'In the Heights' Dazzles with Poignant Story and Spectacular Dance Numbers

IN THE HEIGHTS

Director: John M. Chu

Genre: Musical Drama

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: June 10, 2021

My Rating: 9/10

When I think of predominantly Latino neighborhoods in New York City, I immediately think of the Bronx and Queens, to be completely honest. I don't think of Washington Heights, the upper Manhattan neighborhood that serves as the setting for In The Heights, the highly-anticipated musical of the summer that was postponed one full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is of course the big-screen adaptation of the 2008 Broadway musical of the same name from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the "Nuyorican" multi-hyphenate genius behind another more recent stage musical, the hip-hop sensation Hamilton. 

In The Heights is set over the course of three hot summer days in the "barrio" or neighborhood of Washington Heights, leading up to a blackout that we are warned about from the very beginning of the film. The story centers on Usnavi (Ramos), a 20-something young man with dreams who came to America from his native Dominican Republic after becoming an orphan. Usnavi owns a "bodega," or small local grocery store, whom he runs with his younger cousin Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) and tries to make the best of every day despite the humble life he leads. As the film opens, Usnavi is sitting at what appears to be a bar by the beach called "El Suenito" (The Little Dream) and is surrounded by a group of small children, to whom he begins recounting the story of his life in the NYC neighborhood, which he says always felt vibrant because "the streets were made of music." 

What follows is a dazzling, vivacious opening number whose song title matches the film's name. We get introduced to all of the major characters early on, including Usnavi's friend Benny (Hawkins) who works for the cab company across the street from the bodega, Benny's boss Kevin Rosario (Smits), Usnavi's love interest Vanessa (Barrera), Kevin's daughter and Benny's romantic interest Nina (Grace), and Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz), a kind, elderly woman from Cuba who was a grandmother-like figure to Usnavi growing up and the de-facto matriarch of the Spanish-speaking community in Washington Heights. 

Although I never saw the original Broadway production and thus have no point of direct comparison, I can only judge In The Heights based on its attempts to make an entertaining film out of a musical. In this respect, the movie has undoubtedly succeeded. The soundtrack itself may not be as memorable as that of Hamilton, but the choreographed dance numbers that accompany each song are amazing. The pool and nightclub scenes, the latter of which comes just before the blackout, especially stand out in unique ways, as they are full of color and motion. 

The film is also extremely timely and relevant because it addresses themes of economic struggles, prejudice, and the American Dream. When the film begins, Nina has returned home from Stanford University and announces to her father and her friends at a local barbershop that she has decided to drop out, much to the dismay of everyone ("No me diga!" or "I can't believe it!" they all respond). Nina sings about the pressure she feels for being treated like the pride and joy of her community because she "made it out" and was able to continue her education by being admitted to an elite college. We then learn that a major contributing factor to Nina's decision was her feeling lonely and like an outsider. More specifically, she reveals, she was often discriminated against for being Hispanic in a predominantly white environment.  She opens up about two distinct incidents that made her realize she didn't belong in this new world: a fellow student mistook her for a waiter at an elegant dinner at the university, and her white roommate and her family wrongly accused her of stealing jewelry. 

Today, in real life, there are undoubtedly millions of non-white college students (and young people, more generally speaking) across the United States who still experience the same emotions Nina does when they enter a new environment. There is also a brief scene of a protest against the deportation of "Dreamers," or immigrants who came to the U.S. as children- this ties into the story's theme of dreams. The Obama-era DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy is mentioned, which demonstrates that the script for the film was adapted to reflect more current issues than the ones that existed when In The Heights first appeared on Broadway (which is when Obama was running for president). Sonny is shown to be crestfallen after learning he is unable to get a college education because he is undocumented. However, he is committed to protesting and speaking out to the injustices he perceives. In the pool scene, he and many others sing about what they would do with $96,000 after Usnavi's bodega sells a winning lottery ticket. "The rich are penetrating, we pay our corporations when we should be demonstrating," Sonny angrily laments. "What about immigration? Politicians be hating', racism in this nation's gone from latent to blatant." That final lyric was likely poignant when In the Heights originally came out on Broadway but is indisputably more accurate today: if that's not a reflection of the current political climate in the post-Trump era, I don't know what is. 

There is also the great sense of national pride that is reflected in the post-blackout scene that includes the two songs "Carnaval del Barrio" ("Party in the Hood") and "Alza la Bandera" ("Raise the flag"). As the residents of Washington Heights sit around moping about the scorching weather, salon worker Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega) indignantly exclaims, "Since when are Latin people scared of heat?!" and a big, impromptu dance party begins as dozens of residents proudly waive their nation's banners, and we see glimpses of the Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Mexican flags, among others. It's rare to see something like that in any major Hollywood film, even today. 

In the Heights did not do well at the box office, which was likely disappointing to many people involved with the film. However, it was simultaneously released on HBO Max, which many individuals likely chose as their viewing preference given the fact that they can watch the film from the comfort of their home. (Netflix has gained a significant number of subscribers since the pandemic, it's no surprise if HBO's streaming service follows suit.) Nevertheless, the film may have gained something even more meaningful than record ticket sales: the honor of being the first major Hollywood musical film of the 21st century to feature a predominantly Hispanic/nonwhite cast. The movie was even presented at the Tribeca Festival in Washington Heights this year and at other film festivals around the country in areas characterized by a large Spanish-speaking community. 

Yes, Miranda and the crew behind the film received criticism for its lack of Afro-Latino actors in the main cast, as these individuals represent a substantial component of Washington Heights. But the truth is that this adaptation of In the Heights remains a huge step forward for Hollywood and could likely pave the way for similar projects in the coming years. Miranda acknowledged the film's shortcomings with regards to representation and responded to the rebukes of "colorism" in his typical eloquent, humble, and respectful manner, which I believe provides a sense of optimism. In the Heights is all about dreams, and hopefully audiences learned to dream in little or big ways after watching this beautiful story unfold on the screen. 

'The Big Short' Proves To Be Nothing Short Of A Big Triumph

THE BIG SHORT
Director: Adam McKay
Genre: Biographical Comedy/Drama
Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: December 11, 2015
My Rating: 8.5/10

I've seen, heard and read a lot of explanations about the gigantic financial meltdown and "housing bubble" that hit the United States--and the rest of the world too, for that matter--during the late 2000s. Thanks to graph and statistic-laden explanations from professors in college, documentaries like Inside Job, movies like HBO's Too Big To Fail, or even simply dinnertime reports from my father, who just so happens to work in the banking industry, I've come to grasp the basic understanding of what exactly occurred during this 2008 crisis, as well as its causes and consequences (or lack of consequences).

None of these accounts proved to be as clear or as entertaining as the one presented by Director Adam McKay's (Anchorman, Step Brothers) biographical dramedy, The Big Short, based on Michael Lewis's (The Blind Side, Moneyball) nonfiction book of the same name. The film tells the story of a few visionary guys who essentially bet against the US housing market and the American economy as a whole by 'shorting' bonds, subprime mortgage loans and other types of securities. 'Shorting' refers to selling securities not owned by the seller (borrower) with the belief that the price of that security will eventually decline, thus allowing it to be repurchased at this lower price for a profit. Thus, a new market was created to get a tool for shorting: the market of credit default swap (CDS), a type of financial exchange between a seller and a buyer (lender) that serves as a form of insurance against the defaulting of a loan.

The main players of the betting game: Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a neurologist turned hedge fund manager of California-based Scion Capital with Asperger's Syndrome and an artificial left eye, who was essentially the first on Wall Street to foresee the bursting of the housing bubble and thus made a profit by throwing over $1 billion of his investors' money into credit default swaps. FrontPoint Capital hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell, based on real-life manager Steve Eisman), cynical Deutsche Bank bond trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling, based on Greg Lippmann), and jaded former JP Morgan Chase Bank trader Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt, based on Ben Hockett), who worked at the major bank's office in Singapore and was pessimistic about the banking industry.

Vennett approaches Baum about shorting collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), groups of asset-backed securities that are basically a promise to pay investors in a prescribed sequence of 'tranches' or portions based on the cash flow the CDO collects from the pool of assets it owns. Vennett explains to Baum and the rest of his team at FrontPoint that these CDOs have been packaged together and incorrectly assigned very high AAA ratings by agencies like Standard & Poor, which leads the ragtag group of Wall Street hotshots to pull off one of the greatest heists in decades.

Although I have not read Lewis's book, the script (from Mr. McKay and Charles Randolph) is superb, without a doubt. Perhaps what I found most engaging about the film was the inclusion of random celebrity cameos (as themselves) to simplify the explanation of the basic definition and functioning of financial instruments and transactions: from Australian actress Margot Robbie explaining subprime mortgages in a bathtub, to chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain using seafood to describe CDOs, to pop star Selena Gomez describing 'synthetic' CDOs (essentially CDOs piggy-backing on other CDOs) while playing blackjack in a casino. Yes, you read all of those correctly.

Some may find it patronizing to use celebrities and simple analogies to 'dumb-down' these highly technical concepts, but I found it very fun and refreshing. These lighter scenes provided a more-than-welcome relief from the narration (mostly from Mr. Gosling's character) and conversations between the protagonists, which quite frankly revealed a lot of depressing information about the collapse of the American and world economies. The interspersing of quotes that were not stated but shown across a black screen, both anonymous and from famous folks, also helped to provide straightforward analogies for the crisis.

If celebs like the above three are what it takes for people to pay more attention, then so be it. As Mr. Carell's character tells his wife (Marisa Tomei) over the phone, complaining about how nobody cares about all of this, not even those who know they're being ripped off: "They're being screwed, you know. You know what they care about? They care about the ball game, or what actress just checked into rehab." And he's right. Most people who pass by us everyday may have no involvement with this industry and could not care less about it.

The performances are very sincere and reflect the varying emotions and opinions all of these top bank and hedge-fund leaders expressed during the meltdown. Mr. Carrel proves once again, following his Oscar-nominated role in 'Foxcatcher,' that despite his long resume as a funny man, can also brilliantly tackle much more dramatic roles. He does not shy away from demonstrating the frustration men like his character, and Mr. Pitt's character, felt at the demise of the industry, and more specifically at its lack of honesty and integrity, which Burry talks about in narration form at the end of the film.

Mr. Pitt's scolding of two young, ambitious, twenty-something guys (John Magaro and Finn Wittrock) who celebrate after they realize how much profit they are going to make from the big short operation encapsulates so much about the film: "Do you have any idea what you just did? You just best against the American economy. People are going to lose their homes, their jobs."

Oscar Winner Christian Bale also immerses himself beautifully into the character of the real-life, eccentric, and socially awkward yet oddly likable Michael Burry, the visionary genius who predicted the entire collapse and who did not let anyone, not even his superiors, stop him from believing he was right. His case proves that even the strangest people, with the oddest, out-of place habits like blasting heavy metal, playing with drumsticks, and wearing a t-shirt and no shoes, can be the outsiders we need to bring to light the importance of a severe issue.

The Big Short is now nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Mr. Bale, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
    

Room: A Film With A Small Setting And A Larger-than-Life Impact

ROOM
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Genre: Drama
Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, William H. Macy
Distributed by: A24 Films
Release Date: October 16, 2015
My Rating: 9.5/10


Every now and then, a movie comes along that is so powerful you feel like you are riding a roller-coaster of emotions throughout the entire viewing: fear, heartbreak, joy, all in the span of under two hours. The 2015 film that reflects that description the most, for me, is the Oscar-nominated indie Room.   

From Irish director Lenny Abrahamson comes the adaptation of fellow Irish-Canadian novelist Emma Donoghue's 2010 book of the same name. Miss Donoghue writes the screenplay for this beautiful and heart-wrenching film about the love between a young mother and her son, and their struggle to attain freedom.


The film follows 24-year-old Joy "Ma" Newsome (Brie Larson), a young woman who has been held in captivity in a tiny backyard shed for seven years, along with her five-year-old son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay). The man who has kept them there: a monster they refer to as 'Old Nick' (Sean Bridgers), who appears to be Joy's neighbor, and who only provides her and Jack with food and other basic necessities. Old Nick repeatedly rapes Joy in the shed that only has one opening in the ceiling that allows skylight, and that houses one small kitchen and a side room with a bed and bathroom, which  leads Jack to affectionately refer to their entire home as 'room.' After several attempts to escape the shed with Jack, the two are finally set free after a clever plan from Joy, and are taken in by her parents (William H. Macy and Joan Allen).

Joy and Jack slowly learn to adjust and live a normal life in Joy's parents' home in the real world.

Before I say anything else about this movie, I should make two things clear for anyone who hasn't yet seen it. First, there are no explicit rape or abuse scenes: this is only implied. Second, only the first 45 minutes or so of the film take place inside the actual 'room,' for all you claustrophobic folks out there. As a matter of fact, one of the most intense scenes, for me, occurs after the two protagonists are released from their confinement.

The first thing that must be noted is Brie Larson's performance, which is beyond stellar. From every smile, look of frustration, scream, and sobbing plea, Miss Larson immerses herself completely into the role of a mother who is willing to risk everything to break free from her prison and provide a normal life for her and her son. Jacob Tremblay also proves to be a stellar young performer, capturing the innocence and unbridled curiosity of almost any child, even one who may have been raised in such abnormal and oppressive circumstances. This is the first film (that I've seen in theaters) in a very long time that has brought tears to my eyes, which I quickly wiped away because I remembered I was in a public place. When a film does this, and then nearly causes you to cry a second time (for joy), you know it was poignant as hell. That might even be an understatement.

Although I haven't read the original novel, the script is certainly beautifully written: no line of dialogue or scene appears out of place in the slightest. This can likely be attributed to the fact that the author of the novel also serves as the screenwriter. Miss Allen also delivers a strong performance as a woman dedicated to caring for and protecting her long-lost daughter and grandson.

Going to see a film like Room may not be a pleasant way to spend two hours, but truly great art is not always about comfort. It's about telling a story that appeals to any of our raw emotions and makes us ask questions about why people make certain decisions or refuse to make them, how people can be so evil and others purely kind and determined to succeed and attain the happiness they deserve. Is this a far-fetched and exaggerated story? Maybe. Maybe some people have been locked in a shed before, although not for seven years. Nevertheless, this thought never even crossed my mind until well after I left the theater and more importantly, the possibility of the answer to this question being yes does not in any way diminish my view of this story.

Room has now been nominated four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actress for Brie Larson. With a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Best Actress already under her belt, the Academy Award for Best Actress will surely soon find itself in Miss Larson's hands as well. She certainly earns my vote for it.            

From Ireland to Brooklyn, New York: A Young Girl's Journey Across The Pond

BROOKLYN
Director: John Crowley
Genre: Period Drama
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures, TSG Entertainment
Release Date: November 6, 2015
My Rating: 9/10

The Oscars are exactly one month away, so here is my review on the fourth film nominated for Best Picture this year that I've had the pleasure to see so far, one which left me very satisfied.

Irish director John Crowley (Intermission, Boy A, Closed Circuit) brings to the screen an adaptation of Colm Toibin's novel of the same name, while author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy) pens the screenplay.

Oscar Nominee Saoirse (pronounced 'ser-shuh,' like 'inertia') Ronan (Atonement, Hanna, The Host) stars as Eilis (Pronounced 'Ay-lish') Lacey, a young girl from a town in southeast Ireland called Enniscorthy who works at a small shop run by a sour woman named Miss Kelly in 1952. One day, Eilis's older sister Rose arranges for her to travel to the US so that she may find a better life.

Thus, before she can even fully process the weight of her journey, Eilis boards a ferry and travels to Brooklyn, New York, which she soon discovers is home to many other Irish immigrants like her who have family in their home country. She begins living in a boarding house run by an Irish landlady named Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Walters from the Harry Potter films) along with several other girls around her age, both Irish and American, and aspires to become an accountant. Eilis also begins working at a department store, although her initial shyness renders interactions with customers difficult.

At an Irish dance, Eilis also meets a young, hip Italian-American boy named Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen) who works as a plumber. She soon begins dating Tony, and in addition to her job, is enrolled in bookkeeping classes at a local college thanks to help from a friendly Irish priest from back home named Father Flood (Academy-Award Winner Jim Broadbent). Eilis thus begins to feel more accustomed to life in New York. However, after a family tragedy forces her to return home, Eilis becomes the recipient of another young man's advances: a boy named Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson from About Time, Ex Machina). Eilis is quickly forced to choose between two men and two lifestyles: her traditional life in Ireland, or her promising new life in America.

Two aspects of this movie stood out the most for me: the portrayal of the era, and the lead actress's performance. I am of course much less familiar with the way Ireland was during this time, although the depiction of 1950s New York is uncannily similar to many pictures I've seen and texts I've read across the years: from the brightly colored clothes and traditional bathing suits, to the old, shabby apartment buildings and cars.

Miss Ronan undoubtedly carries the film with a heart-wrenching and sincere performance which has earned her an Oscar Nomination for Best Actress, her second after her first nomination for Supporting Actress for Atonement in 2008 at the tender age of 13. It is clear that she is a versatile actress whose film career, despite being relatively recent, has already proven her prowess for playing a wide range of characters. From a lethal assassin to a girl possessed by an alien, to a rebellious, sharp-tongued American girl living in war-torn England, and now to a good-mannered, polite and proper Post-War-Era Irish girl immigrating to New York, Miss Ronan has certainly demonstrated her star power as a foreign actress in Hollywood.

In every major scene in Brooklyn, Ronan displays with unwavering excellence the various emotions her character experiences throughout her journey as she is questioned, controlled, and beaten down by many of the people around her: fear, joy, sorrow, confidence. In the end, Eilis represents the modern-day 'miss independent,' (even if the film does not take place in modern times) who ignores others' desires for her and chooses the life her heart is telling her to pursue, and Saoirse Ronan elegantly displays that.

The script is also very meticulously written, (Hornby is also nominated this year for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay) and although I have not read Mr. Toibin's novel upon which the film is based, nearly every scene and exchange of dialogue is crafted with care, giving each major character life and demonstrating the weight of this drama. Even the few lighter, more comical moments that are interspersed throughout the film are clever.

Miss Ronan's film career will undoubtedly continue upwards after this role, and (aside from the fact that I may have just completely fallen in love with her) I am sure she will be given the opportunity to play several more memorable roles.

'Spotlight' Sheds Heavenly Light On Boston Archdiocese's Great Abuse Tragedy

SPOTLIGHT
Director: Thomas McCarthy
Genre: Drama
Starring: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Brian d'Arcy James, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci
Distributed by: Open Road Films
Release Date: November 6, 2015 (limited)/November 20, 2015 (wide)
My Rating: 9.5/10

"When you're a kid from a poor family and a priest pays attention to you, you feel special. How do you say 'no' to God, right?" This is just one of the many lines that encapsulates the victim's perspectives in a large-scale abuse scandal like the one dealt with in Spotlight. I sincerely hope this film wins, or at least is nominated, for several Oscars and other film awards because it absolutely deserves them. (I must admit bias, as I am an avid fan of investigative journalism dramas based on real events, like All The President's Men, Shattered Glass, and Kill The Messenger.) Writer/Director Tom McCarthy's (The Station Agent, The Visitor) drama, based on real events, centers on the Boston Globe's eponymous team of investigative journalists who, piece by piece, garnered evidence on a series of cases of priests from the Archdiocese of Boston who were molesting little children, particularly boys.

Set in 2001, the film begins with the arrival of Jewish editor-in-chief Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), who takes over after leaving The New York Times, which incidentally bought the Globe a few years prior. After receiving a tip on a story about a priest named Geoghan who supposedly molested a young boy in his parish years ago, the Spotlight Team, led by Walter 'Robby' Robinson (Michael Keaton) begins a full investigation into how many other identical or similar cases there were within the Archdiocese of the city they grew up in. Their quickly research leads them to initially believe 13 priests committed these foul sexual crimes. However, multiple phone interviews with an ex-priest and psychotherapist named Richard Sipe (Richard Jenkins), who treated the priests who were discovered and subsequently sent to a psychiatric hospital, reveal there may have been up to 90 accused clergymen within the city of Boston alone, which roughly matches a national statistic that estimates six percent of priests are pedophiles.

The team manages to confirm 87 priests' names, and after multiple interviews with victims, lawyers, and even members of the Church, the Boston Globe pursues a lawsuit against the religious institution and its leader, Cardinal Bernard Law (Len Cariou).

The film is beautifully shot, and boasts a meticulously written script that alternates speed and pacing in a way that helps to maintain the audience's attention. The score is also very eerie and helps set the tone for a suspenseful storyline. The scenes that involved cross-cutting between different victims' interviews with the Spotlight Team (and, as one can imagine, with characters finishing each other's lines) were some of my favorite. The confessions of the victims are beyond shocking and utterly heartbreaking, especially knowing that they were ignored for so long, (20-plus years in some cases) even if part of the reason for that was that these boys were ashamed to speak out. One of the victims, Phil Saviano (Neal Huff), who states the aforementioned quote, also angrily asks the team of reporters why they ignored a box filled with evidence of abuse he had sent the Globe five years prior.

A lawyer named Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) whom Spotlight reporter Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) constantly perturbs for information, claims that this case is particularly difficult because "the Church controls everything." One of the lawyers who defended the accused priests, Jim Sullivan (Jamey Sheridan), angrily explains when confronted that he was simply "doing his job." Finally, one of the attorneys who defended the victims, Eric MacLeish (Billy Crudup), also becomes defensive and refuses to remotely divulge any piece of information or take any responsibility, saying these types of cases are generally hopeless. So how much true progress and justice can really come when so many turn a blind eye and few seem willing to admit the truth or take the blame?

The performances from the all-star cast are outstanding and reflect their respective characters' perseverance and determination to uncover the truth and not let this story go unheard, despite another major event rocking the country at one point of the more-than-a-year-long investigation: 9/11. The most prominent performances for me were those of Mr. Keaton, Mr. Ruffalo, and Rachel McAdams, who plays the only female reporter on the Spotlight Team, Sacha Pfeiffer. Funny enough, Ms. McAdams' character is also the only one in the entire film who is shown directly interviewing an accused priest, who clearly seems mentally ill.

Aside from the shots of Boston's landmarks which unsurprisingly made me immensely miss my college city, the shots of the city, particularly during the wintertime, are perfect for such a dark tale.
Truth be told, I couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed as a Catholic after watching this film. I remember hearing of a few real-life cases of child molestation by clergymen in high school and in college, but I never truly realized the size and scope of this scandal until watching this film. To learn that, although justice was served in many cases, many others remain unfinished, is even more horrifying. The end credits reveal the cities both in the US and in the rest of the world where such scandals have erupted, and believe me when I saw your jaw will drop when you see just how many cities are on this list.

The fact that the judge assigned to the main case in which the Church was sued, Constance Sweeney, was a devout Irish Catholic woman, and that this woman ruled against the Church, is indisputably significant. Furthermore, nobody seemed interested in pursuing this story until a new editor who wasn't Catholic showed up and pushed for the investigation, because as one character states, "it takes an outsider," an opinion I happen to agree with. As for the accuracy and authenticity of the film's events, facts and statistics, the reporters from the Globe involved in the investigation were scrutinized by other journalists. The Spotlight Team members also published a book based on their findings entitled Betrayal: The Crisis of the Catholic Church. 

Of course, not all priests are pedophiles or criminals of another nature. Just like police officers, some are merciless (and perhaps mentally ill), but many others are also good people. I make this comparison due to the increasing number of cops who have been shooting or violently arresting unarmed black men across the country and are defacing our society's image of policeman. Both priests and cops are figures who are supposed to represent all that is good, yet who is ensuring that they don't abuse of their rights or authority? Sadly, there seems to be a long way to go in both of these issues, although I am confident that big changes will come, even if it is not in the most drastic of ways.          

Tom Hanks Shines As Key Facilitator In 'Bridge of Spies'

BRIDGE OF SPIES
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Historical Drama
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda
Distributed by: Touchstone Pictures (North America), 20th Century Fox (International)
Release Date: October 16, 2015
My Rating: 7.5/10

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is back as both Director and Producer of yet another 20th-century war drama. Although this film does not take place during World War II like Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Flags of Our Fathers, or Letters from Iwo Jima, this film is set in 1957 during the height of the Cold War, which arose in large part due to the aftermath of the Second World War.

Two-time Academy-Award-winner Tom Hanks stars as Jim Donovan, an insurance lawyer from Brooklyn who is tasked with the highly controversial task of defending Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a Soviet spy, who is also a British Citizen, who has just been arrested in New York after FBI agents storm his apartment and find evidence of his illicit activities.

Many American officials and even civilians fear Abel may be a KGB spy, but work hard to ensure his trial is fair so as to avoid another reason for escalating tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.
As one might expect during that time, Donovan quickly becomes despised by the American public, and he and his family slowly become threatened. The lawyer remains persistent, and continues his attempts to convince the courts to give Abel 30 years imprisonment rather than a direct death sentence, but fails.

Meanwhile, a young pilot named Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down from his U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, where he is captured, imprisoned, and tortured. Another young American, an economics graduate exchange student named Frederic Pryor who is working on his dissertation in East Germany, is also detained and held hostage shortly afterwards following a visit to his German girlfriend in East Berlin just as the Berlin Wall is being constructed. Thus, Donovan attempts to negotiate a 2-for-1 trade with the USSR: Abel for both Powers and Pryor. The USSR only agrees to return Powers, which prompts Donovan to fight till the bitter end until both him and Pryor are home safe.

Bridge of Spies is certainly a very well-shot war thriller, with both dreary, grey shades during the winter in present-day Russia and brightly-colored outfits that bring the 1950s completely to life (especially in the case of Donovan's wife and daughter, played by Amy Ryan and Bono's real-life daughter Eve Hewson). The tensions between the two major superpower nations are vividly depicted-despite the occasional comic relief in one-on-one conversation scenes-and the display of people illegally jumping over the Berlin Wall at night fresh off its construction, only to be shot by Soviet/East German police, are shocking.

Tom Hanks delivers his usual outstanding performance of a man who is nothing short of perseverant, albiet fierce opposition from his own compatriots. Support from a strong cast and a well-penned script from the Coen Brothers and Matt Charman help to round off a story that in the end truly does demonstrate how drastically differently both nations operated during this tumultuous Cold War. The fact that Donovan is ultimately granted the majority of the credit for the exchange, while Abel does not even remotely appear to be welcomed back to his homeland with open arms. Likewise, Powers is depicted as undergoing through much more violent interrogation sessions from the Soviets than Abel is by the Americans: bias? Probably. Donovan is revealed to have also played a large role in negotiating the exchange of prisoners during the Bay of Pigs Invasion just a few years later in 1962, which may be another reason why he is so revered in this film.

The film is rather long, with a total running time of 2 hours and 21 minutes, and the negotiations do seem to drag on for the latter half of the story, and the ending is more anti-climactic than some may like, so although you might leave the theater disappointed in this regard just remember that you were warned.

I hope to see more of Mr. Spielberg's work in the coming years, whether it take the form of another war drama or a more sci-fi/adventure blockbuster that recalls old classics like the beloved Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park franchises.         

Saving Jason Bourne/Will Hunting/Prviate Ryan... In Outer Space? Count Me In!

THE MARTIAN
Director: Ridley Scott
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: October 2, 2015
My Rating: 9/10

In all sincerity, I've been disappointed by the last few string of intergalactic sci-fi flicks that have been thrust full throttle onto the big screen in recent years. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity (2013) was decent, with a great cast and splendid visuals, but not completely satisfying and dubiously realistic (not to mention an unsatisfying, grandiose ending). Clearly, The Academy loved it, since it snagged seven out of ten Oscars, including Best Director and Best Visual Effects.

Christopher Nolan's uber-lengthy space-set blockbuster Interstellar (2014) left me even more vastly disheartened, despite its equally stunning panorama of futuristic landscapes and special effects and A-list cast. (Also, far too much crying)

However, acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus) engenders a brilliant thrill ride in The Martian, which is based on Andy Weir's 2011 novel of the same name. The film revolves around Mark Watney (Damon), an astronaut who becomes stranded on Planet Mars after a dust storm strikes, which leads his five fellow crew members (Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie) to abandon him and return to Earth.

Using his wide array of skills as a botanist and engineer, as well as his morbid sense of humor, Watney learns to adapt to the desolate environment on Mars. He records video logs of his survival progress, which he eventually manages to send to NASA after an initial struggle to establish communication with them. Both his crew and NASA's top executives, among them Head Director Teddy Sanders (Daniels), Media Relations Director Annie Montrose (Wiig), and Mars lead mission director/engineer Vincent Kapoor (Ejiofor), scramble to employ ever resource and strategy available, including the assistance of China's National Space Association, to rescue Watney and return him home safely.

Matt Damon (my favorite actor of all time) is outstanding as the optimistic and somewhat snarky Mark Watney. Recalling his roles in the Bourne trilogy, The Adjustment Bureau and many other movies, Mr. Damon immerses himself completely in the role of this multi-talented man who traverses hell and back to reach his final destination. The rest of the star-studded cast also form a magnificent ensemble, with A-list Oscar-nominees Jessica Chastain portraying Melissa Lewis, the valiant and determined Commander of Watney's crew and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the cautious and brilliant Mars mission leader Vince Kapoor. Jeff Daniels channels the same vigor and nonsense-intolerance of his character from his hit HBO series The Newsroom, anchor Will McAvoy, to bring NASA Head Teddy Sanders to life.

Although the visuals of the red-tinged wasteland that is supposed to be Mars are fantastic, the film is not solely defined by them. The score and soundtrack are equally entertaining, particularly the latter. I haven't seen every major/classic space-set sci-fi movie in the history of film, but I'm willing to bet Bill Gates levels of money that this is the only one to include a setlist of mega-corny 70s disco tunes and other classic oldies, from Gloria Gaynor, to Donna Summer, to Gloria Estefan. If the thought of Matt Damon rebuilding a space vehicle while ABBA's "Waterloo" plays in the background doesn't appeal to you, then you can't possibly be a very happy person. Unfortunately, Train's "Drops of Jupiter" doesn't make the cut. Maybe in the sequel.

The script remains substantially true to Weir's novel, with a few minor details omitted, including much of the profanity uttered by characters like Watney and Annie, presumably to justify a PG-13 rating and attract younger audiences. The doses of humor, including Watney's complaints of going seven days without any ketchup for his meals, and his claims of colonizing Mars by being the first human to grow potatoes, with a smug "in you face, Neil Armstrong," to tack it off, keep you as engaged in the story as much as the protagonist is determined to return home safely.

All of these elements contribute to making The Martian a spectacular film that any viewers who remotely enjoy astronaut flicks will remember from beginning to end. Some scientists have claimed that the storyline is very unrealistic in certain respects, while Mr. Damon referred to it as 'science faction.' A few film buffs have described the film as a cross between Apollo 13 and Cast Away, although I believe that the film is meant to be much more. Should Mr. Scott decide to helm yet another upcoming sci-fi film with a similar cast and similar themes, I will be sure to look out for it. In the meantime, go see this film to find out if the the talented Mr. Watney does indeed survive.