Compilation: Part II

For my next trick...

The snow may not keep the mail from being delivered, but it did keep me home more than usual, like the day I spent watching Peaky Blinders. While not a film, the episodic series from Netflix and the BBC is something to see. It took three episodes before I liked Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, The Dark Knight). The second oldest man in the Shelby family, Tommy's ambition is to build a legal gambling empire, taking business even outside of Birmingham (UK, just before the 1920s). He's got an aunt, an older brother, and two younger brothers, a sister, and a lot of enemies. I didn't realize Sam Neill is Irish - I don't think I've seen him in anything since the trailer for Jurassic Park. One of Tommy's chief enemies is Neill's Inspector Campbell, barging into the neighborhood in a black bowler hat. Rife with conflict, Peaky Blinders is dramatic and violent, but a fascinating look at a culture just starting to boil. Plus, in the second season, Tom Hardy joins the cast, unrecognizable behind a bushy beard, and with a heavy accent.

For a complete change of tone, I soon found myself watching a little movie from 2009 with a long title: Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. Chris O'Dowd is probably most famous for his role in Bridesmaids, or possibly Thor; I know I last saw him in Calvary, but there's a part of me that will always see him as Roy, of The IT Crowd. In FAQ, his character's name is Ray - perhaps a reference to his breakout role. With Marc Wootton and Dean Lennox Kelly (no, I'd never heard of them either), the three friends happen upon a time leak - in the men's room of a local pub. It's like a Simon Pegg movie he wrote after watching Doctor Who in his adolescent years. Has this been sitting in a filing cabinet somewhere, and only just got produced? Still, it's a good time, and lots more entertaining than Pegg's last few duds. (Sorry, mate.) Anna Faris plays Cassie, time traveler from the future, trying to help Roy make everything right. It plays like a pretty low-budget science fiction movie - maybe something George McFly penned...

I turned next to a more lighthearted caper: Muppets Most Wanted. The last Muppet revival was charming, if forgettable - this second "new" Muppets movie was much more entertaining. An evil Kermit-doppleganger, Ricky Gervais as "Badguy," and Tina Fey as a guard at a Russian gulag, and Ty Burrell as a French Inspector? Let's start the show, indeed. It did take me a while to recognize the new Muppet, introduced in the last movie, but kids starting with the new films probably didn't have that issue. And even so - it's hardly important enough to detract from the fun.

Even before my globe-trotting Muppets adventure, I visited Ireland on film. Fun and crime also came together to create the unusual dramedy The Guard. Starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, an Irish police officer and American FBI agent have to set aside their differences to solve a murder, and catch a band of drug dealers (including Mark Strong). It's a dark comedy, with characters that offend, and Cheadle had to play straight man to Gleeson's absurdity, making it feel like a twisted, Irish version of Lethal Weapon. Don't get me wrong: John Michael McDonagh's screenplay is highly original, and he's more than capable as a director. It's a film I enjoyed very much, but I know I can only recommend it to a certain type of viewer. For more tame viewing pleasure, check out another Brendan Gleeson title, The Grand Seduction. While not inaccurate, the title was somewhat misleading, as it actually reveals very little of the plot. A rural village in Ireland, comprised largely of men and families living on welfare checks, goes to great lengths to convince a wayward doctor to stay. If the he does, a hazardous waste recycling corporation may put a factory nearby, providing jobs to the long-unemployed townsfolk. If you liked Waking Ned Devine, The Grand Seduction is a similar vehicle. 

The Skeleton Twins was an entirely different experience altogether. Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader starred in the dramedy as siblings Maggie and Milo Dean, and while they share an aptitude for comedy, it turns out that both Wiig and Hader are each independently exceptional dramatic performers. I loved this movie. I loved Hader as Milo, and I continue to admire Wiig's versatility. Milo and Maggie are troubled in their own ways, but the siblings complement each other, and their shared past helps them understand one another in ways no one else does. Costarring in the film is Luke Wilson, whose portrayal of Maggie's husband Lance is an impression of Matthew-McConaughey; Muppets Most Wanted's Ty Burrell plays Milo's former lover, Rich. I love how it all ties together, so far...

It wasn't until this year's Oscar night that I finally watched last year's top contender, Her. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I liked the film, and by how much of it was upbeat. 2014's winner for Best Original Screenplay certainly lived up to the positive hype. I also now understand the frustration expressed by some commentators that there would be no award category for which Scarlett Johansson could be considered. On the other hand, I do wonder what it would have been like to see Her before seeing Be Right Back (season 2, episode 1 of Black Mirror). There is a kinship between the two projects - each having a human bond with a piece of technology. They do take different tactics, and at an hour, Be Right Back is half the length of Her, but I would like to see a film class compare and contrast the two, and what each has to say about human nature. 

From human nature to Horns. Daniel Radcliffe's post-Potter career is doing quite well; His decision to never wear glasses again seems to be paying off. French director Alexandre Aja helmed a script deftly adapted from Joe Hill's novel by playwright Keith Bunin (The Credeaux Canvas, which starred Lee Pace off-broadway). As such, the film is a visual feast of bible references gone full fantasy (don't tell me you don't think a devil with horns is anything other than fantasy), a fantastical whodunit with the feel of a thriller. I thought briefly of Brick, which starred Joseph Gordon Levitt in 2005, and also of Odd Thomas, which saw the short-order cook from the novel by Dean Koontz played by Anton Yelchin (aka Chekov in the Abrams Star Trek). Otherworldly forces threatening the woman loved by our protagonist - it's a classic premise, but the thoroughness of the script and the dedication of the cast, including a top notch performance from Radcliffe, make it work. Plus: Radcliffe's got a great American accent.

That should bring me up-to-date! Which is good, because there are a number of upcoming releases I'd like to jump into reviewing once they come out. Keep your eyes peeled for thoughts on Cinderella and Ex Machina.