Thumbnails Jul 18

by Tony Medley

Adrift (9/10): Told with flashbacks is the remarkable story of Tammy Oldham Ashcraft in accomplishing a feat rivaling what Capt. Bligh did after being thrown off The Bounty, travelling over thousands of miles to safety in a severely disabled sailboat. But she was a woman and a relatively inexperienced sailor, while Bligh was the captain of the ship. Highlighted by spectacular special effects and beautiful cinematography, this is a highly entertaining film that is tense throughout. Watch for the twist at the end; many viewers have missed it.

Leave No Trace (9/10): Director Debra Granik’s last film was the surprise stunner Winter’s Bone (2010) that introduced the world to Jennifer Lawrence as a backwoods girl. This time she introduces us to Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in her debut, and McKenzie gives a performance that is the equal of the aforementioned Ms. Lawrence. Based on a true story of a man and his daughter who had been living in a nature preserve outside of Portland, Oregon, for four years, McKenzie and Ben Foster capture the love between father and daughter, the trust that she puts in him, and the strains that can be created as the daughter grows and matures. Winter’s Bone was a surprise stunner. So is this. Granik needs to make more than one film every 8 years.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (9/10): Four years after the last film ended with the dinosaur theme park closed down, an erupting volcano threatens all the surviving dinosaurs, so Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return to try to save them. Naturally there is a caitiff (a deliciously evil Rafe Spall) who wants to sell all of them to make millions of dollars, including a man-made one, the Indoraptor, called the most deadly creature to ever walk the planet. This is yet another action-packed sequel in the series with exquisite special effects, wonderful shots of an erupting volcano, which if seen in high definition large screen IMAX are captivating, and filled with various types of dinosaurs that couldn’t possibly look more lifelike. I have liked every one of these, and this is no exception.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (9/10): In a sequel much better than the first, which had a lot of problems with cohesion and comprehension, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro return to fight the drug wars. Fortunately, they have a new director, Stefano Sollima, who has created a film that makes sense, and is brimming with tension and action. Del Toro and young Isabela Moner, who plays the 12-year-old daughter of one the cartel’s bosses, give outstanding performances.

Under the Tree (8/10): A dispute between two families about a tree becomes a morality tale of revenge with the point that it is often better to turn the other cheek and let things roll off your back, to mix aphorisms. One irrational act is put upon another, each escalating things from the last. Brilliantly directed by Sigrídur Sigurpálsdóttir Scheving from a script by him and Huldar Breiðfjörð, this has terrific pace highlighted by fine acting. In Icelandic.

TAG (3/10): While this is based on a true story, inspired by a 2013 “Wall Street Journal” article entitled “It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being It” by Russell Adams, and trumpeted on a CBS Sunday Morning show, director Jeff Tomsic and writers Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen have taken a heart-warming story of friendship and camaraderie that continued for years, and perverted it with over-the-top segments that rob it of much of its charm. Contrary to its genesis, it’s a movie of starkly common taste that has both women stars spouting one F-bomb after another continuing a Hollywood trend picturing women as just “one of the guys.” Similar agitprop is evident in that one of the members of the real group is a Catholic priest. That character was excised, and the only reason had to be because Tomsic and the writers did not want a Catholic priest as an appealing figure in the group, despite the fact that it could present a lot of comedic possibilities.

Boundaries (1/10): This road movie is 100% populated by existentialist characters who flaunt traditional morality, tendentiously trying to disseminate its secular mores. The only thing positive about the movie is the cinematography. All the characters, even Christopher Plummer who tries his hardest with abysmally weak material, are tiresome and hackneyed; who cares?