Movie Nation

Whatever subtlety there was remaining in the satirical intentions of “The Purge” franchise pretty much fly out the door and into the blood-soaked  chaos of “The Purge: Election Night.”

Any doubts even the slowest paying patrons had about who and what these movies are about vanish like the final traces of logic in the script.

Characters caught up in this bloody annual American culling of the last and least among us, the poor, the pacifists and gun-avoiders, call the NRA — the National Rifle Association — by name.

Posters scream out “End Class Warfare.” And they’re not the product of rich folks baiting liberals out of fear that a REAL class war won’t do the One Percent any favors.

The Purge, a night of wanton crime and slaughter permitted under the New Constitution written by the New Founding Fathers, dis-proportionally “kills people of color.” And the people of color have noticed that. Not that in this less politically correct future anybody still uses that phrase.

And when a female candidate (Elizabeth Mitchell) arises threatening to end the religiously-backed/NRA and Big Insurance sanctioned twelve-hour Hell Night, naturally she’s the target of a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, mercenaries whose White Power/Confederate flag/Swastika patches seem redundant.

But if you wanted a subtle reminder of who is on the wrong political side of bigotry, violence, religious backwardness and the like, “Zootopia” is where you should be spending your money.

Senator Charlie Roan (Mitchell) is betrayed and hunted on Purge night. Her one loyal Secret Service agent, Leo (Frank Grillo) hustles her off when her fortress townhouse is overrun.

“What now?” “RUN!”

It’s up to intrepid folks of color to Save America. Mykelti Williamson is the comical deli owner Joe, out to save his D.C. store from a night of violence. Betty Gabriel and Joseph Julian Soria help him. If only the Purge protester Dante Bishop (Edwin Hodge) can be summoned..

Williamson delivers lines like “My Negro” and assorted “Never walk up on a black man on Purge night” variations. Funny.

For the most part, though, the characters have become disposable and the performances have no chance to develop empathy. That wasn’t the case with the first “Purge.” Lessons were learned in that film. Not here.

Now, these movies are about the mayhem. A “Sophie’s Choice” prologue is spattered in blood, and the violence — which includes the young assaulting their elders, wives butchering wayward husbands (and vice versa) and “murder tourists” from South Africa, Europe and Asia — is always over the top.

People are washing themselves in blood — literally — especially the teens Joe caught shoplifting in his store, who show up Purge night in cars covered in Christmas lights, Miley Cyrus and “Party in the U.S.A.” blaring from the stereo and their bridal bustiers and tutus stained crimson.

Giving up on subtlety means writer-director James DeMonaco is all about the horror now. But his gift for killing off the supporting cast is limited. He’s not inventive in that way. When he has a character shriek “We’re not hypocrites!” he isn’t talking about himself. He wants to mock our violence, our inequality, our racial profiling. And wallow in it at the same time. One black villain would have given this more edge. Or some edge.

The dialogue is gimpy and the plot a thin thread stringing characters through the Mean Streets in search of safety, when there is none.

Is this it for “The Purge”? Perhaps. But given these movies’ origins, as a shout out against a culture at war with its poor and unable to rein in the Merchants of Death, that depends on Election Day.

MPAA Rating: R for disturbing bloody violence and strong language

Cast: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson
Credits: Written and directed by James DeMonaco . A Universal release.

Running time: 1:49

The mad pageant that is masked Mexican wrestling earns a sympathetic documentary in “Lucha Mexico,” a behind-the-scenes look at the most popular sport that doesn’t involve a ball among our neighbors South of the Border.

Filmmakers Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz are the outsiders peeking behind the curtain, here. And if they’re short on novelty or an original point-of-view — many wrestling documentaries go the “Yeah, it’s fake, but it’s an art form and it’s very dangerous” route — they at least capture the subdued, injury-riddled lifestyles of these famous-if-not-quite-rich athlete/performers.

“What you earn from being a wrestler,” one retired legend intones (in Spanish, with English subtitles), “is injury, and the love of the people.”

There isn’t a fortune to be won grappling on mats from outdoor market parking lots all the way to “The Cathedral of Lucha libre,” the Arena Mexico, a 60 year old venue in Mexico City which all the stars aspire to. But men flock to the schools where retired veterans of the ring teach them the moves, how not to hurt themselves or others as they grapple for money.

The film follows the unmasked star “Shocker” (Jose Luis Jair Soria, middle) and the American muscleman Strongman (Jon Anderson, right) as they cope with the lifestyle, the workout regimen, the injuries and the fame that comes with their work.

Watching the mammoth Anderson crawl into the back of a vintage Mexico City VW Beetle taxi is the only image you need to figure out this isn’t the glamorous life.

It’s a sport of heroes and heels, just as it is north of the border, called “tecnicos” (good) and Rudos (bad, masked villains) in Mexico.

There are folding chairs and elaborate tumbles taken in and out of the ring. Microphones are grabbed for mid-match trash talk.

The big difference, as other documentaries and even the Jack Black comedy “Nacho Libre” demonstrate, are the masks. Losing one in a grudge match can be traumatic, humiliating.

Blue Demon Jr., son of a legendary luchador who went by Blue Demon, notes that “I began to live behind the mask” once he accepted his fate, taking up his father’s sport. But it’s a lonely life, he adds — 18 hours a day, making public appearances, posing for photos, always in that mask.

There are competing circuits, famous females and famous dwarf wrestlers, and plans to take the whole lurid enterprise global.

The film captures tragic moments — deaths related to Lucha Libre — with mixed, muted emotions. They’re jarring and nobody involved — interview subjects or filmmakers — knows quite what to do with them.

A dwarf wrestler shrugs and accepts the pain and the risks with his version of national fatalism.

“In Mexico, we laugh at Death.”

They also laugh, a little, at the bouts and the way some of their fellow countrymen take the action in the ring way too seriously. It’s a wonder that the showers of beer cups that greet the taunting Rudos don’t turn more violent or at least threatening.

But it typically doesn’t, and if nothing else, “Lucha Mexico” can be appreciated for its honest depiction of a cultural outlet that gives its public, young and old, a chance to let off steam and yell until they’re hoarse at these uniquely Mexican archetypes.

MPAA Rating: Unrated, with violence and injuries in the ring, some profanity

Cast: Jose Luis Jair Soria, Jon Anderson
Credits: Directed by Alex Hammond, Ian Markiewicz. A Kino Lorber release.

Running time: 1:43

Another blockbuster weekend for Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Dory” doesn’t obscure three other telling facts about July 4, 2016.

To wit, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan” retains a staggeringly lucrative brand identity over 100 years since first publication. Piddling reviews and a lot of holiday competition didn’t keep “The Legend of Tarzan” from clearing $45 million this four day weekend. Wow.

“The Purge” is another lucrative brand, and “Election Year” proved to be the biggest opener of the series — $34 million+. Impressive.

Steven Spielberg’s over long, overly impressed with itself children’s fantasy, “The BFG,” based on Roald Dahl’s story, cost $140 million to cast, motion capture performances by the likes of Oscar winner Mark Rylance and Jemaine Clement, and render giants co-existing with a human-sized pre-Brexit Britain. It didn’t reach $19 million.

I have to say, that’s criminal. It’s not a bad movie. It’s too long, patience-testing for most. But nobody went. A real embarrassment.

“Independence Day: Resurgence” found more suckers on its second weekend — a 60% drop off from its opening weekend. Nothing to laugh at. “The Shallows” did better at holding audience.

“Swiss Army Man” did middling business in reasonably wide release.

This July 4 weekend, “Dory” is still the box office “BFG.” Or “BFD.”

The “Finding Nemo” sequel is slated to pull in another $57 million at the box office, three weeks into release. HUGE hit for Disney and Pixar. It’ll clear $400 million by Wed., Thursday at the latest.

So with three new wide releases opening behind it, the battle was always going to be for second, third and fourth.

Prognosticators weren’t saying so, but I figured “Tarzan” had a brand that would pull the punters in. But $42 million plus over four days? That’s more than anybody guessed. Yeah, 3D ticket prices and a long (Thursday night through Monday PM) holiday weekend help.

“The Purge” franchise continues to show legs, with this murderous horror picture with political overtones headed towards $37 million. “The Purge: Election Year,” is a hit. A big one. Not previewed for most critics, it arrived as a hidden dog (reviews are trending poor).

“The BFG” is built on a set of older brands. You know, the great and dark kids’ author Roald Dahl (“James and the Giant Peach”), the lady who scripted “E.T.” and the fellow who directed it.

It looks to clear almost $25 million over four days, and will perhaps hold audience better than the other two. The tedious length worked against it.

“Independence Day: Resurgence” took what we used to call “A Tyler Perry Plunge” on its second weekend. Now, we’re calling it a “Warcraft Whiff” — a 71% plummet. This summer has been full of movies that have not been good enough to get a second weekend’s word of mouth bounce. Lots of money spent, not a lot of return on investment.

“Free State of Jones” is still in the top ten, didn’t cost much and may encourage STX (a tiny studio) to take more risks like this. “Swiss Army Man” opened wide and will only crack the Top 12.

“Neon Demon” is sinking without a trace.

Steven Spielberg’s viability as a kids-entertainment brand gets a test this weekend with his stately and stolid adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The BFG.” I wasn’t nuts about it. Long, stiff, with a third act that has all the action the first two acts desperately needed to keep adult and child attention. Decent reviews, but not glowing.

Yet another version of “Tarzan”? Well, every generation gets its own, and this one, PC to a fault, dull leading man, generic Christoph Waltz, who has become a synonym for “Euro-villain,” and an out of place American model/actress (Margot Robbie) and lots of digital backgrounds and digital animals, it has little heart and zero guts. “The Legend of Tarzan” does a few things well — where they jump into the story, the period (the Belgian genocide in the Congo) they set it in. But it’s not much fun, and most critics agree.

“The Purge: Election Year” tries to cash in on the subject that’s dominated cable news for two years. Will it pay off? As much as I loved the political allegory of the original “Purge,” which seems prophetic now, the fall-off in the second one leaves me leery of this one. Iffy reviews for this one, not previewed in most markets. Nothing says “We know what it is” than a studio limiting access.

Will any of them shove “Finding Dory” out of the way at the box office?  No. “Dory” is holding audience, and the Box Office Guru ox Office Guru suggests that “BFG” won’t do any better than $28 or so. “Purge,” he figures, is a proven brand. I do wonder if his $25 million prediction is barmy, seeing as how most of us go to the movies to escape “Election Year.” And “Tarzan” is a better known brand. Only $24 for the Ape Man? I don’t think so.

Box Office Mojo figures “Purge” will do the best of the new releases, over $25, with “BFG” and “Tarzan” only managing to get into the teens over the three day weekend, $20s including Monday.

I love Westerns, love filmmakers who put the time in to get the period detail right.

Nothing was clean, from sweaty clothes to dirty faces to green teeth. Pistoleros weren’t likely to hit what they were aiming at quickly and you may pick a remote spot to set your town, but there’d be better some logical reason for people to attempt living there in the dust and sagebrush.

“Outlaws & Angels” put the effort in. The New Mexico of 1887 is pitiless and unwashed, violent and opportunistic. Justice is fleeting unless there’s something personal about it.

But it’s an impossible picture to cozy up to, a funereally slow saunter from bloody robbery to murderous hostage situation, with a lawman (Luke Wilson) taking his damn sweet time tracking down the desperadoes.

Chad Michael Murray dirties up and dresses down as the leader of the pack of trigger-happy bank robbers. They’re no better than psychopaths, the lot of them.

“I ain’t used my ax in a while. I’d be lyin’ if I said wasn’t lookin’ forward to it.”

These guys are “straight outta the hoose-gow” and headed to Hell. Or Cuchillo. Whichever comes first.Some of their number die along the way.

They take the long, dry and suicidal route from town to the border, and that’s how they end up laying low at a farm owned by a preacher (Ben Browder), his wife (Teri Polo) and their two feuding, fundamentalist daughters (Francesca Eastwood, Madison Beaty).

The outlaws sniff around the womenfolk, the mother starts to crack up, patriarch is helpless, and one girl — played by Clint Eastwood’s daughter — takes a shine to such sinful intentions.

It was a different time, and hard people did what they had to in order to survive, although many accepted death rather than a fate worse than death. Henry (Murray) is handsome, pretty even, but plainly ruthless and sadistic. Florence (Eastwood) may have ulterior motives, but there’s no getting around what writer-director JT Mollner is propositioning here. This is a romantic treatment of a situation that can only be regarded as rape.

Meanwhile,  Josiah leads an ever-shrinking posse in a dogged, slow-footed pursuit of these cold-blooded killers.

Who, exactly, are we meant to root for here? We’ve been the bad men kill kinfolk and children. Are we to hate the farm folk because of their fundamentalism, or what we suspect is actually going on there?The lawman is as under-developed as the sunscreen that was plainly slathered on his face wasn’t blended in with his skintone, rendering poor Wilson a Coppertoned kabuki, in some shots.

The answer appears to be “Florence,” and that fact and her Eastwood name (her mother Frances Fisher has a cameo) earn Francesca E. top billing. The young Ms. Eastwood has a look and some screen presence. But Florence’s behavior never seems righteous or noble, merely expedient and vengeful.

The whole lot are loathsome, save for the occasional victim, usually killed off too quickly for us to care. The performances are archetypal, illogical and unsympathetic in the extreme.

Worst of all is this 85-minute-story-in-a-two-hour-movie’s lack of urgency. The world moved slower back then, but ever since Westerns have been committed to the Big Screen, pace has been paramount. Just because your story’s told on horseback is no excuse for all this moseying.

MPAA Rating:R for strong bloody violence, disturbing sexual content, and language

Cast: Chad Michael Murray, Francesca Eastwood, Teri Polo, Luke Wilson, Ben Browder, Frances Fisher
Credits: Written and directed by JT Mollner. A Momentum/eOne release.

Running time: 2:00

I’m a car buff, and have been since childhood. Over the years, I’ve owned muscle cars and Mercs,  econoboxes, hot hatches and Jeeps and Mini Coopers — restored a Triumph TR6, and am just waiting on the day I can get another icon of my youth in my garage.

But one thing that wasn’t around back then is automotive programming on TV. Now, there is a whole network devoted to it (Velocity in the US), and any channel that draws guys (Discovery, History, CNBC, BBC America) is at least attempting to park something there to keep enthusiasts, hobbyists and just plain  car shoppers tuned in.

“Top Gear” blew the lid off this genre, and seemed to peak about four years ago for me. I still like the British show, even in its current fluctuating reboot state. They’re still not there with host chemistry, and blood will be spilled before the LeBlanc/Evans dust up is settled. The American version never did anything for me (Anglophile, I suppose). They never got the chemistry right with the hosts, not one of them was somebody you’d like to have a beer and talk cars with. Narrow demo (they were all pretty much the same age), equally annoying.

The new BBC version is averaging one good segment per installment, which is all the old show ever did. They’ll get there, with or without Evans (or LeBlanc).

My interest in the Amazon series the previous cast have cooked up, “The Grand Tour,” is mostly due to the title. It hasn’t really lived up to that promise, I have to say.

The BEST thing “Top Gear” did was put those three in beaters they’d bought themselves and forcing them to drive through Africa/Vietnam/The American South/The Middle East, keeping them running as they did. The new “Gear” is attempting that, but Evans in particular seems to not get that buying a cushy, lightly-used Jag for a song makes for really dull TV. No character, no breakdowns, no fun.

I love Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” available online or streamed through Crackle. (UPDATE – Now on Netflix) It’s more about the comics than the cars or the coffee, but it’s a great vehicle (ahem) for Seinfeld to get together with his peers, talk about “the work” and chat a little about the classic car Jerry picks up the guest comic in. Margaret Cho he fetched in a zany Mazda Cosmo last week.

“Jay Leno’s Garage” is about another comic with a car Jones, and Leno is, if anything, more famous for his cars than even the Great Seinfeld. The show has multiple elements — celebrities, stunts, themes, etc. It predates Seinfeld’s show (it started on Youtube before finding a slot on CNBC), but feels like a bigger budget attempt to best it. Leno is affable and only occasionally insufferable (a knock on his later “Tonight Show” tenure), and the show is a winner with good segments on “investment collectible cars” and the like. He’s competitive, so if Seinfeld is picking up Obama in a Corvette, Leno is coming for Joe Biden in a Corvette. And the show is getting better, something I look for in a car series.

“Fantomworks” is a car restoration show that gives you a bit of “Here’s how people do this or that” to restore a car, and a lot more of its obnoxious host, Dan Short.  The short-tempered Short has a bias for American muscle cars, though his Norfolk, VA shop handles almost anything. He comes off as a “type” any car owner or collectible car enthusiast will recognize — a jerk who looks down his nose, insults the owner and earlier work done on the car and high-handedly tells you the way it’s going to be. Southerners will recognize the bonus trait of wrapping himself in the flag (Norfolk’s a Navy town, so it doesn’t hurt him). Personally, if I show up at a car or boat business with too much of that, or Jesus fishes on its business cards, I run. There’s no bargaining or certainty of getting a square deal from guys like him.

“Dallas Car Sharks”  (Velocity) has a little wheeling and dealing — cars bought at auction in Texas — a little restoration work and a lot of personality. Like too much reality TV, it’s pushed dealers into “character” roles — the idiot know-it-all, the cheapskates, the arrogant jerk who throws his money around, etc.

A lot of these programs (“Fast’N Loud” stands out) put a lot of effort into the “personality” side of things. It works to create branding and conflict. “All Girls Garage” and “Car Fix” and “Overhaulin'” and many others fail to stand out and try too hard to make stars.

The Canadian “Restoration Garage” is more my speed — civil, detailed, sentimental.

And I really enjoy “Chasing Classic Cars” even if it is a guilty pleasure. Host Wayne Carini has been in the collectible car biz/car restoration game since childhood. He’s a perfectly bland TV personality whose limitations are exacerbated by writers and editors who do him no favors. He doesn’t want to say what he paid for a car? Why? Are the sellers cheating the tax man? He has a habit of repeating, in narration, something he’s just said on camera, or vice versa. That’s TERRIBLE television, slack and sloppy and lazy. How lazy becomes obvious when the producer is interviewing this or that car seller. The quotes they pull from these inane chats repeat info we’ve already been given, or worse, state the stupidly obvious. “I saw this car, and I kinda liked it. So I bought it.” Yeah, and? Any TV news production vet would know they haven’t got “the money quote” in an interview that goes like that and could cajole something more revealing, more exciting, out of the seller/show organizer/vendor. Carini should push for an upgrade in that crew because they make this show dotty, old and dim. The quirky old mechanic Roger is the best thing about the “Chasing” and he’s not getting any younger. Try harder. Seriously.

Which brings us to a car-flipping/restoration show that is trying harder, and improving season by season. The British born/American transplant “Wheeler Dealers” buys cars cheap (TV camera crews and TV star leaning on a seller has to help), fixes them up and flips them. Minis and Jeeps and Rovers and Saabs and Porsches and Fiats and BMWs and Lambos and Dancing ponies. Oh my. There’s a lot of work that erudite and unflappable mechanic Edd China puts in to make these flips pay off, and for over a decade, the knock on the show was how it revealed the cost of the car, the cost of parts and paint, but labor was left out. This season, they’ve added that to their tally. This season, based on the first show, has Mike Brewer, a genial host given to a half-dozen catch-phrases, trite expressions and “Woaa–ho-ho-hos” behind the wheel, “getting me hands dirty” and pitching in on body work and repairs. My jaw dropped when he sat down, picked up a tire wrench and did the brakes on the 1968 Corvette they flipped in their 13th season premiere.

The shows retains its Britishness, even when they’re doing seasons of the series in the US.

Better still, they’re now including out-takes at the end of the show. Backyard mechanics are better served knowing that stuff goes wrong and profanities are tossed out when they do. Sometimes. It’s the best, and to me, getting better. Well done, “Wheeler Dealers.”

UPDATED: I can’t say “Wheeler Dealers” has missed a beat after Edd China quit. Ant Antstead is more of a “hot” (in your face, enthusiastic, energetic) presence than the professorial cool of Edd. Ant’s terrific, and checking out his old “For the Love of Cars” episodes makes him an endearing authority/mechanic.

I’m tracking what Edd does post-“Dealers,” and would gladly watch any show with him on it. Top tip? “Top Gear” could find a spot for Edd, a “Beaters Corner” that would cut back on the Supercar porn and cut into time from the re-engineered collection of hosts, but that chemistry isn’t dazzling, anyway. Chris and Matt’s fake rivalry and Rory’s “Just THRILLED to be here” aren’t the show’s selling points. Yet.

The embarrassing lack of diversity in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences was nakedly on display this past Oscar season. But the Academy, to its credit, vowed to do something about it, to make its membership look more like the industry it represents and America as a whole.

So they added lots of women and members of minority groups in this year’s new class of invited members.

But as TMZ points out, they’re but a drop in the bucket. Still a tiny proportion of the membership at large.

Still, you do this for three, four, five years, and the natural ageing out of the In Memoriam generation will provide a balance that, at least, looks proportional, looks like America.

Opportunities within the industry? That could change over time in the same way, with the Academy setting an example. Not fast enough for many, but let’s face it, it’s an industry that is disproportionately white, gay and Jewish. Some of that will change with concerted effort, a lot of it won’t. It’s an upper class/middle class career/educational choice, for many. The true “up from poverty into the movies” stories are trumpeted, but rare.

A fairytale-ish musical about troll dolls starring the talking/singing voices of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, “Trolls” is a November Dreamworks release relying on names, tunes and toy-branding to attract an audience.

Not a laugh is given away in this first trailer. Not one. The animation is troll-doll bland. But the tunes are straight kid-friendly pop, as sung by the leads. And the voice talent is showcased (always a sign a cartoon is reaching).

Will it hit?

The weeks of abuse for this review of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” seemed like they would go on forever.

“Glib facsimile” became an Internet meme.

And then, it stopped. Because others came out as thinking the movie was a recycled bore, the same movie as “A New Hope,” only rendered in broad, PC strokes. More inclusive, far less interesting and a lot less fun.

James Cameron is pals with George Lucas, and he’s been caught dancing around saying “It sucked” in an interview that touched on “The Force Awakens.”

I’ve interviewed Cameron a few times, and while he’s thin-skinned about his own movies, he’s a little less so about other people’s projects.

Now granted, Cameron isn’t the most original storyteller (“Terminator” plagiarism, “Avatar” recycling). And he’s a lot more diplomatic than perhaps I was in panning the J.J. Abrams “Star Wars” outing.

But, in essence — an inferior copy of the GLucas original. A “glib facsimile.” There you go.