Creed (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Movie Creed

1. The 2006 film Rocky Balboa brought the saga of the legendary movie boxer to a classy and satisfying ending - nothing else was needed. But nine years later, here comes Creed, the seventh movie in the series. Of course, lots of things could have gone wrong here... but nothing does. This is a movie worthy of the series, while also sending things off into a new direction. As Sylvester Stallone reportedly said, "this is Creed 1, not Rocky 7".

3. The movie is about Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo when Apollo apparently cheated on his wife sometime around Rocky IV (the timeline doesn't quite match up with Adonis's age, but I can run with it). He grows up in a life of privilege, but gives it up to become a boxer because he loves to fight. He convinces Rocky to be his trainer.

4. The movie stands on its own, but fits well into the existing Rocky universe. There are many references to the other films in the series, which gives an extra resonance to things (if you listen closely, you can even hear Rocky say his famous catchphrase.)

5. Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis, and he is just about perfect for the role. I've been a huge fan of him ever since he blew me away in Fruitvale Station, and he's honestly one of the reasons I decided to watch this - I trusted he (as well as the director) wouldn't make a bad movie. And I was right.

6. The movie was written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who also wrote and directed Fruitvale Station. This is only his second movie, but he has already proven himself a talented filmmaker that can bring life to existing material, while remaining respectful to its roots.

7. There are many moments in this film that mirror the original Rocky, and it's interesting to watch from that perspective. The struggle of Adonis to both accept and escape his last name is a compelling story. At the same time, Rocky lives in the shadow of his own fame, and he ends up identifying with his dead wife's struggles, too. There are several emotional moments for each character, and they all ring true.

8. The big fight at the movie's climax brought all the same emotions back to me that I felt way back when I watched the original Rocky. On the other end of the spectrum, there is an extremely bittersweet scene on the famous steps that made me feel the unique pain of passing time.

9. This is a classy, smart, and emotional movie. Fans of the series will be impressed with the way the saga is handled. For people that have never seen the originals, they can jump in on one of the greatest sports movie franchises in history. If Coogler and Jordan can keep this quality up, I'll gladly start watching Creed movies instead of Rocky movies.

Beasts of No Nation (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Film Beasts of No Nation

1. This is a uniquely painful film about the real-life phenomenon of child soldiers. It takes place in West Africa, and tells the story of an 8-year-old boy named Agu. His village is caught up in the middle of a civil war, and he ends up alone in the jungle, until a small group of guerrilla fighters find him. Agu is raised, trained, and brainwashed to fight for a cause that he is too young to understand.

2.  The movie is basically about the complete destruction of a happy kid... and the emergence of a traumatized child war criminal. While it's easy to condemn what's done to the boy in this movie, you also come to understand the context in which this happens. It's harder to know where to place the blame than you might think.

3. While this movie is not specifically a true story, it is based on real events. It comes from the book of the same name, written by a 23-year-old man who works in real life with rehabilitating child soldiers. .

4. The film is beautiful to watch, which is a big contrast to its subject. The movie has some graphic scenes, but doesn't show all the violence and degradation that it could have. They leave a good amount to your imagination.

5. The movie was written, directed, and filmed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Fukunaga also wrote and directed 2009's remarkable movie Sin Nombre, but is probably most famous for directing the first season of the HBO series True Detective.

6. The kid that plays Agu, Abraham Atta, gives one of the best acting performances of the year. It's impossible to describe his charisma and his range of emotional reactions. Atta was accidentally discovered by the filmmakers because he was skipping school and playing soccer when the director walked by, looking for child actors.

7. Idris Elba plays the rebel leader. He's a great actor and I've been a fan of him ever since The Wire was on HBO in 2002. He needs more substantial leading roles. I hope the rumor of him playing the next James Bond comes true.

8. This is a non-Hollywood, independent film, which means that usually hardly anybody would see it. But Netflix bought the rights to distribute the film, and put it on their website as well as in a few theaters. A lot more people can now watch it. And they should.

9. This is a profoundly depressing, beautiful, horrifying story that vividly illustrates a part of contemporary world events that us Westerners don't hear much about. Don't watch this movie if you want to stay in a good mood. But watch it sometime. It's important. 

The Hallow (Britain/Ireland, 2015)

Nine Things About the Movie "The Hallow"

1. Normally, I would say bad things about a movie like this. I would say that the story is unoriginal (a family moves into a house in the woods, and things in the woods aren't happy). I would say the movie steals pieces from multiple films (I lost count at six) and mixes genres. I would say it shoehorns in half-baked metaphors about environmentalism and the power of a mother's love. That's what I would normally say.

2. But I can't say bad things about this movie. Instead, I have to say that this is one of the best horror films of 2015.

3. The movie is based on old dark Irish mythology. Writer/director Corin Hardy takes a risky move with it by mixing in elements of "Evil Dead", "The Fly", "The Thing", "Straw Dogs", and "Aliens", among others. Hardy obviously loves these genres, and he has the skill to show these references in a plain and unapologetic way, but which doesn't insult the original films. This is something his contemporaries like James Wan and Leigh Wannell haven't figured out, which is why "The Conjuring" and "Annabelle" are just patchwork quilts of disappointment.

4. The visual mood and atmosphere is dark and beautiful, ethereal and off-putting. It fits the subject perfectly.

5. The camera seems to have a mind of its own, sometimes focusing momentarily on mundane things like someone putting down kitchen cutlery, or tapping fingers. This adds to the feeling that something isn't right, but you can't figure out what.

6. The movie not entirely serious - since it's partly an homage to other horror films, Hardy can pull off a little tongue-in-cheek attitude. The flaming scythe should be added to the collection of iconic horror weapons.

7. The movie is kind of violent, but it's not super bloody. It's more... gooey.

8. Hardy tries to update the mythology with a sort-of-scientific explanation. It muddles things up a little bit, and wasn't really necessary, but it is an intriguing idea.

9. What Hardy has managed to do with this movie is take elements of other movies and forge them into a tool that taps into the deep primal fear that exists in every person and which inspires all those other films. It doesn't matter that the movie is kind of predictable - it gets you anyway.

Half of a Yellow Sun [Nigeria, 2013]

Nine Things About the Film "Half of a Yellow Sun"

1. This movie is basically two short films with the same characters. The first half is a melodramatic romance. The second half is a historical war drama.

2. It's about two upper class, educated Nigerian sisters in the early 1960's and how they shock their traditional parents by shacking up with men that won't help their careers. These romantic choices help determine the roles they play in the Nigerian Civil War at the end of the 1960's.

3. The plot of the first hour is kind of boring as a story, but it's interesting as a character study. The older sister, Olanna, lives with a professor named Odenigbo that likes to imagine himself as a revolutionary. The younger sister, Kainene, runs the family business while sleeping with an English writer named Richard. There is drama, and cheating, and scandal, in both families.

4. While the first hour is a soap opera, it's also helpful in setting up the second hour. The opening scene of the movie shows Nigeria gaining independence from Britain in 1960, which sets lots of other things in motion. In between the family drama, you learn more about how Nigeria works - the geography, the class system, the prejudice and tribal politics.

5. Almost exactly halfway through the movie, the ethnic, economic, and cultural conflicts brewing in the background suddenly become the main story. Odenigbo's tribe, the Igbo people, don't trust the northern government. They carve out a little piece of the country and attempt to secede, declaring themselves the country of Biafra, independent of Nigeria. Everything comes unglued (in real life, over a million people died in this war that lasted about 30 months).

6. The movie attempts to explore topics such as nationalism, tribalism, identity, and what white Westerners are doing in their country. But since half the movie is spent on cheating spouses and relationship politics, there isn't much time for these more complicated ideas.

7. Thandie Newton is a really good actress that has never landed the big role she deserves (I still remember her from Beloved). She does well in this movie, and I was glad to see her again. Chiwetel Ejiofor is another great actor, and he plays Odenigbo with a good mixture of intelligence, stupidity and dumb loyalty (the same year this movie was made, Ejiofor also starred in 12 Years a Slave).

8. The movie was filmed in Nigeria, which brings an authentic feel to the events portrayed. But it was strangely shot - it's beautiful, but sometimes looks like a stage play.

9. This isn't a great film, but it's a good one. It's entertaining, educational, and is an example of Africans telling their own history. This two-hour movie taught me more about the world's largest continent than I ever learned in school.

The Houses October Built (USA, 2014)

Nine Things About The Houses October Built

1. I've seen some really bad found-footage horror films, but this movie is one of the worst I've ever seen. It is proof that just because you have a video camera at home and have an idea for a movie, that doesn't mean you should actually make it.

2. The idea of the movie isn't bad. It's supposed to be about a group of 5 people who are tired of the regular haunted house attractions that pop up before Halloween, and they go on a cross-country quest in their RV for a rumored real one that doesn't fake the things that happen inside.

3. Unfortunately, most of the movie is either pointless conversation between the characters (who sometimes read poems), or sloppy camera footage inside real haunted house attractions. I suspect that the script must have been written when the writer (and star of the movie), Zack Andrews, was stoned.

4. Nobody tries to explain why they need six video cameras (with infinite batteries and storage space) strapped to the inside and outside of their RV. How many times are they going to want to watch something from the position of their tire? Or what you can see behind the vehicle?

5. I think one of the main characters was supposed to be a serial killer, but nobody ever really seemed bothered that the dude brought girls to the RV at night, and then he wore their clothes the next morning after the girl disappeared. They were too busy discussing where they should go next while rolling up joints.

6. While walking toward one of their nightly haunted houses, one of characters said something to the effect that it looked like it was made by bored teenagers. Which is funny, because I had just thought the same thing about the movie.  I think most of the budget was spent on those rubber masks you can buy from Halloween stores starting about Labor Day.

7. Some of the footage inside the haunted houses had some chilling and unsettling moments. I think. It's too bad the person holding the camera was usually screaming and waving the camera around, so you mostly just saw blurs of light and plastic or plywood walls.

8. For some reason, a couple of the monsters in one of the haunted houses appeared again halfway across the country an another house. I'm not sure if this meant supernatural trickery was happening, or if the filmmakers just couldn't afford another mask.

9. This could have been an interesting movie. But once again, the no-budget found footage gimmick, combined with a rambling script that never answered any of the questions it made you ask, turned this film into something more boring than watching pumpkin seeds dry.

The Martian (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Film The Martian

1. This is probably the science fiction film with the most actual science that I've ever seen.

2. Based on a book by the same name, it's about a crew exploring Mars. When a huge dust storm hits, one of the crew members, Mark, is punched in the gut by piece of equipment and the crew leaves him for dead. Of course, he's not dead.

3. The movie goes back and forth between Mark's efforts to survive on Mars, and NASA's efforts to save him - and everybody can only use science and math. That's it. That's the whole plot. There's no violence, or aliens, or space battles (although technically there is one space pirate).

4. NASA consulted closely on this film to make it as accurate as possible, including the surface of Mars. So it's also kind of a commercial for NASA. But that's OK. Anything that encourages scientific education is fine with me.

5. There are two big scientific inaccuracies in the film - a storm on Mars couldn't be that strong, and the lack of atmosphere means Mark would have died of cancer. Additionally, I'm personally really suspicious of the "Iron Man maneuver". However, I think these are acceptable fudges, because they make the movie possible, and it is worth being made. The really cool things Mark does are basically real, even the way he makes water.

6. It's nice to see an accurate portrayal of a mission like this, that relies on the delicate interplay of many different specialties, such as physics, chemistry, botany, and math. Nobody gets to be a superhero, but anybody can cause a mission to fail.

7. The cast is not only talented, but diverse. It's really great to see males and females of various races all being smart together. It's a subtle message that subjects in science, math, and engineering are for anyone who wants to study them (by the way, am I the only person that thinks Donald Glover is a really good actor and deserves much bigger roles than what he gets?).

8. Director Ridley Scott said he thinks the theme of the movie is that nobody is really alone. Which is funny, because I saw the exact opposite theme.

9. This movie is a rarity in Hollywood - it's entertainment mixed with actual learning. If you need action, or flashy special effects and interstellar drama, you're going to be disappointed. But with a story this compelling and realistic, I wouldn't be surprised to see a boost in science and math majors as a result of this movie.

Unfriended (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Movie Unfriended

1. This is not a great movie, but is much better than I expected. It's an innovative take on the tired "found footage" gimmick so popular in horror films today, and is an impressive attempt at a new type of storytelling.

2.  It was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, who is best known for directing the Russian fantasy/horror classics "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" a decade ago.

3. The entire movie takes place in real time, on one computer screen. All the acting is done through video chats and instant messaging. For people not used to seeing the ability of young people to casually and expertly multi-task using modern technology - or who find it annoying - the movie will be a big turn-off. But that very ability is the ironic hinge of the entire movie.

4.  The story is about five friends talking online one evening, who are joined by a mysterious sixth person connected to the one-year anniversary of the suicide of one of their classmates.

5. The smart thing for the kids to do would be to turn off their computers about 10 minutes into the movie. But of course they won't do that. They can't. Computers and phones are their interface with the world, and they attempt to negotiate the intrusions of the stranger in terms of that reality.

6. In an impressive feat of authenticity, the movie uses real programs like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, Google, and even LiveLeak, instead of generic imitations that you usually find in movies.

7. The supernatural aspects of the film are stupid and boring. But I think this movie is just pretending to be a horror film. It's not actually about a spirit looking for revenge. It's about the horrific ramifications that can follow from careless and thoughtless actions.

8. The movie uses the horror genre as an entrance to explore other issues such as cyber-bullying, technology as an authentic extension of real life, the self-destructive nature of high school relationships, and the self-centered stupidity of the teenage years as a whole. In this context, the movie is actually kind of compelling.

9. If you want an actual horror film, watch something else. If you don't understand modern technology, watch something else. At it's heart, this is a Generation-Y teen movie that explores themes going all the way back to Rebel Without a Cause. But what makes this movie different (and more relevant) than those other teen films is the exploration of how fleeting teenage mood swings are no longer quickly felt and forgotten; they are too easily turned into permanent public records that can literally come back to haunt you.

Black Mass (USA, 2014)

Nine Things About the Movie Black Mass

1. This movie depicts the bizarre true story of the infamous Boston mobster/FBI informant Whitey Bulger in the late 1970's, and how he manipulated everything and everybody around him to eliminate his mafia rivals and control most of Boston's organized crime.

2. This movie is unusual for an organized-crime film because there's not very much action. There are a few violent scenes, but the story revolves around more themes than just "kill my enemies and get more power".

3. The movie is actually about layers of loyalty, and what decisions people make when different layers overlap and conflict with each other.

4. The cast is great and the movie is well-acted, but there are quite a few interweaving stories, so even the great actors (like Benedict Cumberbatch) don't always get a lot of screen time.

5. Johnny Depp is pretty mesmerizing as Whitey Bulger. He almost vibrates with suppressed tension and rage in every scene, and you get the deep, uneasy feeling that no matter how calm Bulger is, whenever someone approaches him, they enter a minefield set by a psychopath.

6. There is a really interesting running commentary in the film about snitching. In Bulger's world, snitching is worthy of death, even if you're snitching on the enemy. And yet Bulger is OK with becoming an FBI informant because it serves his own agenda. So the movie is also about rationalizing your actions, even if technically you're a hypocrite.

7. It took me awhile to figure out why the title of the movie is "Black Mass", but it actually made sense when I thought about it after seeing the movie.

8. The movie is also a very illuminating perspective on corruption, and the old saying "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Good people do bad things, and bad people do good things, but these actions can have simultaneously different reasons and results, depending on which way you look at it - and who you're being loyal to at the time.

9. If you want another version of Goodfellas, this is not the movie you are looking for. And it's not the best crime drama ever made. But it is an intelligent and absorbing reflection on the issues and psychology that underlie the violent gangster news headlines.

The Green Inferno (USA, 2015)

Nine Things About the Movie The Green Inferno

1. Horror director Eli Roth made this movie as a tribute to the cannibal genre of Italian horror films of the late 1970's and early 1980's.

2. By making this movie rated R, the movie gave up the ability to really go for the guts (so to speak), so it's weak sauce compared to the grindhouse classics that inspired it, like "Cannibal Holocaust" and "Cannibal Ferox" (those two films didn't even bother getting a rating, so their violently cruel scenes are still infamous and remarkable, even 40 years later).

3. This movie is about a group of annoying, over-privileged college students who take a trip to Peru to protest the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the natives that live there. The plane crashes, and the students meet some natives that torture and eat them, I guess because Amazon natives hate all white people.

4. It seems like Roth knew that making a full-on cannibalistic massacre of white people would not be successful, so he tried to justify the violence by stapling it to the end of a different movie about saving the rainforest. This way, Roth is apparently trying to use the movie to make a satirical statement about social activism or the inescapable cruelty of the modern world. But all the activists are clueless morons manipulated by cynical masterminds, so the message is muddled, and none of it matters anyway once the cannibals show up.

5. The violence is fairly extreme for an American horror movie, but there's really not that much of it; the cannibals don't meet the students until the movie is half over. The movie is not scary at all. It's actually part comedy, in that Eli Roth way. This isn't always a good thing - the stoned cannibal scene is kind of gruesomely humorous, but it also completely takes away any sense of menace or dread the movie had built up.

6. There are some memorable lines in the movie, like "I can smell them cooking my friend!" and "It's good they ate Josh first. He should last them almost a week."

7. The script is not very smooth, and the movie seems like it had story lines cut out of it - there are scenes and characters that feel like they were supposed to be part of something bigger. That's the only explanation I have for the diarrhea scene.

8. The end of the movie doesn't make any sense except to set things up for a sequel. Or else it was Roth's way to deny charges that the movie is racist (I'll let you decide for yourself whether the movie is actually, or intentionally, racist).

9. This is dumb, gory fun, and if you didn't know that cannibal movies used to be a thing, you may be impressed. But it's also kind of boring. And if you're a fan of the original genre, this movie will be pretty tame. It might make you miss the old days when filmmakers didn't care about political correctness or getting the highest box office.