Review: Mr. Holmes

"It isn't a bee. It's a wasp. Different thing entirely."

These words, spoken by Sherlock Holmes (Sir Ian McKellen), are a perfect reflection of the film to come: MR. HOLMES, penned by Mitch Cullin and directed by Bill Condon, not only hovers frequently around the subject of bees, but also depicts the difficulty in navigating truth and fiction. Mr. Holmes, who is now in his 90s and living out in Sussex, keeps bees and tries not to become a version of the man that his partner, John Watson made him out to be in his books. His memory is beginning to slip in his old age; but there is one case that keeps nagging at him, a case that makes him start writing his own story to correct Watson's version -- if only he can remember what was different.



Laura Linney and Milo Parker play supporting roles as Mrs. Munro, the vigilant housekeeper, and her son, Roger, who strikes up a fast friendship with Mr. Holmes. The story flashes back and forth between their stay in the Holmes household, Mr. Holmes' visit to Japan to find the elusive "prickly ash" (a plant that helps the memory), and the memories of the previously mentioned case: a woman who took her glass harmonica lessons a little too seriously.

Don't expect it to be your typical Sherlock Holmes case -- the film addresses this very quickly with his age and with the mention of how John Watson tended to embellish on the details of Mr. Holmes' life. Though there is a case, it is not solved with the typical flourish of abstract details. The film certainly takes its time unfurling the story, but this allows us to really get to know our characters. McKellen sits quite comfortably in the shoes of the old retired detective, charming his way through the plot. Linney and Parker are equally wonderful, a fact which is not too surprising for Linney and which bodes well for Parker. Hiroyuki Sanada also graces the screen in a handful of scenes as Umezaki, Mr. Holmes' guide in Japan.

If you're looking for a different spin on Sherlock Holmes' world, be sure to check this one out. MR. HOLMES is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Southpaw

Director Antoine Fuqua brings a story to the screen, penned by Kurt Sutter, that will slam your heart with all sorts of emotions in SOUTHPAW, the gritty boxing flick that sends a man with everything into the depths of despair.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope, a man who dragged himself up from Hell's Kitchen Orphanage and landed his family on a multi-million dollar cushion with his boxing career. His wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), comes to every match, and their daughter, Leila (Oona Laurence) only wishes she can -- Maureen doesn't allow it. Billy tends not to block his opponent's punches -- he gets off on the hits, spurring him into fighting and winning the match, but also leaving him a bloodied mess for his daughter to behold. But the family is happy, and though Billy has a bit of an anger management issue and a rival in fellow boxer Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez), everything seems to be going right for the Hope family.



But then Billy and Maureen go to to a charity event. Much of the boxing community is at the event, and Escobar makes some challenging remarks. Though Maureen tries to stop him, Billy's anger flares up, and a fight begins -- culminating in someone firing a gun and killing Maureen.

So begins a downward spiral for Billy, whose alcoholic coping mechanisms and a decision to wield a gun cause child protective services to take Leila away. Additionally, an incident in the ring causes him to lose his money and boxing license. Billy turns to Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), the owner of a local gym, to help him. Tick begins training him, drilling into him the importance of blocking, and Billy tries to get his life back on track.

The storyline is not perfect, but there are some pretty real things that happen to these characters that really hit home. Though it is a film about a boxer, the focus is less on his career than on the complete toppling over of his life, and the way that he grapples with these changes. Not surprisingly, Gyllenhaal steps with ease into the boxer's mitts, yet again completely transformed in his role as Billy. He takes his time in scenes, in control in the ring but floundering in real life, his garbled voice reflecting his inability to know what to do next.

The rest of the cast is perfect, as well: McAdams gives a heart-wrenchingly realistic performance, and Laurence adds another expressive performance to her belt, with room for plenty more in the future, I hope. Whitaker is fantastic, as usual -- there's always just a little more to peel back for his character. And performances by 50 Cent, Naomie Harris, and Beau Knapp flesh out the rest of the story nicely. The soundtrack also rounds off SOUTHPAW, produced by Eminem and featuring the late James Horner's ominous yet delicate score.

SOUTHPAW is a great watch. It's now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Amy

Before watching this movie, I didn't know too much about Amy Winehouse. I knew a couple of her songs, and I knew that I liked her music, but as for her personal life, the only image that I had in my head of her was comprised by the jokes that people told -- you know the ones: "Her biggest hit was rehab, and she died from alcohol poisoning." But Asif Kapadia's documentary, AMY, gives you a direct insight into her personal life, and how she stumbled down the path that she did.

Even in her childhood, Amy was a singer: the documentary starts us off with a clip of Amy singing "happy birthday", eating lollipops with friends. It doesn't take long for the film to dive right into her music career -- after all, she began her career at 16, so as form follows function, of course they jumped straight into the music. It's a beautiful summary of Amy's immersion into the jazz world: only writing lyrics that were directly personal to her, but "with a punchline".



The tragic thing about Amy is that she honestly did become a musician because of the music. "She needed music, like it was a person, and she would die for it," said one of her bandmates, a comment that -- like many -- was very reflective of the life she led. There are even quotes that she said herself that are scary just how close they hit home: Amy never thought she'd be famous, once saying that "I don't think I could handle it. I'd go mad."

But as much as it doesn't shy away from Amy's problems, the film also celebrates her talent and the joy that she spread to those around her. Amy is described as a complete force of nature, and there's plenty of footage to back that up: her dynamic personality fills the screen, making it that much harder to reach the end of her story. The film ties together the vital points of her life with extracts from her own lyrics, displaying the connections on screen in little chunks - the footage of Amy in concert almost serves as a commercial break, while still threading the film into a cohesive piece.

AMY is now playing at the Midtown Cinema. I definitely recommend that you check it out before it leaves!

Review: The Overnight

For anyone who's moved to a completely new place as an adult, you might want to check out Patrick Brice's newest film, THE OVERNIGHT --  though hopefully with a grain of salt. The film gives a premise that is delightfully squirmy and yet simultaneously, hilariously realistic in its portrayal of the difficulty of finding normal friends as you get older.

The film starts you off in just the appropriate place: in the bedroom of Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) as they initiate sex, then jerk off next to each other to finish the job, only to be interrupted by their son, RJ (RJ Hermes). This hilarious opening sets up our protagonists quite nicely: this is a couple that is honest and comfortable with one another, but they still have their resignations. They have just moved to Los Angeles, and though Alex and Emily are perfectly content with each other's company, they worry about being able to make friends in the area.

When RJ gets invited to a birthday party at the park (an unexplained invite, since they have no friends in the area and he hasn't started school yet), Alex and Emily feel just as out-of-place with the adults as RJ feels with the kids. A chance encounter and a dinner invitation from neighborhood dad Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and his son Max (Max Moritt) leaves our lonely couple with high hopes of finally having their first friends in a new city. But though the dinner party starts off innocently enough, there is something odd about Kurt and Charlotte, his French wife (Judith Godrèche), and as the night progresses and the kids get put to sleep, Alex and Emily begin to wonder if they've befriended a couple of swingers.



THE OVERNIGHT is a hilariously offbeat portrayal of people just trying to find acceptance. Through drunken conversations and awkward events, the bizarre journey that these characters take will woo you in its own way. And while it definitely has some ridiculous and awkward sexual moments, the plot is reined in by steady relationship development, and some pretty fun characters. Naysayers may not fully appreciate the movie, however, until the very end, which wraps up with an awkward yet realistic reaction from our protagonists.

Overall, it's a fun film, and will, shall I say, "expand" your horizons. THE OVERNIGHT is now playing at the Midtown Cinema!

Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon brings us the delightfully imaginative ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, penned by Jesse Andrews, which tells the story of a high school boy who befriends a girl with cancer.

Gregg (Thomas Mann) believes that a rodent-faced, awkward, annoying kid like him needs to be invisible in order to get by; so he's made it a point to make nice with everyone, getting "citizenship in every nation" as he calls it (being on the good side of every clique). He spends his lunch period in Mr. McCarthy (Jon Bernthal)'s office, hiding from the rest of the student body with his "coworker", Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he makes rip-offs of classic movies in their spare time. But one day, his parents (Connie Britton and Nick Offerman) corner him into befriending Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate who has just been diagnosed with leukemia, and he finds himself becoming visible.



The cast is loaded with recognizable faces -- a fact which usually indicates a weak story, but not in this case. While it does have that stereotypical arc of friends dealing with illness, the plot is defibrillated by the distinct collection of characters and creative nuances unique to their interactions. Gregg's mind is an imaginative funhouse of stop motion animation and innovative camera angles (specialty of cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung, whose work we've seen before in OLDBOY); Earl is the most laidback straight-shooter you could find in high school. Rachel's snarky attitude is the perfectly realistic defense mechanism of a girl who's just learned her condition. Offerman's play on Gregg's dad is charmingly ridiculous, as is Rachel's weirdly inappropriate mom, played by Molly Shannon.

Thomas Mann pulls off the quintessential teenager, masterfully executing the teenage humor that Andrews has so accurately portrayed throughout the script (the humor that stands on the edge of annoying and endearing); in fact, each member of the cast so innately becomes their own character that the film instantly comes to life on screen.

There are a few weak moments. There is a fight scene that feels forced -- like the story needed a moment of teenage angst to propel it to the next scene -- and there are a few lines that feel too fabricated to come from the mouths of teenagers. But all in all, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is a great watch, versatile in its emotions and satisfactory in its conclusion. The film is now playing at Midtown Cinema -- don't miss it!