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SCENE IT ALL BEFORE

Baby Break It Down

6/22/2017

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Baby Driver Reviewed

If there's one thing Edgar Wright likes doing with his movies, it's exploring a genre. It's almost as if he thinks that once he delivers his take on the genre he can never go back, so he jams everything that he wants to say about it into one story. That may explain why there is so much going on in this one heist little movie.

Baby Driver is about a getaway driver named Baby (Ansel Elgrot) whose skill on the road is dependent on the song he is listening to. Baby works for Doc (Kevin Spacey) who uses a different crew for every heist he pulls, except for Baby, who he considers the best. Baby tries to escape his life of crime but gets roped into pulling one final job with a dangerous crew.

The cast Edgar Wright assembles is fantastic. Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey are always fun to watch on screen, and Ansel Elgrot has just as much screen presence as he did in The Fault in Our Stars while showing off quite a different range. He shows that he is an up-and-coming actor to watch. The only character who didn't work for me was Jon Hamm as Buddy, and it wasn't even the character so much as the performance. Buddy had so much going on that I'm not sure if Jon Hamm, who I usually love, could fit it all in. Or maybe I hated that his beard was blocking that gorgeous face; it's tough to say. 

Baby Driver plays as a stimulant to the eyes, which makes it fun to watch. The special effects, use of color, and even the actors with their performances are all visually appealing. Edgar Wright takes great pride in every frame he shoots. The car chases he crafts are just as interesting as anything in recent memory, and Wright didn’t need to use a tank, submarine, or an aircraft carrier.
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As much as this is a heist movie it is also a love story and the chemistry between Lily James and Ansel Elgort is great
But even sans-tank this movie can get quite cheesy. In fact, it's almost defined by its cheese, especially in an early scene where Baby is going to get coffee, and during a laundromat sequence with Baby and his love interest, Debora. Personally, I eat it up, but if these scenes have you rolling your eyes this movie may prove to be frustrating.

The movie’s biggest problem, though, is its narrative. The plot is not clear on what it wants to be, so Wright tries squeezing in everything he can think of. The movie takes moments from Gone in 60 Seconds, The Fast and the Furious, Bonnie and Clyde, borrows ideas from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, along with the tried and true ‘one last job’ cliché, and tries to string it all together into one story. Maybe Wright is hoping most people won’t notice you are watching three different movies as long as he throws enough cool stuff to look at.  

Obviously, the soundtrack to this movie is great. Every track fits perfectly into the scene, with gunshots matching the songs’ down beats. A wide range of artists are featured, from Queen to Danger Mouse to Young MC to Simon and Garfunkel. To be honest, they may have put more work into crafting the perfect soundtrack than any aspect of the movie, especially as hearing and deafness figure in as (yet another) part of the plot.

If you enjoy what Edgar Wright has done with his previous genre movies like Shaun of The Dead, The World’s End, or Scott Pilgrim vs the World, then you’ll probably like what he's doing in Baby Driver. It almost feels like a cult classic in the making, as if the movie is made for the niche audience of people who like fast cars and cool stunts. I just hope there’s an audience that enjoy those types of movies. B+
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Top 5 Movies To Look Forward To For The Second Half Of 2017

6/8/2017

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At the beginning of the year I came up withfive movies to look forward to for the first half of the year, and I would say four out of the five movies turned out to be good (stupid Baywatch). So here are five for the second half of the year; there are a lot of other interesting choices, too, but you have to cut the list somewhere.

 Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7
 
Okay, perhaps you are sick of Spider-Man movies. That's fair. Andrew Garfield did no favors to the franchise. But did you see Civil War? Arguably the best part of a great movie was the young Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man. It's nice to see a young guy playing the teenage version of Peter Parker. Marvel has been the most successful studio in Hollywood and this has all the makings of an upbeat, funny Marvel movie. And that doesn't even take into consideration the fact that Michael Keaton, who has been amazing lately, is playing The Vulture, a villain we should have seen three movies ago. We probably don't need a sixth Spider-Man movie over the past two decades, but this one feels right.

Dunkirk (July 21)
Say what you will about Interstellar. Tell me you didn't like Inception. Christopher Nolan is still one of my favorite directors out there and I would follow him into whatever hellscape Dunkirk is. This is a World War II story and takes place in England. I don't know much about the real-life events off which this story is based; I do know that a bunch of great British actors are in the movie, including Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, and the dreamiest One Directioner of them all: Harry Styles. The movie is filmed entirely on IMAX cameras, and Christopher Nolan is the king of big-time IMAX movie-making. The best part about the story is that because it's based on true events, there shouldn't be any unnecessary twists. This has all the makings to be one of my favorite movies of the year.

Baby Driver (August 11)
I actually don't know too much about Baby Driver beyond the fact that Edgar Wright is directing. I also know that every critic that has seen it has liked it, which is why the movie currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Edgar Wright has a great track record for making both funny and action-packed movies. And with a cast like Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Kevin Spacey, I think this movie will be a lot of fun to watch.

Ferdinand (December 15)
I was going to put the new Pixar movie Coco on this list due in part to the fact that it's a new Pixar movie and it's being directed by the same people who directed Toy Story 3. I know full well I will probably wind up bawling my eyes out while watching the movie. However, that's not the animated movie I'm most excited for. I'm excited to see Ferdinand. Based on the childhood book of the same name, it's about a bull who just wants to pick flowers. This is a heartwarming story that every parent should read to their kids. I love that John Cena is playing the bull; I believe he could be one of the next great comedic/action actors out there. If that wasn't enough, the movie's trailer is set to Ed Sheeran's “Castle on the Hill.” So now whenever I hear that song on the radio (which is a lot) I think of this movie, which probably says something about how excited I am. But the fact that it is coming out the same day as the next movie on this list makes me worried that the studio is burying Ferdinand.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (December 15)
I wasn't a huge fan of the Rogue One, but apparently, I was the only one. I did, however, love Episode VII and will watch it anytime it comes on Starz. If this series follows the trajectory of the original that should mean this eighth installment will be both better and darker than part one in the trilogy. While I do wish J.J. Abrams was returning to direct this movie, I love the director they have in Rain Johnson. He's the same guy who did Brick and Looper. Just take my money now and add it to what I assume will be another billion dollar movie for the Star Wars franchise.
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