"John Wick: Chapter 2" Review

OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

Directed by Chad Stahelski, “John Wick: Chapter 2” is a sequel to the 2014 film “John Wick”.  In the first film Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, an emotionless ex-assassin who goes on a revenge-fueled killing spree after a group of punk Russian gangsters steal his car and murder his dog.  Wick’s retirement is disturbed again in this second chapter.  A man named Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) shows up at Wick’s house and presents him with an assignment. One that Wick took a blood oath to fulfill.  When Wick staunchly refuses to undertake the assignment, D’Antonio responds by demolishing his house with a grenade launcher.  Wick survives the attack and makes his way into New York City where he gets in touch with his network of assassins called “The Continental”.  Winston (Ian McShane), the rule obsessed leader of the NYC branch of The Continental, tells Wick that he must fulfill D’Antonio’s assignment.  Bound by the rules, Wick reluctantly reaches out to D’Antonio who tells him to assassinate his sister Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini) so that he can claim her seat at “the High Table”, some kind of epic crime-lord syndicate.  The recurring joke in the “John Wick” series is that he just wants to retire, but is yanked out of peace again and again either to complete a mission or get vengeance.  This time he is tasked with both.

The assassination and its repercussions unfold throughout the rest of the film, and frankly, the plot is not all that spectacular.  Perhaps the best compliment that can be given to “John Wick: Chapter 2”, is that as a film it is incredibly self-aware.  Unlike many action-thrillers that flop because of a convoluted plot and over-seriousness, “John Wick: Chapter 2” embraces its flaws and turns them into positives.  For example, Keanu Reeves is well known as a comically bad actor.  Instead of juking around this fact, the film turns John Wick’s emotionless attitude into comedy at several points.  In one scene Wick fights another assassin on the NYC metro.  Wick manages to stick a knife into the man's chest and promptly eases him into a seat saying, "the blade is in your aorta. You pull it out and you will bleed and you will die. Consider this a professional courtesy."  The scene and dialogue are ridiculous, but never pretend not to be.

Another area in which “John Wick: Chapter 2” bests the flaws of the genre is with the action scenes.  There is a kind of logic in them that would seem obvious, but that many action-thrillers miss.  One simple observation is that John Wick actually shoots people.  If Wick has bullets, he will use them as a first option.  This separates him from the lot of action-stars that seemingly forget they have guns half the time.  The action scenes flow better as a result of Wick’s efficiency as he rarely gets bogged down fighting people hand-to-hand. 

Finally, “John Wick: Chapter 2” utilizes a chorus of character-actors to keep the film fresh and entertaining when Wick isn’t blasting his way through guys trying to kill him.  Ian McShane’s signature snideness is perfect in Winston, who seems to be somewhat entertained by Wick’s misfortunes.  Former rapper Common plays Cassian, one of the main assassins Wick has to fight.  To top them all is “The Bowery King”, a lower Manhattan-dwelling underground crime boss played by Laurence Fishburne.  All of these characters lend to the “World of Wick” in which assassins lurk around every corner and epic firefights can occur anywhere from the streets of Times Square in New York City to the Capitoline Hill in Rome. 

Ultimately, the only things separating the “John Wick” franchise from being a truly great action-thriller brand is a better soundtrack and a slightly thicker plot.  For now, the series stands as an entertaining one-and-done kind of event; it is not the kind of film you revisit over and over.  All things considered, criticizing “John Wick: Chapter 2” for not being artistic enough would be missing the point.  As Wick says in one scene when he asks the Bowery King for help, “Do you want a war? Or do you just want to give me a gun?” So I ask moviegoers, do you want more depth from an action-thriller starring Keanu Reeves?  Or do you just want to let him do what he does best?  I know what my answer is.

Boogie and The Big E

Two days ago, DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans.  The Kings sent Boogie along with Omri Casspi to NOLA in exchange for Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, and 2017 first and second round picks.  Many journalists are calling the trade a “heist” on account of the Pelicans.  New Orleans gets a proven superstar while the Kings receive “a three-piece meal at Popeyes”[1].  In my opinion, the trade is a win-win for the Kings and Pelicans.  But it requires a look back at NBA history to see why:

Player comaprison from www.basketball-reference.com

Boogie reminds me a lot of a former player named Elvin Hayes, also known as "The Big E".  Like Boogie, Hayes was a dominant big man. He played in the league for all of the 1970s and into the early 1980s putting up incredible numbers.  Like Boogie, Hayes was traded to a team with an established superstar big man. He was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Washington Bullets who already had Wes Unseld.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly like Boogie, Hayes was a polarizing player.  Fans loved him.  Teammates and coaches hated him.[2] A trainer for the Washington Bullets said, “being around Elvin every day is like a Chinese water torture”[3].  Another writer following the team noted, “he did not spend a single social evening around Washington with a teammate, nor did he do more than eat a few meals with any of them on the road.”[4]  Of course there were exceptions, but Hayes was generally very hard to get along with on and off the court.

In a particularly amusing story from when the Washington Bullets’ Owner Scott Pollin took the team to China, Hayes adamantly refused to get off the bus to look at the Great Wall:

Pollin peered back and asked Hayes if he was coming. "I've seen a big wall before, Mr. Pollin," Hayes told him. Wes Unseld tried to persuade Hayes by telling him the wall was the only man-made structure that can be seen from outer space. To which Hayes responded, "I'm never going into outer space." [5]

In this situation Hayes resembles a stubborn middle-schooler on a field trip.  It speaks volumes that Hayes couldn’t even cozy up to Wes Unseld, one of the most revered men in NBA history.  But here's the thing: Hayes and Unseld led the Bullets to win their one and only NBA championship in 1978.

Unseld #41 on the Left, Hayes #11 on the Right

Seeing the incredible similarities between the Big E, Boogie and their situations, the Kings-Pelicans trade can be seen in a new light.  In New Orleans Cousins will be paired with Anthony “The Brow” Davis, one of the most renowned personalities and rising superstars in the league.  They will be the first pair of teammates with averages of 20 ppg and 10 rpg since Tim Duncan and David Robinson in the 97-98 season.  This is by all means an extraordinary opportunity for the Pelicans to win big if they can secure the 8 seed in the West (they currently sit 2.5 games back from that position).  It would be a treat for NBA fans everywhere to see Boogie and the Brow wreak havoc on Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Draymond Green down on the block for at least four games in the playoffs.

For the Sacramento Kings, the value of Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and Buddy “Buckets” Hield can be debated.  I think that a three-piece meal at Popeyes might be a little harsh of a comparison.  The first round pick they acquired would lose a whole lot of value if the Pelicans were to rip off a huge win streak and bulldoze their way into the playoffs. But regardless of what happens in New Orleans, I believe that Sacramento has won in this trade.  They get a fresh start with several young players and another pick in the 2017 NBA draft.  The Kings have been building around DeMarcus for years and haven’t had a winning season for over a decade.  Shedding a potentially toxic player gives them the breathing room to truly start anew.

For the Pelicans things may not pan out. DeMarcus Cousins is known to be a potentially destructive personality on and off the court.  Whether it is abusing journalists in the locker room[5], taking cheap shots at players during games[6] [7], or leading the entire league in technical fouls (Boogie has been in the top-5 in techs every year since 2013)[8], he has earned himself a foul reputation.  There is a decent chance that Cousins and Davis don’t click, and the team implodes.  But even if this happens the Pels don’t have to re-sign Boogie after the season.  It would have been an experiment worth trying.

Looking back, if Boogie is the modern Big E, then perhaps Anthony Davis can play the role of the modern Wes Unseld.  After all, Unseld and Hayes did not get along personally but managed to win regardless.  As Unseld explained to one journalist:

"I don't dwell within Elvin. I don't know what he's thinking and I don't care. The person I know is the basketball player, and right now he is one of the best in the league. What he's done verifies that. We've had more than our share of run-ins off the court. But when he's on the court he's a professional and that's all that matters."[9]

For the Pelicans and Davis’ purposes, Boogie Cousins is certainly one of the best players in the league.  Let’s see what they can do with him on board.

References:

[1] https://theringer.com/demarcus-cousin-trade-effects-sixers-bulls-jimmy-butler-celtics-bc7e5af236ff#.b2oas81as

[2] http://nypost.com/2012/01/08/petulant-stars-nothing-new-in-nba/

[3] http://www.nba.com/history/players/hayes_bio.html

[4] http://www.si.com/vault/1978/10/16/823065/the-big-e-wants-an-mvp-washington-forward-elvin-hayes-has-his-records-and-at-long-last-an-nba-title-now-hed-like-a-little-respect

[5] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702218.html

[5] http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/demarcus-cousins-confronts-local-columnist-in-locker-room/

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CifxHpQWc_0

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQPBSI0W9o4

[8] https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/player-stat/fouls-technical?rate=season-totals&season_id=214

[9] http://www.si.com/vault/1978/10/16/823065/the-big-e-wants-an-mvp-washington-forward-elvin-hayes-has-his-records-and-at-long-last-an-nba-title-now-hed-like-a-little-respect

"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2017: Animation" Review

Borrowed Time - OP-ROB RATING: BUST            

From Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, “Borrowed Time” is a short film from two Pixar animators that worked on feature films such as “Inside Out”, “The Good Dinosaur” and “Brave”.  This connection can be readily observed in the faces of the sole two characters in the 7 minute short.  The film opens with a gruff, western sheriff approaching a cliff overlooking a vast canyon.  However, this man does not have the look of your typical sheriff.  He has a long face with sad eyes to fit a tall yet thin frame.  He slowly walks toward the edge of the cliff past some debris including pieces of a wagon and a horse skeleton.  The film shifts to a flashback of the sheriff as a teenager, with brightness in his eyes and face, sitting in a wagon with his oddly bulky father who is a sheriff himself.  However, the calm of the moment is shattered when a group of bandits chase after their wagon and drive them to crash near the edge of the cliff.  As the flashback cuts in and out, a damning series of events lead to the older sheriff’s death.  The teenager fails to save his father.  As the film is brought back to the present, we are wondering if this now battered old sheriff has decided to call it quits and throw himself from the cliff into the vast canyon.

           The bright spot in “Borrowed Time” is certainly the expressions in the face of the younger sheriff.  Since there are no words, his face is all we have to read the situation.  However, the short film is confusing and depressing.  Why would the sheriff kill himself now?  He has to have aged like thirty years.  On top of that, the climax of the film occurs when the sheriff is teetering on the edge of the cliff and a ray of light refracts off of a pocket watch in the wreckage of the wagon.  The sheriff scurries off the edge of the cliff and opens the pocket watch that contains a picture of himself and his father.  It is at this sight that the sheriff breaks into tears, and the film ends.  Seriously? All this drama for that? While it has many of the redeeming attributes of a Pixar short, “Borrowed Time” is an unashamedly sappy and failed attempt at depicting grief. 

Pearl - OP-ROB RATING: STARTER

"Pearl" is about a single father who raises his daughter as he drives across the United States in a rickety hatchback trying to make it as a guitarist. The entire story is depicted through the car. He parks and stands outside with his guitar while people listen and sometimes drop money into his guitar case.  As Pearl grows, she learns to play as well. While she seems to be having a ton of fun, her father knows that being on the road 24/7 is no life for a little girl. He settles down with a desk job and the story fast-forwards until she has grown into a young woman. Still playing guitar, she takes the car on road trips and joy rides with her friends. Ultimately, she ends up becoming a commercially successful musician. On the way to a concert opening, she picks up her now middle-aged father in the very same car he abdicated for a desk. 

All of this occurs in the time it takes for the upbeat song "No Wrong Way Home" to play as a narrative.  The 6 minutes are packed with moments of joy, sacrifice, and nostalgia.  The low point of the film is the quality of the animation, which looks on par with the kinds of video games you might have played on the original Play Station.  The reason for the shoddy graphics could be attributed to the fact that “Pearl” is the first-ever “virtual reality” animation film to be nominated for an Academy Award.  You can actually watch the film on YouTube and look around the hatchback a full 360 degrees.  Despite the gimmick, “Pearl" is the second best amongst this year’s nominees. In a stronger lineup it may have fallen towards the back. Nonetheless, "Pearl" is a heartwarming story, with a good song, that is undoubtedly worth the 6 minutes.

Piper - OP-ROB RATING: BENCH

“Piper” is Disney Pixar’s contribution to the 2017 nominees and is the story of a baby sandpiper presumably named Piper.  The tiny bird is enticed by its mother to shimmy down to the seashore and search for baby clams.  However, on Piper’s first hunting trip she fails to retreat with the other sandpipers and is swept under the surf.  Traumatized, Piper refuses to come out and hunt again until she notices some hermit crabs going full on into the waves without fear.  Piper decides to follow the crabs and discover their secret to outsmarting the surf.

Keeping with the Disney Pixar standard, “Piper” is beautifully animated and methodically scored.  The crisp animation of the beachfront scene could easily be mistaken for something from the real life “Planet Earth” series.  The music is equally well done.  As Piper darts across the beach and dips under the ocean there is a perfectly timed note to accompany every move of her journey. 

Despite the quality production of the film, at 6 minutes “Piper” is pretty shallow on meaningfulness.  Compared to 2014’s “Feast” and 2012’s “Paperman”, it feels a bit thin.  Perhaps Disney Pixar set the bar too high with the aforementioned shorts, which both took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short at their respective Academy Awards.  But nonetheless, the bar has been set, and “Piper” offers little more than well-executed cuteness.

Blind Vaysha - OP-ROB RATING: BUST

“Blind Vaysha” is a Canadian short about a girl named Vaysha who is born with a terrible curse; she can only see the past out of one eye and out of the other eye she can only see the future.  The distance in time between the two eyes varies greatly.  For example she may see sunrise and sunset out of the two eyes, but at other times she sees a prehistoric wasteland and then a post-apocalyptic hell.  Rough times for Vaysha, who the townspeople deem “Blind Vaysha”.  The film details her woes, especially in finding a suitable husband.  All of her suitors approach as children out of one eye, and as decrepit old men out of the other. 

            The story is at first fascinating, but plateaus quickly.  The 8-minute run time is dominated by all of the problems Vaysha faces with her terrible curse.  As if to end the unsolvable problem of seeing only the past and the future, the narrator turns the curse on the audience and literally asks you to close one eye and then the other and imagine what it would be like.  Finally, the narrator drops the hammer with a question that amounts to, “do you fail to live in the present?”  Nice try, but I’ll pass on the 8-minute medievally illustrated lecture next time.

Pear Cider and Cigarettes - OP-ROB RATING: LEGEND

“Pear Cider and Cigarettes” was the final short in the lineup and was preceded by a warning for adult themes.  When the film was introduced the main thing I noticed was the glaring 32-minute run time inside the parentheses.  In all honesty, I was apprehensive about a not so short 32-minute “short”.  The film, which is written, directed and animated by Rob Valley, is a personal account of his childhood friend Techno Stypes.  The film opens swiftly when Valley receives a letter informing him that Techno has died.  The intrigue builds when Rob tells us that he had just gotten back from a trip to China at the request of Techno’s parents.  As Valley explains he had two objectives in China, “1. Get Techno to stop drinking long enough to receive the liver transplant, and 2. Get him back home to Vancouver.”

There is not one single aspect of “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” that made it the best film out of the nominees, but rather the cohesiveness of the narration, animation, and story together.  Everything just fits perfectly.  The darkly animated shots cement the film in a unique kind of noir.  Furthermore, by opening with news of Techno’s death, the whole narrative has an investigative feel similar to “True Detective”.  Who was Techno? And how did he die? The film is steeped in mystery at the outset and the story momentously unravels.

The animation is sharp, and the slender characters moves in a pronounced, assured way.  Techno is portrayed as a sturdy, fast, and powerful young man but eventually becomes lean and rigid as his liver fails due to alcoholism.  The cities of Vancouver, BC and Guangdong, China each take on an air of smoky, neon-lit ruthlessness under Valley’s focused artwork.  The world in which “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” takes place is real, but dark and unforgiving.  Just as the animation fuses to the story, so does Valley’s narration.  As a true story, “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” has an extra layer of authenticity and Valley narrates with brutal honesty as he describes the self-fulfilling downfall of his friend Techno.  Finally, the background music in “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” adds to the grittiness of the film featuring artists such as Morphine, Queens of the Stone Age, Cypress Hill, and Pink Floyd.

In the end, “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” is a very simple lesson about human nature delivered with distinct style.  People want what they don’t have, and those that have everything often can’t seem to find purpose.  Techno is one of those rebels without a cause.  In a somewhat dull roster of Oscar Nominees, “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” is undoubtedly the sharpest.