I met Cameron Crowe! And reviewed cosmic expedition 'Ad Astra'
No Content for Old Men
with Matt Craig
In this week's newsletter: A quick personal story about a really cool experience I had this week, then a review of the latest space epic Ad Astra. I'll highlight a superhero property I actually enjoyed for once, plus the best of the best space-themed streaming recommendations for your weekend. And finally Adam Sander stars in this week's "Trailer Watch," actually trying for the first time in a decade. Enjoy!
Word Count: 737 words
Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutes
Special Note:
Dear readers, I just have to share with you a movie-related experience I had this week. If you've been reading this newsletter for any length of time, you've probably heard me mention how my favorite movie of all time (not to be confused with the greatest movie of all time, mind you) is Almost Famous. The movie touches me personally on a number of levels, and I have always identified as a young journalist and storyteller with the writer/director of this semi-autobiographical film, Cameron Crowe.
Well, about a week ago I found out that a stage musical adaptation of the movie was running in San Diego (where Crowe is from and the film is partially set). Cost be damned, I bought a ticket and made the trip down on Tuesday. Then before the show I recognized Crowe in the audience. Woah! I spent most of the first act working up the courage, then basically stalked him at intermission until I could butt in and introduce myself. He could not have been nicer, and I was able to express how much the movie meant to me. It was a really cool moment.
It sounds like Almost Famous might be gearing up for a Broadway run, and if you ever get a chance to see this stage show I would highly recommend it. If not, at the very least, watch the movie a couple hundred times for good measure. Then, if you want the full experience, check out the extended director's cut called Untitled. You're welcome.
Now on to your regularly scheduled programming!
Ad Astra
A love story to people very very near and very very far
Is there life out there, somewhere? It's hard to gaze up at the stars and consider the vastness of the universe only to conclude we truly are the only intelligent beings. It's fascinating to consider the possibilities, because any discoveries could help explain some of our biggest questions. Where did we come from? Why are we here?
Since humans, presently, are incapable of traveling to these distant planets to more conclusively find answers, movies have attempted to bridge the gap in our collective imagination. However, these fictional astronauts' curiosity walks hand in hand with their sanity. 2001: A Space Odyssey starts at the beginning of man and dives all the way down the rabbit hole of existential wonder, until its protagonist goes crazy. Intersteller sends its protagonist out into deep space to aide a researcher who claims to have found an inhabitable planet, only to find that (spoiler alert) he went crazy too. In The Martian, being alone on Mars causes the protagonist to...go crazy. Characters go various levels of crazy in Arrival, Gravity, Apollo 13, First Man.
Ad Astra exists in conversation with all those great space movies which have come before. And though the movie's conclusion (which I won't spoil) isn't revolutionary, the piece as a whole still has something to add to the decades-long discussion.
That's why I think the movie has been marketed incorrectly. Or, more specifically, the movie has been marketed correctly, but not in a way that represents the actual movie. See, space movies have traditionally been a genre for huge blockbusters, expensive to make but appealing to a wide audience. So the marketing gathered around that concept: Brad Pitt! Tommy Lee Jones! Space pirates! Journeys across the solar system!
In reality, director James Gray is a meditative filmmaker. Although this movie does include a handful of big and exciting set pieces, it's much more focused on the inner conflict and existential questions facing its main character. Those elements are fascinating, and elevate the material to another level in my mind, but could come as quite a shock to someone who saw the trailer and came in expecting Hobbs & Shaw in space (for the record, I'm quite certain there will be a Hobbs & Shaw in space movie some time in the next five years).
There's nothing inherently wrong with using candy to lure in audiences to eat a plate full of veggies, but when the same line of thinking actually seeps into the content of the movie, we have a problem. Strategically placed voice over throughout the movie felt tacked on to me, unnecessarily expository, and quite possibly added after the fact by producers wanting to pre-chew the substance for audiences incapable of digesting big boy food.
Without voice over the movie becomes more abstract. Question are left unanswered. But come on, this is space we're talking about. All we have is questions! And let me ask you this. Which movie has stood the test of time. The utterly abstract 2001: A Space Odyssey or the dumbed-down moneymaker Armageddon?
Voice-over or not, I slotted this movie into my top five of the year (so far!) immediately after walking out of the theater. It is a technical achievement, creating a world of deep space that is different and better than anything seen on screen before. It's stylish, even mesmerizing at times, one of those experiences you watch in wide-eyed wonder from start to finish. Not just a movie but a MOVIE, if that makes sense. I don't want to sell it as this boring, brooding slog through outer space. There wasn't a single moment where I wasn't excited and engaged in the narrative.
Brad Pitt is tasked with carrying the weight of this journey. For a good portion of it, he's all alone. Close-ups of his face as he ponders the far reaches of the universe and the depths of his own soul populate every other scene. But guys, we're talking about Brad Pitt here. Probably the movie star-iest movie star currently working, and let's be honest, he has a nice face. His performance is fantastic (though not his best of the year, because I believe Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood is going to land him his first Oscar). It's hard not to consider where the lines blur between the character and the actor, especially over his regret for past failed relationships.
It's a movie worth seeing without me spoiling it, so suffice it to say that Ad Astra is a movie about a journey "to the stars" (literally ad astra), about fathers and sons, about ambition and relationships, about living and dying.
Find the biggest screen you can and go see it. If you have AMC Stubs A-List like I do, GO SEE THIS MOVIE IN IMAX. It's an experience you will not soon forget.
Streaming Suggestions!
Something New
The Boys (Amazon): I'm several weeks late to the hype train for this show because, well, as many of you know, I am NOT a fan of superhero movies. They are white-washed, cookie-cutter corporate profit machines with no stakes, no risks (calm down, Matt). I assumed this was going to be more of the same. Boy was I wrong. In addition to being a genuinely dramatic narrative, it serves as a commentary on the superhero-saturated culture we now find ourselves in. What if superheroes were real, and a corporation was using them for profit? Doesn't sound that far off to me! Each decision in the show has real consequences, which is refreshing in the CGI playground of superhero action.
Inside Bill's Brain (Netflix): A new three-part documentary explores the extraordinary life of Bill Gates. Undoubtedly, the project comes off like hagiography at times, an out and out celebration of Gates' philanthropic efforts in his later years. But when it does what the title suggests--taking a viewer inside one of the most incredible minds ever to exist--it is riveting. Whether you want to spend three hours up there might be another question entirely.
Something Old
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): Yes it's long. Yes it's weird. But if you've never made time to see this Stanley Kubrick classic, then you don't deserve to enjoy the dozens of space movies that came after it. Simply put, it's one of the most innovative and influential movies of all time. A true masterpiece. Just don't ask me to explain what it means.
Something to Stream
First Man (HBO): My favorite movie of 2018 is available to stream! Damien Chazelle somehow created a space movie that isn't science fiction. It's real, tangible, mechanical. You feel every bump and scratch and claw toward man's first steps on the moon. A supremely engaging experience with outstanding performances from Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The Lost City of Z (Amazon): If you go see Ad Astra and dig James Gray's filmmaking style, you can check out his previous effort in 2017's The Lost City of Z on Amazon. It's a slow but thorough investigation of one man's obsessive journey to find a city lost in the Amazon (ha!) jungle at the turn of the 20th century. The themes may sound familiar to the movie we talked about above, and the isolation of the jungle and space are quite similar. So if you like one, you'll like the other just as much.
Trailer Watch: Uncut Gems
Ladies and gentlemen, this is why I've held a grudge towards Adam Sandler for the past decade. Because the man has been phoning it in ever since Funny People in 2009, and this trailer is even more proof that when he really wants to bring it, he can be one of the most dynamic and engaging actors in the world. Here he teams with the Safdie brothers, the exciting young filmmaking duo behind 2017's Good Time. They appear to be the next masters of a certain kind of crime genre movie that I find particularly appealing, and I know many of you do too. Come for Sandler (or Kevin Garnett or Mike Francesa), stay for the grimy underworld of post-crash New York City. Count me in!