The Bad Guys / *** (PG)

 

Featuring the voices of:

Wolf: Sam Rockwell

Snake: Marc Maron

Tarantula: Awkwafina

Shark: Craig Robinson

Piranha: Anthony Ramos

Professor Marmalade: Richard Ayoade

Diane Foxington: Zazie Beetz

Police Chief Misty Luggins: Alex Borstein

Tiffany Fluffit: Lilly Singh

Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation present a film directed by Pierre Perifel. Written by Etan Cohen and additional material by Yoni Brenner and Hilary Winston. Based on the books by Aaron Blabey. Running time: 100 min. Rated PG (for action and rude humor).

There’s this thing about acting. When you’re young, you want to play the hero, or more specifically the troubled hero. You want a challenge. You want to portray anguish. Even when you do want to play the “bad guy,” you want to play him from a perspective where he thinks he’s the good guy. But as you get older, and you’ve had your acting challenges. When you’ve challenged yourself and overcome those challenges. When you’ve pushed your skill and art to the edge. When you’ve hurt inside for a role. When you’ve done all that; well then, you just want to play the bad guy. You just want to chew some scenery and be bad. I suppose that’s kind of where the inspiration for a series of children’s books that focuses on the bad guys comes from.

Aaron Blabey started out as an actor. It wasn’t until much later in life that he found his calling as a children’s book writer with a project that was influenced by his own film favorites Reservoir Dogs and movies like Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy. That book series is The Bad Guys, which focuses on a group of criminal friends who struggle with their own desires to be good. He has yet to finish the twenty book series, but it provides him with all those acting desires; and the new Dreamworks Animation movie The Bad Guys is the culmination of those original acting dreams for Blabey.

The first feature from veteran animator Pierre Periful, The Bad Guys is essentially a buddy movie. We’re first introduced to Wolf and Snake, voiced respectively by Sam Rockwell and Marc Maron, having a birthday breakfast for Snake in a diner. Through genre appropriate narration by Wolf, we are invited into his criminal world. He introduces us to Sanke, the safecracker; Tarantula, the hacker; Shark, the unlikely master of disguise; and Piranha, the muscle. 

Wolf and Snake leave the diner, walk across the street and rob a bank. After the intros, the audience is treated to an extended chase sequence with cinematic stylization out of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. After evading the cops, the crew gets down to planning their next score. During the preparation for this heist, Wolf inadvertently saves the life of an old woman and comes out of it actually feeling good about doing good. The heist goes bad, however, and when the team is caught by the overzealous Police Chief Misty Mullins, Wolf hatches a plan to enter a second chance program run by Professor Marmalade to turn good. While he tells the team it’s just another con job to stay out of prison, Wolf secretly is beginning to enjoy acting good. Mayor Diane Foxington is skeptical of Wolf’s motives, but approves of the rehabilitation anyway.

The animation is spectacular. Perifel and his production designers use a 3-D animation that is highly stylized. Looking something between 3D painting and the sketch style of Blabey’s books, the animation sculpts much of the film’s outsider attitude. It also captures that California feeling of the golden sunny haze that embodies the movies of Michael Bay, Dominic Sena and John Woo. Yet the characters also have traditional 2D animation for the eyes, somehow blending perfectly with the Californian vibe and very original look of the rest of the images.

Ultimately, the story is about a rift in the friendship between Wolf and Snake, as Snake lives to be a criminal, while Wolf might be finding he likes the idea of being a good guy a little too much for Snake’s liking. This buddy story is not without its twists and turns, with a heist plot and a couple of misdirections that are sophisticated for a kids movie and could easily work for adult fare. Many of the characters aren’t exactly what they seem, and for however much these guys like being bad, there are deeper levels to who they are than the stereotypes they seem to embody at first. It’s really a great film for introducing kids to the multiple layers of drama that make for the best storytelling.

My youngest son recently finished a reading challenge where The Bad Guys books provided the majority of his reading hours. Ironically, the kids who reached their goals were then allowed to throw pies in the faces of their school’s Principal (his mother, btw) and Resource Officer. There’s nothing like throwing a pie in the face of your school’s police officer and your very own mother to make you feel like one of the bad guys.

The Bad Guys is currently playing exclusively in theaters.

Blindspotting / **** (R)

Lionsgate

Collin: Daveed Diggs

Miles: Rafael Casal

Val: Janina Gavankar

Ashley: Jasmine Caphas Jones

Officer Molina: Ethan Embry

Summit Entertainment presents a film directed by Carlos López Estrada. Written by Rafael Casal & Daveed Diggs. Running time: 95 min. Rated R (for language throughout, some brutal violence, sexual references and drug use).

Facebook is a dangerous place to hang out lately. There are few places online—or certainly in the physical world—where our cultural divides are more clearly displayed out in the open. And yet, many of us can’t quit it. Despite all the political vitriol found there and thought manipulation I see enacted on intelligent people on a daily basis, I still like the contact I get with distant family members and acquaintances. I enjoy seeing pictures of the smaller moments that define most of our lives. I love laughing at pictures of Corgis being dogs while their owner project human presumptions upon them. I also enjoy those challenges that ask you to look at a picture until you can see an image within it that isn’t at first obvious, or the games that ask you which words you see first in a grid of letters. These challenges often claim that what you see first reflects your outlook on life or some such thing. The new movie Blindspotting, written by lifelong friends Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, offers a glimpse into a culture many of us might not be aware of along with showing its characters that the way they see their life does not necessarily match what others see and vice versa.

Ocean’s 8 / *** (PG-13)

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Warner Bros. Pictures

Debbie Ocean: Sandra Bullock

Lou: Cate Blanchett

Daphne Kluger: Anne Hathaway

Rose Weil: Helena Bonham Carter

Tammy: Sarah Paulson

Amita: Mindy Kaling

Nine Ball: Rihanna

Constance: Awkwafina

Claude Becker: Richard Armitage

John Frazier: James Cordon

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Gary Ross. Written by Gary Ross and Olivia Milch. Based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Running time: 110 min. Rated PG-13 (for language, drug use and some suggestive content).

I think there’s an expectation with a heist movie these days that it will be action-filled, have a bunch of twists and turns, and involve a plot that is so complicated it could require a couple of viewings to understand. The new female-centric heist flick Ocean’s 8 follows a more classic notion of the heist flick—something more akin to Rififi, considered by many to be the greatest heist flick of all time. The formula involves a group of characters with specific skill sets, who each provide a vital aspect of the heist that they lay out in precise detail and then visually execute for the audience to appreciate how it all plays out. The outside elements are well-considered by the heist crew and the pleasure comes from watching these characters work together towards a goal while the rest of the cast remains oblivious as to how they are being played. Not every detail in the plan is revealed ahead of time, but the capable and charismatic author of the heist has any speed bumps well in hand. It’s not so much about whether they’ll pull it off, but an appreciation of well-written characters and the actors who are hired to depict them.

Super Troopers 2 / **½ (R)

Fox Searchlight

Mac: Steve Lemme

Rabbit: Erik Stolhanske

Thorny: Jay Chandrasekhar

Foster: Paul Soter

Farva: Kevin Heffernan

Captain O’Hagan: Brian Cox

Genevieve Aubois: Emmanuelle Chriqui

Guy LeFranc: Rob Lowe

Mountie Podien: Hayes MacArthur

Mountie Bellefuille: Tyler Labine

Mountie Archambault: Will Sasso

Governor Jessman: Lynda Carter

Fox Searchlight Pictures presents a film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. Written by Broken Lizard. Running time: 100 min. Rated R (for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug material and some graphic nudity).

For those of you waiting for the return of the dysfunctional group of Vermont State Troopers that brought the comedic crew of Broken Lizard into the modern lexicon, the wait is finally over. And what a wait it was. In fact until April 20^th was close enough for everyone to start making social media memes alluding to getting high but never outright saying it, I’d forgotten all together that the planned follow up to the 2001 cult comedy hit Super Troopers was even coming. In fact, it’s been almost ten years since the comedy troupes’ last feature all together.

I was a fan of their work, and it feels like I should add “back in the day” to that statement. I thought Super Troopers was some kind of stupid comedy genius, and I was a huge fan of their 2006 movie Beerfest as well. Club Dread (2004) and The Slammin’ Salmon (2009) didn’t have quite the cleverness of the other two though. I’ve missed their conversational comedic style and hope it won’t be as long before they come out with more original work. Unfortunately, there does seem to be a slight staleness to the Super Troopers universe.

Gringo / ** (R)

Amazon Studios

Harold Soyinka: David Oyelowo

Richard Rusk: Joel Edgerton

Elaine Markinson: Charlize Theron

Sunny: Amanda Seyfried

Mitch Rusk: Sharlto Copley

Bonnie Soyinka: Thandie Newton

Miles: Harry Treadaway

Angel Valverde: Yul Vazquez

Robert Vega: Hector Kostifakis

Jerry: Alan Ruck

Amazon Studios and STX Entertainment present a film directed by Nash Edgerton. Written by Anthony Tambakis and Matthew Stone. Running time: 110 min. Rated R (for language throughout, violence and sexual content).

The Edgerton’s appear to be a family of many talents. Hailing from Australia, Joel Edgerton is the better known of the brothers in the United States. He stars in his brother’s latest feature Gringo. Most would recognize him from leading roles in films like Warrior, The Great Gatsby, Exodus: Gods & Kings, Blank Mass, Loving and The Gift—which he also wrote and directed. His older brother Nash Edgerton directs Gringo. Gringo is Nash’s second feature film after the 2008 Australian thriller The Square, which took the top spot as my favorite film of that year. Gringo has some of the earmarks of that film but lacks its sharp tone and strong protagonist.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / ***½ (PG-13)

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Ben Affleck

Clark Kent/Superman: Henry Cavill

Lois Lane: Amy Adams

Lex Luther: Jesse Eisenberg

Martha Kent: Diane Lane

Alfred Pennyworth: Jeremy Irons

Perry White: Laurence Fishburne

Senator Finch: Holly Hunter

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot

Wallace Keefe: Scoot McNairy

Anatoli Knyazev: Callan Mulvey

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Zack Snyder. Written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Running time: 151 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality).

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has been critically reviled. I expected to be in the critic’s camp on this one. I hated, hated, hated Zach Snyder’s “Man of Steel”. I revisited it a couple of weeks ago. It did not improve upon a second viewing. I’ve rarely approached a film with such dread as I did BvS. I have rarely been so pleasantly surprised. Ben Affleck is all the Batman and Bruce Wayne I wanted him to be. Henry Cavill is given a little more to do with Supes this time. Amy Adams’ Lois Lane even receives a little character development. And, I think even the critics who hated the movie think Gal Gadot kicks ass as Wonder Woman.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—Manhunter (1986) ****

R, 124 min. (director's cut)

Director: Michael Mann

Writers: Michael Mann, Thomas Harris (novel “Red Dragon”)

Starring: William Petersen, Denis Farina, Tom Noonan, Kim Griest, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Stephen Lang, David Seaman, Benjamin Hendrickson

So, the best show to get canceled from television this year was “Hannibal”, which remarkably made it through three very dark and twisted seasons. Of all things Hannibal Lecter related, it is by far my favorite. But, Lecter has certainly made an impression before. In celebration of those three wonderful seasons, I decided to watch all five of the Hannibal franchise films for Horrorfest.

The police procedural aspect of most of these films generally places them outside of the horror genre in my mind, yet Hannibal Lecter is one of the greatest movie monsters ever created. So I wanted to look at them from a horror mindset. Certainly the television show is rooted solidly in horror, yet its creator, Bryan Fuller, intended to keep references to the novel storylines throughout the series. So, how much of that horror do the movie versions of these stories contain?

“Manhunter”, the first adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel “Red Dragon” and first movie appearance of Hannibal Lector, retains the least amount of horror movie aspects of the bunch. Directed by Michael Mann in full 80’s gear, it retains the crisp “Miami Vice” feel to his imagery. Note that in this vision, the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane is depicted with entirely white walls and features. No colors of any kind. This is, of course, how Mann envisions the clinical, completely sanitized. It is 180 degrees removed from the grimy, dungeon-like depictions of the institution in “The Silence of the Lambs” and the later adaptation of the same story.

Black Mass / *** (R)

James ‘Whitey’ Bulger: Johnny Depp

John Connolly: Joel Edgerton

Billy Bulger: Benedict Cumberbatch

Steve Flemmi: Rory Cochrane

Kevin Weeks: Jesse Plemons

Marianne Connolly: Julianne Nicholson

John Morris: David Harbour

Lindsey Cyr: Dakota Johnson

John Martorano: W. Earl Brown

Charles McGuire: Kevin Bacon

Brian Halloran: Peter Sarsgaard

Robert Fitzpatrick: Adam Scott

Fred Wyshak: Corey Stoll

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Scott Cooper. Written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth. Based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. Running time: 122 min. Rated R (for brutal violence, language throughout, some sexual references and brief drug use).

Johnny Depp delivers a speech about keeping secrets as notorious Boston gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger to an FBI agent with whom he’s in collusion in the new movie “Black Mass” during which he announces his performance as one of the great monsters of the screen. Immediately following that scene he has a conversation with another FBI agent’s wife that plays like a predator who captures his prey and instead of killing it, shows it just how much he can play with it instead. Scott Cooper’s crime film is an interesting study in this real life figure who surely couldn’t have achieved what he did without the help of the FBI, using their desire to control the Italian mafia in Boston to his advantage in becoming the biggest crime kingpin in South Boston.

Criterion Thoughts—12 Angry Men (1957) ****

Juror #1: Martin Balsam

Juror #2: John Fielder

Juror #3: Lee J. Cobb

Juror #4: E.G. Marshall

Juror #5: Jack Klugman

Juror #6: Edward Binns

Juror #7: Jack Warden

Juror #8: Henry Fonda

Juror #9: Joseph Sweeney

Juror #10: Ed Begley

Juror #11: George Voskovec

Juror #12: Robert Webber

United Artists presents a film directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Reginald Rose. Running time: 96 min. Not Rated.

I was lucky enough to have performed in a stage production of Reginald Rose’s “12 Angry Men”. It’s hard to find a play that offers such a diverse set of characters that each inhabit the stage for a play’s entirety. It’s kind of an actor’s dream play. Even if you’re playing one of the smaller roles in terms of number of lines, you still get to flex your acting muscles throughout.

Not that line count was a problem for me, I was also lucky enough to land one of the primary roles of the production, that of Juror #3, the antagonist to Juror #8. I hadn’t seen the movie at that time, and as a purist, I didn’t seek it out in order to preserve my original interpretation of the character. I wish I had, though. For one, I’m not much like Lee J. Cobb, who played #3 in Sidney Lumet’s 1957 big screen adaptation. I couldn’t have stolen his mannerisms or instincts. The main reason I wish I’d seen the film, though, is because of a key mistake my young acting mind made in my interpretation. I judged him.

Criterion Thoughts—The 39 Steps (1935) ***½

UR, 85 min.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writers: Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, John Buchan (novel)

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, Wylie Watson

Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” plays as a movie trying to break out of the constraints of its times. It is an example of how Hitchcock needed the power and scope of Hollywood to jump the cinematic art forward in just the way he did after his marriage with Tinsletown. It is a movie that bursts at its cinematic seams for greater production value and a leap forward in storytelling for the format.

As is often the case with Hitch, he unsettles his audience with his opening images. A man buys a ticket at a box office and the next few shots are those of feet. Even the purchase of the ticket fails to show us a face or even a torso of the man we are following into a theater. Without seeing any faces and with a sequence of feet walking this way and that, we are immediately placed into the mindset of a sort of chase going on. And yet, we have no notion of who is being chased, or why, or who is doing the chasing. The inside of the theater is a scene of a degree of chaos.

Ebert Thoughts ‘15—The Motel Life (2012) ***½

R, 85 min.

Directors: Alan Polsky, Gabriel Polsky

Writers: Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Willy Vlautin (novel)

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Joshua Leonard, Noah Harpster, Kris Kristofferson

Saturday is always the most surreal day of Ebertfest. I don’t know why. I wonder if they try to program the films in a way to produce an eerie sense of being adrift. It’s not a criticism. It just always seems that Saturday is the “lost” day of the festival, with characters trying to find their way through the morass of life. Saturday is the longest day of films and the atmosphere created by them makes it a sort of wonderful cinematic experience.

This year’s Saturday schedule included the films “Wild Tales”, “Ida”, “The Motel Life” and  “99 Homes”. I watched two of these this year and both have a distinct feel of despair about them. The first was “Ida”, with its black and white cinematography and somber subject matter; it certainly played into that atmosphere I described. “The Motel Life” is another strong fit for the Saturday feel.

Ebert Thoughts ‘15—A Bronx Tale (1993) ***

R, 121 min.

Director: Robert De Niro

Writer: Chazz Palminteri (also play)

Starring: Lillo Brancato, Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri, Francis Capra, Taral Hicks, Katherine Narducci, Clem Casterta, Alfred Sauchelli Jr., Frank Pietrangolare, Joe Pesci

I got a different kind of story for my thoughts on the directorial debut of Robert De Niro and the break though of Chazz Palmiteri onto the cinematic scene. I’m not a huge fan of the film “A Bronx Tale”. I mean it’s good, but it isn’t as impressive as I feel it should’ve been. Palminteri’s writing might’ve worked better on stage than it does here. His primary message has to do with the two father figures for his central character with De Niro the real father and Palminteri a mobster surrogate, and how they both want the best for the kid, which is for him to stay away from the criminal life Palmiteri’s character has embraced. There are a lot of contradictions in Palminteri’s story and a great deal of social issues that are explored but never fully developed.

Ebert Thoughts ’15—The Son of the Sheik (1926) ***

UR, 68 min.

Director: Geo. Fitzmaurice

Writers: Frances Marion, Fred de Gresac, George Marion Jr., Edith Maude Hull (novel)

Starring: Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, George Fawcett, Montague Love, Karl Dane, Bull Montana, Binunsky Hyman, Agnes Ayers

The biggest disappointment of missing Ebertfest each and every year is missing the Alloy Orchestra’s live accompaniment of the year’s silent feature. This year’s film is Rudolph Valentino’s “The Son of the Sheik”, a sequel to his film “The Sheik”, not that you have to see the first film to follow the second.

I love seeing the silent films. I don’t watch a lot of silent films, but Ebertfest ensures that I will watch at least one every year. I think that’s a good rule for any cineaste. You should watch at least one silent film a year. More would be better. It was such an innovative time in cinema. At Eberfest I’ve seen some of the best. More importantly, I’ve seen something from just about every silent legend.

Television Thoughts ‘15—Agent Carter (2015) ***

TV-PG, 8 43-min. episodes

Creators: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Directors: Stephen Cragg, Louis D’Esposito, Peter Leto, Christopher Misiano, Vincent Misiano, Joe Russo, Stephen Williams, Scott Winant

Writers: Stan Lee (characters), Jack Kirby (characters), Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Eric Pearson, Lindsey Allen, Andi Bushell, Tara Butters, Chris Dingess, Brant Englestein, Michele Fazekas, Jose Molina

Starring: Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, Shea Whigham, Lyndsy Fonseca, Bridget Regan, Ralph Brown, Meagan Fay

Guest starring: Dominic Cooper, Kyle Bornheimer, Lesley Boone, Alexander Carroll, James Frain, James Landry Hébert, Devin Ratray, James Urbaniak, Kevin Cotteleer, Patrick Robert Smith, Neal McDonough, Leonard Roberts, GlennTaranto, Jack Conley, Rick Peters, John Prosky, Pawel Szajda, Ray Wise, Ashley Hinshaw, Toby Jones, John Glover, Andre Royo, Richard Short

So I read an interview with Richard Dreyfuss the other day in which he questioned the interviewer’s use of the term “the new golden age of television”, referring to the current renaissance happening on television today. (Read the Indiewire article here.) Dreyfuss claimed that the only Golden Age of television was in the early 50s when it was the new form of entertainment in everyone’s household. While I agree that perhaps a new term other than “Golden Age” might be in order to describe an era 70 years down the line, I’m not so sure Dreyfuss quite understands what the interviewer was talking about, because he went on to describe the current television market of consisting only of police procedurals, courtroom dramas and family sitcoms. I suddenly realized that Dreyfuss’ television provider only carries CBS, ion and Nick at Nite.

Chappie / **½ (R)

Chappie: Sharlto Copley

Deon Wilson: Dev Patel

Ninja: Ninja

Yolandi: Yo-Landi Visser

Yankie America: Jose Pablo Cantillo

Vincent Moore: Hugh Jackman

Michelle Bradley: Sigourney Weaver

Hippo: Brandon Auret

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Written by Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for violence, language and brief nudity).

I’ve always been of the belief that expectation is an enemy of art. It closes off the mind to possibilities the artist may have envisioned that the viewer may not if they’re anticipating something else. As such, I’ve become pretty good at turning off the grand expectations movie studios are so insistent on instilling in their audiences through trailers and the buzz movie media outlets provide before a movie’s release. It’s not that I don’t pay attention to these things, because I am a fan first and a critic second; but once I’m there in the dark awaiting the start of a movie I let it all go and simply take in the movie.

That being said, I’d like to talk about the expectations behind the new science fiction movie “Chappie” a little before I delve into my expectationless opinion of it. This is the third movie by South African sci-fi wunderkind Neill Blomkamp. His debut film “District 9” was a summer sleeper hit and a rare science fiction Best Picture Oscar nominee. His follow-up “Elysium” was not as special—although I felt it was enjoyable—and recently Blomkamp has revealed some disappointments he had with that project.

Criterion Thoughts—21 Days (1940) ***

NR, 72 min.

Director: Basil Dean

Writers: Basil Dean, Graham Greene, John Galsworthy (short story “First and the Last”)

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Vivian Leigh, Francis L. Sullivan, David Thorne, Hay Petrie

What does it mean that I can’t even figure out which collection the first film in my Criterion Thoughts series comes from? Criterion Thoughts will feature films from the premiere DVD and BluRay series of films released under the Criterion Collection banner. This first film comes from their films featured on Hulu Plus and certainly seems to fit well into the Criterion Collection. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which collection you need to buy to get it. I’m guessing it was featured in one of their Eclipse Series.

“21 Days” was released in the U.S. as “21 Days Together” after sitting on the shelf for 2 years until star Vivian Leigh’s popularity exploded due to her success as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind”. It also features one of the earliest collaborations between the husband and wife acting team of Laurence Olivier and Leigh. In fact, this British film is filled with elite pedigree of the early British film scene. The film also stars the fine character actor Leslie Banks as the third lead. It was Basil Dean’s final directorial effort after 15 films beginning with 1929’s “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”. Dean would continue to produce films for another decade. Dean co-wrote the screenplay with Graham Greene, perhaps the greatest British crime writer of all time.

Inherent Vice / **** (R)

Larry “Doc” Sportello: Joaquin Phoenix

Lt. Det. Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen: Josh Brolin

Shasta Fay Hepworth: Katherine Waterston

Coy Harlingen: Owen Wilson

Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball: Reese Witherspoon

Saunxho Smilax, Esq: Benicio del Toro

Hope Harlingen: Jena Malone

Jade: Hong Chau

Sortilége: Joanna Newsom

Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.: Martin Short

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon. Running time: 148 min. Rated R (for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence).

There is a misconception going around about Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie “Inherent Vice” that it is somehow similar to The Coen Brothers’ “The Big Lebowski”. While both comedies center on a drug-addled character caught up in a noir plot the runs vastly out of their control, this is where the similarities between the two end. A better comparison for “Inherent Vice” might be to watching Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” as if you the audience were heavily sedated on barbiturates.

Fargo, season 1 / **** (TV-MA)

Lorne Malvo: Billy Bob Thornton

Molly Solverson: Allison Tolman

Lester Nygaard: Martin Freeman

Gus Grimly: Colin Hanks

Bill Oswalt: Bob Odenkirk

Lou Solverson: Keith Carradine

Greta Grimly: Joey King

Mr. Wrench: Russell Harvard

Mr. Numbers: Adam Goldberg

Chaz Nygaard: Joshua Close

Stavros Milos: Oliver Platt

MGM Television and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment present a television series developed and written by Noah Hawley. Directed by Randall Einhorn, Adam Bernstein, Colin Bucksey, Matt Shakman, and Scott Winant. 10 episodes, 2 90-min., 8 60-min. Rated TV-MA (for occasional mild to moderate sexual references throughout, violence & gore, mild language, drinking and some frightening/intense sequences).

We are now deep in the Television Renaissance. Who could’ve predicted the Golden Age of TV would bring zombies to the forefront? Perhaps if anyone could’ve, they’d have also predicted that one of the greatest independent films of the 90’s would find its revival here and be so successful in retaining the original’s spirit, while expanding it’s ideas into a longer running format. “Fargo” is easily the best new television series of 2014.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Blue Ruin (2014) ****

R, 90 min.

Director/Writers: Jeremy Saulnier

Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb, David W. Thompson, Brent Werzner, Stacy Rock, Sidné Anderson

“Blue Ruin” is one of those independent films that wears the blood, sweat and tears of the filmmakers’ efforts right out on every frame. It’s a dismal story about a family broken by the choices of the previous generation. If you’ve seen Jeff Nichols’ brilliant debut “Shotgun Stories”, you have an idea of the subject matter. “Blue Ruin” isn’t as stylish as Nichols’ film and it’s much more brutal and devastating.

Holiday Thoughts ‘14—Die Hard (1988) ****

R, 131 min.

Director: John McTiernan

Writers: Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza, Roderick Thorp (novel “Nothing Lasts Forever”)

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald Veljohnson, Paul Gleason, William Atherton, Hart Bochner, James Shigeta, Alexander Godunov, Bruno Doyon, De’vereaux White, Andreas Wisniewski, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Joey Plewa, Lorenzo Caccialanza, Gerard Bonn, Dennis Hayden, Al Leong, Gary Roberts, Hans Buhringer, Wilhelm von Homburg, Robert Davi, Grand L. Bush, Bill Marcus, Rick Ducommun

It’s a Christmas movie! OK??!!!!