A Monster Calls

Review by Bob Ignizio

If you've seen the trailer for A MONSTER CALLS, it looks like your typical awe and wonder magical realism dreck about a boy and his giant tree creature friend. Don't get me wrong. The film, directed by J.A. Bayona from a script by Patrick Ness (adapted from his award winning book), does center on a young English boy, Conor (Lewis MacDougall). And Conor does in fact associate with a giant tree monster (the voice of Liam Neeson). But there are no humorous capers or uplifting lessons about being true to oneself or whatever harmless pablum that passes for a message in most modern kid's films.

Instead, the tree monster shows up to share 3 stories with Conor, in return for which Conor must share a 4th story, that of his recurring nightmare. The stories the tree monster tells are complex and morally ambiguous, seeking to teach the young boy how to understand the often contradictory aspects of the human condition. These stories, depicted in an animation style that resembles watercolors come to life, all have some connection to Conor's current situation in the real world.

Aliens (January 23 at 7 & 9:30 p.m. at the Case Western-Reserve University Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

Here’s my pet theory to why life went so badly downhill, personally and professionally. Why I’m blacklisted in every industry and career field. Why females have treated me like the ebola virus (actually, statistically, I think ebola has gotten luckier more often than myself). Why things for Charles Cassady are generally just a series of humiliations, punishments and rejections.

Because I’ve always felt a little cold toward James Cameron’s ALIENS. In fact, when it first came out in 1986 I only gave it two and a half stars.

(The few remaining readers of the Cleveland Movie Blog at this point quit to support ISIS. It actually works out well for them; they get hired as tenured professors at Kent State University)

Yes, ALIENS, the smash sequel to Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. The Cameron continuation was bigger, faster and more amped-up than Scott’s moody, cramped original. I’ll admit, at the time it was a refreshing change from the general Hollywood routine in the 1980s for sequels to be ever-cheaper, downtrending copies, cranked out for a quick buck.

Repost: Galaxy Quest (August 15th at the Capitol Theatre)

[GALAXY QUEST screens Saturday August 15th at midnight at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

There's a stellar idea at the heart of this okay f/x-laden 1999 DreamWorks comedy-fantasy, back from the early years of the Spielberg-founded super-studio. For me GALAXY QUEST was a near-miss, what should have been a comedy gem riffing on "Star Trek" fanaticism comes off instead a bit like cubic zirconium instead. Still glitters from time to time.

Repost: Alien (April 18th at the Capitol Theatre)

[ALIEN screens Saturday April 18th at midnight at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

The CWRU Film Society reviving the original ALIEN cues - owww! - flashbacks to my college film society back at Syracuse University. Yes, I went to college out of state; it didn't help in the job market after all, if you were wondering.

Back in my undergrad days seemed like the Syracuse University student film society practically played ALIEN as often as they could. Typically in heavy rotation with whatever else was deemed college-cool in the 1980s, usually stuff scrounged up from the catalog of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog. The hipster programmers did enjoy the gory and the grotesque.

Chappie

Review by Bob Ignizio

While it is by no means the first film to concern itself with a robot possessing human-like emotions, CHAPPIE is one of the best. In the not too distant future, writer/director Neil Blomkamp imagines that the police force in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been heavily augmented by near indestructible robots designed by scientist Deon Wilson (Dev Patel, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE).

While these law enforcement machines are quite effective, they lack true artificial intelligence, something their creator is actively working on despite being told not to by his boss (Sigoruney Weaver). Deon tries his experimental consciousness software out on a damaged unit, but before he can get the bot up and running he's kidnapped by a gang of small time crooks – Ninja (Ninja), Yolandi (Yolandi Visser), and Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo).

Alien (April 4th at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[ALIEN screens  Friday April 4th at 7:00pm, 9:30 pm, and midnight at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

The CWRU Film Society reviving the original ALIEN cues - owww! - flashbacks to my college film society back at Syracuse University. Yes, I went to college out of state; it didn't help in the job market after all, if you were wondering.

Back in my undergrad days seemed like the Syracuse University student film society practically played ALIEN as often as they could. Typically in heavy rotation with whatever else was deemed college-cool in the 1980s, usually stuff scrounged up from the catalog of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog. The hipster programmers did enjoy the gory and the grotesque.

Galaxy Quest (October 14 at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[GALAXY QUEST screens October 14th at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

There's a stellar idea at the heart of this okay f/x-laden 1999 DreamWorks comedy-fantasy, back from the early years of the Spielberg-founded super-studio. For me GALAXY QUEST was a near-miss, what should have been a comedy gem riffing on "Star Trek" fanaticism comes off instead a bit like cubic zirconium instead. Still glitters from time to time.