My thoughts on the new Dunkirk Trailer

(For my actual thoughts on the trailer itself, skip to the fourth paragraph):

Growing up, Christopher Nolan has, as a filmmaker, been a large presence in my life with films like Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the Prestige. So much style, atmosphere, and cerebral elements that stuck in my mind after leaving the theater that its always fun to talk about them. I've always looked forward to a new film of his being released but the last two releases, The Dark Knight Rises (has a number of problems but has a lot of good stuff too) and especially Interstellar (was quite ambitious in scope but rather predictable, emotionally unsatisfying, and a bit depressing in storyline) left me a bit underwhelmed.

With the upcoming Dunkirk in 2017, however, its still a bit too early to tell, but judging by the new trailer, it feels like Nolan is going to be back in full force with this one. When the project was first announced, I was so used to Nolan's films being in the crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and surrealistic genres with non-linear storytelling that I was a bit narrow minded and confused as to how he was going to approach the project. Was this going to be like a surrealistic war movie? A sci-fi time travel sort of thing? How is this going to work? He's never done a film of this genre before.

But in actuality, his previous films prove that Nolan is perfect for doing a film like Dunkirk all along because despite the surrealism, non-linearism, and off the wall action and spectacles, all of his films have had a gritty realism to them that helped ground the more fantastic elements so that they're believable. Following, Memento, and Insomnia are pure crime stories with the most fantastic elements being the background and situations of the characters,, high detail is given to the period that The Prestige takes place in with all the magical elements being explained, and the more outlandish parts left mysterious and vague but in tune with the tone and is not altogether too outlandish, Inception balances realism with fantasy into two worlds but sets things up in a way that the two can be confused, and The Dark Knight movies are gritty crime stories with Batman having the use of realistic military equipment in his work (and the easy means of obtaining them because he's a billionaire) and the villains being the most outlandish elements either because of how they're dressed or their background but their intentions and beliefs are realistic and gritty in an insane way.

Getting to the actual trailer itself (sorry about that), I'm immediately excited because as a history enthusiast, I love learning about anything from the past that I had never knew before (especially the 19th and 20th centuries and World War 2) and as a period piece, Dunkirk looks great: old, gritty, darker colors or lack there of. It looks and feels like an old fashioned war film akin to something like Saving Private Ryan or Paths of Glory. What adds to that feeling even more and makes me very excited are all the great members of the cast Nolan has collected: Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, James D'Arcy, Cillian Murphy, and Mark Rylance. I know i'm going to have a fun time just based off that. The story itself sounds great too about hundreds of thousands of soldiers being trapped under constant enemy fire and the efforts to get them out (I haven't seen that many war films before but this kind of story mixed with the tone and actors involved always makes me want to see more of them) and I'm excited to see what Nolan does with it.

I really have no problems at all with this trailer. Really I have more of a problem with some of the reactions to the trailer on Youtube (a stupid thing to complain about because its the Internet, I know, but I just have to bring these up).

Some people have said that the trailer looks boring or it does nothing for them. The latter I can get because war films, like any genre, are not for everyone (I myself have only watched certain war films because of who was involved in production rather than the actual film itself, which I need to change) but for the people bored by the trailer: Um, watch more movies and or study history. Its a true story, it takes place during one of the greatest conflicts in all of human history, and just because it might be slower, doesn't mean it will be boring. Watch the movie and let it happen to you before you complain. Not everything has to be fast and quick cut.

The other complaint I noticed was about the casting of Harry Styles from the band One Direction in the film. While I have heard a lot of negative thoughts about the band and while I'm not really a fan of the post 2000s teen pop kind of bands/musicians that have appeared, I don't know that much about the band anyway and no one has seen this guy act so I think its a little early to complain about him. For the most part, Nolan really seems to know what he is doing and I trust his judgement. He's made controversial casting choices in the past (Heath Ledger as The Joker, anyone?) and look how those have turned out. (Really, the only time/s its felt like Nolan has miscast someone has been Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises and David Oyelowo in Interstellar (but those were badly written roles to begin with anyway, so its not really their or Nolan's (from a directing standpoint) fault.

Long story short (too late), I'm loving what I'm seeing from Dunkirk so far, I'm excited to see what the future trailers show and I'll definitely be at the theaters when the film opens next year. Let me know what you thought in the comments below:

Moana

Moana is a wonderful film: Beautifully and richly animated with strong, heartfelt characters, an engaging story, toe-tapping songs and great humor.

Directed by legendary Disney artists John Musker and Ron Clements ( of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, and Treasure Planet fame), the film is about a Polynesian girl named Moana who has loved the ocean all her life and wants to go beyond her island home to explore it, but cannot due to her father's insistence that they have everything they need on the island and her time is better suited to leading their tribe. When their source of food starts to die off however, Moana must venture out and find the demigod Maui and return a magical stone he has stolen, to make things right again.

The film has a very strong cast led by newcomer Auli'i Cravalho, a wonderful actress and beautiful singer, as Moana and Dwayne Johnson as Maui, who has a lot of funny quips and one-liners, as well as a magical tattoo (that kept reminding me of the Genie from Aladdin for some reason).

The story and animation blend together wonderfully, exploring the theme of finding one's identity and true calling in life and really opening up the scope and majesty of the epic world it inhabits, which is the culture and mythology of Polynesia (bringing back happy memories of my visits to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu. If you haven't gone, I highly recommend it!). The film somehow even manages to subvert the cliches of Disney formula like joking that Moana isn't technically a princess since she's the daughter of a chief or glossing over the fact that "she is the chosen one", which is actually really refreshing. It also takes its time at telling the story, dedicating at least half an hour or so to setting everything up, but it really pays off, leaving me very satisfied emotionally.

While not as catchy as "Try Everything" from Zootopia or ear worm, can't get it out of your head inducing as "Let it Go" from Frozen, all the songs in Moana are still very strong, heartfelt and memorable, especially "How Far I'll Go" and "We Know The Way", which I've found myself listening to several times after having seen the movie (and plan to listen to listen to several more times in the following weeks).

I really have nothing negative to say about the film other than extreme nitpicks that I could easily overlook with a second viewing, although I could see these being problems for other people, like why, except for comedy relief and one brief moment during the climax, was Moana's animal sidekick a really dumb chicken? It had no significance to the plot. Other nitpicks include some of the jokes involving Maui being a little too meta, like an eye roll inducing in-joke to Twitter, a cliche that took away from Maui's arc a little bit, and least of all, some of the transitions into songs were a bit sudden.

But like I mentioned above, those negatives are extreme nitpicks that do very little if anything at all to deter the so many great positive elements of the film overall.

I definitely say see it! Disney has done it again!

4.5 Stars out of 5

Doctor Strange

Dr. Strange is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the latest to introduce a new character and new environment/world to explore during their origin story. 

Benedict Cumberbatch does a great job as the titular Doctor Steven Strange, a cocky and selfish but brilliant surgeon who eventually turns sorcerer after a car accident permanently damages his hands, as do the rest of the cast, especially Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, a nurse and Strange's ex, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, a fellow sorcerer, Tilda Swinton as Strange's teacher The Ancient One, and Mads Mikkelsen as the villain Kaecilius. All the main characters in the cast are wonderful acted and their relationships are really strong and heartfelt (there are some moments that are really sad and heart tugging) , especially the chemistry between Cumberbatch and McAdams. The majority of the character arcs are strong and effective as well.

The visuals and special effects are extremely well done and imaginative, as are the fight scenes. Unfortunately, two major elements of this movie hinder all the positive elements of the movie, preventing me from giving a higher rating: Strange's character arc and the world of the movie that the story takes place in.

With Strange's character arc, it just feels rather muddled. I was never really sure whether his arc was going from a selfish jerk to a more selfless person, finding a way to move on and find a new purpose in life after his accident, to forget everything he knew and see things in a new life, embrace death, or all of the above, because they felt all over the place, so I was never quite clear about what it wanted to say.. Not only that but, while it did show some progression of an arc (like Stephen practicing and learning these new skills, a lot of times, they felt really rushed, like I didn't know that Strange has been training for several months until a character says it, but it only feels like a few days. Then suddenly, he is thrown into a new location where he'll be ending up at the end of the film. The arc was in so many pieces that only the relationships he had with Palmer and Mordo felt emotionally earned (even the crossover during the credits felt rushed as well).

With the world that the story takes place in, I love the idea of someone exploring eastern methods of healing and spirituality (indeed Buddhism and Hinduism sound like very intriguing topics), but the film is so vague and confusing with the "other worlds, dimensions and planes of existence) element, that, when mixed with Strange's muddled character arc, I didn't find myself caring as much about the overall story as I should have, and I don't have much of a desire to see the film again. 

Maybe I will catch more details on a second viewing and if they fix these two problems while keeping the other elements strong in a sequel, then I will totally be on board. Until then though, I find this only an okay addition to the MCU and a meh addition to the origins section of the MCU library (Go to the first Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger for the absolute best of that section).

3 stars out of 5

My Thoughts on the first trailer for the 2017 Version of The Mummy

My thoughts on the new Mummy Trailer: I'll say right out that both the original 1932 Mummy and the 1999 Brendan Fraser remake are two of my favorite films; the 1932 version as classic monster horror and the Brendan Fraser version as an epically fun and old fashioned love letter to pulpy treasure hunt adventures. 

After the disastrous Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, however, I thought the Mummy as an overall series was good to put to rest and I was satisfied emotionally, thinking they had covered all their bases with the slow creepiness of the old fashioned horror in the original and the fast paced romance and adventure of the remake and even the more explicit horror of the Hammer versions.

On the same note, I love Tom Cruise and his movies like the Mission Impossible series, Edge of Tomorrow, Minority Report, and some of his early work like A Few Good Men. 

When I heard that Universal was bringing the Mummy and Tom Cruise together, though, I had to pause with some interest. Its Tom Cruise, its the Mummy, and its in modern day and played straight horror. Okay, this could be interesting. Let's wait for the trailer and check this out.

Well, the trailer has arrived and...meh?

It starts off with a well choreographed exploding airplane scene but the tone just feels off. It feels like a mixture between Mission Impossible and Transformers, with a little bit of Clive Barker thrown in (which is ironic as Barker was originally hired to work on a version of The Mummy in the early 90s before the Brendan Fraser one came out. But from what I've seen of Barker's work though, none of it comes off as "This is Ancient Egypt" to me.

There were a couple of weird sound effects in that airplane sequence though: the first being the sound of one of the pilots being hit by the locusts crashing into the windshield. I'm not sure, but wasn't that sound effect a death cry used in Goldeneye 64 from the 90s? Second, while Tom Cruise's scream is a bit weird in general, he can use it to great effect like in Mission Impossible or Edge of Tomorrow, but here? It sounded really weird. Almost forced in a way. Then again, that would make sense because Cruise has hung off the side of a plane in flight and propelled down the largest building in the world so pretending to be in a plane crash wouldn't seem that scary.

The Mummy's tomb and the Mummy herself played by Sofia Boutella, who I'm dying to see in Star Trek Beyond, have a weird tone as well with the tomb looking like something out of H.P Lovecraft rather than an Egyptian tomb, and the Mummy kind of looking like the villain from The Ring.

The film itself is meant to serve as an entry in Universal's new franchise spin on their classic Horror Monsters with all of them coming together ala The Avengers or the Justice League, which is brought up in the trailer via Russell Crowe's appearance as Dr. Jekyll. While Crowe's casting as Jekyll kind of makes sense, I can't help wondering what he'll look like as Mr. Hyde. But every time I think of that, it keeps bringing up images of the Mr. Hyde from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a bad but corny and fun (to me) film and that just comes off as really bizarre.

Then again, this is only the first trailer and I don't want to judge a book by its cover It will be interesting to see what kind of "straight horror" scares and atmosphere they bring to the film and, seeing behind the scenes footage, I could tell the cast and crew were having a great time, especially Tom Cruise, and that's usually a good sign. I've seen Cruise in some bad movies but even then, he's always entertaining and is usually the best part of a movie. Even if the movie itself is bad, I know I'll enjoy watching him in it, guarenteed.

For now, I'm being cautiously optimistic until future trailers and the actual film comes out, but for this one trailer, all I can think is "eh, I don't know about this."

The Edge of Seventeen

Its been quite a while since I've seen a film that has been able to balance the awkward, messy, raunchy, heartbreaking, and hilarious elements of a teenage life, while also portraying it with truth and realism. The Edge of Seventeen is able to do just that. You know a film has touched a human truth when its making you cringe while watching it. Indeed, all I could think during these scenes was "Its too real! Its too real!" (Probably why I haven't gone to that many teenage films over the years).

Plot-wise, the film is all about the awkwardness: All her life, Nadine, played by Hailee Steinfeld, has been uncomfortable in her own skin, dealing with the pressures of school and a troubled family life, which is especially exacerbated by an early tragedy. When her best friend and brother start developing a relationship with each other, everything in her life starts to go to pieces.

The script is incredibly jam-packed, delivering not only a lot of hilarious, quirky, and vulgar dialogue, but also moments of bitter painful emotion, that left a sting in my chest once they left the character's lips. It all feels natural and well developed. For a lack of a better word, true to life.

Hailee Steinfeld, who I was happy to see again after her great performance in True Grit, knocks it out of the park with a balanced performance of whiny selfishness and quirky warmth. She's a typical whiny selfish teenager but there's a lot more going on with her under the surface. Steinfeld has great chemistry with everyone else in the cast, especially Woody Harrelson, who gives a nice understated performance as her wisecracking history teacher, and Hayden Szeto as an awkward filmmaker classmate, who she has a sweet relationship with.

The fact the film is produced by James L Brooks, who is known for his warm and hilarious human dramedies like Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, As Good as It Gets as well as The Simpsons, is no surprise to me because it definitely feels like the kind of film he would make (I hope to check out those three films above soon as well).

On the downside, the film does have some cliched moments such as Nadine's encounter with "the boy she fantasizes from afar", which I could definitely see coming, and I wish some of the resolutions with the other characters could been done a bit stronger, but these are rather minor faults in an otherwise fantastic film.

Definitely check it out.

4 stars out of 5.