The PDC Staff Picks The Most Overrated/Underrated Movies of 2015

Superlatives seem to be thrown around in this business like coke at an Hollywood party in the 80’s, best or worst movie ever is no longer a way to spotlight something special but more something that’s said for whatever’s hot that week, or whatever everyone has chosen to hate. That’s why once a year we like to look back and do some spotlighting of our own. Each one of the PDC has picked the top and the bottom of that heap, one movie that got WAY to much attention and one that got a fraction of what it deserved. Here are the picks for most overrated and underrated movies of the year!

Follow all of our end of the year coverage here! 

John Nolan

Overrated
Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm probably going to get roasted for this. As a matter of fact, it will probably be the worst roasting since I dissed Drive (I'm looking at you Rocky Hadadi). Before I get rolling on this I will say that I had Mad Max as one of my top films of the year, and rightfully so, I just don't think it was deserving of the laurels it was held on. People held this film up like it was the most innovative greatest action movie of all time and I just didn't see that. I saw a fun movie with awesome visuals and great action. Certainly one of the best action films of the year but I didn’t really get the impression that I was watching a game changing flick…no, that’s reserved for something like The Raid: Redemption.

Underrated
The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Another movie on my top of the year, The Man from UNCLE, is just one of those movies that delivers on every level. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, there’s not much Guy Ritchie can do wrong in my book and I grew up on the Connery Bond movies so to say this movie is right up my alley may be a bit of an understatement. That being said there are plenty of movies in that vein that are watchable at best. No, the real shiny jewel of this flick is the cast. Armie Hammer and Henry Cavil are absolutely perfect as mortal enemies turned partners (agents of the KGB and CIA, respectively) but it’s Alicia Viklander that really makes this chemistry pot boil over. What a break out year she’s had! Stylish, action packed, sexy, funny, and most importantly damned entertaining. I have a strong feeling this flick is going to reach the wider audiences once it hits cable but be aware now, this was NOT just some throw away late summer action flick!

Roxana Hadadi

Overrated
SPECTRE

The other day I was watching Skyfall and my boyfriend, who has never seen any of the Daniel Craig Bond movies, walked by a couple of times and after the third time remarked, "So, these Bond movies are basically just one long chase scene, right? Over and over again?" And you know, he's NOT WRONG, especially if you apply that analysis to Spectre. A movie that was rumored to cost more than $200 million, you can see how the money was spent in Spectre, but that cash flow doesn't make the movie any better. It starts out with an excellent scene - that one long take through a Mexico City Day of the Dead parade is seriously one of the top 10 of the year - but then slowly deflates as every big set piece seems more and more like the last. There's a chase through a mansion, a chase down a mountain, a chase through a compound, chases upon chases upon chases. Oh, there's a hastily developed, thoroughly unbelievable love story thrown in there too, and a retconning of the Bond story to make his narrative Psych 101, and all in all it's just a slog. Plus, that Sam Smith theme song - I can't even remember one second of it. It was as unremarkable as the rest of "Spectre."

Underrated
THE MAN FROM UNCLE

I'm not going to pretend that at this point, Guy Ritchie's career isn't build around one very specific shtick. But he uses it so well in The Man from UNCLE that it's a bummer audiences totally gave zero shits about this movie. Maybe the source material was too esoteric? Maybe it's time to acknowledge that the movie's stars, Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, really aren't A-list material, even if one of them is Superman? But damn if they don't try - Cavill is charming as all hell, bringing the exact right amount of swagger to the role of an American spy paying off his con man debts, and Hammer does right as a hulking Russian with a soft spot for Alicia Vikander's Gaby. The Man from UNCLE had exquisite production design, beautiful sets, solid fistfights, and one amazing scene where Cavill chows down on an Italian picnic lunch while Hammer tries to lose some bad guys in a boat. And yet audiences didn't care at all. Because we can't have nice things.

Mae Abdulbaki

Overrated 
Jurassic World 

Yeah, yeah, everyone liked this movie well enough and it made a shit ton of money at the box
office. Unfortunately, it did jack squat for me. Chris Pratt is great and all, really he is, but his role as a dinosaur trainer? Meh. Bryce Dallas Howard trying to be all kickass? Meh. And I'm usually all about that. The movie was just too systematic for my taste and even the two leads barely had a lick of chemistry to make the movie very enjoyable. Also, have the staff learned nothing from their predecessors? How many bad things have to happen to people for them to take a hint? Sigh. I'm a big fan of the original Jurassic Park, but this movie was just alright. That's it.

Underrated
Love & Mercy

With all the films that came out this year, Love & Mercy was one of those films that gained some critical acclaim but kind of flew under the radar for the most part. And it deserved far more
attention than it received. Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack, Paul Giamatti, and most especially Paul Dano give superb performances and the filmmakers really allow us to delve into the head of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys fame. Yeah, I know that some may not have like the Beach Boys' music and many of this generation don't even know who the Beach Boys are, but the film carries a respect to all aspects of the material that's being presented and it should be seen by more audiences, regardless of their age group.

John Amstrong

Overrated
THE DANISH GIRL

I know, I know, everybody loves Tom Hooper and Eddie Redmayne.  And yes, The Danish Girl is beautifully shot and Eddie looks striking both as Einar and as Lili.  But I just can't get past the way the movie mangles Lili Elbe's actual life story.  She and Gerda spent twenty years in Paris, and she didn't cower away in her apartment the whole time.  She lived out as a woman, and the two of them presented as a lesbian couple in public.  I know that for most mainstream audiences -- even the somewhat more progressive prestige season crowd -- transgender is all about surgical transition.  That's why everything in the movie is pointed towards Lili's eventual surgeries, not to mention why her story is the first big Oscar-bait one we're getting about a trans person.  It's a story being told by and for cis -- i.e. non-trans -- audiences so they can pat themselves on the back about how open-minded they are.  Yes, every minority group has had to go through these patronizing movies before they started working on getting real respect, and this one does show progress is being made, but that doesn't make it actually good.

Underrated
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

No, there isn't much in We Are Your Friends that you haven't seen before.  A young upstart from the wrong side of the tracks wants his shot to prove himself and his art.  At the same time he has to balance his growth with his affection for the friends he knew before he got big; does getting out mean leaving them behind?  But for all the familiar ground it dances across, there's something charming here.  Zac Efron and Wes Bentley give a nicely complicated, if familiar, mentor-protégé relationship, and Emily Ratajkowski gets at least a little more to do here than look pretty.  And even though the basic story has been done before, writer/director Max Joseph does try to be thoughtful about it.  But what really grabbed me is the solid EDM soundtrack, the imaginative MTV styling, and the backbeat that pulls us through it all.  It's a ride so fun I didn't care that I'd seen it all before.

Travis Hopson

Overrated
Dope

Oh chill the f**k out already about Dope, will you? I've been hearing about it since I saw it at Sundance when everyone and their mama was proclaiming it a new summertime classic, and I was one of the few who said, "Eh, it's alright." Then it actually came out and the overblown talk began anew. Look, it's a funny movie...for about 30 minutes. And Lord knows I love the old school hip-hop aspects and the comedic riff on the urban dramas that dominated the '90s, but then it gets into a dull subplot about drugs and bitcoin and zzzzzzzzzz. By the time it gets back around to actually being about Malcolm (Shameik Moore, who is really good) and his plans for the future, the message has been lost never to be seen again.

Underrated 
Truth

James Vanderbilt's look at the infamous Rather-Gate scandal came out at an unfortunate time as it was quickly followed by a superior film on journalism, Spotlight. But that shouldn't totally discount Truth, which features incredible performances by Cate Blanchett as 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes and Robert Redford in a "please forget A Walk in the Woods" performance as the legendary Dan Rather. While the film certainly serves as a mouthpiece for Vanderbilt and is kind of wish-washy on details as a result, it also raises a very important issue about our news today in which facts no longer matter. Being loud does. Question how a fact was obtained and the whole thing goes away. It's better to focus on the typeface of a typewriter than the crime being committed. That's not an excuse for some sloppy investigative journalism by the 60 Minutes team, their failings are clear, but Truth represents a time when news was considered a public good, not a money-making machine or ideological mouthpiece.

Read More

*UPDATE* Box Office: 'Terminator Genisys', 'Magic Mike XXL' Off to Slow Starts

*UPDATE* Turns out Pixar's Inside Out narrowly beat Jurassic World last weekend, taking #1 for the first time since it opened. The updated numbers are below:

1. Inside Out- $29.7/$245.8M
2. Jurassic World- $29.2M/$556.5M
3. Terminator Genisys (review here)- $28.7M/$44.1M
Well, he said he'd be back, but Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't bring Terminator Genisys up to the franchise's box office standards. The fifth film in the sci-fi series James Cameron built opened to $44.1M over the five-day holiday weekend, and $28.7M from Friday-thru-Sunday. Given the terrible reviews and mediocre box office, it unfortunately lands in the same territory as 2009's Terminaor Salvation, a failed reboot remembered only for Christian Bale's on-set tantrums.'Genisys' has had problems basically from the start, though, especially in the marketing department. Fans were upset that a major plot point was spoiled so casually, while others have balked at the storyline which twists the classic narrative. Even more were against the casting of just about everybody except for Schwarzenegger. On the bright side, foreign markets tend to be really kind to Terminator movies, and this one's no different with $85.5M earned overseas so far. But on the other hand, this is the July 4th weekend which tends to be huge for blockbuster debuts, and that didn't happen here. So what happens now? The plan was for this to be the kickoff to a new trilogy and accompanying TV series, but obviously those plans have to be in doubt.
4. Magic Mike XXL (review here)- $11.6M/$26.6M
The first Magic Mike film was essentially a low-budget indie, directed by Steven Soderbergh and costing only $7M, but it had a cast of superstars that led it to a blockbuster performance. The film ended with $167M, powered by the muscled frames of Matthew McConaughy, Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello and more. The sequel, Magic Mike XXL, isn't going to come close to those numbers, but it doesn't really need to. It scored $27M since the Wednesday opening, but it only cost $14M so who cares? There are a couple of obvious reasons for the downturn. First of all, both Jurassic World and Inside Out maintained their dominance this week, and the arrival of Terminator Genisys didn't help. Second: the first film played almost exclusively to women, which explains why they made up 96% of the sequel's audience. The sad thing is, Magic Mike XXL is more of a guys' flick with road trips and silly shenanigans and hot women. Considering how inexpensive these movies are it wouldn't be a surprise to get Magic Mike 3: Strippers Take Manhattan or something along those lines.
5. Ted 2- $11M/$58.3M
6. Max- $6.6M/$25.3M
7. Spy- $5.5M/$97.8M
8. San Andreas- $3M/$147.3M
9. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl- $1.3M/$4M
10. Dope- $1M/$14.1M

Read More

Box Office: 'Jurassic World' Remains on Top; 'Ted 2' Bears with $33M Debut

1. Jurassic World- 54.2M/$500M
In its third week Jurassic World continues to trample the competition with an amazing $54M and hitting the $500M in blazing fashion. At this number it has now surpassed Avengers: Age of Ultron to be the top domestic film of 2015, and is now 8th worldwide all-time with $1.238B. Wow.
2. Inside Out- $52.1M/$184.9M
While Pixar's Inside Out may never hit #1 in the weekly box office race, its overall numbers are the best the studio has had since Toy Story 3.  The imaginative journey through a young girl's mind earned $52M and slipped only 42%, so it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
3. Ted 2 (review here)- $33M
Maybe it's a matter of outsized competition like Jurassic World and Inside Out, but Seth MacFarlane's Ted 2 opened with a relatively modest $33M, well off the $54M pace set by the original. The first film broke $500M and was the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy ever, which was a mountain nobody expected this one to climb. Perhaps audiences were just plain over it; the novelty of a crude, pot-smoking bear is fun for awhile but hardly the stuff of franchises. Whatever the case, the film isn't performing as strong as some would have thought, but at a cost of only $68M it certainly won't be a flop, and it could still prove to be huge overseas just as the prior one was.
4. Max- $12.2M
The family-friendly canine drama Max sunk its teeth into a solid $12.2M debut, not bad for a film surrounded by blockbusters. Perhaps its still capitalizing on the good will inspired by American Sniper, as there are similar thematic parallels dealing with PTSD, only in this case it has to do with a military dog whose handler is killed in Afghanistan. All of this is decent news for a $20M production with no big name stars. Then again it did have one cool-looking soldier dog gracing the posters so that might have helped.
5. Spy- $7.8M/$88.3M
6. San Andreas- $5.2M/$141.8M
7. Dope- $2.8M/$11.7M
The interesting thing about Dope is that everybody loves it; the reviews out of Sundance were phenomenal, and the marketing has been all over the place. You can't turn on a TV without an ad for Dope turning up, pushing the urban summer comedy. And yet its numbers are only average, possibly due to all of the money being sucked up by bigger films. Perhaps a later release, closer to the tail end of summer, would have helped.
8. Mad Max: Fury Road- $1.7M/$147M
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $1.6M/$452M
10. Pitch Perfect 2- $1.3M/$180.9M

Read More

Box Office: 'Jurassic World' Tops the Food Chain while Pixar's 'Inside Out' Scores with #91M

1. Jurassic World- $102M/$398.2M
After only 10 days Jurassic World is chomping at the edges of a whopping $400M domestically, and is on track to be the fastest film in history to cross that threshold. It slid only 51% in week number two which is tremendous when one thinks of the stiff competition it got from Pixar's Inside Out. Speaking of which...
2. Inside Out (review here)- $91M
First, the bad news: Inside Out is the first Pixar film not to debut at the top of the box office. Now, the good news: Nobody at Disney or Pixar care because the film opened with $91M, the highest number for a #2 film ever, plus another $41M overseas. At a time when many continue to decry the lack of original features from Pixar lately, Inside Out just scored their biggest non-franchise opening weekend, and the second-biggest overall just behind Toy Story 3. So that's not too shabby, and in this case it seems the high concept nature of the film (it takes place inside of a little girl's mind) is what attracted audiences the most. Nice to see people reward such a brilliantly creative film.
3. Spy- $10.5M/$74.3M
4. San Andreas- $8.2M/$132.2M
5. Dope (review here)- $6M
The last couple of weeks have seen arguably the two most buzzed-about movies from Sundance hit theaters, albeit with different rollouts. Last week it was the smaller platform release of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and this week it's the hip-hop comedy, Dope, a film many are calling a coming-of-age classic. Directed by Rick Famuyiwa and featuring only Zoe Kravitz and A$AP Rocky as bankable names, the film has been all the rage for months and opened with a decent $6M. This is the very definition of summer movie and Open Road may have been better off waiting a few more weeks to get away from the Jurassic World juggernaut. But it speaks to their confidence they released it now, and with incredibly strong reviews (it's at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes) it could be one of the summer's most successful comedies.
6. Insidious Chapter 3- $4.1M/$45.3M
7. Pitch Perfect 2- $3.2M/$177.4M
8. Mad Max: Fury Road- $2.8M/$143.6M
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $2.7M/$449.3M
10. Tomorrowland- $2M/$87.6M

Read More

Review: 'Dope' Starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, A$AP Rocky, and Zoe Kravitz

NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Sundance Film Festival. Dope opens on June 19th. 

Having grown up in the '90s and been deep into the hip-hop culture, I have a pretty good sense for those who have a genuine feel for the era. It was a time when hip-hop was at its creative peak from a musical and fashion sense, but also in the way rappers expressed themselves as individuals. Being "real" is at the core of Rick Famuyiwa's kinetic comedy Dope, a fast-paced throwback that is a little like a mix of House Party and Boyz n the Hood. At the time of this review Dope is the big winner of the Sundance Film Festival, sparking a bidding war that ultimately scored a whopping $7M. Normally the financials are the last thing one should be concerned with, but in the case of Dope it's an indication of the film's wide crossover appeal that may surpass last year's breakout comedy, Dear White People.

But is Dope worth all of the attention it's getting? Absolutely, but to say it isn't a little overhyped would be lying. The film's greatest hook is in the opening 30 minutes as we're introduced to geeky best friends Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori), and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Although the film is set in contemporary Inglewood, CA in the tough part of town known as "The Bottoms", Malcolm and his crew are old school. He rocks a high-top fade, wears Cross Colours, and indulges in other "white things" like Donald Glover and manga comics. They even speak in the slang of the time which everybody thinks is pretty wack.  Growing up in the 'hood is tough enough with the ever-present threat of street violence, but Malcolm and his crew are obvious targets for bullies.

The charm comes in the nostalgic hip-hop packaging with beats by Naughty by Nature, Nas, along with original tracks by Pharrell. And at least through the opening minutes as Malcolm and his crew establish themselves as 'hood outsiders, the film is incredibly entertaining and hilarious. Malcolm is a smart kid with dreams of graduating high school and going to Harvard, but kids from "The Bottoms" rarely get that far. Famuyiwa has plenty to say about the tough circumstances for those growing up in a neighborhood where there is little hope for success, and those who strive to better themselves are looked at as weak. If Malcolm is going to go to Harvard, it's going to take a move of legendary proportions to do it. Fortunately that opportunity arrives after a chance encounter with Dom (A$AP Rocky), a local hood who needs Malcolm's help hooking up with Nakia (Zoe Kravitz), who is hoping to earn her GED and escape to a better life.

Things start to get serious when Malcolm gets involved in a drug deal involving Dom and some rival gangsters who bust up in a nightclub ready to kill. For a good stretch of the film it becomes, essentially, a crime movie as Malcolm is stuck with a huge stash of drugs and no good options for getting rid of them.  The film is all about making the best of a bad situation, and Famuyiwa cleverly weaves in all of Malcolm's various subplots into one. Showing that he's got a handle on modern technology, Famuyiwa's screenplay includes references to the underground currency Bitcoin, Snapchat, and more. One of the funniest sequences involves a viral campaign, a drug nicknamed #Lily for a slutty chick Malcolm encounters, and a hilarious use of the word "poundcake".  The film remains entertaining throughout but the lengthy drug selling plot takes away from what worked best which is Malcolm and his friends just hanging out. That they never really try to conform is also one of the story's finest qualities, and the film works best when it doesn't try to fit into any specific genre, either. That makes a closing speech by Malcolm, done in the badly-overused "college application" trope, all the less effective. While what he says about race factoring into his future prospects is powerful, it's a little too serious and on-the-nose to fit with the tone of the rest of the film. That he then immediately takes a symbolic action that contradicts his non-conformist personality also doesn't make sense given the message Famuyiwa had spent the entire film sending.

When Dope refuses to fall into any direct labels it's one of the smartest and funniest urban comedies we've seen in a long time. Even when it's less than perfect, Dope is pretty fresh.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read More

'Dope' gets Uncensored with Yet Another Red Band Trailer

With many already calling Rick Famuyiwa's Dope a modern day classic, it's no wonder Open Road is giving it such a massive push. Does it really need five separate trailers, though? Including today's new red band trailer, making it the second so far? Probably not if they want to keep the hip-hop-infused comedy's best jokes under wraps.

Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is so in love with '90s rap culture he still sports a high-top fade. Along with his two equally vintage friends, Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori), they try to survive the tough L.A. neighborhood known as "The Bottoms", but end up getting in the middle of a dangerous drug deal. If it all goes south, it could ruin Malcolm's hopes of getting into a good college.

Also starring A$AP Rocky, Zoe Kravitz, and Blake Anderson (who introduces the trailer), Dope hits theaters on June 19th. You can check out my Sundance review of it here.

Read More

'Dope' Drops a New Red Band Trailer and Clip

Is there ever such a thing as too much press when it comes to a smaller indie film like Dope? The film's director Rick Famuyiwa probably doesn't think so, and Open Road Films definitely don't agree which is why they've dropped numerous trailers for the film already. That trend unfortunately continues today with a rather unnecessary red band trailer, plus the first official clip.

Introduced by rapper/actor A$AP Rocky, the footage offers another look at the fast-paced comedy which stars Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, and Kiersey Clemons as a trio of hip-hop obsessed geeks who get wrapped up in a drug deal gone bad.  The film was the talk of the Sundance Film Festival and did pretty well recently at Cannes, and some expect it to be a hit come this summer. While I wasn't as high on it as others, there's little doubt in my mind it's the perfect movie for escaping the heat with a few friends.

Also starring Zoe Kravitz and Keith Stanfield, Dope hits theaters on June 19th.

Read More

New Trailer for Breakout Sundance Film 'Dope'

The Sundance and Cannes audiences aren't the same, so while one film may have been a hit in Park City it may not fare as well on the Croisette. Will that turn out to be the case for Rick Famuyiwa's smash comedy, Dope, which has everybody and their grandmother excited to see it this summer? We'll find out when the film plays at Cannes later this month, but here's a new trailer courtesy of BET.

Shameik Moore, The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoe Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, and more star in the film about a trio of '90s-obsessed California teens who get involved in a dangerous drug scheme. It's a film that has a ton of energy, a cast of characters that are fun to hang out with, but in my opinion doesn't necessarily make the best use of them. Some have taken my criticisms to mean I don't like the film but they would be wrong.

Dope hits theaters on June 19th.

Read More

New Trailer for Sundance Hit 'Dope' Rides the Slippery Slope

This is going to be banner year at the movies for fans of old school hip-hop. Not only is the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton ready to stomp into theaters, but for something a bit lighter and, if you can believe, it, crazier, there's also the Sundance smash, Dope, which is hitting the streets with a brand new trailer.

Directed by Rick Famuyiwa and starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoe Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, and Blake Anderson, the wildly energetic, '90s rap-infused story follows three geeky friends in Los Angeles as they deal with drugs, gangs, girls. It doesn't that they're cultural outsiders in just about every way. 

It's a fun film that I enjoyed but didn't love like many others did, but will probably be a big hit when it arrives this summer on June 19th.

Read More

New Trailer for Sundance Hit 'Dope' starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Zoe Kravitz, and More

No film emerged out of the Sundance Film Festival with more hype than Rick Famuyiwa's energetic urban comedy, Dope. The film flashes us back to the colorful street style of '90s hip-hop but it's set very much in the present, and that approach really clicked with those who saw it in Park City, earning the film a Grand Jury nomination and an award victory for editing. But like so many festival darlings, the question remains whether Dope is really all it's cracked up to be. Well, now a new trailer has arrived so you can judge for yourself.

Featuring a breakout performance by Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori, A$AP Rocky, and Zoe Kravitz, Dope centers on a trio of friends obsessed with old school hip-hop. They live in the crime-infested L.A. 'hood known as The Bottoms, and get wrapped up in a drug deal gone bad. But it's all fun and never truly dangerous, with my review from Sundance comparing the tone to that of House Party, a personal favorite.

However, I've taken some flack from those who have a higher opinion of Dope than I do. It's similar to the blowback I took last year when pointing out the problems with Dear White People. Dope is a good film, often hilarious, with energy to spare. But it also gets bogged down in plot points that simply don't work (do you care about Bitcoin? I don't.) and distract from what does.

Dope opens in theaters on June 19th and this is one you're gonna want to check out.

Read More

Our Favorite Films from the 2015 Sundance Film Festival

For me, the year hasn't really begun until the Sundance Film Festival has come and gone. Heck, one of the primary reasons I try to go every year is to escape the crappy movies January has to offer (lookin' at you, Mortdecai) and look forward to what's going to be hot months down the line. This year I was fortunate to have fellow PDCer and my right hand gal +Mae Abdulbaki trudging through the snow with me, and her help in covering the festival was invaluable, especially when it started to become a drag.

I personally saw 30 movies, wrote 18 reviews, and came back with a nasty case of the Sundance Flu, but it was all worth it. There were some great movies this year, and while I would hesitate to say it comes close to last year, a few favorites emerged that should make a lot of noise throughout 2015. So here are my five favorite movies from the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, followed by Mae's picks for the best of the fest!

Favorite Films

5. 99 Homes

By now you probably know I'm a huge fan of Ramin Bahrani and his brand of socially conscious filmmaking. While I can admit that many of his films have the exact same structure an thus the same problems, 99 Homes is perhaps the most thrilling and gut-wrenching moral drama he's directed yet. Andrew Garfield stars as a working class father who loses his family home as part of the shady dealings during the housing crisis. Michael Shannon gives another intense performance as the real estate broker who screwed him but also offers him a chance to buy it back by doing to others what was done to him. I've always felt that playing Spider-Man was a waste of Garfield's talents, and seeing the depths of emotion he brings to this role only makes me more certain of it.

4. Slow West (review here) 

I love a good Western. I love a good Western comedy. But after A Million Ways to Die in the West I can't be faulted for being a little gunshy. Not that Slow West fits neatly into that genre, anyway; it's more of a fairy tale-style deconstruction with bursts of violence and some incredibly dark sight gags. Doing his best "Man with No Name" impression, Michael Fassdbender plays a charismatic former outlaw shepherding a lovelorn boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) across the dangerous countryside to find his missing girl.

3. Z for Zachariah (review here)

Easily the most high-profile film at the festival was Craig Zobel's Z for Zachariah, just based solely on the cast: Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine. But not everybody was feeling his post-apocalyptic human drama, which deals with issues of loneliness, faith, and compassion. No, you won't find any zombies or explosions or anything even remotely sci-fi, but the acting is so tight and the emotions so real that it doesn't matter. Not for everybody, but it struck a chord with me.

2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (review here )

Unlike Dope, which is a slightly overrated film everybody was buzzing about, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is worthy of every bit of praise heaped on it. Quite frankly, it's a movie that shouldn't work at all. It should be too cute and precious, combining elements of The Fault in Our Stars and The Spectacular Now with charming little cinematic homages. I went in expecting to be underwhelmed but was floored by the balance of humor and sadness, and how much I fell in love with its cast of colorful characters. Chances are this will be the film you'll hear the most about through 2015, and if positioned correctly it could be a big hit. I'm expecting that it will be.

1. Brooklyn (review here)

Yeah, this one took me completely by surprise. I haven't been overly impressed with John Crowley as a director, and the plot of Brooklyn sounded like any number of films about the immigrant experience. Part of why it works so well is the familiarity; rarely have we seen this story told with such sensitivity, and what it has to say about leaving home and finding one's own way are significant. If given a late season slot as some expect, we could easily be talking about Saoirse Ronan as a Best Actress contender, and frankly I'd be disappointed if that's not the case.

Mae's Top 5 Picks (in no particular order!)

99 Homes - (read review here) There aren't many films that can hit home about recent topics like this film can. Director Ramin Bahrani really cuts to the chase in his tale about an evicted construction worker (Andrew Garfield) who winds up working for a shady realtor (Michael Shannon) during the recession that hit many homeowners like a punch in the gut. The story takes a very touchy subject and turns it into a thrilling drama that's morally ambiguous, passionately portrayed by the lead actors and well told. A gripping film that hits close to home and is sometimes hard to watch.

Unexpected - (read review here) Cobie Smulders may be known for her turn as Robin in How I Met Your Mother, but she definitely proves here that she can play in a new sandbox in her turn as a teacher whose life is changed when she discovers she's pregnant and subsequently finds out that one of her best students is as well (Gail Bean). The film flows naturally, is surprisingly sensitive about a topic that's been done before, and treats its story and its characters with heightened fragility and unwavering strength. It highlights women's decisions about motherhood, work, and doubts during a time when many think these choices come easy. 

Dope - (read review here) Definitely one of the most must-see films of the festival, Dope is made of love. No, really! If you loved the '90s, then this may be the film for you. The film follows the lives of Malcolm (Shameik Moore) and his friends (Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons) as '90s hip-hop obsessed geeks (right down to their clothing and hairdos) who are trying to get out of their bad neighborhood and into college, but wind up trying to get themselves out of trouble when they find that Malcolm's backup has been filled with cocaine. The film is clever, full of laughs, has a great script, and is also able to get more serious at the end. Shameik Moore really stands out as Malcolm and everything in the story eventually ties itself together in the end.

Z for Zachariah - (read review here) A post-apocalyptic film that doesn't include an autocracy, mazes, games, or zombies, yet Z for Zachariah is just as edgy regardless, but for completely different reasons. The film follows three individuals (Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine) who are among the last of the human race. There are a lot of intriguing themes in the film that make it a thought provoking watch. The struggle to cope with survival as their primal instincts take over, director Craig Zobel is able to create three-dimensional characters and make them all a bit morally ambiguous in the process as they cope with their situation and new dynamic among various . A film that may not be fore

Brooklyn - (read review here) I went into this film completely unaware that it would take me so utterly by surprise. It's the kind of film you read the summary of and think "ok, at least it doesn't sound awful," but in reality, Brooklyn is so much more than anything you can imagine and is a truthfully poignant tale about the immigrant story, which is often told in extreme sadness and violence. Saoirse Ronan is fantastic in her role as Eilis, who is torn between her home country of Ireland and America in a moving and fantastically executed film by John Crowley. The film is heart-wrenching, sprinkled with humor, and treats Eilis's circumstances respectfully and with the attention and emotional maturity that most films can't muster with this kind of story. A masterfully well done and beautiful film.

Read More

Sundance 2015: 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' Wins Top Drama Awards

Time to put a bow on the the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Saturday night the Grand Jury and Audience awards were given out, and it should come as no surprise to anyone who was there that the most buzzed about film Me and Early and the Dying Girl (review here) took both awards in the Drama category. So what does that mean? Is it this year's Whiplash, which did the same thing in 2014? That remains to be seen but that Fox Searchlight was willing to spend a sizable amount to acquire it should tell you something. Winning the World Cinema Grand Jury prize for Drama was the Michael Fassbender led Western, Slow West (review here), while the World Cinema Audience Award for Drama went to the immigrant fairy tale, Umrika (review here), starring Suraj Sharma and Tony Revolori. Best Director in the Dramatic category went to Robert Eggers for the much talked-about period horror, The Witch (review here).

You can check out all of our Sundance 2015 coverage right here. Check out the full list of winners below.

U.S. DRAMATIC
Grand Jury Prize
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
Audience Award
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Directing Award
The Witch, Robert Eggers (U.S., Canada)
New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
The Stanford Prison Experiment, Tim Talbott
Based on the actual events that took place in 1971, when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Cinematography
Diary of a Teenage Girl, Brandon Trost
Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
Special Jury Award – Excellence in Editing
Dope, Lee Haugen
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
Special Jury Award – Collaborative Vision
Advantageous, Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang
In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY
Grand Jury Prize
The Wolfpack, Crystal Moselle
Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and re-create meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
Audience Award
Meru, Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi
Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Directing Award
Cartel Land, Matthew Heineman (U.S., Mexico)
In this classic western set in the twenty-first century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
Special Jury Award – Social Impact
3 1/2 Minutes, Marc Silver
On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ Minutes explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
Special Jury Award – Verite Filmmaking
Western, Bill Ross, Turner Ross
For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
Special Jury Award – Break Out First Feature
(T)error, Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe
With unprecedented access to a covert counterterrorism sting, (T)error develops in real time, documenting the action as it unfolds on the ground. Viewers get an unfettered glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics and the murky justifications behind them through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant.
Special Jury Award – Cinematography
Cartel Land, Matthew Heineman, Matt Porwoll

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC
Grand Jury Prize
Slow West, John Maclean (UK, New Zealand)
Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Rory McCann.
Audience Award – World Cinema Dramatic
Umrika, Prashant Nair (India)
When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar.
Directing Award
The Summer of Sangaile, Alanté Kavaïté (Lithuania, France, The Netherlands)
Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, near her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and, in the process, finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė.
Special Jury Award – Cinematography
Partisan, Germain McMicking (Australia) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori’s idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara.
Special Jury Award – Acting
Glassland, Jack Reynor (Ireland)
In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley.
Special Jury Award – Acting
The Second Mother, Regina Casé, Camila Márdila (Brazil)
Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother’s slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli.

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY
Grand Jury Prize
The Russian Woodpecker, Chad Gracia, UK
A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war.
Audience Award – World Cinema Documentary
Dark Horse, Louise Osmond (UK)
The inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman’s club who decide to take on the elite “sport of kings” and breed themselves a racehorse.
Directing Award
Dreamcatcher, Kim Longinotto (UK)
Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none.
Special Jury Award – Editing
How To Change The World, Jim Scott (UK, Canada)
In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement.
Special Jury Award – Impact
Pervert Park, Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors (Sweden, Denmark)
Follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed.
Special Jury Award – Unparalleled Access
The Chinese Mayor, Hao Zhou (China)
Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city.
Audience Award – NEXT
James White, Josh Mond
A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call.
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize(announced Thursday)
The Stanford Prison Experiment, Kyle Patrick Alvarez (U.S.)

SHORT FILM PRIZES
(announced Thursday)
Short Film Grand Jury Prize
World of Tomorrow, Don Hertzfeldt (U.S.)
A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction
SMILF, Frankie Shaw (U.S.)
A young single mother struggles to balance her old life of freedom with her new one as mom. It all comes to a head during one particular nap-time when Bridgette invites an old friend over for a visit.
Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction
Oh Lucy!, Atsuko Hirayanagi (Japan, Singapore, U.S.)
Setsuko, a 55-year-old single so-called office lady in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and a new identity, Lucy, by her young unconventional English-language teacher. “Lucy” awakens desires in Setsuko she never knew existed.
Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction
The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul, Kitty Green (Australia)
Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from across a divided, war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul, whose tears of joy once united their troubled country.
Short Film Jury Award: Animation
Storm hits jacket, Paul Cabon (France)
A storm reaches the shores of Brittany. Nature goes crazy, two young scientists get caught up in the chaos. Espionage, romantic tension, and mysterious events clash with enthusiasm and randomness.
Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting
Back Alley, Cécile Ducrocq (France)
Suzanne, a prostitute for 15 years, has her turf, her regular johns, and her freedom. One day, however, young African prostitutes settle nearby, and she is threatened.
Short Film Special Jury Award for Visual Poetry
Object, Paulina Skibińska (Poland)
A creative image of an underwater search in the dimensions of two worlds — ice desert and under water — told from the point of view of the rescue team, of the diver, and of the ordinary people waiting on the shore.

Read More

Sundance Review: 'Dope' starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, and Zoe Kravitz

Having grown up in the '90s and been deep into the hip-hop culture, I have a pretty good sense for those who have a genuine feel for the era. It was a time when hip-hop was at its creative peak from a musical and fashion sense, but also in the way rappers expressed themselves as individuals. Being "real" is at the core of Rick Famuyiwa's kinetic comedy Dope, a fast-paced throwback that is a little like a mix of House Party and Boyz n the Hood. At the time of this review Dope is the big winner of the Sundance Film Festival, sparking a bidding war that ultimately scored a whopping $7M. Normally the financials are the last thing one should be concerned with, but in the case of Dope it's an indication of the film's wide crossover appeal that may surpass last year's breakout comedy, Dear White People.

But is Dope worth all of the attention it's getting? Absolutely, but to say it isn't a little overhyped would be lying. The film's greatest hook is in the opening 30 minutes as we're introduced to geeky best friends Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (The Grand Budapest Hotel's Tony Revolori), and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Although the film is set in contemporary Inglewood, CA in the tough part of town known as "The Bottoms", Malcolm and his crew are old school. He rocks a high-top fade, wears Cross Colours, and indulges in other "white things" like Donald Glover and manga comics. They even speak in the slang of the time which everybody thinks is pretty wack.  Growing up in the 'hood is tough enough with the ever-present threat of street violence, but Malcolm and his crew are obvious targets for bullies.

The charm comes in the nostalgic hip-hop packaging with beats by Naughty by Nature, Nas, along with original tracks by Pharrell. And at least through the opening minutes as Malcolm and his crew establish themselves as 'hood outsiders, the film is incredibly entertaining and hilarious. Malcolm is a smart kid with dreams of graduating high school and going to Harvard, but kids from "The Bottoms" rarely get that far. Famuyiwa has plenty to say about the tough circumstances for those growing up in a neighborhood where there is little hope for success, and those who strive to better themselves are looked at as weak. If Malcolm is going to go to Harvard, it's going to take a move of legendary proportions to do it. Fortunately that opportunity arrives after a chance encounter with Dom (A$AP Rocky), a local hood who needs Malcolm's help hooking up with Nakia (Zoe Kravitz), who is hoping to earn her GED and escape to a better life.

Things start to get serious when Malcolm gets involved in a drug deal involving Dom and some rival gangsters who bust up in a nightclub ready to kill. For a good stretch of the film it becomes, essentially, a crime movie as Malcolm is stuck with a huge stash of drugs and no good options for getting rid of them.  The film is all about making the best of a bad situation, and Famuyiwa cleverly weaves in all of Malcolm's various subplots into one. Showing that he's got a handle on modern technology, Famuyiwa's screenplay includes references to the underground currency Bitcoin, Snapchat, and more. One of the funniest sequences involves a viral campaign, a drug nicknamed #Lily for a slutty chick Malcolm encounters, and a hilarious use of the word "poundcake".  The film remains entertaining throughout but the lengthy drug selling plot takes away from what worked best which is Malcolm and his friends just hanging out. That they never really try to conform is also one of the story's finest qualities, and the film works best when it doesn't try to fit into any specific genre, either. That makes a closing speech by Malcolm, done in the badly-overused "college application" trope, all the less effective. While what he says about race factoring into his future prospects is powerful, it's a little too serious and on-the-nose to fit with the tone of the rest of the film. That he then immediately takes a symbolic action that contradicts his non-conformist personality also doesn't make sense given the message Famuyiwa had spent the entire film sending.

When Dope refuses to fall into any direct labels it's one of the smartest and funniest urban comedies we've seen in a long time. Even when it's less than perfect, Dope is pretty fresh.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read More

The '90s are Back in Trailer for 'Dope' Starring Tony Revolori, Zoe Kravitz, and Shameik Moore

Remember the '90s and all the movies about crime, drugs, and growing up in the "hood"? The days of Boyz 'N the Hood and Menace II Society may have long passed, but Rick Famuyiwa is looking to make it new again with Dope, his new new film which is debuting at Sundance later this week and already is gaining a ton of buzz.

Looking like a cross between Famuyiwa's directorial debut, The Wood, and the classic Ice Cube comedy Friday, Dope centers on Malcolm, a high school geek with a high-top fade, Cross Colours, and an appreciation for anything old school. But it also makes him stand out from the pack, and that's not always a good thing when you're living in The Bottoms, one of the toughest areas in Inglewood, CA. The film stars Shameik Moore, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Revolori, A$AP Rocky, Blake Anderson, Keith Stanfield, and Kiersey Clemons.

People are asking me about this film the same way they did Dear White People last year, but can Dope be a breakout hit in the same way? Stay on the look out for my review of Dope! [EW]

Read More