An aspiring actress (Emma Stone, "The Amazing Spider-Man") and an idealist jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling; "The Big Short," "The Ides of March," "Drive") fall in love and work through their ambitions to make it in the city of dreamers and movie stars. The charming leads sing, tap and twirl through their meet-cutes and rocky relationship.
Story-wise, not much happens for a long while, but it kicks in the later part of the movie. It's about the pursuit of one's life passion, versus going with the practical route of settling for a regular job and steady income.
For all the A-listers, there are far more working artists. Countless audition rejections, taking on a second job as a studio barista or a safe one in a local band to make ends meet. The road to achieve one's dreams is not without crushed hopes and personal sacrifice.
Los Angeles is aesthetically filmed, awash with a pastel palette and accentuated with pops of bright colors. Dreamlike cityscapes and streets in daylight, twilight and illuminated night. Flared dresses in blood red, royal blue, emerald green and canary yellow.
Melodious song-and-dance numbers include memorable sequences such as a real freeway traffic jam, whimsical tap-dancing on the hill in the dusk, magical floating among the stars in the planetarium, among others. There's also a melancholic duet on the original song for the movie, "City of Stars."
A romantic musical that blends Old Hollywood fantasy with modern reality, it's a lovely movie to end or start the year.
A mechanical engineer, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt, "Jurassic World," "Guardians of the Galaxy"), is aboard the Starship Avalon, a spaceship transporting over 5,000 passengers to a newly colonized planet, Homestead Colony.
All passengers and crews are in cyrosleep during the planned 120-year interstellar trip. 30 years en route, the spaceship passes through a meteor shower, leading to a cascade of system failures, which results in the malfunction of one of hibernation pods, Jim's. He is awakened 90 years earlier.
Pratt is solid here, in portraying Jim's mental state. From amusing himself with top-flight amenities of the luxury starliner, interacting with the solo android bartender (Michael Sheen, "Tron: Legacy"), to internalizing the terrifying realization of being absolutely alone and will be for the rest of his life. He continues to maintain some level of likeability throughout.
When a second passenger, journalist Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence; "The Hunger Games" series, "X-Men" series, "American Hustle"), is also awakened from slumber, Jim and Aurora naturally form a relationship. They get to know each other, dance with hologram partners, play basketball, watch movies, have drinks, dine in opulence, take heady space walks. But it's a relationship built on a major secret. Jim has done something that irrevocably crosses the line.
Eventually Jim and Aurora realizes that they are onboard of a sinking spaceship and everyone's lives is in mortal danger. The movie rushes toward resolution with a lightning speed, moving from a romantic drama to action.
The movie's got very cool visual effects. A super sleek spacecraft with expansive exterior and interior design that looks futuristically real. A viewing deck for a luminous cosmic show. An infinity pool at the edge of deep space.
Those spoiled by the great sci-fi flicks in the last few years, "Gravity," "Interstellar," "The Martian," and most recently, "Arrival," have undoubtedly looked forward to hopping on the "Passengers" galactic train.
Compared to those critically praised pictures, "Passengers" has garnered less than stellar reactions. It has a lot to do with an early plot twist (which may or may not be a spoiler, depending on which synopsis you've read) and the ending.
While it's easy to judge Jim's morally questionable actions in the beginning, even those who love solitude will likely never know what it truly feels like being the last person alive. Humans are social beings. And Aurora's subsequent actions, she chooses to make those decisions on her own. The movie touches on an existential ("what would you do?") and morality issues.
It may be easy to dismiss "Passengers" as a Titanic in space with a Hollywood ending. Ironically, it would have been just that if it's two passengers stranded in a spaceship and making the best of what they have. But it's more than that. "Passengers" offers a sci-fi romance with a thought-provoking twist.
[Originally posted on 12/29/16] January 6
"Underworld: Blood Wars" (http://www.underworldbloodwars-movie.com/site/) - Vampire death dealer, Selene, fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her.
"Hidden Figures" (http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/hidden-figures) - A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.
January 13
"Live by Night" (http://www.livebynight.movie/) - A story set in the Prohibition Era and centered around a group of individuals and their dealings in the world of organized crime.
January 20
"xXx: The Return of Xander Cage" (http://www.returnofxandercage.com/) - Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler.
"Split" (http://www.splitmovie.com/) - After three girls are kidnapped by a man with 24 duel personalities they must find some of the different personalities that can help them while running away and staying alive from the others.
January 27
"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" - (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/residentevilthefinalchapter/) - Alice is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity's final stand against the undead. The Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.
"Gold" - An unlikely pair venture to the Indonesian jungle in search of gold.
“Lobbying is about foresight and anticipating your opponent’s moves and plotting countermeasures.”
Nothing gets Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain; "The Martian," "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Debt") up in the morning than strategizing, plotting down tactics and winning. That is, if she sleeps at all. Insomniac and pill-popping Elizabeth is a top lobbyist everyone loves to hate or hates to love. She's not a sympathetic character, but she gets results.
Elizabeth stuns her supervisor and head of a premier lobbying firm, George Dupont (Sam Waterson), and colleague Pat Connors (Michael Stuhlbarg; "Doctor Strange," "Trumbo," "Pawn Sacrifice"), when she unceremoniously rejects NRA's campaign proposal to bring over more women's votes for guns.
Elizabeth quits and takes her team to an underdog firm helmed by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong; "Kingsman: The Secret Service," "The Imitation Game"), to lead a campaign on behalf of a nonprofit group to implement a universal background check for gun sales. Rodolfo recruited her earlier based on her go-getter reputation, although he regretfully realizes that such acclaim might not have been achieved without some questionable schemes.
Hardheartedly ambitious and cunning to the bone, polishedly put-together Elizabeth is a constant presence among Washington, D.C. movers and shakers, moving and shaking things on behalf of her clients. Behind the scene and in front of the camera, she skillfully shapes public opinions and influences legislators to pass or defeat proposed legislations by all means necessary.
And by all means necessary means exactly that. The two women in Elizabeth's crosshairs are former mentee Jane Molloy (Alison Pill) and current colleague Esme Manucharian (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Jane has her seemingly clear reasons to stay put with Elizabeth's previous firm. Esme has something that may be fair game for Elizabeth's ride towards winning.
No line is too far to cross, as long as it will put her on the triumphant side when all is said and done. She steamrolls and sacrifices anyone who gets between her and her end-goal. And this time, her career, and freedom, are at risk. She is facing a congressional hearing, led by Congressman Ron Sperling (John Lithgow, "Interstellar"), due to alleged improprieties of her conduct.
It may be easy to dismiss "Miss Sloane" as a gun control propaganda. It's not. It's really a story about the inner workings of D.C. power brokers, how the rich and powerful individuals and organizations pressure and manipulate policy makers, and how positions are lobbied and bought. Our system may be a democracy and we may elect our representatives, but our representatives may not necessarily act in the best of our interest.
Would you vote for or against a cause based on your conscience, because you believe it's the right to do, if it would cost you your career and future? On the other hand, at what price would you be willing to pay if it is to win your cause? What about moral or ethical considerations when it comes to exploiting other people for the benefit of your cause?
Written and styled like an Aaron Sorkin's film, by director John Madden and writer Jonathan Perera, "Miss Sloane" crackles with force and is carried through a ferocious performance by Chastain. Fervently captivating, she owns every frame she is in.
The political blather, rapidly edited and delivered fast, may not be easiest to digest, but really pay attention to Elizabeth's words. There are inconspicuous hints from the very beginning that lead to a surprisingly satisfying payoff.
Amidst adaptations, remakes, prequels and sequels, political thrillers ("Argo," "The Ides of March") are hard to come by these days. "Miss Sloane" is a well-played political chess game.
A mournful loner, handyman
named Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck; "The Finest Hours," "Gone Baby Gone") rushes to
his hometown upon hearing the news about his brother's condition in the hospital. After his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler; "The Wolf of Wall Street," "Argo"), dies, not only Lee is making
funeral arrangements and handling his financial and legal affairs, to his disbelief, he has been appointed guardian of Joe's teenage son, Patrick (Lucas
Hedges). Patrick has a living mother, but there are reasons why she is not a part of his life.
Returning
home is one of the hardest things for Lee, who faces reminders of his painful
past, including his ex-wife, Randi (Michelle Williams; "My Week with Marilyn," "Shutter Island"), and the working class community that whispers behind his back. In the flashbacks, Lee was a happy-go-lucky
guy with a loving family and friends. An
unfathomable tragedy broke him and drove him out of town.
The
day-to-day interactions between Lee and Patrick, dealing with typical teenage issues, provide some of the lighter
moments. Although it's clear that sorrow
hangs heavy in the air. Affleck simmers
with searing hurt, guilt and grief, with occasional fits of rage. There are two major scenes that are tear-jerkingly
devastating. Emotionally crushing
performance by Affleck and Williams.
"Manchester
by the Sea" is exquisitely shot, with the winter seaside town as an integral part of the film. Snowy streets,
gray skies, cold seas and fishing trips. There's even a
disconcerting talk about what to do with the departed, which would not have
been a conversation in the first place outside of the New England freezing
winter.
Directed and written by Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester
by the Sea" pulls you in gently and it's soberly absorbing. It feels like real life, with messiness and setbacks. Not everything broken can be made whole again. A simple slice of life story, yet a
complicated one.
