Paul Williams – People Talking

Movie Review – ‘Baby Driver’ – “A Rock & Roll Fable”

Written and Directed by Edgar Wright
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, CJ Jones, Flea, Lanny Joon, Sky Ferreira, Allison King, Big Boi, Killer Mike, Paul Williams, Sidney Sewell, Thurman Sewell, Jon Spencer, Walter Hill
Soundtrack: Steven Price

I love me some Edgar Wright.

From Spaced, to the Cornetto Trilogy, and even Scott Pilgrim (And have I mentioned I’m still disappointed that Marvel couldn’t work it out with him on Ant-Man? Although his fingerprints are still very much there), the man’s resume is impeccable.

Still, for some reason I couldn’t figure out, I was worried about Baby Driver (which apparently is also the title of a Simon & Garfunkel song; The More You Know).

Maybe the studio just didn’t know how to market it (I mean, this is Sony we’re talking about). Maybe he’d changed, or I’d changed, or we’d both changed. Maybe he was going in a new direction and I just wasn’t ready for it. For whatever reason, something inside me kept saying, “I don’t know about this one.”

Fortunately, my fears were quickly allayed, as I realized not long into the runtime that this film is the best thing he’s done in ten years.

As you’d expect from Edgar Wright, Baby Driver consists of layers upon layers upon layers (including the spirit of Atlanta), as it’s clearly influenced by Walter Hill’s The Driver (which influenced Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive), which itself was based on Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï (which influenced many films, including Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog).

However, as wonderful and influential as those two films are (I’d personally recommend both of them), and as much as there are echoes of all of his previous works throughout, Wright’s Baby is very much its own…baby: a symphony of cars, music, and that signature kinetic energy like we’ve never quite seen before.

Tone-wise, it’s by far the most serious film Edgar has ever done, and it’s got plenty of bite to back up the bark, but that doesn’t mean it’s not without a genuine sense of humor; I’d compare it to The Nice Guys in that regard (unfortunately, the trailers are playing up the humor way too much, making the movie look borderline farcical; it didn’t even occur to me that the movie was rated-R until the second or third F-bomb). This is both a major strength and a minor weakness, because the tonal shifts don’t always quite jibe, but, like I said, it’s a small flaw in a large masterpiece.

In terms of car action, I’m going to say this is the most visceral work I’ve seen since Mad Max: Fury Road (if you’ve got another legitimate nominee from the past two years, I’m all ears). Edgar Wright himself said 95% of the car stuff is for real, both inside and out, and it shows. There’s even one chase that might rival To Live and Die in L.A., which I never thought I’d ever say about any movie. Frankly, I’m not sure it’s even worth attempting to describe the breadth of the gratuitous vehicular action; you truly must see it for yourself.

Of course, all of this might be for naught if the story and the performances weren’t up to par (down to par?), but not to worry. I wouldn’t put every performance in the same basket, but the core of Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, and Lily James is rock solid, which is all that really matters; everybody else is free to be as much of a character (or caricature, depending on your perspective) as they want to be.

If I have any other criticisms besides the occasional odd tonal shift, it’s that the movie is sometimes just a bit too much, in that the camera is almost always moving (though at least they could afford a steadicam, unlike some people), and the soundtrack is sometimes a bit too noisy. Maybe I’m just becoming an old man, I don’t know, but I never felt like I was having sensory overload watching Fury Road, whereas Baby Driver had it creep in a few times.

All-in-all though, there’s not much to complain about. Some might say Baby Driver is style over substance, but sometimes the style is the substance (e.g. Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). I say it’s one of the best movies of the year, and I bet I’ll still be saying that come New Year’s Eve.

Whether you’re a die-hard Edgar Wright fanatic or a new fish, if you like gunfights, car chases, and proper action (and music), this film is for you. This was an idea that’d been brewing in his head for a long time, and we are fortunate to see it come to fruition.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of five)

Quick Thoughts – September Round-Up, Part 3

‘The Muppet Movie’ (1979)

It wouldn’t be until the Nineties that the whole television-to-movie adaptation became so ubiquitous, but 1979 was a pretty big year for it. After all, there was ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture‘, I guess we could throw in ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’ (although it wasn’t their first movie), and, of course, there’s ‘The Muppet Movie’.

Watching this film taught me a valuable lesson, and that’s that all the celebrity cameos in the world don’t matter a lick if you don’t have an interesting story. Frankly, I found the “guest star appearances” to be frustrating; most of them are there and gone in the blink of an eye. The only one who gets close to a full scene is Mel Brooks, and even he can only brighten the movie so much (although I did find a humorous parallel between his scene and the torture scene in ‘SPECTRE‘, but that’s neither here nor there).

This is not to say that ‘The Muppet Movie’ doesn’t have its moments, it’s just that they come so few and far between, and the core story is such a boring tease that I can’t recommend this to anyone trying to get their Muppet (or general Jim Henson) fix. Perhaps the problem is that the Muppets on their own aren’t very interesting, but when they’re telling a real story (or doing sketch comedy on TV), even if its somebody else’s (e.g. ‘Christmas Carol‘ and ‘Treasure Island‘), you can mine a lot more humor out of that.

Hate to say it, but this one’s easily on my skip list.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

‘Marathon Man’ (1976)

If you didn’t already know, and without really spoiling anything, there’a a famous scene in this movie involving some malevolent dentistry and the repetitive question, “Is it safe?” which had quite a cultural impact (maybe not the same as what ‘Jaws‘ did to the beach, but not dissimilar). I wish I could say otherwise, but the mark left by that particular scene belies the overall quality of the movie.

‘Marathon Man’ isn’t bad, it’s worth seeing once, but seeing it multiple times won’t help you with your confusion. I’ve seen it twice (once at home and once in a theater), watching intently on both occasions, and there are still elements I don’t have a firm grasp on, despite the story not appearing to be all that complicated, so, just be prepared for that if you ever watch it.

What’s even more frustrating is that the screenplay was written by William Goldman, adapted from his own novel (which reportedly is way better than the movie; maybe I’ll get around to reading it if I ever start reading books again), so such confusion seems needless, but I’ll give him a little leeway since it was his first time adapting his own work (he’d have a little more success with that later on).

That said, there are certain elements of this movie that are downright wonderful. In particular, Laurence Olivier’s performance is something to be truly savored; perhaps the ultimate embodiment of the phrase “deliciously evil.” It’s funny that Oliver quickly moved from a Mengele pastiche in this film to a Mengele hunter in 1978’s ‘The Boys From Brazil‘, a movie I find to be more entertaining (though admittedly more sensational) than ‘Marathon Man’, but I prefer Olivier’s performance in the latter.

Anyway, as I said, worth seeing once. Lots of great NYC stuff.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

‘Psycho II’ (1983)

Thought Disney were the ones who first thought of releasing sequels decades (and decades) after the original films? Then you don’t know about ‘Psycho II’ (or ‘III’, or ‘IV’).

The original ‘Psycho‘ is a seminal piece of cinema history. Not only did it inspire the slasher genre (pretty much starting with 1978’s ‘Halloween’ and continuing through today), but it’s probably the first best example of “classy sleaze” (a term recently coined by Red Letter Media’s Mike Stoklasa to refer to such films as ‘Gone Girl‘ and ‘Don’t Breathe‘). It’s also a movie I stepped away from for a number of years, as back in college I had to do a shot analysis of the first half hour for a film class, so I got rather sick of the sight of it, but I was happy to revisit it in preparation for the sequel (although ‘Psycho II’ does begin with the most famous scene from ‘Psycho’).

‘Psycho II’ is definitely not terrible. Given that it’s a sequel made two decades after the fact, it’s actually pretty good, and I appreciate that the filmmakers were able to get not only Anthony Perkins (giving a surprisingly sympathetic performance) but also Vera Miles to reprise their roles from the first movie (John Gavin was hypothetically available, but was otherwise occupied at the time as the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico). However, and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately, what begins (and sustains for quite a while) as an engrossing and effective film eventually goes on for too long and kind of falls apart in the third act, which is a shame.

Performance-wise, it’s a mixed bag. Perkins delivers great work as Norman, and Dennis Franz and Robert Loggia put in solid shifts (though abbreviated) in support, but I can’t decide if Meg Tilly’s performance is adequate or terrible, and I was not feeling Hugh Gillin as the sheriff, although that may be more so because of the character as written (hard to tell sometimes).

And, once again, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Jerry Goldsmith’s score. It’s not his best work, but I give him credit for doing something original and not merely doing a Bernard Herrmann impression.

So, yeah; not great, but not terrible. If you love the original ‘Psycho’ so much that you don’t want anything to spoil your image of it, maybe skip this one, but if you’re open to a continuation of the story, it’s worth checking out.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Quick Thoughts – Autumn Round-Up, Part 1

As usual, I’m horribly behind in my writing about what I’ve been seeing.

Let’s get right to it.

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)

I have a very special relationship with this movie.

When I was in high school, I went with a bunch of friends to see it, the only problem was that everybody was 17 except for my best friend and I who were still 16 (and the theater we went to was not one you could sneak into); so, we waited and waited until finally a nice South Asian couple came by and vouched for us so we could get in. It’s been more than 12 years and I’m still waiting to pay that favor forward, but kids today just don’t have the same taste.

Anyway, Kill Bill, like every Tarantino film, is a tribute to many movies of the past. This fact was a bit over my head as a 16-year-old, I have a bit more of an appreciation of it now, but that doesn’t really matter, because the movie is great on its own and still holds up today. The Monty Python-esque over-the-top violence, the witty dialogue, Sonny f’n Chiba, and the core story of a woman essentially back from the dead and out for revenge, it’s just cool. And, it’s got one of the best ending cliffhangers ever. What more can I say?

Rating: ★★★★½

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

For a very long time, I thought this was the best BTTF movie, probably because I was young and couldn’t yet fully appreciate the original (believe me, I learned to love it), plus, they actually go to the future!

Let’s get it straight right now. Back to the Future is one of the most perfect films ever made, and is the best of the trilogy. But, as sequels go, it’s hard to ask for more than what Part II gives us.

For one thing, it provided a comedic vision of the future date of October 21, 2015 (on which I got to see the movie theatrically, because awesome), which turned out to be somewhat prescient but mostly just hilarious. Secondly, there’s some serious movie magic involved with taking us back to certain events from the original while adding another layer on top of them. And, the movie isn’t afraid of some gravitas, as the alternate 1985 “Hell Valley” is stunningly bleak.

Add it all up, and you’ve got a tremendously fun and well-executed sequel (that still works just fine on its own).

Rating: ★★★★☆

Hot Fuzz (2007)

This is another movie I have a very special relationship with.

Back in the late Spring of 2007, my best good friend and I went to see Spider-Man 3 in IMAX on a Friday night. Needless to say, we hated it. In fact, had we not paid extra to see it on the giant screen, I think we’d have walked out. Come Saturday, we needed to cleanse our theatrical palate, and the perfect prescription was Hot Fuzz.

In addition to that fond memory, it was a part of my first ever experience at the Alamo Drafthouse [Yonkers], when I went to see the “Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy” on the premier night of The World’s End.

I love this movie so much that I made my own trailer for it (which I’d show you, but, copyright laws).

A lethally hilarious combination of buddy cop action, Agatha Christie mystery, and the English countryside, Hot Fuzz is the second feature from creative duo Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (along with Nick Frost and a cast of British greats). Like Shaun of the Dead before it, Hot Fuzz is not a parody, but rather a comedic love letter, embracing all the tropes that come with the movies it pays tribute to, in turn become a great example of the genre itself (I put it next to Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour as the three seminal Buddy Cop movies of the past 30 years); not to mention that you can watch any Edgar Wright movie 20 times and still not pick up on all the on-screen gags.

It’s fun, it’s bloody, and it’s over-the-top in all the right ways. Check it out if you’ve not already done so.

Rating: ★★★★½

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

I’ve only very recently been getting familiar with the film catalogue of one Mr. Brian De Palma, but I’ve come to one conclusion, and that is he is drawn to stories that start out very much grounded in reality, but by the end have gone almost completely off the rails. Carrie, Scarface, and Mission: Impossible all follow this pattern, and you better believe Phantom of the Paradise, which he wrote himself, does as well (arguably to the largest degree).

A musical at its core (songs by Paul Williams), Phantom pays homage to many classic stories, including Phantom of the Opera (duh), Faust, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, while mixing in 70s glam rock aesthetics and plenty of music business satire (which is horrifyingly brilliant).

The result is something of a wild and beautiful mess, but it’s an enjoyable enough ride that I’d recommend it to a lot of people. If nothing else, the twists and turns will keep you engaged.

Rating: ★★★½

After the screening, there was a Q&A with Gerrit Graham (on the right), who played “Beef” in Phantom, hosted by Michael Gingold of Fangoria magazine (on the left):