F for Fake

Bad Influence

“You make a very funny face when you come.” 90s James Spader’s body goes crazy I’m not even looking at Rob Lowe. A decent, if not slightly underwhelming, thriller. I do have to wonder if there’s a better film in here somewhere because there are a lot of cool pieces here, they just unfortunately don’t quite fit together.

Michael

How does one begin to even broach the figure that is Michael Jackson? A biopic about his life, if done well, is sure to be equal parts thrilling, fascinating, and tragic. Jackson is the biggest, most beloved, and talented pop culture icon of the 20th century. He changed the landscape of music no less than four times in the span of 15 years. The fame, acclaim, and success that current celebrities are chasing are milestones he marked and that few have surpassed since. So, where do we start the story? How deeply do we delete into the character, into the psyche, of the King of Pop? Do we chart his path from child star to pop sensation? If so, what internal struggles did he face along the way? Do we focus on spectacle or tragedy? What about his relationships, his song writing and choreography process? Well, MICHAEL doesn’t answer any of these questions or attempt to reveal the life of the man in the mirror in any meaningful, interesting, or insightful way. If you’ve seen a music biopic before, you pretty much know how this film is going to go—especially given that his Estate is involved in producing and overseeing the story. Nothing can be controversial, nothing can be too deep or explored too much. Besides the caricature (and really, understating) of Joseph Jackson’s abuse, everything is cotton candy and uncomplicated. Due to this refusal to explore who the man was, the film feels very much like reading a Wikipedia article—and not even the whole thing. It’s like stopping before you get to the “Controversies” and “Death” subsections. It’s incredibly frustrating because regardless of what you make of the man’s life, the fact remains that he was and still is, larger than it. And the film does everything it can to make him seem small. Of course, the music is sensational. That was never in doubt. I had to physically restrain myself when I started hearing the Wanna Be Startin’ Something instrumental. Like, my god. Quincy Jones—who is barely in the movie, was a fucking GENIUS. Would have loved to see more of their collaboration process, but again, the film is desperate to isolate Michael from everything that made him fascinating. We don’t even get a mention of him acting in the Wiz, which is odd, since the film goes out of its way to highlight that Oz is one of his favorite books. So of course, we also don’t get any Diana Ross—who was edited out. Which tracts, since the editing is chopped as hell. Edited by two different people and confused even further with reshoots and last minute mandates. So unfortunately what we’re left with is what gay guys like to call “Music Video Night”. Which…isn’t entirely undesirable. My theater had a great time people were dancing during the credits and doing splits. So if you’re a fan of the music and can tolerate the mediocrity of…everything else, the film’s likely worth watching. Jafaar Jackson and Nia Long, the only actors given anything interesting to work with, are great in their roles. I actually should dock another star for skipping Smooth Criminal. Pissed me off.

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

“Don’t get too close to people, you’ll catch their dreams.” I love movies. Gosh I love movies. I don’t particularly love thismovie but I love that I got to discover this one randomly out of nowhere. Even though I didn’t know it was directed by Coppola when I picked it up, it makes complete sense— this era of Coppola (late80s-mid90s) is under appreciated. Jack was one of my favorite films growing up, before I even knew what a director was. Tucker felt very familiar to me because of that. Usually biopics bore me to tears but this one…it interested me, to say the least. Bridges is spectacular and his portrayal of Tucker is incredibly vivid. There’s a sentimentality to the narrative, a hopeful chord that feels so uniquely Coppola. A belief in innovation, in aspiring for better, striving for something new.Even if the world is against you, never let that stop you from reaching towards the future. Also, those cars were fire, I can see why the competition was hating.

Twixt

"In my restless dreams, I see that town. Silent Hill.”

The Rainmaker

“Sworn in by a fool and vouched for by a scoundrel. I'm a lawyer at last.” No doubt Luigi Mangione’s favorite film.

The Thin Blue Line

“Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man. It takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man.” Powerhouse filmmaking. Quite literally asTHE THIN BLUE LINE was instrumental in securing the release of an innocent man. An innocent man who then went onto become an activist and an advocate for criminal justice reform. Make no mistake, the “system” we abide by in America was in desperate need of reconstruction then, and it still is now. Particularly when we think about the death penalty—an inhumane, contemptuous, and most importantly ineffective mode of punishment. As someone whose field of study was criminal justice, and more specifically, forensic psychology, it’s always been clear to me that cases like Randall Adams’ are far too frequent and pervasive in our society. Innocent people are wrongfully convicted every day. This is because the Feds involved aren’t truly invested in the truth, justice or reform, but convenience and punishment to satiate the appetites of their constituents and those in power above them. Especially when the crimes the defendants are accused of are particularly sensational. All reason is abandoned to obtain a conviction. What Morris did here with his documentary is nothing short of a miracle and the perfect illustration of the structural and institutional corruption that lies within the heart of our government. How he decides to edit and piece meal the information to the viewer, the staged murdered constantly changing based on who is recounting their stories, the illustration of the ineptitude of the state and how the crux of their case relied heavily on biased and false testimony…sicko mode shit. Should be mandatory viewing for anyone who believes that the death penalty is an acceptable punishment. Always remember kids, what you remember isn’t the truth. It’s a story you’ve told yourself. Eyewitness testimony is almost never accurate and if I were the defense attorney I’d tell the prosecution to get that weak shit off my track.

Detachment

“You may see me, but I’m hollow.” An hour and a half of “Let’s all just die.”

Hoppers

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Not sure why it’s called the SUPER MARIO GALAXY moviebut it’s alright—which is exactly what I was expecting it to be. The first movie was okay-to-fun and this one is more of the same. I don’t know, I didn’t really have any big expectations for this. I’ll probably forget about most of it soon. I’m sure the kids loved it. Fox McCloud solo when ?

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

“You have to forgive yourself. I have to forgive myself too.” As someone who watched the first and last episodes premiere live, this was a pretty good continuation for Team Avatar. Great animation, and a very strong first half. It loses steam a bit in the second half—some of the antagonists are massively underdeveloped and I felt like it needed at leastanother 20 minutes of story but the ending is satisfying and reaffirms the themes from the original series in a beautiful way. I think I would have probably preferred a 12 episode series in place of this, but I’ll take what I can get. Hopefully the animation for the new series is on this level too. Paramount deserved this leak for taking it out of theaters. Womp Womp. Oh and the voice acting was so bad I mean, wow. Just flat and boring as hell—kinda like the Netflix series!

Apollo 11

July 20, 1969. Space, the final frontier. Apollo 11—the sum of our species’ hopes, prayers, and dreams. The culmination of our collective desire to progress, to grow, to explore. To reach the very stars that have dictated so much of our lives over centuries. Beautiful archival footage here, it’s almost unbelievable how much of the landing we didn’t get to see until this documentary. Grateful someone thought to piece it all together.  On small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. And we still have more leaps to take. #ArestoMars

Wasteman

Ad Astra

A Few Good Men

“You can’t handle the truth!” Honor isn’t bestowed or given. It’s something you either have, or you do not. A FEW GOOD MEN is not just a good legal drama, but also an interesting dissection of morality. “I was just following orders.” True or not, intentions to harm aside, how many of the evil acts committed in history have been justified by saying those words? When should orders be followed, and when should we take personal responsibility and ignore said orders? Rob Reiner was a legend. Tom Cruise is one of our all time greats, and I need him.

Timecop

Paycheck

Galaxy Quest

Crime 101

Mickey Mouse Michael Mann. Liberal, liberal, liberal, liberal, liberal, happy, fun la la la—what a waste of fucking time. I am not against directors taking inspiration from the greats, from not just one of the masters of the genre,but from a pioneer of digital filmmaking. However if they do, they should probably have an understanding of the fundamentals of Mann’s work, or at least have their own original elements that make their picture strong.CRIME 101 has neither. Characters in Mann films can be distant or difficult to cipher, but they’re never boring or without purpose. When a someone in a Mann film dedicates themselves to something, be that crime, the law, or their passion. it’s not half-assed. It’s all or nothing. There’s a raw desperate energy as they search for…something. There’s nothing like that here. Characters have no interiority. They just do things because the plot dictates it. Worst of all, there’s no stakes, obstacles, or major losses. It’s toothless right up until the end. Hemsworth does a great job though. It’s nice to see him in a real movie every now and then, even if that movie is boring. Halle is good too, just wish she had more to chew on. Mark Ruffalo is here too.