Better Call Saul (seasons 1-3)

Better Call Saul - can it live up to Breaking Bad?

Better Call Saul

Breaking Bad spinoff starts off slow, but ramps up over the first three seasons

Breaking Bad was one of those once a decade kind of shows. A show so exceptional that it will be remembered for decades as one of the finest TV shows of all time. How do you follow an act like that?

Well, the short answer is you follow tradition and create a spin-off series based around the most popular supporting character of the show. Since the fate of all the main characters in Breaking Bad were pretty much sealed by that show's conclusion, creators had to dig deeper into the minor characters to find a suitable protagonist. The choice was obvious, though: Bob Odenkirk's fast-talking shyster, Jimmy McGill A.K.A. Saul Goodman.

This necessitates a pretty big change to Saul, though. The Saul we knew was something of a comic relief character set against Breaking Bad's unrelenting seriousness. Consequently, a little Saul went a long way. To sustain a long-form dramatic series, Saul had to be more nuanced, and so Odenkirk, the writers, and the directors took it down a few notches - something made readily apparent from the very first episode.

True to Breaking Bad formula, this spin-off show aims to chronicle the rise-and-fall of a regular guy who by small, almost imperceptible degrees, goes from loose morals to master criminal. Of course it still necessarily had to be a prequel - Saul Goodman was pretty far along by the time he first appears in Breaking Bad.

Therein lies the rub: in Breaking Bad, one could root for - or at least hope for - Walter White to come out on top. With Better Call Saul, we already know the ending, so can harbor no such illusions. This makes Better Call Saul much more challenging to watch. Especially as we get to know and love those characters closest to him, knowing that he's inevitably going to hurt them, or take them down with him, no matter how much he doesn't want that to happen. Chief among these is fellow attorney Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), who becomes the Sundance to his Butch. Kim is smart, sexy, believes in Jimmy, but rarely falls for his crap. She knows what he is, but is still loyal to a fault. We already know she's not in Breaking Bad, so whatever happens to her, it's going to be heartbreaking to watch.

The series spends a good deal of time on the story arcs of some of the other major characters - even more than Breaking Bad did. This includes Kim, Jimmy's brother Chuck, and some of the Breaking Bad characters like Nacho, and Mike Ehrmantraut.

So, is it as good as Breaking Bad? No. But that doesn't mean it's not pretty damn good anyway.

The Good:

• full of surprises, it keeps you on your toes
• quality made in every way - too many good things to list.

The Bad:

• not as good as Breaking Bad
• relentlessly downbeat
• slow to develop plots aren't as immediately engaging as some might expect

Stuff to watch for:

• numerous appearances of people, places, and things from Breaking Bad

The Verdict:
***1/2 out of *****

Deepwater Horizon

Deepwater Horizon

Deepwater Horizon

One of the greatest environmental crimes of the last decade was the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion which killed 11 people and spewed 210 million gallons of oil and other contaminants into the Gulf of Mexico. A crime for which only two BP executives were charged with manslaughter, neither of whom were convicted of anything beyond minor environmental pollution offenses. The film Deepwater Horizon dramatizes the events of the fateful day aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig.

In 2010 while the events of the Deepwater Horizon rig were going on film director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg were both working in schlocky action movies when they teamed up to film an adaptation of Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of an ill-fated SEAL team mission in Afghanistan's memoir Lone Survivor. The success of that film has led to a string of based-on-fact action films pairing Berg and Wahlberg. The followup to Lone Survivor was Deepwater Horizon.

Deepwater Horizon's intense focus solely on the events of the day of the disaster is simultaneously the film's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness. It's a strength because never does it get bogged down in the kind of melodrama that so often plagues disaster movies. In fact, the authenticity and brisk pacing make it a contender for a place on the list of all-time greatest disaster movies (though admittedly the competition isn't that fierce). On the other hand, the narrow focus is also a weakness because it omits some of the larger context that gives the actual events so much resonance. The film opens with audio from the Congressional hearings on the disaster, but the film never circles back to tackle that aspect of the story; merely tacking on about a minute of C-SPAN footage during the credits. The film shows BP's culpability, but concentrates primarily on Donald Vidrine (played by John Malkovich) while fellow supervisor Robert Kaluza has few lines. Of the other two key players, Transocean is barely mentioned, and Halliburton isn't mentioned at all. It seems like a missed opportunity to add the fascinating courtroom drama that resulted in the aftermath.

The Good:

• brisk pacing
• Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and John Malkovich all give convincing performances

The Bad:

• provides little context for events, reducing the complexities to a black-and-white action movie

Stuff to watch for:

• country music star Trace Adkins in a bit part
• director Peter Berg's onscreen cameo

The Verdict:
***1/2 out of *****

Monster Snowman (Jû jin yuki otoko)

A movie that's almost as elusive as the creature it's about

Monster Snowman (1955)

Two years before Hammer's version of The Abominable Snowman, Japanese studio Toho released Monster Snowman (Ju jin yuki otoko) the Japanese name for the Yeti.

There's a couple things you need to know about this film before seeking it out, though. First it was released after The Abominable Snowman in the U.S. in 1958 as Half Human. That version excises more than an hour of footage and replaces it with English narration. Unlike the American Godzilla, which is close in quality to the original Gojira, Half Human is significantly inferior compared to Ju jin yuki otoko.

Unfortunately, the second thing you need to know is that the version you are most likely to come across of this film is the butchered American version. That's because the Japanese government objected to the portrayal of the Ainu (indigenous people of Japan) in this film - even though many claim the people depicted in the film aren't actually Ainu. In response, Toho pulled the film and never released it again.

Fortunately a bootleg copy of Ju jin yuki otoko made it into circulation, however it's a work print that contains timecode overlaying the image. Some versions crop the whole image to eliminate the distracting numbers, while others blur it, or leave it alone. Nevertheless, this version is still superior to the English dubbed Half-Human.

The story involves a group of skiers in the Japanese Alps who come across a Japanese version of the Yeti when they get caught in a blizzard. Later a scientific research team searching for the Yeti agrees to help with the search and rescue operations. That team, however, is tailed by an exotic animal dealer who intends to capture the Yeti for profit.

Overall the film is a minor entry in the Toho canon, but worth searching out for fans of Yeti/Bigfoot/cryptid lore.

The Good:

• This is like Godzilla director Ishiro Honda's version of King Kong

The Bad:

• Hard to find English subtitled or dubbed versions of the original uncut film

Stuff to watch for:

• Features gorgeous cabaret dancer turned actress Akemi Negishi in a major role
  Negishi would later star in a number of Akira Kurosawa films and Lady Snowblood, the film that inspired Kill Bill.

The Verdict:
**1/2 out of *****

The Legend of Boggy Creek

The movie that started the Bigfoot craze of the 1970s

The Legend of Boggy Creek

A low budget horror film from the Texarkana area serves as an ethnographic document of a time gone by

One sad thing about the movie industry is that it's often more about who's more well-connected than who's more talente. As a result, many complete hacks head up mammoth hundred-million dollar projects. Meanwhile, many great talents turn out films in relative obscurity.

Charles B. Pierce was one of the latter. Like Herk Harvey (the Kansas based director of Carnival of Souls) before him, Pierce worked in the middle of the U.S., producing remarkably creative work with what funds they could raise through investmen by local businessmen.

The Legend of Boggy Creek was made for about $165,000 but grossed over $25 million making it one of the top 10 films of 1973, and one of the most successful independent features of all time.

The plot concerns alleged sightings of the supposedly real-life Fouke Monster, a bigfoot like creature named after Fouke Arkansas, the town nearest most of the sightings. And while The Legend of Boggy Creek is almost documentary in style, it's not a mockumentary, or even a pseudo-documentary - it features the actual people who claim to have seen the creature playing themselves in scenes recreating events on the actual locations. The film is more like part nature documentary, part docudrama.

Like Jaws it barely shows the creature, which probably accounts for it's MPAA "G" rating. But similar to Jaws, this less-is-more approach makes the film far more effective than would lingering shots of a guy in a gorilla mask. And because of it's effectiveness it helped kick off a Bigfoot craze of the 1970s that exceeded the Yeti craze of the 1950s. This film alone spawned a raft of imitators, rip-offs, and sequels.

By casting local Arkansas residents this movie is strangely akin to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in its (perhaps unintended) ethnographic-like examination of the last vestiges of the rural South. Before factory farms, strip malls, Walmarts, shrinking wild areas, and endless economic recessions transformed the landscape forever.

The Good:

• gives a good idea of the region's actual geography and residents
• authentic redneck dialect

The Bad:

• heavy-handed narration by the director
• groan inducing back-to-the-land hippie folk songs
• a bit slow by modern standards

The Verdict: **1/2

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace

It's difficult to discuss Leave No Trace without spoilers, since it's a pretty simple film. Father and daughter live alone in the wilderness. When the government finds them and intervenes they're taken to the city where they try to fit in. Unable to fit in they escape to the wilds again, but their differing experiences with civilization, father's negative, and daughter's positive, begins to drive a wedge between them.

While the plot is pretty simple, the emotion-laden questions it brings up, such as "what is home?", "what is family?", "what is the importance of community?", and "what is the responsibility of the State?" are deep, complex wells to explore, and Leave No Trace explores them in a way that is not heavy-handed. The film itself just offers up questions, not simple answers, so in a way it leaves no trace itself.

The Good:

• virtually everything, but in particular Thomasin McKenzie's Oscar-worthy performance as the daughter

The Bad

• nothing, although the film can be a bit of a downer

The Verdict: **** out of *****

Furious 7

Furious 7 feels like the end of an era.

Furious 7

Feels like the end of an era

Furious 7 opens with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), brother of Owen Shaw, the villain from Fast & Furious 6 visiting his brother in the hospital. He vows vengeance against those who put him in a coma. Turns out Deckard is a former Black Ops operative gone rogue. He exits the hospital which is obviously in ruins from his rampage. Why he should want to damage the hospital and staff that are trying to save his brother is the kind of pesky question you don't ask in this movie, and it pretty much sets the tone for everything that follows.

After breaking into DSS Agent Hobbs' (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's) computer one night, Shaw gets into a fight with Hobbs, putting him in the hospital. When Dominic (Vin Diesel) visits him, Hobbs unofficially authorizes him to hunt Deckard down and kill him. But when Dominic does meet Deckard, a covert military squadron led by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) appears and Deckard escapes.

I know what you're thinking - Vin Diesel, The Rock, now Jason Statham, and Kurt Russell, is this a The Expendables crossover? Well, actually, it probably bears more in common with that franchise that it does with the earliest The Fast and the Furious films. And in retrospect, that was probably a wise decision. Halfway through filming lynchpin cast member Paul Walker died (not on set, but in a car crash of all things), meaning that for the franchise to continue (and of course it will continue), it necessarily needs to evolve to something less centered on the Brian/Mia-Dominic/Letty framework.

With a funeral for Han, major development in both Brian/Mia and  Dominic/Letty's relationships, and extremely beautiful goodbye between Dominic and Brian - a montage that works both as a retirement of Brian's character, and a eulogy for actor Paul Walker - the film ties up loose ends going all the way back to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,  closing out a seven film story arc, and what feels like the end of an era.

The Good:

• The best Fast and Furious feature since the original The Fast and the Furious
• Filmmakers did an excellent job of salvaging the film after Walker's death

The Bad:

• For a film with the line "cars don't fly", there are a lot of flying cars
• The Rock gets very little screen time
• Gisele (Gal Gadot) is noticeably absent

Stuff to watch for:

• archival footage of the long absent Tokyo Drift cast
• the destruction of a rare Lycan Hypersport sports car
• Three members of the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the film, there is an in-movie reference to The Hulk; Kurt Russell would also go on to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
• Ronda Rousey v Michelle Rodriguez

The Verdict: ***1/2 out of *****

The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book is part of Disney's plan to remake its animated films as live action films

The Jungle Book (2016)

Unnecessary remake, but still fun

When the idea of a Jungle Book remake comes up, the question that immediately comes to mind is, "why?". Of course, that question should really be the central question before making any film, but it's particularly prominent when we're talking about the remake of a beloved classic. After all, Disney's original animated adaptation of the Kipling tale is one of the finest animated adventures the studio has ever produced. It would be more than 20 years after it was released until Disney even came close to making an animated film of that quality again with The Little Mermaid.

Like The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book is particularly notable for a soundtrack full of memorable songs. Anyone who's seen the movie even once can probably sing a bit of "Trust in Me", "Bear Necessities", or "I Wan'na Be Like You". So it came as a particular shock that there would be very few musical numbers in the 2016 remake. In hindsight, that was probably a wise decision as King Louie is probably one of the most memorable characters in the story, and who could really replace Louis Prima?

Well it turns out those big shoes were to be filled by Christopher Walken. And by big shoes, we mean BIG shoes, as Louie is reimagined from an orangutan to a gigantopithecus, an extinct genus of giant ape. It was a bold decision, and it works. While the rest of the film mostly plays it safe, hewing closer to the book, the '67 film, or the '94 remake, overall it's still fun, even if it's not as fun as that first animated version.

The Good:

• Christopher Walken as the voice of King Louie who lives in an abandoned Rajah's palace
  

The Bad:

• You're still better off watching Disney's 1967 animated version
  

Stuff to watch for:

• the magic lamp from Aladdin
• references to Apocalypse Now and The Lion King
• Gary Shandling's final role as the voice of Ikki the porcupine
• more cowbell
  

The Verdict:
***1/2 out of *****