Miles Ahead: A Movie Review

This past weekend I went to go see the new movie about Miles Davis starring Don Cheadle. The movie, called Miles Ahead, utilizes creative license and mixes fact with fiction in order to get at the truth a little more clearly than facts alone.

It may sound absurd to those who segregate information into discrete categories such as fact and fiction or truth and lies, but people are far more complex than most binary categories can yield. One of the advantages of this movie is that it drives this point. It addresses the complexity of Miles as an aging creative force in a world that sees art as a revenue source. It also explores the precarious dependency between artist and those who monetize art.

Miles was a master of improvisation, and given the way he interpreted music I think he would enjoy this interpretation of his life. After all, if we only look at something from beginning to end, we miss some of the larger themes that get buried in the day to day events. This movie realigns time and abruptly jumps from one time period to another in a series of cycles. The technique reveals the leitmotifs within the life of Miles Davis.

Don’t see this movie if you’re looking for a biography of Miles Davis. While some events in the movie are accurate, this is not a historical retelling of his life.

Go see the movie if you’re interested in an interpretation of the essence of Miles. One of the reasons I suspect that Miles would prefer this movie to a factual chronological biography is because, like his music, it tells us more about Miles than the events in his life could.

What I Learned From "All Is Lost"

Although sparse in dialog, this film is a rich source of information about life and has a lot to teach the average viewer. Here are a few of the things I learned from watching this film:

1. If you’re taking a boat out on the ocean, don’t let Robert Redford navigate.

2. Watch out for cheap shoes floating in the ocean. They can be deadly.

3. Sharks are real jerks.

4. Sailing is like Nightmare on Elm Street: bad stuff happens when you fall asleep.

5. Sometimes the only way to save yourself is to set everything on fire (and don’t think I won’t use this excuse the next time I set the kitchen on fire).

One of the main lessons I learned is that you don’t need a lot of dialog to make a movie interesting. There are a lot of sparse things about this film aside from the dialog, but there’s also a lot of richness. The lack of dialog and missing backstory in combination with the beautiful imagery and intense drama make this film open to interpretations as a loose metaphor for the struggles of  life, love, relationships, or spirituality. We all struggle. Some of us just don't give up. This is story telling done well.

A Girl and Her Gargoyle - At The Movies

Newton and I went to see a film together. The movie was about a museum guard and his friend, so it seemed appropriate (gargoyles being natural guardians).

 Good news!  Gargoyles get in free! So we had extra money for concessions. Here's Newton choosing his beer:

Gargoyles also love popcorn. Luckily I got a large so there was enough for both of us.

 After the film Newton wanted a closer look at the dragon across the street. I think he may be in love.

Newton's Movie Review:
If you're looking for an action film that keeps your talons gripping your seat, this is not the film for you. Watching this film is like looking at a painting with intricate details and where the primary subject isn't always determined by the title of the piece. That was the director's point. While one of the main characters is a guardian, his claws were far too neatly manicured for him to be able to protect much. However, there were some great shots of the art in the museum and nice cinematography.

You're Next - Movie Review

Note: There are spoilers in this review.

I’m not a fan of horror movies, but Mr. Amy happens to love them. He’s seen just about every horror film ever made anywhere in the world. He loves scary things. That’s why he married me. So when I was offered a chance to preview the horror film “You’re Next” (which opens August 23), I decided to take Mr. Amy on a date to see it. Mr. Amy was skeptical, of course, as he has pretty much seen it all in this genre. I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure I would be able to sleep for the next week. However, we were both pleasantly surprised by this film.

The movie is about a home invasion and has been billed as the next generation in horror films. The trailer makes it look creepy. However, it’s not a new way to terrorize horror fans - it’s a new way to entertain them and fans of movies like Evil Dead will probably really enjoy this film.

The movie started out in the predictable horror formula, but very soon I was engaged with dialog so calculatingly bad that there was no way it was an accident. These writers knew the rules of screen dialog and broke them with gusto. The results were hilarious and I have not laughed that hard in a movie in a long time.  For example, when no one can get cell phone service one of the family members states, “He’s probably using a cell phone blocker. They’re illegal, but you can get one on the internet for about $30.” Another of my favorite conversations is early in the film when the family members are at dinner talking about how they only watch TV for the commercials and they think that documentary style commercials are a good idea.

If you can stomach the bloody scenes, this movie is an excellent study in what not to do when writing dialog. Yes, this is a gory film and there’s plenty of fake blood splattered. However, there are several creative kills that were so ridiculous that I laughed and cringed at the same time. Between the entertaining dialog and the creative take on an old genre, this movie was worth seeing.