A Change of Venue

All good things must end, some rise from the ashes.

by Hunter Isham

        Things have pretty much come to a halt here at the DMI Review, as it's been quite some time since anything has been posted. Our weekly review model broke down a long time ago, and if you've stuck with the blog despite its anemic state, I'd like to offer my gratitude. It's a wonderful thing to have someone take the time to read something you've written, and it's even more meaningful when they continue to do so as you continue to write. As things were winding down here, it occurred to me that I still love writing these reviews, and I would absolutely love to keep on writing them. However, commandeering this blog for my own use would be wrong, having begun it as a group venture, and so that is what it shall stay, albeit an inactive one.

        After a good deal of work, I've relocated my reviews to the brand new Film & Television Review, a blog that will ultimately function like this one, but which is under my full creative control, at least for the time being, as I'm the only one contributing to it. My goal is to post reviews as often as possible, perhaps even once a week, but as a student and a writer with a tendency to write long, that will ultimately be a flexible schedule. I simply hope to share my thoughts whenever I'm moved to do so, and hopefully there'll be someone there to listen.

        This will likely be the very last post on the Darke, McPhaul, and Isham Review blog, and I must say that while this endeavor has come to an end, it's been hugely meaningful for me, opening a new avenue I was previously reluctant to try. Though a relatively short experience, writing for this blog has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had all year, and I hope the path it's started me on is a long and satisfying one. It's sad to fully end one chapter, but exciting to begin another, and whether or not you join me on this continuing journey, I'm glad you were here for part of it. Thank you, and, as the late Roger Ebert would always say, see you at the movies.

About Time

About Love, About Life, About Loss

by Hunter Isham

        I'm a sucker for a sappy movie, even more so when it's a funny and playful one. Writer/director Richard Curtis brings the same warmth and charm he gave to Notting Hill and Love Actually to his newest creation, the time-travelling romantic comedy About Time. The film's trailers it paint as your typical time travel rom-com (or at least as you'd picture one to be), and seemingly give away the entire plot. The benefit of that every-so-slightly science fiction-y element of the story is that you have to expect the unexpected, and while About Time may hit too many familiar and predictable beats to satisfy the more jaded members of the audience, there's certainly more to it than meets the eye.
        The film begins as the awkward yet goodhearted Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) turns 21, when his father (Billy Nighy) informs him that all the men in their family have the ability to travel in time. Specifically, they can travel within the events in their own lives that they have experienced, lest the film turn into Back to the Future. Tim decides to use his gift to get a girlfriend, and so the events of the film are set in motion. He begins to grasp how and when he should use his powers, and what kind of effects they have on his life. Tim eventually meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), the beautiful girl that he instantly loves. But then he meets her again... and again. Curtis plays with time casually to great effect in a way that made Groundhog Day so fast and funny with its ability to revisit and revise the events of its story.
        About Time also successfully borrows its formula from that excellent Bill Murray film in that it disguises itself as one kind of movie while it becomes another. Groundhog Day is a fantasy comedy that develops into a romantic comedy with fantastic elements, meanwhile making a point about how to live each and every day to its fullest. Curtis' film delivers the pathos halfway through as About Time settles its romantic elements and asks questions about life in general. So what if you can make your love life perfect by repeating it until it's just right? What about everything else? How do you help and hurt the people you love? What sacrifices do you make? All of these questions are factored into how Tim approaches his experiences from day to day, turning About Time from a romantic comedy with an interesting premise into a comedy/drama that wants you to cherish every moment.
        Much of this unexpected depth comes from the dynamic developed between Nighy and Gleeson as a wonderful onscreen father/son pair. The former is always cool, funny, and ready to help his son, while the latter is always eager to learn and share a fun game of table tennis with his old man. Their bonding feels real, and their relationship is the heart of the film. Gleeson excels in these scenes, but he truly shines as he sets out to conquer the world of romance with his new found abilities. He's charmingly goofy and clumsy, and his personality carries the film's premise a long way, helping us to accept the time travel conceit without a concrete explanation for its existence. Rachel McAdams is similarly perfect for her role as she is once again smart, funny, and just about as adorable as a person can be. She and Gleeson have excellent chemistry, and it's readily apparent why he should go through all the trouble with the timey wimey stuff to get the woman of his dreams. The two lovebirds, along with the comically sublime Nighy, perfectly anchor About Time, making sure the clichés don't rob the film of its heart.
        The few sins that Curtis' film does commit—it's a little on the long side, and there's no denying that it can be a bit on the nose—are swept away by the utter charm (there's that word again) and wit of the whole thing. If you're like me, and you enjoy movies on the sweeter side, then you'll probably love this one. Balanced by a wry sense of humor (Tom Hollander is excellent as Tim's hilariously bitter landlord) and a deeper understanding of life than you'd expect, About Time brushes past its average contemporaries with ease. Twenty years ago, Groundhog Day became a modern classic by digging for profundity where no one expected it, and Richard Curtis' film follows in its footsteps in the best way possible. A meditation on love, life, and loss, About Time recognizes that there's more to romance than simply falling in love and living happily ever after. 9/10

Breaking Bad

This is the story of Walter Hartwell White.

by Hunter Isham

        On January 20, 2008, following the critical success of Mad Men, the basic cable movie channel AMC premiered its second scripted original series. This show, pitched to the general public as a drama about a high school chemistry teacher stricken with terminal lung cancer who decides to cook crystal meth to leave his family financially secure, has surpassed its 1960s ad man predecessor in acclaim and, arguably, cultural resonance. Breaking Bad is now hailed as one of the greatest television series ever to be broadcast, and I can hardly disagree. It's exciting, moving, and an experience that can never be forgotten. September 29, 2013 saw Breaking Bad air its series finale, bringing to a close a story that will outlive both its creators and its current audience, and few television shows can claim to be as daring and satisfying as this one was.
        Created by Vince Gilligan, a writer for The X-Files, and starring Malcom in the Middle actor Bryan Cranston as teacher Walter White, Breaking Bad seemed like a curiosity when it premiered. Although there was acclaim, I was certainly among the crowd who had no interest in the subject matter, and the season one promotional art (seen above) only made me raise in eyebrow and think "what?". Add to this characters like Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman, a former student turned drug dealer whom Walt turns to for help who has a propensity for calling people "bitch," and I was absolutely certain I would never watch this show. I have a tendency to think I'll never like things I eventually love (see: The West Wing, The Simpsons, all action movies), but thank goodness I'm not too stubborn to give something a try. Breaking Bad broke open a world of characters and events that is as addicting as the methamphetamine Walt and Jesse spend so many hours cooking.
        Breaking Bad is the kind of show that is best unspoiled, even with the vaguest of summaries, so for the purposes of this reflection/recommendation, I'll try to keep it simple. Walter White breaks bad and cooks meth with Jesse Pinkman, but that's not all there is to the story. Walt has a pregnant wife, a son with cerebral palsy, and a brother-in-law in the DEA. This may sound more like a miniseries than a full-fledged television show; after all, how long can Walt and Jesse cook in an RV (once more, check the above ad)? Well, this show is all about change, something Vince Gilligan pitched the show with, and the story and characters certainly evolve. There are dealers, hitmen, kingpins, cartels, and so much more than you could possibly imagine. It's mind blowing to think of how the show started when you see how it all ends, and that's an unbelievable achievement.
        Gilligan and Cranston have thrown around a certain phrase every time they're interviewed: "We'll take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface." This was the former's pitch to the latter for the role of Walter White, and it's an unofficial motto of the show. Walt begins as a meek man struggling to live the boring life he's wound up with, and his show-opening 50th birthday is only a sad reminder of that fact. His lung cancer diagnosis, though apparently a death sentence, is when he truly wakes up and does something. This is a central arc in Breaking Bad, and it's perhaps the one quality that keeps us watching (and for some, rooting for) Walt as he embarks on a journey that changes his entire universe, making him much more than just your average anti-hero.
         Breaking Bad has cemented itself as one of the greatest television series of all time, and unquestionably the best that I have ever seen. I may have my sentimental favorites, but I have to respect the riveting, unwavering quality on display here. So much happens over the course of Breaking Bad's five season, six year run*, involving so many characters and events worthy of analysis and dissectoin, that more deserves to be said than what I can provide here. Jesse Pinkman alone could warrant more discussion than most lead characters on television. Everything that happens and every character that makes a memorable entrance and exit are a part of the greater whole of this series, but it's undeniably a show with a single element at its core. Breaking Bad is the story of Walter Hartwell White, a desperate man who found salvation in change.

P.S. I tried to recommend this series as strongly as I could without giving away much more than the basic premise. I hope those of you who have not yet given Breaking Bad a try seek it out. It's wholly worth your time, and I can't think of a series (of those I've seen) that better exemplifies the notion that we're currently in a golden age of television. Breaking Bad is quite simply the kind of accomplishment that the medium will likely not see again for some time.

*AMC extended the fifth season's 13 episode order to 16, and aired them over two years (8 in 2012, 8 in 2013).

The Fugitive

On the run, searching for the one-armed man.

by Hunter Isham

        "A murdered wife. A one-armed man. An obsessed detective. The chase begins." That's the tagline to the 1993 thriller The Fugitive, based on the popular television show about Dr. Richard Kimble, a man wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife who sets out to find the killer, a one-armed man, while playing a game of cat and mouse with a U.S. Marshall. This film is probably the best adaptation of a TV show ever made, validated not only by strong box office and high praise from critics, but also by a slew of nominations and awards, including a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It's a gripping film that succeeds in every way imaginable, and while I wasn't around when it was first released in August 1993, I can say that as the film turns 20 it's held up for me over the seven or so years that I've been a fan.
        Harrison Ford is Kimble, and he gives one of his best performances as a man who struggles to cope with his wife's violent death while he sets out to solve the mystery and clear his name. Ford no longer needs to prove himself in the action/thriller genre, having years of excellent genre films under his belt, but his turn as Kimble shines through what, in a lesser film, would have been mundane chases and fights. An early scene in which he's interrogated about the murder demonstrate's his truly great, and rarely recognized, ability as an actor, with Kimble's fragility at the forefront, and the now trademark Ford gruffness nowhere to be seen. Richard Kimble is hardly an action hero in the mold of Indiana Jones, and Ford perfectly plays him as a smart man caught in one desperate situation after another. Of course, the chase would seem like nothing were it not for the dedicated Marshall Samuel Gerard, played to Oscar-winning perfection by the incomparable Tommy Lee Jones. He has had many roles that perfectly suit his look and demeanor, Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln being the most recent, and Gerard fits in with that group splendidly. However, one thing that stands out about the U.S. Marshall is his wit and spry personality. Jones is more active in The Fugitive than I had remembered, and it's wonderful to see him in a role that makes him just as much an action star as the lead character. The rest of the cast is rounded out with some familiar faces (Sela Ward, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch, Joe Pantoliano), and they're all great in their roles, but there is simply no mistaking that this is Ford and Jones' movie.
        Director Andrew Davis takes his top-notch cast and uses it to populate a sprawling rural Illinois and Chicago, making great use of the city and some of its trademarks. One chase scene is even staged amidst the famous Saint Patrick's Day Parade, adding a bit of local flavor to the film, something that gives it a fine texture rather than a generic, forgettable big city backdrop. Davis also stages some fantastic stunts, the most breathtaking of which comes early in the film when a train barrels down the tracks toward the crashed bus carrying the convicted Kimble. A real train was used; no miniatures or computer work here. Like the tube train crashing through the old station in Skyfall, it's the kind of spectacular effects work that makes you think, "How did they pull that off? It looks so real!" Davis and his screenwriters, Jeb Stuart and David Twohy, keep things moving at a good clip, as the film never drags or speeds along too quickly. We get all of the pertinent information in a way that's both clear and intriguing, and best of all, the twists of the plot don't distract from the thrills. Helping to tie everything together, James Newton Howard contributes a score that keeps your pulse racing while you stay firmly planted on the edge of your seat.
        When a movie based on a television show is nominated alongside Schindler's List* and In the Name of the Father, attention must be paid. Even more so when such a film contains some of the best work of two legendary actors' careers. Harrison Ford has starred in so many classics that it's easy to forget the ones that don't involve bullwhips and lightsabers, and The Fugitive is unfortunately one of his triumphs that falls through the cracks. Most people probably remember it more for Tommy Lee Jones, something that they would do without fault, but Ford is the emotional center of the film, and it is his work in conjunction with Jones' that makes the film work so spectacularly. There are many films I watch without finding any faults, and The Fugitive is certainly one of those movies, but it becomes something greater by being a film that is not only perfectly executed, but also a film that rises above the conventions and unoriginal story that sink so many films of both the thriller and TV adaptation classes. The Fugitive defies expectations in every way possible, and it does so with such heart-racing style and substance that you'll be left wondering why it hasn't reached the classic-status it so rightfully deserves. 10/10


*Funny story, Ford presented the Best Picture Oscar to his buddy Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List.

All Of Me

A Wild and Crazy Concept

by Hunter Isham

        Director Carl Reiner's 1984 film All Of Me is about as high concept as a comedy can get before it requires the special effects budget of Ghostbusters, but strong performances sold me on the strange twist on a body-swap that occurs in this film without the presence of big thunder and lighting or any other such effects that tell you something supernatural has occurred. When the soul of the terminally ill millionaire Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) is accidentally transferred into the body of the slightly boring Roger Cobb (Steve Martin), we're treated to a hilarious sequence in which they struggle to coordinate by moving the respective halves of Cobb's body they each control. The film's humor isn't as consistent as Martin's pitch-perfect performance, but when such a talented comedian is given material with so much potential, it really doesn't matter that the finished product isn't an all-time classic.

        All Of Me is essentially Freaky Friday with just one person, it's the kind of premise that is sold on the talents of the cast, and Martin absolutely nails his performance as he carries the film and its fairly simple concept through its 93-minute runtime. He's proven himself a competent actor throughout his career, and his comedic abilities were known long before he made this film, but this film offers a perfect melding of the "wild and crazy" persona Martin built up and the regular, relatable type he plays so well in films like Parenthood and Father of the Bride. Roger Cobb is the latter, while the Cobb partially inhabited by Edwina Cutwater is the former. Martin can play a character who is the joke of a movie, but here he plays a normal guy whose life becomes the joke. He's naturally funny in All Of Me, but he rarely elicits a hearty laugh when not struggling with Lily Tomlin's haughty and inexperienced Edwina, a fact that makes his focus in this part all the more incredible.

        Given how many sentences in this review I've devoted to Steve Martin, it may come as a surprise that other people make this movie a success too, but they do so, even if it's Martin's show. Lily Tomlin, though not onscreen for most of the film (once she's dead, we see her as Cobb's reflection in mirrors), is perfectly cast as Edwina, as her personality is omnipresent, and we often hear her speaking to Cobb in his head. Tomlin steals her early scenes with Martin, and provides the perfect blueprint on which he can base her mannerisms and specific vocality. Perhaps one of the best scenes for this balance between Tomlin's mind and Martin's body comes when Cobb falls asleep in court, and Edwina is left to "act like a man" without letting down her host. The rest of the cast is fairly unremarkable, although this really isn't anyone else's film. Victoria Tennant is fine as a love interest and the intended destination of Edwina's soul, but her strength here is providing Martin with an interesting character off of which he can bounce his different personalities.

        Writer Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams, Sneakers) provides Reiner, Tomlin, and Martin with a strong script to work from, and their collective focus is what makes All Of Me a success. Steve Martin has quite possibly never given a stronger performance, as he takes some of his strongest qualities as a performer and blends them together into a character that can be both wild and crazy, and completely relatable. Like many other films Martin's starred in that are good but not great, All Of Me is a story worth telling because its cast is populated with, and led by, professionals who elevate the material. I can only imagine how terrible this film could have been had the physical comedy Martin executes and Tomlin's portrayal of the trapped soul not meshed as exceedingly well as they do. Some comedies, like Ghostbusters, go big because so much of their humor can be derived from the hilarity that ensues when you think of the wrong monster, but others, like All Of Me, have big concepts with relatively small executions, yet they can be just as funny*. All Of Me falls short of greatness because it lacks a consistency that makes legendary comedies just that, but the great elements here are so good, with all the necessary pieces aligning, that we can forget the shortcomings and simply marvel at how Steve Marin can make playing two people in one body a fresh, fun idea. 8/10

*I must say that Ghostbusters is a towering comedy classic. A 10/10 if there ever was one, if only because of Bill Murray in the Twinkie scene. All Of Me excels because Martin is as good in it as Murray is in Ghostbusters, but the latter film is so strong in every other way (Aykroyd, Ramis, Weaver, Moranis, the title theme song) that it's no wonder why it's the one of these two 1984 comedies that has become a revered part of pop culture.

Clear History

Curb Lite

by Hunter Isham

        Larry David doesn't know if he wants to do another season of his hilarious HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, so while we anxiously wait for him to decide, he's delivered a fun and funny movie for the masses to enjoy in the meantime. Co-written by and starring David, Clear History is the story of Nathan Flomm (David), a marketing executive who leaves an electric car company just before it becomes a massive success, missing out on billions and living with the public humiliation. Ten years later, he's changed his look and lives under a new name on Martha's Vineyard, but he's driven to revenge when his former business partner shows up on the island with a young attractive wife to oversee the construction of a brand new mansion. David and his Curb and Seinfeld co-writers, Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer, along with director Greg Mottola, have crafted a story only David's television alter ego could inhabit, and so while it's true that Clear History isn't much more than an extended Curb episode with a lot of fresh faces, I don't think I'd want it any other way.
        David is great at playing his usual TV persona under the name of Nathan Flomm, although he does a very nice job of trying to balance his less palatable characteristics (the ones that get him into trouble as Flomm) with a more subdued, passive approach to unfiltered complaining and commenting. As we soon learn, Flomm's Rolly Da Vore is the nicest guy on the island, but seeing his old boss brings out the old LD that Curb audiences know, and we start getting moments like him complaining to the owner of the local diner about putting silverware on napkins instead of a tabletop cleaned with rags. She gets more indignant as he gets more satisfied with making a suggestion he likely kept locked away for a decade. A cause for concern one might have with leaving the Curb cast behind for this endeavor is that David might lose his wonderful improvisational co-stars (the script, like on Curb, is more of a detailed story outline that the actors fill with their own improvised dialogue), but the many talents corralled for Clear History prove to be welcome additions to this world and sensibility.
        Jon Hamm plays the Ayn Rand-loving Will Haney, the head of the company whom Flomm insults when he insists their new car cannot be called 'Howard,' a name also give to Haney's son, and derived from the main character in Rand's The Fountainhead. Hamm has proven his comedic chops alongside Tina Fey on 30 Rock, but here he plays a perfect straight man to David, even more so as the film advances in time. Danny McBride very effectively fills the shoes of Curb's Jeff Garlin as David's best friend and partner in crime, the man who introduces Flomm to a crazy operator of the quarry (a very funny Michael Keaton) and his employee (Bill Hader), a pair that will ultimately play into Flomm's quest for revenge. Kate Hudson, playing a fairly sweet character, is well-suited to her role as Haney's wife, but ultimately has only a few hilarious moments (she's generally a straight man here). Amy Ryan and Eva Mendes have some great moments as two locals and friends of David's character, and they accentuate the plot in some great comedic scenes. Liev Schreiber is an uncredited standout as a Chechen thug with a sensible and sensitive approach to his professional and personal lives, while J.B. Smoove and Philip Baker Hall are the only Curb personalities to show up, and they deliver as one would expect.
        For all of the wonderful comedic performances in Clear History, and the unmistakable and hilarious sensibilities of Larry David, the film doesn't quite hit as well as you average episode of David's series. The only thing that holds it back from being as excellent as the best of Curb is that it's telling full blown story. Rather than giving us the beautifully arranged, dovetailing beats that David and his writers perfectly honed on Seinfeld and Curb, we get some true character moments thrown into the mix. Now, don't misunderstand; Clear History is still fairly entrenched in the Larry David school of "no hugging, no learning," but the man who's helped create two shows about nothing has delivered a movie that is actually about something, and it can't stand up against movies that strive to be what Clear History is by circumstance. With all that in mind, David's first HBO movie delivers in big, zany ways that Curb doesn't because of its relatively small focus episode-to-episode, and for that slight change of pace I'm thankful. Like Woody Allen and his own onscreen persona, Larry David will likely always be playing Larry David, but I don't really care as long he's funny, and that's exactly what he is here. Clear History isn't perfect, but as Larry himself might say, it's pretty, pretty, pretty... pretty good. 8/10


Note: If you're wondering what the title Clear History means (as I did before I read an article explaining it), it refers to how one can erase their web browsing history on a computer, the kind of act Nathan Flomm wishes he could do to his life.

This Is The End

Curb Your Apocalypse

by Hunter Isham

        The general premise of celebrities playing exaggerated, or even completely fake, versions of themselves is not a new concept, although it has had somewhat of a renaissance in the past two decades with television comedies like The Larry Sanders Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm putting these elements at the forefront, rather than just having a quick cameo. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's This Is The End takes the generally fun framework of a show like Curb (minus the fully improvised dialogue), and applies a story that sees all of these familiar faces trying to survive as the apocalypse hits. The results are amusing, and certainly not just your average Apatow-era comedy, but ultimately the film leaves you wishing it were more than some funny moments strung together by a strange plot.
        Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles to stay with his old (if now distant) fellow Canadian friend Seth Rogen, and before long he reluctantly agrees to accompany Rogen to party at James Franco's house, attended by a bunch of people he neither knows nor likes. At Franco's we see familiar faces like Jason Segel, Aziz Ansari, and Mindy Kaling, as well a coke-addicted and promiscuous Michael Cera. Emma Watson pops up, and later has a very funny scene when she returns to the mostly abandoned house following the deaths of most of those famous people I just mentioned. Through many apocalyptic events, Baruchel, Rogen, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride are ultimately the main characters who survive and barricade themselves in Franco's fortress-like new home.
        Problems arise with rationing food and supplies, demons appear, and there are even some heart-to-heart moments between some of the trapped comedians, but hard as Rogen and Goldberg may try, the film ultimately just amounts to an intriguing journey that isn't as funny as it could be. If anything, the problems seem to arise from the fact that there's just not much to get out of the film as a story, so I can easily recommend seeing the film for some of its humorous moments, but it doesn't leave you feeling like you've experienced something special, or that you've gone a journey with the characters. There are some good performances here (beyond the comedic stuff) by Baruchel, Rogen, and Robinson, brining enough heart to make you care, but the overall arc fails them because the laughs don't come fast enough to gloss over the fact that the film's story isn't wholly successful.
        There are many elements and moments to like in This Is The End, but compared to The Heat—another summer comedy that I didn't think was excellent, but which is funny and charming enough to make up for its fairly generic plot—the film seems like a clever concept that didn't amount to much given its execution. The Heat isn't revolutionary in its storytelling, but its characters and situations are often funny, and almost always somewhat charming. This Is The End moves along in spurts of funny that have too many gaps between them, never quite reaching full speed. This Is The End is not the funniest thing out there this summer, and if it wasn't so strange I likely wouldn't remember it as well as I have, but it's worth a look when you have the chance, if only for the sight of Emma Watson waving an axe around at Rogen and company. 6/10