You know, we've all seen a plethora of films involving drugs, drug busts, busting cartels and the violence behind them. Just in recent years we've seen "Savages", "End of Watch", "Training Day", "Street Kings", "2 Guns", "Safe House", "Contraband" and now we have "Sabotage".
This story involves John 'Breacher' Wharton (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the veteran DEA agent in charge of an elite squad. After effectively hiding 10 million in drug money during an epic bust, their plan falls apart when they return to the hiding place and discover that someone has swiped the cash. As the incident goes through an exhaustive investigation, everyone is suspended from duty. After authorities fail to bring any charges, Breacher starts retaining the group including James 'Monster' Murray (Sam Worthington), Joe 'Grinder' Phillips (Joe Manganiello), Eddie 'Neck' Jordan (Josh Holloway), Julius 'Sugar' Edmonds (Terence Howard), Tom 'Pyro' Roberts (Max Martini), Bryce 'Tripod' McNeely (Kevin Vance), 'Smoke' Jennings (Mark Schlegel) and Lizzy Murray (Mireille Enos), which has grown rusty and distrustful of each other during the long layoff. Soon, members of Breacher's crew start dying in gruesome fashion. As Breacher gets close to Caroline Brentwood (Olivia Williams), the police investigator put in charge of the case, Caroline eventually learns about a dark secret from Breacher's past. Soon the remaining members of the crew realize that one of them is responsible for the murders, and that same person probably has the cash as well.
Others to round out the cast are Ned Yousef as Dubai Money Launderer, Maurice Compte as Sapo, Martin Donovan as Floyd Demel, Michael Monks as ASAC Phelps, Nick Chacon as DEA sniper and Tim Ware as Stan Morris (DEA Interrogator #1).
This was realistically and intensely directed by David Ayer ("Harsh Times" '05, "Street Kings" '08, "End of Watch" '12). This was paced so well that one would think they are eavesdropping on the life of real DEA agent actually at work. It was written by Skip Woods and David Ayer and even though the grittiness was spot on, it definitely had places that were predictable. Even though you're witnessed to a plethora of gratuitous violence, understandably, it was still difficult to focus on all that was going on story wise. Believe me, I actually thought it would be more predictable, but there were twists and turns so as not to get bogged down with a lot of triteness.
This is obviously a guy flick with all the trappings that make it that way, so if you're a 18-34 year-old single male that loves adrenaline, explosiveness, the obligatory sexy girls, and the good guys overcoming the bad guys, you'll be in film heaven. For the rest of you, as stated before, this has enough different twists and turns to keep you interested if you can turn your eyes away from the rest.
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: R 109mins.
In recent past we have seen quite a number of religious/spiritual/inspirational films, i.e. "Son of God", "God's Not Dead", and now we have in the offing, "Noah". I'm sure it's of no coincidence of the timing since Easter is right around the corner. So if one is 'searching', one doesn't have too far to look for something inspirational and spiritual.
The story, inspired by the Old Testament teachings of the bible, comes from the book of Genesis involving a man, Noah (Russell Crowe) chosen by God to undertake a momentous mission of building a vessel--an ark to save his family consisting of wife, Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), Shem (Douglas Booth), Ham (Logan Lerman), Japheth (Leo McHugh Carroll) and an adopted daughter, Ila (Emma Watson), and all creatures and birds of the air on the planet from a deluge. Because of man's continuous, violent sin, God plans on flooding the entire world to rid of the creation he was once happy with, but now no more. Noah was walking with God intently, so God gave Noah visions of what to do and when to do it. No one was willing to listen because of their sin, so Noah had to be content with getting the ark built and make sure all the animals were accounted for.
This film spans from Noah's youth and ends with the ark making a final landing on solid ground after the rains subsided. A lot of this is what transpired while they were on the ark for the 150 days while the world was being flooded.
Others to round out the cast are Ray Winstone as Tubal-Cain, Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah, Nick Nolte as Samyaza, Mark Margolis as Magog, Marton Csokas as Lamech, and Kevin Durand as Rameel.
This was effectively well paced by director Darren Aronofsky ("Pi" '98, "Requiem for a Dream" 2000, "The Fountain" '06, "The Wrestler" '08, "Black Swan" '10). His resume is rather eclectic which is healthy, because otherwise he would fall into the trap of so many others as being pigeon-holed. So many directors stay in their 'comfort zone' depending on their genre, so it's a breath of fresh air to see that some directors actually prefer not to stay in that zone. It was written by Aronofsky and Ari Handel. OK, I took a peek at the biblical source of this part of the bible and there are a few inconsistencies between this and its inspirational source. 1) The Old Testament says that those that were housed in the ark were Noah, his wife, two sons and his son's wives. In this, there were no wives and the Old Testament makes no mention of an adopted daughter of Noah's. 2) There is no mention of Tubal-Cain stowing away on the ark in the O.T., however this film mentions that. 3) The O. T. makes mention of large giants roaming the land, but nothing about 'rock monsters' is mentioned as with this film. Considering these errors, it was still well written and still gives us that epic story in an incredibly grandiose way. Speaking of grandiose, the visual effects predominantly created by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) were absolutely seamless, and coupled with an IMAX format, the presentation was awesome.
All in all, this was not a totally accurate, scripturally speaking, version of Noah and the ark, but there's so much more going on here that it still has that ability to cause one to think well beyond the end credits.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 138mins.
There may be hope for Hollywood yet in that the genre of comedy is not quite dead. Out of all the horrible comedies churned out by the Hollywood machine each year, there are gems, mostly independent, that are produced that puts my faith back in the comedy genre. Films like "Juno", "Lars and the Real Girl", "Thank You for Smoking", "Burn After Reading", the recent "The Great Budapest Hotel", and now we have "Bad Words", are films that are clever--interesting that all that are listed are independent films. Commercial filmmakers-- take note!
Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman), a 40-year-old misanthrope, makes waves at a regional spelling bee when, due to a loophole in the rules, he is allowed to enter-- and later wins. Hurtling insults at every turn, Guy advances to the national contest in Los Angeles, accompanied by a reporter, Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) who wants to discover his hidden motives for entering the bee. As the competition gears up, friendless Guy inexplicably forms a bond with a young Indian speller, Chopra (Rohan Chand) who Guy nicknames 'Slumdog', who is lonely and needs a friend who is also feeling parental pressure to win. What possibly could be the reason for Guy to be even motivated to enter this bee in the first place and what does he expect to get out of it?
Others to round out the cast are Philip Baker Hall as Dr. Bob Bowen, President of the National Spelling Bee, Allison Janney as director of the Bee, Beth Grant as Bedazzled Judge, Allan Miller as Bald Glasses Judge, Anjul Nigam as Sriram Chopra, Bob Stephenson as Bill Murhoff, Patricia Belcher as Ingrid, Matthew Zhang as Braden Aftergood, and Amanda Anka as National Public Television Narrator.
This was wittingly and grittily directed by Jason Bateman (TV Series). The way this guy was able to pace his actors and have them exude the emotion they emitted in such a realistic way was amazing. It is difficult to believe that this is his first theatrical film directing, although he is in the middle of another project due out this year, "The Family Fang". This was also written by another newcomer to the writing field, Andrew Dodge who will be or has started another project out in '15 entitled "O'Lucky Day". Yes, the writing of the main character was crude, rude, offensive, immature, but this guy was able to write it in incredibly intelligent way. Why can't these young commercial Hollywood writers learn from guys like this? Now, this script wasn't perfect--there were a few choppy places, but considering this is his first screenplay, it was awesome. Trust me, there are seasoned writers in Hollywood who aren't half as talented.
If you like witty, powder dry humor that, after a certain point, finds its center and delivers heart, you'll like this. Because even though Guy is as immature as his friend 'Slumdog', he still is able to have you rooting for him even though you know he is an immature goofball.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 89mins.
Every few years we all need to laugh, vegetate and enjoy something fluffy and what a better film than "Muppets Most Wanted" to fulfill all these adjectives. As with its predecessor, "The Muppets" '11 with Amy Adams and Jason Segel, this pretty much continues where that one left off even with a 'sequel song' parody at the beginning of this installment.
Flush with their revival's success, Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) and his friends, including Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), are approached by Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) to go on a world tour. Unknown to them, this is all part of the sinister plan of Constantine (Matt Vogel), the world's most evil frog, to become the greatest thief of all time. You see, Kermit and Constantine look uncannily alike, so after making sure that Kermit takes his place in his Siberian jail of which Nadya (Tina Fey) is warden of, Constantine impersonates him to use the Muppets' tour as a cover for his scheme. While Sam the Eagle (Eric Jacobson) and Inspector Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) investigate, the Muppets find their boss seemingly and strangely changed even as Kermit desperately attempts to escape to stop the impostor. Only when Walter (Peter Linz), Fozzie (Eric Jacobson) and Animal (Eric Jacobson) realize the truth, is there a chance to prevent Constantine from pulling off the crime of the century.
Others to round out the cast are Ray Liotta as Big Papa, Dave Goetz as The Great Gonzo, Bill Barretta as The Swedish Chef/Bobo the Bear, David Rudman as Scooter/Miss Poogy, Danny Trejo as Himself, Frank Langella as Vicar, Hugh Bonneville as Irish Journalist, Tom Hollander as Theater Manager, and Tom Hiddleston as The Great Escapo.
This was directed with lightness and hilarity by James Bobin (TV series). Being his first theatrical film under his belt, he will assuredly receive more work, which actually he has in the form of '16s "Through the Looking Glass" in pre-production now. He's done a ton of TV which one can obtain a lot of experience. It was written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller based on Jim Henson's Muppets characters. I thought the previous, "The Muppets" '11 was just a bit more polished when it came to the script, but this certainly wasn't bad--perhaps not quite as funny. But hey, as I said in my review for "The Muppets", how can anyone not like the Muppets? It's got to be one of the most fun of the franchises out there.
The best time to see this is when you want or need to get a good laugh and just enjoy something fun with no message, heaviness, or drama. With this, it's a rollicking good time.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG 107mins.
Through movie history we've experienced many films in which we can be inspired from to strengthen our beliefs and possibly cause us to learn more about them. One can go back as far as 1956 with "The Ten Commandments", then "The Greatest Story Ever Told", then one can jump ahead and delve more into those inspirational films that can speak to us on more of a personal level: "Facing the Giants", "Fireproof", "Courageous" and "The Ultimate Life". Now we have "Son of God", "Noah" starting on 3-28, and this week there is in the offing, "God's Not Dead".
Present-day college freshman and devout Christian, Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper), finds his faith challenged on his first day of Philosophy class by the dogmatic and argumentative Professor Jeffrey Radisson (Kevin Sorbo). Radisson begins the first class by informing students that they will need to disavow, in writing, the existence of God on that day, or face a failing grade. As other students in the class begin scribbling the words, "God is Dead" on pieces of paper as instructed, Josh finds himself at a crossroads, having to choose between his faith and his future. Josh offers a nervous refusal, provoking an irate reaction from the smug professor. Radisson assigns him a daunting task: if Josh will not admit that "God is Dead", he must prove God's existence by presenting well-researched, intellectual arguments and evidence over the course of the semester, whom he gets much needed advice from Reverend Dave (David A.R. White), and ends up engaging Radisson in a head-to-head debate as the class being the final judge of who is right. If Josh fails to convince his classmates of God's existence, he will fail the course and hinder his lofty academic goals. With almost no one in his corner, Josh wonders if he can really fight for what he believes. Can he actually prove the existence of God? Wouldn't it have just been easier to write "God is Dead" and have it all behind him?
"God's Not Dead" weaves together multiple stories of faith, doubt and disbelief culminating in a dramatic call to action. The film will educate, entertain and inspire moviegoers to explore what they really believe about God, igniting important conversations and life-changing decisions.
Others to round out the cast are Benjamin Ochieng as Reverend Jude, Dean Cain as Mark, Paul Kwo as Martin Yip, Hadeel Sittu as Ayisha, Cory Oliver as Mina, Trisha LaFache as Amy Ryan, Marco Khan as Misrab, Ayisha's father, Alex Aristidis as Fahid, Ayisha's young brother, Renee Pezzotta as Dave's secretary, David Mills as a professor, Wendy Miklovic as a caregiver nurse, Lisa Hampton as an actress, Lisa Arnold as June Wheaton, Josh's mother, Jim Gleason as Ward Wheaton, Josh's father, Jesse Wang as Martin's father, Tommy Blaze as Dan Tibbs, car rental guy, and special appearances by Newsboys, Willie Robertson, and Korie Robertson.
This was effectively well paced by director Harold Cronk ("Jerusalem Countdown" '11, "The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure" '13, "Silver Bells" '13). As his resume dictates, Cronk certainly knows how to effectively emit just enough emotion through his characters to bring home that message he continues to convey. It was written by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon based on a story by Hunter Dennis, Konzelman and Solomon. One of the things that make this interesting is it was written in a kind of "Crash" type of format whereas it takes different people in different ways of life, all going through difficult situations and slowly you see that these people actually are connected in very different ways--ways one doesn't expect. You wonder where this script is going, and all of a sudden it starts unfolding before your eyes which was obviously purposed.
This is a story about faith, challenges, fear, inspiration, redemption and reconciliation all rolled up in less than a 2 hour running time. Where else can you go and get all this with something to ponder about when you leave the theater?
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG 113mins.
On one hand we have those apocalyptic films, such as "The Book of Eli", "9", "I Am Legend", "Omega Man", even "Planet of the Apes", then we have those teen 'angst' films we've seen recently such as the "Twilight" saga, "The Host", the "Hunger Games" saga. Now we have "Divergent", basically a cross between apocalyptic and teen 'angst' all in one film.
Set in a futuristic apocalyptic Chicago where society is divided into five factions that represent a different virtue or characteristic, teenagers, as they reach a certain point in their lives, must decide if they want to continue in their faction they were raised in or switch to another-- for the rest of their lives. Each teenager goes through an aptitude test to see what would be the best faction for them, however ultimately the final decision is theirs. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) makes a choice that surprises everyone. Her evaluator Tori (Maggie Q) tells her that her test was inconclusive and that she's divergent-- a position in where she doesn't fit in any faction. And also tells Tris not to tell anyone of this lest she could be killed as a 'threat' to the existing society.
Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made, all through the training by Four (Theo James) and Eric (Jai Courtney). They must undergo extreme physical and intense mental or psychological tests that transform them all. Ultimately, as Tris and Four discover a growing conflict that threatens to unravel their seemingly perfect society, they realize they need each other more than ever.
Others to round out the cast are Ashley Judd as Natalie, Tris' mom, Ray Stevenson as Marcus, leader of a faction, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Mekhi Phifer, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Christian Madsen and Amy Newbold as Christina, Peter, Max, Will, Al and Molly, respectively as other faction members of Tris', Kate Winslet as Jeanine, leader of the society,Tony Goldwyn as Andrew, Tris' dad, and Ansel Elgort as Caleb, Tris' brother.
This was directed with grit and shear intensity by Neil Burger ("Interview with the Assassin" '02, "The Illusionist" '06, "The Lucky Ones" '08, "Limitless" '11, "The Asset" (TV movie) '12). The pacing and pulsation of the characters was executed well. This was written by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor based on Veronica Roth's novel. The storyline was certainly intriguing, however the film's first 20 minutes or so took too long to establish characters and set up story. This could have easily been a 2 hour running time to keep the pace more consistent. Once it got going, the pace was riveting and had you rooting for those characters that were warranted. Besides the visuals being seamless, the chemistry between Tris and Four was great, much better than other films of this type.
If you like gloom and doom apocalyptic films and teen 'angst' films, you'll revel, because here you have a two-for-one sale all for the price of one ticket. How can you beat that?
Out of 4 Stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 140mins.
For many years Hollywood has thrown at us, quite literally, a ton of high-adrenaline, high-octane and pulsating films based on succeeding at a task with intensity and extreme speed so as to grab us by the juggler and drag us through that proverbial keyhole. I remember seeing "Speed" '95 which kept you right on the edge, and even last year's "Getaway" had that same feel to it. So why is it that "Need for Speed" couldn't equally succeed at keeping us on that same edge?
Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is a blue-collar mechanic who races muscle cars on the side in an unsanctioned street-racing circuit. Struggling to keep his family-owned garage afloat, he reluctantly partners with the wealthy and arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). But just as a major sale to car broker Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots) looks like it will save Tobey's shop, a disastrous race allows Dino to frame Tobey for a crime he didn't commit, and sending Tobey to prison while Dino expands his business out West. Once out of prison, Tobey's goal? To gain entry to the infamous Deleon race sponsored by Monarch (Michael Keaton) and win the race as revenge against Brewster.
Others to round out the cast are Scott Mescudi, Rami Malek, Ramon Rodriguez and Harrison Gilbertson as Benny, Finn, Joe Peck and Little Pete, respectively, racing buddies of Tobey's, Dakota Johnson as Anita, ex-girlfriend of Tobey's, Stevie Ray Dallimore as Bill Ingram, Julia's boss, Logan Holladay as 'DJ' Joseph, and Carmela Zumbado as Jeny 'B'.
This was directed by a guy whose very familiar with intensity. It's Scott Waugh ("Navy SWCC (Documentary short) '07, "Act of Valor" '12), and even though he doesn't have a tremendous amount of experience, he knows how to put the 'I' in intensity. It was written by George Gatins based on a story by George Gatins and John Gatins which is based on the video games series created by Electronic Arts. This is where the trouble begins. When the film started, it was difficult to tell what exactly the premise was, because the script just jumped all over the map. I know there was a plot somewhere, and after about a half hour passed, the story started to show itself and viola! a film was born. It just took forever to realize what they were trying to do. Once that was made evident, the movie moved right along. The real star here was the cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, asc ("Crazy/Beautiful" '01, "Drumline" '02, "The Greatest Game Ever Played" '05, "Into the Blue" '05, "We Are Marshall" '06, "Terminator Salvation" '09, "Act of Valor" '12). As his resume dictates, he knows action-packed films and this showed that abundantly. In fact, Hurlbut's cinematography, coupled with Paul Rubell, ace and Waugh's editing made this film sing at all.
Where this film soars visually (photography/editing), it unfortunately lacks in the script. It's an interesting premise; a bit predictable, but interesting, and if they just got to the premise quicker, who knows, maybe it would keep one on the edge of that seat.
Out of 4 Stars: 2 Rated: PG-13 130mins.
Every couple of years we get treated to a comedy by one of the better comedy writers and directors around today, mostly because he doesn't rely on graphic sex, tons of four-letter words, and toilet humor to extract laughs from his audience. I'm speaking of Wes Anderson, who is quite a lot like the Coen Brothers in dry wit using a ton of dysfunctional characters to work with. His last film was the superb "Moonrise Kingdom", and now he has given us "The Grand Budapest Hotel".
This story recounts the adventures of M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at the infamous Grand Budapest Hotel, a European hotel between two World Wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted protégé and friend. This is all told as a flashback from a much older Zero (F. Murray Abraham) as he regales the story to a young writer (Jude Law).
The story involves the death of one Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) and the leaving of her priceless masterpiece painting to Gustave whom she had been frequenting his hotel for the last 19 years. This action sparks intense anger from a relative, Dmitri (Adrien Brody) as the executor of the estate Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) reads the will. Gustave decides to steal the painting, lest not getting it in his possession, so he enlists Zero to assist him in this. This is all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
Others to round out the cast are Edward Norton as Henckels, Willem Dafoe as Jopling, Mathieu Amalric as Serge X., Saoirse Ronan as Agatha, Harvey Keitel as Ludwig, Bill Murray as M. Ivan, Jason Schwartzman as M. Jean, Lea Seydoux as Clotilde, Tom Wilkinson as Author, Owen Wilson as M. Chuck, Larry Pine as Mr. Mosher, Florian Lukas as Pinky, and Bob Balaban as M. Martin.
This was incredibly well directed with his usual powder dry wit by the incomparable Wes Anderson ("Bottle Rocket" '96, "Rushmore" '98, "The Royal Tenenbaums" '01, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" '04, "The Darjeeling Limited" '07, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" '09, "Moonrise Kingdom" '12) His pacing has the look of a stage play being executed here. This was also written by Anderson based on a story by Anderson and Hugo Guinness which was inspired by the works of Stefan Zweig. His character's dysfunction ranges from minor to totally whacked out that one can get so used to their personalities, that the audience will have to decide if this is the character's dysfunction or just their personality...or both. With the exception of a couple of very small choppy parts in script, this is a marvel. And, of course, Anderson once again treats us with his cinematographer of many of his films, Robert Yeoman, asc, which gives us that unique look that has become a trademark of an Anderson film.
If you like quirky, dry-witted comedy with heaping helping of dysfunctional characters, you'll love this. Basically if you like Anderson, this being golden Anderson, you'll like this and be hugely entertained.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 99mins.
Through the years animated films have been created to entertain, and to educate, all in amazing and different styles depending on the studio involved and the certain 'feel' of the film. The different studios have grown through the decades including Disney, Pixar, Sony, Blue Sky, DreamWorks, etc. Now we have "The Wind Rises" in the offing. This actually was a nominee for the Best Animated Feature for the Academy Awards, and now viewing this, I can truly see why it was nominated.
Jiro Horikoshi (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni (Stanley Tucci). Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927, learns his craft from his crusty boss, Kurokawa (Martin Short) and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers.
The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic, and Japan's plunge into WWII. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko (Emily Blunt), and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo (John Krasinski).
Others to round out the cast are Mandy Patinkin as Hattori, Mae Whitman as Kayo Horikoshi, Jiro's sister, Werner Herzog as Castorp, Jennifer Grey as Mrs. Kurokawa, William H. Macy as Satomi, Nahoko's father, Zach Callison as Young Jiro, Madeline Rose Yen as Young Nahoko, Eva Bella as Young Kayo, Edie Mirman as Jiro's mother, and Darren Criss as Katayama.
This was whimsically yet eloquently directed by Hayao Miyazaki ("Castle in the Sky" '86, "My Neighbor Totoro" '88, Kiki's Delivery Service" '89, "Porco Rosso" '92, "Princess Mononoke" '97, "Spirited Away" '01, "Howl's Moving Castle" '04, "Ponyo" '08). His ability to delineate these characters so they integrate so well with each other is remarkable. It was also brilliantly written by Miyazaki based on his screen story and comic. Again, the cohesiveness of intertwining the historical events with his story was seamless. This is true storytelling at its finest. This is the English version, hence the English speaking actors, and the original version is, of course, presented in Japanese and their actors. The animation, as with his other projects are drawn in such a way that it is amazingly relaxing at the same time entertaining. It was 2 hours and 6 minutes and it just moved right along.
Even if you've seen this, go see it again, because there's so much going on that it would be easy to miss something. If you haven't, definitely put this on your must see list, and if you've liked his past films, you will certainly be riveted to this one.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 126mins.
Can you believe that it has been going on eight years since the film, "300" has graced our multiplexes? I was shocked! This proves that the older one gets, the more time just flies by. Now we have "300: Rise of an Empire", which basically continues where "300" ended. And as long as this, now franchise, keeps making money, there will be more coming our way.
After its victory over Leonidas' 300, the Persian Army under the command of Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and of Artemisia (Eva Green) marches towards the major Greek city-states. The Democratic city of Athens, first on the path of Xerxes' army, based its strength on its fleet, led by Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) and his second in command, Aesyklos (Han Matheson). Themistocles is forced to an unwilling alliance with the traditional rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta led by Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) whose might lies with its superior infantry troops. But Xerxes still reigns supreme in numbers over sea and land. Still, in fewer numbers, can the Greeks overcome Xerxes and the Persian Army?
Others to round out the cast are Callan Mulvey as Scyllias, David Wenham as Dilios, a Spartan, Jack O'Connell as Calisto, Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes, Igal Naor as King Darius, and Andrew Pleavin as Daxos.
This was intensely directed by Noam Murro ("Smart People" '08, "HBO Imagine" (TV short) '09). I believe Murro's largest task with this production was to keep the same or similar feel of Zack Snyder's "300", and he succeeded more than enough. The grit, the gratuitousness in this matched the first installment to the letter. It was written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad ("300" '06) which was based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. Same writers equals the same feel. Other than a couple of choppy areas in script, this cut right to the chase and it MOVED!. One of the stars here was Fractured FX, inc, in charge of the incredible, over-the-top special effects makeup. The last time I've seen makeup effects this intense was since...well, "300". It looks like these guys had a ball creating these effects which were aplenty. This film is not for the squeamish, hence it is based on a graphic novel.
Another star was the cinematographer, Simon Duggan ("I, Robot" '04, "Underworld: Evolution" '06, "Live Free or Die Hard" '07, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" '08, "Knowing" '09, "Killer Elite" '11, "The Great Gatsby" '13). Larry Fong shot "300", and Duggan almost matched the same style of the first installment perfectly.
Certainly if you liked "300", you'll love this and visa versa. The film is obviously not for everyone, but if you like incredible visuals, cinematography, and amazing makeup effects with a fairly strong premise, you should see this.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 103mins.
One can always tell when the movie summer season is getting close, because the number of animated films only increase. First we had "The Lego Movie" and now we have "Mr. Peabody & Sherman". Not to worry, for as the summer season gets closer, the animated flicks will be aplenty, and there are many to come. Hollywood may be the best manipulators on the planet, but that doesn't make them dumb--they know exactly what they're doing.
Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) is a business titan, inventor, scientist, gourmand, two-time Olympic medalist and genius... who also happens to be a dog. Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman (Max Charles) hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time including Leonardo da Vinci (Stanley Tucci), Marie Antoinette (Lauri Fraser), Agamemnon (Patrick Warburton), and Mona Lisa (Lake Bell), but when Sherman shows off to a friend, Penny Peterson (Ariel Winter) and they end up breaking the rules of time travel, Mr. Peabody, Sherman and Penny find themselves in a race to repair history and save the future, while Mr. Peabody may face his biggest challenge yet-- proving to Child Protective Services' agent Ms. Grunion (Allison Janney) that he is a good parent.
Others to round out the cast are Stephen Colbert as Paul Peterson, Penny's dad, Leslie Mann as Patty Peterson, Penny's mom, Zach Callison as King Tut, Stephen Tobolowsky as Principal Purdy, Dennis Haysbert as Judge, Leila Birch as voice of WABAC machine, Guillaume Aretos as Robespierre, Patrice A. Musick as teacher, Tom McGrath as Odysseus, Mel Brooks as Albert Einstein, Steve Valentine as Ay, and Jeff Harnell as Abraham Lincoln/George Washington/ Bill Clinton/Isaac Newton/New York City Cop.
This was well directed by Rob Minkoff ("The Lion King" '94, "Stuart Little" '99, "Stuart Little 2" 2000, "The Haunted Mansion" '03, "The Forbidden Kingdom" '08, "Flypaper" '11). This guy certainly knows his way around a fun, escape-ridden type of film hence his resume, and this film followed that description in spades. It was cleverly written by Craig Wright which is based on the TV series produced by Jay Ward. There were a few choppy places, script-wise, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. The visuals/animation were created by PDI/ DreamWorks and were seamless. Even the DreamWorks logo at the beginning incorporated Sherman in the place of the young boy fishing to give that connection to the film.
When I saw the trailer to this, I just cringed, because it looked so hokey. No doubt DreamWorks is banking on the baby boomers to see this, and after viewing the film, it will be a movie you can enjoy and totally have fun with from beginning to end.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG 92mins.
One thing you can say for a suspense thriller film is that it could be a mediocre script, and as long as the pacing is decent, it just leaves the audience biting their nails until the end. We've seen this in so many films, such as all the disaster films back in the 70s, specifically "Airport" '69, which kicked them off. Since then and with the advent of computer visual effects, the sky's the limit in how much Hollywood can keep us on that seat. Another nail-biter to add to that list is "Non-Stop".
While this suspense thriller is played out at 40,000 feet in the air during a transatlantic flight from New York to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) receive a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer 150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes. Marks tries to tell the other air marshal, Jack Hammond (Anson Mount), but he doesn't believe him, so he finally recruits flight attendant, Nancy (Michelle Dockery), another flight attendant, Gwen (Lupita Nyong'o) and inadvertently involves passenger, Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) to assist him in finding out which passenger is masterminding this horrific plot. Will they find this fiend, and how many people will have to die if they don't?
Others to round out the cast are Scoot McNairy as Tom Bowen, Nate Parker as Zack White, Corey Stoll as Austin Reilly, Omar Metwally as Dr. Fahim Nassir, Jason Butler Harner as Kyle Rice, co-pilot, Linus Roache as David McMillan, Shea Whigham as Agent Marenick, Quinn McColgan as Becca, Corey Antonio Hawkins as Travis Mitchell, and Frank Deal as Charles Wheeler.
This was directed with incredible intensity and grit by Jaume Collet-Serra ("House of Wax" '05, "Goal II: Living the Dream" '07, "Orphan" '09, "Unknown" '11). Neeson also starred in "Unknown", and obviously is comfortable working with Collet-Serra. He certainly was effective in both films, so much so, that I see them working on another film in the foreseeable future. it was effectively written by John W. Richardson, Chris Roach and Ryan Engle based on a story by Richardson and Roach. With the exception of a couples of inconsistencies in script, this was one incredible roller coaster ride pulling out all the stops.
Neeson plays intense so well, it's no doubt why he plays this type of role so often in films. The intensity on the plane, after a point, increases by the minute where you wonder where this is headed.
If you are an adrenaline junkie, you will get your fix and more. This is a sort of "Speed" '95 on an airplane where so much is going on, you wonder how this movie could end well or does it?
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 107mins.
Well, it's that time of year again as we watch with intense anticipation of who is going to win those infamous Oscar statuettes. The competition was incredibly stiff in that the talent this year was awe-inspiring. From "Gravity" to "Dallas Buyers Club" to "12 Years a Slave" to "Her" to "American Hustle" to "Nebraska" and on down the line.
This years host was the incredibly funny Ellen DeGeneres, who seven years ago was the then host. She was just as fresh this year as she was then. Mind you, she's no Billy Crystal, who has to go down in Academy history as one of the best hosts for the awards ceremony, she still held her own in spades. The way she interacted with the different stars in the audience interspersed during the awards was simply hilarious. She can return as host any time in my opinion.
This is great for the different stars, because it's like Kevin Spacey stated, "this is a chance for all to come together for a time for celebrate each other's work. Usually we are at different locations and don't even wear these [tuxes], so it's great to see us here". "Gravity" certainly was the big winner grabbing seven Oscars total including direction. The other larger awards were dispersed fairly evenly. The one surprise omission of wins was that of "American Hustle", however Jennifer Lawrence did win the Golden Globe for supporting actress.
All in all, with the different production numbers for the nominated songs and the comedy lightness of DeGeneres, the 3 hour and 35 minute running time actually went fairly quick. There were a few surprise wins, but most wins were fairly predictable, but this is nothing new for the awards since there are always a few favorites.
Anyway, here is the recap of the winners in full:
Best Picture: "12 Years a Slave"
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey-- "Dallas Buyers Club"
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett-- "Blue Jasmine"
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron-- "Gravity"
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto-- "Dallas Buyers Club"
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o-- "12 Years a Slave"
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze-- "Her"
Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley-- "12 Years a Slave"
Best Animated Feature: "Frozen"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Great Beauty"
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki-- "Gravity"
Best Editing: Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger-- "Gravity"
Best Production Design: Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn-- "The Great Gatsby"
Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin-- "The Great Gatsby"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews-- "Dallas Buyers Club"
Best Original Score: Steven Price-- "Gravity"
Best Original Song: "Let it Go" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez-- "Frozen"
Best Sound Mixing: Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro-- "Gravity"
Best Sound Editing: Glenn Freemantle-- "Gravity"
Best Visual Effects: Timothy Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould-- "Gravity"
Best Documentary, Feature: Morgan Neville-- "20 Feet from Stardom"
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Malcolm Clarke, Carl Freed-- "The Lady in Number 6"
Best Short Film, Animated: Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares-- "Mr. Hublot"
Best Short Film, Live Action: Anders Walter-- "Helium"
This was definitely a worthy viewing of the awards with something for everyone: musical numbers, especially a nice 75th anniversary tribute to "The Wizard of Oz", some very passionate and compassionate acceptance speeches and some funny dialogue from DeGeneres. I'd still like to see Billy Crystal come back; hey I'm spoiled, but this was still one memorable show for the books.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: NR 3Hr.35mins.
You know, we've all seen a plethora of films involving drugs, drug busts, busting cartels and the violence behind them. Just in recent years we've seen "Savages", "End of Watch", "Training Day", "Street Kings", "2 Guns", "Safe House", "Contraband" and now we have "Sabotage".
