IHAO on ... Zodiac

What happens when a very good director gets his hands on an uninteresting script?  Zodiac.

Ok, uninteresting isn't fair.  The story of the Zodiac killer is very interesting.  But how this film goes about presenting it over two and a half hours is almost completely unenjoyable.  It has too many characters that none get enough focus, and is incredibly unbalanced in how it tells its "story."  I put "story" in quotes because this is very much presented as an Unsolved Mysteries episode, except it is actually a nice long marathon of episodes all about the same dude.

The Zodiac killer is a case all about possibly the greatest "unsolved" serial killings in the United States.  We follow a group of people all working towards solving the case, specifically an editorial cartoonist played by Jake Gyllenhaal and an FBI guy on the case played by Mark Ruffalo.  We shift from one to the other for a short time before we officially stick on Gyllenhaal's character as he gathers all the information again to write his book.  This whole thing is very much based on that book.  It is a historical fiction, in that it takes a collection of facts and history and then weaves bits of fiction between to present the story.

Let me talk about the good things: Fincher directs this movie, and in some moments, he is wonderful.  Most moments, he is unremarkable.  Really the whole film is unremarkable, except for ... ultimately three sequences.  There are three sequences that really put on the tension and the interest in this film.  Those sequences are probably three or four minutes long each.  So let's be generous and say 12 minutes of this film is worth watching.  That's not a high percentage.

The movie is not a bad one.  It is just an unremarkable one, other than a few major successes in tension and storytelling.  I would not suggest anyone watch this film, though if you do, and you are really into serial killer stuff, this may be a nice way to spend an afternoon, I suppose.

Grade: C

IHAO on ... House of Cards

Binge watching and Netflix-ing helps my insomnia.  I recently talked about going through all of Frasier.  I watched all of Wings after that.  No, that one isn't worth talking about.  It is a fine sitcom, and that's the end.  Next ... well, I tried Coach, because the sitcom train hadn't gone badly.  I did not last long in Coach.  If I go back, I'll just skip the first season entirely.  House of Cards had been sitting on my "To Watch List" for awhile, so I decided to go ahead and start watching it.

Three days later, I finish.

This show is super duper good.

End review.  Roll credits.

It is not often that a show this high in quality comes along.  It is filmed like a movie, it has great actors, and its plots are superb.  Even the simply episodic episodes feel like they have purpose and meaning, and are my favorites of both seasons.

A quick rundown of the show: Francis Underwood is a politician screwed one too many times as he tries to move up the political ladder.  So with good old fashioned politics, intrigue, blackmail, extortion, charm, threats, and greasing the wheels in even more unscrupulous ways, Frank tries to make his way to the top.  His wife, a charity head and lobbyist, is also working on her own schemes.  And journalists are also working their way in.

The show is dense, rewarding, with incredible ... everything, really.  The mystique of why Francis turns to the camera to give us little asides is wonderful, and used many different ways to great effect.  Kevin Spacey, who I normally don't care much about, is able to do what he loves best: completely dissolve into his character.  But since this is a show instead of a film, he is given so much more to work with, and can do so much.  Kevin Spacey deserves and Oscar for Best Actor for this television show.  That is the level of quality on this show, and he deserves every award.

If you have Netflix, you are doing yourself a disservice to not watch House of Cards.

Grade: A++

IHAO on ... John Wick

The best thing about genre films is that they have certain rules they tend to follow.  And then what makes those films great are the little things.  The little extra miles, the little extra details, the little bits.  I cling to those things in film.  My favorite films tend to be genre films that focus on the little things.  Pain & Gain, Labyrinth, Snatch, Robocop ... and John Wick could easily join that group of favorites.

John Wick does so many things right, I hate to talk about any of them.  It is another first time director, though he has done a LOT of second unit and more importantly a lot of stunt work.  He was Keanu's stunt double in a lot of films, in fact.  And it is a very new writer as well, who wrote a very fun script filled with nice ideas and just fantastic scenes and fun dialogue.  The action in this film is incredible.  Some action films are gorefests, but the violence, while prevalent, is not the focus.  The character and his quest, that is what this film cares about, while giving you thrilling but never disturbing action ... except for one sequence very early on.  One heartwrenching sequence that is making me cry this second thinking about it again, even though it has been hours since I watched the movie, and I cried multiple times in theater watching the film and talking about it after because of this sequence.

The action is phenomenal.  And you see Keanu doing a LOT of it.  A lot of the driving, most of the fighting and gun play, is all Keanu, which adds legitimacy to the film and makes it all the more awesome.  On top of that, there are so many tiny acting choices that Keanu makes that elevate what could just be a simple revenge action film and makes it even better.  And it isn't just Keanu.  This film is stacked with great actors: Ian McShane, Michael Nyqvist, Willam Dafoe, Daniel Bernhardt, Kevin Nash, John Leguizamo, Lance Reddick!  Basically, every single role in the film is filled with a great actor, or a legitimate one at least.  And all of them bring that little extra to the table.

The story here is a simple one: John Wick has had his entire life come to a halt when the woman he loves dies of disease.  He gets hope through a simple gift, but an entitled mafia kid ruins all of that, not knowing who John Wick is.  And John Wick spends the rest of the film getting his revenge.

I ... loved this movie.  It is the best straight action movie I've seen this year, hands down.  I implore everyone to see it, action fan or not, because it is a great movie.  It has a hard to sit through moment in the beginning, which I feel was an earned one in the script, but hard to sit through nonetheless.  Damn it, I'm crying again.  Stupid emotional action movie filled with great everything from music to shots to storyboards to acting to direction to editing to EVERY THING IN THIS MOVIE IS GREAT!

Grade: A+++

IHAO on ... Rosewater

Some real terrible stuff happens in the world.  Some really awful stuff happens in the world.  And some really bad stuff happens in the world.  Rosewater is the story of something bad that happened in the world, in a script adapted from a man's accounts of what happened, written by a man who feels responsible.  Jon Stewart, of Daily Show and Big Daddy fame, wrote and directed this film.  I don't mean to put words in his mouth, but from all accounts I've read, he is very passionate about this, and feels probably at least some to blame for the real world bad thing that happened.

The story is that of a real British-Irani journalist who, because of a joke correspondence he did with the Daily Show, got thrown in jail for treason and espionage for close to 120 days.  This is a real story, though dramatized.  Gael Garcia Bernal plays our lead, and he does a goodjob.  He is the best part of this movie.  He, and the little bits, little flashes of interesting things that Jon Stewart does in the director's chair.

That is ultimately the problems with the film, it only really excels in tiny flashes.  It is mostly a good film, with very few problems, though there are some like a little sound mixing problems and a few distracting visuals.  But it doesn't quite excel in anyway beyond those brief flashes.  It is a good film, I'll go so far as to say a pretty good one, but I found myself getting bored a little every now and again, and the film becomes a little repetitive throughout Act 2 and 3.  That was purposeful, but it was also ... amateurish.  There are better ways to show the isolation and desperation in the language of film: wider camera angles, smaller spaces, smarter editing so that the hallucinations actually feel like they are not there instead of just being there in certain shots.

Ultimately, as bad as this is, part of the point of the film and the real world circumstance is that worse stuff happens.  And while the film does a great job of letting us know stuff like this happens, it is also small potatoes compared to other things going on, and again, that is part of the film.  It makes the film feel small and not quite necessary because the stakes are just not that high.  Our protagonist is constantly told that he really isn't being tortured that badly, and we watch that be the case.  I'm not saying what he went through isn't bad.  The film just needed to make its stakes higher for us, the audience.  Which it couldn't, because its hands were tied by a new director and a story that is about how everything our lead went through isn't all that bad comparitively.

The movie is a good one.  And there is some symbolism used very early that is beautiful.  But Stewart is a new director who isn't quite ready for "greatness."  He is perfectly fine.  And the film is perfectly fine, and it strives for great.  Doesn't make it there, but it does a good job.

Grade: B

IHAO on ... WWE Survivor Series 2014 - Part 2

Finally it seems that the Network is working again.  That is great news for the WWE if they can turn all that traffic into profits.  The show itself had a huge media exposure on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and whatever else, and that is huge news for marketing future shows.  So let's see what I missed out on ...

Traditional Survivor Series Match: Team Authority v. Team Cena

Ok, so the story of this match is pretty excellent.  If Team Authority wins, they are going to fire everyone but John Cena.  All of the guys backing up Cena are potentially losing their jobs just by being with him.  And Cena won't be fired because he is just a cash cow, so he gets to continue to work and watch those who stood with him against a bad guy regime lose everything.  But, if Team Cena wins, then Triple H and Stephanie will be reduced to paperwork and desk jobs, to never have any influence on the "careers or personal lives" of anyone in the WWE again ... unless Cena gives them the power back.  The build up has been a little weird, but ultimately, this is an exciting storyline.  On top of that, a good Survivor Series match, which is an elimination tag match, really does some great storytelling.  So I'm going in more excited than I thought I'd be for this match.

Bullet points thoughts as I watch:

• It is crazy to me how much I love Eric Rowan and Luke Harper

• Ziggler is way taller than I always think of him being, he's the same height as Cena and a little taller than Ryback.
• This match has an enormous feel to it, a legitimately big feeling to it, which is exciting
• Amazing, Mark "the worst wrestler in the ring" Henry knocked out immediately by Big Show.
• "Feed Me More" chants make me a happy mark!
• Vertical stall suplex on Luke Harper by Ryback!!!
• Rusev v. Ryback is a cool stand off.  I want to see a full match of them, absolutely.
• Boo, Ryback out!!  Sure, they had to have a bunch of cheating to do it, including the now VERY powerfully booked Curb Stomp, so it isn't like he looked weak, but I'm sad to see the Big Guy out of the match already.
• Big Slow's offense doesn't look good, but he still sells well.
• Interesting history, both John Cena and Dolph Ziggler have amazing Survivor Series records: John Cena is 8-1, and Dolph Ziggler is 5-1.  Things look good for Team Cena
• The crowd LOVES Ziggler.  Biggest pops are for him and Ryback.
• After a long segment of everyone beats up Ziggler, we get another shenanigans round as everyone does finishers and big moves ... ugh, and then we get the "throw the dude on the pile of dudes" again ... and then again.  I've come to hate that spot and the flying shove an enormous amount.
• Rusev out by count-out to continue to protect him, but it was a pretty nice spot.
• Golly, this ref is letting Team Authority to cheat a LOT.  Rollins flies in all the time with attacks, but the ref just lets it happen.  I don't quite understand the logic here, because he isn't even the Authority's ref.
• Heel turn for Big Show.  Big Show loves his job, and that is what his story has always been.  Good storytelling, even if it is shenanigans.
• CENA OUT?!  Well, that's nice.  But this story is crazy.  It is now Ziggler all by himself for Team Cena, versus Luke Harper, Corporate Kane, and Seth Rollins.  Doesn't look good for Ziggles.
• Ziggler gets Kane out, which makes sense as Ziggler has beaten Kane a whole bunch.  Luke Harper and Seth Rollins left.
• Ziggler's gimmick is less "Show Off" and more "Bump Around and Die Constantly, But Won't Stay Down"
• Roll-up on Harper, Ziggler v. Rollins.  The two workhorses of this match, because MAN has Ziggler been working hard.
• More shenanigans right when Ziggler had it won.  Ref can't call you for cheating if you pull him out of the ring ... though I doubt he would have, considering he hasn't all night.
• Another Zig Zag, HHH kills another ref.  HHH v. Ziggler is a match I'd love to see.
• Pedigree to Ziggler.  Ziggler dead for real.  Evil Authority ref out to make the count.

• Sting showed up to help Ziggler and stop HHH!  Probably because Dolph's been doing the Stinger Splash for the past few months.  Sting hates authority.  Also has new music.  I miss his old theme.  Cool to see him, though.
• The crowd is not as hot for Sting as I thought they would be, but that's probably because the young kids don't know him, so the older fans are explaining it to them.  
• There we go, took a few minutes, but then colossal "this is awesome" chants finally.  Sting v. HHH, Mania?  Probably.  Give me a few more Sting matches before that, and I think I'm sold.
• HHH sold the Scorpion Death Drop like a champ, and I love that about HHH in his spot in his career now.
• Sting puts Ziggler on top of Rollins, and Team Cena wins.

That is a LOT of shenanigans.  And a kind of too long match, but I liked a lot of it.  It was a one-hour long extravaganza, and Ziggler was given a huge rub.

Verdict - Enormously important, lots of big feelings, but shenanigans galore, so a little tiresome, but overall enjoyable.  Also, look at Steph, she is perfect here!

So how did this whole PPV go?  I liked it.  It had great story and not great matches, but great story is better than bad story.  It also teased the future, and I like the future it teased.  I'm happy.  And I haven't felt that positively about the WWE in months.  Kudos on your free PPV, WWE.  I think you just may have gotten some new subscriptors.  Subscriptions?  Whatever.

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Well, it is Thanksgiving week.  And I want to thank all of you guys for reading IHAO.  I'm going to be taking the rest of this week off, but next week I have a lot of things lined up: John Wick review, Rosewater review, House of Cards review, and a special article I got with all the help of you guys.  December is going to have a LOT of neat stuff, including a special AMA 3, lots of Christmas reviews, and all sorts of other neat stuff.  So really, thank you all.  And here's to the future of I Have an Opinion.

IHAO on ... WWE Survivor Series 2014 part 1

This month has been FREE WWE NETWORK MONTH.  Little good it did me since I pay for it.  But what does that mean?  That means that this pay per view, free of charge, is a big ole commercial for the future of the WWE.  The future that they want people to buy the Network for all the way to the Road to Wrestlemania.  It is a little early this year to start the Road, but it has been starting earlier and earlier every year, so this is as good a place as any.  I will be honest, I am staring at the PPV, paused, right now, and I am not very excited.  These past PPVs have been lackluster, and I'm just not sure if I'm happy with where the main shows are going.  NXT continues to be amazing, but the regular show?  Oof, it has been dumb.

Well, I cannot put it off any longer.  No Pre-show this time around.  Gifs will be from wrasslormonkey.

Reverse Elimination Promo

We open with Vince coming out and restating how important this is.  Then the Authority do the same thing.  Then Cena.  The stakes are high.  This is the game-changer, the beginning of a new future.  The ante gets uped on the main event, as now either Team Authority wins and everyone on Team Cena is fired (other than Cena), or Team Cena wins and the Authority is no longer in power, at all, period, unless Cena gives them their power back.  It is an interesting twist, and frankly, this is a pretty classic promo that Vince is known for doing.  This is a big deal ... maybe.  We'll see how this goes.

Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Championship Match - Usos v. The Miz and Damien Mizdow v. Los Matadores v. The Brothers of Dust-struction (c)

I love this gimmick.  This is a match I could watch all the time, because there is so much competition and sports without all the garbage of no DQ or no rules stuff.  On top of that there is the great story of the fans wanting Mizdow to finally turn face and turn on the Miz.  Whenever the Miz would do something for the crowd, they'd boo, and then Mizdow would do it and they'd cheer like mad.  The story is fantastic, and everyone knows it, so they keep not letting Mizdow in and the fans want it more and more and more.  Los Matadores and the Dust Brothers have been the workhorses the whole match, and they really really did a great job.  Lots of counters, reversals, and other stuff.  Lots of great stuff ...

 except from the Usos, so did the same stuff they always do.  I hate the jump over the ropes at everyone section of these matches.  Bah.  The finish of the match, other than that everyone thrown at everyone segment, was great, with Mizdow winning for Miz and the crowd loving Mizdow and booing Miz.  It is a nice little team, and when Mizdow officially gets out from under Miz, good things will come.  I liked this match, and the story, and the work, other than the over-the-ropes thing, like I keep saying.

Verdict - I liked it,  Good opening.

Slator Gator hang out with Adam Rose and the bunny to sell toys because Rose is kinda turning heel, kinda?

Eh.  This is just kinda lame, but it sets up a match.  Because they didn't have the matches for the PPV picked before now?

Survivor Series match: Paige, Layla, Cameron, Summer Rae v. Natalya, Naomi, Emma, Alicia Fox

I guess Alicia is face now.  Whatever.  I'm excited.  I legitimately like a lot of these women, and Cameron, Summer Rae, and Alicia are all gonna get out quickly anyway ... I hope.

Cameron can't even make a slap look like it connected.  Ugh, Cameron is so bad.  Luckily first out.  These chicks are working real hard.  Other than a few, most are not good workers, but they are working hard to keep a crowd entertained, and I think it is a great job.  The match becomes Paige versus all four the others, and that's awesome stuff because she is so good.  Then Naomi wins with an awesome new finisher (thank goodness) and the good guys win.  It was a pretty good fun divas tag match.

Verdict - I don't know what people can ask for.  They worked damn hard and put on the best divas tag match in a very long time.  The weak ones were weak, but the match itself was a pretty good match.

Dean Ambrose v. Bray Wyatt

What happens when two unorthodox wrestlers wrestle each other?  Kinda ... nothing, I guess.  I really feel like I should be into this, because I love ole Lizard Tongue, but I just don't really care.  And it isn't a bad match or anything, it is a pretty good one.  I just don't really care.

They start getting me into the match after the early almost double count-out segment.  There's some great counters and moves that really hit hard which I really like.  This makes me want to see Sheamus v. Bray Wyatt.

But then it went to a weird final segment that just does not do it for me.  It was all just to set up for the next match in the series so both guys can continue to be occupied in the midcard.

Verdict - Eh, I liked a short section in the middle.  The rest was meh.

Team Authority are the Kobra Kai

Yup.

Adam Rose and the Bunny v. Slator Gator

This is just a waste of time and bunny puns.  Ugh.  I like that Adam Rose is turning heel, because that wrestler before this gimmick, is way better as a heel.

Verdict - Ugh.

Roman Reigns is on a big ole tv

Roman clearly went to acting classes, and this is them showing it off.  Good for him.  I liked him before he debuted.  I didn't care about him as he was progressing, so this time off is a real good thing for him.

Team Cena are nervous, and RYBACK HAS A NEW SHIRT!!!!

I LOVE Ryback's new shirt and want one right now!  Also, the Team Cena guys talked.

Divas' Championship: Nikki Bella w/ Brie Bella v. AJ Lee (c)

Nikki has be improving like crazy in-ring, and AJ is boring.  So I am rooting for Nikki.  This title has been treated like a real title for a good long time now, which is awesome.  We already had one good Divas match.  And I'm really excited for this one.

And ... that match is over in seconds.  Brie kisses AJ, then Nikki hits her, then hits her finish, and that's the end.  Uh ... wow.  Not what I expected.  But I'm good with it.  Maybe rumor of AJ being done with the company is true.  Who knows.  Must have been some kiss.

As much as I could not handle the thing that happened here, my WWE Network connection could either and kicked me.  It then wouldn't come back up for ten minutes or so.  Crazy.  Must have been some kiss.  Yup did that joke again.

Update, the network is still down.  We are now twenty minutes after the shut down.  Still cannot watch the main event.  This is kind of ridiculous, especially since I ACTUaLLY PAID FOR THIS MONTH, WWE!!!

30 minutes in ... still down.  I'm going to watch an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Be back later.


T.A.H.I.T.I.

I'm not quite into the show even by this point, but I do think that Ward is a cool character, as well as May.  It hasn't really improved since I last gave up, which was on episode 5 I believe.  But being on Netflix makes it possible for me to just go ahead and power through.

Bill Paxton shows up this episode, and that's fun.  He was great in Nightcrawler, so that's neat.

22 minutes into the episode, I decide it is time to take a break and see if the Network will work for me.  Mostly because it is 4am and I really have to get this written before I get to sleep.  Still no good though, even though I'm using the same device to watch Netflix and the Network.  Let me try my tablet ... Also a no go.  Awesome job, WWE.  I guess this is actually part 1.  I'll watch the main event and talk about it and other stuff in part two tomorrow.  Sorry to split this up, because I hate that, but that's all I can do until the WWE works with me.

IHAO on ... Dumb and Dumber To

Grade: D


Because I refuse to not actually give a review, and even though I was able to express all my thoughts in a series of gifs, let me just say this:

The only reason this film does not fail falls on the acting talent of three actors and its inoffensive and perfectly boring camera work.  It is entirely mirthless, with zero jokes that made me laugh in theatre, only one that made me laugh at all and that was in the first time I saw the trailer, and a clear xeroxing of everything from the first one to do it again, just bigger, dumber, and louder.  Jeff Daniels at small points brings more to the script and the plot than necessary by being a good actor.  Rachel Melvin plays the supposed daughter of the guys (it is stupid and convoluted, and not worth watching or explaining) and she is fun, and attractive, so that helps.  And Kathleen Turner does a nice job and grounds the movie a little bit.

That's it.  Everything else is garbage.  This movie is garbage.  Context: Dumb and Dumber To is a worse movie than Interstellar, but Interstellar makes me angrier, so no minuses.  This movie just makes me ...

IHAO on ... Nightcrawler

Some movies are great films because of the firm hand directing them.  Many Fincher films are like that, like Gone Girl.  Some films are strong because of their ensemble's chemistry with each other, like Our Idiot Brother.  Some films are excellent because they have a tight script, or their sound is spectacular.  But some films are great films based solely on the single lead actor's performance.  Nightcrawler is one of those movies.

I do not like Jake Gyllenhaal.  He is not an actor I have come to like, and in fact, I have in the past said that he makes a bad leading man that brings down films he is the leading man of.  And Gyllenhaal knocks this movie right out of the park with his spectacular performance.  Nightcrawler is a character study about an odd thief who finds a new line of work in "night crawling" or following the police scanner for violent and terrible crimes, filming it, and selling it to networks for their morning news.  And that is what this movie is, watching Lou Bloom, Gyllenhaal's character, and slowly picking apart and learning what kind of man he is.

As an actor, I love a character study.  And as a film guy, I love a character study.  The Hurt Locker I've said many times before is one of my favorite films because it is an intense character study of what makes the lead man, Jeremy Renner's character, do what he does.  Pain & Gain is another film I love with some intense ensemble character acting.  Birdman has some incredible acting in it, Oscar award nominee deserving acting.  And Nightcrawler is ... almost as good as those films.  It isn't Gyllenhaal's fault, let me be clear.

Explain yourself then, me!  To them, because I already know.  Because I add the gifs after I finish the review.  So yeah, me, tell 'em!

Film is a collaborative effort.  I mentioned and linked to Gone Girl above, and that film I gave a B+ to because even though the directing is phenomenal, the script and dialogue left some to be desired.  Nightcrawler has an incredible leading performance that has drastically turned me around on my thoughts of Jake Gyllenhaal ... but the direction by first-time director, multi-time writer Dan Gilroy made some odd choices that took me out of the film.  A lot of heavy-handed imagery, some odd choices for how to portray tension in a scene with obnoxious close-ups, and some fatty bits of other characters and scenes that really needed to be as slickly edited as the rest of the film all left me a little colder to the overall product.  All understandable for a first time director, but nonetheless a little on the nose.

This is a good movie.  A very good one.  And it tries to be great.  Gilroy writes a fantastic script.  And Gyllenhaal was more than excellent.  Small acting choices, or the disturbing lack of expression or wit makes Lou Bloom a fascinating character that will keep me coming back to the film over and over.  But every time I come back, I will once again see a heavy-handed montage of satellites and wires to show news being broadcast, or the final shot's slow obnoxious zoom, or myriad other things that all make this film a little harder to stay invested with.  This is the perfect example of a "B" film under my grading system.  It is a great movie, with some large flaws that keep it from reaching what it really could have been.

Grade: B++

EDIT: I made a huge mistake in my original posting of this review, attributing the film to Michael Mann.  I do not know why or how I confused Michael Mann into the mix of this film, as he is nowhere near this movie.  The closest he was ... was in the trailer for Blackhat that was before this movie.  Somehow I mashed them together.  So I need to say now that knowing that this is a first time directing part for Dan Gilroy, who wrote the wonderful Real Steel and the AMAZING The Fall, I really have come to like this movie a lot more.  It is still a B for me on the pure objective side of things, but I love Gilroy, and as weird as it sounds, to hear this is his first gig as a director makes me like the movie even more than I already did.

My apologies to anyone I steered wrong earlier, but there we go, caught it and fixed it.

IHAO on ... Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance

Oscar season is upon us.  I've always liked Oscar season.  And every year I say that I'm going to watch all the nominees for Best Picture, and I never do.  I also see movies that to me absolutely deserve to get a lot of nominations, like Pain & Gain should have gotten for Walberg, Johnson, and Shalhoub, as well as for cinematography and editing.  But invariably, I am very wrong on those thoughts.  But this year, I have this site up and running in a good way, and I hope to actually see all the nominees for best picture this year.  And review them.  And I'm gonna start with Birdman!

Something like this.

This movie was really good.  It is a film about a lot of things, filmed in an incredible way, with really strong performances, some amazing effects mixed into all the really strong human drama, and an interesting bedrock premise to ground a much more difficult to put into words true premise.

The story of the film; We follow Michael Keaton's Riggan, a 90s superhero film actor whose career has tanked since then, and the play he adapted, directed, and stars in on Broadway through the five days leading to opening night.  Edward Norton plays a broadway actor who is amazing at his job, but terrible at just about everything else.  Naomi Watts is an actress working to finally make her dream of getting to broadway.  Emma Stone plays Riggan's daughter and personal assistant, and Zach Galifinakas plays Riggan's lawyer, manager, and best friend.  Oh, and Keaton also plays Birdman, a delusion that plagues Riggan with doubt, fear, and worry.

This movie is really good.  Like, super super good.  I very much hope we get a directing nod for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who did the almost impossible of filming the entire movie in the illusion of one-shot without a single edit or cut, so that we, the audience, are a ghost watching the entire film with an insider's perspective.  I very much hope Michael Keaton gets a best actor nod, and Edward Norton a supporting actor, because both of those guys just killed it, especially on scenes they had together.

And I very much think it is a Best Picture nod.  This movie is about acting, about the relationship of audience to actor to director to producer to critic.  About the entire behind the scenes process of a stage show.  About how celebrity and talent are different.  About how social media changes how the world is perceived.  About the influx of superhero films.  About whether or not acting in a big ole bird suit is award-worthy acting or not.  There is a scene where a critic relates superhero movies in acting skill basically to porn and cartoons, as things that have no merit in "real" acting.  I don't agree, but many people do.  And that is interesting.

The whole movie is interesting.  And the subtitle even more interesting.  The "unexpected virtue of ignorance" is a thought I know I've had before as an actor, as a wrestling fan, and so on.  The entire film builds up to explaining what that is, and it is beautiful.  The film is wonderful.  Really great.  I hope that anyone who has ever acted or worked on a show or a movie gives it a watch.  And I hope it does very well this year at the Oscars.

Grade: A++

Nanarsday ... The Ice Pirates

The fun thing about really bad movies is that they are not at their best watched like a normal film.  They are done at best by sharing the terrible nature of these films with a group.  Drinking games, snarky riffing MST3K style, or just having it on in the background so that every now and again the weirdness allows for short moments of enjoyable levity between whatever else you may be doing with your social circle; that is how some of the best worst movies are experienced.  The Ice Pirates is indeed the perfect film for this kind of viewing.

Some bad movies I've talked about are more fun to enjoy as a real film.  This movie ... that is not the case.  My oh my, is Ice Pirates not the case.  This movie is bad.  Super duper very very uber bad.  It is a semi-comedy, semi-parody, semi-action movie that is sort of kind of being Star Wars.  Sort of.  It's real bad when Spaceballs has a higher production quality than you do as a space "epic."

Plot: Water is basically gone everywhere except on one planet, that is ruled by the evil Templars, and the only people who can get water to the galaxy is the noble pirates.  We follow our pirate heroes as they try to steal some ice, end up almost stealing a princess, then getting captured, almost turned into eunuchs, escape, and ... just so many more things happen.

I'm going to go ahead and put this out there; this movie is boring.  If you were just watching it alone, I am not positive you could make it through the first 40 minutes without dozing off.  I know I couldn't.  I have tried to watch this movie for years, and without fail would always end up falling asleep.  I am not sure what it is that makes movies like this.  They tend to be comedies for me, and they always seem to have stuff happening, like ... Ice Age is a movie I've only made it through maybe twice and every other time fallen asleep.  Maybe it has to do with the "ice".  Anyway, the pace of the movie, the music, the acting choices, the really bad direction, all of it leads to sleepytime by yourself.

But didn't I just lead into this review talking about watching this movie with friends!  That's what I did this time!  And I would very much suggest everyone do that!  Because there are some tiny little bits that are hilarious.  The eunuch factory was a great little funny section of the movie.  The pirate getting upset that he didn't get to rape the lead female character is hilarious to me.  The finale of the movie, which is a huge time travel weirdness where a few years go by every thirty seconds, that is a really fun and fast finish.  But I would never ever suggest you watch this thing without others there to have fun with.

Grade: F (+ if in a group)