Meet the Patels [2015]

MPAA (PG)  ChiTrib/Variety (3 Stars)  RE.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing

ChiTribune/Variety (A. Barker) review
RogerEbert.com (O. Henderson) review
AVClub (T. Robinson) review


Meet the Patels [2015] (codirected and cowritten by Geeta Patel and her bother Ravi Patel, with additional writing credits given to Matthew Homachek and Billy McMillian) is a _kind-hearted_ and well-crafted comedic documentary about late-20 something American born-and-raised Ravi Patel's quite sincere attempt to please his kind (but increasing, ahem, "concerned" ;-) Indian immigrant parents and "just find a nice Indian girl" (and preferably _another_ Patel ;-) to marry. 

Wait a minute, "another Patel?"  Wouldn't that be a bit strange?  No not really.  Ravi explains that "Patel" is like "Smith", and there's an entire state in India -- Gujarat -- where pretty much _everyone's_ last name is Patel.  And further, to avoid too much consanguinity, there are "rules":  If you're a Patel whose family descends from "this or that" part of Gujarat, you look for / marry someone from another part of Gujarat ("across the river," say ...). 

THIS MAKES SURPRISING SENSE TO ME.  My dad's family (actually, more specifically, my paternal grandmother's family) originates from a small village in south-central Bohemia.  Now thanks to Hitler's Nazi-era race policies, during Nazi occupation, all Czechs (and really everyone "in the Reich" or under occupation, the Nazis preferring to call their occupation of the Czechlands a "Protectorate" ... but "I digress" ;-) had to document their ancestry back five generations.  Well, among what we discovered, (IMHO quite amusingly ;-) was that NEVER did any of my ancestors "marry from the same village."  It was always that one married someone from "across the hill" in the next village or even two-or-three villages down.   So even if one's general horizons were limited back then to perhaps a 20 mile radius from where one was born (remember, one's talking about "regular village folk" in the 1800s or even late 1700s), the gene pool remained quite mixed. 

So that's what the (arguably) _nation_ of Patels basically do in the Bohemia-sized Indian state of Gujarat ;-)

Now, of course, there are specific cultural particularities at work as well.  The Patel "family" is large enough in number to be a small nation, and yet it is definitely _more familial_ than simply a nation.  To illustrate the point, Ravi shares with viewers the story about how when he was young, his (immedtiate) family (mom, dad, sister Geeta and he) were driving on a vacation in the United States, and at the end of the day they stopped at an Indian, PATEL-run motel somewhere in (say) "Tennessee." 

Well since the Ravi's family were Patels and the motel was run by OTHER PATELS, their one night stay included being invited over the the motel-running Patels' living quarters, sharing, indeed cooking a meal together and spending the rest of the evening exchanging stories in a manner that one would share with well, "one's cousins."  FOR EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD NEVER MET EACH OTHER BEFORE (or quite possibly since) THEY WERE FAMILY FOR AT LEAST THAT ONE NIGHT.  And to the outsider it would have seemed that the very purpose of Ravi's family's travel through Tennessee was precisely to visit that other Patel family (who they had not met before the trip) at whose model they stayed.  The story describes a remarkably closeness that certainly stretches the bounds of most Westerners' conceptions of even extended family!

And so this is then the kind of _nice_ familial "magic" that American born-and-raised, but Indian indeed Patel-descended Ravi had difficulty letting-go of. 

To many Americans, the quaintness of "ways of the past" may be difficult to fathom.  But if one's born into it, experienced it, and one does appreciate some of the beauty of it, it is hard to let go of, and _certainly_ one does not want to let go of it all.

So this then is the story of Ravi, again American-born-and-raised, trying _really hard_ not to disappoint his parents, while at the same time recognizing that he's not living (for the most part) in India anymore (though the family does go to visit) or, for that matter, in more "traditional times."  How does one negotiate the current with the past, respecting and indeed _loving_ both?

Great film!


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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials [2015]

MPAA (PG-13) CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RE.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. McAleer) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (T. Robinson) review


Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials [2015]  (directed by Wes Ball screenplay by T.S. Nowlin based on the novel [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by James Dashner [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is the second cinematic installment of the dystopian teen-oriented Maze Runner [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] series, the first cinematic installment The Maze Runner [2014] having been released last year.

As one would assume, this second installment takes-up the story from where first one left-off. However, if one was hoping for clarification, despite a number of fairly significant reveals during the course of the second installment, one will still leave with many questions awaiting answer (maybe ;-) in the third.   This MAY initially seem frustrating to many viewers.  However, remember Viewers / Readers that the central metaphor in this story is A MAZE.

So even though main characters of the story Thomas, Teresa, Minho, Frypan, Winston, Newt (played by Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Dardan, Alexander Flores and Thomas Brodie-Sangster respectively) emerge at the end of the first installment from the STRANGE, LARGE / DANGEROUS, physical MAZE that they found themselves in at the story's beginning, it really _shouldn't_ surprise ANYONE that a great deal of _monumental_ uncertainty, confusion and intrigue would await them in the new "world" outside of said MAZE that they found themselves (re)entering.  AFTER ALL, it was THAT "outside world" (or at least its elders, leaders, "powers that be") THAT PUT THOSE TEENS INTO "THE MAZE" TO BEGIN WITH.

So much of the second installment is about getting a sense of the world, indeed, GETTING A SENSE OF THE STATE OF THE WORLD that would have put these teens into that strange awful Maze to begin with.  And it should not be surprising that the STATE OF THE WORLD, OUTSIDE, WAS ... PRETTY MESSED-UP: the outside world presented in this installment is pretty post-Apocalyptic, on the dystopic continuum between that of the Divergent [2014] [2015] series and that of Mad Max [1979, 1981, 1985, 2015], definitely closer to Mad Max.

What happened?  Well (trying really, really hard here to avoid Spoilers) something awful enough that would require children/teens to "play a role" in its resolution, something awful enough to presumably justify (to some) putting (some?) kids/teens into that strange awful Maze of the first installment.  Why?

Well ... watch the movie(s) or go read the books ;-)

As convoluted as the story may come to seem to many viewers by the end of this second installment, it actually would reflect quite well the confused / convoluted / desperate nature of a society that would resort to treating (some of?) its kids in the way that it did in this story.

If nothing else this remains a quite intriguing and (I think this is key) a QUITE ALLEGORICAL tale ;-).  I will certainly look forward to the next installment.


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Black Mass [2015]

MPAA (R) CNS/USCCB (L)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RE.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (0 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller-Seitz) review
AVClub (J. Hessenger) review


Black Mass [2015] (directed by Scott Cooper screenplay by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of the Unholy Alliance between the FBI and the Irish Mob [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Dick Lehr [GR] [Amzn] [IMDb] and Gerald O'Neill [GR] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is another "mob film."  From perhaps a historical point of view, it'd be an interesting one to see.

But IMHO it has a needlessly provocative title and like other "mob films" it can not but glorify the mob or otherwise organized crime.  And I just don't believe that the mob / criminality needs any more glamorizing publicity.  These films make people start to think that "organized crime," while perhaps conceding that it is Evil [TM], is also somehow "quite normal."

We don't need people -- young, middle aged, or old -- to be seduced into believing that acting like "Little Sopranos" is normal, let alone the way things should be.

Zero stars.


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The Visit [2015]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (3 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J.D. McCarthy) review
ChicagoTribune (C. Darling) review
RogerEbert.com (S. O'Malley) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review  

The Visit [2015] (written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan) feels honestly like a modern Grimm Fairy Tale [wikip] (Little Red Riding Hood [wikip] and Hansel and Gretel [wikip] definitely come to mind) with all its original creepiness that subsequent storytellers, including Disney, et al often sanitized.

As such, while there are DEFINITELY aspects of this film that I don't like -- I think it goes out of its way to present "old people" as "scary people" / "people to avoid" (hence flies in the face of everything I've tried to do in this blog (promote understanding between people rather than provide (often cheap) excuses for people to fear / hate each other) -- if one is honest, the Grimm Fairy Tales [wikip] often portrayed "grown-ups" and "recluses" as dangerous / murderous wierdos.  So ... I have to grudgingly admit that this film captured quite well the feel of some of the creepier Grimm Tales [wikip] while putting the story in a contemporary setting:

So ... as is the case in many of the Grimm Fairy Tales [wikip], 15 year old Becca (played by Olivia DeJonge) and her 13 year old brother Tyler (played by Ed Oxenbould) find themselves growing-up in a very dysfunctional situation.

Their mother (played by Kathryn Hahn) had left home at 19, having fallen in love with one of her former high school teachers, never talking to her parents again.  Initially, mom had been angry at her parents for opposing her involvement with her former high school teacher (They warned her that a guy like him was not going to stick around).  Later she was embarrassed because they proved to be right (the guy abandoned her and Becca / Tyler some years afterward when "someone 'better' / 'hotter' came along").

The result was that Becca and Tyler were growing-up without a father, and without ever knowing their grandparents (and presumably any of their other relatives).

At some point, Becca's / Tyler's grandparents made contact with them (finding their grandchildren on the internet) and Becca convinces her mother, who by then had a new boyfriend to go spend quality time with him (on a cruise) and allow her and her brother to visit the grandparents that they never knew for a week in the meantime.

With all the optimism of a 15-year old coming from a dysfunctional family full of secrets, Becca's convinced that she can "figure out what was wrong" and and "make things right" between her mother and her grandparents.  And to do so she, a budding (15 year old) "film maker," was going to "document" everything that happened on her / Tyler's trip to their grandparents.

Sigh ... when Becca / Tyler meet their grandparents who they initially wish to call endearingly Nana (played by Deanna Dunigan) and Pop Pop (played by Peter McRobbie), they turn out to be decidedly strange.  Initially, they believe that they seem that way simply because they are "old" and hence at least at some level "ill." However, as the week progresses, Nana and Pop Pop seem to get stranger and stranger, and more and more dangerous.  What's going on?

It all becomes a pretty creepy story.  I think it does play on people's fears of "old people" ... but it does follow quite remarkably well the story arc of an old time Grimm Fairy Tales [wikip].  Hence, while I _don't_ necessarily like the story, I have to accept that it's pretty clever at what it attempts to do.  So grudgingly ... good job. ;-)


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Meru [2015]

MPAA (R)  ChicagoSunTimes (3 1/2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoSunTimes (R. Roeper) review
RogerEbert.com (B. Tallerico) review
AVClub (M. D'Angelo) review  

Meru [2015] (directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi) is a spectacularly shot documentary about a team of three experienced climbers -- Conrad Anker [IMDb], Jimmy Chin [IMDb] and Renan Ozturk [IMDb] -- seeking to become the first team to climb Meru Peak (elev. 21, 810 ft / 6,660 m) in the Himalayas by way of a fabled 1200 ft / 400 m rock-wall "shark fin" at the top.  Previous climbers of the "shark fin" had either given-up completely or ended up taking a simpler path up the peak away from this enormous, legendary (and extremely high altitude) rock wall.

It's an exhilarating film that had me shaking my head repeatedly especially during the first half of the film which documented the three's first attempt to scale the "shark fin" back in 2008.  Were these people "just INSANE" ?? ;-) -- They spent THREE DAYS in a snowstorm in pup-tents nailed VERTICALLY (like BATS...) to said rock wall waiting the storm out.  Then just as their provisions were at a critical level, the storm passed ... what now?  Do they continue up or do they go down (as they would have if the storm had lasted only a day longer)?

Their second attempt in 2011 had its own challenges.  After spending the first hour of the film, explaining to viewers how important it was to for the members of a mountain climbing team to have absolute trust in each other in the months leading up to this second climb both Chin and Ozturk suffered significant injuries from other climbs / skiing expeditions, Ozturk having suffered signficant head and neck injuries from a fall.  Yet, the three decided to "go for it again" together.

The discernment / decision-making process chronicled was remarkable and portrayed very, very poignantly: Yes, all three were professionals, all three were veterans of other very, very difficult climbs (and precisely because they were sober, no-nonsense professionals they WERE STILL ALIVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM).  But professionalism aside, they were ALSO HUMAN / "HAD A HEART" and so were LOYAL (!) to each other.  In the end, the heart won out over the head, and loyalty trumped actuarial tables / cold reason.

Did they succeed?  Go see the movie ;-)

A great, great, spectacularly shot, heart thumping film, chronicling a story that also REALLY HAPPENED! ;-)

Wow, if this film does not get nominations for Best Documentary and even Best Cinematography at the Oscars this year, I'll be disappointed ;-)


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The Gift [2015]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. O'Malley) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


The Gift [2015] (written and directed by Joel Edgerton) is a psychological thriller whose catch phrase could be the saying: "You may be done with the past, but the past may not be done with you..."

A late 30s / early 40-something couple, Simon and Robyn (played by Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall), return back to Southern California (where Simon had grown up) after some 20 years.  After a miscarriage and some other stressors (some becoming clear, others not particularly so) back in Chicago where the couple had previously lived, using some past connections, Simon, an "Type-A" personality sort of a guy, landed himself a very good job with a Los Angeles based computer security firm, where his quite impressed buddy / boss Kevin 'KK' Keelor (played by Tim Griffen) was promising him rapid advancement.  Mission accomplished / (not entirely clear) problem solved.  Or ... was it?

In the first scene of the film as recently returned to L.A. Simon and Robyn are shopping for housewares, they run into Gordo (played by Joel Edgerton), Simon's age, indeed, as we find out, Simon's former high school classmate.

The encounter is decidedly one-sided.   Simon does not appear to even see Gordo much less recognize him initially.  It's Gordo, who immediately strikes one as 'a bit off' in a 'beaten down by life' sort of way who recognizes Simon and comes up to him: "Hi Simon!  Don't ... you recognize me?  Gordo, from High School.  Can't believe you don't recognize me.  What you doing back in Southern California after ALL THESE YEARS?"

Simon tries to be calmly dismissive and end the encounter quickly, but ... Robyn comes by and Simon still (pretending to be?) unsure of who exactly Gordo is, has to take Gordo for his word and introduce him to Robyn as 'someone' from his old high school.  Gordo tries to get the two's phone number which Simon tries to play-to-an-out (NOT give it to him ...).  So Gordo gives his to them.  "Hey, we gotta get together ..." "Yea, sure, yea..."  Simon is _really happy_ that eventually Gordo leaves them to do whatever they were going, yes, shopping ... and that was that ...

... 'Cept, Gordo shows up at their house a few days later.  "Hey, Simon NICE HOUSE!" WTF, how'd he find it?  Unclear. "Thanks."

Gordo's bearing _a gift_.  A bottle of wine or whatever.  "Thanks!  You shouldn't have (you really shouldn't have...)."  Robyn who kinda likes Gordo's 'puppy dog'-like behavior asks him to "come on in."  Simon's signaling NO! NO! NO! ... But it's too late ... Sooo.... 'sad eyed' Gordo's soon sitting at the kitchen table and some pleasant if quite unwanted (certainly from Simon's perspective) conversation follows.

Who is this Gordo?  Why is he there?  Why does he come by?  Each time he comes by, he comes bearing a gift.  He seems like 'a nice guy' he's clearly-'off'.  And it's ALSO absolutely clear that Simon really doesn't like him.  Why? 

Any number of scenarios come to mind as one tries to guess how the story will proceed.  To it's credit, the story spun here does keep one guessing.  Who is this Gordo?  Why is he so (if vaguely) 'messed up'?  Who is Simon?  Why does he hate the guy so much?  Who indeed is Robyn?  Why did they have to leave Chicago?  And if there were 'problems' why exactly did they 'stay together' (but also _move_ to L.A.)?

All in all, the film becomes an exploration of the phrase: "You may be done with the past, but the past may not be done with you."  It becomes clear that all three seem to be fighting demons from the past.  But what demons and why?

Altogether, it's not a badly spun tale ;-)


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A Walk in the Woods [2015]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (L)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (D)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (T. Robinson) review  

A Walk in the Woods [2015] (directed by Ken Kwapis , screenplay by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman based on the book [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Bill Bryson [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is a quite fun film for us approaching "a certain age" that feels like a cross between the similarly themed comedy Last Vegas [2013] and Robert Redford's film of a few years back, All Is Lost [2013], which was certainly more direct and more somber in tone than the current film but had the same subtext in which a character, "no longer a spring chicken," had to face the realization that he was not going to be around for ever.

And so it is here, _previously_ successful travel writer author Bill Bryson [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] (played in the film by Robert Redford) finds himself realizing he's _becoming_ a living "has been" ;-).

In the first scene of the film, he's shown plugging "a box set" of his previously successful travel books on a local Boston area morning news/talk show, where the interviewer notes: "So you're here NOT plugging anything new..."  The 'interviewer from hell' continues by reminding Bill that in his entire career (in that boxed set) he's written about traveling in Europe, Asia, etc but NEVER about traveling in the U.S.  "So you're peddling a set of OLD books about TRAVEL to PLACES that most of your readers WILL NEVER SEE" ;-).  "Yes, thank you very much (Mr. Interviewer from Hell), I'm peddling old books that will be irrelevant to most of my prospective readers."  "Any new projects on the horizon?"  "No, I've been basically retired now for a fair number of years.  Spending time with my family has been my focus for some time now."  "Okay, then (why are you here?) thank you very much Bill Bryson do please (not) come back..." ;-) or :-/

So then, is Bill's future basically just ... waiting to die?  It turns out that passing behind Bill Bryson's nice New Hampshire home is the Appalachian Trail.  And after mulling over this interview in which he was treated like a living corpse, he decides, at 60 or even 70, to try to hike it.

His age appropriate English wife, Catherine (played by Emma Thompson), who Bill met and married during above-mentioned "European days" years long past, is aghast.  She quickly prints-out a whole series of news articles for him that she found on the internet about people dying, getting severely injured, frozen, murdered and even ATTACKED BY BEARS ... on the Appalachian Trail.  And so she begs him, "at least DON'T go alone."

Okay, but who to ask?  He picks up his Rolodex and calls every friend he has, and ... ALL SAY NO ;-).  But he does get a call from a very old acquaintance, former (Iowa) hometown high school buddy of his, Stephen Katz (played by Nick Nolte), who he's _long discounted_ (and removed from his above mentioned "Rolodex of friends") who ... tells him that he heard from another acquaintance that he's looking for someone who'd go with him on this trip and ... well, he'd be willing to go.  There was of course, "the matter of the $600" (!) that he still owed Bill, "from 20 years back" (! ;-).  But if he'd be willing to let "bygones be bygones" and besides he _still_ "intends to pay him," he'd be happy go ;-).

Bill, again, not wanting to just wait-out his days for Death to arrive, and not wanting his wife to simply go crazy with worry, decides to accept Stephen's offer.  And much, much ensues ... ;-)

I do love films like this, because even though Stephen's (character) is _exactly_ like one would imagine, HE IS _exactly_ like one would imagine him ;-).  Yes, he definitely "has issues" but he's ALSO MORE than JUST "his issues."  And ultimately both he and the previously far more successful Bill Bryson, are ... "walking the same path."

An awesome, fun and well spun tale ;-)


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