Holly Hunter

Incredibles 2 (2018): Too Late. Fourteen Years Too Late.

Posted on by Jack Drees

Before we get any further with talking about one of the most incredible franchises on Earth, let me just state something to you. “The Incredibles” is not necessarily a movie about superheroes. It’s more about a family containing superheroes more than anything else. Part of it is shown throughout the franchise on how hard it is raising Jack-Jack, the youngest of the Parr family. Pretty soon, one couple by the name of Paul and Genevieve will be having a Jack-Jack of their own. It probably won’t have any superpowers, but still. Even so, this is the reality. Not only is this the reality, there was another sense of reality that had to be dealt with, the fact that conceiving their very own Jack-Jack, is a hassle for Paul and Genevieve. This is all explained in “What the IVF?!”

“What the IVF?” is a new series featuring former first season “King of the Nerds” contestant Genevieve and her husband who is one heck of an editor, Paul. The two are trying to have a baby, but sadly, can’t exactly do so as hard as they try. They face unfortunate realities in various areas including sex, math, examinations, and needles of death. You can find the latest “WTIVF?” content on the show’s specifically dedicated YouTube channel (link down below), featuring the latest episodes and some other material to diverge away from the norm. The latest episode in the series is up, and it might be one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking episodes I’ve watched in the series so far. Oh yeah, THE NEEDLES ARE BACK! Be sure to watch this video up above or any other “WTIVF?” content if you choose to do so, and also make sure to subscribe and ring the bell to see more from “What the IVF?.” Also check out their other social media pages, along with their website. One more thing, if you do decide to check them out, tell them that Jack Drees sent ya over!

WTIVF? WEBSITE: http://www.whattheivf.com/

WTIVF? YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILXSidkzWgwrQ5Oa1py78w/featured?disable_polymer=1

WTIVF? TWITTER: https://twitter.com/WTivF

WTIVF? INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/wtivf/

WTIVF? FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/What-The-IVF-288868031634125/

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“Incredibles 2” is directed by Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Iron Giant) and stars Craig T. Nelson (Coach, Poltergeist), Holly Hunter (The Firm, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice), Sam Vowell (Six Degrees, A.C.O.D), Huck Milner, and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction). I could go on saying that “Incredibles 2” is the long-awaited sequel to 2004’s “The Incredibles.” Although if I did, I’d be understating how long people have been waiting for this. I’ve basically waited for this sequel my entire life. Now that it’s here, I’m screaming internally. Without any further digressions, this movie takes place right after the end of the original “Incredibles” installment. If you’ve seen that movie, you’d be well aware that it ends with a peaceful day suddenly becoming less peaceful. This is because the Underminer has declared “war on peace and happiness.” The sequel basically continues off from the point when the Underminer happens to be introduced. I guess that 2005 video game (Rise of the Underminer) is not canon at this point. This movie also introduces an all new threat, soon leading to Elastigirl’s recruitment to stop said threat. At the same time, Mr. Incredible is left alone with the kids, taking a full time job as a stay-at-home dad.

People have their favorite movies, and I think that’s great. I wouldn’t say that 2004’s “The Incredibles” is my all time favorite film, however, I would definitely confirm to you that this is my all time favorite animation. And to me, sometimes when I think about “The Incredibles,” it reminds me of how great 2004 was for movies. You have “The Incredibles,” my favorite animated film ever. You have “Spider-Man 2,” my favorite comic-book movie ever. You have “Ray,” one of the best films I’ve watched that’s based on true events. And while I have admittedly not watched the film, “The Passion of the Christ” hit an amazing achievement of then being one of the biggest box office hits with an R rating. I’m not saying 2018 is crap, but still, it’s true. If I were to one day make a conclusive list, “The Incredibles” to me would be in the conversation of possibly receiving a spot in my top 10 favorite films of all time. I first watched that movie, as my memory suggests, when I was seven years old. I still remember the first time I rented it from Blockbuster. Since I was just a kid who enjoyed seeing things on screen, I ultimately enjoyed “The Incredibles” because it was moving images on a screen. Overtime though, I bought it at a store whose name you probably won’t be hearing much anymore, Sears. This was on November 4th, 2007. This to me was one of the most rewatchable films I’ve ever owned as a kid. And I still own it to this day, I mean, based on what I just told you, would you be all that surprised? Now with this sequel coming out, they just put the 4K edition out in stores, and now I want it so bad! Speaking of things I wanted so bad, I REALLY WANTED THIS SEQUEL. If you asked me a few years ago what I thought about Pixar doing a sequel to “Finding Nemo” called “Finding Dory,” I would have responded saying I could probably care less. “Finding Nemo” didn’t really feel like it NEEDED a sequel. “The Incredibles” however, ended with a cliffhanger, plus unlike “Finding Nemo” brought a bigger connection in my life. So you might say I’m biased, and in that case I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that.

So… After fourteen LONG F*CKING YEARS, was this highly anticipated, long-awaited, and much asked for sequel worth the wait? The answer, yes! I’ve said countless times that I’ve always wanted to see an “Incredibles 2,” and I’ve asked that as a fan of the original. The thing to keep in mind however, that’s the fanboy in me talking, or in some cases…

The Buddy in me talking.

“I am your number one fan!” –Buddy/Incrediboy

Now, there’s another version of me, the critic side, that will allow the Movie Reviewing Moron to get his words out. And the Movie Reviewing Moron would just like to say that “Incredibles 2,” while fun, entertaining, well animated, hilarious, and action-packed from start to finish, is not perfect. The Moron will state however, the flaws are somewhat forgivable.

The first flaw almost dives into spoiler territory, and don’t worry, if you want to go into “Incredibles 2” spoiler-free, I’ll remind you that this ENTIRE REVIEW is spoiler-free! This movie is somewhat predictable at times. I’m not gonna say much about it. And I’ll admit, in a number of ways, it’s got some unpredictablity, but there were times where I was just analyzing and predicting in my head what was going to happen in the movie and I turned out to be right! I will say once again, this is somewhat forgivable, and the reason for that is because part of this movie’s audience happens to be children and they don’t usually give a damn about how predictable their content is!

The other flaw I have with this movie is one that I imagine might dwindle upon a couple watches, which I will say, “Incredibles 2” might deserve from me, but towards the beginning of the film, the pacing just felt the SLIGHTEST tad off. It wasn’t terrible, but it’s like going into a hotel room, it’s very nice and clean, the security and locks are up to par, the bathroom’s in decent condition, the shower works, the bed’s very comfortable, the view’s not bad, the lighting functions well, there’s a window providing a nice view, then you suddenly check the bed out a little further and find a hair. Now, that’s JUST ONE HAIR. That’s the only hair you find in your bed for the entire stay. Your experience could DEFINITELY be worse, but that hair though… The pacing to me in this movie is the one hair found in the bed. The predictability factor in this comparison if you care to know, is the below average internet connection. The movie still works, but it’s not as smart as it could be. But in all reality, I didn’t really care, because what we got in this sequel as a whole put one big smile on my face.

“Incredibles 2” is not the best movie I’ve seen all year. It’s not the best sequel I’ve seen this year either. It is however, the second best sequel I’ve seen this year. As a movie, “Incredibles 2” is definitely worthy of the Pixar name and a thrill ride all the way through. As a sequel, it does a fantastic job at picking up where things left off, giving an equal amount of spotlight to each character in the Parr family, and providing a similar feel to the original without exactly feeling like a ripoff. It does that thing some sequels do where they remind you of some events that happen in the original and depending on the scenario, repeat it for the sake of either nostalgia or reminding you of something that happened in the past in the franchise. Whether or not that sort of thing comes off as forced or negative, would probably depend on the viewer and their own personal tastes. It kind of worked for me in this case, partially because the intellectual property of “The Incredibles” is one such intellectual property I adore. But these sorts of things at times were executed with such great humor. And I will say that when it comes to the strong points of “Incredibles 2,” this is up there with the strongest. I think the first “Incredibles” can make a good number of people laugh, and you know what? I’m going to make the argument for now that this movie is funnier. Part of this has to do with one specific character of the Parr family, Jack-Jack.

I mentioned already that I loved the first “Incredibles” installment. However, there is one character from that film that I can’t imagine myself ever saying he was my favorite, and that is Jack-Jack. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing that really makes Jack-Jack unlikable, but perhaps the main reason that I wouldn’t point to Jack-Jack as my favorite character in the first film is because he does not have as much of a presence as some of the other characters. Here, he is much more involved with the story, and a true scene stealer. Jack-Jack is definitely the funniest character in the entire movie! One of the best parts of the film is his relationship with Edna Mode, who is probably one of the best supporting characters I’ve ever known in an animation. There’s also one thing that happens in this movie regarding Jack-Jack that I kind of grew to admire throughout the film. If you have seen the first movie, Jack-Jack uses his newly realized powers for a few moments. I won’t go into detail about it for the sake of avoiding spoilers because not everyone has watched “The Incredibles,” but everyone in the Parr family is observing Jack-Jack in one particular situation, and he is making various transformations. This movie goes ahead and says that the Parr family had no idea that Jack-Jack’s transformations were part of his new powers. It does make sense, upon a brief lookup, nobody in that scene I was talking about was able to actually know or tell Jack-Jack was even using any sort of powers. There was a point in the movie where I was questioning all of this, but now that I have this all cleared up, I can actually appreciate this movie a little bit more than maybe part of me once would have.

Now, here is a line you may know if you have seen “The Incredibles.”

“Settle down, are you kidding? I’m at the top of my game! I’m right up there with the big dogs! Girls, come on. Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don’t think so. I don’t think so.” -Helen Parr/Elastigirl

If you have seen the trailers for this movie, you’d know that Elastigirl is more involved with hero work than Mr. Incredible. Elastigirl was a major character in the previous film, however, you might as well say that Mr. Incredible was the shining star. In this movie, I’d probably say that both characters are kind of the shining star in their own little way, but hero-wise, Elastigirl is the “it” character. Elastigirl is out saving everyone, trying to bring heroes back into the spotlight, and she’s got a new suit along with a new ride. Both are quite slick actually if you ask me! Also, that quote I mentioned above Elastigirl’s image, probably fits her character for the entirety of this movie’s runtime more than at least a good portion of the last movie. You’ll see what I mean if you ever decide to check “Incredibles 2” out.

As mentioned, Mr. Incredible is taking on the role of stay-at-home dad. The movie does explain that he would much rather help bring back supers, but hey, someone’s gotta watch the kids. Some of the best parts of this movie actually involve Bob Parr watching the kids. From trying help Dash with his math, to whatever the hell Jack-Jack is up to, and a family outing at a certain restaurant that is a particular standout moment for the character of Violet, these moments were either funny, charming, or both.

If you can’t tell by now, I’d say that “Incredibles 2,” while I will say, is amazing, it’s not as good as the original movie in the franchise. And part of it has to do with the main antagonist. The fiendish plan of the antagonist is to hypnotize everyone into thinking that superheroes should be kept out of the spotlight. On paper, that’s not a bad idea for a villain in this movie. In terms of execution, I’d say this was definitely solid, I didn’t hate it, it’s definitely better than a lot of villains that Marvel puts out. I will say though, in the movie’s favor, it is kind of hard to live up to the first movie’s villain of Syndrome.

I kind of already talked about her, but I gotta dedicate a separate paragraph to Edna Mode because she f*cking deserves it! Edna is by far one of the movie’s best characters. Part of it has to with the writing, the humor, and Brad Bird’s top-notch voice acting! For two movies now I cannot imagine anyone else playing “E.” The character also shares a side of her in terms of her own personality that I didn’t particularly expect to see from her.

Speaking of characters, this movie introduces a bunch of new heroes, and in all honesty, one small worry I had walking into this film, is that these additional heroes would just make the film feel cluttered and too crowded. Given these folks’s screentime and what exactly they do, my worries were for absolutely nothing! I’d usually say it sucks to be wrong, but in this case, I guess that’s great! This is an apprehension I’m referring to after all, not a final question on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?.”

If you guys have read the opening promotion, you’d notice that I said “The Incredibles” is more about a family compared to anything else. Yes, this is a movie with superheroes in it with big explosions, action-packed moments, and tons of humor, but it is also mainly about a family who happen to be involved in all of these situations. You really feel connected to these characters who ultimately just care and look out for each other. This movie truly makes you care for the Parrs not only as heroes who have to save the day, but also as heroes who have to save each other.

I won’t go into a single detail regarding the film’s ending, however I will bring up one thing. After progressing so long through this film, I gotta say, if Pixar were to say that a third “Incredibles” movie were on the rise, I’d probably approve. I actually really want to see an “Incredibles 3.” Partially because I’m a fan, but I also would say that it might be Pixar’s most well made franchise aside from “Toy Story.” Now I will say, if they take fourteen years to make “Incredibles 3,” it better be worth the wait like this movie. In fact, funny enough, before the movie started, there was a short montage of the cast and crew talking in front of the camera saying that this sequel is a long time in the making and worth the wait. Regardless of how much they got paid to say those words, they weren’t lyin’!

In the end, “Incredibles 2” is a terrific sequel, a worthy follow-up to one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of this year’s funniest films. Brad Bird kills it not only as a voice-actor as recently mentioned, but as the writer and the director! The entire voice cast is spectacular, from Craig T. Nelson to Holly Hunter to Samuel L. Jackson to even the new voice for Dash, Huck Milner. the animation is top-notch, Michael Giacchino’s score is epic, and while the wait for this sequel was not as long for some as “Blade Runner 2049,” “Incredibles 2” was definitely worth the wait. I totally buy all the characters and again, if Pixar decides to do another one of these movies, I’d say go for it! I’m gonna give “Incredibles 2” a 9/10! Thanks for reading this review, and speaking of movies directed by Brad Bird, be sure to stay tuned for my review for “Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” and also look forward to another movie which has a review coming up on this blog very soon, “Tag.” The embargo lifts the same day this review is up, so therefore if you clicked on this review early and still happen to be reading this, I’ll alert you that you’ll be seeing my detailed thoughts on that movie very soon. Stay tuned for more great content! I want to know, did you see “Incredibles 2?” What did you think about it? Or, what is a sequel you’ve waited to see all your life or a long period of time that you were excited to witness once it finally came out? Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

IMAX Showing a Double Feature For Incredibles 1 & 2 on June 13th

Posted on by Jack Drees

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Hey everyone! Jack Drees here! A couple weeks ago, tickets went on sale for “Incredibles 2,” one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I grew up watching the original “Incredibles” movie as much as possible, and now that a sequel is coming out, a part of me feels that my life has an enormous meaning. I got my tickets last Thursday at the theater when I went out to see “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” Why? Simply because it’s cheaper than getting them online. I ain’t payin’ for those stinkin’ fees! I went up to the register, and after I ordered my popcorn for the movie, I got myself some tickets for Wednesday, June 13th. But here’s the thing, like most movies, “Incredibles 2” has an opening Thursday night. There will be no opening showings on Wednesday, June 13th for “Incredibles 2.” But guess what? I hacked the system. Because IMAX is exclusively offering the opportunity for you to go see BOTH “The Incredibles” and “Incredibles 2” as part of a double feature for one day only.

I will admit, this is kind of old news, but I do feel it is worth sharing. I feel that not many people actually know about this. Not to mention, I think it’s a great opportunity. “The Incredibles” is without a doubt, my favorite animation ever made. Over recent years of watching the movie, I can pick out certain scenes and moments from the movie and think to myself “Imagine that in a theater, no, IMAGINE THAT IN IMAX.” I’m not even kidding with you. There’s this one scene in the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it. Basically, the mother, Helen Parr, AKA Elastigirl, is flying a jet, and a warning comes in alerting her of incoming missiles. We get to a point where Michael Giacchino’s epic and brilliant score just builds like a self-expansive mountain, it just keeps on going, Elastigirl gets serious, we notice her kids, Dash and Violet and they are told to fasten their seatbelts. S*it is getting real. As the scene plays out, Elastigirl is just controlling the plane and it’s basically like she’s controlling it on a twisty-turny aircraft version of the Autobahn. It’s one of the most thrilling and immersive scenes I’ve watched in an animation. That scene is just one reason why I’m really looking forward to this.

Excitement aside, I think this marks a really grand opportunity to all who happen to be fans of “The Incredibles.” On Fandango, if you look at what’s available regarding “The Incredibles,” “Incredibles 2,” and anything involving a double feature of both films, this IMAX double feature thingy is the only upcoming release popping up. So unless an opportunity comes up that allows Disney to distribute a double feature in Real-D 3D or something, this is the only “Incredibles” double feature you can watch in a theater. And if for some reason I’m wrong, let me just remind you, IT’S OUT A DAY BEFORE THE OPENING THURSDAY NIGHT! So even if there is a double feature in some other fashion, I doubt it’s going to show BEFORE the actual opening of “Incredibles 2.”

Also, let me just remind everyone reading this if you don’t know already, this double feature will be once again, on June 13th, the second Wednesday of that month. That is the one day that this event is going on. It’s not happening any day before, nor is it happening any day after. THIS IS ONE SHOW.

One other thing I should bring up, is that this event, while it is IMAX exclusive, it’s not playing in every single theater which is equipped with IMAX technology. Yeah, you can also remind me that a lot of theaters under the IMAX name, especially those in aquariums, museums, space centers, those sorts of places, don’t usually play any of the big feature films. If you want to go see the “Incredibles” double feature at your local IMAX theater, it would turn out that would depend on where exactly we’re talking here. I live in eastern Massachusetts and one of my local theaters is the AMC Assembly Row 12 in Somerville, and it’s a great theater. I’ve never been in their IMAX, but I know a couple people who have, they say it’s really good. Unfortunately, if they ever had the desire to go see this double feature at that theater, turns out they can’t. As of now, if you look at the page listing showtimes for AMC Assembly Row 12, the only thing that’s listed for June 13th is what’s being called “One Last Thing – A Chicken Soup for the Soul Event.” By the way, that too is a one night event, so you might wanna hurry up if you wanna catch that! This somewhat surprises me since AMC is a major chain, they own a ton of IMAX theaters, and AMC is one those places given the information that I just revealed to you, that you’d expect to see something like this. Although I will say if you like AMC, or if you want an excuse to either use or store points on your Stubs rewards card, you’re in luck, because a large number of those theaters will be playing this. So since I stated one AMC in particular that I live near has no record of saying they will be showing this at their theater, don’t get scared. I will say though, I’m not seeing this in an AMC, I’m seeing this in a furniture store (only those in New England will probably get what I’m talking about).

With all of this being said, there will also be NO IMAX 70mm screenings for this double feature. If that were the case, then there would also likely be screenings in that format for “Incredibles 2” by itself. Besides, that information doesn’t really matter too much to me, I’m just glad we’re getting the IMAX treatment for this film, and that is essentially what I wanted. If I wanted to see something in IMAX 70mm, I’d rave about it, because it’s essentially the most detailed form of projection out there, but to have an opportunity such as this one to just go see one of my favorite movies on one of the biggest screens imaginable, is enough for me to give money to my local theater (and unfortunately, Disney).

And if you think I’m the movie blog version of “fake news” and I’m just spitting words out about all of this and think I’m just some crazy guy who lives in their mother’s basement who has no life, let me just inform you, I live on my mother’s property, but the basement is just where I get some of my drinks. I shall also inform you that I am not lying to you. And if you don’t trust me, let me just remind you of one thing. FORBES SPOILED “AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR” BEFORE IT CAME OUT AND I DIDN’T! I’ll also remind you, that there’s official information about all of this located on IMAX’s website. If you go to the link below, it will take you from this post over to the news feed for IMAX, and you’ll specifically be taken to information regarding the “Incredibles” double feature.

https://www.imax.com/news/The-Incredibles-Double-Feature-In-IMAX

Not that much else to say here, but I wanted to get this out to update you on what’s going on at Scene Before regarding some of my future content. Plus, I wanted to remind you of what I consider to be an amazing opportunity for not just you, but possibly your family, maybe your kids if you have any, and anyone else who enjoys movies, “The Incredibles,” Disney, Pixar, or animations. So I guess I can say I did my job. Thanks for reading this post! Be sure to stay tuned for my “Incredibles 2” review on June 14th, and as far as closer content goes, I’m not so sure what will be coming next, but one movie that might just be on my radar is the recently released “Revenge.” Based on what I’m seeing online, it’s pretty much an impossibility for me to check it out in theaters based on where I live, even though for what I know, it had a release not too long ago, but it is also available for streaming. We’ll have to see what happens.

Although one thing I can guarantee you is something that is bound to happen in the month of June. Continuing my series of Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible” reviews, I’ll be reviewing the fourth movie in this big blockbuster film franchise, “Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.” This will be my fourth review in this series, and is being done in preparation for the release of “Mission: Impossible: Fallout,” which comes out in July. I will say though, I do find it to be rather funny that I’m talking about “The Incredibles” right now, because the director of “Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” Brad Bird, was also credited as the writer, the director, and an actor for “The Incredibles” and “Incredibles 2!” Stay tuned for more great content! I want to know, are you planning on taking advantage of the IMAX double feature for “The Incredibles” and “Incredibles 2?” Another question I’ll ask is, are you going to see “Incredibles 2?” If so, when? Leave all of your incredible information down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

90th Academy Awards Hopes and Predictions

Posted on by Jack Drees

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Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! On March 4th, which is this Sunday, which is also today, the Academy Awards will take place. The Super Bowl for movie buffs, and for at least the next few years, for a handful of people who enjoy hearing Trump jokes. Speaking of which, I can assure you that this Sunday’s Oscars show is gonna YUGE, and I’m not joking around. This year is the 90th show in the event’s history.

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Despite being a big number for the Oscars, I’ll say something I said for the 75th Golden Globes this year after it aired. “Seventy-five, undoubtedly, is a big number for any event, however this felt like other “Golden Globes” shows I watched with a 75 shoved in the title.” I imagine I’ll feel the same way for the Academy Awards, although I think it’ll be a much more comfortable and less awkward experience than the Golden Globes. While the Oscars can get, and has gotten, political, my recent experience tells me that vibe is present a bit more at the Golden Globes. In fact, when it comes to the political jokes during the Oscars, I honestly found those to be funnier and more memorable. If you recall last year’s show, the host, Jimmy Kimmel said somethings not necessarily about Donald Trump but TO Donald Trump. What better way to say something to Trump than what might be his all-time favorite form of communication than tweeting. The tweets are located below, and believe me, they were the greatest tweets you will ever see. The only people who hate these tweets are Crooked Hillary, the Mexicans, and Alex Baldwin!

Nowadays, the world essentially has been riddled with jokes about Donald Trump, and out of all the ones we’ve gotten, this is one that is difficult to top. Although if we were gonna get any more Trump jokes this year, I can assure you they might have a little joke sibling that I’m thrilled to see.

If you watched the Academy Awards last year and stayed tuned towards the end of the show, where it was time to reveal the winner for Best Picture, you may remember how that went down. You may have been screaming at your TV hoping for your pick to win either because you support a certain movie, or you just want to win a bet against your stupid friend, I dunno. I was hoping “Arrival” would win, but in reality, that probably wasn’t going to happen. “La La Land” was my second choice however, having seen that movie and loving it. So Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are onstage, and they have a card ready. A card that will change everything. So the nominees for Best Picture are presented, the two appear somewhat confused as they’re about to read the card, and suddenly, Dunaway announces “La La Land.” Once I heard that name, my prediction for Best Picture was right, and I thought it was a fair choice. The crowd is roaring, and as everyone affiliated with that project is arriving onstage, it hasn’t sunk in for everyone, but something happened. Jordan Horowitz is onstage and he shouts to everyone something that I can’t even believe I heard. “La La Land” DIDN’T win Best Picture, “Moonlight” did. This made me think I had to see “Moonlight,” and WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Turns out someone was too busy on Twitter instead of trying to hand the correct card. This win made me tempted to see “Moonlight” nearly a couple weeks later, and I was unfortunately met with underwhelming results. It’s a good movie, but it’s not THAT GREAT.

Even so, you know how at the end of 2015, the Miss Universe pageant was held and Columbia was the assumed winner, and it turned out to be Philippines? It’s almost hard to tell which screw-up was crazier because the Miss Universe one was the host’s fault, not to mention upon personal review, THE CARD LOOKED F*CKING CRAZY! Here however, you have a screw-up between a staff member working for the show, Warren Beatty along with Faye Dunaway, and it affected not just one person, but an entire crew who worked on something together. Also, remember Jordan Horowitz? The guy who was onstage revealing the true Best Picture? Well, he was a producer for “La La Land,” so this must have been hard for him to do. He took it like a good sport, which I couldn’t even believe, which only makes me admire Horowitz even more!

So yeah, it appears the Beatty and Dunaway are presenting Best Picture again, so my first hope/prediction is that they get it right this time!

Speaking of nomination categories, let’s move onto some that I feel are worth tackling. Starting with… Best Supporting Actor. Here are the all-male nominees!

  • Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
  • Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
  • Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World)
  • Willem DaFoe (The Florida Project)
  • Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water)

Out of these, I’ve only seen Harrelson’s performance and Rockwell’s performance from beginning to end. So of the ones I’ve seen, I’ll go with Harrelson. Of the ones I haven’t seen, I’m either thinking Willem DaFoe or Christopher Plummer will take the cake. I haven’t seen “The Florida Project,” and I don’t have too many good things to say about DaFoe other than hearing positive remarks about his performance. Although think about what the crew behind “All the Money in the World” had to do regarding Christopher Plummer. If you have been living under a rock when it comes to news about Kevin Spacey, let me just say you might be living a happier life than some other people who live in this world because Kevin Spacey, as this world now knows, is a sexual predator. Spacey was originally going to be featured in “All the Money in the World” as the character of J. Paul Getty. Now that Spacey has his dark secrets revealed, Plummer was going to take Spacey’s place, which meant a frenzy of reshoots. Keep in mind, Spacey’s case was revealed on October 29, 2017, LESS THAN TWO MONTHS before the release of the picture! How did he do in the film? I don’t know, I haven’t seen it, but with a story such as that, I think Plummer has some potential. Sure, part of it involved more than just acting, but acting plays a key component into all of this.

Next up is Best Supporting Actress. And the nominees are…

  • Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water)
  • Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
  • Allison Janey (I, Tonya)
  • Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)
  • Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)

Of everyone listed, I’ve seen NONE OF THEIR PERFORMANCES. But if you want my guess, I gotta go with Laurie Metcalf. I’m hearing a lot of good things about “Lady Bird.” From the acting, to the writing, to the directing, everything. I didn’t see it on opening weekend because let’s face it, “Thor: Ragnarok” was gonna crush it. Part of what people seem to like about “Lady Bird” is the realism it seems to convey, and I imagine that Metcalf’s performance plays a part in that. In all honesty, I don’t see Blige winning because “Mudbound” was distributed by Netflix and I imagine it would have to be in a larger number of theaters for the Academy to accept it. But anything can happen. One actress I thought unbelievably snubbed for this category is Holly Hunter (The Big Sick). When I saw “The Big Sick” this year, I thought Holly Hunter might have been the best part of the movie, and she fit the role of a gritty white mother quite well. She was part of why I thought the movie was “top 10 list” worthy when I did my end of the year “top 10 BEST movies” list. Ah well, you can’t have everything.

Moving onto Best Actor, the nominees are…

  • Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
  • Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
  • Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
  • Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
  • Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

Out of all of these, there are a few that stand out. A lot of people are rooting for Gary Oldman, so that gives him a chance. Daniel Day-Lewis, one of the most revered actors ever, is nominated for not only a role that people praised, but the last role he’ll ever do on screen, so maybe that and some respect for his chops will land him a win. Daniel Kaluuya was in one of the most talked about movies of the year, and he’s black, which gives him an extended probability of winning. I have not seen any of these films, but if there were one I think would win, it would be between these three. I personally wanted James Franco and Harrison Ford to make this list, but that didn’t happen now didn’t it. Sure, Franco’s allegations could have SOMETHING to do with it and I may be in the minority when it comes to Ford due to my love for “Blade Runner 2049.” Although if you haven’t seen “Blade Runner 2049,” I personally consider that Ford’s all-time best performance I’ve seen.

Onto Best Actress, let’s take a look at the nominees…

  • Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
  • Meryl Streep (The Post)
  • Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
  • Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
  • Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)

OK… Meryl Streep has been nominated again… Big surprise. I have nothing against Meryl Streep, but I’m just making a point that she’s basically been nominated countless times. I don’t think she’ll win though. As for Margot Robbie, I’m SLIGHTLY surprised she was nominated. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great actress, but I don’t remember her performance being the ultimate highlight of “I, Tonya.” I didn’t see “I, Tonya,” but from what I heard, that’s what I’m gathering. I think this will be either another “Lady Bird” win with Saoirse Ronan, or a win for “Three Billboards” with Frances McDormand. I bought “Three Billboards” on 4K today and I ADORED McDormand’s performance. I thought it was rather jaw-dropping at times, she had the right mannerisms, and it just screamed art. Will she win? Hopefully. Make it happen!

Next, we have Best Original Screenplay. These are…

  • The Big Sick (Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon)
  • The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor)
  • Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig)
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)
  • Get Out (Jordan Peele)

As far as the fact that “The Big Sick” is on this list goes, I’m happy, but rather puzzled. Sure, this wasn’t based on a book, video game, comic book, anything like that, but it is based on true events. I mean, I guess it can belong there if “Spotlight” belonged in that category a couple years back. Even so, I hope it wins out of all of these. Maybe I’m overthinking on the nomination process, but even so, I figured I’d say what I wanted to say. Although I can imagine all of these have a good chance, but “The Shape of Water” is on the lower end of the spectrum. “The Shape of Water,” while people are praising it, is more of a gem according to people from a visual perspective. It is getting praise for its story, but the visuals are more of a standout. “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” was rather haunting and intriguing at times. “Get Out” is actually rather relevant and it has been that way for months now. “Lady Bird” is once again, from what I imagine, realistic. All of these have a shot, it’s just a matter of votes. However one thing I’ll mention about “Get Out” that I’ve yet to mention, is that there’s apparently stories going around about older Academy voters not considering it “Not an Oscar movie.” I haven’t seen the movie, but I know a lot of people disagree. I actually saw a couple of funny tweets yesterday putting “Get Out” alongside “The Boss Baby,” which was nominated in the Best Animation category.

Speaking of screenplays, let’s move onto Best Adapted Screenplay.

  • Logan (Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green)
  • The Disaster Artist (Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)
  • Call Me by Your Name (James Ivory)
  • Molly’s Game (Aaron Sorkin)
  • Mudbound (Dee Rees, Virgil Williams)

Alright, once again, “Mudbound’s” a Netflix movie, therefore reducing its chances and that’s all I’m gonna say about it. I did see “Molly’s Game.” I never read the book it’s based on, but the adaptation for it contained a fast-paced, jumping all over the place kind of feeling screenplay and I felt the movie was all the better for it. I also saw “The Disaster Artist,” another book I didn’t read, but it did get a terrific adaptation. In fact, it made my top 3 films of 2017! “Logan” could win as well, but as far as I know, the Academy probably doesn’t usually view comic book movies the way others do. If I had to choose one that I WANT to win, it’s “The Disaster Artist.” Will it win? I don’t know. But I hope it does, its screenplay MADE the movie. It’s one of the funniest screenplays of the decade!

Now we’re moving onto Best Cinematography and THIS, my friends, is gonna be a big one for me. Here are the nominees…

  • Blade Runner 2049 (Roger Deakins)
  • Dunkirk (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
  • The Shape of Water (Dan Laustsen)
  • Darkest Hour (Bruno Delbonnel)
  • Mudbound (Rachel Morrison)

Now before we get into what I’ll call “the big guns,” let’s talk about Rachel Morrison. She’s done cinematography for “Mudbound,” as suggested above. And part of me thinks she has a legitimate shot at winning. I know it’s a Netflix movie, I know what I mentioned about it, but there’s a reason she could win and it’s as simple as this. It’s because… she’s a she. This is the ninetieth Oscars show, and it’s the first one where a woman’s been nominated for Best Cinematography. Part of me thinks that some of the more progressive voters behind the Academy will go for her, not to mention it would make for a good story. I don’t think she’ll come out on top, but that’s because part of me’s stuck on three people, including her. One of the other people is “Dunkirk’s” Hoyte Van Hoytema. I went to see “Dunkirk” in IMAX 70mm, I bought it the day it came out on home video, I watched it twice on Blu-ray and twice on 4K. You can obviously tell I ate “Dunkirk” up like pizza. The cinematography was a highlight for me. This is because this movie was shot on IMAX film cameras and standard 70mm cameras. Not to mention, the way various shots on land, water, and air were presented. The dogfight sequences from the perspective of the camera was absolutely astounding for example! Watching this in IMAX 70mm made it even better because multiple sequences once again, were shot using IMAX technology. Although there’s one film I think is much more deserving of an Oscar in this category and that is, “the big guns,” otherwise known as, “Blade Runner 2049.” If you follow this blog, I’ve talked about “Blade Runner 2049” many many many times, so it should be evident by know that I clearly love it. Part of it has to do with the cinematography. I thought it was not only the best cinematography from a 2017 movie I’ve watched, but also some of the best I’ve seen in my entire life. The camerawork was done by a guy named Roger Deakins. If that name sounds familiar to you, I wouldn’t be extremely surprised. Deakins has done cinematography for films such as: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Fargo,” “No Country For Old Men,” “True Grit,” “Skyfall,” “Prisoners,” “Sicario,” movies like those! He’s been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Cinematography category FOURTEEN TIMES. With this being some of my all time favorite cinematography, if Deakins loses, I’d be OK with Hoytema winning, but if anyone else wins, I’ll riot. You can say I either want Deakins to win for my fanaticism for “Blade Runner” or just his story when it comes to the Oscars, but I can also argue you haven’t seen “Blade Runner 2049.” By the way, WATCH IT!

Now let’s focus on Best Original Score, with nominees including…

  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi (John Williams)
  • Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Carter Burwell)
  • Phantom Thread (Jonny Greenwood)
  • The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)

Out of all of these, I think the one that has the least chance of winning is “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge “Star Wars” fan, and there many people out there who either like “Star Wars” or its music. Personally speaking, and perhaps speaking for a lot of other people out there, “The Last Jedi” might be the worst “Star Wars” score of all time. It’s all subjective, but to me, it just felt repetitive and unoriginal. “Three Billboards” could have a chance, but you never know what could happen. Although I will say, if “Dunkirk” wins, I wouldn’t be too surprised. It’s my second favorite score of 2017 (below “Blade Runner 2049”), it suits the tone of a war film, and upon experience of watching “Dunkirk,” the way it is edited also plays a bit into it. So yeah, go “Dunkirk!”

As for Best Animated Feature, I’m not even gonna go into detail about it. Everyone knows it’s gonna be “Coco.”

Also, why would “The Boss Baby” be nominated instead of something like “The LEGO Batman Movie?” No, seriously, WHY?! Ah well, at least it’s not “The Emoji Movie.”

I will however expand the lack of detail when it comes to Best Production Design…

  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • The Shape of Water
  • Darkest Hour
  • Dunkirk

Out of all these, I think the first three I listed have the best shot of winning. Maybe “The Shape of Water” in third place, but critics are eating it up so you never know. You probably know I’d be choosing “Blade Runner 2049” right now. If the sets didn’t look great already at home, imagine them all in the theater! I actually watched the bonus features and these sets still astound me! They’re unbelievable!

Now let’s go onto Best Visual Effects, and the five of these I personally believe were all very well selected.

  • Kong: Skull Island
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  • War for the Planet of the Apes

A lot of people have been talking about “War for the Planet of the Apes” when it comes to the visuals, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they won in this category. And funny enough, I’ve seen at least a small portion of all of these films except for that one! Honestly, I’m fine with any of these winning. If there’s a film I think WON’T win, it’ll be “Kong: Skull Island,” but it did deserve a nomination in my book.

As for Best Film Editing, let’s take a look at those nominees.

  • Baby Driver
  • Dunkirk
  • The Shape of Water
  • I, Tonya
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I’ve seen three of these films, and all them are ones I feel are competently edited. “Baby Driver” however, I believe will take the cake, and if it does take the cake, I’m cool with it. The way it edits its music and action sequences is superb and I feel that the “Fast & Furious” franchise, as much as I enjoy some of those movies, can take some notes from it in order to improve their films. “Dunkirk” comes close, but no cigar.

The next two categories have to do with sound: Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. And believe it or not, the same exact movies were nominated in both categories, so let’s look at them.

  • Blade Runner 2049 (EDITING: Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green) (MIXING: Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mac Ruth)
  • Dunkirk (EDITING: Richard King, Alex Gibson) (MIXING: Gregg Landaker, Gary Lizzo, Mark Weingarten)
  • Baby Driver (EDITING: Julian Slater) (MIXING: Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater)
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi (EDITING: Matthew Wood, Ren Klyce) (MIXING: Michael Semanick, David Parker, Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce)
  • The Shape of Water (EDITING: Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira) (MIXING: Christian T. Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Brad Zoern)

Yes, I credited people here and not in other places, but I don’t care. As for both of these categories, I think the big three rivals are “Baby Driver,” “Dunkirk,” and “Blade Runner 2049.” The sound recordings fit each film, they were great to hear, and when you mesh em all together, you get something fantastic. I would personally be satisfied with any of those three films winning in either category. The same can be said for “The Last Jedi,” but it’s not quite there…

Next we have Best Makeup and Hairstyling, which if you’ve watched last year’s show, you may remember the possibly hilarious and somewhat controversial win for “Suicide Squad.” This year, no comic book movies have been nominated. However, three other movies have.

  • Wonder
  • Darkest Hour
  • Victoria & Abdul

I’ve seen one movie on the list this year, and I don’t think it’ll win (Wonder) and as for the winner, I’m just gonna guess based on what I’ve seen in images. So with that being said, I’ll go with “The Darkest Hour.”

Moving onto Best Production Design, the nominees are…

  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Blade Runner 2049
  • Dunkirk
  • Darkest Hour
  • The Shape of Water

I already talked enough about “Blade Runner 2049” from a visual standpoint, so you probably know my answer there. I think the actual winner will be either “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Shape of Water” but only time will tell.

Now for Best Original Song, we have…

  • This is Me (The Greatest Showman)
  • Remember Me (Coco)
  • Mighty River (Mudbound)
  • Stand Up for Something (Marshall)
  • Mystery of Love (Call Me by Your Name)

This will probably a two-horse race between “Remember Me” and “This is Me.” I’ve seen neither of these films, but given their popularity and likability factor from what I heard, that could help in potentially getting a win.

Next up is Best Costume Design, which includes…

  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Victoria & Abdul
  • Phantom Thread
  • The Shape of Water
  • Darkest Hour

Out of all of these, I believe a few have a shot. “Darkest Hour,” “Victoria & Abdul,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” “Darkest Hour’s” costumes seem to fit the vibe of the film from what I’m looking at. The same can also be said for “Victoria & Abdul.” Although when it comes to “Beauty and the Beast,” that also has potential because it seems to have transferred its costumes over from its animated predecessor quite well, and as costumes, they look elegant. So we’ll have to wait and see.

Next up, we have Best Director, and there are some names that I think are worth discussing here.

  • Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)
  • Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
  • Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water)
  • Jordan Peele (Get Out)
  • Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)

All of these have potential from what I can tell. These all come off as competently made movies, and the direction seemingly appears to play into all of them. Although the big three here to me are Nolan, Gerwig, and del Toro. I mean, del Toro, from what I heard, is getting a lot of attention right now. Critics are loving “The Shape of Water,” people are rooting for him, and you may also remember, he won a Golden Globe in this category for that movie. This could be another win for him. For Greta Gerwig, I’ll say once again, a couple of actors stand out in this film, and part of it may be due to Gerwig’s realistic take and overall direction for it. Not to mention, Gerwig’s a woman, which could not only make an interesting story, but also a lot of people happy. I’m personally rooting for Christopher Nolan. For those of you who don’t know, Nolan is my favorite director of all time. He’s done so many great films and the man overall may just be a genius when it comes to storytelling. When it comes to “Dunkirk,” his vision was experimental and it made the movie all the better for it. So will the Academy choose Nolan? I don’t think so, it’ll probably be del Toro, but we’ll find out!

And last but not least, we have the biggest category of all, Best Picture…

  • Dunkirk
  • The Shape of Water
  • Call Me by Your Name
  • Darkest Hour
  • Lady Bird
  • The Post
  • Get Out
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Phantom Thread

As for the ones that are probably not gonna win, I’m gonna say those are “Get Out” and “The Post.” Once again, I’ll bring up how older Academy voters aren’t viewing “Get Out” as an Oscar film. As for “The Post,” while it is getting lots of positive reception, it doesn’t have too many nominations overall compared to some of the other movies on that list. The ones that I feel have absolute potential of winning are: “Dunkirk,” “The Shape of Water,” “Lady Bird,” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Not only have these films come off as great films to viewers and critics alike, they have all received a high number of nominations compare to some other films you’ll see on here. If I had to choose one film that I want to see win it would probably be “Dunkirk.” It has potential due to a high number of nominations and I personally want it to win based on the replay value it has and how it’s presented from an experimental and technical standpoint. My winner for voter picks would be “The Shape of Water,” because let’s face it, people are talking about it. It was nominated for thirteen Oscars, and it already won Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards. My runner-up for both the critic picks and personal picks would be “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” I really enjoyed watching the film. I thought it was well shot, terrifically acted, and well written. For the critics, you have to consider past experience regarding this film. This won a Golden Globe for Best Picture in the drama section, and it basically made a sweep at the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) awards. Could it win? I don’t know. It’s hard to say what will ultimately take the cake. We’ll have to see when the awards arrive!

If you are actually reading this before the Oscars begin, I actually kind of congratulate you because they actually start VERY SOON. If you’re reading after, I just hope you’re enjoying my somewhat irrelevant content. I don’t know if I’ll be summing up my final thoughts on the Oscars once the show ends, only time will tell. Besides, I’m already busy doing another review which I’ll talk about in a second, but until time allows me to make a final decision, we’ll just have to see where the road leads. Thanks for reading this post! Be sure to stay tuned for my review for “Annihilation.” I just saw the film earlier today, and I cannot wait to talk about it. I’ve already started the review before it came out, because I figured some topics having to do with the movie (that can be talked about without having seen it) are relevant and I wanted to spit those out. Stay tuned for more great content! I want to know, if there’s still time to type them em in, what are some of YOUR hopes and predictions for the 90th Academy Awards? Also, which is better? “La La Land” or “Moonlight?” Me personally, I’d choose “La La Land!” Leave that info down below and please make sure you’re not too busy sending out important tweets, otherwise I might possibly have some false comments on my hands, so be careful! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

Also, one more thing…

GIVE ROGER DEAKINS HIS OSCAR ALREADY!

The Firm (1993): Life’s a Mitch

Posted on by Jack Drees

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! This Friday, there will be a new movie out called “American Made.” It stars Tom Cruise, it’s directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Jumper), and it’s not the first time these two are teaming up together. They worked on “Edge of Tomorrow” together. By the way, an “Edge of Tomorrow” review isn’t going to be done now or anytime soon, if I had the movie I’d probably look at it and review it, but I don’t. Also, good movie, check it out. Anyway, this review is the last installment of my past Tom Cruise movie series, so far I’ve done reviews for “The Last Samurai” and “Risky Business.” What’s my last movie? If you’re seriously asking that, look at the freaking title! But seriously, today I’ll be reviewing “The Firm.” After watching this movie, I have a good number of things to talk about, so let’s get to it!

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“The Firm” is directed by Sydney Pollock (Tootsie, Out of Africa), and stars Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn (Waterworld, Basic Instinct), and Gene Hackman (Superman, The French Connection), and revolves around the character of Mitch McDeere, a young lawyer who went to Harvard who goes to work at a firm which he soon discovers has a dark side.

For the record, this is the first time I watched “The Firm.” Last month I got a Triple Feature Blu-Ray pack featuring three Tom Cruise flicks: “Collateral,” “Days of Thunder,” and this one. When I told my mother I was watching this movie, her reaction almost sounded like she founded the Fountain of Youth. She loves this movie, and she also loves the book. By the way, the book is written by John Grisham, writer of novels such as “The Chamber,” “Skipping Christmas,” and “A Time to Kill.” After watching “The Firm.” I don’t know what to think. Part of me feels the need to read the book, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. “The Firm” made me rather want to take a bar exam as opposed to watching the movie. Before we dive into negatives, let’s dive into some positives.

The cast for “The Firm” is undoubtedly outstanding. Tom Cruise is, well, Tom Cruise. This isn’t really his best performance, you can still see a bit of Tom Cruise himself while watching this, but you can totally buy into his character. Jeanne Tripplehorn as Cruise’s wife, Abby, does her job well, the chemistry between the two is believable and there’s a scene that personally stands out. Although admittedly I didn’t really care about their relationship in the end, which I will come back to. Gene Hackman was also pretty good as the character of Avery. Also, some of the supporting characters are played by respectable actors who gave good performances throughout the picture. For example, Holly Hunter (Raising Arizona, The Incredibles), she played he character of Tammy Hemphill, Hunter’s performance delivered a lot of charm. It almost sounded fantastical and was almost shot up the sky high enough to reach over the top territory, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t charming. Hunter’s performance was also nominated for an Academy Award by the way. One of my biggest surprises I encountered during the movie’s runtime is that Gary Busey (Point Break, Lethal Weapon) has a role in it. His performance is definitely one of the best in the entire movie and it was aced from scene one. He’s barely in it, but if you check this movie out, look forward to Busey.

The cinematography for this film, while somewhat conventional, was pretty good. This was shown during the scene towards the end of the movie with Tom Cruise running, which I personally like because it doesn’t really do any quick cutting or jumpcutting or anything like that.

Now let’s dive into my first negative of the film, and this is something which if you have seen the film, you’ll probably disagree with me on, and that is the music. Here’s the thing about the movie’s music, at times, it meshes well with the movie, but at other times, it could have been altered. In fact, the film is using a piano in a lot of it’s music, the way the piano’s being used almost reminds me of a silent film. If you like the movie’s music, that’s great! You’re allowed to like it, but it really just didn’t flow that well at times. On a sidenote, one reason why I brought up the possibility of you disagreeing with me on the music is because it received an Oscar nomination. By the way, the composer of this movie’s music, Dave Grusin, is also the composer of music featured in various films which came out before this one such as “The Goonies” and “Tootsie” and Grusin also happens to be the musical composer of various films which came out after this one such as “Hope Floats” and “Selena.”

Also, the pacing of this film seems to be all over the place. I don’t know about you, but I felt like I was watching a completely different movie than my mother (refer to third paragraph). While this is mainly a thriller, it almost felt like it wanted to focus a lot as a romance film. It almost felt like it wanted to be two different movies at once. Now don’t get me wrong, films that are about something in particular can have romances interjected in there, but this romance almost felt like unnecessary filler at times. Not to mention, I almost didn’t care for anyone because the movie itself bored me at times. There’s a moment where it becomes interesting, then it just goes back to the slow-paced borefest I was already used to. The runtime is 2 hours and 34 minutes long, I’ve witnessed longer films that are better than this, also to be fair I witnessed longer films that are worse than this. As someone who hasn’t read the book, this makes me kinda curious, why is the movie this long? I did a Google search and I found out that the book is 412 pages long, and part of me wonders how much of this movie was taken from the book. Was everything taken from the book? Was everything that was considered “necessary” taken from the book while other stuff was left behind? I kind of want to know. Although with school and everything I don’t really have much time to sit down and read right now, not to mention, movies are more fun! Sorry, books! I’m not saying the movie should completely eliminate the romance which is included in it, but the movie honestly, as a whole, feels convoluted. If it removes various things from the film, things I can’t really come up with right now due to my boredom making my brain lack material from this movie, it might be a better movie.

Before we get into the section where I deliver my verdict, I have a rather humorous story to tell you. I only watched “The Firm” once, meaning I only watched it for this review. I have a Twitter account, by the way, the handle is @JackDrees if you’re interested. On that account, one thing I do occasionally is promote my upcoming material here on Scene Before. When I promote my upcoming material, one thing I would usually do is search for GIFs, otherwise known as the video file that might as well have started a pronunciation war. When I search for GIFs, I try to find footage of something that correlates to the focal point of a post. For example, when I reviewed “Risky Business” as part of this Tom Cruise series, I searched for GIFs related to that, and in a couple promotions I went with a GIF which had Tom Cruise sliding across the floor in his underwear. Now when I decided to review “The Firm,” I went searching for GIFs right away. I typed in “the firm” and “the firm tom cruise.” Both times, I got GIFs featuring Tom Cruise, then I chose the first result. I didn’t even know what it was, it had Tom Cruise in it though, I thought it was good enough because I needed something to promote my review for “The Firm” which you are reading right now. So I inserted the GIF, tweeted, and soon started watching the movie. About an hour or so in, I go to Twitter, and I have a notification waiting for me. Some user I don’t even know who goes by the handle @MrsPetitions replies to me saying “This is from Rain Man though 😂.” First, I’d like to thank @MrsPetitions for the little factoid. Second, I’ve never seen “Rain Man,” so if you’re going to accuse me for my lack of movie knowledge, just be glad it’s not from a movie I’ve seen or a movie that doesn’t have Tom Cruise in it. Third, upon review, there were barely any GIFs I saw for “The Firm” whatsoever. Fourth, this almost set the tone for the movie. It’s almost like Twitter suffered brain damage and immediately forgot what “The Firm” was, you know, kind of like me right now. This movie is forgettable.

In the end, “The Firm” was disappointing. I went into it with, not necessarily high expectations, but based on my mother’s thoughts towards the movie, I was expecting it to be good. I like the cast of the movie, sometimes the dialogue works, the cinematography isn’t all that bad, the film does look presentable, but there aren’t really many qualities that stand out about this film. “The Firm” got some things right, but ultimately needs some improvement. Is the book any better? I don’t know, I never read it, but it will be some time before I come back to this film unless I need something to fall asleep to. I’m gonna give “The Firm” a 5/10. Thanks for reading this review, that’s the end of this Tom Cruise series, I hope to see “American Made” this weekend or some other time soon. I’ll also have you know this Wednesday I’ll be seeing “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” which I’m really excited for. As far as other upcoming movies go, I’m desperately hoping to catch “Blade Runner: 2049” on opening weekend, but I don’t know whether or not that’ll happen.

Also, I want to let you know that in the future I do have other reviews in mind for past movies, for example, next month I’ll probably review “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World” in preparation for “Thor: Ragnarok” which comes out November 3rd. If you have any movies in mind that I should review for one reason or another, let me know about it and I’ll keep it in mind. Also, if you want to check out my other entries in this Tom Cruise review series, links to those are down below if you want to read those posts! Stay tuned for more reviews! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!

“THE LAST SAMURAI” REVIEW: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/the-last-samurai-2003-not-a-perfect-blossom-but-not-a-bad-one-either/

“RISKY BUSINESS” REVIEW: https://scenebefore.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/risky-business-there-is-no-substitute/

The Big Sick (2017): Kumail Nanjiani Plays Himself for Two Hours, and It’s Not Bad

Posted on by Jack Drees

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“The Big Sick” is directed by Michael Showalter and stars Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, Central Intelligence), Zoe Kazan (What If, Ruby Sparks), Holly Hunter (The Incredibles, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice), and Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond, Ice Age) in a movie which is marketed stating that it’s based on “an awkward true story.” This movie, starring Kumail Nanjiani, as actually about Kumail himself, and this is actually based on the relationship between Kumail and the movie’s love interest, Emily, whose relationship has some blunders having to do with their cultural differences.

Going into this film, I didn’t really know what to think, I believe I do remember seeing ads for this film on TV, and I like Kumail Nanjiani. I’m also a huge fan of Ray Romano, even though in my book he hasn’t really done much of anything worth remembering in recent years. And if you know me well enough in real life, I’m not the type of person who flocks to the theater for rom-coms, although I did see something special in this movie considering it’s based on a true story involving one of the movie’s stars, producers, and writers, not to mention it has excellent scores given by Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb users, Metacritic, etc.

Usually when I talk about characters in a movie, the traditional thing I do is find an image of them related to the movie they’re in. For Kumail Nanjiani’s character, you may notice I’m doing something a little different. Why? Well, as I mentioned earlier, Kumail is playing himself in this movie. In other movies, this would usually be a complaint from some people, like how Melissa McCarthy, Ed Helms, or Adam Sandler might play the same character from movie to movie in some way, shape, or form. Although here, since it’s based on a true story involving an actor playing a past version of himself, this should be the one of the easiest acting gigs in the entire universe. So how does Nanjiani do? He does quite well, I didn’t like him as a character at first, but watching him in this movie, it felt nice seeing him grow as a person. His character was a shining star through this movie, and at times I felt his pain. There’s also one action that happens just about a quarter of the way through the movie as the main plot is developing that took this movie from being good to great.

While we’re on the topic of actors playing themselves, we can’t say the same for the actress playing Emily in this film, however this is Emily in real life. In the movie, she’s played by Zoe Kazan, although I couldn’t find a picture of her in this movie where she’s alone, so this is what you’re gonna have to settle for. Anyways, Emily in this film had some of the funniest lines, I thought she was a truly compelling character, and I thought she brought a lot to the table, although when I say that, consider how she’s a main character in this movie.

As much as this is ultimately Kumail Nanjiani’s movie, he’s one of the people that came up with an idea for it as a whole, I gotta say that in terms of aspects I thought were compelling throughout the movie, Holly Hunter is probably at the top of my list. Casting, GREAT JOB! I have no idea how much this character relates to the actual story, but nevertheless, seeing Holly Hunter as Beth at several points of the runtime just made me want to see more of her. If this were a film released during the fall, Hunter would have a higher chance of being up for an Oscar in my book.

Also, let’s not forget, Ray Romano. As mentioned, this guy hasn’t really done much of anything worth mentioning, and by that, I mean anything relatively acceptable, since “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” back in 2009. He was on Parenthood, which I heard was good, although it’s not aimed at my demographic and I never watched it. I saw him as a guest on an episode of “Kevin Can Wait,” but I completely forgot about it because the show was barely watchable. I can officially say, Ray’s back! I thought he aced his role, I was able to buy into his character, and he played a really good older dad character.

The chemistry shown between Kumail and Emily throughout this movie was believable, and if it wasn’t believable I probably would have taken major points off of this movie’s score, because this is based on true events involving the film’s main character, who is being played by the same person who experienced said events, not to mention that guy wrote and produced the movie with someone else who’s crucial to the film itself. I can’t exactly tell you I’m a guru who oversees every single detail of every person’s life and confirm that what is being shown on screen is entirely true, because I don’t know everything. There’s a good chance that someone could be reading this right now and I don’t know who it is. Granted since WordPress allows you to view what country a reader is from, or the name of the source they found this post, or perhaps a search term somebody used, I might get to know something about a certain reader, but not every detail is revealed. All I can say is, this movie set a very believable mood throughout. Some of the dialogue almost crossed the border to cheesy but it doesn’t go overboard with it and who knows, maybe those cheesy words were spoken.

As far as other complaints in this movie go, I do have a couple. First off, let’s talk about the editing. Overall this movie is well crafted and doesn’t have many flaws when it comes to editing. Although just because it doesn’t have many flaws, doesn’t mean it can’t have a few. There’s one scene in this movie which we see Kumail on a cell phone, it just cuts randomly a couple times, and yet we’re still looking at the same subject, the subject being Kumail in the same situation. It almost reminded me of “You Can’t Have It,” a movie that only 23 users on IMDb gave a verdict to, including me, only that movie had a s*itton more jumpcuts than this movie did, by the way don’t watch “You Can’t Have It.” That’s just a minor problem I have and on the subject of minor problems, is the product placement. I get it, films need product placement sometimes. But I remember seeing numerous scenes with a laptop in it, and just about every time, there was a MacBook. Oh yeah, the same goes with an IPhone. I remember seeing an IPhone in a lot of this movie’s scenes as well. Granted I recall seeing a Dell laptop too, but I think that was only one time. I might be somewhat OK with this if every single product shown here is true to the story, although it might remain as an issue. Although I don’t think something like this would be true because I’m looking at the technology and from my memory, the technology probably looked a little too futuristic. There’s a black IPhone in the movie and I believe it’s a newer model because I RECALL seeing the home button not having a square on it, which is a flaw for this movie because in real life, this movie takes place in the 2000s based on research, and the first IPhone with a home button to not have a square on it was the IPhone 5S which was released to the public in 2013. MAYBE I’M WRONG, MAYBE I’M IMAGINING THINGS, BUT THIS COMPLAINT STANDS *FOR NOW.* However, this movie is from Amazon Studios and when it releases on home video, it’s very likely that this movie won’t take a long time to become free on Amazon so I could probably watch it again and see if I was imagining things or not.

In the end, “The Big Sick” is worth seeing. I thought the performances all around were excellent, I thought this movie was well written, and there were little to no issues overall when it comes to this movie. Admittedly, it starts off rather slow, but it didn’t take much longer until my eyes were glued to the screen. I’m gonna give “The Big Sick” an 8/10. Thanks for reading this review. This Tuesday, I’m going to see the movie, “Dunkirk” in IMAX 70mm, words can’t describe my excitement! Also, I just want everyone to know, in case it actually interests you, “The Emoji Movie” comes out this upcoming Friday, July 28th. I have no intentions to see it, but, I would imagine a lot of you would want me to see it because of how atrocious this movie looks, so I DON’T KNOW if I’ll deliver on this, we’ll see what happens. But, if you want me to see “The Emoji Movie,” and I’m also not saying I’ll do this opening weekend if this manages to be a common request, leave a comment to this post with the following hashtag, you can include it by itself or in a comment with other words in it: #GOSCREWYOURSELFEMOJIMOVIE. I’m not saying it has to be all capital letters, but you get my point. I interacted with some people in my school, and they want me to see this movie. I’m wondering if I’ll even do that, but I might do this movie review for you if I get enough requests. And besides, “Atomic Blonde” is coming out the same weekend and I kinda wanna see that, not to mention “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is out now too. Anyway, stay tuned for more reviews, and if you want to increase the chances of a review for “The Emoji Movie,” get cracking in the comments section. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!