Monthly Archives: January 2015

Film, Movie Reviews

Movie reviews: ‘Project Almanac,’ ‘Black Sea,’ ‘Black or White’

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Project Almanac

“Project Almanac” (PG-13) 2 1/2 stars (out of four)

Get ready to be all shook up by producer Michael Bay’s manic movie “Project Almanac,” the latest offering from MTV Films that puts the shaky in shaky cam. A first-person camera movie (a la “Cloverfield” and “Chronicle”) that’s clearly aimed at the teen demographic, “Project Almanac” would be nearly intolerable if not for its ever-fascinating  narrative about traveling back in time, and the potential repercussions those travels have on the future. In a weird way, “Project Almanac” is like “Back to the Future” with an MTV generation twist.

Jonny Weston stars as David Raskin, a brainiac Atlanta high school senior on a course to attend MIT, only if he can come up with the money to attend the prestigious institution. Looking for ideas for a scholarship presentation while rummaging through the family attic, David discovers a video from his 7th birthday party where an image of his current-day self appears in a mirror.

Investigating the bizarre occurrence, David discovers his dad worked for a secret government program and was developing a machine to make time travel possible. Together with his science nerd friends (Sam Lerner and Allen Evangelista), his sister (Amy Landecker) and the girl of his dreams (Sofia Black-D’Elia), David figures out how to make the “second chance machine” work, which enables the group to travel back in time.

But as the group discovers, the more they jump back and forth in time, the more their actions alter future events, sometimes with deadly results. Worse yet, any attempts to fix what they’ve done by going back in time again only creates other problems.

Naturally, “Project Almanac” is predictable insofar as we know that messing with history is bound to backfire on the teens. The great thing is, we have no idea how. While the narrative as a whole is a stretch, “Project Almanac” is entertaining as long as you sit back and enjoy the and ride and don’t let the movie’s inconsistencies drive you crazy.

Even though the film features a cast of unknowns and perpetually nauseous camera movements, the always spellbinding concept of time travel and rewriting history makes “Project Almanac” a worthwhile trip. The whole idea of documenting the events of the film on a smart phone video feels fitting for today’s tech-savvy generation, and the mind-bending concept is enough to hold everybody else’s attention.

While the presentation of “Project Almanac” is less than desirable, there are far worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

Reviewed in brief:

“Black Sea” (R) 3 stars (out of four)

Jude Law gives a commanding performance in “Black Sea,” a dark and gritty submarine thriller that will undoubtedly test the limits of claustrophobic moviegoers. Law stars as Robinson, a hard-nosed Scottish sub captain unceremoniously discarded by his employer after 11 dedicated years on the job. Before too long, though, Robinson is approached by a shady financier to command a bucket of bolts to the dangerous depths of the Black Sea, where rumored to be buried on a ridge is a Nazi U-boat that contains $20 million in gold.

With everyone promised an equal cut of the profit, the submarine soon turns into an underwater deathtrap as crewmembers contemplate killing one another to effectively get a bigger slice of the loot. But as vessel becomes damaged and the shocking plan behind the mission is revealed, the crewmembers have to find a way to put aside their differences if there’s any chance for survival.

Expertly directed by Kevin Macdonald, the great thing about “Black Sea” is that it’s every bit about its deeply flawed characters as it is the intense action scenes that propel the story ahead to its final destination. And while the scenarios get more ridiculous as the film enters its final act — the ending presents the most implausible scenario — “Black Sea,” despite its faults, is a pretty exciting ride.

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“Black or White” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of four)

Kevin Costner stars in and produces “Black or White,” a gutsy family drama that examines race relations in the U.S. through a custody battle for a mixed-race child between her white maternal grandfather (Costner) and black paternal grandmother (Octavia Spencer).

Costner plays Elliot, a successful Los Angeles attorney who, along with his wife (Jennifer Ehle) raised Eloise (Jillian Estelle), after their daughter died in childbirth. But after his wife’s sudden death, Elliot becomes despondent and his drinking problem worsens, so Eloise’s grandmother, Rowena (Spencer) seeks shared custody. The case becomes more intense when the Eloise’s recovering drug addict father (Andre Holland) resurfaces and claims he can now parent her full-time, even though he avoided the responsibility the girl’s entire life.

Interview: Kevin Costner talks “Black or White”

Writer-director Mike Binder unflinchingly dives into a touchy area with “Black or White” as the subject of race enters the court battle, as both sides debate which culture, effectively, would be best for Eloise to be raised in. What follows is a brutally honest discussion of race from both sides of the case, which manages to be effective without being politically correct or preachy.

For as powerful as the subject matter is, “Black or White” is hampered, oddly enough, by the film’s score, which sometimes makes it feel like a Lifetime movie. That’s too bad, because everybody in the film — from Costner and Spencer to Anthony Mackie as Rowena’s brother attorney and comedian Bill Burr in an effective, serious turn as Elliot’s law associate — bring their A-game. Whether you catch “Black or White” in theaters or eventually on the tube, it’s a film that everybody should make a point seeing.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

Film, Interviews

Interview: Kevin Costner tackles race relations with ‘Black or White’

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The last time I talked with Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor Kevin Costner was for the political satire “Swing Vote,” which was easily one of the most underrated movies in 2008. Costner not only brought heart and passion to the role of a regular Joe who was about to cast the one vote that could decide the winner of a dead-even presidential election, but he also invested his own money in the project as one of the film’s producers to see his vision through.

More than six years later, Costner has brought another impassioned project to the big screen with “Black or White,” a film that takes on, in a brutally honest way, the touchy subject of race relations as a white man and black woman vie for custody of their mixed-race granddaughter. Like “Swing Vote,” Costner felt so strongly about the narrative of “Black or White” that he dipped into his bank account again — this time to the reported tune of $9 million — to make sure the film got made.

“I really couldn’t turn my back on the film once I read the script,” Costner told me in a recent phone call from New York. “When I couldn’t get anybody else to make the film, I walked down the hall to my wife and said, ‘I have to share this story.’ I said, ‘We have to be really honest with it and not soften one word. Let’s just stay with it’ and that’s what we did.”

Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner in 'Black or White'
Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner in “Black or White” (photo: Relativity Media).

Opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, “Black or White” stars Costner as Elliot, a successful Los Angeles attorney struggling with the sudden death of his wife, Carol (Jennifer Ehle). Together the couple raised their late daughter’s young girl, Eloise (Jillian Estelle), but with Carol’s death and Elliot’s drinking problem, Eloise’s paternal grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), seeks full custody of the child.

Complicating matters is the re-emergence of Eloise’s recovering drug addicted father, Reggie (Andre Holland), who claims he is clean enough to take on parental responsibilities, and the implication by Rowena’s attorney brother, Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), that Elliot is racist.

Given ongoing debate about race relations in the U.S., Costner said he was well aware of the hot-button issue he was about to press, but said the story of “Black or White” was too compelling to back away from. As if addressing racism wasn’t tough enough, the film also confronts the issue of reverse racism, among other controversial subjects.

“I felt the film had to be made, because it felt so honest to me,” Costner said. “It felt like there were things in the script that a lot of people wanted to say and wish they could say, but don’t know how to actually articulate it. The film doesn’t pull a single punch. It’s not politically correct, but it’s not cruel. It’s actually warm. People who feel worn about by this race thing, I hope they see it. I’ve made a lot of different kinds of movies, so if I tell you I think everybody should see this, I really mean it.”

Among the subjects is something Costner believes will reverberate with audience members from the black community — a plea for a black man to stand up and take responsibility for his family instead of abandoning them and resorting to criminal activities. It comes in a compelling scene in which Jeremiah, even though he’s acting as his attorney, admonishes Reggie for his lifestyle and behavior.

“Anthony Mackie’s character really lays out his nephew with things he wanted to say as a person and for his own culture and for his own generation. He was saying, ‘Straighten up, man,'” Costner said.

Costner noted, however, that writer-director Mike Binder’s script was “even-handed,” and it required him to go to some uncomfortable places as an actor. Without question, one of the most daunting scenes came in courtroom testimony in which Elliot was forced to testify about some previous racial remarks.

“My character in that courtroom room says s— that made me think, ‘My God, I have to say this?'” Costner said. “It was a bit of miracle that it got made, and I do believe it has a chance to be a classic. I know that I was a different person after I read the screenplay, and I know, watching audiences, that people are different after seeing it.”

While Costner said he felt compelled to make the film after reading Binder’s script, the subject of race relations is something he’s wanted to put on the big screen for a long time.

“I grew up around race issues. It wasn’t around people who were angry, but people who used the N-word very casually,” said the California native, who turned 60 in mid-January. “Again, it wasn’t out anger, but more because of ignorance with jokes in the ’50s and ’60s. It’s no longer appropriate, which I’m glad to say. It’s concerned me how we’ve treated each other, so this movie goes right to the bone. Sometimes a movie can start a conversation, and this is important to me. I’ve learned a long time ago, if I treat something with importantly, chances are it will be taken that way.”

Costner well knows “Black or White” won’t be the be-all, end-all solution for race troubles in today’s society, he’s glad to have had the opportunity to make some sort of difference. Progress has been made over the years, he said, but he also believes society has a long way to go.

“My children know nothing about race, but that doesn’t mean the issues of people being marginalized and discriminated against aren’t happening every day as we speak,” Costner said. “Racism is alive and well, and we need to get hip to that. There’s progress being made, without a doubt, but there’s a whole group of people who don’t feel that. There’s a level of empathy that goes with that, but you can’t just snap your fingers and say, ‘Come on, pull yourself by your bootstraps and get over it.’ That’s a little bit unrealistic because the veil of being black in America is a heavy one.”

At the very least, Costner hopes ‘Black or White’ gives the issue more clarity as the country strives to move forward.

“We have to grow as a society. How do we do that? I don’t know. I’m not Solomon; I’m a filmmaker,” Costner said. “I thought if I were going to make a film that dealt with this, it needed to play it right to the bone.”

Books, Film, Interviews

Interview: Tim Burton photographer, writer Leah Gallo talks ‘Big Eyes: The Film, The Art’

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Director Tim Burton’s acclaimed new film “Big Eyes,” of course, tells the strange but amazing true story of famed big-eyed children paintings artist Margaret Keane created and her fight to reclaim her identity. And thanks to the sharp lens of Burton’s longtime photographer, Leah Gallo, the film and Keane’s portraits are being examined more in-depth.

New on store shelves and with online retailers Tuesday, “Big Eyes: The Film, The Art” (Titan Books) features behind-the-scenes and photographs by Gallo during the production of the film, which recently earned Golden Globe nominations for stars Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, and songwriter Lana Del Rey – and a win for Adams in the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical category. In addition, Gallo includes several of Keane’s original paintings, as well as rare, behind-the-scene photos of the artist at work.

Big Eyes Book, Leah Gallo Derek Frey
Left: ‘Big Eyes: The Art, the Film.’ Right: Leah Gallo, Derek Frey.

Gallo, a Pennsylvania native who first worked on “Sweeney Todd” in 2006 and officially started with Tim Burton Productions in London in 2008, said while companion books have been produced for all of Burton’s films since the film about “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” there was a burning creative desire to make sure “Big Eyes: The Film, The Art” made it to shelves.

“We thought ‘Big Eyes’ was a very special film, and while it’s not as fantastical as ‘Alice in Wonderland’ or ‘Dark Shadows,’ the film reflects the interesting history of Margaret Keane’s life and artwork, so there was a lot to say and show with the book,” Gallo told me in a recent call from London. “About half of the book is about the making of the movie, and the other half is her actual artwork. It’s the first time her artwork has been published since the ’60s.”

Interview: Tim Burton talks “Big Eyes”

Gallo, who previously edited and wrote “The Art of Tim Burton” (Steeles Publishing) in 2009, said “Big Eyes: The Film, The Art” was very much a “hurry up and wait” process, while she and Tim Burton Productions designer Holly Kempf need to line up a publisher and take care of other business matters. Amazingly, Gallo, who also co-edited the book with Kempf, said the production of 192-page tome was completed in a very intense two months.

Starring Adams as Margaret Keane and Christoph Waltz as her husband, Walter Keane, “Big Eyes” reveals a complicated time in Margaret’s life in the 1950s and ’60s where Walter scammed the public and art world into believing he was the creative genius behind the art of the big-eyed children, until Margaret found the courage to expose the hoax to the world.

A 10-years-in-the-making passion project for screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (who also co-wrote Burton’s “Ed Wood”), the film also stars Krysten Ritter as Margaret’s best friend DeeAnn, Danny Huston as San Francisco newspaper columnist Dick Nolan, Jason Schwartzman as a snobby art dealer and Terrence Stamp as a pompous art critic. The real Margaret Keane actually appears in cameo in the film, too, sitting on a park bench in an early scene while Adams and Waltz “paint” nearby.

“Big Eyes” once again has personal meaning for Gallo in that it’s executive produced by Derek Frey, her husband who has also been a collaborator of Burton since “Mars Attacks!” in 1996. The book captures Burton in a very unique environment that the filmmaker hasn’t visited for 20 years — a small-budgeted movie — and Frey believes the intimate atmosphere brought out something unique in the filmmaker.

“It’s probably the smallest movie Tim has ever made,” Frey told me in a separate interview. “He kept saying, ‘I’ve made a movie for this budget before, but that was “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” in 1985.’ Because of that, ‘Big Eyes’ was a very different approach for Tim as a filmmaker. It was like he cleared out of his life all the big Hollywood franchises and all the movies that came with extra baggage, like a remake or a reinterpretation, and took on something that he could make his own and run with it. I’m really glad he did it.”

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Behind the ‘Eyes’

Gallo said the book features interview excerpts from Adams and Waltz, naturally, as well as Burton, whom she sat down with on a couple different occasions to discuss the film. And while talks with Burton all the time as one of the core members of his office, interviewing him for the “Big Eyes” book was fun and unique because she discovered little tidbits of information from him that she never knew before.

“In ‘Big Eyes,’ I found out there’s a little bit of (famed Italian horror director) Mario Bava in the film. It’s subtle, but you can see it in some of the lighting, it’s really interesting,” Gallo said. “It’s fun being reminded again and again how deeply Tim thinks about things. It may not seem so obvious, but he thinks these things through a lot. There’s a lot going on in his head.”

As Gallo found out, she wasn’t the only one fascinated by the untapped corners of Burton’s mind. Among the cavalcade of creatives she interviewed that have worked with Burton on many occasions — including costume designer Colleen Atwood and composer Danny Elfman included — the common theme she encountered that was that his collaborators keep working with him because they want to access those untapped corners, too.

“Getting perspectives of Tim in the interviews really made me aware of how admired he is. It’s easy to forget that when you work with somebody every day that they’re a creative genius,” Gallo said, laughing. “And then, after interviewing people who have worked around him before who’ve been in the film business for a long time, and hearing about their awe and admiration of him and illustrating all of his creativity, it reminds me that he’s pretty great at what he does.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “Let’s Talk Movies with Tim Lammers” with Tim Matthews on KRWC-AM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on NBC affiliate KARE on the news program “KARE 11 News at 11”.

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Film, Movie Reviews

Movie reviews: ‘Mortdecai,’ ‘Still Alice,’ ‘Cake’

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Johnny Depp in 'Mortdecai'

“Mortdecai” (PG-13) 1 star (out of four)

Unless you have a high tolerance for forced comedy, “Mortdecai,” sadly, will leave you mortified.

Starring the usually great Johnny Depp in the title role, “Mortdecai” is the latest misstep in a very disastrous couple of years on the big-screen for Depp, starting with the box-office train wreck “The Lone Ranger.” Worse yet, “Transcendence” was savaged by critics last fall even though it’s not nearly as bad as everybody says it is, and the notices he earned for his brief appearance in the holiday-time musical “Into the Woods” mostly included the word “creepy.”

A crime caper that follows Charlie Mortdecai (Depp), a debonair yet shady international art dealer on the trail of a valuable Goya painting that purportedly contains the code to hidden Nazi loot, “Mortdecai” no doubt is stocked with the right talent to make the film work, but the execution of the material is dreadful.  Clearly the film aspires to be a “Pink Panther”-like comedy, but unlike those Blake Edwards-directed Peter Sellers classics, “Mortdecai” isn’t the least bit funny.

Trapped squarely in the middle of this mess is Depp.  Trying his best with a boisterous “chap-chap cheerio” accent and exaggerated physical mannerisms, Depp, unfortunately, rarely musters enough humor to bring smiles to his audience, let alone laughter, and director David Koepp’s stand-by slapstick humor merely elicits groans instead of guffaws.

As much as his attempts at humor hit the wall, Depp — who is still one of my favorite actors — should be given credit for putting on a brave face throughout the film. On the other hand, Gwyneth Paltrow, who stars as Mortdecai’s wife, is barely tolerable with her half-hearted British accent, and an over-played gag about her husband’s handlebar mustache is run into the ground throughout the film.

For what it’s worth, “Mortdecai” does have a few bright spots: Paul Bettany is admirable as Mortdecai’s oafish bodyguard, while Ewan McGregor is likable as a lovelorn British MI-5 agent whose been crushing for years on Mortdecai’s wife. Olivia Munn – who is billed as one of the leads (it’s mystifying all the roles this one-note actress is landing), instead surfaces in a small supporting role that’s about as wooden a performance as it gets.

Despite a disappointing turnout this time, Depp will no doubt be back — and his turn as crime boss Whitey Bulger at the end of 2015 can’t come soon enough.

Reviewed in brief

“Still Alice” (PG-13) 3 1/2 stars (out of four)

Best Actress Oscar nominee Julianne Moore delivers a career performance in the title role in “Still Alice,” an emotionally charged, heartbreaking family drama about a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at age 50.

While “Still Alice” covers all stages of the disease from Alice’s point-of-view, it also is powerful in the way it shows the effects Alzheimer’s has on her family — from her husband (a terrific Alec Baldwin) and his desperation to get his wife the best treatment possible; to their three children (Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parish and Kristen Stewart), who all may possibly inherit the degenerative disease at some point in their lives.

While the outcome is inevitable, “Still Alice” is still very much a life-affirming film in the way it raises awareness of the disease, and the reminder it brings to live our very unpredictable lives to the fullest.

“Cake” (R) 2 stars (out of four)

Jennifer Aniston’s career takes a dramatic turn in “Cake,” an oddly-titled, offbeat drama that’s only on the radar because of awards notices for Aniston’s makeup-less role.

Aniston stars as Claire Bennett, a dowdy divorcee whose chronic pain and mental and physical scars from a tragic accident has left her bedridden and bitter. She has a low tolerance for people and those who come into contact with her have little tolerance for her, until she befriends Roy Collins (Sam Worthington), the widow of Nina (Anna Kendrick), a fellow chronic pain sufferer who committed suicide.

“Cake” is interesting at first in the way it keeps at arm’s length the source of Claire’s sorrow, but as the plot begins to unfold, the more predictable the story gets. The tone is also strange for a film that tackles such a tragic theme, especially when the ghost of Kendrick’s character shows up time and again to talk with Claire.

 While Aniston should be lauded for exploring a dramatic role after so many so-so comedies, her turn in “Cake” is still one of the most over-rated performances of the year. For those crying out “snub” for Aniston after she missed out on the Oscar nomination last week, be happy she was as fortunate to earn a Screen Actors Guild nod for the role. She’s good in the film, but not great. At best, it’s a solid first step into more serious territory should she continue to travel in that direction.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

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