Sully

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Clint Eastwood/Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Jamey Sheridan, Anna Gunn, Laura Linney and Mike O'Malley

Chesley Sullenberger, or Sully, as he is known to his colleagues, performed a daring but necessary landing of a United Airways passenger jet on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 after a flock of Canadian geese disabled the engines. The fact that all 155 passengers, including flight crew, survived the ordeal is a testament to his awe-inspiring skills as an aviator. Though he is rightly considered a hero for his act, he nevertheless faced some scrutiny from the press and subsequently faced a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry for what was deemed a needless endangerment of passenger safety. The main focus of the hearing was his refusal to land at La Guardia Airport--where flight 1549 began--as an initial investigation claimed one engine was functional enough for an emergency return.

The historic flight and the investigation that followed is the subject of Clint Eastwood's Sully; which stars Tom Hanks in the titular role while Aaron Eckhart plays the co-pilot on the flight; Jeff Skiles. Eastwood's film isn't a drawn-out epic but a lean 90 minute drama. Though the harrowing flight is faithfully recreated and though the hearing yields some dramatic tension, the film seems pretty thin. Eastwood's film shows us the Hudson River landing was only the beginning of Sully's problems, but try as he might to make the hearings as compelling as the flight, his efforts unfortunately fail. The movie is entertaining enough but it rests on its adequacy rather than reaching for resonance.

The film doesn't begin with the actual flight but shows how the plane became crippled by a flock of geese, only a short time after take off. As the narrative moves in retrograde, the aftermath of Flight 1549 precedes the actual depiction of said flight.

As the story moves along, we see Sully's wife; Lorraine (Laura Linney, in a role that is notable for merely being that of an anxious wife at home, nothing more) is beside herself with worry as she learns about the ordeal after he instructs her to turn on the T.V. As we might expect, the media coverage becomes overwhelming, as does its presence on the Sullenberger front lawn.

We learn a little about Sully's piloting past as an Air Force pilot in a few flashbacks. A scene where Sully lands a technically compromised jet during a routine flight not only demonstrates his exceptional skill in handling aircraft but also shows he was hardly a novice when Flight 1549 went awry.

The film's most riveting sequence is the recreation of the flight itself, in which Sully ignores the air traffic controller's call for a return to La Guardia and the alternate suggestion of a landing at a New Jersey airport. The details are particularly fascinating, as we see the controller become nearly incapacitated with anxiety while on-board the plane, the passengers react with horror and bewilderment to Sully's "prepare for impact" warning. The actual landing, which is safely negotiated by Sully, is followed by another problem; the frigid waters of the Hudson River. We see the immediate and highly impressive response by the various New York disaster preparedness departments as they descend and converge on the floating plane to rescue passengers from the dangerously cold water.

The narrative, always maintaining its rapid pace, moves quickly from the near-disastrous landing to a courtroom, where Sully and Skiles face a NTSB inquiry. Needless to say, a guilty verdict threatens Sully's career. But we also see the positive response in the media and in the street, as Sully is received warmly by everyone who recognizes him. Among the well-wishers is a bartender; played by Michael Rapaport, who proudly serves Sully a drink named in his honor.

The outcome of the inquiry is hardly a mystery but the particulars of the "trial" are very interesting, specifically the numerous simulations that threaten to incriminate Sully and Skiles. Sully's request for key adjustments in the simulations, which allow for a more accurate picture of real flight conditions, dramatically alter the outcome of the proceedings.

Terrific performances by Hanks and Eckhart and an exciting recreation of Flight 1549 are two of the film's more salient attributes but the movie as a whole registers more as a stimulating history lesson than a gripping drama. It's hard to find fault with Eastwood's film but it's even harder to rhapsodize about it. I'll gladly see any Eastwood film release but unlike many of his recent efforts, this one rings hollow. No one can deny Sully's heroism but that may be one of the film's problems. His unassailable hero credentials leave little room for nuanced character exploration.

The film earns high marks for its technical accomplishments--the landing and the subsequent shots of the floating jet look quite authentic, as do the rescue efforts.

I can commend Eastwood for his high-mindedness in making Sully but nothing about it stuck in my mind Monday morning after a weekend screening. This is a story that needed to be told but it might be better served on a T.V. screen; where its modest ambitions will appear outsize.

One More Time With Feeling (3D)

Director: Andrew Dominik

It seems like I just blogged on a documentary about singer Nick Cave; 20,000 Days on Earth; Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard's excellent 2014 film, which blended fact and fiction. But having seen director Andrew Dominik's film; One More Time With Feeling, it's apparent one can never have too much of Nick Cave, whose music and personality seem endlessly fascinating. You might think the 3D in the title is a typo but it isn't. Dominik chose to film in 3D--an unusual visual approach to music-documentary film-making--but it's a bold and welcome artistic choice, as the film movingly demonstrates.

Dominik, director of the excellent The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford also chose to film in black and white, which seems entirely appropriate for a film on Nick Cave, whose dark, introspective music seems well-suited for a visual palette of hues. We see Cave with his collaborator Warren Ellis and band The Bad Seeds, as they record tracks for an album in a studio.

Cave's moody music; truthfully unsentimental, shares space with voice-over readings of his lyrics, which are no less somber than his visceral, offbeat melodies. Though we see him often in the studio, with technicians, band-members and musicians scattered about, Dominik also takes the time to interview Cave outside the studio.

Though the film is mostly documentary, Dominik deliberately dissolves the wall between objective reality and fiction as we see him orchestrating Cave's actions in a few scenes. A post-credits message alerts the audience to Dominik's creative deception.

The decision to use 3D is very odd. I didn't expect to be handed 3D glasses prior to entry to the theater but like most movies in this visual format, you cease to notice it after a few minutes. One exception is a scene where a musician's violin bow seems to exit the screen; a moment where the extra dimension was very conspicuous.

More interesting was the black and white, which created striking, visual textures. An instance of such takes place while Cave is at the piano. While he sings and plays, the camera is situated in front of the piano, where it lovingly captures its highly reflective surface, The highly polished surface looks as though it were coated in many layers of lacquer, which looks great in black and white.

But beautiful cinematography aside, Cave's words and music are the real draw. We often hear his poetic renderings of his lyrics, spoken in voice-over. But we also hear his voice-over at other moments, such as a session at the piano, where his voice seems ill-prepared for the demands of a song. While he struggles to find the notes, we hear him reproach himself in voice-over for not being ready, as if we were inside his head.

As the film moves along, what slowly emerges is the sad and tragic fact of his son Arthur's death; a terrible loss he and his wife learn to cope with. Dominik is able to coax Cave into speaking candidly about his son's passing and the painful process of recovery. Not one to resort to comforting platitudes, Cave's thoughts are those of someone looking for an explanation; something to make his grief comprehensible.

Cave is also forthright about his music. Though a casual listener might find the raw emotion in Cave's songs to be alienating, he insists his aim is to connect with listeners.

By the film's end, one is left feeling sadly reflective but also something akin to a lovely, opiate-stupor. One More Time With Feeling is a perfect collaboration of beautiful images and powerful music. Dominik's camera manages to make the spatially-limited studio seem expansive and maze-like, as if its secrets were never-ending. We get terrific over-head shots and ones that circle; allowing us to sometimes see Dominik's tricks, such as the camera-track that forms a ring around Cave's piano.

This is not your standard music documentary but something more ambitious and transformative. I left the film feeling both elated but also somber, which might seem highly improbable to someone who hasn't seen Dominik's documentary. This is a film for Nick Cave fans and the uninitiated alike, who will both find the music poignant and the visuals stunning. 3D or 2D, the film's power can be easily articulated, no matter the format.

Al's Omniflick Milestone...The Sweet 400!

Folks, Al's Omniflick has just arrived at another milestone--my 400th posting! It's scary how fast I reached such an august number. A mere two and a half years. That's a lot of writing and a lot of movies.

Though my readership may be modest, I'm nevertheless grateful to those of you who have checked in from time to time. I also want to acknowledge my international traffic, which boasts regulars such as France, Ukraine, Germany, Russia and Portugal, though infrequent visits from places such as the Maldives, Uruguay and Vietnam reflect diverse but welcome clicks. Wherever you reside, I can assure you Al's Omniflick is always delighted to have you stop by.

To celebrate my 400th posting, I though I'd include a sloppy, haphazard list of some of my favorite films--400 that come to mind. Though I may have mentioned before how much I despise lists, I reserve the right to be a hypocrite by compiling yet another. Please bear with me.

So, in no particular order, here's a gang I like (or at least some of them):

Citzen Kane, The General, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Spirit of the Beehive, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Harlan County U.S.A., 8 1/2, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, El Cid, Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee's version), Seven Samurai, The 400 Blows, The Exorcist, Love and Death, Annie Hall, The Godfather, Good Fellas, The Last Picture Show, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, Napoleon Dynamite, Election, The Gold Rush, Contempt, Chinatown, The Bicycle Thief, Embrace of the Serpent, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, This is Spinal Tap, Salesman, Apocalypse Now, Russian Ark, Memento, Taxi Driver, The Philadelphia Story, The Oxbow Incident, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, The Day of the Jackal, Tootsie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Rififi, Le Cercle Rouge, Interstellar, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blue Velvet, Scenes From a Marriage, The Empire Strikes Back, Sabrina (original), Unforgiven, The Witch, La Strada, Los Olvidados, The Manchurian Candidate, The Taking of Pelham One, Two Three (original), To Live and Die in L.A., The Purple Rose of Cairo, Gimme Shelter, Woodstock, A Hard Day's Night, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Third Man, A Touch of Evil, The Maltese Falcon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original), A Boy and His Dog, Reservoir Dogs, Fearless, For a Few Dollars More, Before Snowfall, Anatomy of a Murder, Le Trou, Elevator to the Gallows, Back to the Future, Pulp Fiction, Breaker Morant, Fabulous Baker Boys, The Concert for Bangladesh, Monterey Pop, A Brief History of Time, Broadcast News, Red River, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Duck Soup, Born Yesterday, Manhattan, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pickpocket, Red Shoes, Dr. Zhivago, Drugstore Cowboy, Lawrence of Arabia, Cool Hand Luke, The Innocents (1961), Rosemary's Baby, Night and Fog, Dersu Uzala, Something Wild, Stop Making Sense, The Last Waltz, The Graduate, Straight Time, The French Connection, Paris, Texas, Wild at Heart, The Edge of the World, Black Narcissus, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touchez Pas au Grisbi, Fitzcarraldo, The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, Goodnight Mommy, The Babadook, The Omen, Alien, Aliens, Brief Encounter, Paths of Glory, The Wild Bunch, The Yellow Submarine, Lost in Translation, Groundhog Day, Witness, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, Don't Look Back, Henry V (Branaugh), Being John Malkovich, Roman Holiday, Rio Lobo, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Thing (1982), Repulsion, Day for Night, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, For a Few Dollars More, Westward the Women, The Milagro Beanfield War, High Plains Drifter, Bob le Flambeur, Yojimbo, My Fair Lady, Goldfinger, Ninotchka, It Happened One Night, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, The Awful Truth, Vertigo, The Heiress, A Place in the Sun, Lifeboat, Bonnie and Clyde, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Moneyball, Woman in the Dunes, Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove, Zulu, Red Desert, The Shining, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, Shock Corridor, Monkey Business, Silence of the Lambs, Crumb, Birth of a Nation, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Rear Window, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Bad News Bears, A Face in the Crowd, Wild River, Casablanca, Stromboli, Umberto D, La Dolce Vita, Mafioso, The Ten Commandments, Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Passenger, The Border, Fright Night, A Poem is a Naked Person, Raise the Red Lantern, The Ice Storm, Animal Kingdom, Wild Tales, The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Lost Horizons, Network, Knife in the Water, Ju Dou, The Martian, Guys and Dolls, Planet of the Apes, The Sweet Smell of Success, A Thousand Clowns, A Taste of Cherries, Badlands, The Tree of Life, Misery, Stand By Me, Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters (original), Jaws, E.T., Midnight Run, Dirty Harry, Bull Durham, Do The Right Thing, Boyz in the Hood, Mo Better Blues, Run Lola Run, Rushmore, The Celebration, The Hunt, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Sweet Hereafter, Hoop Dreams, Stroszek, Barcelona, The Opposite of Sex, Syrian Bride, Late Marriage, Let the Right One In, The Hurt Locker, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Repo Man, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Nashville, The Man Who Would Be King, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Altered States, Decasia, Persona, The Professionals (1966), The Battle of Algiers, The Dark Knight, Carnival of Souls, The Bad and the Beautiful, Nosferatu (original), Nosferatu the Vampyre, Metropolis, Un Chien Andalou, Fog of War, Burden of Dreams, M, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Ex Machina, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Mighty Aphrodite, Living in Oblivion, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Roxanne, Rambo: First Blood, The Falcon and the Snowman, Year of the Dragon, Angel Heart, Heaven Help Us, The Conversation, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Deliverance, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Thieves Like Us, Exterminating Angel, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Belle de Jour, The Leopard, The Wages of Fear, Hannah and Her Sisters, Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring, Betty Blue, Beau Travai, Cries and Whispers, Black Girl, Salo or a 100 Days of Sodom, In the Realms of the Unreal, A Fistful of Dollars, Au Hasard Balthasar, Purple Noon, Lola, Diary of a Chambermaid, Chronicle, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Raging Bull, Fargo, Blood Simple, Withnail & I, The Fly (remake), The Overnighters, Inside Man, Viktoria, Blue is the Warmest Color, Foxcatcher, Kill List, Honeymoon, Search for Sugar Man, Snowtown, Marwencol, Days of Heaven, Dogtooth, Social Network, Winter's Bone, Last Train Home, Robert Blecker Wants You Dead, Hunger (Ireland), Paranormal Activity, Zodiac, Red Road, Golden Door, Manufactured Landscapes, Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men, Touch the Sound, Who in the *** is Jackson Pollack?, The First Time I Was Twenty, Alone Across Australia, L'Enfant, Mysterious Skin, High Noon, Night of the Hunter, The African Queen, A Man Escaped, Sansho the Bailiff, Machuca, Gaslight, Cat People, How Green Was My Valley, Woman of the Year, The Birds, The Guns of Navarone, Help!, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Kes, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Zelig, The Desert of the Tartars, Stranger Than Paradise, Amateur, Bullets Over Broadway, Manhunter, The Commitments, The Grifters, El Mariachi, Bad Lieutenant, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Five Easy Pieces, American Graffiti, Marathon Man, Superman (1978), Breaking Away, Soylent Green, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Play Misty For Me, Scarecrow, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The Decameron, Suspiria, White Hunter-Black Heart, Wild at Heart, 28 Days Later, It Follows, The Conjuring, Battleship Potemkin, Pandora's Box, The Rules of the Game, Frankenstein, I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Fury, Pepe le Moko, Django Unchained, Anomalisa, Room, A Separation, True Grit (Cohen Brothers), Straight Outta Compton, Senna, The King of Kong, The Act of Killing, When We Were Kings, Encounters at the End of the World, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Hearts and Minds, A Woman Under the Influence and Bad Company.

And there you have it folks; 400 good friends. I don't know what you'll make of it but I hope you recognize some of your faves.

Again, thank you for your attention. I never know how much gas I have left in the tank, but if one person out there bothers to show up, I suppose I have a reason to set out cookies and milk (or nachos and beer, whichever you prefer).

See you soon!

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World

Director: Werner Herzog

It is an indisputable fact that Werner Herzog is one of cinema's great masters and is one of the few (or is he the only?) directors who have managed to make both exceptional narrative and documentary films. Though the quality of his fictional films have been wildly uneven in the 21st century, few will argue the brilliant consistency of his documentaries. In his latest; Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, Herzog offers movie audiences yet another absorbing documentary; this time on the internet; its history, it's wondrous potential and its darker side, which is often quite dark. In true Herzogian fashion, he pursues his subject with poetic insight and philosophic reflection; always questioning what he learns from his fascinating interviewees. While the world has taken the internet for granted, Herzog shows it has moved beyond its primary function as a conveyance for information, with both positive and negative implications.

Separated by chapters, Herzog's film addresses a wide range of topics concerning the internet's existence. In an opening scene, we hear UCLA computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock discuss the internet's genesis, which essentially took place in one of the university's labs in 1969. It is fascinating to see the primitive but very sturdy hardware that broadcast the first message, which inadvertently became "Lo." Much like Alexander Graham Bell's inaugural phone conversation, the first message sent on the internet was simple and presaged the emergence of a communication system with incredible reach. It is amusing to see the thin directory the first internet users consulted; an exclusive phone-book of web addresses. One interviewee reminisces about how the first online community was a group of people; all familiar with one another, who regarded mutual trust to be an article of faith.

Shortly thereafter, Herzog's film celebrates the internet's more positive aspects. In one such scene, we learn of an online game where participants were invited to help create complex molecules to aid cancer and AIDS research. The overwhelming, immediate response to the challenge is the film's ringing endorsement for the internet's communal, problem-solving potential.

Less inspiring is the succeeding chapter called Darkness; which recounts the grisly death of a teenage girl, which became fodder for internet trolls who found the horrific tragedy an occasion to subject the family to tasteless, disgusting humor and vile messages. As the mother and father discuss their child's death, their daughters sit solemnly in the foreground. As the father relates the story, the family was unable to obtain any factual information about the young woman's death but photos of her decapitated head found their way on to the internet, where they became morbid material for mass consumption. Unconscionable hate-mail followed soon after, which left the family bewildered and shaken. As we see in Herzog's framed shot of the family, the pain and suffering are very palpable. Herzog mentions his objection to sharing the more shockingly hateful messages the family received but we can easily infer their abominable content.

Less dark but still disquieting chapters delve into the security risks connectivity poses for ordinary citizens and governments alike. Herzog coaxes candid comments from a Sandia National Laboratory employee, who is reticent about a cyber-attack waged on the United States by the Chinese. Another subject, the infamous hacker Kevin Mitnick, shares a disturbing story about how he obtained passwords from a company by posing as an employee. The ease in which he charmed an employee into divulging the information underscores his belief that people are often the biggest security risks.

In another segment, Herzog interviews people who have been literally made ill by communication towers but have since found refuge in the woods near a large radio-telescope, where the towers are banned.

The film diverts its focus into robotics and the mind-boggling developments unfolding in automation, including driver-less cars; on which Tesla CEO Elon Musk offers his perspective. In a related scene, soccer-playing robots which resemble large hockey pucks demonstrate their incredible dexterity as they play a fast-moving game.

Herzog eventually arrives at space travel, where Lucianne Walkowicz; an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, talks about the false hopes humanity places in space colonization. She talks about how mankind's poor stewardship of the environment will be recapitulated on another planet.

Herzog eventually returns to the internet, where his profound and almost rhetorical question: does the internet dream of itself?, yields fascinating answers.

I think Herzog can make any subject riveting and he does so with the internet, which I thought was a dead topic, analytically-speaking. Though critics and commentators have addressed its meaning and its negative capacities, Herzog makes the topic fresh for exploration. He asks stimulating questions and draws equally stimulating responses from his talking heads.

Herzog has a way of simultaneously evoking wonder and anxiety in his films. He considers his topic from various angles and perspectives with intellect and an artist's temperament. He also never fails to capture profoundly absurd shots, such as a group of Buddhist monks absorbed in their iPhones while the Chicago skyline towers in the background.

Though half of Herzog's film highlights technology's positive roles, I couldn't shake the more troubling aspects of what I had seen. His film left me feeling both elated and anxious, which I'm aware are emotionally contradictory states--but I felt them nevertheless.

Herzog never answers his own question about the internet but after watching his film, I feel the answer is already a foregone conclusion. If it doesn't dream of itself now, then maybe it's only a matter of time. And what then? Some of Herzog's talking heads speculate. Leave it to him to ask such a question. His excellent film shows us it is a question worth pondering. It might also leave you feeling the question might be better off left unanswered.

The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Der Staat Gegen Fritz Bauer)

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Lars Kraume/Starring: Burghart Klaussner, Rudiger Klink, Sebastian Blomberg, Michael Schenk, Ronald Zehrfeld, Laura Tonka, Christopher Buckholz and Jorg Schuttauf

Director Lars Kraume's The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Der Staat Gegen Fritz Bauer) tells the true story of German Attorney General Fritz Bauer's efforts to bring the notorious SS officer Adolf Eichmann to trial. Though his search for the elusive Nazi had its entanglments, we find Bauer was equally complicated; as was his assistant, Karl Angermann. Kraume's depiction of Bauer and Angermann's formidable quest is both vivid and taut; leaving the audience with something more than a drab history lesson.

Burghart Klaussner (Goodbye Lenin!, The Edukators) plays Fritz Bauer, who, as the story begins in Germany late 1950s', finds himself laden with case-loads involving the pursuit of former Nazis. In his exhaustive efforts as Attorney General to find and prosecute former members of the Third Reich, Bauer meets resistance from colleagues and subordinates who harbor sympathies for Hitler's regime and would rather not see their countrymen brought to trial. The stresses of his position nearly cost him his life when his driver finds Bauer submerged in his bath; having ingested pills and alcohol imprudently. Recovering from his near-lethal mishap, Bauer reports to work but is disappointed to find his staff have few leads, which elicits a scornful upbraiding.

But Bauer finds other impediments to his investigations lurking in the German justice system. Unbeknownst to Bauer, two colleagues in his building monitor his work while his superior's seemingly casual attitude renders his leadership appallingly ineffectual. Aware anti-justice forces are marshaled against him, Bauer finds files on former Nazis missing in his office.

Bauer receives a letter from a German living in Argentina named Lothar Hermann (Christopher Buckholz), who informs him his daughter is dating Eichmann's oldest son. With reasonable information provided, Bauer initiates his plan to extradite Eichmann for a trial in Germany.

Meanwhile, we see former the Nazi and logistical architect of the Holocaust; Adolf Eichmann (Michael Schenk) in his Argentinian home, living under an alias. In another scene, Eichmann is being investigated by two men whose identities are never revealed. We hear Eichmann discuss his role in the Final Solution. What is particularly disturbing about his testimony is his unapologetic position. He expresses regret about not eliminating all 10 million Jews he regards as the enemy. Eichmann's flight from prosecution and his stomach-churning candor about not exterminating the Reich's most hated race give Bauer's search added urgency.

Realizing Eichmann's capture will be a difficult operation, Bauer enlists the help of Mossad, who unfortunately rebuff his request.

Alerted to Bauer's plans to apprehend Eichmann, a shadowy group of men who oppose any and all his efforts to bring the former SS Officer to trial plot against him. Bauer's homosexual past provides ammunition, as does his visit to Israel to consult with Mossad, which carries a charge of treason. But as Bauer's assistant; Karl Angermann, becomes more involved in Bauer's extradition plans, he too becomes a target. It doesn't help that Angermann's sexual dalliance with a German transvestite leaves him vulnerable to Bauer's enemies, who waste little time attempting blackmail.

How Bauer and Angermann handle their enemies; at home and abroad, helps ratchet up the tension. As we now know, Eichmann's capture by Israeli intelligence denied Bauer his chance to have the Nazi face prosecution in his homeland, but the subsequent outcome of the trial in Jerusalem offered Bauer some consolation.

End subtitles inform us Bauer was instrumental in bringing Eichmann to justice. It's very disappointing to see how his contribution has been minimized by history.

Bauer's many shades are brilliantly drawn by Burghart Klaussner's fine performance. Bauer hardly seemed like a avenging angel but Klaussner shows his fierce determination; his wily mind and his dauntlessness.

Hannah Arendt's banality of evil; a phrase now shopworn but inspired by Eichmann's actions during wartime, is effectively communicated here. The phrase also applies to those who collaborated to hinder criminal investigations. To see threatening, anti-Semitic notes passed under Bauer's door as government officials plot against him paints a disturbing portrait of post-war Germany.

I don't think Kraume's film is powerful or riveting but it is nevertheless engaging. As historical drama, it acquits itself well but it needed a higher gear. This will play well on cable, where its modest visual ambitions will rest nicely.

The People vs. Fritz Bauer is a story about a man who helped bring a fugitive war criminal to justice but was never given due credit for his efforts. Though we can say justice was eventually done, there's no denying the dangers and sacrifices one man made to ensure the world didn't forget one of history's vile malefactors. No matter how one assesses Kraume's film, the importance of Bauer's investigation is indisputably paramount.

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words

Director: Thorsten Schütte

There never was anyone in rock music history quite like Frank Zappa. In fact, it seems rather limiting to consign his career and music to the rock label; for his work embraced many musical genres. Never eager to please anyone, he nevertheless amassed a loyal, global following who found his highly offbeat music brilliant and uncompromising. After watching director Thorsten Schutte's bracing documentary on the legendary musician, one will find the same adjectives apply to Zappa himself.
Circumventing the conventional narrative methods of rock biopics, Schutte chooses to chronicle Zappa's career--as the title suggests--by letting the musician tell his own story via interviews and television appearances. No talking heads or bland testimonials here; only the man's thoughts and music.

We don't see home movies or any footage from Zappa's early life; only his first television appearance on the Steve Allen Show in the early 1960s'. A very young Frank Zappa; clean-cut and suit-clad, gives the world an idea of the unusual direction his music will take when he attempts to "play" two bicycles with drumsticks while a small orchestra behind him makes odd, discordant sounds. While playing the bicycle spokes and every part of the frames that might yield music, the sound-man in the booth is instructed to contribute his own noises; with the understanding that they not-necessarily be musical. To watch and hear Zappa explain his piece is quite amusing, as is Allen's open-minded, yet playfully dismissive reaction to the music.

We see footage of Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention in the 60's as their unusual sounds firmly establish them somewhere on rock's bizarre fringes. In one interview, Zappa discusses his classical training; whose influence seeps subtly into his music. Though Zappa's music attracts a following, we hear him in early interviews--and later ones too--lament the fact that though many know him as a rock-star, they also have no idea what he does.

Though Zappa's music is the main draw, the interviews are every bit as entertaining. His responses to vacuous interview questions betray a subtle impatience, which we expect from someone highly articulate and mentally sharp. One gets the sense Zappa's mind worked a little too fast for those who interviewed him.

As narrative moves into the late 1960s', we hear Zappa discuss the making of the strange film 200 Motels, which involved much musical preparation.

As counter-culture protests took hold in the 60s' and early 70s', Zappa found his music embraced by revolutionary factions at home and abroad. We see German youths nearly riot at a Mothers of Invention gig. Sensing chaos, Zappa talks about turning the music up to a deafening volume to keep the crowd from overrunning the stage; a ploy he says actually worked. What is particularly interesting is to hear Zappa talk about his opposition to the violent extremes protesters often employed to make a political statement. In his words, he found the left in America to be every bit as fascistic as the militant-left in Europe. German protesters were disappointed to find the musician unsympathetic to their causes. In an interview, we hear Zappa discusses his hatred for communism; a position that probably didn't make him many friends on the left.

Later, interviewers pose questions about Zappa's penchant for obscenities in his songs; a tendency he fiercely defends by saying nothing that ever came out of someone's mouth led to eternal flames. As we see later in the film, reactionary political forces took exception to some of his lyrics as well.

Schutte doesn't forget the music and performances. The music, like the musician, is hard to pin down. One moment it sounds like rock, in another; classical or jazz with Zappa leading his band like a conductor.

As his career made the transition to the 80s', Zappa and a host of fellow rock musicians were beseiged by Al Gore's wife Tipper; who launched a Big Brother-like, censorial campaign to apply warning labels to albums deemed to have offensive lyrics. Zappa's now famous, eloquent and funny testimonial before a congressional committee still stands as a powerful defense of artistic expression. Watching and listening to Zappa volley words with a female senator is very amusing. We also see his appearance on the television program Crossfire, where he parries a priggish columnist's comments in a heated debate about whether the government should ban objectionable videos and songs. Zappa, ever the advocate for free speech and expression, defends his position vigorously (watch the full debate on YouTube; it's deliriously entertaining); with well-thought, intelligently-expressed arguments.

We see more of Zappa in T.V. interviews and later; his visit to Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall came down.

More performance footage follows, which includes a T.V. appearance inside Zappa's home studio, where his music-gadgetry is discussed in detail. He defends the use of the various electronica and even gives a demonstration of a Synclavier; a popular sampling device in the 1980s'.

As the narrative moves into the 21st Century, the grim diagnosis of prostate cancer becomes news. A T.V. interview shows Zappa bearing his illness with equanimity.

Schutte's film gives us a fairly comprehensive view of Zappa's career. One can always wish for more music but I think its well-represented and characterized. What makes Schutte's job easy is Zappa himself, who was always an intriguing interviewee. One can never anticipate what he'll say in any given moment but we know that behind his Mephistophelian brows was a mind burning white-hot.

The best music bio-docs I've seen the past few years have been films without talking heads and without a conventional beginning, middle and end. It is fascinating that an artist's whole career can almost be documented solely on film. Schutte's film has everything we need and much of what we want to know about one of rock's greatest composers, but more importantly; it leaves us wanting more.

Southside With You

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Richard Tanne/Starring: Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers

While watching director Richard Tanne's feature film debut; Southside With You; I wasn't sure if what was playing onscreen was a Democratic Party infomercial or an actual movie. In case you missed the highly elusive trailer for the film (I only saw it a few days before), the movie's plot can be summarized in a few words: Barack Obama's historic first "date" with his future wife Michelle. That's it; you can go home now.
My initial reaction was: is this a joke, because it doesn't look like a movie. How does one really categorize it? A biopic? No, it isn't that. A historical drama? I guess. But what it really looks and feels like is a T.V. pharmaceutical ad, stretched to an overly long 84 minutes. And thank goodness for the relatively short running time; three hours of this would have been excruciating and maybe grounds for a congressional inquiry.
I'm not sure why I bothered to include a spoiler alert for this post--what exactly am I spoiling? I think the public's knowledge of Obama's life dispels any mystery or surprises the story purports to offer.

I guess it goes without saying that this "film" is a bore, which pains me to write, considering I voted for the guy. Did we really need a movie about Obama's first date with the future first lady? What's next; a trilogy about Lyndon B. Johnson's first ice-cream social with Lady Bird (if there was one)? An epic about Calvin Coolidge's first moonlight walk with Grace Goodhue? I've seen some fairly ridiculous, flimsy films get green-lighted over the years but this one is a doozy.

The story is direct; getting to the point in a hurry. Set in 1989 Chicago; Southside With You tells the story of how a young Harvard Law School graduate named Barack Obama; an intern for a corporate law firm and our country's future president, arranged to meet his work advisor; Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) for what she believed was a friendly ride to a community meeting.

When we first see Michelle, she is preparing to meet with Barack while her parents needle her about her "date," a designation that she is quick to correct. She insists the meeting is only professional, with no romantic agenda attached. We see from her surroundings the family is hardly wealthy but are nevertheless removed from the more economically-challenged Chicago neighborhoods.

We cut to a young, black man; Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers, who captures the president's vocal particulars quite nicely) as he arrives at the Robinson residence in his shabby compact. We immediately notice a cigarette in his hand, which remains constant throughout the story. Michelle gently chides him for being late and is quick to mention his tardiness his first day on the job. She also notices the hole in the floor of his car but refrains from asking about it.

Michelle is irked when she learns the meeting they are to attend is several hours in the future. Barack's idea about spending the day together at an African-American art show with lunch afterward is met with Michelle's firm disapproval. Barack finds her resistance to be part of her unimpeachable (forgive the expression) integrity, which forbids romantic contact with co-workers, especially a subordinate outside of work. Barack pushes until he accedes to her wishes, stating "it isn't a date until you say so." In spite of her objection, Michelle agrees to go along.

Their pre-meeting conversations are supposed to reveal everything about their character, while also providing biographical information. We learn about Michelle's education; her undergraduate life at Columbia and law studies at Harvard. She shares anecdotal information about school; including the bigotry she encountered on campus. She also talks about her father, who insisted she and her brother receive a rigorous education. The hardships of being the only woman in an all-male firm is another salient point she gets across.

Much of what Barack shares with Michelle will be familiar to the audience; his itinerant youth in Hawaii, Indonesia and Kenya; his white mother; who he adores and his black father, who he is reluctant to discuss, even when prodded.

One of the film's most interesting scenes is a testy conversation where Barack haughtily judges Michelle's choice to work in corporate law, which she volleys back at him; calling attention to his own hypocritical presence at the firm. Fully chastised, Barack apologizes; having learned a cogent lesson about passing judgement on others.

The climactic moment--if the film can be said to have one--is at a community meeting, where residents express their frustration with the city's reluctance to fund a badly-needed community center. As the speaker is unable to to disarm their anger, he invites Barack to address the gathering. The results are predictably inspiring, as he uses his persuasive oratory to quell the attendees' pessimism with a rousing speech about proactive, community action. Shots of Michelle being moved by Barack's speech and his compassionate commitment to the community are predictably touching. For the viewer, the disappointing thought that his speech is the film's centerpiece, which occupies a significant portion of screen-time, is disheartening.
Is this really it? This is a movie? I'm all for films reaching beyond the conventional plot imperatives of conflict and resolution but I think every movie-goer will agree with me when I say a movie must have a point; even if its only aesthetic. The closest approach to conflict comes after the speech when Michelle and Barack run into a white, senior colleague at the movies. Michelle is naturally mortified to have a co-worker see her out with an intern and wastes little time scolding Barack afterward for allowing the incident to take place. But being Barack; he is able to calm Michelle and before long--boom!; their day together finally becomes a date. Pretty riveting cinema, eh? But we do discover their first movie together was Do the Right Thing; if that's any consolation.

I give credit to Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter for their performances. I don't know if they were actually ever presented a script but they did very well. I wish I could laud Tanne for his directorial brilliance but he probably had little to do but point the camera. Maybe his next directing gig will be more challenging.

Why this movie would be made at the end of Obama's time in office rather than at the beginning of his second term is beyond me. But timing is immaterial; this is a pointless snoozer. The country is too distracted with the Trump and Clinton campaigns to really care anymore about the Obamas. I think I'd rather watch a congressional filibuster than anything like this again. Or maybe I would, with a touch of recasting. How about Keegan Michael-Key as Barack and Leslie Jones as Michelle?
It has my vote.

Don't Breathe

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Fede Alvarez/Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, and Daniel Zovatto

Don't Breathe is a horror film that simplifies its method of storytelling without cheating the audience. In director Fede Alvarez's film, we find no computer-generated special effects or any visual effects at all save a sequence in a basement where an eerie glow serves as a chilling simulacrum of darkness. No cliche ghouls who darken walls and halls with their ectoplasmic presence are to be found in Alvarez's film. Here, we have three teenagers trapped in a house where a blind psychopath and his vicious dog mean to do the protagonists nasty harm. It's a chiller that works exceptionally well.

Simplified without being simplistic, Alvarez's film delivers what its intriguing trailer promises; heart-stopping thrills and creepy moments, with ample room for surprises along the way.

Set in present day Detroit, three young people; Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and their de facto leader; Money (Daniel Zovatto) commit home burglaries. Though they rob homeowners of valuables; their operating principle forbids them to steal money. It's impressive how Alvarez, who co-wrote the script, gives us so much background on the characters with a paucity of exposition. We learn quickly the three kids steal to finance a move to Los Angeles, which they see as an escape from the economic blight of their hometown. A brief scene at a trailer park gives us a good idea why Rocky would choose to commit burglary to finance her move. Her drunken, dissipated mother makes very un-motherly comments about where her daughter might be her earning money. Hoping to remove her sweet, younger sister Diddy (Emma Bercovici) from the noxious environment of home gives Rocky's robberies a strong, yet ironic sense of moral purpose.

What complicates the three young felon's thieving operations is Alex's love for Rocky, who is committed to the less savory Money. Rocky invites Alex to join she, Money and Diddy on their move to L.A., which he accepts after an initially rebuffing her offer.

Only days away from their move, the three decide to commit one last robbery. Money receives a job-lead from his fence, who tells him of a home occupied by a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, who allegedly keeps $300,000 in his home. We learn the money was a pay-off from a wealthy family, whose daughter was responsible for the death of the man's own daughter. Days before the robbery, Rocky, Money and Alex learn the veteran is blind and essentially a shut-in, as is revealed during their casing of his house. Though Alex is reluctant to proceed, citing their valuables-only rule, the trio forges ahead anyway.

The actual break-in is a fairly tense sequence, as Money first narcotizes the owner's vicious rottweiler before they gain entry by breaking a window. As Money and Rocky tip-toe about the house, Alex stands near the door, urging them to abandon their operation. A hair-raising moment when Money enters the blind-man's upstairs bedroom is particularly exciting. Money narrowly escapes detection as the blind man (a very frightening Stephen Lang) wakes, only to return to sleep. Money then deploys a soporific mist to ensure the man remains deep in slumber. Downstairs, Alex stands near the exit, nervously while Rocky walks about the place, searching for the alleged cache of cash. The movie kicks into high gear after Money foolishly tries to shoot the lock off the basement door with a 9mm. The shock of suddenly seeing the blind man standing at the entrance of the room makes for a nice scare. Rather than using the gun to initiate an escape, Money boldly points the gun at the man, demanding the money while Rocky and Alex watch in muted horror. Moving toward Money, the man is able to disarm him then shove the gun in his face while grasping his throat. Begging for his life, Money asks to be let go. The man asks about others in the house and when Money fails to reveal his friends' presence, the blind man shoots him in the head. Rocky and Alex stare in shock as the man points the gun in their direction.

Shortly after, the man walks purposefully around his house, locking doors with keys and nailing planks to prevent entry and escape. It is particularly nail-biting to watch the man narrowly miss Alex as he quickly walks through the hallway with Money's gun in hand. As Alex and Rocky scramble for hiding places, she chooses a closet, which happens to contain a safe the man opens with a combination she sees on digital pad. Once he leaves, she opens the safe then removes the stacks of money therein.

Before long, the man learns of Alex and Rocky's presence, in spite of their best efforts to conceal themselves. The movie then becomes a thrilling cat and mouse chase as Alex and Rocky desperately search for an exit. The story takes an intriguing turn when Alex and Rocky make a shocking discovery in the basement while searching for an escape. What they learn makes the man less a sympathetic victim of a break-in and more the perpetrator of a heinous crime. The motivation behind said secret seems a bit preposterous but it works nevertheless.

The plot tightens further when the man's rottweiler wakes from his slumber to join his master's hunt. The house becomes a hermetically-sealed nightmare as the struggle to free themselves becomes a series of ordeals.

A horror film is only as effective as its antagonist and in this case, the villain was well-conceived and well-cast. Stephen Lang; all muscly menace, is a terrifying villain. He has very little dialogue in the film, which make his motivations mysterious and unsettling. Part of his character's malign power resides in his eyes, which bear conspicuous war wounds.

I really like that the felons--the real antagonists--become sympathetic prey while the supposed victim; a blind war veteran, becomes the bad guy. Alvarez fogs the film's morality; making the distinction between good and evil difficult to define. One can't forget Rocky's motivations to rob, which are tied to her compassionate feelings for her young sister. But the fact remains: she steals a blind veteran's money; which is his feeble compensation for a great wrong dealt to he and his daughter. The ironies and contradictions are endlessly fascinatingly.

I thought the story would end definitively, but I was surprised to find the door was left widely ajar for a sequel. I shouldn't be surprised; even the least successful horror films come in twos or threes or...you get the picture. Though I find most horror movie sequels to be unnecessary, a continuation to this story could be interesting.

Don't Breathe takes an old fashioned approach to telling its story: simple setting, simple story, terrific characters but uses what seem like limitations to its advantage. No CGI intrusions here, no elaborate sets; just imaginative filmmaking. Seems simple and easy, right? If only the summer blockbusters were as inspired.

Ben Hur (2016)

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Timur Bekmambetov/Starring: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro, Pilou Asbaek, Ayelet Zurer and Sofia Black-D'Elia

I've lost count of all the Ben-Hur film adaptations in the 20th and 21st centuries but let's face it; the gold standard still remains the 1925 film version, which starred Ramon Novarro though most people regard William Wyler's grandiose but fun 1959 iteration as the real deal. Taking on Lew Wallace's famous story now is Russian/Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov; who gave us the incomparable Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (did you catch the heavy sarcasm?). I suppose Bekmambetov (let's just call him Bek hereafter, shall we?) won't be the last director to adapt the Wallace's book but I wish he were. After Wyler's film, did we really need all the versions that followed, including the animated flick in 2003?

If you were lucky enough to avoid the trailer, you missed the almost imperceptible groans heard throughout the theater. The trailer promised neither excitement nor a moving re-imagining. What one saw was another unnecessary interpretation; cast with actors who looked better suited to playing in a boy band than adversaries in ancient Judea. As you may have heard, box-office receipts were tragically minuscule (gee, how did that happen?) so audiences obviously shared my trepidation. But they, unlike me, had the good sense to lay their green paper elsewhere. So why did I bother? I just had to, folks; I couldn't help myself. I like a chariot-wreck as much as the next chariot-race enthusiast.
Needless to say, Bek's film is dull, silly, often dopey yet one or two scenes almost worked. Almost.

Set in 25 C.E. (no more A.D.), Jack Huston (yes, from the Hollywood Huston dynasty) plays the titular Ben-Hur. Though most of us are well aware of the story, the viewer will find it has been revised somewhat. Messala (Toby Kebbell), is a Roman officer in former adaptations while in Bek's version, he is a Roman orphan adopted by the house of Ben-Hur; making him Judah's step-brother. This, of course, goes a long way to explaining their otherwise unlikely connection.

Early on, we see the brotherly rivalry that defines their mostly loving relationship. While engaged in (literal) horseplay, their dangerously vigorous equine race prefigures their perilous chariot race later in the movie.

A weak, romantic angle has been worked into the story as both young men pursue some of the local Jewish tootsies. I had a hard time drawing a distinction between Judah's sister Tirzah (Sofia Black D'Elia) and the other women in the film. An insipid sameness afflicts the women; rendering them extraneous, pointless characters.

The story then follows a more traditional course as the two men suddenly find their lives working at cross purposes. While Jewish zealots resist Roman Rule, which threatens the uneasy peace between the native population and the occupiers, Judah tries a more conciliatory tack, as he tries to steer the malcontents away from violent protest.

We see Messala join the Roman army, seeking the fortune he hopes will impress his love at home. While Messala campaigns with a legion in Germania, Judah tends to his life of wealth and prestige in his Judean community. But as he sees his Jewish brethren become more impatient with Roman rule, he makes the acquaintance of a Jewish carpenter who preaches the virtues of loving one's neighbor--and enemies--named Jesus (played with Biblical indifference by Rodrigo Santoro, who woefully lacks a messiah's presence). To the film's credit, watching Jesus actually use carpenter's tools is one moment of originality. Usually in films, we only see Jesus standing on a rock, preaching to a gathering of shepherds and hippy-esque Judeans. His message to Judah is so vapidly touch-feely, it's a wonder Ben-Hur doesn't say, "yeah, well, I think I hear Moses calling; I got to go."

Of course we know Messala's return, which happens to coincide with more militant acts of zealot mayhem, will be a major bummer for Judah. Caught between his step-brother's allegiance to the oppressive Roman occupiers and his own cultural imperatives, the two men find themselves hostile adversaries. Messala asks Judah to calm the people during the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate's visit to Judea. Judah is reluctant though the tension in Judea reaches a critical mass when a zealot chooses to kill a Roman officer during the army's procession through town. Though he escapes, Judah claims responsibility in a moment of self-sacrifice (a very Christ-like act, no?), which invites the angry enmity of his brother and the Roman authorities. Messala orders his step-mother and step-sister to be taken away while he consigns his step-brother to abject servitude aboard a Roman ship.

Judah is forced to join the ranks of rowers who sweat and suffer below decks but a clash with Mediterranean pirates causes the destruction of the ship on which he serves; leaving him floating helplessly on logs which suspiciously resemble a cross. From an aerial point-of-view, we see Judah resting on the cross beam; the shot unmistakably a mock crucifix. Any chance we're supposed to draw a connection?

Rather than rescue a Roman officer as in previous interpretations, Judah washes ashore in what must be Jamaica. Why Jamaica? Because the man who rescues him; Ilderim (Morgan Freeman; his appearance in the film an unanswerable riddle) resembles a Rastafarian. Ilderim even sports natty dreads. I asked myself; did the Romans colonize Jamaica too?

Ilderim threatens to fink on the castaway until Judah convinces him otherwise. It also helps that Judah is able to help Ilderim's ailing, white, Arabian horse, which is one of four he keeps for the chariot races. In time, Judah earns Ilderim's friendship and trust while training the horses for the races. Ilderim convinces Judah the best of way to oppose Rome is to defeat Messala in the chariot races. Judah agrees.

Meanwhile, Judah's sister and mother rot in a prison; their leprosy a horrid consequence of Messala's hateful vindictiveness. Judah's thirst for vengeance grows as the imperial races approach.

The race comes, and if anything is certain, it's the outcome, which I need not mention. I will say that it was done well, as the line between CGI and live action was expertly blurred. Liberties were taken with the actual race, for Pontius Pilate attends as kind of an Emperor-surrogate, urging Messala on. A moment of unintentional comedy takes place during the race when Messala asks Judah; "are we having fun yet, brother?" Are you kidding me? If you're going to utter an anachronistic taunt, then why not something more cold-blooded, like "are you feeling me, bitch?" The film is overrun with modern expressions.

Messala survives the race, which leads to a hokey, heart-warming reconciliation; clearing the way for the finale on Golgotha, where Jesus endures needless torture and Judah's mother and sister wash themselves with divine rainfall, which clears up their skin considerably; even better than Clearasil could.

The most I can say about the film is that it's competent. It looks sufficiently ancient-Judea-like and the costumes are imaginatively designed though they look a little too modern at times. In one scene, Judah appears to be in jeans, while one of the women wears what look like white slacks.

Huston and Kebbell make an earnest attempt to play hoary characters but the listless script and even more listless direction can't rescue them from what is an out and out bomb. They aren't entirely to blame; after all, who really wanted to see another 21st Century retelling? Definitely not me. Some, if not all movies, are better off not being re-imagined. Hear that, makers of the forthcoming Magnificent Seven?

In Bek's telling, he reaches for something less grandeur and more earthbound, which is a good impulse but it proves ineffective. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter didn't work too well either. So it goes. Maybe this box office defeat will discourage future productions, unless someone chooses to reinterpret the story as a comedy. That could be fun. But for now, I've had enough of Judah Ben-Hur and his leprous family.

War Dogs

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Todd Phillips/Starring: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Bradley Cooper and Ana de Armas

Watching War Dogs; director Todd Phillips' comedy/drama about young, novice gun-runners who almost make the score of their short-lived careers, I couldn't help but be reminded of two things: 1.) Andrew Niccols' Lord of War, which deals with arms dealing and 2.) Martin Scorsese's Good Fellas and Wolf of Wall Street. War Dogs and Lord of War are only related by subject matter but Phillips' film bears the unmistakable stamp of Scorsese's influence--maybe a little too much so. The editing, the use of freeze-frame, the main character's narration and the persistent presence of its classic rock soundtrack are very much Scorsese. The based-on-actual-events morality tale of young men finding and basking conspicuously in ill-gotten wealth before greed and ill-fortune become their undoing is also a premise one will often find in Scorsese's oeuvre. Be that as it may, Phillips' film is quite entertaining; a spirited telling of a true story, which is based on the New York Times article Arms and the Dudes, by Guy Lawson. The film is also helped along with terrific performances by Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. War Dogs may not be a stunner but it is engaging and it makes a reasonably cogent comment about the perils of opportunistic capitalism.

Miles Teller plays David Packouz; a young man earning an unremarkable but honest living as a massage therapist. When we first see him, he is sitting in his shabby car, which is parked in a posh Miami neighborhood. As he tokes a joint, a security guard approaches his car and urges him to move on. Packouz informs the guard he's waiting to serve a client, then is mildly scolded for smoking pot before driving away. The scene cuts to him massaging a man, who lets his towel fall provocatively to the floor before Packouz rebuffs his pass by awkwardly returning the towel to its proper place.

Trying to improve his financial situation, Packouz tries his hand selling quality bed-sheets to retirement homes. His idea's non-viability is apparent when he actually meets with a retirement home manager, who talks frankly about the preposterousness of old bodies wrapped in Egyptian cotton. Dejected from a lack of interest and the fact that all his savings is tied up in the sheets, Packouz maintains his job as a massage therapist.

His life changes dramatically when he sees his one-time best friend; his old school chum Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), at a funeral for a mutual friend. The two make friendly eye-contact and afterward embrace. After catching-up with old friend conversation, Packouz learns Diveroli has gone into business selling arms. Before long, he invites Packouz to go into business with him, selling arms to the U.S. Government. Packouz resists, particularly after Diveroli mentions being cheated of $70,000 by a former associate.

Packouz is nevertheless intrigued, as he visits his friend's office to hear Diveroli's detailed explanation of how the government broadened the competition for arms sales during the Iraqi War. Packouz listens intently as Diveroli relates the history of how George W. Bush's administration, seeking a level playing field in the arms market, made it possible for virtually anyone to buy and sell large quantities of weapons. Diveroli then shows Packouz the government's long list of weapons contracts on a federal website. As Diveroli is keen to point out, the major arms dealers pursue the more lucrative contracts, while the lesser contracts--still worth millions--are made available to smaller companies. Packouz is initially reluctant after listening to Diveroli's pitch, citing his and his wife's opposition to the war in Iraq. Diveroli justifies his position by declaring his business to be pro-money rather than pro-war. Packouz agrees to a 70-30 partnership, but rather than face virulent opposition from his wife Iz (Ana de Armas), he tells her the business involves selling bed-sheets to the American military. In on the deal is Diveroli's silent partner and financial-backer Ralph Slutzky (Kevin Pollak); a successful businessman who owns a chain of dry cleaners in the Miami area. Packouz's decision to join his friend is helped along after Iz announces her pregnancy.

Diveroli and Packouz (and the audience as well), become quickly acquainted with the political complexities of the business when the two men take on a contract to supply an army captain named Philip Santos (Patrick St. Esprit) with several thousand 9mm Berettas. Hoping to ship directly from the factory in Italy, Packouz and Diveroli discover Italian arms companies are forbidden to deliver arms directly to the war zone. While Santos becomes impatient with the delays, Packouz and Diveroli scramble to find a solution to their problem. They manage to hatch a clever plan by which the guns are to be be routed to Iraq via Jordan;, an Italian ally. But they encounter another snag when the guns are seized in Jordanian customs, making it necessary for them to fly to the country to free the shipment themselves. Meanwhile, Santos presses Packouz and Diveroli for his guns while Iz grows suspicious of her husband's business.

One of the more entertaining sequences in the film follows when Packouz and Diveroli find themselves negotiating the release of the guns with a Jordanian who has connections in customs, only to find their only means of delivering the shipment is by truck--a very dangerous proposition. Their driver gives them "fifty-fifty," odds of reaching their destination, which does little to gain their confidence. The subsequent drive through the desert is met with some harrowing moments as they face a checkpoint and later, at a deserted gas station, Packouz sees two trucks of armed men heading in their direction. Their escape is fraught with peril and high comedy as the driver is forced to pore gasoline directly into the tank as they make their getaway. Only the intervention of a U.S. helicopter and some Humvees keep their truck from being overrun.

When Packouz and Diveroli reach Captain Santos, they learn their journey by truck was actually a daring drive through what the captain calls the "triangle of death." Diveroli, enchanted by their unwitting act of bravery, struts arrogantly around the compound.

Flush with a success, Packouz and Diveroli's lifestyles change dramatically shortly thereafter, as we see them driving matching Porsches and moving into separate apartments in the same Miami, luxury high-rise. They also expand their office to accommodate a larger staff, who they train in the finer points of buying and selling arms. But we begin to see signs of discord between Packouz and Diveroli when the former discovers the $70,000 his partner claims he was cheated out of is actually money he swindled from a partner. Distrust deepens after Packouz draws up a formal partnership agreement, which he has Diveroli sign. As the business prospers, Packouz notices its negative impact on his marriage, as he is frequently called away.

Packouz' business relationship and friendship with Diveroli are tested when they bid on a contract worth a mind-boggling $300 million dollars, which involves the U.S. government's plan to train and arm the Afghan army with a vast supply of weaponry, including AK-47s. The significant part of the deal becomes the million rounds of ammunition needed for the guns. Finding themselves over their heads with the logistics of shipping a mass quantity of ammunition, the deal nearly falls through until they make the acquaintance of a notorious arms dealer named Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper). After a Vegas arms show, Girard offers them a can't-lose solution to their problem. Packouz and Diveroli accept his help, in spite of his name being on a terrorist watch list. Over Packouz's objections, Diveroli secures the deal.

The film's final third act is fraught with betrayal, marital woes, Packouz's near death in Albania and a major deal gone awry. With it comes moralistic finger-wagging but oddly enough, no end titles inform us of the various character's fates.

As stated earlier, the movie felt very Scorsese-like. That in itself isn't a problem but the method of storytelling has been done so often it feels formulaic. Phillips is hardly the first to mimic Scorsese and it's certain he won't be the last but we can guess where the story will go merely from the way it's told. We know Good Fellas and The Wolf of Wall Street will end badly for the characters because Scorsese enjoys telling stories with character arcs that follow a steep rise and precipitous fall, with the requisite, intoxicating brush with Mephistophelian success in between.

But the film moves along at a heady pace; the character's misadventures make the story a fun and sometimes thrilling romp. It's also enjoyable to watch Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, who are quite excellent as the respective naif and the more worldly and ethically compromised partner. It's probably no accident that Hill was cast in Phillips' film; as he was also in Scorsese's Wolf.

No development in the film is particularly surprising, as we know from watching the trailer that no film about arms dealing will end well; Hollywood's liberal slant wouldn't permit anything else.

I've seen better films of late but Phillips' is a piquant coda to the late summer movie season. If it isn't groundbreaking, it also isn't dreary or dull.

Breaking a Monster

Director: Luke Meyer

It's not often we see a documentary about an ambitious band on the threshold of success. What is more unusual is seeing a documentary about a band on the verge of success that is made up of middle-school kids. And still more unusual is a film about a metal band made up of adolescent, African-Americans. In director Luke Meyer's Breaking a Monster, we see the Brooklyn-based, heavy-metal band Unlocking the Truth as they make the transition from busking on city sidewalks to playing before sizeable audiences on the festival circuit. How this amazing transition comes about is the subject of Meyer's absorbing film, which not only details the grim realities of the music business but also the disillusionment the industry breeds in aspiring musicians.

In the early part of the film we see the barely pubescent members of the band in video footage as they perform on a sidewalk for small change. When the viewer becomes accustomed to the sight of three young, black kids playing heavy metal, not only does one quickly warm to the band's very conspicuous talents, but their ability to rock.

As guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, bassist Alec Atkins and drummer Jarad Dawkins begin to draw media attention, they band also attracts one-time Welcome Back Kotter co-creator Alan Sacks; who was also the driving force behind the careers of Demi Lovato and The Jonas Brothers.

From Meyer's superb fly-on-the-wall footage, it becomes obvious Sacks means to maximize the band's exposure and implement an aggressive marketing campaign. While the band-member's parents show their eager support, the band finds themselves suddenly thrust into the music industry image-making machine. In earlier footage of the band, a list of band goals is seen scribbled on a sheet of paper, which reflect the band's lofty ambitions. One entry on their list reads "meet Metallica."

But the band finds the demands of a music career often runs contrary to their adolescent interests, which include skateboarding, hanging out with friends and in the case of Dawkins, a serious girlfriend.

It is particularly painful to watch the band sitting at a table with Sacks and a team of image consultants, who advise the band on all matters related to promotion. Though it's axiomatic to say that what might seems like sensible promotion for pop artists like The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato is all wrong for a band who idolizes Metallica and Slipknot. What emerges from the meetings is Sacks and his team's appalling obliviousness to heavy metal culture. Sacks pushes likeability, which the band naturally rebels against. No detail related to promotion is overlooked, as the team helps the band choose t-shirt designs.

The band suddenly finds itself a sensation on Youtube, which attracts the attention of their heroes; Metallica, who invite Unlocking the Truth to back them at a concert in Montreal. Intense media coverage follows; with appearances on Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show and various network news programs. We also see the band in T.V. commercials while major festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo and South by Southwest beckon.

But it isn't long before the band begins to resist Sacks' direction and question his motives. Visible signs of discord and unhappiness become manifest. Brickhouse, the leader, finds himself at odds with Sacks on issues related to the band's direction and decision-making. Though we hear the band's stirring song Monster, the band is hampered by a lack of material to make themselves more intriguing. The band ultimately releases an EP but in spite of some promising moments, the band's unhappiness remains. Meyer's choice to end the film with the making of the band's first video is a sound choice, for the dour expression on Brickhouse's face as the filming commences is the most eloquent expression of disillusionment I've seen on film in some time.

Breaking a Monster is a very apt title for Meyer's film. He effectively documents the corrosive forces of conformity and mass consumption involved in packaging bands like Unlocking the Truth and the exploitation of callow artists who are too young to fully understand how the machine works. But as we see, Brickhouse, Atkins and Dawkins are no fools. Atkins himself shows his precocious perspective of stardom when he comments on the precariousness of band's future. To see the band-members juggle adolescence and rock stardom with varying degrees of success--lifestyles most young musicians are ill-prepared to cope with--is part of the film's dramatic power. A contract offer from Sony for 1.8 million complicates an already frustrating path to success. We never learn who handles the band's money and how much they've earned--yet another issue with which to leave the viewer feeling anxious.

Meyer's film is very timely. To be able to catch a band in the critical phase between obscurity and fame is rare. Meyer makes the most of the opportunity. He poignantly captures fame's broad impact on family, friends and even industry professionals.

The film leaves us with nagging questions about the band's chances of sustained success. I suppose we'll know soon enough. If they fail, it won't be for lack of talent or hard work. But as Atkins and the band realize, nothing is assured. It is just that kind of awareness and adult-level realism that will keep the band from the abyss should they fail. Let's hope they don't.

Anthropoid

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Sean Ellis/Starring: Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Toby Jones, Anna Geislerova, Alena Mihulova, Bill Milner, and Pavel Reznicek

I feel I've seen films like director Sean Ellis' Anthropoid told many times before; which details the Czech underground's efforts to assassinate Nazi Chief of Police and Reich-Protector for Bohemia and Moravia; Reinhard Heydrich; also known as The Butcher of Prague. While watching Ellis's film, I was reminded of Brian Singer's Valkyrie, which depicted the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Though Ellis' film is the superior, it somehow fails to be the nail-biting thriller we hope it to be. I have no quibbles with the fine performances or the story, but it the film registers more as a pretty decent thriller rather than a gripping drama. But as decent thrillers go, Ellis' film is a worthwhile distraction; one that won't insult your intelligence.

The movie gets down to business quickly as two Czech patriots on a mission from London parachute into their home country. After finding temporary shelter in the home of a countryman, the two men; Josef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan; on a more interesting acting assignment than 50 Shades of Grey) become suspicious of their benefactor; quickly discovering their hosts are sympathetic to the Nazi occupiers. After dispatching their their betrayers, Josef and Jan find their way to Prague, where they make contact with an underground cell. They explain to their collaborators their allied-mandated mission; code-named Anthropoid, to assassinate Chief of Police Reinhard Heydrich; the presiding power in Prague and an elite officer in the Nazi regime. Their disclosure is met with gasping disbelief, as the other members naturally question the soundness of the plan; citing the likely possibility of vicious Nazi reprisals. But the imperatives of the allied command outweigh the objections of the Czech underground, which clears the way for the operation's execution.

In plotting Heydrich's assassination, Josef, Jan and the underground members understand getting to the Nazi officer will be tricky, considering his home and his headquarters are both heavily guarded. But in monitoring Heydrich's comings and goings, the resistance learns of a routine route the officer follows through the city and sets about planning an ambush.

While making plans, the group experiences some hair-raising moments. During a backroom meeting in a local shop, German soldiers enter and begin searching the premises. Only a noisy distraction made by a beautiful underground operative named Lenka (Anna Geislerova) saves them from discovery.

As preparations are made for the operation, Josef and Jan find their presence in Prague complicated by Lenka and her equally attractive friend, Marie (Charlotte Le Bon). While Jan and Marie fall in love, Josef and Lenka form an attachment. If the relationships don't jeopardize the mission, they also don't help.

Josef and Jan's mission endangers a great many people, including a family; husband and father Mr. Moravec (Pavel Reznicek), his wife (Elena Mihulova) and violin-playing son At'a (Bill Milner), who allow their home to be a base of operations. Another family member; Uncle Hajsky (Toby Jones) helps plan the mission. It is Hajsky who provides all the members of the mission cyanide capsules in the event of capture. The capsules take on a greater significance later in the film.

The assassination itself, which entails stopping Heydrich's car on a strategic street corner, carries the added danger of an armored car escort whose appearance is unpredictable. The mission is set in motion anyway, though not without serious mishaps. When Heydrich's chauffeured vehicle is obstructed, Josef steps out in front of the car, points his machine gun at the officer and pulls the trigger, only to find the gun isn't loaded. When Heydrich draws a pistol and returns fire, Jan throws a bomb at the car which explodes, injuring both the target and the driver. Josef and Jan manage to escape, thinking the mission failed. But a shot of a blood-stained hole in the vehicle tells otherwise. Meanwhile, Josef angrily confronts another conspirator named Karel (Jiri Simek), who purposely avoided loading the machine gun meant to kill Heydrich. Karel offers a bewildering explanation for his action, which Josef is forced to accept.
Soon the group learns Heydrich died from his wounds, which sets in motion the violent reprisals the plotters feared.

As the German army begins executing citizens in their search for the assassins, they also offer a sizeable reward for information leading to an arrest. Hoping to quell the mass murder of his people, Karel comes forward to offer information. Jan and Josef find refuge in a church whose priest is sympathetic to the underground's cause. In the church's underground cellar, Jan and Josef meet other parachutists involved in the resistance. They quickly form a scheduled guard-watch in the church proper while those not on duty remain below, out of sight.

The resistance group in the church are able to hide until Karel's information leads soldiers to the Moravec home, where At'a is captured and led away. In another harrowing scene, Hajsky, facing certain capture, fumbles his cyanide capsule and quickly tries to recover it before the German soldiers break down his door.

The cathedral hide-out is soon discovered after At'a is brutally tortured. The film's grim but thrilling conclusion takes place at the cathedral, as the resistance members dig in to fight a hopeless battle against the German army, who resort to every means to kill their prey. We learn in the end subtitles the resistance members held off the German army for a heroic six hours.

Ellis certainly knows how to craft a thriller but though the story itself is compelling and of historic import, it fails to completely convey the excitement of the operation. It isn't enough to make a movie about a plot to kill a Nazi; an intriguing premise such as Ellis' film requires a sustained feeling of dread; an element unevenly supplied. His story kept me engaged but not at the edge of my seat.

The plot and the assassination itself were very courageous, as was the battle inside the cathedral. The plotters fought on, knowing the fight was futile. The film does give us a sense of the plotter's tremendous sacrifice; accomplished in the face of personal peril. The decision to kill Heydrich also carried the threat of retribution. Knowing many of their countrymen would die, the act carried with it a deadly, moral calculus.

I watched the film with great interest but didn't leave the theater feeling shaken or in a sated daze. One would like to suggest the film Anthropoid to friends but I found myself falling back on my least enthusiastic response; "well, I liked it, but I didn't love it." Faint praise indeed.

Ellis's film will enjoy a more robust life on streaming in a month or two. It's feeble distribution certainly doesn't help its cause. Maybe it'll play better on a smaller screen. It's a story worth telling but one I wished had been told better.

Florence Foster Jenkins

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Stephen Frears/Starring: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson, Allan Corduner, Christian McKay, and David Haig

Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944), socialite and patron to the New York music scene, occupies a very peculiar place in American music history. A one-time pianist, Jenkins' inherited wealth allowed her to extend a philanthropic hand to musicians; including world-renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini. But she is known mostly for her concerts, which she performed without any ability to sing or carry a tune. Jenkins was so comically inept as a singer as to produce guffaws in listeners. Jenkins' dream of performing in her own concerts in her later years is the focus of director Stephen Frears' comedy/drama Florence Foster Jenkins; a funny film replete with a subtle, tragic edge. Frears' film follows on the heels of Xavier Giannoli's Marguerite; another 2016 release based on Jenkins' life. While Giannoli's film opts for a darker narrative, Frears' film allows the inherent humor of Jenkins' musical endeavors to find expression without succumbing to farce.

Set in New York in early 1944, the film opens in a small, theatrical setting where a gathering of socialites who call themselves The Verdi Club enjoy a musical play hosted by Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) and her husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant). It's clear from the scene how key a role music plays in Jenkins' life and how her wealth makes musical opportunities for others and herself possible.

At home among her posh surroundings, St. Clair's devotion to Florence is very conspicuous as he tends to her frail health. A startling moment when she removes her wig to expose her smooth, bald head reveals the seriousness of her illness whose cause is later made known to the audience.

Inspired by her ardor for music, Florence becomes infatuated with the idea of furthering her singing lessons; a pursuit her loving and accommodating husband supports. Needing a pianist to accompany her lessons, Florence and St. Clair arrange auditions with local musicians. In one of the more amusing moments in the film, we see the audition itself, which begins with a loud, over-zealous pianist whose cacophonous playing leaves Florence and St. Clair visibly pained. Following after is Cosme McMoon (Simon Helberg; whose comedic performance almost hijacks the movie); whose ingratiating version of Saint Saens' The Swan delights Florence while leaving the other pianists outside the door angry and bewildered. Their reaction will most likely elicit a solid chuckle from the audience.

Having selected Cosme, Florence's voice lessons begin in earnest. Her teacher, Carlo Edwards (David Haig) coaxes the first sounds from Florence, which are laughably off-key and almost ear-splitting. The reaction on Cosme's face when he first hears her voice is worth the price of admission alone. The scene becomes surreally funny as Carlo resorts to vigorous, physical contact in an attempt to draw musical sounds from her voice. While Carlo's praise for Florence's awful singing is puzzling, Cosme can barely contain his dismay. When Florence asks Carlo if she is ready for a recital, he offers his enthusiastic assent. Later, following the lesson, Carlo's real estimation of Florence's voice is expressed during his conversation with St. Clair in the lobby of the apartment building. When St. Clair asks Carlo whether he will attend the recital, Carlo mentions an engagement in Florida. But when St. Clair asks when his Florida trip might be, Carlo asks him when the recital might take place. That exchange is one of the funniest I've seen in movie this year.

St. Clair's efforts to protect Florence's feelings also leaves him defensive when he hears her voice being slighted. St. Clair takes mild offense to Carlo's reaction and is skeptical of Cosme's awkwardly-expressed comment about Florence's voice being "flat."

As Florence prepares for her first recital, St. Clair's feverish attempts to fill seats with sympathetic patrons proves exhausting and trying, while Cosme expresses his fears and doubts about his ability to accompany his patron onstage.

What gives Frear's film depth are the character's fascinating backstories, which sometimes provide clues to their motivations. We learn that St. Clair was once an aspiring actor on the stage who never achieved greatness. Florence mentions at one point how she protected him from scathing reviews--an ironic comment, considering St. Clair goes out of his way to shield his wife from equally scathing reviews of her singing.

Though we marvel at St. Clair's devotion to his wife, the sobering reality of their relationship becomes evident when we see him depart from the apartment late nights after he lulls Florence to sleep with his Shakespearean recitations. We see St. Clair visiting his girlfriend; Kathleen (Rebecca Ferguson) at an apartment he keeps. At this point in the film, we don't know if St. Clair's nightly visits are mere philandering or if they serve another purpose. In time we learn that St. Clair is Florence's second husband; her first marriage having proved pernicious in more ways than one. It becomes known to the audience that her debilitating illness is a result of her first marriage, which leaves Florence and St. Clair unable to enjoy or consummate conjugal relations.

St. Clair's desperate attempt to shield Florence from negative criticism is dramatized in a scene following her recital, where he buys all the copies of the New York Post. The paper features a damning review of her concert, written by St. Clair's nemesis; Earl Wilson (Christian McKay). We see the lengths St. Clair goes to protect Florence in a scene shortly thereafter, when he and Cosme negotiate the purchase of a copy of the Post from an angry cafe patron while she sits among her friends nearby, unaware of what is taking place.

The film builds to Florence's climactic performance at Carnegie Hall; an idea she first proposes to St. Clair after sitting in the illustrious venue. St. Clair tries to discourage her, citing her failing health but his reservations are overcome by his love for Florence and his indefatigable quest to secure her happiness. Fearing the ridicule that might come from a Carnegie Hall performance, Cosme nearly abandons Florence until St. Clair convinces him otherwise. The concert itself, a tense sequence, is full of surprises and terrific moments.

In less talented hands, Florence Foster Jenkins might have been a sentimental farce but Frears, never one for maudlin narratives, ensures the comedy has a dark flip-side. Underneath the comic travesty of Jenkins' singing is a tragedy Frears courts but doesn't asphyxiate the audience with.

Though Frears is a reliable talent behind the camera, the film's power is generated by some stellar performances. Anyone who has read my blog in the past is familiar with my distaste for Meryl Streep but I have to say she acquitted herself well as Jenkins; making a potentially pathetic person sympathetic and quite human. But the film's real treasures are Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg; who are very funny; showing their comedic flare in many scenes but they manage to tease out their respective character's sadder natures.

The film offers no clues as to how and why Jenkins believed her singing to be stage-worthy but what is axiomatic was her love for music, which St. Clair explains to Florence's doctor as the key to her longevity. Frears' film never mocks Jenkins but shows her admirable qualities; her resilience and blithe indifference to the more tragic aspects of her life.

Florence Foster Jenkins is an enjoyable film and one that seems even better in retrospect. Its main character isn't a buffoon but someone with darker corners than one might expect. The film also proves there is more to the facts we read in the end titles or that can be heard on her record, which has become quite popular with music lovers. Jenkins certainly was an oddity but one worth discovering in a two-hour film.