Iro's Film Diary

#20 - Grease
Randal Kleiser, 1978



In the 1950s, a group of high school seniors must navigate the obstacles caused by their love lives.

Grease is quite the love-or-hate proposition as it takes the 1970s' affinity for 1950s' nostalgia and churns out an unapologetically high-camp musical that celebrates the coolest parts of the decade; big cars, leather jackets, dance contests, drive-ins, and so forth. It's anchored by the central plot involving John Travolta's Danny and Olivia Newton-John's Sandy, who start the film having shared a fleeting summer romance full of tenderness and whatnot; however, when the preppy Sandy shows up at the same school as Danny, he decides to act tough in front of his greaser friends, thus complicating things for both Sandy and him. That's without mentioning the various other plots involving their respective friend groups and various would-be rivals, but obviously plot is not a major concern here. However, a musical is arguably only as good as its numbers, and for the most part they're extremely lacking. I'll cop to liking the "Greased Lightnin'" sequence and maybe "Summer Nights" at a stretch, but that's about it as everything else see-saws between the overplayed and the forgettable. As such, the bulk of Grease becomes a seriously grating chore to sit through in ways that not even the sheer charm of '70s Travolta or the setting's '50s aesthetic can adequately balance out.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

#21 - American Ultra
Nima Nourizadeh, 2015



A young stoner discovers that he is actually a sleeper agent and is being targeted for termination by a rogue CIA boss.

American Ultra stars Jesse Eisenberg as a shiftless stoner who works a dead-end convenience store job in a small town and lives with his girlfriend (Kristen Stewart). Things are okay, apart from Eisenberg's tendency to have incapacitating panic attacks every time he tries to leave town (which does cause some issues with his intentions to propose to Stewart). It turns out that there is a reason for that; Eisenberg is a sleeper agent who is actually the last surviving subject of an experimental program designed to create the perfect secret agent. The story proper kicks in when a high-ranking CIA boss (Topher Grace) decides to have Eisenberg eliminated. This leads to the CIA boss (Connie Britton) in charge of the original program re-activating Eisenberg, which leads to chaos as the town is locked down and Eisenberg must not only survive people trying to kill him but also figure out his true identity.

Any film that can be classified as a stoner film is usually able to provide at least some measure of humour, but American Ultra seems to be an exception in that regard. Despite having a pair of potheads as the leads and a number of recognisable comedic actors in the cast, the film is largely devoid of laughs. The dialogue is clunky, the jokes are all but imperceptible, and the performances tend to involve actors coasting on their respective levels of talent in some rather simplistic roles (with the most prominent example being Walton Goggins as a constantly-cackling assassin who is simply named "Laugher" - yeah, that's what kind of writing you're in for here). If anything, the decision to make Eisenberg and Stewart stoners comes across as an attempt to lend an extremely generic action-comedy a sense of personality that it never actually earns. This even extends to the film's visual approach - as if the opening "how we got here" scene featuring a bloodied Eisenberg in an interrogation room telling his story doesn't feel redundant enough, the rapid-fire flashback montage that sputters across the screen before the main title card definitely does. The combination of swift editing choices and varied shot types suggest an attempt to mimic the hyper-kinetic action-comedy style one associates with the works of Edgar Wright, but Nourizadeh's approach lacks distinction for better or worse.

Much like Pineapple Express, American Ultra fares better at being an action movie than at being a comedy. For the most part, there's not too much imagination to the proceedings as Eisenberg's unconscious displays of skill extend to little more than him killing enemies using improvised weapons and lightning-fast reflexes. Even so, these moments still yield the film's only true highlights, whether it's Eisenberg and Stewart attempting to escape a police station under siege or a fight scene taking place in a basement flooded with ultraviolet light. Above all else, I have to single out the climatic supermarket scene, which isn't all that novel in its concept but is still executed reasonably well. Unfortunately, a handful of explosive action scenes aren't enough to truly redeem American Ultra, which may not veer into genuinely offensive territory but still struggles to favourably distinguish itself as either an action movie or a comedy (especially the latter). The film doesn't exactly set the highest standards for itself but it still fails to meet them, rendering its short running time and quick pace meaningless in the process.

I haven't seen American Ultra, but i did catch the trailer and thought it looked pretty funny.

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I saw the trailers and thought it had potential despite the unfavourable reception, but unfortunately it really is that mediocre.

I'll probably give it a miss now.

#22 - Bone Tomahawk
S. Craig Zahler, 2015



A sheriff musters a posse to go after a tribe of inbred cannibals who have abducted some of his townsfolk.

Considering how rare the cinematic combination of horror and Western tends to be, Bone Tomahawk naturally makes for quite the curious film both in concept and execution. The plot concerns the sheriff (Kurt Russell) of a small town whose generally affable demeanour around his fellow townsfolk is off-set by his rather strict attitude towards enforcing the law, as evidenced by his decision to non-fatally shoot a suspiciously skittish drifter (David Arquette) who was trying to run from him. While Arquette is being treated, he, the nurse (Lili Simmons) who is treating him, and the deputy (Evan Jonigkeit) assigned to supervise are all kidnapped in the middle of the night. It is soon revealed that the responsible party is a tribe of feral cannibals referred to only as "troglodytes" (which are emphatically described as being nothing like the average Native American). Russell naturally sets about launching a rescue mission with only three men to accompany him; his doddering old back-up deputy (Richard Jenkins), a sharply-dressed gunslinger (Matthew Fox), and Simmons' husband (Patrick Wilson), who insists on going despite being in the process of recovering from a broken leg.

Bone Tomahawk sticks to a pretty clear three-act structure, but each act is handled well. The first act does a solid job of introducing and developing the characters before the plot kicks in around the forty-minute mark, while the second act condenses matters down to the main four characters as they make their way through hostile territory. All four members of the group prove good in some admittedly archetypal roles. The ever-charismatic Russell makes for a good fit as the sheriff who is likeable, plus his flaws serve to humanise him rather than completely undermine his genial nature. Wilson gets quite the role as the badly injured but incredibly determined husband who is willing to literally risk life and limb to get his wife back; though his character's struggle to move around threatens to drag the movie down, he's more than capable of compensating for it. Fox takes what could have been a real love-to-hate character and manages to make him work underneath his snide, dapper surface. In this company, Jenkins is something of a weak link as a real Walter Brennan kind of character, but he's capable of holding his own just fine. At least Simmons has sufficient development to compensate for her being relegated to damsel status for a good chunk of her screen-time. Though the film shrugs off its small-town setting long before the halfway mark, it still takes the time to set up a fairly well-realised town full of characters that involve a few recognisable actors making the most of bit parts.

Aside from its performers, Bone Tomahawk stands out because of its rather unusual pacing. It shows off enough of the atavistic antagonists to give the rest of the film an appropriate amount of dread as our heroes come closer and closer to their lair; that dread is amply rewarded when the film does resort to showing scenes of graphic gore and violence (with one scene in particular that is sure to stick in viewers' memories). I definitely respect Bone Tomahawk for not descending into trite horror clichés and managing to build a generally competent film that pulls off an unusual genre-blending exercise with aplomb. The film-makers seem to be aware of how reductive the film's premise might be and do everything possible to avoid a problematic approach to the material, granting the film a very distinctive personality in the process. The dialogue may seem a little overwritten and it doesn't totally justify running for over two hours, but it works by emphasising the character-based drama to the point where the film's inevitable transition into visceral horror is not a jarring tonal shift but instead feels like a natural progression. Having a collection of competent actors to lend the characters weight certainly doesn't hurt either, making Bone Tomahawk a prime example of a film that can make a potentially misguided premise work.

Nice review of Bone Tomahawk, one of my favorites of 2015. How would you compare Russell's performance to the one he gives in The Hateful Eight? I thought he was better in Tomahawk.

Sorry I just saw this, but how do you not like Grease??? I hated American Ultra, but Grease is miles better than that movie. It's a classic and I don't think it's perfect, it really isn't that bad though.

I agree with Iro, it's a musical and yet Grease Lightning is about the only memorable song. That's kinda a big strike against it.

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I can't say I agree I think the song Summer Lovin and its been so long, but I remember really liking the ending song too. Am I in love with the film? No. Is it a classic still? Of course.

It's a classic sure, but I don't think that earns it any bonus points.

I haven't seen The Hateful Eight yet (It only just came out), so I'll have to get back to you.

What Omnizoa said. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean I have to like it.

Do you have some ratings for musicals readily available?

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Who, me? Okay, here's a few off the top of my head...

Singin' in the Rain -

On the Town -

An American in Paris -

Oliver! -

My Fair Lady -

42nd Street -

Footlight Parade -

Seven Bride for Seven Brothers -

First off no point in seeing the movie. It really was probably the worst Tarantino movie in his oeuvre.

I think it's a good classic movie and classic means memorable; for that I would give it a higher rating.

Perhaps, but I'm not going to know for certain unless I see it.

That's your prerogative.

HAHAHAHAAHAHAOkay look: I don't like Quentin Tarantino movies in general and I haven't seen The Hateful Eight myself, but even I know that's a pointless suggestion, especially when the opposition is as strong as it is.

The worst movies I've ever seen are still memorable. I wouldn't award them for that.

I consider "classics" to refer more to milestones, or "IT" movies. I think it's unfair to factor resulting legacies or reputations into the judgment of a movie though.

Yeah, I don't want to feel like I'm forcing myself to give out a higher/lower rating just because of what other people think about the movie in question.

The reminds me... why is The Big Lebowski so much higher on your list of favs than Raiders? Indiana Jones is way more classic.

It has to do with this thread where participants change their top ten to reflect a certain theme. In this case, my top ten consists of my favourite movie from each of my ten favourite directors. The order's a little loose so don't worry about it too much. On my actual list, Raiders outranks Lebowski.