Love & Mercy

"Five years from now," says Murry Wilson (Bill Camp) to his son Brian (Paul Dano), "no one’s going to remember you or the Beach Boys.”

Of course, Brian Wilson still has a successful solo career and the Beach Boys are pop standards. Take that foresight. Still, many might not know his story. That's what the biopic Love & Mercy is about.

The story jumps back and forth in time between the 1960's and the 1980's. In the 1960's, Brian Wilson and his fellow Beach Boys are household names. Brian has rather unique ideas for their next album, Pet Sounds, and Beach Boy Mike Love (Jake Abel) doesn't agree with them. Brian finds himself overwhelmed by mental illness and drug use.

In the 1980's, Brian (John Cusack) is a patient of abusive psychologist Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). Brian is isolated and alone until he meets Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), a Cadillac Saleswoman. They begin a relationship which Landy doesn't approve. That relationship provides Brian a way out of Landy and his despair.

Its non-linear storyline is comprehensible. We understand who Brian Wilson is in both timelines. The actors portraying him make him a sympathetically eccentric fellow. The climax was pretty trippy, though if I have to interpret, it's him coming to terms with his past, present and future. You'll know it when you see it.

As Landy, Giamatti starts off as a fun guy. It's only later, when we see the extent of his methods, that the audience truly reviles him. The audience doesn't lose sympathy for Melinda and she remains likable to the end. When she's with Brian, they feel like a real couple.

The sound mixers are the standouts of the crew. The soundtrack, from the oldies to Atticus Ross's original score, resonates through the cinema speakers. They also help us get into Brian's head as he's conceiving music or having a nervous breakdown. Their contributions hit the right notes in this musical biopic.

Love & Mercy is an insightful look into the Face of California Sound. You'll learn quite a bit too if you seek this out in your area.

Inside Out

Pixar apparently hasn't made a good film in years. I say "apparently" because I liked Brave and didn't hate the other two. But it was enough of a slump to get Pixar shuffling. They tried to get The Good Dinosaur out last summer but let it sit out till this Thanksgiving. This means that Inside Out is their newest film.

And it is good.

Riley Andersen and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Riley's personifications of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger live inside her head. In their Headquarters, the emotions guide Riley's actions and help her make new memories. And those memories are stored away at the end of the day.

Joy tries to suppress Sadness for Riley and her parents' sake. But it goes awry when both Joy and Sadness are sucked out of Headquarters. They find themselves in the back of Riley's mind, while the other emotions find themselves in control. Joy and Sadness have to get back to HQ before the others cause something drastic.

The personified emotions are the stars of the show. They seem like one-note characters, but they have depth. That's especially so with Joy, who finds herself breaking under-pressure. Sadness's monotony is amusing and sad at the appropriate times. The other emotions are still likable even as they lead Riley to depression. Bing-Bong, a character who joins Joy and Sadness on their journey, is just as relevant. Kids will love their antics while adults will be invested in their development.

Director/co-writer Pete Docter (Up) and his writers created a memorable story. The deadlines Joy, Sadness and Bing-Bong face keep the story moving quick. The gags they encounter are delightful. The resolution of it all won't leave anyone stone-faced. It will stick around in your mind for quite a while.

Inside Out is a perfect psychic metaphor for, among other things, the dangers of suppressing emotions. Whether you see it in 3D or Flatscreen, you'll get the same memorable experience. It's an experience which starts with the musical short Lava, about singing volcanoes. Its end credits give a peak into the minds of other characters.

Jurassic World

A real-life version of Jurassic World would surely run a ginormous bill. There's all the mechanical costs, biological costs and the legal fees if something goes inevitably wrong. But the film makes me want to settle for the next best thing: Universal Studios Hollywood.

Isla Nublar, site of the ill-fated Jurassic Park, is now home to the thriving Jurassic World. Year after year, tourists flock en-masse to see the island's living prehistoric residents. But the novelty wore off and attendance started to decline. Its owners need a new attraction to drive up attendance.

The Park's scientists create a genetic hybrid called the Indominus Rex. The new dinosaur proves to be highly-intelligent and vicious. Raptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is called to inspect the I. Rex's enclosure, but he nearly becomes chowder when she escapes. Owen and operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) have to help clear out the park and contain the I. Rex before she kills everything.

Despite its simple sounding plot, Jurassic World finds time for a meaningful story. It takes quite a while before the I. Rex escapes and kicks off the action. We see the characters explore the park and work it from behind the scenes. (They do that too after the escape but under stricter circumstances.) They even discuss the importance of properly socializing wild animals. It gave the film much needed substance.

The only human veteran in the cast is B.D. Wong as geneticist Dr. Wu, here with a much bigger role. The new characters with him are a memorable bunch. Owen is the laid back guy who gets serious when he needs to. Claire is the workaholic who learns to run and fight for her life. Park Security Chief Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio) reminded me of Burke from Aliens, right down to a similar demise. And then there's the mammoth Mosasaurus; she appears in three scenes, and it's the third that'll draw a good chuckle.

I didn't adjust to the effects at first. The CGI made the dinosaurs too obviously animated creatures. Fortunately, the CGI got better as the film went on. It helped that, like its predecessors, it used animatronic dinosaurs for close-up scenes. It really helped with their acting.

Although it wasn't filmed in any of Universal's parks, I can't help but recall my visit to Universal Studios Orlando in 2010. The production designers made it look like an authentic theme park. The scale, the color, the layout, it's just as I remember. I'm sure attendance will spike on the Jurassic Park rides in the wake of this movie.

Jurassic Park III was just average in the long run. Jurassic World, on the other hand, was an exciting, meaningful cinematic effort. It surpassed quite a bit of my story expectations. As for its visual expectations, it most certainly deserves to be seen on a big screen.

Spy

As long as there have been spy movies, there have been spy movie parodies. Spy, which reassembles writer/director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy, is a stellar example of the latter.

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) works as mission control for CIA super-spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law). Their latest mission is to track down a villain's suitcase nuke. Unfortunately, Fine kills the villain with his itchy trigger-finger - and itchier nose. The CIA sends Fine after the villain's daughter, Rayna Boyanov (Rosa Byrne), who may know where the bomb is. Rayna gets the drop on Fine and kills him.

The CIA can't go after Rayna since she knows who their agents are. Susan volunteers to go after her; her lack of field-experience is now her biggest asset. She goes all over Europe in tacky disguises to gather intel on Rayna. Meanwhile, Agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) attempts to deal with the villains.

As Susan, Melissa McCarthy excels as an unlikely spy. What makes her compelling is how she reacts to her condescending world. The world doesn't expect much of her, which is why she has the desk job. Once she has the chance, she can get physically and verbally brutal. It's excellent to see her come out on top.

It helps that McCarthy has a great supporting cast. Statham, in particular, acts like his typical macho movie self except that he's a complete buffoon. One particular moment of him would go nicely with The Price is Right losing horn. Meanwhile, Byrne's initially dangerous Rayna is revealed to be so elitist that she's a spoiled brat. There's also Peter Serafinowicz as the goofy good-guy agent Aldo and Miranda Hart as Susan's co-worker Nancy.

Spy is simply the funniest film so far this year. It entertains and surprises throughout its 2 hour run-time. Feig and McCarthy will next work together on the new Ghostbusters movie; the future is bright if they keep up the comic momentum.