Thoughts from the Usher Podium: Quickie Haiku Reviews

Partially out of a desire for experimentation and partially out of a bad bout of writer's block, I have decided to write a few quick reviews written in haiku. The theme of the day is movies who were so sure they were going to win awards but for whatever reason the results of their Oscar campaign just went nowhere.

Prisoners (2013)

A tale of blind wrath.

Taut thriller, solid acting,

Too fraught with torture.

Final Grade: B

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Moments of grandeur,

Multi-generational,

Yet oh so stagnant.

Final Grade: D+

All the King's Men (2006)

What were they thinking?

Deep fried corruption should work,

But man this thing stinks.

Final Grade: F

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

Excellent somber,

Nigerian doctor lost,

In London's dark side

Final Grade: B

Men of Honor (2000)

Poor Cuba, can't win

Even with DeNiro there,

So many bad calls.

Final Grade: C-

Ronin (1998)

Fun and simple romp.

Reno outshines De Niro?

CIA no way!

Final Grade: C

Selena (1997)

Av'rage biopic

Lopez can act pretty well

But so what, I snooze

Final Grade: D

In the Company of Men (1997)

Mean-spirited gauche

Men are evil and stupid

Characters are foul

Final Grade: D+

Carrington (1995)

Brit wit nitwits love

Won at Cannes, lost by viewers,

Thompson's swell I guess.

Final Grade: D-

Newsies (1992)

Merry little scamps

The dancing is pretty cool,

Can't remember songs.

Final Grade: C+

Bitter Rice

Year: 1949
Genre: Drama
Directed: Giuseppe De Santis
Star: Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone, Checco Rissone, Nico Pepe, Adriana Sivieri, Lia Corelli, Maria Grazia Francia
Production: Lux Film

There's something about the way actress Doris Dowling stares piercingly into the eyes of the men and women who temporarily populate the Po Valley of northern Italy. Hardly a shrinking violet, the shrewdness she innately possesses drips from her sweated brow and subtle scowl. She's equal parts Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indeminity (1944) and Vivien Leigh in Streetcar (1951); both the criminal and the victim.

Bitter Rice concerns the tragic entanglements of four people, two men and two women during the much celebrated time of the northern rice harvest circa 1949. Walter (Gassman) and Francesca (Dowling) are fugitives hiding from the fuzz with a thicket of stolen jewels. They find respite among the gaggle of women working the harvest and decide to stay just long enough to elude capture and steal a few bags of rice. The craven Walter finds himself attracted to a youthful rice weeder named Silvana (Mangano) who glamorizes trinkets of American largess including and especially pop music. As such, she immediately becomes drawn to Walter's bad-boy persona. Meanwhile Marco (Vallone) a disaffected war veteran attempts to court Silvana but finds conflict from all angles.

I'm dangerous, I swear it!

The film is a jumble of compromised pastiche, referencing everything from pre-code crime and social problem films to stage musicals adapted to the screen. Yet it's all translated with neo-realist cinematography and wing-clipped melancholia. The love triangle for instance leaves the impression of a screwball comedy yet any humor or sexual tension is muted when compared to the paranoia shared by our two criminal leads. That very real tension is subsequently switched out with flashes of turf-war bravado pre-dating the American "teen" movies of the decade to come. There's an argument to be made that this quixotic mix of sensibilities amplifies the pettiness with which our characters seem doomed to repeat again and again. What's a girls obsession with American bubblegum when compared to the troubles of an army of harvesters working in the heat?

Yet the way the movie gives equal weight to the melodrama as to the characterization keeps this film just out of place for the time; like bran of the grain just slightly askew. While constantly reminding its audience of the space, the time and the politics of the day, we don't see the characters as we should - tragic and vulnerable. Instead we see them petty, vain, and oafish; oblivious to their effect on the strangers that they harvest rice with. By combining the moral and economic difficulties of post-war Italy with western-style myopia there's certainly a pep to the plot but no characters to really root for.

And of course the USA never got
involved in Italian politics

This tug-o-war between Italian neo-realism and Hollywood glitz and melodrama reaches its boiling point during the climax, which pits the four against each other in a slaughterhouse, under the cover of night. It's a mesmerizing scene that is brimming with symbolism, pathos, artful audience manipulation and suspense. Considered as a marriage of form and technique, the climax is a marvel though seen as a corruption, the film hammers home a deeply anti-consumerist message. One that not only highlights the seductive and prevalent nature of American-style capitalism but can even be seen as a commentary on Italy's 1948 General Election (which was seen by the west as a Cold War tipping point).

Yet taken out of its political and historical context, Bitter Rice is at its heart a pulpy rural drama. One that can't help but be compared to films like The Big Sleep (1946) and lauded as the film that got Silvana Mangano on the fast track to international stardom. Yet despite its limitations, the image of Doris Dowling's fierce, icy glare is burned into memory and should be etched into cinematic consciousness in the same way Mangano's erotic boogie-woogie is.

Final Grade: C

Breakdown

Year: 1997
Genre: Action
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Stars: Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan, J.T. Walsh, M.C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy, Rex Linn, Ritch Brinkley, Moira Sinise, Kim Robillard, Thomas Kopache, Jack McGee, Vincent Berry
Production: Paramount Pictures

Now here's a film that won't win any awards. It won't lend itself to overly complicated interpretation or be remembered for anything iconic. It's wholly second-rate as far as plot and character dynamics and it resoundingly breaks the unwritten rule of referencing better films. Yet despite all this, Breakdown is a thing of unappreciated greatness. It's a hidden gem of tone, tension and tomfoolery finding the nerve, gut-instinct and popcorny-ness that looks like it was conjured from the mind of Lee in the play "True West."

I got an idea for a movie, let's just do one big long car chase!

The plot reads like something out of a John Lemay novel. Jeff (Russell) and Amy (Quinlan) are driving through the desert in their Jeep cross-country. They breakdown on the side of the road where big rig trucker Red (Walsh) offers assistance. Amy leaves with Red to call for a tow while Jeff stays with the Jeep. Hours go by, Jeff checks the car and finds the battery has been tampered with and begins to suspect something is seriously wrong. From there the movie becomes a thriller stitched together by a ransom Jeff can't afford and handled by a group of menacing back-road truckers.

Breakdown was produced by the legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who in addition to spearheading the Italian film renaissance also had a penchant for the fanciful, the scintillating and the obscure. Projects like Flash Gordon (1980), King Kong (1976) and Dune (1984) prove that even at his worst De Laurentiis was a risk-taker; one who appreciated bold ideas.

For a relatively small movie made at the dusk of De Laurentiis's career, Breakdown is certainly a bold movie. It moves briskly through its plot, leaving little time for the audience to internalize the ridiculousness of the story while gleefully enjoying some fun action visuals. When the movie does slowdown enough to take a breather, it's surgical in its ability to create truly suspenseful cinematic moments. These moments approach the grandeur of Chinatown's (1974) "The future" scene made less memorable only because there are no iconic lines and, as I said, the plot is patently ridiculous.

Before CGI there were people crashing those cars

Yet it was the memory of our lead, getting the jump on Red's lacky Earl (Gainley) and the scene with Red's family is confronted with a pistol wielding Kurt Russell that brought me back to revisit this film years later. While similar "criminal trucker" films of the era like Black Dog (1998) and Joy Ride (2001) were solid in their own right, Breakdown is the only one that really sticks. When you see Russell straight-up dominating experienced truckers on the road via heavily armed car chase, I'm sure you'll agree.

Final Grade: B

Nerve

Year: 2016
Genre: Thriller
Directed: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Stars: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Kimiko Glenn, Marc John Jefferies, Machine Gun Kelly, Brian 'Sene' Marc, Ed Squires, Rightor Doyle, Josh Ostrovsky, Eric D'Alessandro
Production: Lionsgate

When I saw the climax of Nerve; a masked mass of sycophants dimly lit by the light of their phones, I saw what Siegfried Kracauer might have seen in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920); a denial of tradition mixed with "...faith in man's power to shape society and nature." I saw the prurient fecklessness of reality TV being weaponized, the desensitized and fragmented youth culture being co-opted and the fears of technology being fiendishly well justified. In other words, I saw the end.

This bulls**t actually sounds familiar...

The film has a deceptively clever little setup; Vee (Roberts) a goody-goody living on Staten Island is coaxed into an online truth or dare game, only without the truth. Those involved are either Watchers or Players. The much larger Watcher community decides which dare/stunt the Player group is to accomplish and each accomplished dare wins you money. Those who "bail" or "fail" lose all their winnings and lose a chance at the finals. There's a third group which is strongly implied in the trailer but I won't spoil for the sake of those who actually want to watch this harbinger of the end of the republic. After all, snitches apparently get stitches.

Objectively speaking this film is okay. The story from a structural point of view is serviceable and the characterizations are bullet-pointed but never fully fleshed out. There are some neat visuals made real by luscious primary colors then sabotaged by ugly staging and distracting ADHD inspired graphics. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman may have been channeling Nicolas Winding Refn or Rick Famuyiwa's work in Dope (2015) but they really only succeed in reaching the sophistication of Untraceable (2008) drenched in warm neon.

That kind of data-mining could never happen in real life
...right?

Our leads Vee and kinda-sorta Nerve teammate Ian (Franco) don't really feel believable within the context of the film not to mention believable as teenagers. Vee especially takes far too long to suspect something is amiss. If she were truly as brainy as her friends Sydney (Meade) and Tommy (Heizer) thinks she is, she would have bailed right after Ian explains someone just showed up and handed him her favorite book guaranteeing she would meet him. Ian's backstory remains murky until near the end but upon closer scrutiny post-credits his "too-cool-for-school" act feels more like a story contrivance than honest characterization.

What separates Nerve from other YA screen adaptations, and truly makes this film beyond loathsome is its rather cavalier and quite frankly disgusting attitude towards privacy, technology, social media, democratization and human nature. Nerve has an unabashedly negative view of humanity, taking great relish in exposing the dark side of living in an open forum world with open forum expression and open forum consumption. And yes there is something to be said about advancements like the internet, meant to share knowledge and culture, being used as a means to indulge our baser impulses. Yet by being both broad and ordinary, Nerve spits on the nobility of democracy while simultaneously dooming even the smartest among us to a future of celebrity chasing, easy money and permanent distraction. A future entirely based on up or down votes and culpability is but a word that grownups use.

Not since Dirty Harry (1971) have I seen a film so morally backwards and utterly contemptible. While gushing at the excess of it's own high-concept, Nerve burrows into the viewers skull, smuggling in unscrupulous ideas made effective by the film's ordinariness. While watching Nerve I was reminded of Plato's "The Republic"; specifically his passages on late-stage democracy. In it, Plato discusses the risks of a fractured polity, a society where "too much freedom seems to change into nothing but too much slavery" and thus becomes ripe for tyranny. I much rather believe as Thomas Jefferson once did that "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." Nerve puts that idea into doubt forcing me to fall back on the tired refrain of it's just a movie.

And it is just a movie; the walls of Jericho are not going to be tumbling down just because Emma Roberts made out with Dave Franco at a diner. Yet as a harbinger of what's to come let's hope this film is an out-layer and not the eventual rule.

Final Grade: N/A

Essentials: Belle de Jour

Year: 1967
Genre: Drama
Directed: Luis Bunuel
Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi, Francoise Fabian, Macha Meril, Muni, Maria Latour, Michel Charrel, Iska Khan, Claude Cerval
Production: Paris Film Productions

The silent era, the dawning of sound in film, the narrative complexities of Citizen Kane (1941), the rise and fall of the studio system, the Nouvelle Vogue, the novelty of the summer blockbuster and the increasing corporatism in Hollywood; auteur Luis Bunuel was around for all of that. Standing on the outside of film history, Bunuel never really considered himself a "filmmaker" but more of an artist who uses film as his means of expression. Most of his films were laden several layers deep with repeated narrative elements, incendiary attacks on social institutions, deeply personal musings and of course his trademark surrealism. Even today his films not only defy aspects of film form, but mock any notion of categorization. They're not films, they're defiant chuckles at the expense of the abyss.

Adrian Lyne: the only one who dared to remake a Kubrick film

Belle de Jour is the rebel director's most popular film and by all outward appearances his most commercial. A rundown of the plot reads like an Adrian Lyne film; Severine (Deneuve) a young but emotionally vacant housewife spends her afternoons as a prostitute. Yet what's lost in such a description is the film's oozing sexuality and festering indignation of Catholicism and haute bourgeois living. Not a single frame of Belle de Jour is filled with nudity yet everything is given a sexual dimension from the quiet demurs of a housewife's diligent sewing to the firm coaxing of Severine's madam (Page).

Deneuve in Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

The film in its initial run was no doubt helped at the box office by the presence of Catherine Deneuve, whose performance in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and followup work in The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) have made her an international star. What brought her to Belle de Jour and Bunuel is a bit of a mystery but unlike some of Bunuel's leading ladies in other films, Deneuve is quite simply irreplaceable. She walks a razor-thin tightrope between dignity and depravity encompassing the troubling idiom "angel in the kitchen, whore in the bedroom" yet on her own terms. No doubt a lesser actress would fray to Bunuel's wearisome demands but with Deneuve it's hard to tell who's really controlling who. Keep in mind in several instances Severine fantasizes about being raped, beaten and whipped in dream sequences Deneuve had to perform. Anyone who can keep their dignity while being pelted with mud like that is certainly talented beyond most.

Unlike the equally engaging Viridiana (1961) and The Exterminating Angel (1962), Belle de Jour is at once more collaborative and more personal. Personal because the film certainly indulges in naked and prurient interests of the director. Yet collaborative because he's found an actress willing to explore human perversion in a way that goes beyond sharp and blustering mockery. Bunuel and Deneuve would team up once more for Tristana (1970) becoming one of the only leading lady repeat collaborators (a list whose only other inclusion is Silvia Pinal). As a followup, Tristana is certainly angrier yet in its petulance feels less layered by comparison.

Anyone intimidated by the expansive and critically irreproachable filmography of Luis Bunuel should seek Belle de Jour as an introduction. The film lies on the nexus between popular appeal, art-house, thinking-man's proclivities and the director's particular brand of madness. Furthermore, Catherine Deneuve is a game collaborator who at times steals the film to add some tasteful meta-text. Gloriously sexy, defiantly surreal and presented in luscious color for the first time in Bunuel's career, Belle de Jour is a must see for film fanatics.

Final Grade: A

Sicario

Year: 2015
Genre: Action
Directed: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Jeffrey Donovan, Raoul Max Trujillo, Julio Cedillo, Hank Rogerson, Bernardo Saracino, Maximiliano Herndez
Production: Lionsgate

Benicio Del Toro's Alejandro Gillick is the key to this entire film. When we first meet him, he doesn't so much introduce himself as he emerges like a enigmatic Mephisto. He remains at arms length throughout the plot; biding time, leaching forward, coolly assessing the situation before he takes his closing shot. Any sense of justice and idealism that Del Toro brought to his character in the similarly themed Traffic (2000) is completely gone; replaced by the deadened gaze of an angry and dangerous tiger shark.

The story of Sicario however does not start with Alejandro but with forthright FBI agent Kate Macer (Blunt) and her drug enforcement team. They raid a cartel safe house in Chandler, Arizona and find dozens of decaying corpses as well as a deadly bobby trap that kills two of her agents. Despite this, her superiors recommend she joins a Department of Defense-CIA task force who are tracking down the man responsible for the death of her mates. When she joins however, she descends into the chaos, murder and deceit that plagues the border between El Paso and Juarez. Leading her down the rabbit hole is gung-ho CIA agent Matt Graver (Brolin) and along for the ride is her partner Reggie (Kaluuya) who like Kate seems completely out of his depth.

Much like in director Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013) and Incendies (2010), Sicario is an ugly story made beautiful by a canny eye for detail and an unflinching dive into the darkest of the human soul. The glorious vistas and bird's eye footage takes the film's similarities to Apocalypse Now (1979) to a jarring extreme but proves at times even more alienating. The God of Sicario not only doesn't know, he doesn't care to know.

Wanna see a magic trick?

In the dark and unflinching world of Sicario, the only ones who care plumb the depths of drug cartel hell are but degrees away from the drug traffickers they're trying to capture and control. Brolin's Graver seems to almost take relish in his job which includes gun-play, torture and even enemy collusion. You never know whether he's keeping Kate and Reggie in the dark for good reason or if he simply gets off on watching them squirm. While Alejandro is laconic and foreboding, Graver is about as close to a magician as you're liable to see in this movie; he walks in, tell you to your face you're going to be tricked...and does it.

Fly home little Starling...

If there's a weak spot to this movie it's Emily Blunt as Kate. At her best she tries to impose herself among a group of wolves and succeeds in being useful in a fight or two. Yet at her worst, her main function is to seek and absorb information while looking forlorn and Bambi (1942)-esque. I understand the limits of justice and nobility is a major theme but wouldn't the chilly fatalism of the plot hold more sway if the forces that be, cut a Dana Scully to the quick instead of a dime novel Clarice Starling?

The unbelievably of the protagonist is a crippling delta of the film but is by no means a fatal one. As a whole, the film is a near masterpiece of mood, tension and the ruthlessness of man. As a film whose main theme is violence, the gore is surprisingly tame; this movie won't dare be so obtuse as to coat itself with layers of sinew. It's the atmosphere of violence that you walk away with. An atmosphere tearful of the loss of innocence and putrid with the specter of death.

Final Grade: B-

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Taika Waititi
Stars: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata, Rachel House, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Oscar Kightley, Stan Walker, Mike Minogue, Cohen Holloway, Rhys Darby, Troy Kingi, Taika Waititi
Production: Piki Films

Despite directing feature films since 2007, New Zealand director Taika Waititi has remained just outside the crust of the crust of the mainstream. Off-beat films like Eagle vs Shark (2007) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014) have certainly gained some notoriety in recent years though anyone subscribing to Jemaine Clement's Twitter feed may not be watching those films with the director in mind. Those who have no idea who Clement is, need not apply. Yet Waititi's Boy (2010) ranks among the top grossing New Zealand films and Hunt for the Wilderpeople is poised to overtake the director's sophomore effort, and with good reason. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the best films you're liable to see this year and perhaps, one of the most wistful coming-of-age stories of the decade.

Jermaine Clement: Waititi's muse

The story begins with the young and rotund Ricky (Dennison) being escorted by child services' Paula (House) to a remote farm house mere hectares from "the bush". Ricky first meets his foster parents with a quixotic warm and cold welcoming. Bella (Te Wiata) does most of the talking, taking every opportunity to make the urban-adaptive Ricky feel at home in rural New Zealand. Hec (Neill), the gruff and irascible man of the house, coldly asks if Ricky does anything, or is he merely "ornamental". After a series of unfortunate events, Hec and Ricky find themselves the subjects of a manhunt by authorities and are forced to hide in the bush.

Brought to you by New Zealand's tourism board

The details of Hec and Ricky's predicament are hinted at in the trailers though explaining them would deny you the viewer the opportunity to see a stunningly wonderful movie through fresh eyes. Like encountering a rare bird, this movie shouldn't be talked about, analyzed and autopsied but rather looked upon with awe and wonderment. Once over, the moment should be followed with the quiet contemplation of Walden Pond.

Sam Neill and the young Julian Dennison are pitch-perfect as the miscreant odd couple. Dennison's inept braggadocio aches of street-smart malady mixed with the quiet simpering of a child completely out of his depth. Sure he's led a tough life, much tougher than most I suspect yet next to Hec he's but a mouth whose seen one too many movies. Yet even then he's instantly likable as a character. His resilience, his humor, his moments of pre-teen angst are so honest and sweet that I for one saw myself despite never wanting to become a "Skug." Sam Neill as Hec proves resourceful, forthright and even nurturing in his own individualist way. Despite being functionally illiterate, Hec puts his faith in "the knack," his way of staying calm and tough in distressing situations in the bush. "You know often times when people are found out here, they're naked...they panic and think their clothes are slowing them down," he says before following the stream to high ground. If civilization ever crumbles, Hec is the kind of guy you want leading your war-party.

Easy, easy, we're hunting for wabbits okay?

Much of the film has an off-kilter quality to it. The humor stems from baffling moments of exaggeration from the characters. Rima Te Wiata's Bella exudes cartoonish provincialism while Rachel House's child services stooge is layered with Dahlian villainy.While eluding authorities, the duo always seem to come across the same trio of hunters (Walker, Minogue and Holloway) who are craven for reward money but always wind up looking like Elmer Fudds. Then there's Rhys Darby's part which I dare not ruin lest to say his introduction energizes the film just as it begins to lose a little luster.

I will find you Sarah Connor!

Sincere, direct and exaggerated in all the ways a children's tale should be, the film earns all its laughs, tears and moments of suspense with two singularly charming performances and a Spielbergian sense of wonder. Well perhaps Spielbergian may be a malapropism; after all, the film does get laughs out of sly Terminator (1984) and First Blood (1982) references. With Waititi set to direct the next Thor (2011-Present) film, I think we all should hope it ends up being Waititiesque.

Final Grade: A

Star Trek Beyond

Year: 2016
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Directed: Justin Lin
Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, Lydia Wilson, Deep Roy, Melissa Roxburgh
Production: Paramount Pictures

Thus far critics have been lauding Star Trek Beyond as the film that finally brings the Star Trek (1966-1969) ethos into the rebooted series. Like it or not the J.J. Abrams films are now considered mere auditions to The Force Awakens (2015). Indeed, even a glancing look will reveal shades of Star Wars (1977) in everything from the rumble atop the drill in the first film to Khan's monologue-ing in the second. Personally, I'm of the opinion that while Star Trek (2009) is an absolute treasure, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) felt like the seventh season of a dying TV show.

God Dammit Justin Lin!

I am however not of the opinion that Star Trek Beyond is a homecoming but more like a best case scenario negotiating the original show's heavy political and philosophical themes with the reboots sleek aesthetic. That best case scenario is even more impressive when you consider director Justin Lin's resume includes the Fast and Furious (2001-2015) let's say "renaissance".

Star Trek Beyond begins with Captain Kirk (Pine) contemplating a quarter-life crisis of sorts. He's about to celebrate a birthday marking him one year older than his father ever was. He's considering hanging up his captain's hat and taking an admiral-ship with Star Fleet. His plans are put on hold when the Enterprise is tasked with a search and rescue mission in a unexplored part of a far-away nebula. Once there the Enterprise is ambushed by a mysterious foe named Krall (Elba) who wants a seemingly useless trinket aboard the ship. The Enterprise is overrun, the crew impressed and the bridge's officers are marooned on separate parts of a desolate planet.

Party on, Wayne.

Captain Kirk's moments of characterization are mirrored almost perfectly by Officer Spock's character arc which has him contemplating resigning from Star Fleet to aid Vulcan diaspora. While not as laced with Kentucky whiskey as Kirk's thread, Spock's stakes are much higher for himself and his people, therefore we immediately gravitate towards him just like audiences did back in the 60s. That's one thing this film got right, it wisely focused emotional heft on the franchise's mascot.

Another thing the film got right is it divided it's focus on some choice side characters, the most prominent of which is fellow marooned starfarer Jaylah (Boutella). Trapped on Krall's inhospitable planet since childhood, Jaylah's resourcefulness and stubborn individualism channels the young Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone (2010). The moment she saves the shipwrecked Scotty (Pegg) from fellow scavengers, she immediately becomes the power source this film orbits and it's all the better for it.

We stand together...against film piracy!

The theme of the day in Star Trek Beyond is unity. The unity of the Enterprise's crew is tested against the power of Krall and his army of drones who seems to know all about the Federation of Planets. Krall goes through great pains dismantling the morale of the imprisoned crew and Lieutenant Uhura in particular. "Unity is not your strength. It is a weakness," says Krall in a quick deconstruction of his plans. Yet his machinations for Star Fleet are conspicuously left out until a third act reveal that is reminiscent of Shinzon's character arc in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Not only that, he's a surprisingly layered foil to the equally embittered Jaylah who's been alone for so long she has no concept of unity.

Shinzon from Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

In it's entirety, this film is not Beyond certain genre limitations. While scribes Simon Pegg and Doug Jung channel the original germ in the screenplay, the film still feels like it's in the wrong tempo leaving too little in the film's quieter moments while racing towards the next action set-piece. Visually the film sneaks in a few literate allusions (not to mention references to other parts of the Star Trek universe) yet Lin's showy camerawork proves distracting, especially when he hammers home the "what's up is down" motif.

Beyond may not be the "return" of Star Trek's brand of unapologetic, cerebral sci-fi. That torch has been passed to Doctor Who (2005-Present) quite a while ago. Judged purely by the movies, Star Trek Beyond is somewhere between The Voyage Home (1986) and First Contact (1996). As a contemporary action film/sci-fi space adventure it's arguably among the best you'll see this year.

Final Grade: B-

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Jake Szymanski
Stars: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Stephen Root, Stephanie Faracy, Sugar Lyn Beard, Sam Richardson, Alice Wetterlund, Mary Holland, Kumail Nanjiani, Marc Maron
Production: 20th Century Fox

They're two brothers stuck in a permanent state of adolescence. They're two puerile reprobates pretending to be nice girls to hustle a free trip to Hawaii. The setting; a lavish Oahu resort where Mike (Devine) and Dave (Efron) will watch their little sister Jeanie (Beard) get married. The tables are set, the wine is chilled, the suckling pig has been basted; lock and load.

Based on a true story

Where doth hav'th the keg, bro?

Mike and Dave is yet another bawdy comedy in a summer already inundated with bawdy comedies. As such it has all the familiar contemporary trappings of the genre: basic camera coverage, bacchanalian sensibilities and an over-reliance on improvisation. Thankfully the main four; Efron, Plaza, Devine and Kendrick, find their niche within the plot. Their motivations are clear, their chemistry easygoing and their interactions with other supporting cast members is downright Shakespearean. This may come as a pleasant surprise to some. Comparing a mediocre comedy to Shakespeare? Well the plot is inducted by a quixotic request from the parents of the brothers to find wedding dates, in the hopes of pacifying them. When they find their dates, each duo tries hard to put up a front but ultimately succumb to their worst natures. Chaos ensues, truths are revealed, it ends in a wedding.

Mike and Dave's greatest asset is its self-effacement. It knows it's juvenile, it knows it's unoriginal and it knows it's second life on blu-ray is going to be limited to Redbox and the paltry shelf space of the guy that peaked in high school. Yet it really doesn't care. It's here to make you laugh, and it will resort to Adam Devine screaming at an octave only dogs can hear to do it. At least instead of the girls being relegated to the shrill "I'll give him one more chance to grow up" roles, they're giving as much as they can take (if not more). I don't know about you but there are somethings even I wouldn't do for Rihanna tickets.

If the film has a secondary asset it's in Mike and Dave's attempt to flip the script on gender roles and casual misogyny. By far the most noticeable permutation of this theme is Alice Wetterlund's libidinous cousin Terry who competes with the frat-house bravado of Devine's Mike for the heart of Tatiana (Plaza). While disappointingly underused, when Wetterlund is on screen hilarity naturally ensues. Sugar Lyn Beard likewise joins in the fun in two uproarious set-pieces that are brought to the tipping point by her chirpy disposition. She's much more than a caricature and her wedding is a little more than a plot device but rather an opportunity for all involved to grow as people.

Of course just like the recent Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Mike and Dave is unsuccessful in translating socially progressive themes. But unlike that retread, Mike and Dave does have its heart in the right place and its impact cannot be overstated. You can tell there's a lot of pieces cut from the final product (including a competitive streak between the brothers that doesn't go anywhere), yet I like to think most of those cuts were made to get Aubrey Plaza to not just shine but glimmer. She's been in two films with Zac Efron so far this year and both times she's proved her co-star a middling comedic force and the material she's given beneath her abilities.

Running the gambit of predictable and safe comedy back-and-forths, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates stands as one of the biggest surprises of the summer season. It may not successfully flip the script and many have derided it as a middling Wedding Crashers (2005) for the snowflake generation. Yet as a comedy it just works.

Final Grade: C+