Category: Movie Reviews

    I have very fond memories of Alien and Aliens.  When I was about 8 I was at a friends house where the adults were watching Alien and the kids were watching some animated film in another room.  I snuck out and hid where I could see Alien without the adults noticing and I loved it.  When I was 15 my grandfather took a tongue lashing from my mother for taking me to see the R-rated Aliens in theaters, where once again I fell in love with the strange and extremely scary universe.  As I sit and write, I can see the lamp where an Alien is crawling out of it’s lighted pod.  I mention this only because I was hoping for an actual prequel to the Alien saga out of mere nostalgia, when I should have taken Scott for his word.

    Prometheus begins with what we can assume is our very distant past as an Alien creature (who will later be known as one of the Engineers) sacrifices himself near a waterfall (on earth perhaps) only to have his DNA transform in the water.  What does this mean?  I’m sure that will be debated for years to come, but one thing is for certain: it is vital to the plot of the film.  Jump to our near future where archeologists discover proof that our possible creators have given us coordinates to a distant star system with who-knows-what as their intention.  The archeologists join a team of scientists as they travel to the distant moon where they think their makers have invited them to visit. 

    Any more information might give away too much, and since I don’t like to be a bearer of spoilers, I will stop with the description of the story. 

    So the question most of you are asking has to be “is it good?”  Leaving the theater my answer was “I’m not sure but leaning towards disappointed.”  Most of my opinion was based on two observations.  First, being a fan of the fear I felt with the Alien films, I so badly wanted the movie to be scary and it wasn’t.  Secondly, the movie is challenging to understand.  That second point however is really now the reason why I am beginning to like it.  This is not a surface-level film.  Nothing is said or done without reason.  There is subtext and mystery behind almost every word and action, making this truly a thinking man’s (or woman’s) film.  My advice is to especially pay attention to the relationships between the android David and the humans.  While Noomi Rapace is certainly seen as the main character of the movie, Michael Fassbender’s David is equally as important. 

    Visually the film is stunning and thankfully the 3D enhances it.  The special effects team has a lot to proud of here.  The only part of the production that didn’t work for me was the mixed score by Marc Streitenfeld  and Harry Gregson-Williams.  Streitenfeld’s pieces fit the tone of the film, but Gregson-Williams’s seemed out of place, like they belonged in a WWII film rather than a sci-fi epic.

    The acting is, for the most part, pretty good.  Michael Fassbender turns on the creepy charm and Noomi Rapace, in spite of some strange sounding accent switches, makes for a decent enough heroine. 

    The film does have some credibility issues however.  After all, it’s hard to believe that a respected xenobiologist, renowned enough to be sent millions of miles into space, would just try to give a friendly petting to a potentially dangerous creature on a foreign planet.  Also, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing serious running, even with an incredible adrenaline rush, directly after having a major surgery. 

The Dictator
Starring Sasha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley
Directed by Larry Charles (Borat)
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images

    In this mockery of both foreign dictators and The United States, Cohen stars as a tyrannical and oppressive dictator of a Middle East country who escapes an assassination and coup attempt while on a diplomatic visit to New York.  When he happens upon a nuclear physicist from his country who was supposed to have been assassinated under his order, he recruits his former countryman so that he might once again regain power.

    While Cohen’s previous outings Borat and Bruno used a combination of scripted and documentary filmmaking, this film merely has the same feel.  His character is completely over the top, but this time the butt of the joke is both the horrifying mannerisms of some of our world leaders, as well as some nice jabs at America, but not on unsuspecting victims.  But don’t worry, you won’t be offended (too badly) by his humor.  He very lovingly pokes fun at us like a favorite uncle who wants you to pull his finger. 

    Going into the film I was certain that I’d already had an overdose of Aladeen, Cohen’s character which he had been publicizing for the last several months.  In case you’ve been living in a closet, Cohen has been wearing Aladeen’s costumes for a while now, doing everything in character.  Even in his television interviews he has insisted on doing the interviews as the corrupt leader.  Some of it has been funny, but I was afraid I was over him before the movie screened.  Fortunately for me, he won me over again as an audience member.  I laughed incredibly hard from start to finish.  I almost felt bad because while people were laughing, I actually found almost everything hysterical and thus would catch myself laughing even when not many others were.  I owe that to the fact that I just happened to be on the same level as 95% of the jokes.  It was almost like the filmmakers had me in mind when they made it.  

    I don’t want to act like a snob here, but the movie is much more intellectual than you would think, which could be why I was throwing around so many guffaws.  This might seem like lowest common denominator humor, but I assure you that there are some mighty brains behind this script.  That being said, there is a lot of dirty humor here too that many folks won’t enjoy, so I would head the R rating seriously.  A-

    Normally when someone makes a good film, there is always a company that is willing to distribute it.  But apparently, no one wants to work with Mel Gibson right now.  Written by and starring the infamous Oscar-winning Aussie, Get the Gringo tells the story of an American on the run from the law after having stolen millions of dollars, only to find himself hiding out in a Mexican prison, all the while trying to figure out how to get his money back.  While in prison, he befriends a relatively innocent boy whose life is in danger from the criminal that runs the correctional facility. 

    Were it not for a few stupid comments said while drunk, this movie would have easily gotten a huge opening weekend and would have entertained the world.  Frankly, I feel sorry for the man.  We all say things we regret and unfortunately for him, no matter of eating crow will help his situation any time soon.  When distributers would choose to pass up a chance to make good money just so they are not seen promoting someone’s art – well that’s a kiss of death.

    So how’s the film?  It’s an entertaining and extremely interesting picture.  I’m not sure if Mexican prisons are really this way, but if they are, I can understand why they get such a bad rap.  The shanty town portrayed here is as fascinating to watch as Gibson himself.  The story is original enough and in spite of the gratuitous violence, it manages to have a heart as well. 

    I especially liked Mel’s character in this one (and I’m not afraid to admit it).  He’s a villain in a sea of villains.  So being a bad guy with brains and integrity make him a hero worth cheering for.  He almost reminds me of George Clooney in From Dusk to Dawn.  Some of the plot turns are a bit cliched, but he’s so much fun to watch that you hardly care.

    I also really liked the production although it made me want to take a shower after watching.  There was an organic feeling to the film that really puts you right there in the action. 

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins and Kristen Connolly
Directed by Drew Goddard
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexuality/nudity

    Serenity writer/director Joss Whedon and Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard team up for this new take on the “cabin in the woods” genre of horror flicks.  From the very beginning it is more than apparent that this story is more than just a bunch of dumb good-looking kids staying in a cursed cabin.  Rather than let you figure this fact out as a twist, the movie opens with two men working in what looks like a secret government lab who are about to take part in some sort of international competition to kill young people using various monsters.  It starts off almost making you feel like you are watching an darker, more adult version of The Hunger Games.  Lucky for us, these are no normal young people and the game becomes very complicated. 

    If your first thought upon seeing the trailer for this pic is that it looks too scary – never fear.  Just like the M. Night Shyamalan film The Village, this movie might look like a scream-fest from the outside, but what you get on the inside is a very clever and extremely funny pseudo-scarer.  It’s just frightening enough to keep the horror fans happy, but this one surely won’t leave you waking up in the night in a cold sweat.  Instead, its an extremely entertaining thriller that gives you exactly what you would expect from these talented filmmakers. 

    The fact that the film was co-written and directed by one of television’s Lost writers might tell you that you’ll be guessing quite a bit and getting it wrong.  That’s not to say you probably won’t figure it out early enough.  They don’t try to slide something ridiculous by you in order to surprise you. 

    The acting here helps quite a bit.  The very popular Chris Hemsworth (Thor) is a welcome treat to head up the young cast.  What makes the film fun though is Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins and The West Wing’s Bradley Whitford as the two men in ties running the show from elsewhere.  The script, which puts these two in at the most unusual of moments to not only provide comedy relief but also provide a look at the bigger picture, is a sheer pleasure to watch unfold. 

Casa de mi Padre
Starring Will Ferrell, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal
Directed by Matt Piedmont

    Caught in the middle of a Mexican drug war, Will Ferrell must do what he can in order to protect both his father’s ranch as well as his family’s name. But when he falls in love with his brother’s fiance, he must take the battle to the drug lord and risk alienating his brother.  

    Spoken almost entirely in Spanish, Casa de mi Padre serves as a spoof of bad Mexican films.  While most American audiences won’t be familiar with the subject being made fun of, there is a large number of Latinos and savvy movie fans that will find the pic very funny.  And even if you don’t know the genre well, the humor is broad enough that you will at the very least have a good laugh. 

    While Ferrell doesn’t actually speak Spanish in real life, you’d never know from watching this movie.  You can’t say the acting is good, but for what they were trying to accomplish – it was perfect.  Pretending to be a bad actor can be a feat as difficult as being a good one and Ferrell and crew have that skill down here.  Also, it was fun watching Luna and Bernal get back together, lovingly mocking low-budget Mexican cinema.

John Carter
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Mark Strong
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action

    Recently, former Pixar director Brad Bird (Ratatouille) took on the immense challenge of directing the fourth installment of Mission Impossible and the result was a critically acclaimed box-office smash.  So it’s little wonder that there is a lot of insider excitement over Pixar director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) taking the helm of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi series John Carter of Mars. 

    John Carter (Kitsch) is just your average greedy Civil War vet turned prospector who finds himself strangely transported to Mars where he now has super-human strength, thanks to the lower gravitational pull.  Finding himself caught in a Martian civil war between two human-like races trying to annihilate each other, he falls in love with the beautiful princess (Houston’s own Lynn Collins) from one of the warring sides and helps them survive the menace of a devastating weapon given to their enemies from some strange mystical beings attempting to control the destiny of the planet. 

    In light of his highly successful career, it is not surprising where Stanton succeeded, but it is highly surprising where he failed.  The crowning achievement of this film is its tremendous use of special effects.  The CG is truly out of this world and one can assume that most of its reported $250 million budget went into the production and not on its cast. 

    The big fail here is in writing and casting.  Pixar prides itself in their ability to tell stories and so it’s easy to assume that the story would be king in a film such as this.  I’m sure there is a good reason why these classic books haven’t made it to the big screen yet and that is because the material doesn’t translate well to the screen.  But looking at what they came up with, it doesn’t look like it’s a far stretch to get to a really good script.  What we get instead is a confusing story that plods along and almost collapses from its own weight. 

    It doesn’t help that the cast has a tough time pulling it off.  I’m sure Kitsch turned in an amazing screen test and that he has potential as a leading actor, but this film needed a star.  It needed a Jake Gyllenhaal, Vin Diesel or even a Channing Tatum to guide us on our way.  In an attempt to save money on actors’ inflated salaries, Disney ultimately shows why it can be worth it to put in a well-known actor and I’m sure they will be crying over that decision for years to come. 

    One thing that doesn’t help the film any is its lousy 3D edition.  Just like the recent Pirates of the Caribbean film, the movie is too dark to make use of the technology.  If you are going to create a worthwhile 3D project, it is important to cut down on the amount of nighttime scenes and if you use a lot of them, you must artificially crank up the lighting.  After all, tinted 3D glasses will only exasperate the darkness.  Unfortunately, I found myself taking off my glasses just so I could see what’s going on – choosing fuzzy vision over almost pure absence of light. 

Act of Valor
Rated R for strong violence including some torture, and for language

    In an attempt to add a sense of ominous realism to their movie, the director team of Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh chose to use real-life active-duty Navy SEALs as their leads in a fictional story about a group of SEALs who are sent in to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent and then foil the plans of the man who kidnapped her. 

Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrance Howard, and David Oyelowo

Directed by Anthony Hemingway (HBO’s Treme)

Rated PG-13 for some sequences of war violence

     The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is a classic American tale of courage, skill and perseverance.  While the U.S. Military did not allow the African American pilots to fight in the main combat arena until towards the end of the war, their record of kills vs. casualties as well as their success at protecting American bombers is a truly fantastic and almost unbelievable achievement.  So there is also no doubt that these brave men of the 332^nd Fighter Group deserve to be heralded and have their story preserved in film.  The problem is that they deserve a much better legacy than this. 

     The 1995 HBO movie The Tuskegee Airmen was a decent enough approach to the subject but had many problems.  That is probably why Executive Producer George Lucas and others at Lucas Films wanted to improve upon the story.  Unfortunately, the only thing that was improved upon was the special effects.  The aerial effects are truly spectacular and the fight sequences are surprisingly exciting.  I say surprisingly because while everything in the air is gold, everything on the ground is lame. 

     Many will come away saying the acting is just plain lousy, but that’s not altogether true.  There are some decent performers here that should have had a better script to read from.  The dialog is very poorly written throughout and most of the characters are nothing more than cookie cutter caricatures.  I’m shocked that many of the characters even had names.  At least there was some personality given to the members of the 332^nd, because the white characters in the film were treated like complete stereotypes.  There was “Racist General,” “Nice White Pilot,” “Racist Nazi Pilot” and many other completely contrived characters who only detracted from the power of the overall story.  But even the main characters suffered from a lack of substance.  The only member of the cast that got a sufficient plot line was that of Joe “Lightening” Little (Oyelowo) but his story alone couldn’t save the film.

     Another serious issue with the script is its historical accuracy.  It’s widely known that the Tuskegee Airmen were extremely successful, but this film makes them look invincible.  While they lost less than most, they lost many more than this film represents.  Their version of the war is almost like a video game where the hero has to make it at least to the end.  War movies by nature revolve around the loss of human life and to show war differently is both deceptive and dishonorable.  This lack of humility to the very idea of war distracts from the movie and steals away any credibility they manage to achieve.

     The fact is that there is potential greatness in this premise and the film itself could have been another Glory.  But rather than making an inspired and inspirational film, the filmmakers settled for a visually captivating movie that serves as a poor representation of the men who gallantly fought in WWII and surprised a nation.  C

Starring Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow, Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks
Directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot)
Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images and language

    There is a moment in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close where the young boy played by Thomas Horn covers his ears and yells at his father, played by Tom Hanks, begging him to not be disappointed in him.  It is a startling and rather tender moment that shatters any misconception that the boy is cold and unfeeling or anything besides strong, resilient, and a little obnoxious.  Taking place in New York City shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the boy is learning to live without his father who was killed while in the World Trade Center.  He worshipped his father and wants nothing more in life than to make him proud.  When he finds a key hidden in his father’s closet he goes on a desperate mission to discover what the key opens, even at the expense of missing school and practically abandoning his mother (Sandra Bullock).  Soon after he begins his search, his adventure is shared with an older man carrying an important secret (Max von Sydow) who is eager to aid him on his quest.

    I must warn you that this movie is a major tear jerker.  Some might call it manipulative, but it’s not overly so.  It’s just a subject matter that brings out a very strong emotional response.  But don’t think that this is merely a sad film.  It is about love and loss, but more importantly its about not giving up.  Even when all seems lost, all might not be completely gone.  It’s also very funny and incredibly moving. 

    Based on the best-selling novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, the movie is a compassionate yet challenging look at what we as a nation lost on that “worst day.”  Through the boy’s eyes we see a world that can be cruel, but that can also be filled with love, laughter and adventure. 

    The acting here is absolutely top-notched.  It helps to have accomplished actors such as Hanks, Bullock and von Sydow, but Horn appears to have been up to the challenge of working with such a talented cast.  His character is that of a very different boy with possible high-functioning autism.  It’s a tough part and he did a splendid job. 

    The story and the script here are what make the film so special.  To come up with such an amazing idea for the novel and then to have it terrifically adapted by Academy Award winner Eric Roth (Forest Gump) is an amazing feat which seems so effortless here. 

    A lot of credit also goes to Stephen Daldry who has become quite a masterful story teller.  He never shies away from tough material and seems to always churn out great movies.

The Adventures of Tintin

Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Rated PG for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking

    Based on the famous comic books by Herge′, this first of what are sure to be many adventures of the character Tintin finds the young detective Tintin on a dangerous quest to find the location of three secret scrolls, all of which are individually contained within the models of a ship called The Unicorn, that will eventually lead him to a great treasure.  Along with his brave dog Snowy and the inebriated Captain Haddock, the team competes with the sinister Mr. Sakharine in the race to find the scrolls and the mystery behind them. 

    If you are like me and very American, you will have probably never heard of Tintin.  One of the reasons Spielberg opened the movie in Europe almost two months before the U.S. premiere is because Tintin is a national treasure there.  While the movie is having a tough time coming out of the gate here, worldwide it has already grossed over a quarter billion dollars.  But just because the character is not an icon here as it is there, don’t be surprised if he starts to makes some inroads. 

    Americans love thrilling movies and this one is non-stop action and adventure.  The journey starts almost as soon as the film begins and doesn’t let up until the credits.  It’s like a 107 minute roller coaster that doesn’t make you sick. 

    The film has several other admirable qualities, chief among them is the animation.  Using motion capture, Spielberg has managed to create a breathtakingly beautiful world that you can’t take your eyes off of.  So far the films that have utilized this technology form animation (i.e. Mars Needs Moms, Beowulf, The Polar Express) have had what many consider to be a creepy look.  Tintin however has a brand new style that is mesmerizing.  It’s so captivating that I had to watch the film twice in order to fully understand the plot simply because the look was distracting from the story.  The story is fine, but the art takes over completely. 

    The one thing that American audiences will find most troubling is the lack of character development.  When you watch the Indiana Jones sequels you’ll notice a lack of character development simply because you are so familiar with the lead character, thanks to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it’s okay to jump right into the action.  Rather than go into a genesis story which would give you that same familiarity, Spielberg chose to jump right in under the assumption that most international audiences won’t need it.  I think he hoped that American audiences would be sophisticated enough to go without as well. Would I have liked a genesis story?  Absolutely, as will many of you.  I’m probably not going to go back and read the comics just to have a better appreciation of the history of Tintin.  This strategy in telling the tale might just hurt the chances of a humongous domestic box office, but I’m sure that is a risk they were willing to take, and so far it has paid off.