Indie comedies have a very unusual tendency to be far more dramatic than funny. Films such as Cyrus, The Kids are All Right, and The One I love are perfect examples of this. However, what if an indie comedy came along that was not just funny, but downright hysterical and at times, very emotional? If you have been looking for such a film, then Welcome to Me will be a match made in heaven.

Kirten Wiig has shown her highlights as an actress and a writer (the latter of which earned her an Oscar nod for Bridesmaids), but never have they shined more than in her performance as the emotionally-damaged Alice Klieg. When she needs to be funny, she delivers howls of laughter, and when she needs to be sad or angry (when not for comedic effect), she really has the chops needed to sell it. Her charisma really allows some of the more tonally-jarring moments to work in her favor in ways most actresses couldn’t imagine. Linda Cardellini as Alice’s best friend Gina and Tim Robbins as her therapist Dr. Moffat stand out among the others, but for the most part, they all serve to help highlight Kirsten Wiig’s wacky central performance. However, they all are perfectly aware that this is Kirsten’s show and wisely do not try to upend her in any way.

Those who saw the trailer will be pleased to hear that it does this film no justice in terms for how funny it really is. The jokes come at a mile-a-minute, and they’re absurd, weird, and completely random. The mind of Alice Klieg is a very odd one to say the least, and director Shira Piven and writer Eliot Lawrence do a marvelous job of not only bringing it to the screen, but helping make some of the tougher and stranger moments easy to laugh at. Some of the funniest bits include (but are certainly not limited to) her meeting to pitch and finance, as well as her pilot episode, which is so awkward and so unpredictable, that it’s impossible to stifle your chuckles.

Both Piven and Lawrence also do a great job of tackling some of the harder-hitting themes of this movie, namely the hidden vices of sensationalism, the lust for fame and the bridges it makes you burn, as well as how the public treats and experiences mental illness. Perhaps these moments come a little too heavily near the ending when Alice and her show reach their lowest points, but it doesn’t feel overly tonally backwards, and it all comes back to its quirky self and even manages to tie a nice bow in its own perverse way.

Welcome to Me is far from being this generation’s Network, but it still is a very funny spin on the TV-centric formula as well as a shining star vehicle for Kirsten Wiig. There are many people who will certainly not be comfortable with delighting themselves in Alice’s fragile mind eroding away ever so clearly, but its messages are clear, and so are the undeniable efforts of everyone in and behind the scenes.

Final Verdict:

I don’t pretend to be an expert of film nor can I spot every single subtext in a film when I watch them or do my reviews. I’m just a regular guy who really likes movies and does whatever he can to see as many as possible, which I believe is as invaluable an education as going to film school. When a true puzzler of a film such as About Elly comes along and I come out of it unsure what I just watched (in a purely negative sense), it’s frustrating. However, it certainly feels that much better when the pieces fall right into alignment.

Having already seen Asghar Farhadi’s 2011 Academy-Award winner A Separation (a true must-see), I already had a firm grasp of what I was going into in terms of acting and composition. There are many key characters in this film, and each actor really holds their weight just well enough to get the story moving on a decent and brisk pace. They aren’t overly spectacular (in terms of my American-film standards), but as I said, they’re all fine. Standing out the most is Golshifteh Farahani as Sepideh, who carries most of the film and the burdens of its plot on her shoulders. As she’s constantly harassed and pestered by her once-trusted friends for answers to the whereabouts and identity of her missing friend Elly, she still composes herself well without crossing over into melodrama, and it’s really something to be admired.

The story is very tricky to describe and to interpret. Farhadi’s script is extremely subtle to a fault, and it wasn’t until I mulled over it for a good hour or so that I feel like I “got it.” Without giving too much away, the key to unlocking the mystery of this film lies solely in in the fact that there is no true twist to this film. Mysteries rise and sanity is severely tested, but once you sharpen your focus on the story presently onscreen rather than how it would end (as I admittedly did not), you will come closer to understanding the true purpose of this film, and it really presents a fantastic “eureka” moment when it becomes evident.

Despite the sheer nuance that Farhadi presents, he manages to tell what is actually a very realistic and simple story and turned it into something mind-bending and intellectually investing. Even though the initial ending left a bitter taste in my mouth, I still found myself extremely interested in where everything was going to lead, even if I was looking in all the wrong places. In a way, it only made my epiphany all the more impactful. Perhaps the search for answers (much like the characters in this film) completely clouded my ability to understand the true drama that the film was really about (which is what Sepideh had to endure throughout the film). As pretentious as that may sound, it actually makes perfect sense in context.

About Elly is a surprising, if not frustrating, feature. It features very low-key acting and a very simple story wrapped in a tight ball of cathartic convolution, but it still highlights a very talented director/writer with a very keen understanding of the human condition, the turmoil that surrounds us, as well as how we interpret and deal with it. Most might not appreciate or come out of this film with such feelings, yet alone a desire to pursue them, but the patient and curious almost certainly will.

Final Verdict:

Well, we’re finally here. After months of re-watching the trailers, the weeks after seeing the original trilogy, and days after seeing critics singing high praises towards this film, no movie has made me feel a longer wait for its release this year than this one has. Was it worth the wait?

For starters, Tom Hardy is a very fitting shoe-filler for Mel Gibson in the role of Max Rockatansky, which gave him his career. He sounds and acts like him, and he (along with returning director George Miller) have clearly not forgotten how Max is supposed to behave and function. However, we have a very prominent new character in the form of Charlize Theron playing Imperator Furiosa. What makes her character most interesting, and at times confusing, isn’t necessarily her levels of badassdom or Theron’s performance (which are both great), but it’s that she takes center stage as much, if not, more than Mad Max does in his own movie. Nicolas Hoult plays Nux, one of the many violence-hungry subordinates of Immortan Joe (played by Mad Max alum Hugh Keays-Byrne). Nux is a likable enough character even when he’s literally draining Max’s blood and becomes even more so as the film progresses, and Joe is a great baddy, combining the vicious warlord edge of Tubal-cain from 2014’s highly-underrated Noah and the godlike hubris of Xerxes from Zach Snyder’s 300. Even at 67, Byrne holds his own remarkably well, possibly even more so than when he was the Toecutter in the first Mad Max.

Mad Max films have never been known for intricate plotting or intellectually stimulating stories, but one thing that Fury Road can deliver that admittedly puts the other films in this series to shame is its ability to tell its story mostly fluidly and provide a far more plentiful amount of fantastic action sequences, as well as continuing to evolve and devolve the wasteland Max survives in. Fury Road at most times combines the superior elements of both Road Warrior (the action and mayhem) and Beyond Thunderdome (the culture and hints of civilization) to dazzling effect. However, where I felt a constant sense of world-building in Thunderdome, even in its slower moments, Fury Road is not quite as consistently creative. There are certainly pockets here and there (the Citadel in the first ten minutes, as well as a group of stilted men crossing a wet, sandy marsh), but most of the craziness and freshness has been focused into the action sequences and the vehicles, and as cool as they all look, I feel like there should be more when we’re not focused entirely on this aspect.

The tone of the movie is certainly its most consistent trait, and it’s all done thanks to John Seale’s cinematography and Junkie XL’s score. It goes without saying that Fury Road is the most colorful Mad Max film in the series, but with the tight, trademark camerawork and editing, it still runs just like a Mad Max film should. The music also really heightens the truly epic quest with a steady mixture of electronica, orchestra, and heavy rock (which is accompanied by a man in a car made of amps and war drums wielding a double-neck guitar/bass flamethrower (which is as awesome as it sounds)). It fittingly is as wild and exhilarating as its action.

Regardless, Mad Max Fury Road might not be the instant classic that critics have been decrying it as, but it’s still a perfectly decent addition to one of the greatest series ever put to film. I’d say it ranks alongside Beyond Thunderdome, but even they still cannot compare with the sleek chaos that is The Road Warrior. Even with all of this into account, this is still one of the most spectacular films to be shown in theaters this year, and it would be a great disservice to the gifted men and women involved to skip it.

Final Verdict:

I'm unsure when I will be getting my next reviews out, but some films I plan to see in the near future include Pitch Perfect 2, Slow West, and Tomorrowland.

4368795
Mad Max :Fury Road is probably the saddest movie have ever seen. I was sitting in the theater, watching the trailers for crap loke the new fantastic four, or the new Vacation, and my brother had just left to get popcorn. All these trailers, they were just pissing me off. they all looked like shit to me. he comes back, and he says that everyone is coming to see pitch perfect 2. they all get their tickets, and go directly to that theater. So I told him jokingly "Hey, enjoy this movie, because its the last one that anyone will ever make like this."
I was just joking. But now I think it will be.
And whenever I say "the last movie anyone will make like this," I mean this will be the explanation point on many sentences. this will probably be the last big budget R rated movie. ever. It will probably be the last movie that tries doing something different than the average superhero crowdpleaser (and even then, it's still a reboot it's not a pedestal of originality.)
I wanted this movie to succeed so badly, and now that I've seen it I only want it to succeed more. I want more movies like this. I want more Mad Max movies, I want more R rated blockbusters, I want more movies with a reliance on practical effects. But that's not whats going to happen.
For the record, this is easily my favorite movie of the year, and will very likely remain that way. I Thought that it was as close to perfect as anyone can reasonably expect. Could it have been better, sure, maybe. any movie could be better. But I gave more of a shit about if a semi truck could drive across a desert than if the Avengers could stop a the world from ending. And I felt better, and happier, and the end of this than any of these superhero movies.
I really enjoyed "Fury Road," but I will probably always think of it with a hint of melancholy.
I hope I get proven wrong. but I have a horrible, dreadful feeling that this movie is an end of an era.