting in the army (where he lost his hand). Mellie works in a salon, and helps Jimmy taking care of his daughter, whom he shares with a slightly resentful ex-wife. Jimmy devises a plan to rob the money from a NASCAR event in North Carolina, but in order to do so, he needs to recruit the help of Joe Bang, an incarcerated bank robber (alongside his brothers Fish and Sam, both of whom are deeply religious). The intricate plan will require all pieces aligning together perfectly, something that will also require taking Joe out of jail ahead of time.
"Logan Lucky" is another example of how fantastically gifted Steven Soderbergh is. Taking a smartly written screenplay, the director introduces rhythm, humor and authenticity to a film that could have easily turned into a broad caricature. It's a testament to his talent that the director, reuniting with Channing Tatum (with whom he created "Magic Mike"), manages to bring all the pieces together, creating a film that is well orchestrated, well acted, and perfectly in tune with the material. This isn't simply a different version of "Ocean's 11" - this film strips the layer of flash that one had, and replaces it with humor and heart. The cast is uniformly great (with the possible exception of Seth MacFarlane, who overacts in his attempt to be overly funny and larger than life), and the score from David Holmes is perfectly cool and breezy. A very good film worth watching.

Annabelle: Creation

Movie Name: Annabelle: Creation
Year of Release: 2017

Director: David F. Sandberg

Stars: Miranda Otto, Anthony LaPaglia, Lulu Wilson, Talitha Bateman, Stephanie Sigman, Philippa Coulthard, Samara Lee, Grace Fulton, Tayler Buck, Mark Bramhall

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Score out of ten: 6
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Synopsis:

The universe of stories developed by director James Wan with his "The Conjuring" film series continues, this time around with a prequel to "Annabelle", who first appeared in "The Conjuring", followed by it's original film dated from 2014. In "Annabelle: Creation" we are introduced to the family who first came in touch with the doll, and the malevolent force that lies within. This family is composed of a father, who is a doll maker, and who originally creates the Annabelle doll, the mother, and the young daughter, named Bee (diminutive from Annabelle). A dramatic accident leaves the family without their daughter,  and a few years later, a small group of orphan girls comes to the house. The girls, under the tutelage of a kind and helpful nun, are excited by the prospect of living in such a nice place, but soon one of them, the sweet Janice, starts realizing there are disturbances and strange occurrences around the house. These events start escalating and get progressively more aggressive, until one their hosts, Mrs. Mullins, unveils what has happened since the demise of her daughter.
Director David Sandberg has followed his debut feature "Lights Out", with another stylistic and smartly built exercise in suspense and horror. Using the premise established in the first (and not so accomplished) "Annabelle", the director takes the narrative to the origins of the mystique surrounding the doll, creating in the process, a haunted house type of horror film. The film smartly suggests more than it shows, playing with the shadows, shapes, and the fear coming from the young children. It also takes its time to create the sense of unease, and menace that starts permeating everyone, in particular the group of children that are in the house. The film is beautifully shot, and while most characters don't have enough depth or dimension, the environment and universe that is built is successful and sufficiently enticing. An interesting film from a promising director.

Magic Mike

Movie Name: Magic Mike
Year of Release: 2012

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Stars: Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash, Gabriel Iglesias, Betsy Brandt, Riley Keough

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis:

Following his double feature releases of 2011, with "Haywire" and "Contagion", prolific director Steven Soderbergh returned in 2012 with what turned out to be a surprising hit, the low budget "Magic Mike". The film, loosely based on the life of actor Channing Tatum (before he became famous that is), follows the story of Mike, a male stripper and dancer living in Tampa, Florida. Mike works as a dancer with hopes of saving enough money to start working on building furniture and making that into his main business. During the day he also works construction, which is where he meets the young Adam. He takes the kid under his wing, and soon he is dancing with the troupe. Mike soon meets Adam's older sister, and becomes clearly smitten by her, and her grounded and no nonsense type of personality. As events unfold, he realizes it's time for him to make decisions and finally grow up.
Steven Soderbergh is one of the most talented film makers currently working. He is as an interesting story teller, as he is one of the most well versed technically inclined film makers (he edits and does the cinematography of most of his films). What has been interesting to witness throughout his career, is his choice of material. "Magic Mike" mostly succeeds in his approach to capture both the spectacle of the performance, and the actual life of these young men, who strip for a living and basically live in this bubble of attention and surreality, that seems to be about to burst at any moment. It's a film that is thin of story and character development for most of the supporting characters, but it still allows for Matthew McConaughey in particular to build a charismatic and magnetic character, with his host of the club, the older (and not necessarily wiser) Dallas. It's an interesting exercise for a fantastically gifted director. Worth watching.

The Founder

Movie Name: The Founder
Year of Release: 2016

Director: John Lee Ancock

Stars: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellini, Laura Dern, B.J. Novak, Patrick Wilson, Kate Kneeland, Justin Randell Brooke

Genre: Drama

Score out of ten: 6
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Synopsis:

Following the well received "Saving Mr. Banks", director John Lee Hancock is back, tackling another true story. "The Founder" follows the story of Ray Kroc, an itinerant salesman, always looking for new ideas to make money. One of his clients, are two siblings by the name of MacDonald, and Ray is positively perplexed by the way they have established a restaurant in San Bernardino. Ray finds a way to start working with the brothers, first as a franchise salesman, but as his ambition grows, so does his plans and ultimately what he wants the chain of restaurants to become. He eventually has to battle it out with the siblings, due to a contract he signed early on.
John Lee Hancock is a competent film maker, whose films while not priming for a specific point of view, make nonetheless for an interesting viewing. His films usually have an impeccable production team, and are anchored by a magnetic performance from his lead actor/actress (Sandra Bullock on "The Blind Side", Emma Thompson on "Saving Mr. Banks for instance). "The Founder" is no exception: the film creates an impeccable period reconstitution of the US in the 50s and 60s, and gives Michael Keaton another opportunity to create a character that is charismatic and brimming with ambition. The performance is actually so good, that it becomes the most memorable thing about the film, even though the central character is not portrayed in the most flattering light, and yet his appeal is there from beginning to end. It's a film that is conventional, illustrative, and polished - and almost instantly forgettable, but it does give Michael Keaton another opportunity to shine. And for that alone, it deserves to be seen.