Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

Director: Christopher Landon
Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Suraj Sharma, Sarah Yarkin, Rachel Matthews, Ruby Modine, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Missy Yager, Jason Bayle, Rob Mello
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Released in 2017, Christopher Landon's Happy Death Day was enthusiastically received by both critics and audiences for re-energizing Groundhog Day's familiar premise as a modern black comedy slasher. After catching up with it far later than expected, what jumped out most was that you could literally sit anyone in front of it with complete confidence they'd enjoy themselves. Being universally recommendable isn't a small compliment, as this proved the rare instance where that dreaded 'PG-13' rating actually served the material, foregoing a reliance on kills and gore to instead exploit the premise's sharp humor for all it's worth.

Now, after waiting even longer to finally see its sequel, 2019's Happy Death Day 2U, confirmation arrives that it's just as crazy as everyone says. While it may lack its predecessor's sense of discovery and a flawed protagonist's exciting transformation, Landon does something really interesting here that you don't frequently see from most sequels, horror or otherwise. He dares to make a totally different movie, expanding his pre-existing universe while making viewers call upon all their knowledge of the previous film. You can't just sit anyone in front of this one if they haven't seen the first, and that's what makes it so strangely appealing.

Abandoning many of its horror elements to go full sci-fi and draw from 80's teen comedies like Weird Science and Real Genius, the sequel's essentially a love letter to Back to the Future Part II, complete with alternate timelines and parallel universes. The script even acknowledges it outright, while making no apologies for wanting to do more than repeat the original. But more impressively, it accomplishes this by still doing exactly that.  

Waking up in his car on Tuesday, September 19, Bayfield University student Ryan (Phi Vu) returns to his dorm room to find roommate Carter (Israel Broussard) with girlfriend Tree (Jessica Rothe). After going back to work on his experimental quantum reactor with friends Samar (Suraj Sharma) and Dre (Sarah Yarkin), Ryan's killed by someone in a Babyface mask before waking up again on the same day. Upon hearing Ryan's story, Tree realizes he's now stuck in a time loop eerily similar to the one she experienced on Monday the 18th. The group's effort to close the loop instead results in a lab disaster with the machine, sending Tree back to relive that original day, but in an alternate timeline. 

With people she knows now suddenly occupying different roles and functions in this new reality, Tree must deal with the fallout and find help to get back, assuming that's what she wants. Complicating matters is that the Babyface killer is on the loose, with their identity and motives suddenly again a mystery in this alternate dimension. Faced with a nearly impossible choice, Tree's desire to escape this loop isn't so cut and dry, as this reality offers her a second chance at something she never thought she'd experience again. 

In attempting to give a complete explanation for what happened in the preceding entry, it tries more than most sequels, leaning so far into the sci-fi component that you question whether it's actually more information than necessary. While everything involving the reactor machine is silly and probably makes even less sense than most time travel plots, that's kind of the point, transforming what was previously a dark slasher comedy into an ambitious, entertaining farce that enables Landon to use every creative tool at his disposal to construct a viable follow-up. 

The idea of an alternate timeline seems very much inspired by BTTF Part II, and at first glance seems to be an odd fit with the Groundhog Day meets Scream approach of the original. But it all works to the film's advantage, as Landon's script finds fresh ways to repurpose nearly all the supporting players in new roles that depart heavily from how they were previously portrayed. The result is a story that's able to return to the settings, places and people of Tree's seemingly endless Monday the 18th, but with the added twist of everything being just a little off and her having to navigate through it again. 

Familiar enough, but containing just enough surprises, the script manages to substantially build on everything that happened before, giving supporting players like Tree's sorority sisters Danielle (Rachel Matthews) and Lori (Ruby Modine), Dr. Butler (Charles Aitken) and escaped serial killer Tombs (Rob Mello) a fresh coat of paint. It also again puts the masked Babyface killer's identity in doubt, even if that sometimes takes a backseat to some of the comedic shenanigans involving Ryan's science buddies and the school's hapless Dean (a scene-stealing Steve Zissis). There's a goofy sequence where he's distracted by a "foreign exchange student" that has no right being as funny as it is and yet it completely works. It's also tough to recall a sequel that has this much of its original cast return, right down to even the smallest of cameos, making the plot's machinations sturdier.  

Falsely teasing roommate Ryan as the main character was a good idea since it not only reels us in, but creates worry as to whether Tree will be sidelined, only to change course and enable viewers to make the discovery along with her again. If Tree's relationship with kind, nerdy Carter proved to be the glue that held the first film together, it's now as if that never happened, at least for this version of him, who has a life that definitely doesn't include her. This means she'll have some work to do, all while facing a reality in which her late mom (Missy Yager) is still alive, after that tragic loss already shaped what she's become. 

After transcending the confines of the genre to portray a completely different type of scream queen in the first film, Jessica Rothe's versatile performance as reformed sorority mean girl Tree Gelbman is somehow even better this time around. In one particularly dramatic scene, she believably registers a whole spectrum of emotions you just can't imagine getting from another actress in any similar role. She does this and alternately displays unmatched comedic chops in a memorably hilarious suicide montage wherein Tree continuously and creatively offs herself to get to the next day. How Rothe isn't in demand for every project out there boggles the mind, as we're once again given front row seats to what should be the breakout of a major new screen star. On one hand, you want to see her continue along this route because she's so good at it, but it's impossible not to wonder how much untapped potential still exists should she decide to tackle entirely different roles. 

The screenplay sets up a choice at the end that's handled really well, while also having something smart to say about the comfort of looking back versus embracing what lies ahead. Despite a post-credit scene setting up another sequel, this one's somewhat lackluster box office haul temporarily put those plans to bed. Luckily, Landon's subsequent success with 2020's body swap horror comedy Freaky did resuscitate that conversation, along with rumors about some kind of crossover between the two. Given how each  subverted their genres so similarly, it would probably work as a single outing. Whatever disappointment horror fans feel about Happy Death Day 2U rarely qualifying as a full-blown slasher are offset by everything else it does to differentiate itself as a sequel. So while it may be easier to prefer the ride we're taken on in the original, it's tough to blame anyone who far prefers the risks this takes instead.

Million Dollar Arm

Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin, Pitobash Tripathy, Rey Maualuga
Running Time: 124 min.
Rating: PG

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

It's entirely possible you've seen or heard Disney's Million Dollar Arm being described as "Jerry Maguire meets Slumdog Millionaire." While that's understandable, a better comparison might be to feel-good throwback sports movies such as The Rookie, Miracle, Remember The Titans, Invincible, and yes, maybe even The Blind Side. Of course, the big worry going into something that wears its heart this proudly on its sleeve is that it will come off too syrupy or more closely resembling a Hallmark movie of the week than a legitimate entry in the sports film genre. I can't claim this completely avoids that, but it's smart and enjoyable enough to make us fondly remember when these types of pictures were released regularly and the public actually went out of their way to see them. Lately, it appears they're having a bit of of a resurgence, as this, along with the slightly more cerebral Draft Day, deserves mention alongside the better ones. It's also well anchored by an actor few would expect to see in a Disney project, marking a highly anticipated big screen transition with his first leading role.

Big shot Los Angeles based sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) has recently fallen on tough times, having gone out on his own with partner Ash (Aasif Mandvi) to form their own fledgling agency. A dearth of clients and a failure to sign star football player Popo Vanuatu (Rey Maualuga) have left them bleeding money and in search of a game-changing idea. That idea comes to J.B. one night when flipping channels between cricket and Britain's Got Talent. Identifying an untapped market for baseball in India, J.B. comes up with the plan of holding a talent competition there called "Million Dollar Arm," in which contestants are scored on the speed and accuracy of their pitches, with the two winners receiving prize money and a trip to the U.S. to be trained as major league prospects.

But when eventual winners Rinku Singh (Life of Pi's Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Slumdog Millionaire's Madhur Mittal) are flown to America to train with USC pitching coach Tom House (Bill Paxton), J. B. realizes he has a near impossible task ahead of him in both preparing them for the big leagues and helping them adjust to their new surroundings. With his business continuing to tank, he skirts responsibility on the latter, leaving his chatty tenant Brenda (Lake Bell) as their only moral support. With the deadline to have them ready fast approaching, J.B. may have to start realigning his personal and professional priorities, for both his sake and that of these kids.

Having limited familiarity with the true story from which Tom McCarthy's script is based, it's hard to say just how far it veers from the facts, but there was never really a moment where I was shaking my head with incredulity at the unfolding events. The movie wisely doesn't try to pretend these young guys are superstars in the making who happen to be "discovered" via the competition. They can basically throw a couple of wild pitches at a little over 80 miles per hour and that's it. They're pretty terrible and actually remain so throughout the film, seemingly struggling to grasp basic mechanics even as they put in as much effort as can reasonably be asked of them. This is a relief since it's apparent early on that this will achieve its PG Disney movie status with tone and presentation rather than concocting an unrealistic fantasy out of a true story.

Everything is sanitized, but not insultingly so, deserving credit for not ignoring the fact that these two kids are being taken from poverty and will experience extreme culture shock upon their arrival. Some of these moments are played for laughs (not knowing how an elevator works) while others (a party gone bad) are treated a little more seriously, with director Craig Gillespie skillfully alternating between the two. The meat of the story is not only Rinku and Dinesh learning to come into their own and succeed in an unfamiliar world, but J.B. morally evolving enough to actually think about some other than himself and his company's bottom line. These are obvious messages, but well delivered nonetheless. And for those wondering, J.B's extreme narcissism, womanizing and somewhat similar profession do invite modern day Don Draper comparisons. There's just no way around it, which isn't necessarily such a bad thing for the film.

Hamm has always seemed like a movie star despite only appearing primarily on TV, and that charismatic  quality is only magnified by the very essence of the character he plays on Mad Men. With that series winding down, the notion that he'd be making the jump was already a foregone conclusion so we may as well just prepare ourselves for the inevitability that none of the material he's given moving forward will contain the depth and complexity we've been spoiled with over the past 8 years. We get one of the better scenarios here, with leading role that plays to his strengths as a performer, while giving moviegoers who haven't seen the show a good inkling of why he's a big deal. Hamm can probaly do this in his sleep, but it's a credit to him that he doesn't and finds ways to constantly keep us interested in his character's rather obvious arc.

One actor who actually does give a performance in his sleep is Alan Arkin,who plays a grumpy, aging major league scout constantly dozing off during try-outs. Considering how often he's been sleeping through this grumpy old man role lately it was nice to see him just go ahead and literally make it official. But his presence only belies the fact that this cast is deceptively stacked with talent, as both Sharma and Patel are extremely likable in the face of mostly unfounded criticism about this being another Hollywood story of a white guy coming to the rescue. They mostly prevent that hijacking each time they're on screen. While Lake Bell's Brenda is blatantly being set up as the quirky, free-spirited love interest for Hamm's character, it's hard coming up with another actress who would have been as enjoyable a fit. She makes it something and isn't underutilized, despite the standard girlfriend role being more than a few levels lower than she deserves. Amit Rohan steals some scenes as the kids' interpreter, working as comic relief that's more amusing than irritating, at least when taken in small doses.

Interestingly enough, ESPN's polarizing Bill Simmons is listed as a producer on the project and as much as it looked from its trailer like the kind of movie he would mock on his podcast, it isn't. And he does know sports films, so his involvement, no matter how limited, could have only been a plus from where I sit. Despite sharing a setting, an actor and even a composer (A.R. Rahman) with Slumdog Millionaire, it didn't really remind me of that as much as it did of the story behind the making of it, with poverty-stricken kids being uprooted from their home country and being thrown into the fast-paced lifestyle of America without preparation. It's still mostly mainstream fluff,  but it's good fluff that gets little things right and doesn't insult our intelligence. Disney has this uplifting sports movie formula down pat, but it's a rare case where predictability can be somewhat comforting.

Life of Pi

Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Adil Hussein, Rafe Spall, Gerard Depardieu
Running Time: 127 min.
Rating: PG

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Ang Lee's Life of Pi starts as one kind of story, only to end as an entirely different and more complex one. But it's everything that happens in between that'll generate the most discussion. Of 2012's end of the year releases, it's undoubtedly the one that leaves you with the most talk, think and maybe even argue about after the final credits roll. Both in terms of the technology and the story being told with it, which is of surprising substance. While I'm still generally very lukewarm on the use (and sometimes abuse) of CGI in movies today, there's no denying it's harnessed here in a way that works in tandem with the material to create an experience that can't easily be dismissed or forgotten. Yann Martel's 2001 bestselling novel has frequently showed up on those lists of popular books that have long been considered "unfilmable." And after watching it I can completely see why. This is really tricky material and it's a credit to Ang Lee that he's somehow able to make it sing on screen, juggling visual and thematic elements that would have sunk many other filmmakers.

When a novelist (Rafe Spall) is urged to interview a middle-aged Indian immigrant named Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) he's told that the story he's about to tell is literally so amazing it will make him believe in God. Through flashbacks we see Pi's childhood growing up in Pondicherry, where his family owned a zoo. He was born Piscine Molitor, a name for which he was relentlessly teased at school ("Pissing") before eventually changing it to Pi, after the mathematical symbol. Raised Hindu, he shocks his mother (Tabu) and father (Adil Hussein) by announcing he's also converting Christianity and Islam, choosing to now follow all three religions because he "just wants to love God." When Pi turns 16 his father decides they're moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba and selling the zoo animals when they get there. This is a blow to Pi who has not only fallen in love with a local girl but has taken an interest in the animals, specifically a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. But while Pi and his family are aboard the Japanese freighter, a storm hits, and he's suddenly lost at sea with the dangerous animal as his only companion. And that's when the story really begins.

Without the benefit of seeing the film in 3D, the opening act is a little jarring to watch when Lee cuts back and forth between the present day framing device and the flashbacks to Pi's childhood. You can tell these scenes are playing with depth in a way that can't be fully appreciated watching at home in a two-dimensional format on a standard TV. There's also a generous amount of voiceover narration setting the story up, so without the 3D format acting as distraction, the prologue can sometimes feel as if we're listening to an audio book on film. These may seem like big complaints but they're actually quite minor when you consider all this takes up only about an eighth of the running time and the script expertly sets the stage for Pi's ordeal at sea. Much of what initially occurs may seem to be a head-scratcher in terms of how it relates to what's coming, and to some could even come off as quasi-spiritual mumbo jumbo. But the film's greatest trick is how it disproves that initial skepticism with a straight-up survival story in the vain of Cast Away or Into The Wild, before again returning us to where we started with a final emotional punch to the gut.

From the trailers and rumblings about the novel, I was under the impression that, no matter how fanciful it seems, Pi would form a close friendship with the dangerous Richard Parker as he battles to survive. Instead, their relationship is depicted more as one of reluctant co-existence and mutual respect in which Pi must carefully consider every move he makes as not to be put in a position where he could be eaten by the tiger. With limited means of obtaining food, that's a concern David Magee's script wisely considers every step of the way no matter how tight the two become. There's always a distance there and Pi's journey is as much about overcoming his own fears as it is surviving. Of course, we really don't realize the full extent of that idea until the film's final lap. But in the meantime we're treated to some truly mind-blowing visuals and one of the best CGI animal creations to be put on screen in Richard Parker, who at no point looks and moves like anything other than a real, living, breathing tiger. If it's true that movie technology had to catch up so the book's events could be done justice, then clearly it has.

Claudio Miranda's cinematography won the Academy Award and it's undeniably beautiful. Does it look like anything resembling reality? Kind of, but not really. Should it even matter in this situation? That, I'm even less sure about. And of course there's no way of us knowing how much of the film's look was enhanced by computers in post-production. Should we care when the final result is this good? It's an interesting debate, but not one that makes or breaks this film. It's the story that does that and how well Lee uses this technology to tell it. Needless to say, it makes it. What isn't up for debate is newcomer Suraj Sharma's performance, a young man who hasn't acted in his life and now must do it against a green screen and a CGI tiger. He has to do everything and does so without you being able to notice any of it. The framing device is the weaker part of the picture but the great character actor Irrfan Khan quietly leaves it all up on the screen in his few crucial as his adult counterpart.

It's impossible to discuss the film without talking about the "big twist," which is probably a misleading way to  describe it. In an effort to talk about it without actually doing so, I'll just say that the development that occurs toward the end of the picture is a game-changer in every sense, causing you to re-think and re-feel everything that came before. It's hard to think of instance where one's reaction to a film depends entirely on who you are and what you bring or don't bring to it. When Pi tells the writer that his story "will make you believe in God" you can't help but think he's also talking to us. I'm not sure it does all that or is likely to convert anyone, but it comes closer than it has any right to in philosophically arguing for the existence and purpose of religion while still somehow not being overtly religious in any way. And that the movie doesn't pick a side or necessarily separate any one God or religion from another will probably upset some. What it instead seems to be arguing for is a belief in anything that helps give you the courage to get through. By the film's closing moments we're left with the possibility that something may not have happened when we were led to believe did. But it isn't manipulative. We can still believe it or we can choose not to. Life of Pi bravely splits the audience into two camps, letting us make of the events what we will. It's rare in a big budget film so dependent on modern technology to challenge us like that, encouraging us to carry on the discussion well after Pi's journey concludes.