Get On Up

Can a brand new bag of tricks reinvent the rock biopic?

In his follow-up to the Academy Award-nominated blockbuster The Help, director Tate Taylor aims to defy the rocker bio-pic cliché formula with the story of James Brown. It’s a good bet; “The Hardest Working Man In Show Business” defied the music business norm for six decades.

The choices made to break out of the rise-to and fall-from stardom movie cliché ultimately affect what’s both good and bad about Get On Up.

To create energy, Tate utilized non-linear storytelling — to a fault. In the first few minutes of the film, we dash across three decades of James’ life to witness some oddly cartoonish versions of Brown’s rural childhood, visit to Vietnam and 1988 meltdown. And yikes, as a crutch, the film shows the current year on the screen in a bold font so that we can follow this madness.

However, once the story kicks in, the flashbacks are simplified and the parody performance yields to a positively electric one by Chadwick Boseman (42).

Everything starts to go right once Boseman hits the stage as Brown. Although recent biopics have had original voices, director Tate had Boseman lip-synch to the real recordings. It’s this offbeat choice that fuels the film with the funky energy of the Godfather of Soul.

Tate did the unthinkable and gave us film versions of iconic performances. Like that famous night at the Apollo, the performance after MLK’s death and the 1971 Paris concert. I felt like I was there.

Boseman is a funktastic James Brown. It’s a riveting interpretation that becomes a riveting film.

Simply put: This film doesn’t explore why James Brown was important, but it does makes you feel like you were there for everything that happened.

Award potential: You can feel good that Boseman will be considered around Oscar time. It’s as good or better than Jamie Foxx’s Ray. He, Viola Davis, Nelsan Ellis and this film will have an easier time scoring Golden Globe nods in the Comedy/Music category. Dan Aykroyd delivers another flaccid performance.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Magic In The Moonlight

For Allen, it's a lightweight. But I had a premonition that you’ll enjoy it anyway.

The most common discussion of Woody Allen’s films this Century is that there are just two kinds: masterpieces and misses. Magic In The Moonlight debunks that theory by falling somewhere in the middle. It’s a lightweight romantic film that isn’t trying to be a masterpiece.

Magic, set on the Côte d'Azur in the 1920s, stars Colin Firth as a magician and Emma Stone as a young clairvoyant. What follows is a series of magical conversations about things like spirituality, science and love. Of course, those three (sometimes) conflicting things make for good whimsical conflict.

The cinematography is elegant and the dialogue is crisp (although it is not funny like your favorite Woody Allen film is). I can imagine this film starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert; and I think that is Allen’s intent.

Simply put:  It’s not a Woody Allen comedy. It’s not a Woody Allen masterpiece. It’s simply a charming Woody Allen film.

Award potential:  Emma Stone’s character is simply too light to become one of the awarded women characters of Woody Allen.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Sex Tape

While you are at it, erase this whole movie too.

 Unless you are Woody Allen, it’s hard to make a funny movie that is based soley on sex. An image of 1988’s Casual Sex featuring Lea Thompson, Victoria Jackson and glowing condoms comes to mind, as do countless movies that show up on late night TV.

Social media, modern anxieties, “the cloud” and current Internet culture have opened the way to make a movie that turns our 2014 behaviors into the surprise comedy of the year. And loveable Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz seem like just the two people who could do that.

But they didn’t. The stars should be more embarrassed about this film than their characters were about their sex tape. Rob Lowe, the original sex tape victim and a supporting actor in this flick, will surely be more embarrassed about everyone’s performance in this movie.

Simply put: This movie is not funny. And it’s not sexy. The only one getting  f’d is the ticket-goer.

Award potential: In the running for a Razzie.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Surprise. This series has evolved.

In this second chapter of this series, a team of humans set to the jungle and find themselves in a hairy situation when they run into a pack of apes.

But James Franco is not with them. His character in Rise of The Planet of the Apes was not one of the survivors of a virus that wiped out most of the humans. So you’d think this superstar-less sequel would be a cheaper film, right?

Unlike many sequels, the studio invested more money into this film than its predessesor. I suspect that the number crunchers realized they had everything: a though-provoking story that contained action and potential for a long-term franchise.

Simply put: This is the series’ Terminator 2, not Matrix 2.

Award potential: Noms for Best Effects, Makeup, Sound and Sound Mixing seem very likely at this point in the year. Expect conversation, but not nominations, around Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), who does the motion-capture prometheus ape.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys, 2014 (Oh, What A Fright)

The story of The Four Seasons is a stellar one, which is one of the reasons why the Tony award-winning musical Jersey Boys was such a pleasant surprise and why the film version is ultimately engaging, despite its frighteningly lackluster production.

The other reason is, of course, the music. In both cases, Frankie Valli is played by talented sound-alike John Lloyd Young. And he’s great.

When director Clint Eastwood just lets the music play, it works. But the full film looks dark, is filled with stereotypes and at times, very flat. Why make a movie version when the sets look like a stage and the characters talk to camera?

Simply put: I can fully recommend the play, but I can only give this a mild recommendation.

Award potential: Nothing.

The ten buck review: Stay for the credits and it’s worth ten bucks.

Chef/Begin Again: Two Reviews In One

This summer’s feel-good film, (Chef/Begin Again) from indie film favorite director John (Favreau/ Carney) is hardly an indie; the cast includes Hollywood A-listers (John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara/Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley), and the storyline is implausibly perfect.

I enjoyed this film but couldn’t help escape the feeling that the team was trying to recapture the spirit of their great (1990s/2000s) low budget gem (Swingers/Once). The tone just feels odd for 2014. And it doesn’t help that they chose the tired (food/music) genre.

Although the movie seems to be about (food/music), it’s really a casual film about estranged relationships and nothing deeper than that. Casting probably kept this film from going there. While I enjoyed every scene with (Vergara, Knightley), she was just too Hollywood-famous and gorgeous for the grit we needed. For a story that preached about authenticity, this film is ironically too slick to go there.

(Chef’s/Begin Again’s) soundtrack is the redeeming grace. You’ll smile a lot in the theater as the story plays out and the music plays on. It’s a fun (1 hour 40 minutes/1 hour 55 minutes). I just don’t think they’ll make this one again in (ten/twenty) years. 

Simply put: (Movie comfort food/A pop hit) that the whole family will enjoy. 

Award potential: It’s a stellar cast with everyone performing just right for a light film, but nothing more. 

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks (between the two).

Tammy

A road trip comedy that doesn’t go anywhere

Melissa McCarthy sure knows how to surround herself with talent. But she still hasn’t figured out how to surround herself with good scripts.

She is effortlessly appealing and her physical comedy is superbly funny, but it’s obviously tough to build a satisfying two-hour movie around that — even when you add a stellar cast.

Tammy starts out as a wildly funny rebellion movie as McCarthy’s wheels-off character takes on her world. That tone might have been a better movie than what follows.

As the story proceeds, Melissa McCarthy (Tammy) and Susan Sarandon (Grandma) pair up and pack their bags for a road-trip comedy that really doesn’t go anywhere.

The comedy also features Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Duplass, Toni Collette, Allison Janney and Nat Faxon.

By the time those last three co-stars appear onscreen, I wished that I was watching them in last summer’s charming The Way, Way Back instead of this unsatisfying summer film.

Simply put: McCarthy is always the best thing about her movies. That’s not a compliment.

Award potential: None, of course.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.