REVIEW: Logan

Logan (Hugh Jackman), AKA the Wolverine, is washed up and an alcoholic.  He makes a meagre living driving a limousine, using the money to save up for a day when he and the aged Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and he could purchase a boat and live on the ocean.  Charle Xavier is in rough shape, no longer a master of his mind, but deteriorating due to age.  The X-Men are long gone, and all that remains are Wolverine, Professor X, and Caliban (Stephan Merchant), a mutant who helps tend to Xavier and whose power is being able to track down other mutants.

It is a far fall from what we have seen before.  It is a more tender and desperate side of Wolverine, as he is staring down his own aging and having a harder time recovering from the wounds that in his youth were overcome by his ability to heal himself.  It is also a more profane Wolverine, as the film sits tightly in its R-rating.  His passion for helping people and fight for justice are gone.  Now it is just a simple mission to take care of the decrepit mentor from his younger days.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a movie if there wasn't any story line past that.  Through circumstances, the three remaining mutants find themselves having to help out a little girl as she is chased by a clandestine group of armed and relentless fighters.  The girl, Laura (Dafne Keen) is being hunted because she used to be part of a project to grow people with mutant powers to turn them into soldiers.  To survive, she must make it to Canada where her freedom, and freedom for those like her, exists.

Director James Mangold focuses mostly on the character of Logan, and not worrying about making him the shining example of justice and truth that people who generally follow super heroes pray for.  Mangold shows us someone who is selfish, self destructive, and uncaring for anyone other than Professor X.  He is not the typical type of hero, and that is what makes this movie special.  It is more of a character study, as Logan must come to terms as to what is best for people other than himself.

This is not to say that there are no action sequences in this film.  There sure are, but they are measured and used sparingly.  When they happen, they are shot with a steady hand with with great choreography.  The limited use of action makes the hype for the sequences that we do get more anticipated.  We see Wolverine as he truly is, a beast that viciously rips his opponents apart, something that is difficult to do with a PG-13 rating.

The central premise of the film is what would you do, with your limited abilities (because his advanced age has made his abilities limited), to assist someone else for no other reason than for doing what is right.  When would you help out a stranger if that meant that all you had been working for and hoping for was put in jeopardy?

What stands out most about Logan is the fact that it deals with the mortality of the titular character.  This is someone who is no longer invincible, and has to rely more on his character than on what had once made him great.  This is the type of story that I love.  It was present in Iron Man 3 when Tony Stark was without his suit and had to decide if he could still be a hero without it.  It was what made The Dark Knight so emotionally powerful.  When the heroes become mortals and have to make the same choices that the rest of us would have to make.

Did I mention that the action was used sparingly?  This was evident when there was twenty five minutes left in the film and I wasn't stranded in the chaotic 'final battle' that pretty much all super heroes have for their final forty five minutes of run time.  This shows the devotion to story that Mangold has with this film.  Even with little action, it is never a dull movie, as the characters are always on the run, and it is edited to keep a fast pace that never tires.

In the midst of a storm of super hero movies that all feel like they follow the same beats, save for a few, Logan truly is a special entry into the genre.  With great dialogue and outstanding performances across the board, this is a really well constructed film.  The best thing about it, spoiler alert, is that it isn't used to set up any more stories.  It is a self-contained tale that is of itself.  Hugh Jackman was always the Wolverine, and this is a world class send off to his efforts for this popular character.

Rating - 3.5 out of four stars

Saying Farewell To A Good Time

Two days ago, it was a simple walk to the library.  The day was warm, but not too hot.  There was a gentile breeze flowing through the air that made it absolutely perfect outside.  Hand in hand, my wife and I headed out the door only to discover that the library was closed on Mondays.  A waste of a trip, it would seem.

Not so.  There is a lovely park in Haliburton, right beside the library.  It was the middle of the work day, so not many people were around.  That's great news for an agoraphobe like myself.  The main thing I wanted to do was head back home, but time with my wife on a walk is a good thing, so I decided to push myself and take the seemingly harmless stroll around the quaint little slice of heaven.

The entire walk was spent just trying to mumble my way through conversation as I tried to keep my emotions in check.  I was terrified.  The simple jaunt around the park turned into a mental battle as I fought to keep from losing control and breaking down into tears.  In the end, I was able to muster through it and make it back home.

Once getting through the door, I had a full on panic attack that lasted a long time.  It happened because I pushed myself to do something that normal people do, and that was to be out in public.  It wasn't until around midnight that I settled down and felt 'normal' again.

Anxiety and the fear of being outside are something that I have dealt with for years.  In that time, I have been on a number of different medications, seen multiple counsellors, and feel as though I have made no progress.  It is easy to feel unique and alone in such circumstances, as though there is something terribly wrong with you that nobody else can, or ever will be able to, understand.

One of the best things that happened because of my mental health struggles was the Mind Matters podcast, where Deane Proctor and I got together and were able to share what we, as well as a number of other people, are forced to go through.  It was great to have those conversations, and a privilege to share them with others as we did what we could to battle the stigma around mental health.

I still think I am nuts, but that's another story.

Through the podcast, there was a feeling of connectedness to the audience, speaking to people who may have felt as alone in their struggles as we did.  It was a way to talk about the difficulties of dealing with these issues from within the church, a place where the norm seems to be showing up on Sundays, wearing your best smiles, and pretending that life is good and grand.

The reality is that life isn't always good and grand.  For some of us, each minute of each day isn't good and grand.  We take the sunshine when we get it, but for the most part it feels like we are in a perpetual state of cloud cover and rain.  It is hard to exist in the superficial facade of the Sunday morning service.  And when you do open up and become vulnerable, there are many 'pray it away' solutions offered.  Of course I have tried prayer.  Humans are notorious for praying when things rough.  The simplistic pat answers that people would give makes me, and numerous other people, weary of sharing such struggles in the church.  I wait for the day that a church member tells someone seriously to 'pray away' male pattern baldness.

The benefit of opening up, however, came with the realization that there are other people in the church community like me.  Other closet sufferers who feel alone.  And that was what the podcast was all about.  Providing a place where we could have support and be together in our messiness.  Mind Matters assisted me in my ways of thinking through the subject, forced vulnerability, and gave me motivation.

This week, the decision was mutually made to end the podcast.  It is unfortunate, because of all of the good that it did myself and the way that it was able to be a connection for others.  The fact is that the conversation isn't done (it's far from over), but that our voices in this format had run their course.  We had done what we could, we carried the baton, and both Deane and I will continue to, just not in this format any more.

The hope is that our run with the podcast has encouraged people to be bold and know that they are not alone.  That there is nothing more wrong with them than there is anyone else.  Everybody has issues, ours are just of a stigmatized matter.  With any luck, there may be a few listeners who have decided to share their stories and were able to impact others.  That's the real hope, and one of the goals of what we set out to do.  We were always just a small part of the conversation, and we hope that you will be too.

Box Office Predictions: 'The Mummy' 'Megan Leavey' and 'It Comes At Night'

There are three new entrants to the box office this weekend, and each of them are looking to grab the attention of the movie going crowds.  The big question is if any of them will be able to topple Wonder Woman from first place in the box office.

The movie with the best chances of doing that is The Mummy.  It stars Tom Cruise, and is positioned as a big budget blockbuster.  Special effects, sequences of Mr. Cruise running... this movie would like to believe that it has it all.  There are great expectations mounted on this film, as it is the kick off to Universal's Dark Universe, something that I wrote about recently on the blog.  The expectations aren't just that it will succeed as a movie, but that it will create a launching pad for an entire franchise.

Those expectations are not looking so good at this point.  Currently it has a sour 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, a sign that it could be in some trouble.  To get some comparison here, I am going to look at another Tom Cruise movie that was also an established property, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.  It had 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and opened up at only $22 million.  Cruise is a recognizable name, that's for sure, but people more generally like to see him in good movies.  Having the name alone doesn't do much.

At the time of writing this, The Mummy has just shy of 15,000 tweets for the day.  Last week at this time, Wonder Woman had well over 130,000 before opening to $105 million.  What is not looking good for The Mummy is that the positive to negative ratio of tweets stands at 3:1.  That's not good at all for a movie that is expected to launch an entire cinematic universe.  Two days ago, that ratio was 2:1.

Probably the most terrifying indicator is the fact that, according to Rotten Tomatoes, only 51% of the audience enjoyed the film.  In an age where word of mouth springs forth as fast as it takes to type something onto your phone, this could be the death of the movie.  There is a chance that there are those that are determined to see the film based off of the recognition of the property, but there are too many signs that people sitting on the fence are going to be staying home.

The Mummy Opening Weekend Prediction - $28 million

Coming from studio A24, is It Comes At Night.  This is a horror film, and this genre has shown in the past that there is room during the summer for horrors to do well.  The trailers make it look like it could be a great film, and the critical reception has been solid.  It currently holds 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is something special for a horror film.

The down side is that it hasn't been doing well on social media.  Well, that's difficult to say.  According to boxoffice.com, it is tracking ahead of The Gift on Facebook, yet below The Witch.  This makes it difficult to get an understanding of just how much social media is indicating the performance of this movie.  One Twitter, it has over three thousand tweets for the day, and is sitting at the same 3:1 ratio as The Mummy.  While the critics are on board for this film, Rotten Tomatoes has the audience rating at 52%.

It Comes At Night Opening Weekend Prediction - $8 million

Lastly, we have Megan Leavey starring Kate Mara.  It is being distributed by Bleeker Street, and is opening in just shy of two thousand theatres.  This is a war story that involves a dog, so it could appeal to animal lovers.  They showed that they will go out to theatres with A Dog's Purpose, which opened to a healthy $18 million.  The fact that there are solid reviews (currently at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes) should help this movie out of the gates.

The big question to be asked is if Kate Mara is enough of a star to carry a movie.  Last year, Morgan, opened to only $2 million.  It is currently the ninth worst opening all time for a movie opening in two thousand or more theatres.  Now, these movies are in different genres and there are a number of differing circumstances, but the fact remains that Mara just isn't much of a star yet, even though she is incredibly talented.

Megan Leaves Opening Weekend Prediction - $3 million

Dark Universe: A Board Room Idea That Should Have Stayed There

Opening this upcoming weekend in theatres is The Mummy, hitting four thousand theatres across the United States and Canada.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Why not have a movie about a mummy?  It has been a number of years since Brendan Fraser fought the ancient creature in what was a camp-filled action adventure.  Studios are continuously re-trying cinematic outings, so why not try it again?

It is easy to see that 1999's outing was a success.  It was the eighth highest domestic movie of the year, and scored the third highest opening weekend of 1999 with $43 million, coming in behind Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace.  It spawned a series of movies, one of which (The Scorpion King) is regarded by some to be the launching of Dwayne Johnson's career.  When other properties have been re-created over a shorter period of time, it is not hard to believe that Universal would be looking to do with with The Mummy.

The problem here though is that this is not just the launch of a re-visited movie.  It is the launch of what my podcast co-host, Christopher Spicer, calls a marketing pitch.  Just imagine a corporate board room.  The challenge laid ahead of the suits is to come up with an idea for making money.  One person brings up the idea of bringing back movies from seventy years ago, and they swoon over the idea.  They give the concept an idea and go to the boss with the pitch.  The boss then says for them to take the pitch right to the public.  Not the product, but the pitch.

This is what seems to have happened with Universal's Dark Universe.  It is all about taking the likes of the Bride of Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, and others into movies and combining them to make a shared universe.  Hey, a shared universe worked for one studio, so why not grab onto properties and make another one?

There are some who may have seen the trailer for the Dark Universe and got excited about it.  However, this is something that should be approached with great skepticism.  That board room pitch just got sold to us when it should have stayed within the company.  People don't care about marketing ideas, they care about movies.  First and foremost should be the idea of selling films to the public, not selling people a marketing ploy.

The timing for this is questionable.  They launched the Dark Universe, along with its own website, ahead of the release of The Mummy.  I honestly think this was a poor decision.  What happens if, and it is quite possible, the film is a bomb?  At the time of writing this, not a single critic on Rotten Tomatoes has seen the movie.  Holding off on critical screenings is sometimes the sign that a movie is not that good.  If they don't have faith in this movie standing up to the critics, why go ahead with marketing the Dark Universe right away.  That being said, it still is Tuesday, so there are a few more nights to go that they could get advanced screenings in.

This is a realm that they have tried to enter already.  Dracula Untold was seen to be the first movie in the recreation of the old Universal Monsters.  That movie, however, was a bit of a dud.  It didn't do well with the critics (getting only 23% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it wasn't gobbled up by movie goers.  It made $23 million its opening weekend, and topped out domestically at $56 million.  Universal had to rely heavily on the international box office to recoup money for this movie.  All of a sudden the talk was that this wasn't meant to kick off the shared universe between Universal monsters.  Instead, the studio would put that hope into the 2017 re-envisioning of The Mummy.

On the bright side, The Mummy does have Tom Cruise in it.  That will help its chances, but as we saw with the $23 million opening of the Dwayne Johnson starring Baywatch and the similar opening of Cruise's latest, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, big stars aren't the drawing power that they once were. Having a mega-star in a film does not mean that it is going to do well, and against a budget of $125 million, The Mummy will have to do a lot better than Jack Reacher did to make it worth while.  It most likely will, but right now it is tracking for an opening below $40 million, which would mean that, once again, Universal will have to hope on the overseas markets to make the movie profitable.

What Universal should be looking at, instead of any and all reasons to create a shared universe, is the properties that they can bring to the table.  Just because you have something that can be intertwined doesn't mean that it is going to succeed.  Forcing an entrance into a shared universe is not an easy task, as Warner Bros is figuring out with their DC properties.

Universal recently tried to bring back The Wolfman.  Did they do this because they had a unique idea that pushed the concept forward or because it was a recognizable character?  I don't know the answer to that.  I do know the end result.  It opened to $31 million, made a domestic total of near $62 million, and saw a global take of $139 million.  It was a massive disappointment, as the production budget alone was $150 million.  It was a resounding loss for Universal, and perhaps this is what they should be paying attention to right now.

It could be that the creatures that fascinated audiences in the past just aren't compatible for modern movie watchers.  We have seen it before, we have been there and done that.  There are lots of risks to bringing back old properties.  It had better start off with a good story idea, because people won't go and see a movie just because it is recognizable.  The same goes for a marketing strategy.  Basing something solely off of the fact that people can recognize properties means nothing.  There needs to be something to compel people to go to the theatre to see them.

It will be interesting to see how The Mummy does.  I am a firm believer in believing that a story should be told because there is a creative idea behind it, not a marketing pitch.  What works in the board room should stay in the board room.  Don't sell pitches to the audience, sell inspired movies.  This obsession with having a shared universe is not a solid starting point for making movies.  This is a prime example of the business side of the industry, the side that doesn't think about stories but rather thinks about profits.  If that's where they are coming from, that's alright and more power to them.  The signs just aren't there that profits are what they will be seeing with this endeavour.

REVIEW: Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie

I am having a difficult time formulating my thoughts around Handsome: A Netlflix Mystery Movie.  It is created as a comedic parody, and runs like a murder mystery.  It is about Gene Handsome, a detective who lives alone with his dog.  Handsome is good at what he does, near retirement, and instructs up and coming detectives about how to do the job.  When a murder occurs, we get to see Handsome put his skills to the test as he sorts through the clues to find out who did it.

It is not like a modern day mystery film, as it reveals its murderer to the audience in a wall-breaking scene at the beginning.  So, what are we left with as the audience?  There is no mystery for us to solve, and we are left with needing to be entertained by the good detective to keep our own interest in play.

The movie runs more like an older television murder mystery show than it does a proper movie.  I haven't watched a lot of those older television shows, so perhaps this movie went right over my head. It could be that this is a deliciously entertaining movie that hits all of the beats and plays with them in a fun way.  I wouldn't know, though.  So, as it is, I must look at it for what it brought to the table for me.

The comedy, and there is plenty of it, carries most of the weight of the movie.  Having said that, this is not as clever in wit as I would have expected from Jeff Garlin, who I have loved since I first saw him in Curb Your Enthusiasm.  The man can deliver the goods, but there is just not a lot to deliver in this movie.  Garlin co-wrote the script with Andrea Seigel, and he directs it as well.  The jokes of the movie can go from broad to lazy, but they never fall into the realm of complete stupidity that you would get from a lot of modern comedies.  This makes it bearable, and there are times that I laughed, although those times were few and far between.

So, if the comedy isn't that outstanding, where does that leave the detective plot?  As I mentioned, the murderer is revealed right away, so there is a great deal of strength that is needed from the policing and investigating side of things to make this story work.  The murder victim is the baby-sitter for a new neighbour of Handsome's, so this one has him working close to home.  There is a nice element about this, because it brings him into contact with his neighbour Nora (Christine Woods).  The two share some moments together where we get to see the unguarded side of Gene Handsome.  Not that he is a particularly guarded individual, but it is a look into his life and where he ended up.

This is key to the success of Handsome: A Netflix Murder Mystery.  We need to identify with the main character, or else it all goes down the toilet.  With the fun of solving the mystery out of the audience's hands, there needs to be something for us to hold onto, and unfortunately the laughs are not enough.  We need to be glued to the protagonist in this one.  They try hard for that, and it is met with some success.  Unfortunately, there is just not enough here to completely grab on to.  The character is likeable enough, and there is some depth to him, but it wasn't the kind of character that really stands out.

It really is a shame, because Garlin is incredibly talented and there are moments in the movie where it shows he is really skilled as a director.  It is just not a complete package, though.  It is far too inconsistent in its delivery.  If you are up for a murder mystery that takes all of the fun out of it, this one may be for you.  For me, I will reserve my full judgement until I see another offering from Garland, believing in the meanwhile that he is capable of more than this.

Box Office Predictions: 'Wonder Woman' and 'Captain Underpants'

I find myself in a very tricky position this week.  Wonder Woman has finally come, and with that there are a number of factors that must be weighed in to get an understanding of where it might fall in the box office.  I liked last weekend better.  It was much more straight forward, and it was easy to get my mind around possibilities for the wide releases.  This is the part of predicting that sucks.  Writing away and having no clue of what the end result will be until it is time to type it.

Before I get to the positives around Wonder Woman, I should start off with the elephant in the room.  That is the Warner Bros' DC shared universe.  This collection of movies (which so far has three entries) is far from organic.  It is forced, and the films have reflected that.  They have not been solid entities and have seen huge diminishes in their first to second week earnings.  Warner Bros should be a little scared.  They are very obviously attempting to mirror Marvel, but Marvel went about it in a different way.  They made singular movies and then strung them together for The Avengers.  It was a process that was a lot more free-flowing than this attempt to play catch up.

The big question is, has the quality of the previous DC movies caused fans to be cautious of Wonder Woman?  I think it has.  There are die-hard fanboys that would think this is not the case, but history has shown that the quality of films catch up on the creators and that good will is not unending.  Zack Snyder's bleak version of the Superman movies was something that Suicide Squad tried to break free from, and yet those attempts couldn't save it from falling 67% into its second weekend.  The die may have already been cast on this shared universe attempt, and people may very well be staying away from this latest film.

That being said, the previous movies did not have the same sort of acclaim heading into their debuts.  Sadly, this is the first 'fresh' DC movie on Rotten Tomatoes since the attempt to create the shared universe.  What Wonder Woman appears to have going for it is that it is actually a good movie and not just something that is created to make more films off of.  Currently it is sitting at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.  This is sure to help ease the concerns of audience members that have already been burned by DC and Warner Bros.  While it may not have the biggest impact on the film's opening weekend, it is sure to help its longevity in the box office.

While critical reviews have proven to not be a solid indicator of how a superhero movie will do, I will now turn to what is probably the most telling indicator of the excitement around Wonder Woman.  Currently, for Thursday, June 1st, there have been 139,775 tweets about this movie.  That is a lot of energy to be circulating around a film.  It is a sign that there could be a lot of hunger towards a movie that centres around a female protagonist.  It is these Twitter numbers that show we could have a break out hit on our hands.  While the studio is anticipating an opening weekend of $70-75 million, this could prove to be ultra-conservative, and I see Wonder Woman performing a lot better than that.

Wonder Woman Opening Weekend Prediction - $115 million

Opening up alongside of Wonder Woman is Fox's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.  It will have a bit of franchise appeal to those who are familiar with the books, and its hope is to capitalize on the recent lack of animated family fare to attract new fans.  The last animated film in theatres was Smurfs: The Lost Village on April 7.  This is a long time to go between family films, and the drought may be on the side of Captain Underpants here.

The unfortunate thing for Mr. Underpants is that there are a few highly anticipated animated movies soon to hit theatres.  In two weeks we have Cars 3, and then two weekends after that it is Despicable Me 3.  It could be the case that there are families that are waiting for those two films to come out.  Taking a family out to the theatre is no cheap activity, and viewers may be watching their wallets for the more recognizable names later in the month.

While activity on Flixster has been comparable to where The Boss Baby was leading into its opening weekend, other indicators are not there to prove that it will be as popular.  To give you an example of what I mean, The Boss Baby has over 1.3 million likes on Facebook.  Captain Underpants, on the other hand, has only 66 thousand.  That is quite the difference, and it shows that this film is in for a healthy, yet not overly impressive, opening weekend.

Captain Underpants Opening Weekend Prediction - $35 million