The Menu - It's Well Done for me!

Some years ago, a mentor took me to a very fine restaurant in Boston. It was one of those places where the menu was select, the cuisine was art and the price was outrageous and you went there because you could and because it said something about your status. As a guest, I was a bit of an outsider and it showed when I ordered the steak - a Kobe steak. Unbeknown to ignorant me, Kobe beef is a delicacy valued for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty and marbled texture. Chefs insist on cooking it rare to medium at best. But unbeknown to the chef, he had a guest that insists on only eating meat well done - me! When I ordered it "well done", there were gasps and the waiter even suggested I should have it medium, but in my ignorance I insisted. When the dish was served medium rare I felt embarrassed. I dared not complain. But my mentor knowingly asked me how my steak was. Quietly, not wanting to cause a fuss, I explained, and he told me that if I was ever going to get what I wanted in life, I had to ask for it. 

The Menu, serves up a movie that is both rare and well done. It focuses on a chef played by the inimitable Ralph Fiennes who, tired of the pretentiousness of his art and his life, decides to break from it all to create an ingenuous and ingenuine menu for carefully chosen guests, - who have no idea what he has cooked up for them. 

This dark comedy/horror will either have you canceling your fine dining reservations and heading to the nearest McDonalds or will leave you pondering how much of your life is still palatable.

One of the key ingredients to understanding this masterful composition is a quote the chef shares with his captivated diners, from Martin Luther King.

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed" he tells them as he prepares their next course. 

 

Well it's a lesson many of us never learn, even when we learn it and that may well be the point. Many of us are so caught up in a pattern of living a subservient life that we never, ever truly demand life how we want it. Even when we know we could and should. We would rather sit there and let life serve up what it will, than properly fight for what we want. 

Anyway, as you may have guessed in the end I got my steak well done, and in the process I learned a valuable lesson...or did I?

The Menu...well written, well acted, well done!

The Jungle Book - Oo-oo-oo I want to be like you-ou-ou!

Not sure if you heard but The Jungle Book came out this last weekend and it is making more than a distant drumbeat among movie-goers. Opening weekend receipts topped out at over $100 million and with 94% of critics and 92% of audiences giving it a thumbs up on Rotten Tomatoes you can be sure word of mouth will spread quicker than a jungle fire and the money will keep rolling in for some time with this one. 
So the obvious question is whether it matches the opening hype and whether it's worth the trip to the big screen. And let me just come right out and tell you - if you have seen the original (you know, the classic from 1967?) - well this is better...in just about every way.
The beautiful, rich and stunning imagery is awesome and I know that the word "awesome" seems like a bit of a modern and casual word but it truly is...awesome!
The cast is perfect and I am going to say cast because while someone told me that this was a film full of computer generated imagery (CGI) I didn't see it and I don't believe it. I was watching the real Mowgli with real animals that somehow talked and I understood them and they were real! It was all so real. You will be terrified by Idris Elba's Shere Khan because he is a real tiger and he is standing snarling and scheming in front of you. You will fall in love with Bill Murray's older, wiser but still bumbling Baloo. You will be bowled over by Christopher Walken's King Louie and hypnotized by Scarlett Johansson's entrancing Kaa and impressed with the smooth, serene sleekness of Ben Kingsley's Bagheera. But still the star of the show is Neel Seethi's Mowgli. He somehow just is Mowgli - young and naive and scared and brave and clumsy but clever as he makes his journey through the jungle from man-cub to man.
Award season is a long way away, with many contenders to come but Jon Favreau and his team just outdid a classic by recreating just enough familiar imagery from the original and mixing it with the best technology and craftsmanship and imagination Hollywood has to offer today.
I'm just imagining, somewhere in the old archives, the original can be heard playing on an old projector. And there in the dark, in the flickering frames, deep in the jungle, the faint echoes of old King Louie can be heard singing homage to this masterpiece of a movie, "Oo-oo-oo want to be like you-ou-ou"...

Go see this movie, go see it in all its glorious colour and 3D, go and enjoy what movies were made for! This is a family experience, a movie experience, an experience no-one should miss.

Batman v Superman: Doesn't do it Justice!

OK, first of all this movie is not as bad as a lot of critics made out. It is watchable and decent popcorn fare. I didn't dislike it but that being said I didn't love it either. A lot of what I'm about to say is likely personal preference but for a spoiler-free review, here goes. 
 

Firstly, Lex Luther is too wimpy and flimsical ( I think I just made that word up - a hybrid of flimsy and whimsical). Jesse Eisenberg is playing a slightly deranged Mark Zuckerberg. I don't like it for Lex Luthor. It's not the Lex Luthor of the comics to me. Sure its decent acting but it is just bad casting. Jesse Eisenberg does not fit the profile of Lex Luthor and so we end up with a Lex Luthor who is more Joker than Lex Luthor - madly delirious rather than megalomaniac schemer.


Then there is Superman. Director Zach Snyder continues the analogy of Superman as a Messiah or a God but now the world of Metropolis is starting to question whether they really need him.  That isn't a bad direction to take the underlying themes if it weren't for the fact that with this Superman it seems more and more justified. Superman is supposed to be the Captain America of DC comics - his goodness was always his true power - but Zach Snyder is making him almost Hulk angry and unlikeable!
 
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman does just enough to impress the traditionalists and the feminists but I can't help wonder if she may have been better served being introduced in a solo movie first rather than here as a competent but constricted cameo.

Finally, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne is ok but I love him as Batman - he brings a lot more weight and physicality to the dark knight. Batman was always dark but most movies have made him more flashy playboy than a tortured vigilante (that being said I always enjoyed Bale as Batman but after seeing Batfleck maybe it was Nolan's universe I enjoyed more than Bale himself).  
Many will say that this movie is a little too serious for a genre that has thrived on Marvel's quipping and recently went through the roof with Deadpool's fourth wall sarcasm. The lack of both the Joker and the Riddler who were originally rumored to be in this movie speaks volumes to Snyder's intent to stay ultra-bleak but in the many wandering-through-fields-brooding-taking-itself-too-seriously scenes you can almost hear the Joker whispering "Why so serious?".




Again its not that the movie is bad but you just come out feeling like you got less than you hoped for. In short Dawn of Justice doesn't do it justice!



I think it's worth it for the new Batman, the fight scene between Batman and Superman and for Wonder Woman.
I'd give it a 7-7.5/10

"The Witch" - A Horrifying Deconstruction of Faith

Let me first admit that "The Witch" is a very well made indie horror movie from first time director, Robert Eggers
The lighting in particular stands out, with Eggers using natural light in his shots wherever possible. This not only helps create a haunting visual with its fading light and flickering shadows but also creates an authentic feel for this 17th century Puritan tale of witchery. And in many ways this is a welcome return to the old style horror that relied on cinematography and dialogue to create its tension and scares. But idle movie-goers beware, this is a wolf in sheep's clothing. For though it looks like a horror movie, and passes as a horror movie at first glance, in reality this is a scathing condemnation of religion and specifically, Christianity. The true horror here is the gradual realization that this movie has been subtly constructed to deconstruct and then tear apart a belief in Christ and religion.

Ralph Ineson as William in "The Witch"

The father of the family, William, is clearly set up as a type of Christ. With long hair and full beard accompanied by sad and haunting eyes, Ralph Ineson as William, creates a perfect Renaissance image of Christ. Additionally, from the opening scene where he challenges the established religious authorities, to a scene intentionally reminiscent of the last supper and on to the intercessory prayer scene where William prays that he might take upon him his family's sins, "The Witch" is laced with these moments designed to remind us that William represents Christ. His family represent his faithful followers.


Ultimately, for all his bravado and words, William's faith is shown to fail him and his family. In a scene some Christians may perceive as more horrific than any bloodied body or witch scene, William's daughter, Thomasin (played with just the right balance of innocence and potential sinfulness by relative newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy) tells her father that he is a hypocrite and a liar and that he is useless at providing for his family, he can't farm, he can't hunt and that all he is good at is "cutting wood". This stark assessment of her father serves to reveal the key theme of Egger's movie - that Christ is merely a carpenter and not the Son of God and not the Saviour and helpless to help his children.

Furthering this anti-Christian theme, Eggers shows this originally faithful family overtaken by an ever-increasing sense of despair as evil envelops and surrounds their once-hopeful family.

One might argue that Eggers is merely commenting in general on how religious extremism breeds evil and this message is certainly found within the eerily subtle frames of "The Witch" but its focus on William as a type of Christ is a clear message to all that Eggers wants us to believe that there is no hope in Christ.

It is telling that the movie was intentionally marketed to the Satanic Temple and its followers as a film that would resonate with those that live life "minus the God element".

From a movie-making point of view The Witch is a fantastic debut and quite possibly deserves it's Sundance director prize. As a Christian, I find it's message truly horrifying.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

So you want to know if the sequel to the highly successful Avengers movie is worth seeing? The reality is you'll probably go see it anyway no matter what I say, such is the hold Marvel has on the concept of "blockbuster" movie at the moment.

Marvel have definitely packed a punch in this popcorn extravaganza. You have your mortals, your immortals, your robots and super robots and what looks like a mix of all of those with The Vision and let's throw a couple of mutants in there too! All fighting for peace. 

You have your drama and angst, your action and jokes and there's even time for a romance to rival Shrek and Fiona! 

It's got everything you could want in a Marvel summer blockbuster and if you are a Marvel fan you won't leave disappointed...but...I don't know, I just sense somewhere within I'm getting a little tired of the one-two, crash, bang, wallop and quip feeling that is the Marvel Universe. At some point they have to realize that all franchises have a life span and if they don't get us to the whole point of this soon they may end up sucking the life out of the general viewers (not the die hard fans but the regular movie-goers) long before this story is ever finally laid to rest.

I'm still enjoying the movies and Age of Ultron is a fine addition to the superhero genre but Marvel must make their Universe come of age before it ages all of us. 

McFarland - A Reminder of the Real American Dream

 There aren't too many definites in this world but put Kevin Costner in a sports movie and you can be pretty sure you will get your money's worth.
McFarland is the kind of movie that will never be a blockbuster. It wasn't aiming to be the biggest movie or to "better the rest" based on box office bucks. But it has heart and it has a great message.

Is it formulaic and somewhat predictable? Yes...but that's because "good", more often than not, is predictable.
McFarland is the true story of a coach taking a high school cross-country team from non-existence to competing in the California State Championships. The story is inspirational but it is the message that director Niki Caro has framed around the story that makes this movie stand out. You see, while the story maybe the typical cliche - a white guy inspiring a group of immigrant, unmotivated kids to become something - the message is really of how an immigrant community reminded the white guy of what the American dream really is.

The American Dream used to stand for something. It used to stand for opportunity. It used to stand for hard work. It used to stand for family.  It used to stand for equality and freedom and "in God we trust". Over the years this dream became simplified by mainstream to mean, bigger, better, and brighter. Today, that definition for many has evolved into ego, inequality and excess.
In McFarland we are introduced to a white family, pointedly called the White family, who seem to be failing at what they perceive to be the American dream. The father, Jim White, loses his job as a high school football coach and has to move to a largely immigrant town in central California called McFarland.  His home is downsized, his job is downsized and his expectations are down-sized - all of it far from the super-sized definition of the modern day American dream.

But as the White's are forced to live with the disappointment of their downfall and overcome the distrust they feel in their new surroundings with their new neighbours, slowly, somewhere in the dusty orange groves, and back-cramping cabbage fields of McFarland, they are reminded of the real American Dream.

Is this an overly patriotic American movie? No. Not at all. In fact, you will learn more about the Mexican culture than the American culture on the face of it. But throughout the film, director Niki Caro reminds the audience that it is the immigrant mentality that built America. Not with idle expectation or by demanding rights but on the backbone of hard work, humility and a healthy dose of love and respect for family, community and yes, even God.

You will get bigger blockbusters, you will get better award-winning, fashionable movies but if you want to be reminded of what life is really about, and at the same time enjoy a strong inspirational sports movie with the ever-likeable Kevin Costner, go check out McFarland.

Noah?...ah No!

Darren Aronofsky's Noah was released today. Widely anticipated but with many critics cautious about its cinematic clout at the box office, the wait is over and the result is underwhelming.

Instead of a clear account of the biblical epic, we have a mish-mash of many of the Noah/Great Flood narratives from across the world. Instead of some acceptable creative license for an admittedly lean story we have, for all intents and purposes, a completely new story that cannibalizes its origin. Instead of the anticipated return of the "biblical epic", we have a part-sci-fi, part-60's nature documentary, part-silhouette puppet, part-psycho-thriller, and part-bleak apocalyptic yarn. Noah, rather than the wise, faithful, strong prophet who spoke for God, was merely a delusional psychotic. And Methuselah, reported to be the oldest living man ever to walk the face of the earth, was reduced to a comical bit-part, as a berry-picking hermit.

This movie had so many mixed messages that it was clear that either this movie was an attempt to pander to all religions and cultures, including atheists, or it was just too afraid to pick one version of the story and tell that story.
God was called "The Creator" throughout as a nod to the Aboriginals and Creationists and the message for them appeared to be that nature was in control, possibly through a creator. Darwinism and "survival of the fittest" was introduced in an attempt to pander to the scientific atheists and the message was clearly the fittest will survive and that God, if he does exist, is a killer and not to be followed but rather, ignored. There was enough mention of Judo-Christian elements to suggest they were also trying to please that base but clearly they were not the main audience as they brutalized the traditional story and for the life of me I cannot see how any one particular group can come out of this pleased with the results. I suspect the familiar, faithful Noah was made a murderous madman in an effort to create a storyline for strong women to emerge from. But in truth, even the women still end up being the subject of infanticide, are left to die and ultimately, are only secondary characters.

The cinematography is both bold and bleak, helping contrast the old world to be destroyed with the new world to emerge. The acting is acceptable but never outstanding and while if you ask an expert, the special effects would likely be described as technically superb, visually I was never really wowed. And neither the cinematography or special effects were enough to save this cinematic ark from sinking.
So you ask me - should you go see Noah.
Ah?...That's a No!.