Lady Bird (2017)

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Written by Greta Gerwig

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges and Timotheé Chalamet 

      Greta Gerwig sets out to prove to audiences that she can do more that just act for the camera, she can step foot behind it and bring an amazing story to life about a young high school girl coming of age in the early 2000's. These types of stories can normally be riddled with cliches, and fall beneath the cracks and are forgotten by movie goers, but Gerwig creates a comedic masterpiece with Lady Bird. 

     Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a high-school senior from "the other side of the tracks" growing up in Sacramento. She is always searching for more adventure and sophistication but is falling short of that dream at her Catholic high school. The movie follows Lady Bird's senior year, including participating in the school play, finding love and most importantly, applying to college. What would this teenage experience be without being perpetually angry with your condescending/loving mother though? 

     The relationship between Lady Bird and her mom (played by Laurie Metcalf) is so entertaining to watch. From the very first scene of the movie where they're bickering in the car, you know their scenes together are always gonna be ones to look forward to. The dynamic of this mother-daughter relationship that Gerwig creates is so comical yet endearing to watch. You see that Metcalf's character does everything she can to provide for her daughter, you see that she does love her but seems to only be capable of showing it through snarky remarks and stabs at her daughters intelligence. On the otherside you see Saoirse's character can snap easily at her mom and may not always see all that she does but she also is quick to defend her to other people. Ronan and Metcalf steal the show in this and both deservedly receive lots of praise from their performances. 

8/10

Logan (2017)

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by James Mangold, Scott Frank and Michael Green

Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook and Dafne Keen

     We've come a long way since Bryan Singer's 2000 X-Men movie- where we saw Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart first take on the roles of Wolverine (Logan) and Professor X (Charles Xavier). Now, 17 years later we see the two reprise their almost two decade long roles, for one last time. I couldn't help but feel sad that whole time I was watching Logan, despite how action-packed it was. It is a movie about morality, and a lesson on how we all get old. Superheroes movies get re-made all the time, and the superheroes remain the same age and have different actors playing them. Contrary to popular belief, superheroes/mutants do age, and Logan is the perfect example of that. 

     The movie is set in the distant future, 2029- and all mutants have been hunted to extinction, with the exception of a few including Logan, Professor X and the albino mutant tracker, Caliban (Stephan Merchant). This movie shows us a caregiver side of Logan, as he is taking care of a now 90-something year old Charles- with the help of Caliban. Since we've last seen the Wolverine, he has tamed down and started to lay low unlike his days in the x-men. This all begins to change as a young mutant, Laura (Dafne Keen) comes into his life. Laura is the rarest of rare, considering no new known mutants have been born in 25 years. She has been genetically engineered using the DNA from Wolverine, making him her father. It's not just the fact that Logan's daughter comes into the picture that sets his life astir- its that she is being hunted, thus dragging Logan and Charles on a man-hunt across many states to get her to safety. This sets the scene for an intense road trip which ends with an unforgettable final showdown. 

     Logan is like The Dark Knight in that it has a very dark demeanor to it. Aside from its darn nature however is a slue of intense action scenes, earning it's R rating. Seeing Wolverine fight alongside his daughter viciously in multiple scenes is very cool to watch for a Marvel fan. Seeing Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart reprise these roles for one last journey was very bitter sweet. We've seen Wolverine grow a lot in the nearly two decades he's been on the big screen. Jackman gives Logan a much more depressing, self-loathing attitude in this film. Logan holds a lot of remorse from his past, and his now bleak future of caring for the ailing Charles. This was his best portrayal of Wolverine yet. I really enjoyed seeing Patrick Stewart have a bigger independent role that wasn't a shared spotlight with Ian McKellan. Newcomer, Keen brings a lot of young energy and vivaciousness to this role. I wasn't sure about her being so young going into this, but seeing the new energy she brings to this important role changed my mind. I would love to see a spin-off involving her. 

     So, apparently an early year release for a superhero film is the way to go- as we saw with 2016's Deadpool release, and with this years Logan. This movie sets a very strong pace for the remainder of action themed movies this year, let alone superhero movies. Good luck DC. Logan is easily the best Wolverine film, and one of the best Marvel movies thus far. Marvel ended him with a huge bang. 

I give Logan an...

8/10

Lion (2016)

Directed by Garth Davis 

Written by Luke Davies (screenplay) and Saroo Brierley (adapted from his book "A Long Way Home")

Starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara and Sunny Pawar

     A breathtaking story about a young Indian boy who gets lost in the overly populated Calcutta, India- nearly a thousand miles away from his home- and his journey to find home after 20 years of living with his new family in Tasmania. Lion is adapted from the real life story of Saroo Brierley- a story in which he wrote about in his book: "A Long Way Home."

     The journey starts with 5-year old Saroo (played by Sunny Pawar) living his impoverished life in the shadow of his older brother, Guddu. The two complete chores together to help their mother, Kamla (Pryanka Bose) put food on the table. One day, Guddu informs his younger brother of his impending trip to a distant city via train, to look for work. Being a stubborn small kid who just wants to be like his older brother, Saroo insists that he must come along. After many initial rejections to this request, Guddu finally gives in and agrees to let him come along.  Along the way, the two become separated and Saroo finds himself embarking on a train to the distant Calcutta- where he doesn't know the language, the people, or even the name of the village where he is from. After spending a lot of time on the crowded streets of this Indian city, Saroo is adopted by a loving Australian couple, Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham). After growing up with this new life and new family, he has only dim memories of his life and family back in India. Once Saroo hits adulthood (now played by Dev Patel), he decided to locate his home via Google Earth, and hopefully be reunited with his mother and brother. 

     The first half of Lion is set in India with Saroo being a small child. Although the only english we get during this half of the movie is in subtitles- it is beautifully done, and I believe the best part of the film. Lion sets a very strong pace in the beginning of the movie. Seeing a child as young as Saroo all on his own in such a new, foreign territory, is heartbreaking and keeps us on the edge of our seat, waiting to find out his fate. Davis effectively captures the boys confusion and fear over being lost. I wasn't quite ready for the transition to adult Saroo, considering how adorable the young version of him is- but the handsome Dev Patel made that a bit easier. The second half of the movie wasn't as great as the first unfortunately. Granted there is a 20 year difference between he two parts of the film, I just felt the second half lost some momentum from the climatic first half. The story in the second half lacks the intensity from the first, and the character is less interesting as an adult. That is to say nothing bad about Patel's performance, however. 

     Patel and Pawar both play such different performances of the same character but both do an incredible job. This is the first role for Sunny Pawar, and he barely speaks any english- so to see him take on this powerful role was great. Aside from these two actors, the few supporting roles in this film are very limited. Rooney Mara plays Saroo's girlfriend, and really didn't have enough screen time for me to form an opinion on her performance. Kidman also had limited screen time but played a powerful role. She was hand-picked by the real life Sue Brierley to play this role. She already had the accent even! Patel and Kidman both scored oscar nominations for this film, as they deserved. 

     Lion is an amazing tale that for Davis and the cast, was much anticipated to tell. Davis shot footage for a "60 minutes" special on the story of Saroo- and that footage can be seen at the end of the film. Patel really immersed himself in the history of his character in order to play him to the best of his abilities. That is what I like so much about this film- the determination behind the makers to bring it life. 

I give Lion a... 

7/10

La La Land (2016)

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Written by Damien Chazelle 

Starring Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, J.K. Simmons and John Legend

     I wanna start off by saying that I am not the biggest fan of musicals whatsoever- but with all the buzz over this film I decided to take the leap. Chazelle's beautiful modern day musical surpassed my expectations. With the director's past triumph (2014's Whiplash) and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as leads, how could it not be doomed for major success. 

     Set in Los Angeles- the city of hopes and dreams; we meet aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone) and jazz pianist, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling). The two first meet after an extensive highway scene musical number, in a special circumstance. They continue running into each other after that which deems us all to believe it is fate that they be together.

      As the movie progresses it starts to feel like an homage to classical hollywood films and musicals. With the set design, costumes and the beautifully crafted score of the film- I felt like I was watching a musical from the golden age of film. I was reminded constantly this wasn't a film from the 20th century as the characters were driving in Prius's and talking on iPhones. The musical numbers in this film were spectacular. They fit in perfectly with the flow of the story. The expertly shot musical scenes never took away from the brilliant story of Sebastian and Mia. They aided in telling the budding love story between the two artists. They were visual spectacles to watch- with amazing choreography and a sea of colors. It was very fun to watch while being very aesthetically and audibly pleasing. 

     Aside from the extravagant yet not overdone musical numbers- Sebastian and Mia's story is what captivated me. Sebastian being a starving jazz musician, trying to keep the genre alive. Mia being an aspiring actress jumping from audition to audition. They were both real, genuine people facing struggle, and that made them very relatable. Their relationship was very genuine and they were constantly assisting each other in their ambitions. 

     The chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is everlasting. I already loved the pair after the romantic comedy, Crazy, Stupid Love- so to see the on-screen duo triumph in this film was no surprise. However, they bring an extra to the table this time around. Showing they are more than just a comical duo with amazing chemistry. Gosling showed us he can sing, dance and play the piano. While Stone demonstrated her strong singing (especially in the song, "Audition). The dynamic duo bring a level of class to their roles along with some comical scenes on top of the romance. Individually, they were amazing as well. Gosling showed levels of talent we didn't know we had while also playing a character with charm and confidence. Stone exudes a similar level of charm while also showing some raw emotion over the constant rejection she faces. Both amazing. Both deserving of the Academy Award. 

     La La Land is amazing. A brilliant storyline heightened by very pleasing music (I can't stop singing "City of Stars"). A musical journey everyone needs to take regardless of your opinion on films involving song and dance. 

I give La La Land a...

8/10