Big Screen Berkeley: "Captain Fantastic;" "Breaking a Monster"

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC Trailer German Deutsch (2016)

Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, directed by Berkeley resident Matt Ross, is excellent

Three-quarters of the way into Captain Fantastic (opening at Landmarks California Theater on Friday, July 22), I thought I might be watching one of 2016s Best Picture Academy Award nominees. One implausible plot development later, I wasnt so sure but I am convinced that Viggo Mortensen is likely to receive Oscar recognition for his lead role in this frequently excellent (if periodically absurd) new feature.

Mortensen plays the films title character, an off-the-grid Noam Chomsky admirer known more prosaically as Ben. With wife Leslie (Trin Miller, seen only in flashback) Ben has raised his six children in the middle of a Pacific Northwest forest, training them in survivalist techniques and teaching them about great literature, political theory, and the Bill of Rights.

What he hasnt taught them is how to live in the real world, a problem that quickly becomes apparent when the family leaves the wilderness for a funeral in suburban New Mexico. Conflicts rapidly arise between the insular Fantastics and their normal relatives, including Leslies sister Harper (Kathryn Hale), brother-in-law Dave (Steve Zahn), and father Jack (Frank Langella).

Written and directed by Berkeley resident Matt Ross, Captain Fantastic is careful not to pass judgment on these competing visions of the way things should be. (Ross will be doing aQ&A in Berkeleythis Friday,July 22,after the7:05 p.m.screening of Captain Fantastic at theCalifornia Theatres at 2113Kittredge St.) Ben is clearly a loving father, but hes also a martinet whose parenting techniques sometimes border on child abuse; Jack has the best interests of his grandchildren at heartbut is willing to use social status and wealth to make life for Ben thoroughly miserable.

Captain Fantastic is the perfect argument for a Best Ensemble Cast Oscar, featuring excellent performances by all concerned including its youngest thespian, spunky little Shree Crooks, who gets many of the films best lines as six-year-old Zaja. Instead, itll be Mortensen who gets the most attention and deservedly so.

Beyond the implausible plot development (which I wont elaborate upon further), there are a lot of ways Captain Fantastic could have gone badly wrong. Its the sort of comedy-drama that has come to predominate the American independent film-making scene; frequently, these films are overly arch smack-downs of contemporary society (2007s execrable Juno being a prime example). To Rosss considerable credit, this isnt one of those films.

Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse, and Jarad Dawkins are the subjects of the documentary Breaking a Monster: Unlocking the Truth

I dont like heavy metal, but documentaries about heavy metal (e.g., The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years) are another matter. In the case of Breaking a Monster: Unlocking the Truth, the metal comes with a wrinkle: the band in front of the camera are three African-American middle-schoolers.

First exposed to metal at wrestling shows, pre-pubescents Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins decided to form their own band, Unlocking the Truth. Breaking a Monster (also opening at the Shattuck on Friday, and not a reference to the excellent Metallica doc, Some Kind of Monster) skims over their formative years before settling into a blow-by-blow account of their signing to Sony thanks to Welcome Back, Kotter creator Alan Sacks.

The film is clearly intended as part of the bands current promotional drive (their debut album was released last month), but to director Luke Meyers credit Breaking a Monster is a few steps removed from your average band video. As precocious and talented as these lads are, we also see them being put through the music industry meat-grinder, and it aint pretty.

Berkeleysides film writer John Seal writes a column in The Phantom of the Movies Videoscope, an old-fashioned paper magazine, published quarterly. Read more from Big Screen Berkeley on Berkeleyside.

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Source: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/07/21/big-screen-berkeley-captain-fantastic-breaking-a-monster/