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Reviews for September 18th, 2015



Documentary Round-Up




      Have you ever wondered what was wrong with George W. Bush when he was our president? Or why so many U.S. soldiers---roughly 8,000 in 2013--commit suicide each year? You're going to find out the answers to those questions and many more when you watch WarX2. Unlike any documentary you've seen before, the groundbreaking doc WarX2 sheds light on evil ghosts and spirits--known as jinn---that possess many people ranging from politicians to the public all around the world. Anyone can be possessed by a jinni. Director Bernie Olaf includes a wide range of interviews that makes the film quite thorough and well-researched: witch doctors, soldiers, victims of possessions and those who witnessed the possessions all provide their own perspectives. You'll not only learn about how and why jinn possess a human being, but also about how exactly to prevent the possession and to get rid of it. Avoiding sad thoughts, being honest and not killing your fellow man are a few of the ways to avoid letting a jinn possess you. While WarX2 does provide you with a lot of information, many of it probably new, bold and shocking, it also repeats key information, i.e. about how important it is to believe in God and to use Him to help ward off jinn. In turn, anyone can be able to follow and comprehend the doc's content without getting confused. Whether you believe in evil spirits or not doesn't matter; what matters is that you're not myopic and that you grasp that there are many sides to a coin other than its front and back: there are the sides, the ridges, the sides of the ridges, etc. WarX2 bravely shows you the sides of the coin that are rarely explored and that deserve to be discussed, debated and analyzed further. It may not give naysayers hard, conclusive evidence per se, but it's at least an eye-opening, provocative stepping stone for debate and critical thinking---and it might even save your life! This is the kind of documentary that you'll be talking about for weeks. The Strasson Group releases WarX2 at Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland, OH. Director Amy Berg's new doc, Prophet's Prey, about the abusive, manipulative and evil former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Warren Jeffs, who's currently incarcerated for sexual assault. He's a malignant narcissist and psychopath, and even in prison, he shows no remorse by constantly pleading the 5th Amendment. Berg does a great job of showing testimonial evidence of Jeffs' crimes by interviewing his victims, young girls whom he brainwashed, married and abused. Many of them, not surprisingly, are afraid to speak out. The victims' accounts are heartbreaking while the fact that Jeffs was enabled to continue his abuse for so many years feels enraging. Berg even interviews Jeffs' nephew, Brent, and explores how Jeffs rose to power in the church. Jeffs' father, Rulon, wasn't that much better than him and essentially passed his evils down to his son--as the saying "like father, like son." The fact that Warren Jeffs not only manipulated the girls and boys in his church, but also the police in his town is quite horrifying--his church practically owned all of the town, so his victims had no where to turn to for support. Bravo to Berg for provide Jeffs' victims with a way to bravely share their traumatic experiences. Hopefully, this powerful doc will encourage more victims to speak out. It would make for a great double feature with Berg's recent exposé about sexual abuse in the Hollywood industry, An Open Secret. Prophets Prey opens at IFC Center via Showtime before debuting on Showtime on October 10th.


Black Mass

Directed by Scott Cooper




      James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) becomes the mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang in South Boston. FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) convinces him to be an FBI informant instead of arresting him. Whitey, whose brother, Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a state senator, continues to control the Winter Hill Gang as its cold-blooded leader.

      Johnny Depp gives a bravura performance as he disappears into the role of infamous James "Whitey" Bulger. His make-up, eyes and body posture make him look quite menacing and creepy----at times, he even somewhat resembles Nosferatu. Joel Edgerton is also in top form along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Dakota Johnson who plays the FBI agent's wife. Unfortunately, the great performances are the strongest elements of the film that manage to make it captivating. Its screenplay, co-written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, feels dull and pedestrian as if it were dutyfully moving from plot point A to plot point B without enough substance or humanism for that matter. Whatever modicum of humanism and you'll find here comes from the performances, but not the screenplay. Just like in most Hollywood films nowadays, the female roles, i.e. the FBI's wife, are underwritten, thrown into the sidelines and pretty much forgotten about by the end.

      While watching Black Mass, it's inevitable to remember far better mob films ranging from The Departed to Goodfellas and, of course, The Godfather. Those had much more intelligent screenplays with a fine balance of character and plot development while being atmospheric. This film, though, fails to rise above mediocrity and never truly comes to life. Too many characters and not enough time getting to know them gives it feel over-stuffed and undercooked at the same time.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Released by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Opens nationwide.

Captive

Directed by Jerry Jameson




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Released by Paramount Pictures.
Opens nationwide.

Cooties

Directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Released by Lionsgate Premiere.
Opens at AMC Empire.

Everest

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Released by Universal Pictures.
Opens nationwide.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Directed by Wes Ball




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Released by 20th Century Fox.
Opens nationwide.

The New Girlfriend

Directed by François Ozon




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Released by Cohen Media Group.
Opens at Landmark Sunshine Cinema and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

Office

Directed by Johnnie To




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Released by China Lion.
Opens at AMC Empire 25.

Olvidados

Directed by Carlos Bolado




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 4
Released by Cinema Libre Studio.
Opens at Village East Cinema.

Sicario

Directed by Denis Villeneuve




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Released by Lionsgate Films.
Opens limited before expanding nationwide on October 2nd.

Some Kind of Hate

Directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 4
Released by RLJ Entertainment.
Opens at Village East Cinema.

Veteran

Directed by Ryoo Seung-Wan




     

Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Released by CJ Entertainment.
Opens at AMC Empire.
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