Matthew Modine – People Talking

Batman Triple Pack: Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy (in IMAX)

Seeing as how it’s nearly impossible to talk about Avengers: Endgame without spoiling anything (though I do give it a hearty recommendation if you’re the least bit interested), it seems as good an opportunity as any to talk about three films that I imagine the statute of limitations for spoilers has expired on, at least for anyone who’s old enough to drink.

I’ll speak only for myself here, but I see Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight triptych as the defining movie trilogy of my generation. Part of that is personal taste, part of that is timing (Batman Begins came out as I was graduating high school, Dark Knight heading into my senior year of college, and Dark Knight Rises a couple years into my first 9-to-5 job), but mostly it comes down to cultural impact.

For better or worse (mostly worse, to be honest, but I don’t hold other people’s incompetent stylistic plagiarism against Nolan), these films’ version of Batman and his universe is likely the genesis and certainly the embodiment of what I refer to as Post-9/11 Realism. You can see it in other franchises (or attempted franchises): James Bond; Jaffa/Silver’s Planet of the Apes; new American Godzilla; the DCEU; FANT4STIC; and so on. Even Mission: Impossible, as outright fun as those movies have been in the new millennium, there’s definitely a tinge of seriousness that feels Dark Knight-esque.

But, hey. We’re here to talk about some Batman movies, so let’s talk about some Batman movies.

Weirdly enough, I don’t remember a lot of hype for Batman Begins at the time of its release. It was almost as if it snuck up on us with great stealth (as a ninja should).

Oh, sure, I’d been following the rumor mill for years (more on that later), but deep down I think we almost didn’t believe that it was actually happening, probably because back in my day people didn’t reboot franchises every three years like certain hack studios do today, so despite the fact that eight whole years had passed, the debacle of Batman & Robin was still fresh in our minds.

And, wow; what a sea change.

To go from the candy-coated Gothic neon of the Burton and Schumacher films to the down-and-dirty grittiness of Batman Begins was nothing short of mind-blowing (to their credit, the filmmakers of Casino Royale were able to recapture this feeling a year later, and to greater profit). I think I went out and saw it three times in theaters (which would become something of a tradition with this trilogy, though not unmerited). What’s interesting now though, looking back, is that while I wouldn’t necessarily call it more fantastical, it’s certainly more dreamlike (some might say more “comic book”) than its sequels.

Still, despite the fact that it was a top ten hit both domestically and worldwide, it seems as if a number of people still sleep on this one today, but for fans of the Batman, it was the shot in the arm we desperately needed, and still very much appreciate.

Rating: ★★★★★

If I may jump back for a second to about 2001, I remember when the big rumor about the yet-unproduced Batman reboot was that it would be Batman: Year One (which later turned out to be a quality DC animated feature), to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring as Batman, wait for it, none other than Aaron Eckhart.

Obviously, none of that ever materialized (and may only have ever existed as rumor in the first place), but flashing forward in time, while everybody was freaking out about Heath Ledger being cast as The Joker, I was just happy that Eckhart finally got some sort of consolation prize.

But enough about rumors, as fun as they may be.

I was so excited to see the sequel to Batman Begins that I rounded up a crew to go see, of all movies, I Am Legend, opening night, in IMAX, because I’d learned there’d be a special preview of The Dark Knight. Little did we know we’d be treated to the entire bank heist scene, which, believe me when I tell you this, when that opening shot of the city in broad daylight hit the screen, I thought I was going to fall out of my seat. It was an indelible moment that I still think about today. We’d all grown up going to IMAX films at museums and such, and I’d seen a few movies blown up for the larger screen, but to see a feature film actually shot in the format itself was, again, mind-blowing.

Honestly, by the time I got around to seeing the full movie (again, opening night, in IMAX), my expectations were so ridiculously high that I probably should have been disappointed in some way, but I wasn’t. In fact, at the time, I’d say my expectations were exceeded. Pretty close to miraculous if you ask me.

And I know I wasn’t alone on that.

Rating: ★★★★½

My memories of this one aren’t as clear as they are for its predecessor, but it was a similar overall experience (though I do remember one of my workmates at the time living in Newark and waking up one morning to the sight of Gotham City Police vehicles parked outside his front door). My friend and I went to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol opening night in IMAX to see the special preview, which again was the amazing opening scene of the movie (and featuring a different audio mix for Bane than the final version of the film).

Suffice it to say though, I think we were all a little less hyped for this one in the wake of Heath Ledger’s untimely death. There’d been rumors that the reason for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s casting was to replace him as The Joker (which, in retrospect, I think could have worked, especially if his screen time was limited), but ultimately The Dark Knight Rises proceeded forth on its own terms, forging a new and different direction while ambitiously merging the previously unrelated stories of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight to an all-out conclusion.

I remember many people being highly critical of this one at the time, but I’ve always enjoyed it. It may stretch the bounds of realism in a more pronounced way than the two films before it, but all-in-all it draws out a fitting end to the character of Batman according to Nolan’s vision.

As they say, go big or go home.

Rating: ★★★★☆

So, what did I actually learn from seeing all three of these films in IMAX in one day (to celebrate Batman’s 80th Birthday)?

Well, I learned that while each movie is decidedly worth the price of admission on its own (which I already knew, but still), when you line all three of them up in such a direct comparison, it becomes obvious that Batman Begins is the best of the bunch (despite having no actual IMAX footage), which I honestly did not believe up until a few weeks ago when this event happened. The thing about Begins is that the layering of the story and the pacing is just so good, and as big and as grand as its sequels are, they just as obviously have third act pacing issues, which isn’t the worst thing, but it’s noticeable, and forces me to nick some points off.

Another thing I learned is that despite the great performance from Health Ledger (and it is Great), and despite The Dark Knight’s snub being the reason for The Academy opening up the Best Picture Oscar to more than five films per year, the gulf in quality between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises is not nearly as wide as the consensus would have you believe. In fact, at this point, if you said you liked the latter better than the former, I wouldn’t hold it against you.

Mostly though, I got a great refresher in knowing that these movies would not be what they are without Christopher Nolan. His passion for shooting on real film, for doing effects in camera as much as humanly possible, his knack for great (and I mean truly seamless) miniature work, his blissful ignorance that allows him to cast roles based on merit rather than reputation, all of these things flow out of who he is, what he cares about, and his artistic vision. He’s a great storyteller, to be sure, but the way you tell stories has an impact on the stories you tell, and I couldn’t be happier that this trilogy came from his heart, mind, body, and soul.

At least in the world of live-action, this version of Batman may never be topped. I’m not saying it’s completely flawless, but I’ll tell you this, I don’t think anyone will ever put such care into it ever again. In this world of digital 4-D cleanliness, having these gritty, tactile, analog films is like a warm blanket I wouldn’t trade for anything.

God save the king.

P.S.
I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it here before, but if you’ve never seen Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you should definitely check it out. There are some amazing parallels between James Mason’s version of Captain Nemo and Liam Neeson’s character in Batman Begins.

P.P.S.
We all got Batarangs.

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Movie Review – ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ – Generational Loss

Directed by Stefano Sollima
Written by Taylor Sheridan
Cast: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine, Shea Whigham, Elijah Rodriguez, Howard Ferguson Jr., David Castaneda, Jacqueline Torres, Raoul Max Trujillo, Bruno Bichir, Jake Picking
Soundtrack: Hildur Guðnadóttir

I suppose things were going to have to slow down eventually for Taylor Sheridan.

I mean, when your first three films as a screenwriter are Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River, it’s only natural that the quality will start to wane at some point (although, full disclosure, Yellowstone might be great, but I don’t watch much television anymore, so I can’t confirm or deny this).

In Sheridan’s defense though, I think his screenplay could have been better served by more capable hands, as there’s quite a drop-off from Denis Villeneuve in the director’s chair to Stefano Sollima (whose work to this point has been out of sight of American audiences).

This is not to say that Soldado is bad, I didn’t feel ripped off or anything like that, and there were plenty of elements that I did appreciate, but it’s a noticeable step back in my eyes. For one thing, the marketing gave so much away that I didn’t really have anything left to discover, and there wasn’t enough meat on the bone to make up for this (which a great, even very good movie can accomplish; a la The Usual Suspects).

Beyond that, outside of Emily Blunt’s character not coming back (which I actually don’t have a problem with; in fact, it makes sense to me), Soldado just has a certain je ne sais pas that I found lacking, especially in comparison to its predecessor. Hard to say what would have helped but a quicker pace wouldn’t have hurt (as much as I appreciate Mat Newman’s laconic editing for Nicolas Winding Refn’s films, I’m not sure it was the right play here). Presumably they were trying to build the tension, but I wasn’t feeling it; certainly nothing remotely close to the border crossing scenes in the first one.

But hey, it’s got fairly well executed action, and Del Toro and Brolin are still great, so I can’t complain too much.

Still though, it’s hard for me to give this one a big push, but I won’t talk you out of it either.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Quick Thoughts – Summer Round-Up, Part 2

Continued from Part 1…

‘The Stepfather’ (1987)

With the proliferation of PG-13 “horror” films these days, it’s almost hard to imagine a movie actually adding things to justify an R-rating, but back in the day the producers of ‘The Stepfather’ saw a PG-13 rating as a potential marketing problem. Really though, the whole movie was kind of a marketing problem. As you can gather from the poster, this got pushed out as something of a slasher movie, but it’s really more of a Hitchcockian thriller, like if ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Psycho’ had an Eighties baby (not that it’s Hitchcock-level quality, but the director apparently saw it as more of a dark comedy, which is a lens Hitchcock viewed much of his own work through).

We already know who the bad guy is from the very beginning, so the tension doesn’t come from the audience discovering who the killer is, but rather the characters in the movie. It really only works as a product of its time (why they even tried to remake it and update it is beyond me), but it’s effective, and it still holds up pretty well today. despite the generational gap.

Terry O’Quinn’s performance is unquestionably the centerpiece of the film. He’s on his A-game as a very disturbed individual trying to see if he can finally hold it all together, but the supporting actors, particularly Jill Schoelen, hold their own as well.

It might get a little corny at times, but for a horror/thriller, ‘The Stepfather’ makes a solid movie night pick.

Rating: ★★★½

‘Thunderball’ (1965)

“There’s a lot of movie in that movie.”

It’s a true statement of pretty much every Bond film since ‘Goldfinger’, but it’s perhaps most true of ‘Thunderball’. In fact, there’s so much movie here it’s almost exhausting: you’ve got airplanes, you’ve got nuclear weapons, underwater combat, fast cars, deadly sharks, multiple bombshell women, fast boats, world extortion, electrified conference room chairs, Bahamian street festivals, an actual jetpack, Tom Jones singing, and a peeing dog.

All that said, while you do feel its length, I appreciate the producers’ effort to make a real crowd-pleaser. The underwater scenes in particular, from both a visual and technical perspective, are overwhelmingly impressive, even now (“it’s so dense, every single image has so much going on…”).

Now, I’ll be honest, I actually like the remake (‘Never Say Never Again’) better, but only because the interplay between Sean Connery and Klaus Maria Brandauer is so much fun, at least in my opinion. On the whole, I’d say ‘Thunderball’ remains the superior film (especially in the Bond Girl department). Plus, ‘Thunderball’ might be the most influential spy movie on pop culture in general (it’s still the highest grossing Bond film when you adjust for inflation).

Rating: ★★★★☆

‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ (1988)

Boy, that Bob Zemeckis sure had a strong foothold on the mid to late Eighties, didn’t he?

I think computers have made us numb to the appreciation of animation, but back in the day (and even as recently as 2004) it was a highly labor-intensive process. It may not have been the first and it certainly wasn’t the last, but I personally don’t know of another film that blends live-action and traditional animation to the degree that ‘Roger Rabbit’ does, and in that sense alone it is an incredible triumph of cinema.

Perhaps lost on today’s audiences is the wrangling of so many different characters from different (and, traditionally, very competitive) animation studios to be in one movie. For people who grew up watching the old cartoons, it must’ve been mind-blowing at the time to see Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, and Woody Woodpecker all in the same motion picture (not to mention the dueling piano scene with Donald Duck and Daffy Duck actually sharing the screen together).

It might not be in the AFI Top 100, but this is a seminal movie nonetheless, and, like so many other Eighties “kids movies”, it will traumatize your children (seriously, I still don’t know if I’m over that ending).

Rating: ★★★★☆

‘Full Metal Jacket’ (1987)

Thirty years after making one of the best war (and anti-war) films of all time in ‘Paths of Glory‘, Stanley Kubrick unleashed himself on a whole new generation of moviegoers with ‘Full Metal Jacket’. This is another classic that I can’t say too much about that hasn’t been said already, the most obvious being that I can’t believe it was only nominated for one Academy Award, so I’ll praise a couple of things that I think have been underrated over the years.

First of all, most people talk about R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio, and that’s fine, but Matthew Modine as Pvt. Joker (you know, the protagonist of the film) gives a really good performance as well. One of my favorite moments is the “Virgin Mary” scene, when he’s the first Private to actually stand up to Gny. Sgt. Hartman and earns himself a promotion to squad leader. It’s a very emotional scene with a lot of shouting, yes, but you never feel like, “Oh, they’re just performing.” No, they’re in it, and he’s in it in particular.

Secondly, did you know this entire movie (outside of some archive footage of a Parris Island graduation) was filmed in England? England! I bet you thought they went to the Philippines or Taiwan or at least somewhere in Asia, but no, they filmed a movie that takes place in South Carolina and Vietnam entirely in jolly old England! If that’s not “movie magic”, I don’t know what is.

It’s a very dark movie (but surprisingly funny at times), for sure, but if I was making a list of ten war films everyone should see (regardless of your feelings on war), I’d be hard pressed to leave this one out.

Rating: ★★★★½

‘The ‘Burbs’ (1989)

For some reason I keep thinking I’m not much of a [New Jersey’s own] Joe Dante guy, but after looking at his filmography again, I’m not sure that’s true. There must be someone else I keep confusing him with.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie. It’s a very funny blend of mostly comedy with horror elements. The wonderful ensemble cast is what truly makes it: you’ve got Tom Hanks as the stressed-out everyman who just wants to relax at home for his vacation; Carrie Fisher as his dutiful wife; Rick Ducommun as the wise-cracking sidekick and general instigator; Bruce Dern as the wily and paranoid ex-military man; Wendy Schaal as his wife (and neighborhood eye-candy); Corey Feldman as the teenager next door; and Henry Gibson, Brother Theodore, and Courtney Gains as the mysterious Klopeks (not to mention cameos from Dick Miller and Robert Picardo, because this is a Joe Dante film).

For anyone who’s ever had strange neighbors you wanted to avoid at all costs, you’ll definitely relate (and probably feel justified in that thinking).

If you’ve not seen it, definitely check it out, especially around Halloween time.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Continued in Part 3…