Smith's Verdict

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, IT FOLLOWS!

You know how many bad supernatural-teen-thrillers there are? Films with malevolent supernatural presences that seem to target an annoying group of bland teenagers? Sometimes, you come across a good one, but for the most part, they’re pretty disposable. And then, you get It Follows…

Remember when Paul Thomas Anderson made “Punch-Drunk Love,” giving an otherwise-typical Adam Sandler comedy the arthouse treatment and gave it more depth than we didn’t think could be found? Well, filmmaker David Robert Mitchell gave the same treatment to an otherwise-typical supernatural-teen-thriller, with “It Follows.” Think about it–we have teens being stalked by an invisible presence that wants nothing more than to kill them. It’d be so easy (scratch that–TOO easy) to screw this up. But instead, Mitchell left room open for analysis by keeping enough questions unanswered, providing plenty of atmosphere to add to the terror we’re facing by using striking cinematography, and even setting it in a time that’s hardly defined, with old-timey cars & TV sets, a few modern-day devices, and even a futuristic compact Kindle…or whatever that thing was.

The characters are still the same as you would see in most other supernatural-teen-thrillers–there’s hardly anything special about them. But…eh. They’re real enough; I’ll accept them, mostly because they’re set in this movie’s world and that makes me realize this is a neat alternative to most supernatural-teen-thrillers that have only the slightest amount of creativity and not the slightest bit of atmosphere.

The late, great French director Jean-Luc Godard once said the best way to criticize a movie is to make another movie. That about sums it up here.

Anyway, what does “It” represent in “It Follows?” It can be transferred through sex, which makes it easy to label “It” as a metaphor for an STD and a cautionary warning for safe-sex. When I first saw the film, I thought it was that simple. But now, I realize it may be something deeper than I thought. Our main character, Jay, wants to explore the world of adulthood, thinking of it as freedom. And you know how a lot of teens think when it comes to the subject of sex–for example, in their world, sex makes boys into “men.” But with adulthood comes responsibility & consequence, and THAT could be what “It” represents–Jay has sex with this guy she likes, then feels like she’s walking on air while she’s talking about what she used to imagine when she was old enough to date…and then the guy holds her captive for a little while and warns her that this “thing” will follow her just as it followed him, and if it catches her, she’ll die. The only way to get rid of it to pass it along and make it someone else’s problem. It may slowly walk towards her, but it won’t stop. And it’ll look like someone she knows or just another face in the crowd…

(Though, it’s easy to point it out–just look for the person who’s either naked or wearing white clothing…and walking slowly with blank facial expressions.)

“It” could mean anything here–death, consequence, guilt, inner demons becoming outer demons, etc. Whatever it is, it’s out there and the characters who are targeted by it can either live with it and/or do something about it or just let it take them. If they ignore it, they’ll surely suffer for it. I like that it’s left open to analyze, and it can be analyzed in many different ways, so there’s hardly any wrong answers.

It’s also interesting to think about–CAN you escape it, like take a plane to leave the country or something? Or will it board the plane with you? Or will it keep walking to where you’re going? Can it swim across the ocean?

I like the way “It Follows” ends. Actually, it doesn’t end–it stops. We don’t know if the characters have ultimately escaped “It” or not; we just know they’re stuck with the knowledge that it could still be out there, waiting for them and/or coming for them. They’re adults now, and they have to live with adult responsibilities & consequences for their actions. Whether they like it or not, they’re stuck with it.

And it won’t stop.

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, here’s Colin Trevorrow’s feature debut “Safety Not Guaranteed.”

As soon as I heard the premise, I immediately wanted to see this film. Magazine reporters respond to a Classified ad asking for someone to assist in time-travel. “Must bring your own weapons.” “Safety not guaranteed.” “I have only done this once before.” I’m hooked.

What I got was a delightful quirky comedy about two lost souls who find each other. One is a bitter, depressed, sarcastic–aw screw it, it’s just Aubrey Plaza (either she’s exactly like the characters she’s playing or she’s just that talented). And the other is an awkward oddball charmer who genuinely believes he can travel through time. He’s played by Mark Duplass. (Fun fact: this was my introduction to Duplass–I didn’t know anything about his filmmaking work in “mumblecore”; at the time, I just thought he was a talented no-name actor.) Plaza goes undercover to respond to Duplass’ ad, earn his trust, find out more about him, and see what he’s all about. I mean, he can’t seriously travel through time…can he? He seems so entirely convinced that he has the resources to do so and that all he needs is a partner…and some lasers, which Plaza reluctantly helps him steal. Whether he’s for real or not, the two form a connection together. Soon enough, I forget all about the sci-fi element that may or may not be present and just focus on the chemistry between these two people.

Oh, and there’s also Jake Johnson as Plaza’s wiseass boss and Karan Soni as a shy intern who of course blossoms over this life-changing road trip. I like these two actors, but I don’t think these characters belonged in this movie at all. Johnson’s subplot about reconnecting with an old flame doesn’t fit, because I’m not sure what he’s supposed to have learned after what should have been a lesson in humility. He doesn’t seem to change. It just feels like filler for a longer running time. (And the film overall is 87 minutes long.) And we know why Soni is there–he’s the nerd who comes of age and has the time of his life, thanks to Johnson. My point is Plaza and Duplass don’t need more support unless it’s helping them advance their story. I feel like Johnson and Soni slow it down.

But the stuff involving Plaza and Duplass is so good, that other stuff doesn’t matter that much.

How does it end? I’ll leave that for you to discover, but I will say it gives us what our emotions want to see in this moment. I’ll admit I was a little on the fence about it when I first saw it…but then I read the original ending from the screenplay online. And I gotta tell you, reading it, I didn’t feel a thing! It made me appreciate the cinematic ending a lot more.

Director/co-writer Colin Trevorrow went on to direct “Jurassic World” and was in line to direct “Star Wars Episode IX”…until his next film “The Book of Henry” flopped hard. (Btw, am I the only one who thinks that isn’t fair? Seriously, one bomb and they fire him just like that? Screw the studio system.) BUT there are rumors going around that they are keeping something from Trevorrow’s script in “The Rise of Skywalker”…they better credit him if that’s true. (Look at Wikipedia–his frequent collaborator Derek Connelly is still credited.)

This is generally what happens when a small-budget indie gets the attention of the big boys–small-time directors get their shot at the big time. Look at Jordan Vogt-Roberts (he went from “The Kings of Summer” to “Kong: Skull Island”); look at Jon Watts (“Cop Car” to “Spider-Man: Homecoming”); look at David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” to “Pete’s Dragon”); look at Josh Trank (“Chronicle” to…”Fant4stic”……he was kicked off of “Star Wars IX” too). There are plenty of examples like that; it’s the Hollywood Zeitgeist.

Maybe that’ll happen to me someday…will I turn it down? I say “yes” now because of stories I’ve heard about how the studio system screws people over more often, but I don’t know…

Where was I? Oh yeah, “Safety Not Guaranteed.” Check it out if you haven’t already!

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, I may as well come out about it–I, L. Tanner Smith, am “happy-sad.”

I was upset when not a single song from “Sing Street” was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Song! (And I applaud ScreenJunkies for their Honest Trailer for the Oscars of that year for acknowledging that mistake! “Didn’t ANYONE see Sing Street?”)

These are all good songs! And they’re all influenced by ’80s pop idols–Riddle of the Model is “modeled” (if you will) after Duran Duran, Beautiful Sea is inspired by The Cure, Drive It Like You Stole It has a Hall & Oates vibe to it, and so on. The Sing Street band’s softer material, such as Up and To Find You, seem like the only songs that were made with their own sound, showing that they’re playing from the heart.

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, I still have not seen 2013’s “The Wolverine.” But maybe I don’t have to, seeing as director James Mangold made another Wolverine film and it was pretty great!

I’m of course talking about “Logan.”

I give up trying to fit this movie into the X-Men chronology…actually, I didn’t even try. I just enjoy the film on its own.

What does it mean to be an aging comic book hero whose glory days are far behind them? We all know how awesome Logan/Wolverine (played memorably by Hugh Jackman) was from the previous “X-Men” movies. To see him in decline is bittersweet; to see him still able to take action is still pretty cool.

“Logan” isn’t so much a “superhero movie” as it is a sci-fi Western. There’s good guys who are the outlaws and a bunch of ruthless and greedy baddies who will stop at nothing to take them down. (There are even many references to “Shane,” the classic Western.)

Oh, and it’s R-rated. Very, VERY R-rated. All the gruesome kills Wolverine is able to perform with his vicious metallic claws–hell yeah you see some graphic gore this time around! With all the slicing and dicing in this one, you know Logan isn’t messing around this time.

But that’s only for those foolish enough to try to jack his car in an opening scene. Soon after, we see that Logan is making a living as an Uber driver long after Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters has shut down for good. In fact, Logan even cares for Professor X (Patrick Stewart), whose mind is fading day by day.

So here we are…the final chapter in the X-Men story. We know this can only end in tears. And once we accept that, we can only hope for something inspiring to come from this.

Anyway, Logan is roped into taking care of Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant who is hunted by government agents who bred her as a secret medical experiment that would result in a super-mutant army. When it becomes clear she shares Wolverine’s DNA, it also becomes clear that this little girl doesn’t mess around either. Logan doesn’t want to get involved, but he has no choice, and he has to protect her against the villains and bring her to a place where she’ll be safe.

What happens to superheroes when they get old? Not many movies want to play with that idea, but Logan does unbelievably well. And it introduces us to a villain that is even more relatable than any of the antagonists Logan and X have to face: mortality.

But the film isn’t too grim that one can’t get any enjoyment out of it. There is some pretty intense action, including one of the best car chases I’ve seen in any action flick, and when Laura gets where she needs to be, it is nice to see that there will be a spirit to carry on the legend that will inevitably be left behind. But overall, “Logan” gives its audience answers to questions comic book fans never wanted to ask, and it gives them what they didn’t know they needed.

When it comes to dark, compelling, what-is-life superhero movies, I say DC has “The Dark Knight” and Marvel has “Logan.” (And Marvel also has the excellent Netflix series “Daredevil,” for that matter.) That’s how good I think this film is! And it only gets better the more times I watch it.

And I gotta be honest…it almost made the list of my picks for the best of the decade.

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, it’s the first of two Apatow productions to get a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination (the second being “The Big Sick”): “Bridesmaids!”

Let’s just forget about “Ghostbusters 2016” for now (or ever) and think back to a time when a film from director Paul Feig and starring Kristen Wiig would delight us and make us laugh. And here we have “Bridesmaids,” a comedy-drama about a woman who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend.

I didn’t see this one in a theater. Having seen Wiig on “SNL” and only a couple movies at the time, she was very hit-or-miss for me. And the trailer didn’t look promising–it made the movie look pretty lame. But when I did catch the flick on DVD, it actually turned out to be pretty engaging. Wiig was hilarious (I think I liked her act even more after seeing this film), the whole cast was funny, the writing was sharp, and there was actually something more to it than comedy, to my surprise.

Why is it that so many good comedies have the worst trailers? (I didn’t want to see “Long Shot” based on its trailer either and that film was pretty good too.)

The Oscar-nominated script for “Bridesmaids” was co-written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo (who also acted as the paranoid airplane coach passenger). What I really like about Judd Apatow’s productions is that they give actors a chance to write their own stories (such as Steve Carell for “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” just about every Seth Rogen screenplay, Jason Segel for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Amy Schumer for “Trainwreck,” and of course Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon for “The Big Sick”). It’s a very effective way of saying, “I can’t get the right role for me, I’ll write the right role for me.” Kristen Wiig is really good here, playing a neurotic woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to the fear that she’s losing her best friend, which is the one thing she feels she has left in life. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes it’s bittersweet, sometimes it’s pathetic, and it’s always convincing.

Maya Rudolph is also good as her buddy who’s getting married, Rose Byrne is wonderful as the passive-aggressive Helen who threatens to steal Wiig’s “thunder” with her assertiveness, and of course…Melissa McCarthy. This was the movie that made Melissa McCarthy a household name and even gained her her first Oscar nomination, playing Megan, the wild card of the bunch of bridesmaids. I could blame this movie for giving birth to the typical McCarthy role that I usually can’t stand, but she’s just so damn funny here–maybe she had more of a filter here or she just trusted the writing enough to simply go with it instead of try to go beyond it.

OK, so the movie has funny people. But what about funny sequences? Oh yeah–this movie has plenty of those! Critics scoffed at the “bridal shop/food poisoning” scene; I thought it was so outrageous that it had to be hilarious, and I know I’m not alone. The plane scene? It displays some of Wiig’s funnier moments of her career, and I love McCarthy’s persistence toward a passenger she knows for sure is an Air Marshall. The bit where Wiig and Byrne desperately try to get Chris O’Dowd’s Irish cop’s attention? YES!

Speaking of which, I know a lot of people don’t really care for the Chris O’Dowd character and his relationship with Wiig, but I thought it was sweet enough. Who I could’ve done without were Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas as Wiig’s odd British roommates who never got a single laugh out of me.

Oh, and Jon Hamm is also in this movie, playing a “himbo” Wiig often has fun with. This movie’s a little overloaded with wacky characters–some work, some don’t…I can’t say Hamm’s doesn’t work.

But there’s more to “Bridesmaids” than zany comedy. We also get a smart, convincing, very effective view on female friendship and competition–we see how the friendship could continue between Wiig and Rudolph after what they’ve been through together, we get a great deal of class-consciousness between Wiig and Byrne’s little feud, and there are great insights of companionship between the other bridesmaids, including when a tired mother/housewife (Wendi McLendon-Covey) gives advice to a newlywed (Ellie Kemper). And sometimes, even that can be a little funny.

Pretty good stuff here. “Help me, I’m poor.”

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, let’s talk about one of the most pleasant surprises of the decade, one of the most successful horror films of all time: “It.”

Or rather, “It: Chapter One.” I did see “It: Chapter Two,” and I’ll probably post its own review for that one–but “Chapter One” is what I want to focus on right now.

I love the central premise of “It”–there’s this thing that consumes children after feeding on their personal fears, and there’s a group of outcast kids that fight back, and as they reach adulthood, they have to confront the thing again, as well as their childhood traumas they tried to forget. The Stephen King novel of the same name has a lot of great stuff in it (and a lot of not-so-great stuff as well). The 1990 TV miniseries, as entertaining as it was (especially with Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown), couldn’t quite tackle the heavier material with the adult portion of the story. (Even the director, Tommy Lee Wallace, doesn’t like the second part of the miniseries.)

The stuff with the kids in the miniseries was fine, mostly because the child actors were great, but there just wasn’t enough time to fully develop their experiences, their fears, what they have to overcome, etc. We needed a whole movie about all of that…and that’s where “It: Chapter One” came in.

“It: Chapter One” only focuses on the kids as they encounter and combat It, which can become each of their personal fears and mostly takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (played by Bill Skarsgard). For Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), it’s guilt over the loss of his little brother Georgie; for Beverly (Sophia Lillis), it’s her abusive, sicko father; for Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), it’s bullies and morbid histories; for Mike (Chosen Jacobs), it’s fire (since his parents were killed in a house fire); for Stan (Wyatt Oleff), it’s a creepy abstract painting in his rabbi father’s temple office; for Eddie (Jack Dylan Glazer), it’s germs; and for Richie (Finn Wolfhard), it’s…clowns. (Tough break there, kid.)

This film knew to take the time to get to know these kids–who they are, what they go through, and just as important, how they relate to each other. They understand each other and therefore can help each other out. And they know the only way to defeat It is by sticking together, which is also how they can face their inner demons.

Despite the clown taking so much of the promotional material before the film’s release, Pennywise doesn’t have as much screen time as you would think. That’s because the clown isn’t as important as what It can become. But thanks to Skarsgard’s remarkably chilling portrayal, it’s hard not to feel Pennywise’s presence. And when he does show up…let’s just say he doesn’t help Bozo-phobics get over their fears.

The eyes…the mouth…the inflections in his voice…..Tim Curry’s Pennywise was a good clown and used it to lure children into his trap–if I saw Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise, I’d be running for my life. Poor Georgie should have, too…

Georgie’s death is one of the most shocking moments I ever experienced in any movie in a theater. Of course, I knew Georgie was going to die–I read the book, I saw the miniseries, everyone knew his fate. What I DIDN’T know was that it was going to be played so horrifically! I thought he was going to be sucked into the sewer drain with a scream (the “safe” way to kill a child in a horror movie)–but nope!

I didn’t think they’d go there…they went there. My mouth was agape for about five minutes after that scene. (And I usually skip over it on the DVD–as soon as Pennywise bares his sharp teeth and the second he bites into Georgie’s arm, I skip to the opening title.)

Another reason for this film’s success–it is scary! Director Andy Muschietti knows just as much as modern horror master Mike Flanagan and the classic horror directors that the best way to reach an audience with a horror film is with character, story, and ATMOSPHERE. Because we can relate to the characters and we understand the world they’re living in, we can get unnerved when the tension settles in yet again in many parts of the movie. And with nearly every eerie setup, there’s a frightening payoff. Speaking of which, whenever you see a red balloon, you know something’s going to happen…

I love the climax of the movie, which plays like a superhero action fight, as all of the kids take turns beating up Pennywise as It tries to take the shape of all their fears. It’s exciting and well-executed, and it made me want to take a shot in as well.

But we know it’s not over after that. After the kids think they’ve defeated It, they oath to each other that they’ll come back to finish the job if they need to. “Chapter Two” will take place 27 years later, when they’ve all become like the adults who wouldn’t help them as children and they must go back and finish what they started.

We’ve had many terrific horror films in the past few years, and “It: Chapter One” is one of the best. (And I’ll get to “It: Chapter Two” soon enough. I know a review for it’s already overdue.)

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films…whether you like “Mistress America” or not depends on how much you like Greta Gerwig. Case in point: I like Greta Gerwig a lot, so I like “Mistress America” a lot.

A bit of an exaggeration, to be sure. But it’s the best I can come up with.

Gerwig also co-wrote the film with director Noah Baumbach–they also collaborated together on “Frances Ha,” one of my favorite films of the decade.

In “Mistress America,” Gerwig takes center stage as Brooke, a wacky, extremely confident, adventurous, highly lively, sometimes unbearable, overall lovely gal who lives for New York as well for simply living. And she knows so many awesome people, and she has all these amazingly incredible projects in the works, and she’ll even force herself onto the stage of a rock concert.

How did Richard Roeper describe her? “The initially entertaining but ultimately exhausting, self-appointed life of the party who won’t leave, even after the life has been drained of the party.”

Some critics weren’t so kind to “Mistress America” for Gerwig’s extreme portrayal of The Life Of Every Party. But for a brisk 84 minutes, I was happy to be in her company. I didn’t think she wore out her welcome. I could see how she would for others, but I can’t help it–there’s just something about Greta Gerwig that sticks with me and I can’t shake it off.

“Mistress America” is essentially a screwball comedy, with eccentric characters spewing a whole lot of dialogue with impeccable comic timing while on zany misadventures. I don’t know how long it took Baumbach to get these actors to find the right rhythms for each of these dialogue-driven scenes, but the effort is definitely appreciated.

Lola Kirke co-stars as Tracy, an 18-year-old college freshman who is very bright but not very sociable. Even when she finds a guy she can get along with because of their mutual aspirations in creative writing, the guy doesn’t stick around for too long before he finds a girlfriend of his own. Now bored in New York, Tracy reaches out to her stepsister-to-be: Brooke. Brooke, who’s 12 years older than Tracy, shows Tracy a great time while tagging her along for a wild night on the town.

Side-note: I relate just about every bit to the opening-credit sequence that shows Tracy trying to adjust to college life. Been there, lived that.

Tracy sees a unique character in Brooke (who is essentially a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who won’t reveal her true self), which inspires her to write a short story about her (giving her written counterpart the name “Meadow”). So, she decides to follow her around even longer, secretly taking notes as she goes along. Soon enough, the journey leads them (along with Tracy’s would-be boyfriend and his jealous girlfriend) to Connecticut where Brooke reunites with an old flame and an old foe.

This is the part where some critics who weren’t particularly invested in Brooke before would tune out. This is where the screwball-comedy aspect ventures into outrageous farce. More characters, more snappy dialogue, much going on, everything paying off…I had a blast! Critics like Roeper and James Berardinelli were turned off by it; I thought it made the film even more appealing.

Tracy sees right through Brooke, that she’s more talk than action and she should live more in the real world. When Brooke ultimately (and inevitably) finds out that Tracy’s been taking notes and writing stories about her, she explodes because it’s not her at all. Tracy counters back with an excellent point: that Brooke hardly ever shows herself for who she truly is. (She even uses her dead mother as an excuse for not confronting reality with other people.) Even at 18, Tracy is the smartest person in the film, even if she does need a lesson in social behavior. (Don’t we all, though.)

But as good as Lola Kirke is as Tracy, it’s Greta Gerwig as Brooke that will make or break “Mistress America” for people. She didn’t break it for me. I like her a lot, so I like the movie a lot.

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, here are my brief thoughts on the “Rocky” franchise: the first “Rocky” is great, the sequel’s terrific, “Rocky III” has its moments, “Rocky IV” is too goofy for me to dislike, “Rocky V” is meh, and the sixth film, “Rocky Balboa,” is fine. But just because the sixth film was about getting older and partaking in one last act, that didn’t mean the story was over. Hence, “Creed!”

Years since Rocky Balboa (of course played by Sylvester Stallone) had his last fight in the ring, he lives a life of mostly solitude. He runs his own restaurant (Adrian’s, named after you-know-who), he visits the graves of both his wife and his friend Paulie regularly, his son has his own life now, and his health is deteriorating. His glory days are far behind him, and he knows it.

Into his life comes Adonis “Donnie” Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), who is the son of an extramarital lover of Apollo Creed. Creed, if you recall, was the former heavyweight champion before Rocky took the belt, and he was killed in the ring in “Rocky IV.” Donnie has been adopted by Apollo’s widow and dreams of becoming a pro boxer just like his father. So, he leaves Los Angeles and travels to Philadelphia to be trained by Rocky, who reluctantly agrees.

Side-note: When I first saw the film, I was glad to finally know who won the last fight between Rocky and Apollo (“behind closed doors”) at the end of “Rocky III”–by the way, I love how “Rocky IV” reminded audiences of the fight and still didn’t tell them who won! (What a gip.) Anyway, Rocky tells Donnie that Apollo won the fight, and I was happy…but then when I thought about it, I realized if Rocky won, he wouldn’t tell that to Apollo’s son. So, WE STILL DON’T KNOW! But I’m fine still wondering.

Anyway, Rocky trains Donnie, who wants to keep his identity as Apollo Creed’s offspring a secret so he can make it on his own. Rocky and Donnie develop a nice father/son relationship that grows as Rocky learns he has lymphoma and has to be reminded by Donnie why it’s important to fight in life. Meanwhile, Donnie learns to control his anger and what it means to go his own way in his ambition.

“Creed” is the “Rocky” film that gets back to what made “Rocky” and “Rocky II” so special–putting its interesting characters center-stage and showing exactly what’s at stake, thus making us care for who wins in the climactic boxing match. Speaking of which, the fight scenes are very well-executed, including a match midway through the film that is only done in ONE TAKE! The film also gives us an interesting new character in Adonis Creed to root for, and his relationship with Rocky is a special one that is both written and acted brilliantly.

“Creed” was directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, whose previous film was the excellent “Fruitvale Station” (also starring Jordan) and whose later film was one of my favorite MCU movies, “Black Panther” (which I’ll get to soon enough). He’s got a pretty good track record!

My only complaint about “Creed” is Donnie’s rival, “Pretty” Ricky (Anthony Bellew), isn’t nearly as interesting as Apollo was in the first movie. He’s just kind of a loudmouthed boring antagonist. Also, this is more of a nitpick, but while I could understand Bianca (Donnie’s girlfriend, played by Tessa Thompson) turning her back on Donnie when his anger gets to be too much, I don’t appreciate an earlier moment in which she gets cold the moment she finds out Donnie is the son of Apollo Creed. (It doesn’t become a big thing anyway, so her behavior just seemed pointless.)

The film ends really well, with Donnie and Rocky climbing those familiar 72 steps. It made me wonder, this seems like a perfect ending to the Rocky franchise–do we NEED another sequel after this?

Well, walking into “Creed II,” directed by Steven Caple Jr., I was wondering if it was necessary to see the story continue. As it turned out, it was! These characters aren’t gone yet, and especially Donnie has more room to grow, so why not give us more with them? And “Creed II” did…even if I now have to accept the cartoonish villains in “Rocky IV” as “real” characters now, thanks to their returns in this more grounded story.

“Creed” is one of the more pleasant surprises of the 2010s. And I recently reviewed “Creed II,” so you can find out more about my thoughts on it here: https://smithsverdict.com/2019/08/16/creed-ii-2018/

By Tanner Smith

“Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make.” -Emma Stone, “La La Land”

“You don’t want to be good. You want to be great.” -Tommy Wiseau, writer-producer-director of “The Room”

“No refunds.” -Sign outside the Laemmle Fairfax, June 27th, 2003, opening weekend of “The Room”

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films…seriously, “The Disaster Artist” isn’t on my top-20-of-2010s list? Ugh. Screw lists.

Greg Sestero, actor/co-producer for “The Room,” wrote and released a memoir about his experiences in making “The Room” with his offbeat filmmaking friend Tommy Wiseau. That book became “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.” And of course, fans of “The Room,” which may very well be “the greatest bad movie ever made,” flocked to pick up their copies as soon the book was published, because they just had to know… What really went on behind the scenes? What was the thought process behind many of these decisions? Can Greg answer these questions as well as Tommy, who seems too far out of his mind to give his own clear answers? Well, maybe–Greg is Tommy’s best friend; he’s the one who always sticks up for his weird behavior. Maybe he knows something we don’t.

I bought and read the book in December 2015, and when I heard there was going to be a film based on it, I was very excited. James Franco was going to play Tommy Wiseau (perfect casting) and the book was going to be adapted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who previously wrote “500 Days of Summer,” “The Spectacular Now,” and “The Fault in Our Stars.” So far, so good.

Two years later, when the film released in theaters, it didn’t disappoint. In fact, I even placed it as #2 on my best-of-2017 list. To me, it’s one of the most throughly entertaining movies of the decade.

And again, it’s not on my list?? Dammit.

This biopic is more straightforward than the book’s nonlinear, loaded storytelling, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. And I’m well aware of the things that were changed around or removed entirely (I read the book in print and listened to the audiobook, read by Greg Sestero himself). I don’t care–the film is still fun as its own thing.

Greg (played by Dave Franco) is an aspiring actor/model who just wants his time to shine…as does Tommy (James Franco), another aspiring actor from presumably another planet. Tommy invites Greg to move to LA with him so they can chase and achieve their dreams. But Tommy is too off-putting for any casting director to give a chance, and Greg is too insecure and shy. It gets to the point where Tommy decides to write his own movie for himself and Greg to co-star in. And that movie becomes…”The Room,” a Tennessee Williams-inspired drama about fear, guilt, tragedy, and misunderstanding…amidst a lot of sex and quotably weird out-of-context dialogue and the strangeness of Tommy Wiseau himself taking the lead role. And it wasn’t easy to make the film–Tommy got too demanding, continued mistreating his cast/crew, and never listened to decent advice from anyone who had something to say about his own vision. But in the end, he still made his vision come to life, which is always inspiring.

Btw, that’s only the simplification of what truly happened according to the book. If you haven’t checked it out, you should–it’s really interesting!

James Franco is 100% believable and spot-on as Tommy Wiseau. He captures his weirdness to a T, but there is also a sense of humanity to him, which makes it all the more interesting to the point where you have to ask yourself, “IS Tommy playing an act on us the whole time?” Franco was robbed of an Oscar nomination for this performance–he truly deserved one.

What’s even better about someone seeing this film without even knowing what “The Room” is or who Tommy is is just the sheer shock when they realize that this stuff actually happened in real life. They know this not just because of the prologue that features some of today’s celebrities (including J.J. Abrams, Kevin Smith, Adam Scott, Kristen Bell, among others) talking about The Room and its impact on cult culture…but because the film ends with side-by-side comparisons of actual clips from “The Room” and reenacted scenes for “The Disaster Artist!” (I showed this film to my grandma–she was also shocked that this wasn’t an act!)

Oh, and stay after the credits–there’s an interesting cameo appearance by…somebody who knows a thing or two about the true story.

The scenes in which some of “The Room’s” more popular scenes are reenacted are a ton of fun to watch. You can tell Franco and his crew have done their homework and tried to get it as close as possible. And it’s also great to see actors like Josh Hutcherson, Ari Graynor, Zac Efron, and Nathan Fielder play these roles of actors trying to make something out of Tommy’s poorly-written characters.

(Though, there is one thing missing that I think Franco could’ve had comedic possibilities with–the real Tommy overdubbed a lot of his dialogue, whereas the fictional Tommy had his recorded lines kept intact. Considering how unbelievably lazy the dubbing is, I think Franco could’ve had fun with it. But oh well.)

Another thing I love about this movie: Seth Rogen as script supervisor Sandy Schklair. He basically speaks for the audience in pointing just how ridiculous everything is on set of The Room. (“Oh we got a bottle now. Look out.”) And if you read the book, you know he basically was the unsung hero in terms of directing “The Room” because Tommy was completely inept in just about every way of directing, and it also didn’t help that Tommy would constantly do things his own way rather than listen to someone else’s directing. Rogen delivers some of his best work here.

And I barely even scratched the surface in presenting to you just how much I enjoy “The Disaster Artist” and why I embrace this film wholeheartedly. Much like “Ed Wood,” one of my favorite movies of all time (and also about a notoriously bad filmmaker), this is a film about passion and dreams and appreciating the thing you love to do despite how other people see it. The haters can hate all they want–these guys still made the film and it’s still popular today.

By Tanner Smith

Continuing my series of Looking Back at 2010s Films, let me tell you a reason why lists are pointless: because they keep changing.

Case in point: “Private Life,” the Netflix Original “dramedy” by Tamara Jenkins, would have made my top-20 list for 2018, had I seen it a couple more times before compiling the list. (I instead gave it an Honorable Mention.) It makes me wonder, am I going to stand by the titles that are already on my decade-end list? Will I change anything by the time I publish it this December?

But whatever, it’s better to recognize a film’s true merits later than never. “Private Life” is a terrific film–I always knew it was…I just had to watch it a few more times to understand how terrific it actually was.

“Private Life” is about a middle-aged married couple (Richard and Rachel, played by Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn) who are desperately trying to have a child. After several failed attempts, they start to consider of using a donor egg to inseminate Rachel which would help make it possible to conceive. Enter Sadie (Kayli Carter), their 25-year-old niece (STEP-niece; the film makes it very clear that they’re not blood-related) who comes to live with Richard and Rachel while finishing her college writing program in absentia. They decide she could be a good candidate, and Sadie agrees to it, because she loves the two and wants to help them out and also because it will give her meaning in life.

I guess the first obvious reason as to why I like this film is the same reason anyone would like a film that’s mostly about characters and their relationships–the acting and the writing are both solid. The characters are written with depth and development, and the actors bring them to life wonderfully. And of course, when they’re together, that makes it even better. Richard and Rachel genuinely care for each other, and you can tell they’ve been through this mess of a married life for many, many years–and they’re going to stick with it, because neither one can imagine being with anyone else. And I love their relationship with Sadie. Sadie obviously idolizes them (they’re writers, so you could point towards them as inspirations for her aspiring craft), and they want to return the favor…by letting her do this huge favor for them.

All three of these actors do splendid work, and also delivering great work is Molly Shannon as Sadie’s condescending, pessimistic mother who knows a thing or two about tough love.

And of course, the subject matter isn’t really one that you’d think would make for great drama (or even great comedy). But as with any topic that’s hardly touched upon, it takes clever (and realistic) writing and a genuine heart to make it special.

“Private Life” is only writer/director Tamara Jenkins’ third film in 20 years–in 1998, she had “Slums of Beverly Hills”; in 2007, “The Savages”; and in 2018, “Private Life.” (She’s also credited as a screenwriter for 2018’s “Juliet, Naked.)” I guess like Debra Granik (whose “Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace’ were eight years apart), she’s an indie filmmaker who just likes to take her time with projects.