Halloween

Halloween is the much anticipated sequel to the original 1978 film.  It wipes out all the other sequels and the 2007 Rob Zombie reboot.  The original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role of Laurie Strode.  She is joined in this film by Judy Greer and Will Patton.  This film starts off 40 years after the Halloween night Laurie survived a force of evil called Michael Myers.  In that time frame Laurie has hardened herself and prepared herself just in case Michael ever were to get out and come after her.  In the process of preparing herself and her family to face Michael she has become estranged from her daughter.  Michael has been locked up and studied for the 40 years since he was captured.  In that time he hasn't spoken a word to anyone.  On Halloween(go figure), Michael is being transferred to a new prison and of course the transfer bus crashes unleashing Michael Myers upon the town of Haddonfield.

This was a great film, not just a great horror film but a great film.  It is written very well and it completely embraces what Halloween is from many different angles.  The film erases the supernatural aspects of Michael Myers and took him back to what he was in the original film which was a very natural force of evil.  The film instantly sets the tone and you realize this film will come down to Michael facing off against Laurie once again.  The tension just builds and builds especially with each kill Michael seems to become stronger and stronger.  The film somehow both pays homage to the old films and makes fun of itself at the same time.  The movie has a lot of the original elements that worked so well in the original making it a horror film classic.  I was surprised at how much I laughed while watching it.  There are moments that the film recognizes the slasher genre has ridiculous aspects and this film utilizes that to get humor into it.

This film is about trauma.  It explores different levels of trauma and how it effects the characters in the film.  In particular it explores The trauma Laurie has faced in her life and the parallels between the prison that has held Michael for 40 years and the prison that Laurie has built out of her fear for Michael.  The tension throughout the film builds and builds between Michael and Laurie which in the end is what everyone wants since we see that Laurie is no longer the helpless teenager she was in 1978, but instead is a hardened warrior ready to fight who she sees as the devil himself.

I loved this film.  I loved the call backs to the original film like the film text and the themes.  The film captures why out of the three most well known silent psychos Jason, Michael, and Leatherface, Michael Myers is the scariest of the slasher film.  I was excited to see Jamie Lee Curtis bring this character back and give her the depth where she seems like she stands a chance against the killing machine that is Michael.  I had a blast watching this film and although it's not as scary as It  or the original Halloween, it is a great film that is meant to be watched with others so you can laugh and jump from freight together.

This will get stuck in your head

The BlackKklansman.....One of the Best Spike Lee Joints

The Blackkklansman is the new film from director Spike Lee.  It stars John David Washington and Adam Driver.  It's the true story of how an African American detective in Colorado was able to join the KKK in the 1970s.  As the film progresses he continues to correspond with the Klan through writing and phone calls and another detective whose white pretends to be him for in person meetings.  The film is both about this specific story of an investigation into the KKK but is also a study of race in the United States both in the 1970s but also now.  

This is one of Spike Lee's best films.  The script is well written and the cast is amazing.  Topher Grace is the strongest performance in this film as David Duke, the leader of the KKK.  This film has a well thought out structure that balances the drama and comedy so they play off of each other well.  The funniest scene is the initial phone call made to the Klan.  The film does a great job showing the flaws in both sides of the fight and sets up Stallworth (Washington) in this strange position of being caught between two worlds and being the only one who thinks racism can be fought from the inside as a cop.  I was surprised by the appearance of Harry Belafonte in this film.  His scene is probably the best scene in the film.  He's telling a story of a lynching that's actually a true story and it's cross edited with the Klan watching the film, A Birth of a Nation.  This film is well credited for two things in history, first its considered the first major motion picture and second it's credited for reigniting the fire in the KKK at a time when they were fairly dormant.  It is the most racist film ever made in which the KKK is made to be heroes.

Washington's performance in this film is very strong, his performance during the Birth of a Nation scene is one of his smaller scenes in the film but his performance literally radiates off the screen.  He sounds so much like his dad Denzel that if you close your eyes when he's on screen you'd think Denzel was on screen.  He definitely is a chip off the old block.  There are many parts in this film that the script was written to resonate with the current political climate like most of Spike Lee films do.  The film ends with scenes and footage from the Charlottesville protests which happened a few weeks before they started working on this film.  The final scene is a beautiful memorial to Heather Heyer, a woman who was killed when a bigot decided to mow her and others protesting down with a car.

Technically speaking Spike Lee is one of the best framers of Mise-en-scene in Hollywood.  Mise-en-scene literally means what's in the frame.  This film is beautifully shot.  The use of color in Lee films is always very relevant to the story and it applies to this film as well.  The scenery is set up so that even when its a rundown building its shot beautifully.  Of course Spike Lee added his signature dolly shot.  I really loved the music in this film.  The contemporary music from the 70's speaks for itself but the score by Terence Blanchard is outstanding.  It takes the sounds of the 70's and blends it with the style of classic Elmer Bernstein scores.

This is a great film that will be liked by almost anyone, obviously not a film for kids but I think most adults would enjoy this film.  If you enjoy a great true story, an interesting piece of history, or you want to watch a film that's relevant to the political and racial atmosphere today I think you will love this movie......unless you're a fan of the Klan then you will hate this movie.

The Best Mission

Mission Impossible: Fallout is by far the best of the franchise.   Tom Cruise doesn't slow down at all in what I would call the best action movie of the year to date.  This film is a direct sequel to the previous film Rogue Nation. The Syndicate, which is the polar opposite of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) is desperate to find a way to free their leader who was captured by Ethan Hunt(Cruise) at the climax of Rogue Nation.  Hunt is faced with an impossible choice to which sets in motion the plot of the film.

This film was amazing.  In the cinema world of superheroes and Disney the Mission Impossible films always seem to slip in and surprise audiences. Since Ghost Protocol which is the 4th film in the series the Mission Impossible films took a step up to being some of the best action films made in the last few years.  The success of this film really falls on Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill.  One of the big entertainment stories of the last year was how Tom Cruise broke his ankle shooting a stunt for this film. Cruise has become the biggest actor to try to do all his own stunts which really has made this series what it is since the first film.  Henry Cavill was also a big story this past year. This was the film that gave Superman his weird upper lip because they delayed production for Cruise's ankle to heal so had to keep his Mission Impossible mustache during Justice League reshoots. His performance in this film can be compared to a Hans Gruber type performance with a savage feel to it.

The action in this film is very refreshing. It's been hard for straight action movies to have success because of what can be done with CGI. So even though CG was utilized in this film for several action sequences it feels natural and looks real.  The chase sequence in Paris has multiple segments that flow very well through the camera angles and the editing.

The fight sequences in this film are well put together.  They have a great combination of comedy, grace, and brutality.  There's a very distinct fighting style difference between the characters, Hunt has a more fluid movement compared to Walker's(Cavill) bruiser movement.

The Music in this film is the best I've heard in the film series.  Throughout the series the filmmakers have played with the original score from the television show.  There has been a techno version and a rock version, but I think they've figured out the classical version is the best.  What this movie does differently with the theme is they change the tempo to turn a heroic theme into a villainous theme.

Overall This was a fun film that I truly believe is the best action movie of the year.  This film series has risen to be able to give you exactly what you want in a movie about spies in ways that Bourne or Bond have not always been able to maintain.  The last 3 films have found the right equation and I hope we get a few more out of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt.  You get what you want out of this film, not a deep story but a thrilling action adventure with stunning scenery, nonstop action, and a combination of drama and comedy.  I recommend this film to anyone that loves a great adventure.