Office Space

1999’s Office Space, written and directed by Mike Judge.

Starring Ron Livingstone, Jennifer Aniston, Ajay Naidu, David Herman, Gary Cole, Richard Riehle, Dierdrich Bader, John C. McGinley, Paul Wilson, Todd Duffey, Orlando Jones, Joe Bays, and Stephen Root.

What is it about?

Computer software engineer, Peter (Ron Livingstone), and his work buddies, Michael Bolton (David Herman) and Samir (Ajay Naidu), are stuck in the ruts of their jargon filled corporate cubicle centred jobs. They report to a variety of hacks (Gary Cole, Richard Riehle, John C. McGinley, and Paul Wilson), and one day, after undergoing hypnotherapy, Peter has an epiphany. He stops regularly reporting to work, devises a scheme to rip the company off, and boldly asks out cute waitress, Joanna (Jennifer Aniston). With his life fully set on zero effs given- will he be able to get away with it?

Why is it worth seeing?

Office Space is a comedy for anyone who’s ever felt the ridiculous banality of corporate workplaces- which is pretty much every single person on the planet. Writer/Director Mike Judge hilariously plops us right in the middle of employment purgatory: commuting bumper to bumper, working with and for obnoxious dweebs, and that lingering doubt that you may be suited for something not so closely resembling hell- not to mention poorly functioning (and ill fated) fax machines.

Behind the broad and more obvious tropes (the boss who can’t be bothered to wait to listen to your reply to his questions, management re-sending memos that you don’t need, and being required to wear ridiculous uniforms to work), Judge also does a wonderful job depicting the little things- like that door that gives you your daily jolt of static electricity.

It’s an amusing depiction of the American Dream’s rotting how-to manual- that if you play by the rules and fulfill your duties, you too, can become successful. But what’s brilliant is Peter’s actions after his moment of clarity. Deprived of incentive and stripped of pride, he just stops caring- and is rewarded for it. The results are thrilling, and share a little of the masculine empowered vibes of another 1999 anti corporate film- Fight Club.

To be clear, this is no Fight Club. The intoxicating highs of Peter’s plans prove short lived, as “reality”, always a subjective and nebulous term in the midst of a fictional comedy, intrudes, and crises intervene unnecessarily, that of the boys feeling their plan has failed in being too successful, and in Peter and Joanna having conflict in their relationship. It really brings the hilarious anti reality to a halt, and descends to lecturing about adult responsibility. It’s a poor choice (choices?) that take away from the inspired potential of the film’s set up. But don’t ask me- apparently Mike Judge didn’t care for the last third of the film either.

Possessing ultra familiar and amusing scenarios and ludicrously possible dream-like solutions, Office Space has a glorious run time (89 Minutes!) but disappointing follow through- much like that dreaded company fax machine.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Leave No Trace

2018’s Leave No Trace, directed by Debra Granik.

Starring Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Dale Dickey, Dana Millican Jeff Kober, Isaiah Stone, Art Hickman, Jeffrey Rifflard, Derek John Drescher, Michael Draper, Peter Simpson, and Erik McGlothlin.

What is it about?

Leave No Trace is based off of a true story, where a father with PTSD, Will, (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom, (Thomasin McKenzie) live in a forested national park in Oregon. Save for trips to the city for things like eggs and prescription drugs, they live a life unobstructed by society’s laws and expectations. One day a jogger comes across the duo, and before long the law and social services intervene. If they are to remain together, the pair are expected to live in an actual home, with Will working at a job, and Tom attending school. With Will having mental health issues and not having his self prescribed ecological therapy, and with the siren call of teenage garden delights for Tom calling, will they ever find happiness living in society?

Why is it worth seeing?

Leave No Trace is the third film from director/co-writer Debra Granik. Her 2010 feature, Winter’s Bone, featured a desperate protagonist on an odyssey through some of the most authentic hostile environments ever seen on film. Here, the hostile environment is the one that’s civilized- it’s the untamed wild that is nurturing. Like Bone, Trace has a knack for authenticity. Its words are few and far between, and its actions deep and profound.

It’s easy to see where Trace could have been less effective. If it wanted to veer into something resembling fish out of water comedic beats, it would be 2016's Captain Fantastic. If it wanted to do a more overt job of showcasing Foster’s character’s PTSD, this year’s You Were Never Really Here is a much more obvious (but well told) example. But Granik has too much respect for her audience, and someone who waits 8 years between Hollywood indie fiction films likely prefers quality over quantity.


It’s easy to despise society- its charms can range from non existent to noxiously toxic. But nobody in this world does. Whatever they live in it or not, they make choices- and seem to respect each other for it. While the machine of organizations force people into corners, the people populating them here, are nothing but decent. It’s probably the only flaw of the movie- that there is not a single unpleasant person who is not employed as a park ranger/law enforcement official. It’s not much of a crime- not when we’re inspired by 2 people living extraordinary lives rubbing shoulders with the salt of the earth.

While Thomasin McKenzie is no Jennifer Lawrence, she gives a solid performance as a teenager wise beyond her years- whom is a little socially awkward but seems to be as comfortable arranging kinder for a fire to cook dinner as she would be assembling a nuclear reactor. We can sense the conflict in how she sometimes needs to parent her mentally ill parent. Ben Foster is pitch perfect in his depiction of a veteran who decided that he could not live in society, who is immensely connected to his daughter but knows his demons are strong. It’s an internal performance (by one of the more dependable actors today), scraping at the bones of monosyllabic titans such as Casey Affleck in Manchester By The Sea.


Quietly strong, possessing a voice that ought to be heard, Leave No Trace is one of the year’s best films. It will make less money than it deserves, and we’ll see what the Academy Awards have in store for it come nomination time, but it left quite an impression on me. Considering the film’s title, it actually packs a wallop- to the point where it leaves a mark.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Halloween (2018)

2018’s Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green.

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss, Virginia Gardner, and James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle as the Shape.

What is it about?

Taking place after the original film, John Carpenter’s Halloween, 2018’s Halloween is set again in the town of Haddonfield, Ilinois. 40 years have passed since Michael Myers’ murderous Halloween spree that introduced us to teenage “Final Girl” Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Psychopath Michael Myers was institutionalized shortly after, and has remained behind bars since. Over that time, Laurie has worked through her trauma inflicted by Michael- by preparing for his return. Training herself, and her daughter, Karen Nelson (Judy Greer), Laurie is hopeful that she can also train her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), against Myers’ formidable presence. After an inevitable hospital transfer goes wrong, Michael is freed- and heads straight for Haddonfield to relive his past glories. With Halloween occurring, and Laurie waiting in the wings- who will prevail this spooky night?

Why is it worth seeing?

Halloween throws away literally 9 movies in the previous chronology, rebooting itself as the only sequel to the original classic film. It’s a move both inspired and cynical- inspired because it throws away a litany of embarrassing sequels and genius squandering follow ups, and cynical because after so much exposure, the case can be made for abandoning the idea all together.

Director and co-writer David Gordon Green brings back the iconic mass murderer Myers, and as mentioned above, coolly dispatches episodes 2-10. The opening titles (itself a reference to the original’s titles of a jack o’ lantern), are a fitting metaphor- we watch a rotting pumpkin brought back to life. Are you saying the franchise was rotten David?


Green brings to the screen the same wide angled slasher sensibility of John Carpenter, and even copies some of the shots with flipped contexts- a welcome wrinkle. Green also tries to replicate the tension of the original, with limited success. The first issue is that he just doesn’t have Carpenter’s penchant for patience- but worse, Green takes the breathless suspense and tense stalking and cuts it out at the knees with scenes of humour. While it’s not a surprise that someone from Pineapple Express brings jokes to the table, it just doesn’t mix with the movie’s homage to suspense tropes.

After comparing this to Myers-less sequels and Rob Zombie’s trailer park interpretations, what else is there to say about a film that’s easily the second best in a now 11 film franchise? Its frustrating in the sense that it has a unique take on an exhausted subject, but the original’s brilliance has been so compromised and replicated so poorly over the past 4 decades that it just feels like its going through the motions. In fact, Curtis’ Laurie reminds me of Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Conner in T2:Judgement Day- that other exhausted franchise about a traumatized woman who refuses to be a victim and becomes machine-like in her quest for vengeance against the thing that has wronged her. Unlike that film, this one is even more assured about the possibility of yet another sequel to follow. Not that I feel confident about Laurie’s chances- to paraphrase Bill Simmons, you would have thought that after 40 years of planning you’d have an unassailable plan for revenge. But my question is such- when is the rom com about Michael looking for a mate so he can produce an heir to haunt the Strodes after he dies coming out? Really, who am I kidding- Myers can’t die.

 

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Bad Times at the El Royale

2018’s Bad Times at the El Royale, written and directed by Drew Goddard.

Starring Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman, Cailee Spaeny, and Lewis Pullman.

What is it about?

One stormy night during 1969, a handful of disconnected individuals check into the El Royale hotel. There’s a priest, Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges), salesman, Laramie Seymour (Jon Hamm), musician, Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Arivo), and finally a mysterious foul mouthed woman, Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson). Checked in by odd bellboy, Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman), nothing is as it seems, and before long cult figures, bank robbers, and government agents are involved with the hotel and its mysterious interiors. Will anyone be able to escape with both their wits and bodies intact?

Why is it worth seeing?

Bad Times at the El Royale is director Drew Goddard’s second film as a director (with gobs of experience as a writer/producer), after the delightful Cabin in the Woods. There, Goddard took pleasure in subverting the genre of horror, and here, he subverts a sub-genre- known informally as Tarantino.


Anybody else remember the mid-90’s when all anybody would do was rip off Quentin Tarantino? With notable exceptions, Hollywood has never been original or that inspired, so as far as photocopying went- at least it was material worth Xeroxing (Tarantino himself is a marvelous rip off artist). Here, Goddard apes Tarantino, with mixed results.


Central to any Tarantino film are great performances, and they are here in spades. Particularly bright, are Jeff Bridges (can anybody not like his dudeness?), and in particular, lesser known actual musician, Cynthia Erivo, who steals the show as the struggling singer with a voice of silk who has the least to hide- but the most to show. With a cast of characters that celebrate nefarious opacity, her positive transparency beams brighter than neon.

Another staple, is the needle drops of quirky period music and casual violence, alongside jumping back and forth in time. With the movie’s 2 hour-plus run time it requires patience to get to the bottom of all that is- and is not. So what is it missing to be labeled as dynamic as QT?

For starters, Goddard can’t create the whip smart tension that QT is so proficient at. The dude may not be able to create quality linear A to Z chronological films anymore, but he continually creates scenes that can go down in best scenes of the decade lists because he is just so good at making conversations about hamburgers as riveting as a dairy farmer trying not to reveal he is hiding Jews from Nazis, or seeing an emancipated black slave speak to white people. Goddard is not there (yet).


However, something Goddard does have that QT doesn’t, is heart. Behind the thick web of confusion, subterfuge, and violence, is decency and optimism. Goddard helps us to care for some of these characters, and want the best for them- despite some compromised behaviours (and mission objectives). It’s refreshing- given how cynical QT rip offs and cinematic human behaviour can be in films that involve double crosses.

Possessing some slick camera work and heartfelt characters, BTatER tendencies as a Tarantino knock off take away from the creative mysteriousness and good vibes otherwise so teasingly displayed… Or maybe I just need a good foot massage.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.