Director: Robert Budreau
Writers: Robert Budreau
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo, Callum Rennie

Synopsis: A re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker’s musical comeback in the late ’60s.

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It’s not just the name of a song, but a reflection of Chet Baker’s own destiny. Much like the modal jazz music of its time, Born to be Blue is a film drenched in sadness, a melancholic expression often reflected in the best of the jazz genre made famous in the 1960’s. It is a film to be felt, not so much shown or told, and all the better for it. In a modern age when biopics are too focused on historical accuracy and telling its audience absolutely everything, Born to be Blue rightfully chooses to focus on singularity, both in narrative and mood.

Like Miles Ahead earlier this year (about the great Miles Davis), Born to be Blue is a jazz-infused biopic, this time telling the story of jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker. Focusing primarily on his life in 1966 (intelligently focusing on one point of the central figure’s life), Baker is hired to play himself in a movie about his first time doing heroin, and is soon touted for a musical comeback, all as he romances his current flame Jane (Carmen Ejogo), the actress hired to play Baker’s opposite. Jane is a fictional character, a hybrid of all Baker’s women in his life; in fact, this entire film is a hybrid in fact and fictional storytelling, similar to Miles Ahead earlier this year. One could even argue that both Miles Ahead and Born to be Blue should be viewed as a sort-of double feature, not just because Miles Davis himself is also featured in Born to be Blue, but for how these movies are also aesthetically similar. Writer and director Robert Budreau crafts a film that is at once experimental and incredibly melancholy, and just like Miles Ahead those aesthetics play beautifully into the film thematically.

As expected, Ethan Hawke gives one of the year’s best leading performances. For a film primarily about sadness itself, Hawke emulates this torment and sadness in all the needed ways.  Two scenes show this; a painful scene in a bathtub in which Baker attempts to keep playing his trumpet despite getting his teeth bashed in after a mugging (cringe-worthy in a well-earned way), and a moment with his father, played beautifully by Stephen McHattie, creating a realization that Baker’s choices will lead to someone becoming unhappy, whether that’s Baker himself or those around him.  It’s devastating, and sometimes hard to watch, but well-earned in its execution.

Carmen Ejogo as Jane (and Elaine respectively) represents that harm on the outsider, a result of Baker’s life choices, but there is still joy to be had, a great juxtaposition that makes for a good argument. Essentially playing two roles, the beauty in Ejogo’s performance is how each of these two respective characters are indeed reflections on each other; they both endure and suffer just the same, but a balance is still needed for when those moments of suffering cease for moments of love and affection instead. As a result, Ejogo gives one of the best supporting actress performances of the year, and the film doesn’t work without her balanced characterization.

As a lover of classic jazz music, I may be a little biased toward films like this, but the truth is Born to be Blue succeeds in exactly what it wants to do.  In the end it boils down to a single decision, a realization that no matter what path is taken, someone is always saddened; Budreau is fully aware of this, and through his writing, directing, and even choice of jazz songs to fit the soundtrack (sort of the antithesis to the vibrancy of Miles Ahead), he crafts one of the most somber films of the year. This is perfectly reflected in the film’s final minutes, arguably one of the best endings to a film all year; no matter what, in how all our decisions impact others (whether it is Chet Baker, Jane, Elaine, or even Chet’s family), one of us is born to be blue.

Overall Grade: A-

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Hear our full review on a previous Extra Film:

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Director: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon
Writers: Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jonah Hill
Stars: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Bill Hader

Synopsis: A sausage strives to discover the truth about his existence.

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Let’s be honest. At some point in our lives we have all made sex jokes about hot dogs. If you haven’t, then you must have lived a sheltered life. Seth Rogen knows how to relate to people, and if you are making an R-rated movie about anthropomorphized food, the sexual tension between foods is going to lead to a plethora of obvious sausage jokes. Surprisingly, Sausage Party is Rogen’s most complete movie; that is, more than just sex and drugs. Rogen’s movies are not always very funny, because his repetitive motif of jokes has become stale over the years.

Shopwells is a supermarket where various groceries all dream of one thing: To be chosen by a customer and taken to the “Great Beyond” (outside the gleaming automated doors in a cart). The various foods from around the world are kept under control by an unprovable belief system, managed by the “Gods.” They believe that they will only be picked if they remain pure of spirit. This fear prevents sausages like Frank (Seth Rogen) and buns like Brenda (Kristen Wiig) from conjoining. If this sounds preposterous, stay with me. It all comes together through clever writing and visual gags, all cultivating into being one of the best films of the year.

Nothing is off limits in Sausage Party, so in typical Seth Rogen fashion there are racial and homosexual jokes, so be forwarned if you offend easily. The script is very predictable and drags on at times. There are, however, a few scenes that jumpstart the story, and without them I think the story would have fallen flat. A returned Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) exposes the truth about the great beyond which leads to a pretty good 45-minutes of entertainment.

One concept that made this movie great is the fact that humans can interact with the food, which finally answers my lifelong question of if I could interact with my food what will we talk about before I consume them. I know I am not the only one who thought this?

There really isn’t much more to say about this film as you already know what to expect, so if you are a fan of Rogen then you will absolutely love this film. Even if you are not a fan of Rogen, there are still plenty of bright spots. Sausage Party has an insanely creative ending and further cements Rogen in the juvenile behavior stereotype that you will either love or hate.

Overall Grade: A

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Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Paul Greengrass, Christopher Rouse
Stars: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Julia Stiles

Synopsis: The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.

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Anyone that listen’s to the InSession Film Podcast will know that we are big fans of the Bourne franchise. On a recent Extra Film podcast, we raved heavily about the original trilogy starring Matt Damon and even argued how The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the best action films of the last twenty years. So, when it was announced that Damon and director Paul Greengrass were coming back to the franchise, many people, including us, were very excited.

Paul Greengrass wastes no time sling-shooting nostalgia into Jason Bourne. As the film opens, John Powell’s recognizable Jason Bourne theme subtly rings while Greengrass hands the audience a visual montage of the series so far. It has been nearly a decade since we last saw Bourne, but it only two a few seconds for Greengrass to immediately supplant the audience back into this world. We catch up with Bourne (Matt Damon), who is of course off the radar, when Nicky (Julia Stiles) finds him in Athens to give him more information about his past as it relates to the old Treadstone program. The information Bourne learns is very personal to him, which causes him to seek more answers from the U.S. government. In the process, C.I.A. agent, Heater Lee (Alicia Vikander) feels that she can bring in Bourne alive and this leads to some interesting twists and turns throughout the film.

On the surface, the script by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse will feel trite and “been there, done that” within this franchise. However, it’s actually one of the smartest things about Jason Bourne. Thematically speaking, tackling notions of “history repeating itself” is relevant to our society and culture today, so the idea that another Treadstone would come along but with modern technology and social media, is brilliant on paper. Greengrass’ direction in the first act beautifully laid the groundwork for that idea to resonate, however, he and Rouse’s script becomes so consumed with subplots and trying to be clever, that in the end it out-wits itself. As a result, Jason Bourne becomes a missed opportunity that fails to take advantage of a great idea.

The other major problem of Jason Bourne is how Greengrass and Rouse overwrite the plot without the right clarity. Bourne has been off the grid for nearly a decade, why would he get involved once more? That’s the question that Jason Bourne had to answer. Well, they do answer that question, albeit a bit contrived, but it is enough for the film to work. However, Greengrass and Rouse tediously interweave subplots into Bourne’s backstory that are cheaply artificial, which shackle’s Bourne’s motivations. In turn, Bourne’s actions in the film’s climax accidentally contradict everything we knew about Bourne. The final confrontation between he and another C.I.A. official lacks lucidity and is ambiguous in all the wrong ways. Bourne simply isn’t the same character we saw in the original Bourne trilogy, at least from a writing standpoint.

Damon on the other hand, is as good as ever. He slips back into this role with superb ease and takes complete control of the character. Where the writing of Jason Bourne fails, Damon certainly makes up for it in his performance. Vikander, accent aside, is also very good. Her physical acting is off the charts in this film. Her accent though, is very distracting. Tommy Lee Jones is, well, Tommy Lee Jones.

The action of this film is very good. The shaky cam is used heavily of course, but that is what we have come to know from Greengrass and how he shoots his action scenes. Greengrass’ technique perhaps becomes overkill when the action stops but when the energy of Jason Bourne ramps up, Greengrass does his thing and it’s engaging to watch. The car chase in Las Vegas especially, is one of the better action scenes of this summer.

Jason Bourne isn’t a bad film, in fact there is pure fun to be had here. However, it is disappointing in the end given what we should expect from Greengrass and Damon. The absence of Tony Gilroy (who wrote the screenplay for the original Bourne trilogy) is felt here. The main culprit of Jason Bourne‘s problems lie with Greengrass and Rouse’s script, who just didn’t quite have a handle on what motivates these characters. The film had some great ideas on paper, but in an attempt to be astute, the ideas are taken too far and Jason Bourne unfortunately becomes more unbalanced than it wanted to be.

Overall Grade: B-

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Hear our full review on Episode 180:

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Director: Justin Lin
Writers: Simon Pegg, Doug Jung
Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba

Synopsis: The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

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When J.J. Abrams re-launched Star Trek back in 2009, he embarked on a journey that was incredibly risky. He set out to bridge the gap between life-long fans of the show (and previous films) and new fans who perhaps weren’t familiar with the franchise. And if you ask me, he mostly succeeded in that venture. Star Trek: Into Darkness continued that trend but Star Trek Beyond was the first film without the Star Wars: The Force Awakens director. Instead, Fast & Furious veteran Justin Lin took the helm for Beyond. Additionally to that, Simon Pegg and Doug Jung took over the writing duties for this third installment. Depending on who you ask, that may be a good thing. New fans of the franchise may be disappointed in the departure from Abrams and company but many pure Trek fans were calling for this new iteration of Star Trek to get back to its roots.

Regardless of your expectations and experience with Star Trek, one thing is clear. Star Trek Beyond is a completely different animal than its predecessor. Sure, it has the same characters and actors but overall Beyond is much more contained and tonally very different. In fact, it doesn’t feel like it’s even a part of this rebooted series.

Beyond opens with the USS Enterprise crew halfway through their five-year journey when they come across a new Federation base called Yorktown. After an unknown entity breaches Yorktown, the USS Enterprise crew is sent out to find answers. This leads them to an unknown plant that results in catastrophe for the Enterprise as well as its crew. From there, they must use their resilience and determination to escape the planet and save Yorktown from imminent doom.

The small-scale approach to Beyond is sure to work for die-hard Trek fans, however Pegg and Jung’s script is overly calculated and intensely precise. Instead of focusing on characterization, or God-forbid continuity, Beyond‘s narrative is mostly concerned with setting up call back’s and delicately manufacturing the next action sequence. As a result, the film relies heavily on artificial contrivances. The attempts at inserting character drama, such as Captain Kirk’s potential promotion, is laughable and forced. The touches of heart behind Spock’s conflict is affable on paper, but again, in execution it’s rather unearned.

Similar to Into Darkness, Beyond has antagonist problems as well. Idris Elba’s Krall is sadly dull and his motivations are lacking coherency, to put it nicely. Even Elba’s vocal work, which is usually riveting, is underutilized in this film. The twist with Krall in the film’s climax is sympathetic, but in context of the film, it simply misses the mark.

That said, Star Trek Beyond does have some fun and for experienced Trek fans, this will feel like an elongated episode of the old Trek you love. The interactions between Spock and Bones is really great. Karl Urban is hysterical as ever in this film. The scenes between Checkov and Captain Kirk will keep you on the edge of your seat, as well as the “Sabotage” fight sequence. The visuals depicting Yorktown is quite stunning and will leave you wanting more.

Star Trek Beyond isn’t a bad film by any means, but its contrivances and off-focused writing stifles the film’s momentum and kills all continuity from the previous two films. Again, some fans will like that and others will struggle to invest in this third installment.

Overall Grade: C+

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Hear our full review on Episode 179:

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Director: David Ayer
Writers: David Ayer
Stars: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis

Synopsis: A secret government agency recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency.

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I was always intrigued with the Suicide Squad comics because the idea of villains teaming up and doing good makes for great entertainment. Once I knew Suicide Squad was coming to the big screen, I had several concerns. The biggest question mark surrounded around which members Warner Bros. would choose to represent the Suicide Squad in their universe. The most recognized member is Harley Quinn and I believe her insertion in this film was simply for marketing and the same goes for Joker as well. I am not a fan of how Harley Quinn has changed over the years to be more of a sex symbol than anything else and sadly that is the type of Harley Quinn we get in David Ayers’ Suicide Squad. Jared Leto’s Joker was good but I think he would have been best reserved for a solo Batman film or a movie where he is the primary antagonist. This review was hard to write but I have to be honest and not let the fanboy in me affect my decision.

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides to assemble a team of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret mission. The U.S. government enlists Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Diablo (Jay Hernandez) to take on dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency and saving the world from an unknown but powerful threat.
Every character needs to be introduced into the DC universe and the characters are introduced to us through an infographic followed by a few clips that provide a back story to the characters. This is a great way to introduce those who may not be as familiar with other members of the Suicide Squad, but the film gives very little scenes to a few of the characters. The problem with these ensemble films such as Avengers and Justice League is that the most recognizable names will get more screen-time than the others because after all, it’s about selling tickets and not pleasing the comic book masses. Understanding this you will see why characters like Harley Quinn and Joker get more screen-time than Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang. As I alluded to earlier, I personally did not like Harley Quinn and Joker in this movie, and see them more as a marketing ploy than anything else. Margot Robbie is a perfect Dr. Harleen Quinzel and has the potential to be a great Harley Quinn in a full-length film where she is the focus.

One of the reasons I enjoy reading Suicide Squad comics is that despite being villains they are motivated by the same things that heroes are, which makes the Suicide Squad that much more likable. David Ayer and crew effectively make psycho-or-sociopaths relatable by touching on various subject matter that we all relate to. Deadshot wants to do right by his daughter; Diablo’s family drives his need for redemption.

Let’s talk about villains. Since this is a superhero movie there is obviously a threat that needs to be neutralized. Both Warner Bros and Disney have a villain problem and Suicide Squad continues that same trend. No one is more of a victim of Suicide Squad’s editing than the big baddie, who shall remain nameless, but it should be obvious who it is from the trailer. David Ayer is smart and knows that the strengths of this film severely outweigh the negatives, one of which is the villain. The most noticeable issue with this film is that there appears to be several scenes missing, the way the film jumps around it feels like there are huge gaps that are left unfilled.

Will Smith is the star of this film and I am glad that they kept Deadshot as the leader. In Smith’s performance, we are treated to the old summer blockbuster version of Will Smith, and what a treat it is. Much credit may not be giving to Viola Davis as Amanda Waller but she kicks ass in this movie and is not wasted for a second. The cast as a whole is solid and you can tell that the bonding they did before the film makes their chemistry believable and natural.

DC has always been criticized for being too dark and not funny enough by Marvel fanboys, but in Suicide Squad there are jokes aplenty, as the crew like taking shots at each other. Suicide Squad is a character driven film more than it is an action driven film, so you’ve been warned.

As it stands, Suicide Squad is better than Batman Vs. Superman but in order to really make this movie one of the best superhero films, a few things should have been changed. The biggest change I would have made was to the lineup. My team would consist of Deadshot, Deathstroke, Harley Quinn, King Shark, Captain Boomerang and Blackfire. The film would also need to be rated “R” to fully allow Harley Quinn and Deathstroke to develop. Warner Bros. needs to let the creative juices flow and have fun. Warner Bros. is in a good position to gamble because no matter what, people will watch these types of films despite critic reviews, so why hold back?

Suicide Squad is not for everybody, but it is a great movie that fits in nicely with the DC cinematic universe that Warner Bros. is setting up. Warner Bros. and DC are definitely behind Disney/Marvel, but I think their formula is working for them as they are not afraid to be themselves, and I think Marvel will always be held back, since they are under Disney’s control. Don’t get me wrong, Marvel movies are great and I like that we have both Marvel and DC movies and this makes it a great time to be a comic book reader.

Although my rating does not show it, Suicide Squad is an entertaining movie that is worth seeing. The cast and their chemistry together is worth the price of admission, but only in 2D.

Overall Grade: B

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Hear our full review on Episode 181, coming soon.

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