'Never Seen It' - Episode 35 - Objection to 'Law Abiding Citizen'

On our 35th episode of our 'Never Seen It' podcast, my wife Elizabeth Rosado and I are looking at the 2009 sleeper hit Law Abiding Citizen. We ask some burning questions like: Why do people like Gerard Butler -- and -- is Jamie Foxx the hero of this film?

We also get into the movie's politics when it comes to the criminal justice system and the death penalty, which we believe are problematic to say the least.

You can click on the YouTube link below to hear us out, or please subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. All of our previous episodes are also available there as well as on this website.

'Avengers: Infinity War' is the most expensive trailer ever made

Robert Downey, Jr. in Avengers Infinity War

It's fitting that the box office behemoth Avengers: Infinity War is marking the ten-year anniversary of the seemingly unstoppable Marvel Cinematic Universe because it is features both the most exhilarating and the most maddening aspects of films like these.

And I don't necessarily mean that as an insult.

For instance, narrative storytelling-wise, this movie is a mess. It jumps around from universe to universe far too frequently. Unlike say Black Panther, or even Ant-Man, it never established a consistent tone. The humor often feels forced with characters simply standing and trading quips between fistfights. And yet, when it ended there was a enough awe-inspiring sequences and winning performances for the movie to earn some of my admiration.

And, unlike most Marvel movies, it manages to stick the landing with a third act that is much more interesting than its prior ones. Without spoiling it, I will say that this film features one the most visually striking and daringly downbeat endings that I've ever seen in a blockbuster like this -- and it deserves major kudos for being willing to risk turning off infamously finicky comic book fans.

That being said, I can't blame some viewers for feeling cheated. Because of the nature of the Marvel assembly line we already know there will be more Spider-Man movies and almost certainly Black Panther movies, so the stakes for many characters in this Avengers film are instantly lowered. And there is already a part two to this story coming out next summer -- so although this movie runs almost three hours (and you feel its length) it offers little in the way of resolution or coherence.

I've enjoyed the Russo brothers' Marvel films to date. They tend to have a good balance of gravitas and humor with at least a kernel of a grander idea in the background. This movie has some interesting ideas too, particularly buried within the motivations of the villain Thanos, but it gets very overwhelmed by the required need to shoehorn in the dozens (literally dozens) of lead and supporting characters even if they don't necessarily serve the story.

Josh Brolin as Thanos

Some succeed more than others -- it's fun seeing Doctor Strange and Iron Man butt heads, Spider-Man is welcome comic relief and there are some nice little nods to the emerging girl power of this franchise. However, Black Panther, Captain America and many more characters feel wasted.

And I have never been as taken with the Guardians of the Galaxy as a lot of fans are. It's also a pretty dour film. It's weird walking into a movie where the broader conversation centers around who is going to live or die in it.

Ironically, the most striking performance of the movie -- for me -- was Josh Brolin's motion capture Thanos. At times, his almost Shakespearean intonations get lost in the sturm and drang of the CGI set-pieces, but when he and his backstory are given time to breathe, Infinity War tiptoes into more compelling territory.

While not as sympathetic as Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger, he is a formidable and insidious figure, and the film does a great job of establishing how fearsome he is early on with a fast and furious brawl with the Hulk. This may be the first Marvel movie I've seen where I genuinely felt like the bad guy couldn't be beaten.

I appreciate that the filmmakers decided to take the time to give Thanos a soul because so much of this film can feel soulless. After ten years and 18 movies, we've grown numb to seeing New York City in flames or massive spaceships blowing to pieces. And while a return to Wakanda is a welcome one, it feels more perfunctory here than it did in Ryan Coogler's more profound film.

There's a fatigue that has set in -- the one liners are fun and these actors are all incredibly likable -- but I can understand why this movie won't work for a lot of more discerning moviegoers who don't lap up ever iteration of these. And frankly, if it weren't for this movie's striking, satisfying ending -- it might not have worked for me.

'9 to 5' and other movies I'd like to see remade

There is a long-held Hollywood adage that great films shouldn't be remade and I somewhat agree with the logic. For instance, I hope to never live to see the day The Godfather films are 'rebooted' and good intentions aside, in retrospect, Ghostbusters didn't need to be re-imagined either.

And yet, there are a lot of films I really like and admire that I do think could be updated for a modern audience and really have an impact.

I thought of this in particular when I was watching the classic 1980 feminist comedy 9 to 5. With perhaps the exception of some of the fashion and hairstyles, the movie has really held up and that's because in no small part the themes it touches on of women in duress in the workplace are just as relevant now, maybe more-so. I'd love to see Kirsten Wiig in the Fonda role, Maya Rudolph in the Tomlin role and maybe Janelle Monae in the Dolly Parton part. As the boss, maybe Will Ferrell?

I feel like there's talk of a 9 to 5 remake for a while now, and even a sequel with the original stars -- I sort of don't care which way they choose to go, I just want to see this story updated for a new audience. There are a handful of other films I love that I want to see revisited...

Blue Collar - This surprisingly dark heist film meets labor satire gave Richard Pryor the best dramatic role of his career (in my opinion) and I believe it would be the perfect vehicle for another black comic actor (I've always pictured Dave Chappelle) to show their range, while also providing a window into the pitfalls of modern labor movements.

In the Heat of the Night - I believe this is the best, least dated Sidney Poitier film and its look at a culture clash between a black police officer and bigoted southern cops/society feels like it could be incredibly powerful today. It could be both an opportunity to delve into policing issues but also the discrimination that upwardly mobile African-Americans still face on a daily basis.

The Parallax View - This 1974 is one of the great paranoid thrillers of the decade -- Warren Beatty plays a sleuthing journalist who stumbles onto a very elaborate assassination plot conspiracy theory and pays a devastating price for it. With Russian hacking and government corruption making daily headlines, the time is right for another film that tackles the mistrust and potential evil lurking in the shadows of the corridors of power.

The Color Purple - I actually quite like the 1985 Steven Spielberg version of this story -- it's very well acted and gorgeous to look at, but the source material was considerably more graphic and harder edged, probably too intense for audiences over 30 years ago. But since then this material has been reinvigorated with a Broadway musical and I believe actresses like Viola Davis or even an outside the box choice like an against-type Tiffany Haddish could do wonders with it.

Mississippi Burning - This 1988 film is a powerful re-telling of a crucial Civil Rights-era case from a totally white perspective. It's a terrific film, but a movie that reads as problematic 30 years later. The case of the murders of Goodwin, Cheney and Schwermer is one of the most infamous in American history and it deserves a revisit, but this time the black and brown people who directly involved and impacted should be front and center.

They Live - John Carpenter's action satire of consumerism run amok has endured as one of the most beloved B-movies of all time, but what it it had a bigger budget and a more capable lead actor (with all due respect to Roddy Piper)? Just like how HBO has propelled Westworld to even greater heights than the cult '70s horror film that inspired it, this world could be even bigger and bolder with modern special effects and sensibilities.

Phoenix brings unsettling vibe to 'You Were Never Really Here'

Joaquin Phoenix is a very unsettling leading man. In movie after movie (and sometimes in real life) he brings a jarring, off-kilter energy that feels truly dangerous in a way that say, traditional action movie stars don't. It's that borderline creepy persona that is front in center in the moody new melodrama You Were Never Really Here, and it serves Phoenix and the movie well.

Durector Lynne Ramsey's violent and minimalist crime film is already drawing comparisons to Taxi Driver, and while I don't think it's in the same league as that masterpiece, it does cast a flinty, quiet spell of its own.

It is also relentlessly bleak.

Without spoiling too much of the film's relatively threadbare plot, it revolves around a hitman-enforcer type -- played by Phoenix in a way that resembles a gone-too-seed John Wick -- who gets more than he bargained for what he's set on a mysterious mission to rescue an abducted girl and exact vengeance on her kidnappers.

And while the plot may scream pulp, the film sprinkles in lots of little eccentric notes and asides that suggest plenty about Phoenix's character's troubled past. As far Phoenix, his expressive face holds the screen for much of the film's running time and while he rarely speaks above a murmur, he is haunting in this film.

So much of his craft can sometimes be too showy -- which is probably why his quitting-acting-to-become-a-rapper stunt from a few years back landed with such a thud. He still hasn't stopped being a bit of a mannered actor, and I don't think I could ever see him doing a full-blown comedy or romance (although his rumored future turn as The Joker will be interesting) but this moody tone poem of a movie fits him like a glove.

At times, it recalls the Nicholas Winding Refn-Ryan Gosling movies Drive and Only God Forgives, but while those films leaned into their stylishness more, You Were Never Really There expects the audience to work a little more.

Critics are loving the movie, but I am very curious if audiences will ever be on board. It's a pretty brutal, unflinching movie -- and while Phoenix is electric on-screen he isn't as warm or inviting a committed character actor as say, Daniel Day-Lewis, who is watchable in virtually anything.

Hell, he was even unnerving as a child actor in the movie Parenthood.

It's also an odd time for a quirky prestige movie like this to come out, and so I imagine like Good Time last year and Green Room before that, both smart, stylistic genre films that delivered both thrills and real drama, it'll likely be forgotten in the latter half of the year's award season race.

But even if it is snubbed it deserves to be embraced as a major work by its director Lynne Ramsey and another major triumph for its iconoclastic star.

Flashback 1978: My favorite movies from 40 years ago

Robert DeNiro in The Deer Hunter

When I think of 1978 I think of disco -- Grease -- a little bit more innocence creeping out amid the malaise and cynicism that followed Watergate. It was also a year that reflected the wake of Star Wars which came out the year before and completely upended commercial filmmaking forever.

Still, there was some great brooding masterpieces that hit theaters alongside the popcorn flicks and it was very hard for me to narrow down my list to ten favorites. I think, in retrospect, it was a very strong year for movies, even if the era in which they hit movie theaters is a bit of a mixed bag.

10) The Driver - Ryan O'Neal effects a kind of steely cool that audiences probably didn't think he was capable of in this stylized crime thriller which not only inspired Drive but helped put action film maestro Walter Hill on the map. Some great car chases and stunt work here, but its the existential battle between O'Neal and the cop tracking him -- played to perfection by Bruce Dern -- that has made this cult film an enduring classic.

9) National Lampoon's Animal House - The crown jewel in John Belushi's tragically short film career has all the best anarchic spirit of the classic early seasons of Saturday Night Live (and also, problematically, it's political incorrectness too). It's a great ensemble piece celebrating thumbing your nose at the establishment, so many mainstream comedies have ripped it off but still has it charms.

8) Dawn of the Dead - The late director George Romero's brilliant satire of consumer culture is also one of the best zombie movies ever made. Delightfully gory and with some solid scares, this film, perhaps more than any other, cemented the zombie genre as a horror staple and burnished Romero's reputation as a serious filmmaker. And kudos for featuring a black hero in the lead.

7) Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Another fantastic horror film, this one a remake of a terrific 1950s parable for communist paranoia. This film, set in late '70s San Francisco is both very funny and truly scary. Donald Sutherland is a perfect sympathetic lead in a world being rapidly taken over by soulless pod people. It's fast-paced, weirdly compelling, and features one of the greatest endings of all time in any genre.

6) Heaven Can Wait -  A surprisingly sweet and straight-forward romantic comedy about a NFL hero who dies prematurely and is reborn in the body of a well-to-do businessman from Warren Beatty that works because it's very earnest and because the performances are so winning across the board (including turns from Jack Warden. Julie Christie, Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin). I wish they
still made old fashioned whimsical movies like this.

5) Halloween - The John Carpenter blockbuster which birthed the slasher film is still one of best genre movies of all time. Michael Myers is a chilling villain. Jamie Lee Curtis is an empathetic hero. And Carpenter's simple, eerie score is one of the most spine-tingling you'll ever hear. I watch this almost every year in October and it never gets old.

4) Superman: The Movie - This is the film that started it all -- the first legit, big budget superhero movie, featuring big stars like Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman and a wonderful star-making performance by Christopher Reeve in the titular role. The perfect origin story and homage to the mythology of the most beloved comic book hero of all time. Even its dated elements are great fun, and no future Superman movie has been able to top it.

3) An Unmarried Woman - An incredibly forward-thinking women's liberation movie that was ironically written and directed by a man. Jill Clayburgh is sensational as a woman blindsided by a cheating husband and forced to navigate a new personal life that she never bargained for. The performances and dialogue all feel natural and spot-on. This is a movie that has only grown more moving and important today.

2) Blue Collar - The most compelling (and should have been Oscar nominated) performance of Richard Pryor's acting career comes in this film about three auto workers (Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto round out the trio) who get more than they bargained for when they try to rob their union to pay off their debts. It's a gritty, foul-mouthed, overlooked masterpiece from Paul Schrader which is so ripe for rediscovery.

1) The Deer Hunter - A haunting, if albeit wildly historically inaccurate, ballad about the toll the Vietnam war took on the young American men would earnestly volunteered to go fight it. Glacially paced at first for maximum effect and then featuring some of the most harrowing war sequences of all time. This is not an easy viewing experience, but a very powerful one. Stellar performances from a dream cast including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken don't hurt either.

PAST TOP 10 FAVORITE LISTS
1974 #1 movie - The Godfather Part II
1975 #1 movie - Nashville
1976 #1 movie - Taxi Driver
1977 #1 movie - Star Wars
1984 #1 movie - Ghostbusters
1985 #1 movie - Fletch
1986 #1 movie - Blue Velvet
1987 #1 movie - The Untouchables
1988 #1 movie - Coming to America
1994 #1 movie - Pulp Fiction
1995 #1 movie - Heat
1996:#1 movie - Fargo
1997 #1 movie - Boogie Nights
1998 #1 movie - The Big Lebowski
2004 #1 movie - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 #1 movie - A History of Violence
2006 #1 movie - Casino Royale
2007 #1 movie - There Will Be Blood
2008 #1 movie - The Wrestler

Grace Jones gets the showcase she deserves in new documentary

Grace Jones is one of those artists who you can comfortably describe as a force of nature, and its fitting that an acclaimed new documentary about her would be anything but a conventional musical biography.

I remember the first time I encountered her -- in music videos and then as one of the villains in the James Bond film A View to a Kill -- I found her frightening. Like a lot of viewers I wasn't ready for her afro-futurist brand of gender-bending theatricality.

But she has grown to become one of my favorite performers and fashion icons. And today, she is something akin to the perfect diva for the times in which we're living, even if much of the footage in this new documentary film about her -- Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami -- appears to have been shot ten years ago when she released her last original album Hurricane.

I say 'appears' because the film, directed by Sophie Fiennes (the sister of Ralph and Joseph), makes no effort to provide context in terms of dates and locations, instead it trusts you to be taken enough with Jones' uninhibited, unapologetic self (and I believe most audiences will be) that you'll simply be happy to share the space with here, whether it be while she struts across stage in a host of impeccably bizarre headpieces or having candid conversations in the homes of ancestors and family friends back in Jamaica.

Jones looks impossibly gorgeous throughout, she shifts accents depending on the company she keeps (which in any given scene can be British, French of Jamaican) and can be wonderfully charming when enjoying breakfast in nothing but a fur coat or genially bawling out some of her musical collaborators. The one sad note I felt throughout was the fact that she's never been fully appreciated and deserved far more opportunity to shine in American film roles.

The audience I saw this documentary with was definitely stocked with dedicated fans -- and those of us who are read-in on Jones' funky discography and legendary stage shows get more than their money's worth in this film. But it also full of quieter, more pensive moments -- including when Jones describes the transcendent death of her father.

It's also frequently quite funny -- a tantrum Jones throws early on about the staging of one of her performances is a classic bit of documentary eavesdropping -- and throughout Fiennes hangs back, letting Jones and her co-stars just interact. There are no traditional talking heads in this film, no vintage flashbacks. It's very present, living in the now.

Of course, I'd love to see this film kickstart a Grace Jones renaissance. She clearly has an incredible career worth reflecting on and wealth of knowledge and experiences that people ought to revel in. I'd love to see her make more music and more movies, although it'll always be a challenge to find he right venue for her utterly unique voice and distinct look.

And, if nothing else, I am grateful for this documentary which preserves her in peak form, not without flaws, but also unmistakably one of a kind.

'A Quiet Place' is a pleasant surprise in so many ways

John Krasinski, finally a movie star, in A Quiet Place

Like a lot of people I did not see A Quiet Place coming. It's very menacing, elegant trailer, which first airing during the Super Bowl had me intrigued, but I must admit that I didn't know John Krasinski had this in him.

I was a huge fan of his work on The Office, and imagined he had potential as a big screen talent, but by most accounts he has stumbled out of the gate, most embarrassingly with a prominent role in Michael Bay's widely reviled and politically problematic re-telling of the infamous Benghazi embassy attack of 2012.

He'd directed two films, neither a breakout success, and I certainly never would have pegged him for being someone who'd have a knack for genre horror, but he's managed to deliver a pretty smart, wildly entertaining and refreshingly original thriller in A Quiet Place.

While I wouldn't call the movie straight horror -- it feels more like a very tense thriller -- he nails the Hitchcokian noose-tightening of the plot, which revolves around a small family being besieged by terrifying beasts that are blind but incredibly sensitive to sound.

What follows is a mostly silent movie, with a very good but unobtrusive score, that is inventive (in terms of how it grapples with its big concept) and emotionally involving (because of impressively emotive performances for its child stars, Krasinski, and an achingly vulnerable Emily Blunt, who is luminous as always here).

Every time I thought this movie might collapse under the weight of what it's trying to pull off I was pleasantly surprised.

It's economical. I can't think of a wasted scene or exchange, and without spoiling anything, I will say that this film sets up its stakes early and doesn't let the audience off the hook until its final frame.

This film is a hit officially, opening to an even better number than Ready Player One which had the Spielberg glow and is a based on a best-seller, and it comes at an exciting time for the horror genre. Get Out, which is also more of a satire than a straight exercise in horror, managed to break into this year's Best Picture race, and while I don't expect this film to reach that level of critical acceptance (it doesn't have the same sociological heft), it's clearly earned a respect that 'scary movies' are rarely afforded.

This is a real statement picture for Krasinski, both as a filmmaker and as an actor. His wife, Blunt, is already a star in her own right, and she helps bring some much needed humor and pathos to this project, but this film suggests that Krasinski is also a major movie talent in his own right (he also co-wrote the screenplay) which is another pleasant surprise for me as fan.

It's the kind of movie M. Night Shyamalan made before he gave in to his worst inclinations and pretensions as a filmmaker. It's devoid of gore -- yes, this is a 'horror' movie you could watch with the whole family, and it largely holds up to scrutiny, which is pretty rare for this kind of movie.

A Quiet Place is, so far, after Black Panther, my favorite film I've seen so far this year. While Ready Player One was a nice diversion, this exercise in filmmaking is more of a feast. It's an idea so basic and obvious I'm stunned no previous genre film attempted to do it. But I'm glad to see that Krasinski is the one to finally pull it off.

Where does 'Isle of Dogs' fit in the Wes Anderson canon?

Wes Anderson is one of those directors that very few people are indifferent towards. You either appreciate his precious, meticulously crafted films or you tend to revile them. I have been an enormous fan of Anderson's ever since I saw his breakthrough movie Rushmore in theaters back in 1998 as angsty teen.

It's deadpan humor and melancholy really spoke to me, and I'll always be grateful to Anderson for helping resurrect the career of Bill Murray. He doesn't put out new movies often -- and when he does -- with one exception, they've all worked for me.

His latest, Isle of Dogs, is his second foray into the world of stop motion animation -- a format uniquely suited to his detail-oriented craftsmanship. But where does it fit into his cinematic universe? If I were to rank his films from my least favorite to favorite, it would go something like this...

9) The Darjeeling Limited - This is the one Anderson film I can't abide. Besides feeling like an indulgent bit of cultural appropriation, the movie doesn't emotionally resonate in the way it presumes to. Like all Anderson films, it's incredible to look at -- and the real life off-screen drama in Owen Wilson's life give the film some pathos. But the characters and conflict here feel like retreads of earlier, more likable Anderson works. I think it's telling that he shook things up and tried animation after this one, it felt as though he'd painted himself into a creative corner.

8) Isle of Dogs - Easily Anderson's cutest, and probably his most accessible film to date, this one grew on me as it went along. Some may deem it culturally insensitive but I think it's a well-intentioned, very sweet film that is aided tremendously by simply phenomenal animation and a genuine affection for its furry characters who are unfairly banished to a garbage island in an alternative version of Japan.

7) Bottle Rocket - Anderson's debut feature is remarkably well-assured, albeit light on plot. Owen Wilson is the main attraction here, with his irrationally cocky wannabe thief giving this earnest comedy a real off-kilter charge. James Caan also does a delightful job sending up his tough guy persona.

Anderson's visual aplomb is pretty tamped down in this one and the film is a little rougher around the edges, but all the hallmarks of his future work are percolating here, especially his ear for deadpan timing.

6) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Possibly Anderson's most divisive film at the time of its release, has since grown in some esteem. Certainly it's one of his most eccentric films, veering wildly from sad familial drama to madcap action comedy. I think it works because of the performances, chiefly Bill Murray's lead role and the supporting turns from pros like Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston and Jeff Goldblum. Blessed with a bigger budget here Anderson went for broke with this undersea adventure and he came up with a wholly original fable.

5) The Grand Budapest Hotel - This is Anderson's biggest commercial and critical hit to date, and as much as I enjoyed it, I'm not entirely sure why. Certainly, it may be his most audacious movie visually, and Ralph Fiennes may be his most compelling lead since Hackman in Royal Tenenbaums, but for me this was largely familiar ground for Anderson, albeit it terrifically entertaining and creative. The movie works because it has heart to go with its camera histrionics, and I was thrilled to see it finally get Anderson recognized by the Oscars for his filmmaking and not just his writing.

4) Rushmore - A lot of people overlook the edge in Anderson's films -- but it's always there, especially in this bittersweet comedy. Jason Schwartzman's hero is not always likable, and sometimes downright cruel, but you know his outbursts are coming from a very honest place, which makes him (and his unlikely friend, played by an Oscar-snubbed Bill Murray) strangely endearing as two sides of a love triangle centered on a schoolteacher (Olivia Williams, who I wish had more to do here). Great music, big laughs, and a finale that feels totally satisfying.

3) Fantastic Mr. Fox - I'll never forget seeing this film for the first time, it was a fairly mixed audience of adults and kids and all of us appreciated how delightful and infectious it was. Stop motion is the perfect medium for Anderson, the tactile nature of the images, its limitations are its strengths, and the beats the characters take perfectly match his comic rhythms. Plus a sterling cast, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and many more -- make this a modern classic in the kid movie genre.

2) Moonrise Kingdom - This was a wonderful return to form for me, just as charming as a movie can be. This sweet, honest fable about two young kids who fall in love and go on the lam was an enchanting and surprisingly more mature offering from Anderson. There's great work from all adults (including an uncharacteristically tender Bruce Willis), but for me what makes this movie special is Anderson's ear for precocious kids, in addition to his dazzling eye.

1) The Royal Tenenbaums - One of my favorite films of all time. It returns to some of the same dysfunctional family themes that most of his movies do, but this is sublime to me. Gene Hackman gives one of his greatest performances here in a movie that is both hilariously funny and deeply emotional. Of all of Wes Anderson's films, this is the world I most want to live in and the characters that I like the most. This film was unjustly ignored by the Oscars (it only scored a nomination for its screenplay) and it, for me, set the template against which I judge ever other Anderson film.

'Never Seen It' - Episode 34 - 'Secret of My Success' is oh so '80s

Is there any 1980s hit movie that has been more totally forgotten by time than Michael J. Fox's Wall Street comedy The Secret of My Success? Although it grossed more than Dirty Dancing, Robocop and Lethal Weapon, it hasn't had much in the way of staying power. Is that because it's bad or has it been unfairly overlooked? I must admit, despite being a Michael J. Fox fan, I've never seen, and neither had my wife Liz Rosado, which is why we're doing it an analysis of it for the most recent episode of our 'Never Seen It' podcast.

Perhaps it's fitting that we chose this film since between the Roseanne reboot and Ready Player One, nostalgia for the Reagan era seems to have reached a fever pitch -- for better or worse.

Is this "romantic" comedy just one long Ayn Rand fever dream? Click on the link below to listen and find out.


And be sure to follow our podcast on iTunes where you can rate, review and subscribe. All of our previous episodes live there now.  

'Ready Player One' like the book that inspired it (for better or worse)

Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the best-seller nerdgasm novel Ready Player One (itself an homage to Spielberg's work) may change some plot points, but it perfectly captures the indulgent and giddy spirit of the book. The result is overwhemingly self-referential at times, but also incredibly fun. The movie is also a bit of a mixed bag.

There are times where it is sublime -- one extended sequence set within a classic horror film (which I won't spoil) is a stone cold classic, and hints at a more superior film that this could have been. Other sequences suffer from a few too many camera flourishes, a muddy color palette (a hallmark of Spielberg's favorite cinematographer Janusz Kaminski), and the same kind of sentimentality that the director's work is often criticized for.

But, I think some of the backlash this film is already getting misses the point. It's not trying to be smart or say something profound about the times we live in or the gaming culture it portrays in painstaking detail. It's meant to be a trifle, a totally lighthearted romp in the spirit of 80s hits like Back to the Future or Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Which is fine. And when the movie leans into its sense of humor and candy store of pop culture references (Chucky and Robocop both have brief cameos, among other fan favorites), the movie is a blast. This is a film that fairly flawlessly blends a narrative taking place in a CGI world of avatars (engaged in a Willy Wonka like quest to inherit a socially awkward trillionaire's fortune) and a human-centered story set in the real world, starring mostly unknowns and up-and-coming actors.

If any filmmaker was going to pull off this kind of high-stakes storytelling, it's Spielberg. This is his most mainstream genre movie in years and although it's dripping in nostalgia, like a lot of its work, the target audience is clearly younger than the filmgoers who grew up on his blockbusters ET and Jurassic Park.

Still, the most underrated tool in Spielberg's toolbox is missing from this movie -- his ability to move us emotionally. The film's leads are attractive and likable -- Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke have warm open faces and are lovably earnest -- but neither gets enough screen time to really invest us in their characters (the audience must simply accept the premise that they're the good guys). A sneering Ben Mendelsohn is the bad guy, and has a real presence in an otherwise underwritten role.

So, when the film does try to reach for more depth and tug on our heartstrings, it suffers, The last act of the film drags a bit and the movie's final mission statement feels forced and inauthentic.

This was an issue I had with the book too. I really enjoyed reading it, until I thought deeply about it. It's chucking a lot of stuff we love at us without any substance. But what great stuff! This movie does demonstrate that Spielberg, now in his 70s, still knows his way around an action set piece, and gives me some hope that the long-delayed Indy 5 may restore that franchise to its former glory.

I'm glad Ready Player One appears to be a hit. It's a film bursting with creative energy, eye popping visuals, and a sweet-natured lack of cynicism that has permeated far too many big budget movies  now. But I do think it might not hold up well under scrutiny and will not likely be ranked as one of its director's signature works.