Blu-ray Reviews: The Martian (2015) & Everest (2015)

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Teamwork is at the heart of these two tonally different yet thematically similar tales of survival against all odds.

Featuring a bevy of Oscar winners and nominees on both sides of the screen, while both pictures are ensemble driven overall, Ridley Scott’s humorous and heartfelt Martian shines particularly bright as a veritable one man show for actor Matt Damon.

From its tongue-in-cheek soundtrack of ‘70s disco era hits (which provide endless opportunities for comedic counterpoint) to its high key lighting and bright color palette, the undeniable appeal of The Martian as an all-around crowd-pleaser is so strong that the film inexplicably garnered multiple Golden Globe nominations and wins in the category of Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Infusing what in someone else’s hands might’ve been an overwhelmingly bleak and cerebral storyline with unexpected optimism and charm, The Martian benefits from Damon’s most affable and charismatic turn since his breakthrough role in Good Will Hunting.

Hoping to prove that there can indeed be (plant) life on Mars, Damon’s astronaut/botanist Mark Watney is forced to rely on outside-of-the-box thinking after he’s erroneously mistaken for dead by his crew and left behind on the red planet during the horrific sand storm which opens Scott’s strongest character driven feature since his 2003 sleeper, Matchstick Men.

Storms of an altogether different kind factor into director Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest, which (in stark contrast to Scott’s science fiction adaptation of Andy Weir’s eponymous novel penned by longtime genre specialist and former Joss Whedon co-scripter Drew Goddard) is rooted in fact.

Set during the catastrophic climbing season back in the spring of 1996 where over the course of a single day countless souls lost their lives in their quest to the top of the world’s highest and deadliest mountain, Everest aims to make viewers feel as though we’re right there on the mountain alongside its many larger than life personalities.

A globe-spanning epic that, much like the intergalactic Martian has been captured in 3D, while unfortunately I’m unable to judge Martian’s usage of the format since Everest was the only Blu-ray I received for review in 3D, to its immense credit Everest does much more than just dazzle the senses with out-of-this-world three-dimensional cinematography.

Lensed with the stunning clarity of an IMAX documentary, Everest makes the most of the medium’s ability to enhance our understanding of the experience in an experiential approach.

Whether they're dangling us on the edge of the icy ladders alongside the mountaineers or making sure we can practically feel each gust of wind during a blinding snowstorm, the filmmakers do a tremendous job recreating the harrowing events of May 10 as that long, hellish day journeys into an unforgiving night.

Working from an ambitious and emotionally potent screenplay by 127 Hours scripter Simon Beaufoy and former Ridley Scott collaborator and Gladiator scribe William Nicholson, Kormákur and his talented cast including Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Keira Knightley are able to elevate the film beyond the level of a mere visual effects spectacle.

Thematically similar to The Martian in its celebration of mind against matter and creative problem solving, both Everest and The Martian soar in part thanks to the empathy, compassion, and integrity inherent in the performances of the stars that embody the films’ many characters.

Yet, much like their differences in tone, their reliance on the alignment of these stars varies from one film to the next.

Cool, quotable, and compelling right from the start, even though Goddard’s screenplay sets the stage for a much more memorable cinematic experience, intriguingly whenever it cuts away from Damon and chronicles the roles that others (including Jessica Chastain, Donald Glover, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, among others) are playing in trying to bring our Martian home, the film loses a little of its hold on the audience.

Alternatively, in Beaufoy and Nicholson’s thoroughly researched Everest, the actors manage to disappear so seamlessly into their well-written roles to such an extent that we know (at the very least) one or two important character-defining details that sets each one apart from the rest.

Yet surprisingly more often than not when it comes to The Martian, the only discerning characteristic a supporting player has to set them apart from another person in the scene is the name of the celebrity playing them.

Fortunately for Scott's film, this hardly amounts to a major flaw since The Martian is much more focused on Damon’s lead as well as the thrilling scientific innovation that he (and others) will have to rely on to try and reunite Watney with his crew.

Still while both pictures suffer slightly in their rushed final acts as The Martian, in particular stretches our suspension of disbelief near its breaking point, in the end it’s The Martian that leaves a far more lasting impression by knowing precisely the right note it wants to end the film on.

Two thrillingly crafted stories of science and survival that play even better together as a double feature, while both possess minor flaws, the greatest successes for each lies in their commitment to championing those who inspire us to reach new heights by daring to dream.

Text ©2016, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Movie Review: The Informant! (2009)

While his Ocean's Eleven co-stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney worked on the Coen's uneven "insider" comedy Burn After Reading, Matt Damon teamed up once again with director Steven Soderbergh and producer Clooney to create the movie that Burn After Reading should have been.

Derived from Kurt Eichenwald's fascinating book, The Informant! which was penned by Bourne Ultimatum, PU-239 screenwriter Scott Z. Burns chronicles the true story of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) whistleblower Mark Whitacre.

With his unbelievable actions, Whitacre became not just "the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history," but ironically one for whom we quickly realize that that's the least interesting fact about about his incredible journey.

However, as evidenced in the past, Soderbergh is no stranger to biopics about unlikely heroes or films about larger than life individuals from Erin Brockovich to Che. Therefore, he had no interest in going down the same Brockovich path one more time nor did he desire employing the approach utilized by Michael Mann in his brilliant film, The Insider.

To keep things fresh and uniquely offbeat as is his trademark (via an amazingly diverse resume and penchant for imbuing his films with a large number of tonal changes and emotions), he gave Burns the creative challenge of his career with the decision to shape it as a comedy.

The facts remain the same but luckily they're so outlandish that one can't help but chuckle as the film moves along — especially when we realize that there may be much more to the accounts and tape recordings made by Damon's Whitacre than he admits to the F.B.I. every single time he repeats, "that's it, I've told you everything."

And sure enough the humor fires on all cylinders right from the start due to Burns' brilliant approach to employ a rambling, stream-of-consciousness narration for our protagonist.

Going about his day in Decatur, Illinois, Whitacre may be stuck in a meeting or in traffic onscreen but on the soundtrack, we're presented with a postmodern take via Burns' freewheeling narration that often has little to do with the events they're synced up with in the final edit... until that is, some of the information starts to pay off later on as the truth begins to unfold.

It's discerning the outpouring of information and filtering it with typical wanderings of a human mind that makes The Informant! both far more dazzling and far more intellectually stimulating than a straightforward comedy or ironic puzzle.

And ultimately it's a movie that one must simply sit back and marvel at in appreciation since, like a great magic show, we're so distracted by the odd outbursts and our own laughter that we neglect to realize the figurative trap door or sleight of speech playing before our eyes.

As Matt Damon recently remarked on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, once you start revealing the plot, you spoil the movie and it's both an astute observation and a critical conundrum since you'll want to do more than just say to a friend, "trust me, go see it." Yet at the same time, he's absolutely right, since I felt it worked much better personally walking in with only a vague idea of what I was going to see.

Upon exiting the theatre, I realized that not only had I laughed so hard that I feared I was going to be forcibly removed but that I'd also just seen one of the best films of the year so far.

Moreover it's one that I'm ready to wager will not only garner Burns an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, Damon a nomination for Best Actor in yet another multifaceted performance of charm, humor, pathos, and integrity we've come to take for granted, but also a Best Original Score nod to Marvin Hamlisch.

While there's so much more to note about the film (and all involved must be commended), it's these three individuals who really make the movie sing.

Obviously the effectiveness of the film all started with the ingenious screenplay. Yet on the drive home I realized that Damon had an amazingly difficult task of having to give two performances (in the frame and later in the recording studio for the audio) without making it seem overly hammy and trying to keep the internal and external both separate but in his frame of reference throughout.

Likewise, Hamlisch's '60s cold war era spy movie meets swinging Blake Edwards comedy score is the ultimate accompaniment for a film about a whistleblower who compares himself to James Bond ("only twice as smart"), Tom Cruise in The Firm, and the Michael Crichton novel Rising Sun.

A breath of fresh air at the multiplex, The Informant! is a triumphant reminder for Soderbergh enthusiasts regarding the level of talent possessed by the filmmaker, cinematographer, camera operator, and driving force of his rapidly made intriguing features.

At the same time, the film celebrates his innovation in flipping genre conventions around and the fact that — with the exception of the Ocean's Trilogy — Soderbergh never makes the same movie twice nor stays in a nice cushy "type."

Going from studio pictures to movies made on the cheap and employing indie do-it-yourself enthusiasm throughout from sex, lies and videotape to Out of Sight to King of the Hill to Traffic to The Limey to The Informant!, even when a Soderbergh film divides the critics and/or audiences, his tenacity and unwillingness to take an obvious approach is inspiring.

And it pays off exceedingly well with this film, which not only aces Burn After Reading but does so with facts and at the same time, reminds us post-Jason Bourne and when I fear he's in danger of typecasting just why we were so enamored with Damon's talent as a character actor over a decade ago.


Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: The Sarah Silverman Program-- Season 2, Volume 1

“Here comes trouble with a capital S.”

– Officer Jay (Jay Johnston in “Bored of the Rings”)

You know how when you go in for your eye exam, the doctor shows you two different slides and asks, “Which is better, number one or number two?” While for most of us, it’s hard to distinguish as they continually flip mirrors around and ask us to read nonsensical vision charts, my guess is that when anyone from The Sarah Silverman Program goes in for an appointment, they always go for number two. And after getting the instant gratification juvenile laugh at saying, “number two,” when asked again if they’re presented with two completely different slides, they’ll keep right on saying “number two,” until they’re fitted with specs or contacts so blinding that they don’t realize that you can’t build an entire series around number two.

Sure, one joke here and there keeps the masses entertained but as Mike Myers learned with the crass Love Guru, after awhile, if all you’re dishing up are repetitive jokes about number two and all of the bodily functions and parts connected to that area, the comedy itself is going to make the entire show seem like number two and find people reaching for the remote to put on any other channel not associated with that number.

This being said, I think Sarah Silverman is one of the funniest comics working today. I love her courageousness and ability to take real risks with her material as evidenced in her uneven but wildly hilarious film Jesus is Magic (that was best when on stage and a disaster when off) or in small film roles like in I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With. However, when you find her reined in on basic cable and unable to say some of the things that make her hilarious, obviously there’s a creative blockage that happens (no pun intended) and the result is nothing but two.

In Season 2, Volume 1 of The Sarah Silverman Program which arrives on DVD on October 14, Sarah and Laura Silverman, Brian Posehn, Steve Agee, and Jay Johnston are back reprising the roles from the first season, and in the sparse six episodes they manage to tackle such hot button topics as abortion, illegal immigration, racism, and a number of other things I won’t even begin to repeat here. With an extra disc filled with bonus materials featuring the cast and creators at 2007’s Comic-Con and behind the scenes clips, and digital shorts, it also contains audio commentary by those involved including Sarah Silverman, commenting on her childish, self-obsessed television alter-ego who causes destruction, offense, and chaos with each step she takes in her adorable sneakers.

Comic-Con Clip

When it works, The Sarah Silverman Program is hilarious as Sarah finds herself lured by what she assumes are merely lesbians bearing baked goods until she unwittingly discovers she’s joined an anti-abortion group and reasons at the end of the show to her conscience and dog Doug that, “some of the best pastries are made by terrorists dressed as lesbians.”

"Bored of the Rings" Clip

Or in another episode where the simple board game Life makes Brian and Steve question the gay marriage law when they debate over whether to put a blue or pink peg in their car — making Brian and Steve consistently funny go-to guys for great subplots when they’re not just playing a gay twenty-first century version of Cheech and Chong.

In perhaps the most daring episode, “Face Wars,” after she’s denied entrance to a country club to play tennis because of her heritage, Sarah and an African-American man argue over whether it’s harder to be black or Jewish, prompting Sarah to don blackface for the rest of the episode. While the action is justifiably one of outrage when she first hits the street, per usual for the show, Sarah is somehow confused as someone fighting for the greater good to open up a dialogue about race before she’s nearly assassinated… accidentally, of course.

"Face Wars" Clips: The Hate Crime

The Challenge

Blackface

Reasoning that “it’s like I’m the only open-minded person,” the show takes another dive with an entire episode titled “Doody” until the entire set nearly redeems itself with “Ah, Men,” which finds Sarah falling back into a relationship with God (an older, handsome and well-dressed African-American man) and despite his tendency to be clingy and jealous, inviting him to her high school reunion to make a classmate jealous.

"Ah, Men" Clip

While the concept of the final episode “Maid to Border,” is priceless as Sarah gets her maid deported when she fears the worst, the big plot twist and turning point comes unfortunately south of the other border in the form of number two. And even more unfortunately, this choice upstages two far more hilarious subplots as we discover Brian’s deep-dark secret of only having the Spin Doctors '90s track “Two Princes” on his iPod and Officer Jay’s lifelong ambition to do character based “Gentle Comedy.”

"Maid to Border" Clip

Needless to say, in just these mini-summaries and clips alone, there’s enough good stuff involved to make this a must-own for her devoted fans and a must-rent for those who like cutting edge button-pushing comedy. Additionally, I applaud the courage to take on such politically charged topics and approaching them in such a simple yet meaningful way like the game of Life episode which illustrates a heterosexist pop culture and bringing up campaign issues like racism and the pro-choice debate with such humor.

Yet, while one doesn’t want to begin to preach or make their points so transparent, The Sarah Silverman Program turns to a “message show,” by bringing literally every one of these topics and situations down with incessant jokes about number two and other actions I’m still trying to block from memory (as in one episode Sarah gets far too close to her 13-year-old Chihuahua/pug mix, Doug), ultimately our minds close instead of open. Essentially, the entire program could be solely sponsored by the inventors of the Whoopee Cushion or public service announcements about the importance of colonoscopies.

If a toilet on basic cable never stops running, will anyone flush it? Of that, I really can’t be certain but the result will be in the ratings and sales. And ultimately while we know just how intelligent Silverman, her cast-mates and those behind the scenes are, we hope that somehow they’ll begin to realize that the success of the show isn’t in the number of toilet jokes you can fit into twenty-two minutes.

No, rather it’s in challenging its viewers to look beyond some of the mayhem and understand the genius behind the madness — if only the makers of the show cast the insecurity aside and realized just how truly groundbreaking their comedy show could be, if only they left their plungers at home… or perhaps got a new eye exam and asked if their was a number three.

Bonus Clip Unavailable on the DVD: Sarah's Emmy-Winning "I'm F***ing Matt Damon" from Jimmy Kimmel Live

The Battle of Shaker Heights

Directors:

Efram Potelle

&

Kyle Rankin

Erica Beeney’s screenplay for The Battle of Shaker Heights was chosen as the second winning entry in Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s popular HBO series Project Greenlight. Similar to another Greenlight release Stolen Summer, 2003’s The Battle of Shaker Heights surrounds the friendship of two boys coming of age. Sweet natured and original, the undisputedly predictable yet charming film helped introduce the world to former Holes star Shia La Beouf before he became a new sensation with roles in Hollywood hits such as Transformers.

Set in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Shaker Heights, La Beouf plays Kerry Ernswiler but highly intelligent teenager who spends his weekends as a civil war reenactor where he befriends the wealthy, kind Bart Bowland (Elden Henson) who not only gives him access to his father’s collection of legendary battle artifacts but also introduces him to his gorgeous but engaged older sister Tabby (Amy Smart), on whom Kerry develops a hopeless crush. The son of hippies in the from of a recovering addict father who sometimes lets the at risk homeless people he works with sack out on the family sofa and a mother who runs a bizarre sweat shop mass producing portraits of horses with her Asian staff, Kerry spends increasing amounts of time with Bart. Along with his new friend, Kerry tries to devise a strategy to take on the school’s biggest bully who incidentally is the son of Kerry’s exasperated history teacher who gets routinely challenged by the young war buff in class.

Although the ending wraps things up far too easily and abruptly and the film at times feels uneven in its tone which further research revealed may have been indicative of the studio’s battle to turn the film into a teen comedy whereas the filmmakers intended it to be a drama, it’s still an entertaining time-waster and even more enjoyable than the Affleck/Damon production Stolen Summer.