Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story

Wanna see Lance Armstrong get eviscerated for 90 minutes? Well, here's your movie! This movie tells the story of Armstrong's career while also telling the story of his PED usage in parallel. There are interviews with Greg LeMond, Betsy & Frankie Andreu, and several others - all of them just shredding Armstrong. The depth and breadth of the manner in which his legend is torn down is pretty amazing. There's also some stuff in here on the media and its canonization of Armstrong as well as plenty of stuff on Lance's (in)famous vindictiveness towards those he believes wronged him. I mean, we're talking about a guy who sued people for defamation for saying he was using PEDs - while he was using PEDs. Amazing. Anyway, on the whole, there's not a ton of new stuff here since we all know the Lance story already, but it's still very good. 8/10.

I Am Street Fighter

Originally produced as a pack-in for the 25th Anniversary Street Fighter package, Capcom eventually released this doc as a freebie into the wild. This generally focuses on the players and tournaments for SF, rather than the games themselves. Obviously, there's a lot on the games but that's not the focus. And that's OK. What's here is very good and interesting. Profiles of several top players, tournament directors, and so on. There's a lot of stuff with one hardcore SF-related collector. And there's lots of discussion on USA vs Japan as far as skills and why things are what they are (fewer arcades in the US = less in-person competition and, thus, lower skills, etc). All in all, I liked this one a lot. I like the SF games and have played just about all of them. If you're a fan, you'll like this. 8/10.

Life Itself

Also the name of his autobiography, Life Itself is a documentary chronicling the life and career (and, ultimately, the death) of film critic Roger Ebert. This is at once an interesting, funny, moving, slightly disturbing, and flawed documentary. On the one hand, it does a terrific job of capturing Ebert's early career and his rise as a partner with Gene Siskel. And we get some fun outtakes, some of which I'd seen before. And there's a nice interview with Gene's widow. And we get lots of footage of Ebert as well as he undergoes treatment with his wife Chaz by his side. That's where the slightly disturbing part comes in - Ebert's cancer treatment included the removal of his lower jaw. He's left with, well, the skin from his chin hanging down, making it so you can look through his mouth and see his neck. That's a bit unsettling. Through it all, Ebert maintains a mostly good attitude, staying funny, communicating via his trusty Macbook. He keeps busy, writing a lot and still watching movies. Unfortunately, he declined faster than expected and so the director was left finishing sooner than he wanted, at least as far as Ebert footage is concerned. And there's where the "flawed" aspect of the movie comes in. They left out an entire segment of Ebert's career - his partnership with Richard Roeper, which lasted nearly a decade - entirely, a terrible oversight that wounded Roeper personally. And they never directly get Ebert's final opinion on Siskel. They were enemies at first and that shifted over time but even Gene's widow isn't sure 100% certain of how they felt about each other. The director spent plenty of time with Ebert to get a full answer from him on this topic but never does. An interesting, if sad, side story is that Siskel never told Ebert he was sick with his brain tumor before passing. Roger was deeply wounded by that and he vowed to make his own illness known so that people wouldn't feel hurt by not knowing. Anyway, this was very good. 8/10.

The Fall

Agent Scully plays Stella Gibson, a tough, cool high-ranking detective with a penchant for one-night stands, who has been placed in charge of a case review (and later task force) investigating what turns into a serial killer. Fifty Shades of Grey guy is Paul Spector - the serial killer. This is a Netflix original series produced in cooperation with the BBC and takes place in Belfast. The entire show is very dark, often disturbing, understated, and very compelling. Spector is charismatic, able to charm women into doing whatever he wants. His 15-year old babysitter practically throws herself at him, is real close to figuring out he's the killer and he is able to draw her onto his side by NOT seducing her. His wife lies for him. Etc. Meanwhile, Gibson is inquisitive, probing, dedicated but realistic. The show obviously revolves almost entirely around the search for Spector but there are other stories going on as well. This is good stuff - really creepy, well-acted, and dark. There's only a handful of episodes on Netflix (11 total covering the only two seasons made so far) but they're really good. Check it out - 8/10.

Red Army

Red Army tells the story of Soviet hockey greatness through the eyes of retired superstar Slava Fetisov. Fetisov had a remarkable career playing for Red Army before eventually being allowed to travel to North America to play in the NHL. He's now Minister of Sport for Russia. The movie features a number of great interviews from Soviet players and officials, including a former KGB guy. Fetisov generally comes off well here except at the very beginning where he's pretty rudely ignoring the director and flips him off. Overall, the movie tells its story well but... there's really now around the fact that much of the impact of Red Army has been blunted by ESPN's release of their 30 For 30: Of Miracles and Men, which covered a lot of the same ground, a few weeks ago. In fact, ESPN's piece is arguably the better movie, covering more ground (it goes back to the start of Soviet hockey, while Red Army starts in the late 70s) and in more detail. The two movies complement each other well and it's worth seeing both BUT, if you're going to see just one, see the ESPN film. Red Army also, for whatever reason, decided to make a confusing mess of the little montage they did of the Miracle on Ice. Clips are shown super-zoomed in, out of order and generally just in a very confusing fashion. Makes no sense. Gripes aside, this was very good anyway. 8/10.

The Act of Killing

WTF. This is one of the most messed-up, surreal movies I've ever seen. On some level, I get these guys being matter-of-fact, even proud, of the killing they did way back when. But to agree to make a movie about it? And re-enact all the torturing? And so on? And then to do it in various genres, like a musical? With one of the guys running around in drag for 80% of the movie? Again...WTF. I can't say this was a good documentary but it was compelling. And interesting. But good? I dunno. The one guy coming to the crushing realization at the end of the movie as to the horrors he's committed was certainly something to see. I did find myself wondering the whole time, "How the heck did the filmmakers even get this setup in the first place?" Anyway, worth seeing. 8/10.

McFarland, USA

Kevin Costner is Jim White, the cross country coach at McFarland High School, an almost entirely Latino high school in a very poor agricultural area of California. White takes his rag tag band of kids, who work in the fields before school and after practice, and transforms them into a real team. This movie is based on a true story* and is made by Disney, so you can probably guess how most of the movie will play out. Still, it has some nice moments, the cast is good, and the movie is entertaining. Costner is Costner. Personally, I love the guy and enjoy his work in pretty much everything. He's a great "everyman" and fits that role here very well. Bottom line: liked this a lot. 8/10.

St. Vincent

Bill Murray is Vincent, a crabby old Vietnam vet who just wants the world to leave him alone. Melissa McCarthy and her son ("Oliver") move in next door. Oliver and Vincent strike up an unlikely friendship when Vincent becomes his babysitter. While this movie treads over old ground (the crusty old guy who learns from a young friend, the feel-good ending, the old guy with some tender secrets underneath, the hooker with a heart of gold, etc), it does it really well. This is funny and touching and well-done. McCarthy is good in her role, as understated as you'll ever see her, with nary a fat joke to be found. Here she's just...a normal mom, struggling to make things work. Anyway, this was really good. 8/10.

Halt and Catch Fire (Season 1)

Liked it. A lot. The show has some issues - the occasional anachronistic phrasing, a tendency early on to force feed you technical stuff to establish credibility, some random events not really followed up on - but it still works. The cast is terrific and the characters feel authentic. And there are some great moments - when Joe walks into a conference room at Comdex '83 and sees the Macintosh for the first time and senses a paradigm shift in computing, that's a great moment. That resonates with me big-time because I remember that feeling myself - 11-year old Tabe seeing a Mac and having his mom drive him to computer stores just so he could play around with MacPaint. I'm happy to hear they've signed on for a second season and can't wait to see what they do with it. 8/10.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Saw this with a couple guys from work. I'm not a comics guy, knew nothing about this franchise until a month before seeing it. Saw the Imax 3D version, spending $29 on ticket/pop/popcorn by the time I was done. Thank god for the $25 gift certificate I had. Anyway, fun movie. Enjoyed it a lot. A nice balance of humor and action without being completely silly. I thought "Rocket" stole the show. Unimpressed with Zoe Saldana as Gamora - thought she looked...old. Definitely liked Karen Gillan as Nebula, would have loved to have seen a lot more of her. As for the Imax and 3D aspects, can't say they were worth the extra money. The 3D was nice but not particularly necessary. I was MUCH more impressed with the 3D in the trailer for the new Hobbit movie. Anyway, a fun time. 8/10.

Downloaded

Documentary covering the history of Napster. Pretty good look at all the aspects of the rise & crash of Napster and includes interviews with both Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. Lots of good information to be found here. Not gonna lie, I was an early adoptee on Napster though I didn't like it very much. Funny that Fanning created it because "mp3 downloads were so unreliable" - which is exactly the problem I had with it. I was much more of an Audio Galaxy guy. Anyway, good doc and worth checking out. 8/10.

Terms and Conditions May Apply

An alarmist documentary on the state of privacy in the age of Google, Facebook, and pervasive monitoring. The movie has a very obvious slant to it but does a very effective job of scaring the crap out of the viewer when it comes to data, privacy, and government overreach. This is a movie every internet user and legislator should watch, without a doubt. Generally well made, too. 8/10.

Boys Don't Cry

The movie that MADE Hilary Swank. Swank plays Teena Brandon, a gender-confused young woman taking on the persona and mannerisms of a man by the name of Brandon Teena. As Brandon, she meets and falls in love with Lana, played by Chloe Sevigny. Lana learns of Brandon's deception but accepts him anyway. Lana's brother and friends? Not so much. This is a powerful movie about a subject that's still not talked about much today (gender confusion) let alone in 1999 when this was released. Swank is pretty amazing here. This is a risky role for her, playing a woman who can appear to be a man with few physical changes - the kind of thing that could stigmatize a Hollywood actress. She carries it off really well, and carries this movie all the way to the heartbreaking conclusion. Anyway, terrific movie with strong performances from Swank and Sevigny and well worth watching. 8/10.

Barbershop Punk

Documentary on net neutrality focusing on the story of Robb Topolski, a software quality engineer who conclusively busted Comcast's practice of throttling and degrading the performance of P2P applications. They do an excellent job of covering the downsides of net neutrality while also giving voice to the pro-ISP side of things. Lots of folks heard from and this is generally well-done. However, the movie is hurt when it kind of goes off the rails and starts talking about police squads turning into the military. That's a worthy topic, one with a LOT of merit, but has no place in this movie. Movie is also hurt by its release date since the topic is still evolving really quickly and stuff has changed since the movie was finished. 8/10.

The Last Gladiators

Documentary on the great NHL enforcers and fighters of the 1980s and 1990s, with 90% of the movie being the life and career of Chris Nilan. Lots of great highlight clips shown, including lots of fights (of course). Nilan has had a difficult life - before, during, and after hockey. Abusive father, fights with management, drugs, shoplifting, and so on. He is brutally honest and pretty unrepentant about all of it. We also get interviews with fighters like Tony Twist, Todd Ewen and, in perhaps the last interview before his death, Bob Probert, who died during the making of this movie. The end result is a compelling look at this aspect of hockey and a very entertaining movie. 8/10.

The Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch is Alan Turing, the pioneering mathematician and computer scientist. The Imitation Game tells the (based on a) true story of Turing's work at Bletchley Park during World War II, creating a machine that could decode Germany's unbreakable "Enigma" code. Keira Knightley plays Joan Clarke, Turing's collaborator and fiancee. What on the surface sounds like a perhaps-unexciting theme for a movie (codebreakers) instead ends up as a dramatic race against time. Against the backdrop of supply chains being cut off from England and casualties mounting, Turing and his team speed toward finding a solution. Cumberbatch is brilliant here, capturing Turing's volatile behavior and Aspergers-like disdain for social niceties and nuance. The rest of the cast are pretty much just along for the ride but carry their parts well. The movie does play fast and loose with the facts in a couple key areas, which definitely hurts it, particularly in giving Turing too much credit. That said, this is a terrific movie that tells a very important story and tells it well. 8/10.

On a more personal note, I couldn't help but be dismayed by Turing's story. I already knew the key points but seeing him prosecuted and chemically castrated for being gay, eventually driving him to suicide after he grew breasts, up on the big screen brought it all back home again. Such a waste of a brilliant mind that was nowhere close to being done contributing meaningful work. How much further along could we be technology-wise if we hadn't sacrificed one of our brightest minds? :(

American Sniper

American Sniper tells the story of Chris Kyle, "the most lethal sniper US military history". Bradley Cooper, in a riveting, incredible performance, portrays Kyle. I haven't seen the other Best Actor nominees this year, but with David Oyeloww not nominated for Selma, it would be hard for me to imagine anybody's performance being better than Cooper's. We follow Kyle's life through his enlistment, his SEAL training and then four tours of duty in Iraq. Along the way, he makes difficult decisions on people to snipe, leads assaults, and becomes emotionally hardened, nearly leading to divorce. Kyle develops a high profile among his squadmates, who nickname him "Legend" for his skills. In the end, the story of American Sniper is told very well. The movie itself is well-made and, if you're not ready for it, the ending is a gutpunch extraordinaire. My theater was absolutely dead silent after the movie was over as people filed out. You could have heard a pin drop. Easily the quietest I've ever heard. Anyway, my rating? 8/10.

Having said that, I am uncomfortable with at least some of the factual changes and inaccuracies. I don't like it when "based on a true story" movies change key events. I don't mind so much if something isn't real important but when it IS? That I have a problem with. Example: One of the key scenes early after Kyle goes to Iraq, one heavily featured in ads and trailers, has been altered. It happened but Eastwood changed it to make it far more heart string-pulling. Not cool. Some of the other things, like changing the bounty on Kyle, or having the movie center on the chase of an Iraqi sniper, are merely altered and don't hurt the movie per se. I've also seen criticism that a doll was used in two places instead of a live baby. In my group of 12 people, nobody noticed that. I doubt I would have cared if I did notice. It's a triviality that doesn't detract from the movie.

I've also seen lots of people, including many who haven't seen it but are somehow experts on it, criticizing the movie for being pro-war or jingoistic or for showing all Iraqis as bad people. I think that criticism is off-base and misses the point of the movie. The story of the movie is Chris Kyle, his view of the war and what he went through. In his mind and perspective, the war was a righteous one that he believed in. And that's the story being told here. If you're looking for a movie that presents a fair-and-balanced "should we have been there at all?" type of perspective, you're looking at the wrong movie and to criticize American Sniper for not being that movie is simply unfair. It's akin to criticizing a movie on the life of Walter Payton for not dwelling on the NFL's concussion problems.

I've also seen a lot of people wonder about the movie because of Chris Kyle's credibility issues. No question about it, this is a guy who lied about stuff. I think, however, that his general story, the one in the movie, is generally authentic and one that can be separated from some of the other nonsense stories he told. It's a powerful story and one not changed by the protagonist's credibility issues in any meaningful way.

Godzilla

One of the more polarizing movies of 2014, that's for sure! Saw this in 3D and liked it a lot. Godzilla looks like Godzilla (except the head being a bit small) and there's a suitable amount of carnage. I could quibble over the major fights all being done at night so we don't get a great look at them but that's a quibble. It was also really misleading how the ads and trailers gave Bryan Cranston a much-larger role than the movie actually did. The 3D was a non-factor in the heart of the movie so save your money. Bring on the sequel! 8/10.

Don't Stop Believin' - Everyman's Journey

Documentary from 2012 charting the selection of Arnel PIneda to join Journey as their new lead singer. Pineda is a real-life version of the movie Rock Star, literally plucked from a cover band thanks to a video of him singing on Youtube. The movie covers that process a bit, Pineda's life in the Phillipines before joining Journey, and the band's first tour together. This is a fun look behind the scenes with everybody in the movie coming across pretty likeable, particularly Pineda who's having the time of his life. I got a chance to see these guys on the tour covered in the movie and they were awesome. Anyway, if you're a fan of the band, or rock documentaries in general, this is a good one. 8/10.

The Central Park Five

Ken Burns documentary on the five black teenagers (wrongfully) convicted of a 1989 attempted murder and rape of a white female jogger in Central Park. If you want to be angry at a whole bunch of people at once, this is a good choice to watch. You've got the cops focusing on this group of teenagers for no apparent reason other than they were somewhere in the park that same night. And then they interrogate them for hours and hours without attorneys or family, eventually coercing factually incorrect false confessions from four of them. Then the DA pushes forward with a prosecution with - literally - only the confessions as evidence. The defense attorneys are incompetent, either doing nothing or claiming "well, he just watched" instead of actually saying their guy was not present. It's all a big mess. And, oh yeah, the cops had DNA from the case and DNA from the guy who actually committed the crime and either never compared the two or ignored the results. The end result is a powerful documentary that is well-made but not a complete home run. The question of what crimes the five may have actually committed that night is never answered, for example. Still, this is a good doc. 8/10.

* - The end of the movie states that the boys' lawsuit against NYC and others had yet to reach resolution. Since the making of the movie, a settlement was announced but I don't know if that ever came to fruition. Meanwhile, the DA in the case still thinks the boys are guilty even though the only DNA present at the scene was that of the guy who confessed.