Tag: Steven Spielberg

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Arts

Movie review: Ready Player One turns brain games mindless

In Ready Player One, starring Tye Sheridan, the death of Oasis creator James Halliday spurs gunters on a virtual Easter egg hunt where pop culture riddles hold the key to the game’s ultimate prize. Courtesy Warner Bros.

Before we get into just how much Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One misses the mark, it’s worth noting that its badness has nothing to do with video games and the people who enjoy them. Critics often come down harder on movies about subcultures they disapprove of or simply haven’t taken the time to understand, which will no doubt happen here. There are good stories to be found in the world of gaming, and liking or disliking games should not be used as a defining character trait.

What kills Ready Player One is twofold. On the one hand, there are the same sorts of problems that would kill any movie: dead-end narrative, uninteresting and often unlikable hero, dangling plot and thematic threads and a pervasive feeling of who cares? that permeates every puzzle, action sequence, pop culture reference and character interaction. On the other hand is its posturing as the most mainstream representation of what games mean to those who play them, when in fact it’s not much more than a series of overwrought references and lifeless cameos from games and movies applied in a way that perpetuates the idea that there is a right way to watch movies and play games. For what is supposedly a statement of pride in gaming culture, it’s surprisingly exclusionary and paints a picture of itself that is not particularly flattering.

Ready Player One
PG-13, 139 minutes
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinema

The story follows Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), a kid (or teen, or adult, who’s to say?) who, like most of the people in the world at this point, spends most of his time inside a virtual universe known as the Oasis, the creation of legendary game designer James Halliday (Mark Rylance, easily the film’s highlight). After Halliday’s death, he sends out a living will in which he reveals that he has hidden an Easter egg in the Oasis, which can be found after discovering three keys, the location of which are described in mysterious riddles. Whoever finds the egg first will inherit his share of the Oasis, valued in the trillions.

Detailed dissection of the minutiae of Halliday’s life and interests becomes a worldwide obsession in order to better understand the clues, which is convenient since everybody in 2045 apparently has the same encyclopedic fixation on pop culture from the 1970s through the 1990s. Wade—in the form of his avatar, Parzival—and his friends find themselves in a race against evil corporation IOI and its CEO, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), to solve the mystery of Halliday’s egg hunt, which all boils down to things like who knows more about The Shining.

Based on the book by Ernest Cline, who co-wrote the screenplay with Zak Penn, Spielberg’s take on the story is little more than impossibly layered references that don’t aspire to more than a grunting acknowledgment by those familiar with it. The Iron Giant is great and all, and its presence is not inherently bad, but pop culture knowledge should not be an obstacle to liking or even understanding what is going on. With so many chaotic cameos and references that have nothing to do with each other, it’s like Finnegans Wake of the game world, if James Joyce pounded Monster Energy instead of booze.

Spielberg has been on a massive hot streak for almost a decade, making some of his most interesting, thought-provoking work 40 years into an already storied career. Yet it seems that the closer he feels to the subject matter, the less empowered he feels to take it somewhere interesting. There was a dead-end Jaws joke in the appropriately forgotten 1941, which is echoed here with a Jurassic Park gag. It would still be a bad movie even if it weren’t patting itself on the back for its knowledge of what movie or game came out what year and what the best way to consume it is, but the fact that it has no idea what to do with it all makes a pointless exercise into a headache-inducing one.

Playing this week

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
377 Merchant Walk Sq., 326-5056

A Wrinkle in Time, Black Panther, The Death of Stalin, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Labyrinth, Pacific Rim Uprising, Sherlock Gnomes

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

A Wrinkle in Time, Black Panther, God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, I Can Only Imagine, Love, Simon, Midnight Sun, Pacific Rim Uprising, Sherlock Gnomes, Tomb Raider, Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, Unsane

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

A Wrinkle in Time, Annihilation, Black Panther, The China Hustle, The Death of Stalin, Game Night, Love, Simon, Pacific Rim Uprising, Sherlock Gnomes, Tomb Raider, Unsane

Categories
Arts

Movie review: The Post triumphs with a truth-seeking narrative

Steven Spielberg directs Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in The Post, a riveting look at politics inside and outside of the WaPo newsroom. Courtesy 20th Century Fox

Alfred Hitchcock once noted that Steven Spielberg “is the first one of us who doesn’t see the proscenium arch,” referring to his ability to expand the visual and metaphorical limits of what could be displayed on a screen. The late-career political films of Spielberg would already be remarkable on their own terms, even if they weren’t the work of one of cinema’s most famous and defining voices. Lincoln was an on-the-nose, yet clever examination of political obstructionism against the struggle for progress. Bridge of Spies was released amid a growing tide of isolationism among many Americans, and the film explores the depths of the Cold War, when that sentiment ran deep, while taking a step back from the notion of good guys versus bad to focus on shared human values.

Now with The Post recounting the fight to release the groundbreaking Pentagon Papers—in a post-truth age—we see that Spielberg, the man who helped define the modern blockbuster, has more than crowd-pleasing on his mind.

The Post
PG–13, 115 minutes
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX, Violet Crown Cinemas

The Post stars Meryl Streep as Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee. Both are facing the pressure of lagging sales and the lack of good leads. Bradlee is the sort of fire-spitting warrior who will burn the place to the ground in pursuit of the truth, a position at odds with Graham, who grew up in high society and maintains friendships with powerful people whose truth needs pursuing.

Upon learning that former defense department analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) has a treasure trove of documents revealing that the U.S. government had been lying to the public about its involvement in the Vietnam War, seeking validity for the Post becomes a battle for the very soul of journalism. The story cannot go unpublished, yet it is not a straight line from acquiring information to printing it. Graham’s relationship with Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood), her responsibility to her shareholders and the possible legal blowback that would sink the whole business stand in the way.

As with his previous historical dramas, Spielberg creates an incredible atmosphere that is as much a part of the story as the narrative. Graham took control of the paper following her husband’s suicide; that fact, combined with routinely being the only woman in stockholder meetings, means she is marginalized at an institution that supposedly belongs to her. Streep delivers an excellent performance, as her character navigates how to best live up to her role and her values while carrying the weight of a lifetime in the shadow of powerful men. Bradlee’s truth-to-power credentials are also challenged, as he is confronted with his past friendship with John F. Kennedy, who, as president, Bradlee ought to have challenged.

It is easy to pass judgment on historical figures who appear either brave or cowardly in retrospect. It is another thing entirely to be in the moment, balancing every factor with no knowledge of the outcome. Every decision that we now recognize as right or wrong needed to be made in real time by real people with personal strengths and weaknesses. So what is it like to be that person? The Post explores this question and more while making inspiring and troubling parallels to the present day, and is one of 2017’s best films, as well as perhaps Spielberg’s bravest.

Playing this week

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
377 Merchant Walk Sq., 326-5056

The Greatest Showman, I, Tonya, Molly’s Game, Paddington 2, Magnolia, The Shape of Water, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Zombi 3

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213

All the Money in the World, Coco, The Commuter, Darkest Hour, Ferdinand, The Greatest Showman, Insidious: The Last Key, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Molly’s Game, Paddington 2, Pitch Perfect 3, Proud Mary, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wonder

Violet Crown Cinema
200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000

The Commuter, Darkest Hour, The Greatest Showman, I, Tonya, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Molly’s Game, The Shape of Water, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Categories
Arts

Film review: Spielberg lends his midas touch to The BFG

uby Barnhill and Mark Rylance join forces with Steven Spielberg and Disney to make The BFG a gorgeous, fantastic journey. Photo courtesy of Disney.

Though his name is practically synonymous with groundbreaking artistic vision, Steven Spielberg’s second wind may just be his greatest, most unprecedented achievement yet. After Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—the perfunctory sequel in which it was clear that all returning parties were running on autopilot with little personal investment in the result—Spielberg took an uncharacteristic three-year break, returning with a pair of energetic passion projects in the same year, 2011’s War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Since then, he has helmed two of the most intelligent political docudramas in recent memory, Lincoln and Bridge of Spies.

Related Links: How local talent and the Virginia film industry made Spielberg’s blockbuster possible 

It’s in this vein that Spielberg’s adaptation of The BFG, as far as CG family movies based on preexisting properties go, is better than one might expect, even if it cannot help being dragged down by conventionality. Based on the beloved Roald Dahl book, The BFG tells the story of Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), a 10-year-old orphan who is whisked away by the eponymous Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance) after she spots him late at night sneaking through the streets of London. The BFG and Sophie are a perfect pair and learn from one another: The giant collects dreams while Sophie is an insomniac who has never had one, and Sophie is happy to give the BFG lessons in proper speech and etiquette. Meanwhile, the giant—a vegetarian who befriends Sophie instead of eating her—finds himself at odds with his cannibalistic brethren who are in hot pursuit after detecting her scent.

The BFG is first and foremost a visual delight. The days of the uncanny valley are behind us, and the motion-capture performance by Rylance is grounded and vulnerable, conveying as much emotion as most live-action actors. The other giants, led by “Flight of the Conchords”’ Jemaine Clement, range from cartoonish to terrifyingly real, and are always a marvel to behold.

When it comes to the story and the characters, Disney’s brand is a much stronger presence than Spielberg’s, resulting in an above-average product for the studio and a perfectly respectable film from the veteran director, even if it aims lower than his recent output. Though Spielberg is possibly the last person on Earth one might think of as underrated, it cannot be stressed enough how inventive he can be when given unlimited resources to make exactly the movie he wants.

Many reviews have compared The BFG to E.T., which was probably inevitable given the similar premise: a child who feels forgotten befriends an otherworldly creature with magical powers and proves the skeptics wrong. This connection has been made in some promotional materials for the film, which is unfortunate, because it only suffers from the comparison. E.T. was Spielberg’s childhood dream come true, the manifestation of an escapist fantasy he’d had his entire life, so The BFG never stood a chance of being anywhere near as good.

The BFG may be remembered more for its technological strengths than its emotional resonance, and it is unlikely to have the same sort of cultural longevity as the novel from which it was adapted. But despite never achieving greatness, The BFG is a loving adaptation by the world’s most accomplished filmmaker who has never forgotten what he wanted to see on the screen as a child.

Playing this week  

Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX

The Shops at Stonefield, 244-3213.

Central Intelligence

 The Conjuring 2

Finding Dory

Free State of Jones

 Independence Day: Resurgence

 The Legend of Tarzan

 Now You See Me 2

 The Purge: Election Year

 The Shallows 

Violet Crown Cinema

200 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 529-3000.

Central Intelligence

Finding Dory

Free State of Jones

Independence Day: Resurgence

The Legend of Tarzan

The Lobster

Love & Friendship

The Man Who Knew Infinity

Our Kind of Traitor

The Shallows

Swiss Army Man