Though Disney’s live-action adaptations of their traditional animated stories have been a mixed bag so far, Jon Favreau and company have delivered a surprising gem in The Jungle Book. Like other adaptations, this film is certainly a re-make of the original and contains many of the same thematic elements, but some unique nuances add a great deal to the overall quality of the film. Though the movie is not without its faults, it is vastly superior to the animated version from 1967 in almost every way: it has a stronger sense of character development, a more coherent plot-theme, and even sports higher-quality animation. This is hands-down the best of Disney’s recent live-action adaptations.
Drama
“The Lobster”: A Sardonic Defense of Romantic Choice
The very best satire establishes absurdity as commonplace, and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ first English-language feature film The Lobster is a fascinating example. Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, this dark romantic comedy imagines a dystopia where single people are sent to a hotel and given 45 days to find a new partner. Should they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into the wild. Some attendees don’t wait that long, and escape into the bordering forest to live in a kind of fugitive singleness. The Lobster viciously jests through this dichotomy, exploring the nature of relationships and how societal pressures can paradoxically be the cause of both settling and celibacy.
“The Silence of the Lambs” Script Analysis: Scene-by-Scene Breakdown
Over the last week, GoIntoTheStory.com has been walking through a script analysis of The Silence of the Lambs based on a scene-by-scene breakdown that I wrote. I have decided to re-produce that breakdown in its entirety here, and provide a link to the rest of the script analysis near the end of this piece. The goal here is to summarize the entire script scene by scene, which will make further analyses easier. Enjoy!
Taika Waititi’s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” is a Coming-of-Age Farce with Genuine Heart
Wisconsin Film Festival Opening Night
New Zealand director Taika Waititi has created a magnificently funny coming-of-age film in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Most known for the HBO series Flight of the Conchords and the mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, Waititi has also directed more standard narrative-based films like Boy and Eagle vs. Shark. Hunt for the Wilderpeople falls in this category, as it tells the story of an orphan named Ricky being introduced to a new foster family on the edge of the New Zealand bush.
“The End of the Tour” Gives Us a Great David Foster Wallace, and a Solid Conversation
On September 12th, 2008, novelist David Foster Wallace committed suicide. Most famous for his seminal novel Infinite Jest, Wallace’s death reverberated throughout the literary community. Fellow writer David Lipsky reels at this news, as Lipsky had interviewed Wallace for Rolling Stone over a period of twelve days at the end of Wallace’s book tour for Infinite Jest. James Ponsoldt’s The End of the Tour begins here, with Lipsky unearthing the shelved tapes from these interviews in an effort to revisit “the best conversation [he’s] ever had”.
“Room” – A Haunted Celebration of Trauma and Flourishing
Lenny Abrahamson’s Room rewards a naïve viewer. The film doles out exposition in a precise and practiced manner, and trusts in the intellect of the viewer to recognize important subtleties. Suffice to say that if you are still in the dark and curious about the contents of Room, and you wish to experience the full weight of the masterful construction of its narrative, I must recommend you watch the film before continuing with this review. For those of you who have seen the film, know its basic plot structure secondhand, or just plum don’t care about spoilers, I welcome you to continue on with my review of one of the five best films of 2015, and one of the most life-affirming films released in recent memory.
“Eddie the Eagle” Succeeds in Theme, But Hits Too-Familiar Story Points
The underdog is an established trope in the sports film, but it is rare that the underdog is celebrated for merely his effort. Most of these kinds of stories focus on an under-appreciated team or person punching way above their weight class and de-throning the champion in a show of heart and determination. But, there are iconic examples of this kind of story where the victory is not the focus of the protagonist. Instead, the thematic elements are born from the characters showing the courage to compete against titanic odds. Examples of this kind of film range from the original Rocky and Bad News Bears, to true-life versions like Cool Runnings. Dexter Fletcher’s Eddie the Eagle is most similar in both plot and theme to the Jamaican bobsled film from 1993, but flirts with approaching the subject with a too-heavy hand in critical moments.
“The VVitch” Capitalizes on the Style of a Period Piece to Spin a Horrifying Yarn of Yesteryear
Robert Eggers’ horror darling from last year’s Sundance Film Festival begins with an unassuming title card in an archaic script: The VVitch – A New-England Folktale. The simplicity of this title belies the overwhelming terror that will unfold over the brisk 90 minute runtime of the film, yet also masterfully portends the ultimate conclusion. Through a studied accumulation of primary source materials, astounding performances from actors young, old, and animal, and a keen directorial eye, Eggers has reached back into yesteryear and delivered a bone-chilling campfire story in the guise of a period piece. Any audience with the patience – and courage – to indulge in his fantasy will be justly rewarded.
“Dope”: The High-Tech Screwball Noir
Writer and director Rick Famuyiwa opens his film Dope with a clear homage to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Both films begin with a title card sporting definitions of the film’s title. Three definitions unveil:
- noun: a drug taken illegally for recreational purposes
- noun: a stupid person
- slang: excellent. Used as a generalized term of approval
dope
“Hail, Caesar!”: The Zany Slices of an Incomplete Pie
Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted a peculiar ode to old Hollywood in Hail, Caesar! The principal protagonist in the film is Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a producer and “fixer” tasked with making sure that everything runs smoothly at Capitol Pictures. He hops from fire to fire, and along the way gives us a haphazard overview of the Hollywood studio system by visiting the sets of different pictures. While different threads of his life entwine together into a coherent story by the end of the film, particular elements fail or succeed largely on the merits of the superb supporting cast of characters. Regardless, moments of hilarity exist in this mish-mash of tone and style, and the worst sin Hail, Caesar! can be accused of is failing to synthesize its zany parts into a cohesive whole.