OSCAR 2016 - Pre-Show Thoughts & Predictions & Rants

OSCARS 2016 Thoughts and Predictions:

 Another Oscars, another year of controversy and complaining. What's always amazing to me is how every year, it suddenly seems to dawn on people that the Oscars are less-than-definitive. I mean, even putting aside issues like lack of diversity in terms of nominations, the Oscars have always failed to represent a broad spectrum of film genres and voices. The problem is the voters. It seems suspect that the film awards of record are voted on not by critics or journalists who make it a point to see as many new films as possible, but by Academy members who - no surprise to anyone who knows the entertainment biz - don't watch all that many movies, and don't exactly tend to be plugged in to anything outside of the mainstream. And so, the Oscars become a political game of which studio pushes which films the hardest and most effectively. Therefore, the systemic issues in how films are nominated and voted on also lead to the lack of diversity in the nominee pool. One of the best movies I saw in 2015 was Beasts of No Nation. If this film had received as vigorous an Oscar campaign as, say, The Revenant - then perhaps it would have been nominated for Best Picture, and Idris Elba for Best Supporting Actor. But the movie did not get that same push, and its status as a Netflix original production likely made it a puzzling film for stodgy Oscar voters who view streaming services with a wary eye. So, as usually tends to happen, the conversations around the Oscars become less about what movie was actually best, and more about which cult-of-personality actor has finally "earned" their Oscar, as if they were running for political office rather than being evaluated on artistic merit. This is why true film fans will always take the Oscars with a giant grain of salt: because we know that the awards are being decided by Hollywood establishment more so than true cultural critics or leading-edge cinematic voices.

With all that said, there are some minor miracles in this year's pool of nominations. Mad Max: Fury Road, first and foremost. My pick for the Best Movie of 2015 is exactly the kind of movie that the Oscars would typically ignore. But somehow, the hype for Fury Road hit so hard that it ignoring the film became impossible - and the movie came out early enough in the year that there was time for its cult to spread in the months following its summer release. I honestly don't know if Mad Max has a shot of winning Best Picture. But if it does win, it will be hard to complain about this year's Oscars - it will truly be a hell of a moment for film fans. There are a few other truly great, superlative movies in the Best Picture race. Spotlight is a triumph - and again, it's the kind of slow-burn potboiler that could have easily been ignored in year's past. Room, too, is an absolute masterpiece - an ultra-intense human drama that features the year's best acting performance from star Brie Larson. Somehow, Larson seems to be a lock - and deservedly so. It's rare that the right person is the frontrunner, but hey, this year the stars aligned. Or maybe Larson was just too damn good to ignore.

Speaking of people and movies that got ignored ... here are my Top 10 OSCAR SNUBS of 2015:

1.) Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor - Idris Elba, Best Lead Actor - Abraham Attah - Beasts of No Nation

- I'll start back here. I mean ... WTF. Elba's Commandant is an all-time memorable movie character - a nightmarish militia leader whose unhinged charisma makes him both feared and adored by the members of his child army. How was this career-best turn ignored? And then there's Attah. This child actor absolutely kills it in Beasts - transforming before our eyes from an innocent, happy-go-lucky kid to an ice-cold child warrior. A remarkable performance that should have been nominated. Now, maybe I could understand Beasts' omission from the Best Picture race if the nominee pool was completely stacked. But it isn't. Beasts - poignant, visually-stunning, unforgettable - is the superior film to Bridge of Spies (lower-tier Spielberg), The Big Short (funny but flawed), and The Revenant (draggy and pretentious).

2.) Ex Machina ... for anything.

- Here is the classic case of a movie coming in under the radar, but quickly gaining a cult following because it's freaking awesome. I was an early supporter of Alex Garland's science fiction tour de force, and it pains me that it got no real Oscar love. At the least, Alicia Vikander should have gotten a nod for her incredible turn as a lifelike robot. It's a performance that's already earned a spot in the sci-fi cannon, and for good reason. Ex Machina was the kind of smart, heady sci-fi that we need more of, and it should have gotten some Oscar recognition (it got a nom for Screenplay, but come on ... it deserved more!). 

3.) Best Director - Quentin Tarantino - The Hateful Eight

- The Hateful Eight was generally screwed over by the Oscars this year. Maybe there is some Tarantino backlash in the air, but whatever. The guy is one of the great living directors, and The Hateful Eight is yet another landmark QT film. No one else could make a movie like this. The tension-through-dialogue, the layered themes, the sheer sense of fun and insanity. The Hateful Eight should have been a contender. And while Jennifer Jason Leigh did get a much-deserved nom, I'll also give a shout-out to Samuel L. Jackson and Walton by-god Goggins, who were also deserving.

4.) Best Picture - Creed

- Okay, let's think about this. The original Rocky *won* Best Picture. Creed is arguably the best Rocky film since the original, and the Academy acknowledged it merely by giving the token nod to Stallone for Best Supporting Actor? Dude. I'm all in favor of nominating Sly, but the reason he's so good is because of the overall team effort. Ryan Coogler should have gotten a Best Director nom, Michael B. Jordan a Best Actor nom, and most importantly - CREED - a truly great movie ... should have gotten a Best Picture nom.

5.) Best Leading Actress - Charlize Theron - Mad Max: Fury Road

- Sure, a Fury Road Best Picture nom is cool - but how then does the Academy not honor the movie's already-iconic turn from Theron, as Imperator Furiosa?! An all-time great action-hero performance, Theron is the heart and soul of the film. This reminds me of when Uma Thurman was not nominated for Kill Bill. Academy, I dub thee "mediocre!".

6.) Best Supporting Actor - Jacob Tremblay - Room

- Another of 2015's amazing kid-actor performances, Tremblay is preternaturally great in Room. He and Brie Larson play off of each other amazingly, and there's no way the movie would have worked as well as it did with a lesser actor in the role.

7.) Best Leading Actor - Sir Ian McKellan - Mr. Holmes

- I mean, did anyone in the Academy even watch this movie? McKellan gives a freaking acting master-class in it, playing Sherlock Holmes in two different eras and absolutely destroying throughout. Huge snub.

8.) Best Picture - Inside Out

- Inside Out is one of the top two or three Pixar movies ... which means that yes, it's an all-timer. If Inside Out isn't one of 2015's Top 10 movies, then good lord, the system is broken. Obviously the movie is a frontrunner in the animation category - but it's also proof that animation continues to be ghettoized even when an animated film is one of the year's best. 

9.) Best Leading Actress - Emily Blunt, Best Supporting Actor - Benicio Del Toro - Sicario

- Sicario was jam-packed with great performances, but two in particular were sheer dynamite. Emily Blunt was off the charts good - she is now solidified as the preeminent female badass of our time. And Benicio Del Toro delivered his best acting role in ages, cranking up the intensity to eleven. Sicario was totally snubbed by the Oscars - and that's a true crime.

10.) Best Adapted Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin - Steve Jobs

- I don't always love the writing of Aaron Sorkin. But when he's on, he's on. And he's on fire with Steve Jobs - a long-day's-journey-into-night glimpse into the void that is a harrowing, hypnotizing look at the soul-crushing price of success.

2016 OSCAR PICKS AND PREDICTIONS:

BEST PICTURE:

Should Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

- Like I said, to me there are three nominated movies that deserve to win: Mad Max, Spotlight, and Room. All three got flat-out "A's" from me. But when push comes to shove, Mad Max is my pick for Best Movie of 2015. It's a new action classic that raised the bar for blockbuster filmmaking - delivering both thematic heft and unparalleled set-piece action scenes. And it will be re-watched, discussed, and marveled at for years to come.

Will Win: The Revenant

-Ugh. The Revenant should not win. But the hype train for Innaritu's pain-porn adventure seems too strong to stop. This is the classic case of a movie that so badly wants to feel big and important, but is all sizzle and no steak (much like Innaritu's winner last year, Birdman). But Oscar voters, caught up in the ambition of it all, will probably and predictably give it up for Leo and co.

BEST ACTOR:

Should Win: Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs

- This category is pretty devoid of truly legendary performances this year. But Fassbender is my pick. I thought Steve Jobs was underrated, and Fassbender was amazing in it. He didn't look like Steve Jobs, but he captured the central conflict of Jobs' life via an amazing, kinetic performance. He made Aaron Sorkin's dialogue sizzle and pop. He owned the movie totally and completely.

Will Win: Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

- So much hype. The thing is, Leo should have won for The Wolf of Wall St. That was his true masterwork. But it was probably *too* good for the Oscars, who didn't get that movie and it's greatness. Leo is good - very good - in The Revenant. But I kept thinking that he wasn't even 100% the best man for the part. That to me is not the stuff of a Best Actor award. But god forbid the Hollywood royalty goes too long sans Oscar.

BEST ACTRESS:

Should and Will Win: Brie Larson - Room

- This one is the biggest no-brainer of the night. Larson DESTROYS in Room. I've been on the Brie-is-awesome hype train since her incredible (and not-even-Oscar-nominated) turn in Short Term 12. As amazing as she was there, she's even better in Room. I liked Cate Blanchett in Carol. I really liked Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn. But Larson in Room is a tour de force.This is one of those so-damn-good-she-has-to win performances. Larson is a lock.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Should Win: TIE: Sylvester Stallone in Creed, Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight

- I can't not root for Stallone. He's ROCKY. One of the greatest fictional characters ever. And Stallone is freaking great as Rocky in Creed. Stallone, really, is always great as Rocky. But in Creed he's got a sharp script to work with and a great star to play off of in Michael B. Jordan. And that final scene. On the steps. Hoo-boy. At the same time, Ruffalo is fantastic in Spotlight. He goes all-in, changing his whole posture, speaking style, and mannerisms. And he's got some huge, chill-inducing scenes in the film. It's the standout performance in a movie filled with great performances.

Will Win: Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies

- Rylance is great in Bridge of Spies. Not showy great. But really, really good great. And I figure, Rylance is probably the main reason why this B+ movie was treated as an A-lister this Oscar season (you might say "well, it was Spielberg" - but many of the best Spielberg movies have not fared well come Oscar time, so who knows). In any case, I have a feeling Rylance might pull off an underdog win.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Should Win: Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight

- A strange, bloody, brutal role - Leigh's turn as Daisy Domergue in QT's latest is one for the ages. Leigh is fearless and holds nothing back, and she holds her own in a movie filled with all-time badasses. She may, in fact, be the baddest of them all.

Will Win: Rooney Mara - Carol

- I can't begrudge a Mara win, as she's phenomenal in Carol - with an understated, nuanced performance. Though the movie is called Carol, Mara's Therese is the real star. Why? Because the film is filtered through Therese's point of view, and it's Mara's performance that anchors and grounds the movie. My guess is that voters will want to reward Carol, and will do so by way of a Mara vote.

BEST DIRECTOR:

Should Win: George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road

- My line of thinking here mirrors what I said earlier about the Best Picture race. Miller should win for Fury Road - he's a master who, despite already being a living legend, completely raised the bar for himself and for action movies in general with his latest. I mean, come on - the direction in Fury Road is *breathtaking.* At the same time, I was pretty floored by the directing in both Room and Spotlight, so could not be too upset if either of those films won. Room, in particular - the intensity and nail-biting nature of the film deserves recognition.

Will Win: Alegandro Inarritu - The Revenant

- I don't know. Maybe the Academy will do the right thing and go with Miller. But the cynic in me says they will do the predictable thing and go with Inarritu, sucked in by his tales of a life-and-death-struggle of a film shoot and his pretensions as a true artiste of cinematic greatness.The dude has talent, no question. There are moments of amazing visual splendor in The Revenant. But the story is lacking, and the film is in many ways emotionally and thematically hollow.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Should and Will Win: Spotlight

-Spotlight had an amazing screenplay. It builds and builds and intensifies and intensifies. It is sprawling yet never hard to follow. It's small in scale, but feels big - the stakes are huge. It is, in its own way, quite epic. Spotlight was my pick for the best Screenplay of the year, and I think it will win. Shout-out though to both Ex Machina and Inside Out - each were incredibly well-written as well.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Should Win and Will Win: Brooklyn

- It might surprise you that I pick Brooklyn here, but man, it's got one hell of a screenplay by the great Nick Hornby. I don't tend to love rom-coms, but Brooklyn transcends the genre by just being an insanely charming love story with a lot of heart, but also a lot of authentic-feeling emotion, layered characters, and an abundance of wit.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Should and Will Win: Inside Out

-My one caveat here is that Anomalisa is such an outlier in this category. It feels a bit silly to have it competing against a bunch of family and kids' movies. I feel like there should be two distinct animation categories - adult animation and kids/family animation. Or just do away with animation and have a kids/family category (and a comedy category, while we're at it!). Suffice it to say, Anomalisa is a pretty incredible film. I'd say it's a Best Picture-worthy one. But ... Inside Out, in my view, is a Pixar masterpiece. This is its year. The way it visualizes and conveys complex emotions into easily-distilled themes is truly remarkable. It's a clever, joyful, sad, emotion-packed, visually-stunning work of imagination and wonder and great empathy. A lot of times I feel like Pixar just wins these things by default. But this year, it is deserving.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

-No other movie of 2015 so utterly and completely transported me to another world like Fury Road. This is a fully-realized post-apocalyptic world that fires the imagination. The detail, the aesthetic - amazing. And it's all so, so metal. Fury Road takes it. Although ... Alicia Vikander going all-in as an android in Ex Machina makes for tough competition.

BEST FILM EDITING:

- Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

- Should Win: Mad Max: Fury Road
- Will Win: The Revenant

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

- Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ANIMATED FILM SHORT:

- Should and Will Win: World of Tomorrow

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

- Should and Will Win: The Look of Silence

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

- Should Win: ?
- Will Win: Last Day of Freedom

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:

- Should Win: ?
- Will Win: Day One

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

- Should and Will Win: Son of Saul

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

- Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:

- Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SOUND MIXING:

- Should and Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SOUND EDITING:

- Should and Will Win: The Martian

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

- Should Win: The Hateful Eight
- Will Win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

Should Win: ?
Will Win: "Writing's On the Wall" - Spectre

Well, it will be an interesting Oscars. There are A LOT of great films nominated this year, despite what the backlash to the nominations may have you believe. I strongly urge you to check out movies like Spotlight, Room, and Steve Jobs if you haven't already. At the same time, there are, again, plenty of amazing movies that won't be talked about at this year's Oscars. That includes movies that inexplicably missed the cut - like Beasts of No Nation - as well as indie and genre movies that never really stood a chance of awards recognition. In 2015, some of the movies that inspired me most and and got me most excited about cinema included gems like It Follows, Ex Machina, Crimson Peak, Dope, Bone Tomahawk, Predestination, Kingsmen, and Cop Car. So at the end of the day, realize that the Oscars are not the end-all, be-all. What makes being a film fan so much fun is finding the unique voices, the bold visions, and the unexpected gems.

CREED Is a Winning Continuation of the Rocky Legacy

 CREED Review:

- Movies like CREED shouldn't really exist. It sounds like fan fiction - something that friends might dream up over a spirited movie discussion. What if the Rocky franchise spun out into a story about the son of Apollo Creed? What if Rocky Balboa assumed the Mickey role? What if the entire Rocky saga came full circle, giving birth to something new and awesome? I mean, this is the kind of stuff that *never* happens in movies. Franchises are supposed to go down in flames thanks to terrible sequels or cash-grab reboots. That's what happens. And yet ... there is CREED. Here is a film that opens up the Rocky franchise for a new generation, yet pays total respect to what's come before. This is a film about legacy, and yet it is, in and of itself, one of the best-ever examples of film-franchise legacy done right. CREED is a great boxing movie, a great character drama, and one hell of a Rocky movie. It's a minor miracle.

I remember hearing about the genesis of CREED a few years back ... the director and star of the buzzy indie drama Fruitvale Station approached Sylvester Stallone with a pitch for a Rocky spin-off about Apollo Creed's son - and, perhaps surprisingly, Stallone said "yes." After seeing the excellent Fruitvale Station, I was instantly excited. Director Ryan Coogler was clearly a real-deal talent behind the camera, and star Michael B. Jordan had all the ingredients to be a huge star. Jordan's performance in Fruitvale was fantastic, and I couldn't wait to see what he'd do in CREED. My expectations were doubly high after the shockingly great Rocky Balboa resuscitated the Rocky franchise several years earlier. That movie reignited my love for all things Rocky, and it's still to this day a huge comfort-food film, a movie with the kind of iconic speeches and adrenaline-pumping montages that will live on forever.

The minor miracle is that CREED is every bit as good as its pedigree suggests, and it not only continues the series momentum of Rocky Balboa, but builds upon it - delivering an absolutely rock-solid film that deserves to be talked about in the same breath as the original (and Oscar-winning) Rocky.

Michael B. Jordan does great work as Donnie Johnson - born Adonis Creed - the product of an affair that the late Apollo had prior to his death. Donnie grew up never having known his father, except by reputation - and he grew up in a rough-and-tumble adoptive care system until Creed's wife Mary Anne finds him and takes him in, raising him as her own. From that point on, Donnie grows up in luxury in LA. He goes to college and works in an office, but he isn't happy or fulfilled. The legacy of Apollo haunts him - and so he travels to Mexico to fight, living a double life. Finally, he quits his job and decides to pursue fighting full time. Donnie goes to Philly and tracks down Rocky Balboa, begging the former champ to train him.

Jordan helps make Donnie into a multifaceted, easy-to-root-for character. He's quick-tempered, but he's also a nice guy. It takes him a while to find some of his dad's confidence and flair. At first, especially, he's quiet - even nervous - trying to prove to himself that he even belongs in the same profession that his dad once dominated. Jordan does a remarkable job of making Donnie into a character that feels grounded and real, but that we can get behind when the big moments come.

And of course, those big moments have added dramatic weight thanks to the large-looming presence of Stallone's iconic Rocky Balboa. This is very much a "passing of the torch" movie, but Rocky's role isn't just to cameo. There is some full-on Rocky-related drama here. This is a Rocky who is now more alone than ever - his wife and friends are mostly gone, and his son lives in Canada and is only sporadically in contact. This is a Rocky who lacks a purpose - who, frankly, isn't sure why he's even still hanging around. Rocky is initially reluctant to take Donnie under his wing, but the arc of the movie (this being a movie about legacy), is one in which Rocky realizes that his fight is not yet over ... even if the fight he now faces can't be fought or won in a ring. Stallone has always done his best acting as Rocky, and he really, really crushes it here. Stallone has always had a way of fully inhabiting Rocky, of slipping into this character in a way that feels so natural that it sometimes blurs the line between reality and fantasy. The problem has just been that, occasionally, the material that Stallone has to work with isn't truly Rocky-worthy. But here, Coogler and co-writer Aaron Covington give Rocky some real knockout stuff - and Stallone rises to the occasion. Viewers who have never seen a Rocky movie will still get a lot out of CREED, but fans who have been with the series since the original will get an extra something special out of the way that this film so elegantly and movingly brings Rocky's story into a new phase.

And man, this really does feel like it could be the beginning of something new and awesome. Jordan and Stallone have a great dynamic, and it's one I'd love to see more of. There's also a strong addition to the cast in Tessa Thompson as Bianca, Donnie's love interest - but also a well-drawn character in her own right who has her own battles to fight. All the pieces are in place for CREED to blossom into its own thing and build its own strong cinematic foundation.

Still, the familiar elements of Rocky are there in CREED's DNA. Some of the major story beats - as well as aesthetic touches, like training montages and the iconic Bill Conti score - are there and are used extremely well. But Coogler also makes sure that this is his own spin on an iconic franchise. I recognized certain visual flourishes from his work on Fruitvale Station - and the film's fight scenes in particular feel new and different versus other Rocky movies. Coogler gets the camera in close, weaving it around and even between the fighters - helping to create visceral, brutal-feeling fights that put the viewer right in the middle of the action. Coogler still makes sure to include the big cinematic moments that are a trademark of Rocky fight scenes, but he does it with his own unique visual style. He does a hell of a job - crafting fight scenes that make you wince at the hard-hitting action even as they make you cheer for our hero. And I mean cheer. Like the best of the Rocky films, CREED will make you jump out of your seat and fist-pump. Emotions run high. That said, I'm not sure that CREED has some of the mic-drop, "oh-damn" speeches or emotional highs of Rocky Balboa. In some ways, this is a quieter movie - but then again, we don't yet have as much history with Donnie as we did with Rocky in the character's last outing. I'm willing to give it time. And this film's final scene - a quiet but note-perfect moment - is so great that you can't help but give the film credit for going out in the absolute best way possible - in a way that, unique to CREED, is less about the big win and more about the smaller, quieter victories.

But CREED is a big win. Coogler, Jordan, and Stallone nail it - and in turn they give movie fans the kind of story that is so rare, but so supremely satisfying - a story that keeps going not because it has to, but because new generations can find inspiration and hope from something that inspired them, that made them want to keep the torch burning. CREED preaches the mantra of "One step. One punch. One round." And there is wisdom in that. But what the film also shows us is how those moments, ultimately, add up to a fight, to a win, to a life, and to a legacy. CREED hits hard.

My Grade: A-

THE EXPENDABLES 3 Finally Delivers the Old-School Goods

THE EXPENDABLES 3 Review:

- Once, the promise of THE EXPENDABLES was infinite. After a late-period filmmaking renaissance that included improbably great sequels to Rocky and Rambo, Sylvester Stallone began work on what was sure to be his crowning achievement: a new franchise that would assemble a retro-tinged, action-movie Dream Team. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Lundgren, Statham, Li, Rourke, and more would gather to make the dream of every Gen Y and Gen X'ers pre-teen self become a reality.

Sadly, the first Expendables movie was less about embracing 80's-action excess and fun, and more about Stallone and his crew trying to place aging action stars in some sort of nu-metal re-imagining. It was like the movie version of the nWo, except nowhere near as cool. We came for old-school nostalgia, and were instead treated to a rather soulless and joyless film that tried too hard to make the kids think it was cool. Still, the movie was a financial success, and spawned a sequel. Part Two seemed very reactionary to some of the criticisms of the first film. Whereas the first movie was too self-serious, Part Two was way too overtly jokey. And not in the sort of serious-but-sorta-winking-at-the-audience way that most classic 80's action films were. No, the second movie was downright hokey at times, with the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" accompanying Chuck Norris' grand entrance and other such cartoonish shenanigans. Jean Claude Van Damme was pretty awesome as the villain, but the movie, mostly, felt flat and misguided.

Suffice it to say, my expectations were severely lowered for the third installment. And I suspect others' were too, since the box office was pretty dismal. But the fact is, I ended up having a blast with the third Expendables film. It's the best of the franchise by a longshot. It's still silly and semi tone-deaf in parts, but the movie is the franchise's first to actually feel like the sort of epic 80's action flick that its fans want to see. The action itself is often damn good, Mel Gibson is the best Expendables villain yet, and there are enough great/silly/quotable quips and one-liners to satiate even the most discerning of retro-action junkies.

THE EXPENDABLES 3 gets off to a hell of a start, thrusting the audience headlong into a pretty crazy sequence in which Stallone's Barney Ross and his crew engage in a daring rescue mission to free an old colleague from a prison-transport train. As it turns out, the old colleague is Wesley Snipes, playing a semi-insane, blade-wielding doctor whose signature phrase is "jang-alang." Yep, awesomeness. Plenty of jokes are made at the expense of Snipes' real-life legal troubles ("What were you in for?" "Tax evasion."), but the fact is that, man, it's good to see Snipes back in the saddle and kicking ass. He plays his character as suitably nutty, and sort of sets the tone for the movie: sort of crazy, but 100% committed.

Speaking of disgraced former action stars, I've got to give it up to Mel Gibson: he's a fantastic Big Bad in this film. Since I still sort of hate Gibson, it would have been hard for me to root for him as a hero in this one ... so I'm glad he's a villain. And not just a villain, but a complete $&%#-head of a villain. But hey, despite my dislike for Gibson, I can admit that he's a very good actor, and, let's face it, a step above a lot of the guys who've populated these Expendables flicks. Gibson brings a real unhinged, self-righteous venom to his role, and he finally gives Stallone someone to really verbally spar with. He brings out the sort of real-deal acting from Stallone that I don't think we've seen yet in this franchise.

In Gibson, the franchise has its most serious-business villain to date. But the film also feels like it's having more genuine (and less forced-feeling) fun than earlier entries. I mean, look at Harrison Ford here, playing a government liason with Stallone's team. Ford looks awake, aware, and semi-giddy to be playing the badass again. His role here actually got me sort of pumped to see him play Han Solo again in Star Wars VII. Schwarzenegger gets to kick ass but also spout some quality one-liners, including a reprisal of one of his most famous lines from Predator. Antonio Banderas is sort of a comic relief character, but he makes the most of it. He's genuinely amusing and seems to be having a blast going big and broad. Sure, it would have been fun to have him play the classic Banderas badass, Desperado-style, but as is, he injects a lot of life into the movie. Meanwhile, a lot of people (myself included), rolled their eyes at the inclusion of Kelsey Grammar amidst the movie's roll-call of action movie legends. Really - the guy who played Frasier listed alongside Stallone and Schwarzenegger? Actually though, he's quite good here, and a good fit. As an old buddy of Barney Ross', Grammar is well-cast. He plays the guy with the inside track on promising young would-be Expendables recruits, needed by Ross when he rids himself of his old team.

And that is where the movie falters a bit - in its central plot hook of Ross ditching his usual comrades and upgrading his team to a group of newer, younger recruits. In theory, it's a solid through-line for the film. But in execution, it feels pretty tacked-on and rushed. A ton of time is spent as Stallone and Grammar size up potential Expendables - and these scenes are a lot of fun, no question. But the recruitment portion of the movie takes up so much time that these new characters mostly feel like non-entities. And the actors playing them don't have anywhere near the charisma of their elders. Maybe that's part of the point? We do, ultimately, get a predictably triumphant return-to-action from Ross' old-guard Expendables, and the movie's climactic action sequence is an awesomely-chaotic melee that is a pure adrenaline rush. But the movie seems torn as to whether it's about "these old guys still got it" or a passing-of-the-torch to a new generation of action icons. Well, the kids have a long way to go before reaching icon status. Ronda Rousey - a real-life female MMA fighter - is a standout, bringing legit toughness and fighting prowess to the mix. But some of her next-gen compatriots are lacking in the charisma department. Sorry, but guys like Kellan Lutz don't quite have the star-presence to be the next Stallone or Snipes.

That said, The Expendables has always been a sort of ongoing tribute to the larger-than-life heroes of yesteryear, and this final sequel is the best testament yet to the old guys' lasting ability to kick ass. Like its predecessors, the third film feels way overstuffed and very all-over-the-place. But tonally, it hits a satisfying sweet spot between serious action and over-the-top 80's-style silliness that left me smiling and pumping my fists on several occasions. I don't think it's mere nostalgia telling me that, by god, they don't make action movie heroes like they used to. And THE EXPENDABLES 3 is a fitting salute to these aging but still-badass cinematic titans. Even if you were let down by previous installments, I say "get to de choppah!" and check this one out.

My Grade: B

ESCAPE PLAN Is Nostalgic, 80's-Style Slice of Cheesy-Awesome

ESCAPE PLAN Review:

- While the most recent efforts from Sylvester Stallone and a back-to-acting Arnold Schwarzenegger have been met with mostly indifference at the box office, I've got to say: I've really been enjoying this recent spate of late-career action flicks from the two titanic stars. And it annoys me to no end that amidst the endless age jokes, and the weary critical eye from reviewers, some of these legitimately enjoyable films are getting overlooked. Maybe it's Expendables fatigue. Stallone's uber team-up movies have been only-okay at best, and have contained an odd mix of old-school stars with mediocre attempts to emulate modern action movie aesthetics. So yeah, the Expendables movies have yet to 100% live up their potential. But that doesn't mean that they haven't indirectly spawned some worthy films from Stallone and Schwarzenegger. This year alone, Arnold's The Last Stand was a badass, uber-enjoyable action/comedy, and Stallone's Bullet to the Head was a decidedly old-school, hard-nosed effort from Walter Hill. And now, there's ESCAPE PLAN. A dream-team team-up of Sly and Ahnold that, yes, would have been more exciting twenty years ago and pre-Expendables, but still ... for anyone who grew up in (or who has an admiration for) the pumped-up era of 80's action films, this particular pairing is one that's been a long, long time coming.

And you know what? ESCAPE PLAN is cheesy, it's silly, but man, it's entertaining. It's a total throwback film. Yes, Sly and Arnold are older, but the film itself feels right out of 1985. Mostly, that's a good thing. They don't make 'em like this anymore. In the world of Escape Plan, a knockout punch is accompanied by a deadpan one-liner. A handshake between our two stars is filmed, Predator-style, like a meeting of cinematic superheroes. Explosions and gun battles are doled out liberally, with little regard for body count. And when all is said and done, our heroes laugh and walk off into the sunset, freeze-framed into cinematic immortality. What's fun about this film is that it treats the meeting of its two leads as a mega-epic team-up. Sometimes these kinds of movies don't want to overemphasize the pairing of two icons, but that pairing is Escape Plan's raison d'être. The film has no qualms about going big, goofy, and over-the-top. There's absolutely no subtlety in Escape Plan's DNA.

In the movie, Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a master of escape who makes a living by breaking out of maximum security prisons - thus exposing their vulnerabilities and showing where security needs to be beefed up. However, Breslin is faced with nearly insurmountable odds when he's hired to break out of The Tomb - an off-the-books super-max that's outfitted with high-tech cells, and patrolled by masked, anonymous guards who look like rejects from GI Joe's Cobra. To make matters worse, Breslin realizes that there may be more to his stay in The Tomb than meets the eye - namely, this may be less about him testing the facility, and more about him being set up as a fall-guy by his shady employers. Suddenly, Breslin's need to escape is less about doing a job, and more about his very survival.

Breslin's one ally in The Tomb is Emil Rottmayer (Schwarzeneger). Rottmayer is a burly German who is of particular interest to The Tomb's sinister warden, Hobbes (an ice-cold Jim Caviezel). Hobbes believes that Rottmayer has valuable intel on a wanted terrorist (Rottmayer calls him a freedom fighter), and is determined to extract said intel by any means necessary. So Breslin and Rottmayer form an alliance: hatching the titular escape plan by combining Breslin's MacGuyver-esque escape skills with Rottmayer's knowledge of the prison, value to the warden, and of course, brute strength.

Stallone and Schwarzenegger are both a lot of fun here. Stallone is doing a variation on his recent hard-nosed characters in The Expendables and Bullet to the Head, but Schwarzenegger is really doing something interesting. He's got a certain mischievous gleam in his eye that we haven't seen in quite some time, and he plays Rottmayer as funny, almost jovial, despite his dire circumstances. This actually makes for a great chemistry between the two leads - Stallone as the serious one, all business, Schwarzenegger as the quippy troublemaker who will still come through in a jam. What's more, Schwarzenegger actually has some moments where I was flat-out impressed by his acting. One sequence in particular, where he tauntingly screams out German to his captors, in order to avoid revealing sensitive info under duress, is downright awesome. If this is what crazy-old-man Ahnold can offer us in the years ahead, then my god, bring on the crazy old-man roles for Ahnold.

Caviziel is good and properly loathsome as the warden. Sam Neil also appears, lending some bonus gravitas to a small but crucial role as the morally-conflicted prison doctor. Vinnie Jones surfaces as the warden's sadistic enforcer, though he's actually a bit more restrained than per usual. Finally, Amy Ryan is in the mix as Stallone's colleague/sometimes-love-interest. All do a nice job and lend a lot of personality to the film (less impressive: rapper 50 Cent as another, more bland, slightly more useless associate of Stallone's).

Where ESCAPE PLAN stumbles is that its sense of fun is, at times, offset by a hamfistedness that inspires unintentional laughs, and the occasional eye-rolling/face-palm. When Stallone attempts to win the loyalty of Sam Neil by reminding him of his Hippocratic Oath, the film then segues into a melodramatic montage where we see Neil literally reading through a book of medical ethics, deliberating over the Oath. That's one example of several in which the movie - which walks a fine line overall between camp and stupidity - veers wildly into the realm of stupidity. Mostly, there's nothing so offensive that you can't just go with it, but I also think the movie could have benefited from a tad more self-awareness of its own ridiculousness (not too much though - wouldn't want to mess around with the gloriously oblivious 80's vibe).

The other main problem with the movie is that for a movie centered around a high-tech, super-max prison, the design of The Tomb simply isn't all that inspired. Other than a couple of futuristic touches, it feels pretty standard-issue. It feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity for cool visual design. It's funny though, because based on the rather bare-bones design of the prison, I assumed that the entirety of the movie would have sort of a low-budget, B-movie feel. But the producers seem to have saved their dough for the third act, in which we're treated to some surprisingly massive set-piece action scenes that recall 80's-era excess.

Ultimately, Escape Plan feels like a perfect movie to place on one's bookshelf alongside the likes of endlessly watchable 80's Stallone/Schwarzenegger cheese like Commando or Tango & Cash. There's a certain unapologetic aesthetic here that I just find incredibly refreshing in the world of the postmodern action film. Maybe not a new classic - and this won't win over any new converts - but Escape Plan remains a fine bit of nostalgic action escapism, for those who long for the days when action movies and action heroes were truly larger than life.

My Grade: B+