John Wick

Dust off your Matrix sunglasses, Keanu is back and he is pissed. Not sure if he is pissed because he turned 50 or because someone killed his puppy. John Wick is a retired assassin who worked for the Russian mob and is reluctantly pulled back into the game to settle a score. This movie is a throwback to the simplicity of the Spaghetti Westerns where Clint Eastwood let hot lead do his talking. John does not say much either and he uses a lot of lead among other things. This movie is focused and efficient. There are no distracting side plots.

Keanu Reeves plays Wick like a video game hit man. He is a dispassionate cold killer who is impeccably dressed in twenty shades of black in an Armani suite. His killing prowess include guns, knives, cars and pencils; No. 2 pencils to be exact. The bad guys are Russians who garner no empathy. I think the Russian actors were Russian and they spoke Russian. Da.

Most of the action takes place in Manhattan, specifically the Financial District. Some of the logistics were screwy. The arches in front of the Municipal Building face Delmonico and Delmonico was transformed into a hotel for mobsters. There are plenty of car chases. John’s 1969 Mustang is stolen and his loner car is a Shelby Mustang, very cool.

Supporting actors, besides the Red Army, were John Leguizamo, William Defoe, and Ian McShane among others. None were sidekicks and their roles were well tuned for the script. I cannot recall if there was any sex in the movie but this could be the debilitations of old age on my part. There was a women in a very tight black leather outfit, but see locked nasty.

This is not a date movie. It has no redeeming social values; climate change was not mentioned once. It appeals to my inner hedonist. This is the perfect movie for adolescents and guys in their sixties, since thinking is not required.

Interstellar

 Interstellar is the much ballyhooed film of the season. Making the cover of Time magazine with its stellar stars blitzing late night shows, Interstellar has some bumps. Christopher Nolan usually deals with fantasy or comic book hero scripts is now tackling the hard science of astrophysics. Real science trumps fantasy and makes the script complex. At times I lost the tread of the movie.

 The scientific concepts in the film are not new. Wormholes, black holes, singularity and relativity theory are established theories. Einstein’s Twin Paradox (Where one twin travels into space and the other remains on earth. When the space traveler returns his earthbound twin has aged but he has not) is a main element of the script. Nolan coops these concepts into his story with Hollywood spin and gives them a veneer of newness. He could have used these tenets of cosmology for a more dramatic, even fantastic effect, in his movie.

The tenure of the film is mopey. Worldwide blight threatens life on earth (the last okra crop was lost, who cares). McConaughe and fellow astronauts are tasked with finding a habitable plant in distant galaxies. The movie runs 165 minutes (or in old man time three bathroom visits) and has some pockets of boredom. How much can you talk about the effect of time and gravity in one movie? It took almost two hours before a fist fight broke out and it was not much of a fight since they were in space suits.

The actors played their roles very well. McConaughe is a farmer/engineer/astronaut the reluctant leader of the stellar explorers. His motivation for taking the mission was the salvation of his family. I was pleasantly surprised how well Anne Hathaway handled her role. I thought she had too much glam to fit in to a space suit and get helmet hair, but she carried off the role. Regarding Jessica Chastain I cannot say anything about her role. Matt Damion plays a marooned astronaut whose space suit fit a bit too tight. With his Amish beard Casey Affleck is barely recognizable.  Michael Cain mumbles. I never complain about Hans Zimmer, the conductor, but the music was too loud (I could even hear it in the bath room) and overwrought.

Cinematically Interstellar pales compared to stunning scenes of Gravity. I expected better shots considering the expanse the space trip covered. The wormhole looked like some distant button and the black hole was some passive swirl. One of the explored plants was interesting while the other looked like a meat locker.

Towards the end of the movie Nolan resorts to his Inception bag of tricks. Now fantasy trumps science; rooms distort and phenomena abound. The movie became a bit schizophrenic; frankly this part was more interesting and fun.

I know I am whining but I expected more from Nolan and his brother.  He tried to be too true to science, which does not go well with popcorn. Nova never won an Oscar.

Calvary

Flying back to New York I saw the movie Calvary. A brilliant film. The film takes place in Ireland with an Irish cast lead by Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges and The Guard) who plays the parish priest Father James.   The village is located in Strandhill, Siligo County which is a surfing town (Irish surfing, who knew).

As all good Catholics, and the not so good ones, know Calvary is the place where Christ suffered and died on the cross. Suffering defines this village. Whether as victims or perpetrators Father James is the recipient of their vindictiveness and disillusions.  Rather than being an evangelical priest he is weighted down by the sins and ridicules of the villagers.  Whatever advice or consultation he gives them comes to naught and often returned with scorn.

 The villagers are a miserable bunch. There are fornicators, adulators, malcontents, felons and cannibals (correction one cannibal). Their divergent stories have Father James as the focal point and his attempts and failures to manage these situations make this an engaging story. The problems are divergent ranging from hopelessness to vindictive anger.

Brendan Gleeson plays Father James a subdued priest who is defeated and lacks the will to fight. His passiveness contrasts with his formidable physical presence and is a metaphor for the demise of the once powerful church. A potent symbol of demise is his church is burned down.  Gleeson plays the role pitch perfect.  His performance is sublime.

Chris O’Dowd plays the town butcher. O’Dowd usually plays the lad with the snappy witty remarks (a la Bridesmaid). Here he plays a dramatic role and is outstanding. The role is emotionally demanding and O’Dowd delivers.

All the other actors give great performances and as an ensemble their collaboration is cohesive resulting in an outstanding film. One actor of note is M. Emmet Walsh plays a writer and is friends with Father James. Walsh plays a crusty old codger and provides a bit of humor. I thought he was dead, this is why he was perfect for the role.

To see Calvary either go to On Demand or get it from Netflix (or you can take a flight somewhere). The  effort is worth it. Have faith.