Archives for March 2018

Marcus Campbell
MesaCC Legend

Black Panther was released on Feb. 16 in theaters across the nation to critical acclaim and widespread financial success.  As of Feb. 26, Black Panther has grossed over $470 million and over $700 million domestically. Black Panther had an opening weekend of $202 million making it the fifth highest domestic opening of all time.  Black Panther shows very little signs of slowing down in the domestic box office. During its second weekend, the movie suffered from only a 46 percent drop. This drop makes it the lowest second-weekend drop of any movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The drop is only challenged in the superhero category by Blade, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman.

The drop also makes it the lowest drop of any movie that opened above $200 million except for Star Wars: The Force Awakens which had its second weekend over the Christmas holiday. Black Panther currently sits at a healthy 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 88 percent on Metacritic. Both sites measure critic reviews differently which causes the disparity in scores.  Metacritic uses the aggregate of all critics scores and uses the average for analysis while Rotten Tomatoes uses the percentage of critics who viewed the move favorably and gave the movie a passing or “fresh” score.

Many factors helped Black Panther reach these lofty goals. It was the first mainstream superhero film to feature a black lead.  Black Panther was also the first black lead superhero movie in well over a decade following Blade: Trinity and Catwoman in 2004, both films were critically panned and had modest box office returns.  Black Panther also marks the first predominately black team to helm a superhero film.  Director Ryan Coogler joins an a primarily black cast and crew including veteran actors and filmmakers.

Behind the camera, Coogler is joined by screenwriter Joe Robert Cole, Cinematographer Rachel Morrison, Production designer Hannah Beachler, and costume designer Ruth Carter.  In front of the camera, an all-star cast flaunts in front of the camera. Chadwick Boseman joins Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Sterling K. Brown, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker.  The movie isn’t entirely black however Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman both play an essential role in the film’s story. Black Panther follows T’Challa, the new black panther and leader of the country of Wakanda as he deals with insurrections and family betrayals. Chadwick Boseman stars as T’Challa and is completely convincing as the newly made king. His character is forced to adapt his new kingdom and fight for the throne over the course of the motion picture.

Michael B Jordan starts as Erik Killmonger, Black Panther’s antagonist and challenger to the throne of Wakanda.  Jordan is one of the highlights of the film and turns out an incredible and emotional performance. He plays one of the most convincing villains since Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight.  Jordan’s portrayal of Killmonger is completely believable and the strength of the character is how relatable his motivations are throughout the film.  Never is the audience made to question the character’s motivations, drives, or state of mind. Killmonger might provide a strong point for the film but it’s the women of Black Panther that truly steal the show. Letitia Wright stars as T’Challa’s younger sister Shuri, who provides most of the genius of the film and all of its comic relief.

Every scene where Shuri is present she absolutely steals the screen. She is magnetic, hilarious and brilliant. She is also a fully capable warrior.  Another excellent female character in Black Panther is Okoye played by Danai Gurira. Okoye is the head of an all-female fighting force that protects the king at all times. The female characters in Black Panther are well-rounded characters with real motivations and strengths. The women of Wakanda also don’t rely on their male counterparts in any way.

By the end of the film the women of Wakanda stand as some of the strongest characters and people in the entire country.  Wakanda itself is also beautifully realized and imagined. The sets and costume design are breathtaking and totally immersive.  The authenticity of the movie is astounding considering the movie is based in a fictional world. The film achieves this by staying true to African symbols, accents, customs, and languages.

Jack Carroll
MesaCC Legend

“Cloverfield: Paradox”, released on Feb. 4 on Netflix, is the third film in the “Cloverfield” franchise. It was directed by Julius Onah, Produced by J.J. Abrams, and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, and Chris O’Dowd.  By now you probably know about the insane marketing campaign for this movie- announcing the movie, releasing the first trailer, all during the first half of the Super Bowl, and mere hours before the film premiered on Netflix.  As a fan of the Cloverfield franchise myself, as soon as I saw that Bad Robot logo I immediately told everyone around me to shut up and glued myself to the screen.  Seeing them claim I was going to finally get the answers to what happened in the first movie (the first sequel, “10 Cloverfield Lane” has very little in relation to the first one, containing only passing references to themes in the series), I was excited.

Did the movie live up to the literal hours of hype that was built up between the first commercial and release? Well, yes and no. In series like Cloverfield’s, there are gonna be duds. “The Godfather Part III”, “Return of the Jedi”, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” all come to mind.  Are they awful movies? Not really, there are worse films out there. But they don’t exactly hold up to the standards set by their predecessors, and as a result, can be seen as a bad movie in comparison.This is one of those movies.

The story is about the space station Cloverfield and it’s crew, who are in the midst of an energy crisis that is putting the world at the brink of war. Their goal is to use a particle accelerator, known as the Shepard, to provide infinite energy for all of Earth. Eventually, after tensions build and many failed tests, one of the tests seems to do more than provide the world with infinite energy, and they hear something in the walls… First, let’s discuss the good in this movie. The acting is some of the best the series has seen. Although 10 Cloverfield Lane has everyone beat with John Goodman’s performance, David Oyelowo, Chris O’Dowd and Zhang Ziyi seem to be putting in excellent work. Ziyi in particular, who puts on an exclusively Mandarin-language performance the whole film. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is also good in the (ostensibly) main character role as Ava Hamilton.

Another positive is the cinematography. Every scene in this movie looks beautifully lit and shot, despite the mediocre directing and slightly unimpressive space station aesthetic.  However there are problems with the movie, and they are noticeable.  The first issue is the dialogue. A good movie can express many story elements using very little exposition. The first two movies do it excellently, with many of the major plot points not even being explained or discussed in-film, leaving interpretation and plot points a little vague as to drive up the fear of the unknown that this series is usually so good at portraying.

Meanwhile, “Paradox” has the character Volkov, a Russian engineer on the station who seems to speak entirely in expository dialogue. It is meant to seem “conversational”, but it genuinely feels like he read that morning’s newspaper and read it verbatim while using a pretty corny Russian accent. But when you have scenes like that, you also can get scenes like the one where they can’t find Earth anywhere around them, and Kiel (Oyelowo) is sitting silently in his quarters as he is contemplating what to do while the crew argues. No dialogue is spoken by Oyelowo, and you can really feel his emotion. This movie is full of conflicting moments of quality like that, where one scene feels like you’re watching a movie they usually save for an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, then in the other, it feels like you’re watching a scene from “Gravity” or “Aliens”.

This movie was made with two very different groups of people in the production room, and it feels like it. The good scenes of this film initially were enough to keep me entertained on my first watch through, but after giving it another gander (It’s a Netflix film, so you can do that) it really does get slow. Although the quality moments have benefits and are good in their own right (usually thanks to the cinematography and acting), this film ultimately is brought down by an obvious 85th-ish draft script, a director who probably wasn’t entirely ready to direct a major motion picture like this, and a slow pace that turns what could have been a good 60 minute Black Mirror episode into a 105-minute, uneven TV movie that probably shouldn’t have been hyped to the extent that it was.
All three hours of it.

Sydney Ritter
MesaCC Legend

The IDEA museum, in downtown Mesa, is opening their newest exhibition, “Sonoran Safari” to the public on Feb. 9. According to the website, “Visitors coming to Sonoran Safari will explore the artistic landscape of the world’s 11th largest desert – the only place where the famous saguaro cactus grows in the wild.” Sonoran Safari features 25 artists from Arizona, the United States, and the Czech Republic. Artworks include digital photography, pastels, ceramics, digital works, digital drawings, bronze sculptures and many more.  All the way from the Czech Republic, artist Veronika Richterova created seven pieces that she has been developing for several years, different cacti made from used plastic bottles and caps.

“I find all inspiration as well as material for my artworks in the streets in yellow recycling bins where people throw plastic waste,” she said.  Alongside Richterova will be photography from Mark Klett, an artist from Tempe, Arizona who has been featured for over 40 years. Four of his photographs have been taken from his collection “El Camino del Diablo” to be shown in the exhibit. “Much of my work responds to a historical precedent, either historic photographs or text or event. I’ve done a lot of work that involves making rephotographs of historic images – going back to the original locations and making new photographs in response,” Klett said.

Peggy Orbon’s pastel paintings are also going to be shown alongside Klett’s. “I paint landscapes in pastel or oil and many of them are done on location. Once you have the right equipment, there’s nothing like getting outside to paint. It’s so enjoyable to be outside trying to capture what you see in front of you,” Osborn said. “And, everything looks so much better in person than in a photograph.” Other than admiring the art, visitors have the option to create a “reflection” painting, experience what it would be like to work at a wildlife rescue center, write desert poetry along with several other hands-on activities. In his curator statement, Brian Asdell spoke of the beauty in the Sonoran Desert.

“The Sonoran Desert is one of the unique deserts in the world and contains an incredibly biodiverse ecological system – second only to the Amazon rainforest,” Asdell said. “This is mainly due to its two annual rainy seasons, the regular fall rains and summer monsoons that arrive just in time to quench the thirst of plants, animals and humans alike. This creates an extremely lush and green desert system filled with dynamic life and beauty. ”Visit http://www.ideamuseum.org/sonoran-safari.html for more information on spring camps, upcoming special events and to buy tickets to visit the Sonoran Safari at the Idea Museum.