Have you seen Girls Trip?

What I like about this film overall is that it's not a "black movie." And I mean to say that this is the GET OUT of comedy. It's not a film about racial stereotypes, but it's a film that doesn't ignore them either. It's a good movie if you like raunchy comedies that deign to attempt to transcend their genre.

Think Farrelly brothers at their best meets Ice Cube at his best.

Every time it panders to the lowest common denominator with piss or penis jokes, it buys you back with a lesson about loyalty and sisterhood that comes off as genuine because it's not acknowledged until the films denouement, which is predictable, but worth it.

There's even a stupid trope about the dangers of absinthe sold in a Michael Epps cameo that's derivative, but everything in comedy is just another cue telling us when to laugh, so it's excusable or at least as excusable as when they did it in EURO TRIP. It's a hallmark of the genre of buddy trip comedies, and they do it well enough.

I think it's the only decent comedy I've seen this year, and that's sad since this country needs it so much right now. Maybe this country always needs it.

DEAR HOLLYWOOD, MORE GOOD COMEDY, PLEASE!

Everyone's Buddy-buddy Now.

I've always really enjoyed the Fast and Furious franchise. Back before everyone called movies franchises, I loved how Universal could throw together funny movies about physics-defying cars filled with action, adventure, larger-than-life dudes, and sexy ladies. If you compare it to Universal's old monster movies or MGM's monstrous musicals, which were pretty cheap to make and brought back truckloads box-office cash, you'll quickly understand why they keep making these movies and why they insist on rolling out the Mummy's bones and Dracula's carcass every few years.

But Fast and Furious refuses to take itself seriously and aims to merely entertain. I'm personally sick of comic book adaptations pretending that their stakes are high or that we should ever be taking a man in clown makeup or bat ears in earnest. And don't get me started on Star Wars. Star Wars has morphed into a hyper-serious futuristic (?) Fast and Furious franchise.

Anyway, I still love these big dumb movies about big dumb cars and big dumb guys and gratuitous booty shots of ladies whom I doubt I'll ever see at a street race. But there's one thing that bothers me.

The extremely loose force that bonds the movies' characters to one another and, indeed, the films themselves to one another is the mantra "family," and they kind of stuck a middle finger to that in this eighth outing.

Statham is one of the only action stars around young enough and charismatic enough to appear alongside the Rock and Vin Diesel, so it makes sense they'd want to keep him around for as many sequels as possible, but he Killed Han. And his brother killed Han's girlfriend. And now they're hanging out with Statham on a rooftop in New York doing their final movie prayer scene ritual. Statham's not in the family, and shoehorning him in is less believable than a Cuban crime boss helping out or a muscle car taking on a submarine or even an EMP that can kill any vehicle except for the one driving it around.

And now they're talking about making a spin-off film with the Rock and Statham going on madcap missions to catch bad guys or something. And I'll dutifully trudge my way to the cinema to see those spin-offs just as I'll slouch toward whatever horrible new direction Disney churns out for the beloved characters of my childhood.

Maybe Kylo Ren will be a good guy by the end of the latest Star Wars trilogy, paling around with Cehwbacca, and everyone will be gasping "but he killed Han!" And I'll be there saying, "yeah, but Fast and Furious did it first."

Have You Seen Birdman?

Don't know who Roland Barthes is? Don't know what a Chekhov play is? Ever hear of a tracking shot? Can't recognize a Shakespeare quote when you hear it screamed in a New York street? Well, fuck you; that's what Birdman says.

Also, fuck you if you like super hero movies or anything close to the mindless joys of summer.

Despite all that, Birdman is a sweet movie about an aging man who still dreams big and wants the women he loves to be proud of him while he regrets his transgressions against them. The characters feel real with their flaws and motivations, acted wonderfully by a great supporting cast.

It's like an English department got together and wrote an exquisite corpse of a film that turned out beautiful but can't help but howl against the mainstream... needlessly.

I loved this movie and will watch it again. But I do think the film's rallying cry against the industry that created it, posing theater against movies and high-brow against low-brow is a little loud and almost drowns out the soul of this great piece which should be a classic and just might be.

If you don't know who Roland Barthes is, by the way, good for you. French philosophy is great and all, but what good is it for you? Never heard of a Chekhov? That's cool. He's just a Russian guy who wrote a bit. Shakespeare? Shmakespeare. What's the point of knowing anything about Shakespeare?

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The fantastic illustration is by Ryan Gajda. Check him out.

Have You Seen Top Five?

Let's face it: most comedies suck. I mean, they might make us laugh, but most of them appeal to our basest tastes, filled with dick jokes and gross-out humor. There's a little of that in Top Five, but at least it has a heart, and it's charming as can be.

Remember Adam Sandler's Funny People? It's kind of like that except it's also a romantic comedy. And it feels realer in a lot of ways. Alcoholism plays a major role in the film, and it's a fair depiction of the fight against addiction, I'd say. There's some weird butt jokes that seem weirdly sex-negative and even homophobic, but it plays because the characters have all sorts of hang ups. The characters are good depictions of the contradictory efforts of Americans. "I don't care what Michelle Obama says; fry or die." Chris Rock's Andre Alan wants to be famous but only for the right things. He wants to be brave, but he's afraid to do almost anything he's already loved for. Rosario Dawson falls for duplicitous men but is a duplicitous man (it's a spoiler if I say more). Rock is surrounded by friends who want to save him but also say he's only funny when he's drunk. I'm a giant fan of contradictions within people and our culture. This film explores that.

There's even a scene where Rock pays to jump rope with kids in the street but is too afraid to jump in. Rosario ends up jumping in for him, launching her character dangerously close to MPDG territory, but she never ends up quite so manic or quite so pixie to go all in and lose the verisimilitude.

The title refers to an in-joke that owes its roots undeniably to High Fidelity (the book--let's forget the movie, shall we?). It's an answer to the question "what are your top five hip-hop musical acts?" Even Jerry Seinfeld gets his answer in with a credits cut scene.

When Adam Sandler, Whoopie Goldberg, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock are all at a strip club chatting about marriage, I just wanted a whole movie of that. In fact, I wish Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were with them. There's also a part on a subway or bus where Rock is talking about his favorite comics, saying he wished he hung out Bill Murray and could talk about him like they were friends. Seriously, there are gems all over this flick that make it rewatchable and just a down-right charmer, scenes that leave you wanting more. That's hard for a writer to do, and Chris Rock does it with casual grace.

Comedy doesn't come like this enough. This film points boldly at what the genre could offer. And I'd even go so far as to say that it shows us what a multi-cultural cast could do for our culture. This isn't a black movie or a white movie. This is an American movie, and I love it for that. In Jerry Lewis's book, he says he always wanted what Chaplin had: Pathos. He wanted to be able to tug at your heart with comedy, maybe even make you cry. Who would think Chris Rock would have it?

And if that's not enough, DMX has a cameo that is as funny as anything you'll see this year. Brilliant stuff.

If you haven't seen it, please do so in the cinema. Your dollar is your vote for more of this.

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This is the second beautiful comeback I've noticed this year. Maybe there are more. Let me know if you can think of one in the comments. I'm thinking of John Wick here. Is Sandler going to come out with something decent out of nowhere? Are we finally in a decade with good movies again? Are the studios finally as desperate as they were in the 70's and are beginning to allow our auteurs a little freedom? Let's hope so!

++++++++++++++++++++++++

My top five:

• Tupac Shakur
• Beastie Boys
• The Fugees
• Busta Rhymes
• Ice Cube

The Big Sleep (1946) - Like Marcel Proust

This has always been one of my favorite scenes in a movie. I want my life to be this. Is it too much to want a Lauren Bacall? Also, I do not care how you say Marcel Proust--neither does Marcel Proust--but I say it the way she does because there's nothing sexier than a woman who knows who Marcel Proust is and compares you to him.

And do you know who wrote this screenplay? William Fucking Faulkner. There were co-writers, but who cares about them? I mean, William Faulkner!

I read the book in college. I chose the coolest Junior seminar: Post-war Detective Fiction. I took that class so seriously that when the professor cut books for time (this was actually not post-war), I still read and wrote about them. I even went to a tiny video rental spot on College Ave in Berkeley and asked them to create a noir section. I watched every single film they had, and there were far too many to be reasonable about it.

And if you're interested, there's this gem which was recorded in post, after they were married and the war had ended:

Have You Seen John Wick?

At its best moments, John Wick reminds you of the first Die Hard movie where a rated-R is well earned and well used and the main character is not made of steel.

Man, this was a good movie. It's what action movies should be: swift, stylized, creative violence that gets your blood going. Add a decent chase in there, and you've got yourself something really hot on your hands.

John Wick is what Keanu Reaves should have been doing for the last ten years. John Wick is what the remake of the remake of Point Blank should have been. John Wick makes me think there might be hope for the action genre.

The two men who directed it are basically stunt guys who have worked with all of the great directors around these days and also worked on the Bourne movies. It feels like they just got their favorite character actors together, worked intensely on the action sequences, and let the actors do their thing. A ton of cameos and delights abound with the cast, many of whom I recognized from my favorite HBO stuff. I loved seeing them on the big screen. And you can't help but ask where Keanu has been for so long. He's better at this role than any other he's ever played.

The action is tight and smart. I actually flinched at some of the gun play and cringed at some of the hand-to-hand stuff, which for once you can actually see! I can't tell you how disappointed I was with the Bourne sequels and The Dark Night; they bragged about all the work they did on the fight scenes and then shrouded them in drums, darkness, and shaky-cam, Who knew Keanu could fight like this?

The gun play was efficient and kind of beautiful. It reminded me of Equillibrium at some points and a little of early John Woo films. Phenomenal, really!

Then, there's the cars. Big American muscle cars from various years screeching on runways, docks, and wet streets. A few Europeans thrown in there for good measure.

And lastly, I loved the way women were treated in this flick. There are no damsels or screaming threats of lady-torture. All the women are strong, even a bartender who's kind of obviously into the protagonist. There's a lady assassin who is sexy but doesn't seem to actually use that for anything. It's her confidence and air of danger that's sexy.

I need to see this thing again. Finally a smart, well-made action movie. Moar please.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl is a scary movie, and that's perfect for an October release. It keeps you on edge throughout, and it proves once again that David Fincher is a genius. He's probably the best director of our time, and there are far too many people out there who don't know his name or his body of work. That should change.

My reaction to the big reveal was infuriating. It's weird how people who say they love you can turn into horrible monsters, pragmatic destructors, who are willing to destroy themselves to hurt you. In the film, they give this villain a motive, but it isn't necessary. I knew a guy whose ex-wife broke into his house, stole his dog and everything he owned, and then emptied his bank account out of nowhere. No cheating, big fight, nothing.

Gone Girl is kind of an extreme reflection. It's the fun-house mirror of Hollywood so aptly angled by the prestidigital Fincher that makes it worthwhile. The Trent Reznor contribution shouldn't go unnoticed either. This director/scorer team-up is the best we've seen/heard since Tim Burton met Danny Elfman.

If you wait until it's out on DVD (a mistake) make sure you play it loud.

You should watch Prisoners

Great performances by everyone. Prisoners explores how a crime can turn everyone into criminals, as if demonism is something contagious, and the more the lines between right and wrong are blurred, the more evil or wrong a person becomes. 

Hugh Jackman is a survivalist nut whose kid is kidnapped by a retarded guy along with his neighbor's kid on Thanksgiving. They find the kidnapper in short order, but the cops have to let him go because of a lack of evidence. So Jackman has to go crazy and torture him until his face looks like a boxing glove.

Meanwhile there's a cop who seems like he was also abused at some point, though only a tick, a ton of tattoos, and a throw away line about being raised in a boys home are all that vaguely point at this. I guess his chosen career might also be a hint. Anyway, I'm convinced that's what the director was going for, especially since so much time is given to how other abused children grow up and how their abuse shapes who they are.

Eventually, we find, in classic noir fashion, that all of the clues, no matter how disparate, are connected, and the mystery is solved. This movie reminds me a lot of Seven. It's so intense that I was exhaling deeply after every scene, not having realized that I had been holding my breath for it all. The nods to noir are many and pretty delightful, but it's directed more like a horror movie than anything else. And it's probably the most frightening film I've watched in 2013.

I really loved this movie and would like to see it again. The Pennsylvania winter as a backdrop made everything almost black and white and more noiresque and kind of more quiet and scary. I thought it was a little weird that there were no Xmas decorations anywhere for the whole movie, and I think the contrast of everyone else still celebrating family and togetherness while this family was crumbling would have added to the anguish of the characters, but maybe that would have contributed to an audience's greater acceptance of the torture of the kidnapper. Anyway, I totally recommend seeing this one.

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The only problem I had with this movie is the person(s) responsible for the kidnapping and killing of close to twenty kids. Their Caligulan goal to turn adults into demons by stealing their children in order to wage war on god is fine I guess, but then why let a few of them go? Because they'd successfully turned them into demons? And also, why not kill the kids right away? Because you're crazy? OK, but then why drug them and make them do mazes? To make them crazy before you kill them? That doesn't make any sense. And the husband of the killing team! once he has misgivings about having killed all these kids, goes to the molester priest to give his confession? Of all the people you want guidance from as a crazy killer waging war on god by killing children, you go to the child molester priest? And how did the black kid escape? She could just run better when they were being moved? Ok, also the last maze is unsolvable, so how did the copy cat kid get away? And if you know your war on god is going to shit, why not just kill the kid and her father right away? You have a gun. Just shoot them both and bury them. Why go through the whole get in the hole while I inject your kid with poison in the house routine?

The answers to all of these questions could just be "it seemed scarier to do it the way we did it," and the filmmakers would be correct.