⚪ATTENTION THIS WRITTEN CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE CONTAINS SPOILERS⚪
⚫Please read at your discretion, this is not a review, simply a first impression of a film⚫
🌟Stay til the end.🌟
James Gray always includes a final sound bite that encaptulates his films and this one was worth the wait, coming from one that admires his films and provides the patience it deserves.
It's hard to reintegrate into reality after seeing Ad Astra. Even now as I write this in a ramen bar ordering food to eat at home in my own seclusion of pensive pondering I am elated, overwhelmed and completely satisfied, for this film was worth the long wait I have been enduring since the closing credits of The Lost City of Z. Attentively awaiting one of my favourite filmmakers to emerge from his own captivity to finally present his next feature.
I saw him at the beginning of the year during TIFF's retrospective of his filmwork and luckily had an opportunity to chat with him in person, and ask a question during his in conversation with panel. When discussing Ad Astra he was deep in the editing process and he was exhausted. It had been a long haul, getting the final touches on all of the digital effects was taking time that differed from his previous films. This was January 2019, it was originally scheduled to be released in April/May, but pushed to mid September. Patience is everything, and Ad Astra is worth it all.
Ad Astra is visual poetry.
It is imaginative and serene.
It is beautiful beyond belief, absolutely gorgeous in it's presentation, words cease to have meaning in how shots simply take your breath away.
James Gray talked about how he discovers the films he wants to make through a feeling. For Two Lovers it was a somber man walking alone on a beach. For Ad Astra, it was the feeling of floating in space. The cinematic version of this feeling is to take the viewer on an experience that stretches the boundaries of human resilience, will and determination. To understand the feeling of floating in space is to question why anyone would want to seek such an experience, and travel past their own limits to understand the life long question, are we alone in the universe?
James Gray's films are pensive, thought provoking and literal examinations of the human condition, the ties that bind his characters to both mythology and destiny. One continuing theme is that of the sons of their fathers, how far they try to run from their parentage, but ultimately become them in some degrees. It is in that struggle to want to become something you admire, that furthers your ambition to succeed to do so. The driving force that allows us to be our best is the same blood that runs in our veins. We are determined to be like them in order to understand them, but yet still come across so far.
Brad Pitt's Major Roy McBride aspired to be like his astronaut father, to mission and serve with the same strength and will of heroism as he believed him to be. No matter how distant his presence had become. This is shown in Roy's aptitude of perseverance, cunning and resourcefulness. Throughout the film he is faced with finite challenges that demand the utmost precision, timing and force of action, literal moments of life and death. McBride's opening mission of aiding a space antenna, and falling to impending doom when hit with an energetic surge is reminiscent of Tom Cruise's HALO jump in Fallout last year, but amped to a greater height, turbulence and danger factor. Brad Pitt's McBride, showcases patience in maneuvering through casualty. His heart rate controlled, grasp managed and prepared through all outcome to ensure safe return and arrival to ground zero. The first of many instances of problem solving, action and keeping calm, cool and collective. He is trained to be precise. His job is life or death at any given moment. Every moment counts.
Gray allows this patience with his film to digest not only the visual scope (seeing it in IMAX makes a world of difference to the overall experience) but the acceptance of the reality of the "Near Future" he has brought us to. The world has advanced but not much has changed. We have colonized the Moon and Mars but we are still fighting for resources in extremities. Humanity has taken their worst traits and populated other planets for it's own pleasure. Space travel had become customized airline flights, time and service is substantially convenient and luxurious. But the focus is on the mission. Retrieve a connection to the father thought deceased for thirty years, stop the impending doom of a seismic force, energetic surges from the distance of Neptune caused from the ship that had gone offline many years ago.
Roy's mission is one of emotional deliverance and personal sacrifice. He is trained all his life to do the impossible, including a reconnection to an absent father. Gray takes us through the beautiful eyes of Brad Pitt, the innocence, the age, and the fatigue of a man who has seen it all. A harrowing point of view shared by an actor that has aged like a delicate wine, still withholding of all the finesse and purity that shot him into stardom, his resilience, and his ability to highlight adept range through subtlety, presence and care of the actor's craft. He is in full swing, a role that defines his own struggles, loss, balance and sacrifice to be the best in his class. His entire career is shed through his eyes, his beats mastered with the precision needed to play a man of masterful control of his craft. From humor to heart break, his range is vast as the stars he sees, the performance he brings to the silence of a look is incomparable, for each second, emotion and story is read through his face. One that has given us years of service, through that wry cackle and smile, but there is a deep fragility in Roy McBride. James Gray was able to pull out such nuanced performances from his leading actors, through stories that help define their skills and abilities to carry a narrative arc and give it a degree of explosive force that is both mesmerizing, and awe inspiring, that it can be discussed and explored for multiple viewings and years after it's release. This may as well be the film to give Brad his Oscar, even if he isn't campaigning to receive one, his work is masterful and he leaves it on the screen with his viewers.
He is accompanied by a wonderful cast that each serve the story, accenting motivators to propel him towards his goal, a climax to the hardest challenge to face, his father. Tommy Lee Jones gives a performance of utmost delicacy, his minimal screen time simply showcases his ability to provide all that is necessary through few scenes, with enough care and support to leverage Brad's longing and struggles, an encounter 16 years in the making expressed in a scene with such grace and attention it holds the entire emotional weight of Roy's journey in it's balance and pedigree. To travel 2.7 billion miles to see the father you have missed for the last two decades is an undertaking this son endures for the love still in his heart. A journey into the heart of darkness to find a piece of yourself.
Ad Astra is poetry of the highest cinematic order that demands patience and perseverance. It captures the isolation and solitary nature of space, our desire to venture to the farthest reaches of our galaxy, simply to miss everything we had back home. It is made with care and respect to art of filmmaking. James Gray has made a picture that will stand the test of time, like that of Apocalypse Now and 2001 Space Odyssey, it exists outside of its contemporaries because it is remotely unique and challenging in it's own merit, it rivals none because it is simply what it is, absolutely beautiful.
Vice - Dir. Adam McKay
Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s Vice
Every actor in Adam McKay's Vice knocked it out of the park with their subtleties and nuances! Carell mastered Rumsfeld's squint, Rockwell nailed Bush's eyebrow curl and Bale's overall presence as Cheney was deeply menacing. By capturing the essence of these historical figures I do extend a hand to McKay's craft and resilience for completing such a daunting picture, suffering his own heart attack in the making. Though the choppiness of the approach limits a sound narrative, the overall story and execution delivered deserves much applause and Grace. Knowing McKay's style, especially in his execution on The Big Short, one can see his skill at juxtaposing mixed media, absurdist humor and cinematic narrative.
The facts showcased at hand holds my continued belief that this Power Structure so finely tuned weighs behind the nation, and it is my hope that this true Axis of Evil will suffer for their sins against humanity, as all laws of karma play out justly in the end.
Just like all good story, the protagonist succeeds in the end, which in this case Cheney is triumphant, but the sad nature of such truth is at the unfortunate downfall of the American people.
Filmmaking that challenges and changes perspective is one that deserves credit when due, go see Adam McKay's Vice for a real Masterclass of showmanship and visceral reflection on how the current state of world affairs was shaped by Dick Cheney and his league of cohorts.
First Reformed - Dir. Paul Schrader
Ethan Hawke as Ernst Toller in Paul Schrader’s First Reformed
"No I have not lost my faith," Ethan Hawke's Reverend Ernst Toller's voice-over speaks as he posts the phrase "Will God Forgive Us?" upon First Reformed Church's outdoor message board.
Paul Schrader's beautiful reflection on the state of Toller's mind at the crux of a recent tragedy perfectly captures today's current societal climate. Themes of despair and affliction plague Hawke's earnest portrayal of a man who at his own angst and weakness must find reason to continue to find sanctity in God's Grace, knowing that the environment and Earth too is being plunged into darkness.
Though hope remains in the eyes of Amanda Seyfried's Mary, the soon to be mother and recent widow that has confided in him, Toller traverses his own inner emotions and the turmoils that keep him from holding on to the faith that has aided him during his own tragic past.
Schrader's work of simple stagings and direction allows for his character's essence to speak through the forefront of this cinematic revelation of life, death and discovering one's purpose to survive through the wreckage of a climactic storm, both external and internally. It is a dramatic piece that deserves a focused attention, for such details exist in the most miniscule of perfectly crafted moments of subtle beauty.
The Hero - Dir. Brett Haley
Sam Elliott as Lee Hayden in Brett Haley’s The Hero
How do we define a well lived life? What constitutes a worth while journey of accomplishment?
Brett Haley's The Hero shows Sam Elliott's Lee Hayden contemplate these questions as he reflects on his past as a western movie star faced with his future mortality at the wake of a cancer diagnosis. A man trying to fix his troubled relationship with his estranged daughter, looking for acting work besides mediocre voice overs for Lone Star BBQ sauce, Hayden is in search for a richer life in his old age, or at least an outlook higher than smoking weed with his dealer marvelously played by Nick Offerman.
The film captures both this theme of death and ageism, as Hayden's encounter with a much younger woman Charlotte, played masterfully by Laura Prepon, gives him another chance at a deeper intimate connection but her youth brings out the harsh reality that he ia simply buying time.
Sam Elliott gives the performance of his life, with such subtlety and gravitas in every scene he is in. This is a role that rarely comes around that can only be given such grace by a veteran like Elliott, that magical voice and majestic aura provides a pure earnesty and heart to Lee Hayden, who himself dreams of acting one more time as a character that can deliver the weight of his renowned career. The Hero is visual poetry that rides like the ocean tides Lee watches over the sun's horizon.