How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

As we are in the middle of winter and with that, the middle of one of the dead zones of the year, we are offered an animated film in the form of "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" which is unusual considering the brunt of animated films that are released either in the summer season or around the end of the year during the Christmas season. A financial boost for DreamWorks and Universal Pictures? Not sure, but families will love this flick.

 

What began as an unlikely friendship between an adolescent Viking and a fearsome Night Fury dragon has become an epic trilogy spanning their lives. In this third and final chapter, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless will finally discover their true destinies: the village chief as ruler of Berk alongside Astrid (America Ferrera), and the dragon as leader of his own kind. As both ascend, the darkest threat they've yet faced--in the form of Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), as well as the appearance of a female Night Fury--will test the bands of their relationship like never before.

 

Others to round out the cast are Cate Blanchett as Valka, Gerard Butler as Stoick, Craig Ferguson as Gobber, Jonah Hill as Snotlout, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs, Kristen Wiig as Ruffnut, Kit Harington as Eret, Justin Rupple as Tuffnut, Robin Atkin Downes as Ack and Kieron Elliott as Hoark.

 

This was staged and paced well by director Dean DeBlois ("Lilo & Stitch" '02, Sigur Ros: Heima" (documentary) '07, "How to Train Your Dragon" '10, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" '14) plus a video. As with the first two installments of this franchise, this was paced incredibly well. The fluidity of the actors in their respective roles was consistently amazing, but considering DeBlois directed all three, it's no surprise that if one of them was crafted well, they all would be. The makers of this says that this is the last of the franchise, however, who knows? If it makes a good profit, anything could happen. It was also written well by DeBlois ("Lilo & Stitch" '02, "How to Train Your Dragon" '10, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" '14) plus TV and video games, based on the "How to Train Your Dragon" book series by Cressida Cowell. By his very resume, this writer gravitates toward animated films, and with his writing talent, it would be interesting to see what he could do with, let's say, a light live comedy. This franchise is definitely written in a tight, cohesive, and well thought out way. Other than a couple of small places of slowness, this script simply soared. This has been quite the ride for DreamWorks Animation and this being the exit installation, this was certainly a great story and message to go out with.

 

If you like this franchise, this probably is the best of the series. It has action, adventure, explosions and a great message we can all learn from. This is the quintessential family film that the kids will enjoy. Grab the popcorn and enjoy this ride.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                Rated: PG                                          104mins.

 

The 91st Annual Academy Awards

Well, this is the second time the Academy Awards has been hostless--the other time being 30 years ago in 1989. That was a ratings nightmare and I suspect this will be as well. The reasons may be different of why. Then, it could've been just because it didn't have a host which threw people off. This time I believe, because of political reasons and some very poor choices by the A.M.P.A.S. (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, this will not be a ratings success. First of all, their decision of dragging their feet in getting Kevin Hart as host was totally handled wrong. Hart made all his apologies to the LGBTQ community multiple times, so when his words weren't taken seriously, he gracefully bowed out. Wrong move Hollywood. Then secondly, the Academy practically demanded that the awards show fall within a 3 hour running time. So much so that, they originally wanted to not air 4 of the 'sub' awards within the running time so as to come within the magical 3 hour time. Of course, when this news hit the Hollywood community, they were so up in arms about it that the Academy retracted that idea. If this presentation receives acceptable reviews, it will be a miracle. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, for a community that touts diversity, tolerance and acceptance, Hollywood is anything but. Someone apologizes and it's not good enough. And if Hart had not apologized, the Hollywood community would've come back and said, "if he had just apologized...". OK, rant over.

As for the show, it wasn't as empty as I predicted. The musical numbers for the different Best Original Songs were exquisitely well executed, especially Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper singing "Shallow" from the film "A Star is Born" which did win best song. There were some surprises, but not many. Alfonso Cuaron winning for "Roma" was surprising--I actually had my money on Spike Lee for "BlacKkKlansman" for directing. Also, the biggest upset was that Glenn Close didn't win for "The Wife". It was Olivia Colman for "The Favourite". Close has been nominated 7 times and never won and she deserved this award. The other wins weren't too surprising. So, here is a full list of the winners:

 

Best Picture:

Green Book

 

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

 

Best Actor:

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

 

Best Actress:

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

 

Best Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

 

Best Supporting Actress:

Regina King ("If Beale Street Could Talk)

 

Best Original Screenplay:

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly (Green Book)

 

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

 

Best Original Score:

Terence Blanchard (BlacKkKlansman)

 

Best Original Song:

Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt (A Star is Born)

 

Best Cinematography:

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

 

Best Film Editing:

John Ottman (Bohemian Rhapsody)

 

Best Production Design:

Hannah Beachler, Jay Hart (Black Panther)

 

Best Costume Design:

Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther)

 

Best Makeup/Hairstyling:

Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, Patricia Dehaney (Vice)

 

Best Animated Film:

(Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)

 

Best Foreign Language Film:

(Roma)

 

Best Visual Effects:

Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, J.D. Schwalm (First Man)

 

Best Sound Mixing:

Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, John Casali (Bohemian Rhapsody)

 

Best Sound Editing:

John Warhurst, Nina Hartstone (Bohemian Rhapsody)

 

Best Documentary Feature:

(Free Solo)

 

Best Documentary Short Subject:

(Period. End of Sentence.)

 

Best Animated Short Film:

(Bao)

 

Best Live Action Short Film:

(Skin)

 

Well, there's the list, love it or leave it. The one delight of this was the win for Spike Lee in the best adapted screenplay. This filmmaker has not won an Academy Award, but has not been nominated either. I find that amazing! Not only was he way overdo, he absolutely deserved this award as well.

As far as the politics, it certainly wasn't as plentiful as with past years. I'm sure it had everything to do with the 90 second time limit for acceptance speeches. I personally am glad, because this night is for films, not politics. If some of these A-list actors want to show their passion, they have the funds to make a public service announcement.

Even though the producers were attempting to keep the awards presentation to a 3 hour timeline, it was, at least, only 20 minutes longer, and that has to an Oscar record. If you're not an avid filmgoer, this show would be a bit boring, but, considering all the brouhaha around this show even getting off the ground, it was better than I though it would be. As I've said in past reviews of the awards: where is Billy Crystal when you need him?

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                   Rated NR                                     3hr. 20mins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fighting with My Family

As a film critic, there is a considerable amount of information that I must dig into in order to write an effective review. Subject matter in films run the gambit: politics, war, sexual identity, race issues, sports, education, religion, etc. So when I saw my first trailer of "Fighting with My Family", I knew I would have to delve into, at least, some info about wrestling, and not just standard wrestling, but the entertainment style of it by the WWE. So critics need to know a little about a good many topics.

 

This is a heartwarming comedy/drama based on the incredible true story of WWE Superstar Paige or as she is known in the regular world as Saraya Knight (Florence Pugh). Born into a tight-knit English wrestling family of parents Ricky Knight (Nick Frost) and Julia (Lena Headey), Paige and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) are ecstatic when they get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns a spot in the competitive training program by trainer, Hutch (Vince Vaughn), she must leave her family to come to America and face this new, cutthroat world alone. Paige's journey pushes her to dig deep, fight for her family, and ultimately prove to the world that what makes her different is the very thing that can make her a star.

 

Others to round out the cast is Dwayne Johnson as himself, Hannah Rae as Courtney, Julia Davis as Daphne, Stephen Merchant as Hugh, Ellie Gonsalves as Maddison, Aqueela Zoll as Kirsten, Kimberly Matula as Jeri-Lynn and James Burrows as Roy Knight.

 

This was directed by a fairly newcomer to feature films, Stephen Merchant ("Cemetery Junction" '10) plus a plethora of TV. With as many actors as this filmmaker has had to direct in his TV career, it should be no surprise that his innate talent when directing in the feature film business would be artistic. Now, he's no Spielberg, Hitchcock, Coppola or Eastwood, however given more work down the road, he will be a director to contend with. He simply brought out the dysfunction of this family through his actors. It was also written by Merchant ("Cemetery Junction" '10, "The Farm" (TV movie) '13) plus TV and a short. It was surprisingly written well considering the limited feature film experience he has. Now, is this Academy Award caliber? Absolutely not, however, like his TV experience in the directing category, the amount of writing experience in the writing category has definitely served this filmmaker. There were a few places of choppiness and very little slow spots, but all in all this story about this dysfunctional family was cleverly executed and conveyed a great message that no matter how much one is considered an outcast, different, weird, or odd, one can find their passion and succeed in whatever they set their mind to do. And this is certainly a worthy reason to see this.

 

I've never actually followed the WWE, but from what I learned doing my homework, the sport is not what most people think it is. The wrestlers apparently don't fake the fights, but rather they put on a fictional presentation of an actual wrestling match in an entertaining way. And, like any film, these men and women in the WWE are people like anyone else with problems, issues, families and in need of hard work--like anyone else. It's an interesting film to give us all an inside look at what these athletes do on and out of the ring--and a true rights of passage film to boot. 

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                    Rated: PG-13                                  108mins.

 

 

 

Alita: Battle Angel

For the last sixty years, Hollywood has been fascinated with the apocalyptic sci-fi film genre. I can remember as far back as 1964's "Fahrenheit 451" where our society had gotten to the point where we can no longer legally own books and they were burned at the degree of 451 Fahrenheit. The film then followed the ramifications and consequences of a society falling apart. We've seen a plethora of other apocalyptic films since and now we have offered us "Alita: Battle Angel".

 

This is an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in an apocalyptic future 300 years ahead--one in which she does not recognize, she is taken in by Dr. Ito (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido attempts to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson) teaches her the ways of survival all the while neither Hugo or Alita not realizing her true potential as a lethal, dangerous machine.

 

Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Connelly as Chiren, Mahershala Ali as Vector, Ed Skrein as Zapan, Jackie Earle Haley as Grewishka, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Tanji, Lana Condor as Koyomi, Idara Victor as Nurse Gerhad, Jeff Fahey as McTeague, Eliza Gonzales as Nyssiana, Derek Mears as Romo and Leonard Wu as Kinuba.

 

This was energetically directed by veteran Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado" '95, "From Dusk Till Dawn" '96, "The Faculty" '98, "Spy Kids" '01, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" '03, "Sin City" '05, "Planet Terror" '07, "Shorts" '09, "Machete" '10, "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" '14) plus others, TV, shorts and documentaries. I say energetically because this filmmaker continues to serve his audiences revved up films that are so over-the-top that they almost seem animated even though they are, obviously, live-action. He is incredibly talented in knowing how to bring the characters to life from his actors. If this is your brand of director, his "Red 11" is in post-production for a 2019 release. It was written well by James Cameron, Laeta Kologridis and Rodriguez based on the graphic novel series "Gunnm" by Yukato Kishiro. These writers have anywhere from a fair amount of feature film experience to a plethora, especially Cameron ("The Terminator", "Titanic" "Avatar") and Rodriguez ("From Dusk Till Dawn", Once Upon a Time in Mexico", "Sin City"). Kalogridis has a fair amount of experience and was definitely a contributing writer, but it was clearly Cameron and Rodriguez that had the lion's share of the style and creativity here. Although these writers are talented, there are definitely a few places of slowness and continuity issues, but certainly not enough to distract--hey, it kept me riveted. With the stylized direction also comes the same stylized cinematography by Bill Pope, asc ("The Matrix" '99, "Spider-Man 2" '04, "Men in Black 3", '12, "The Jungle Book" '16). His style was crisp, tight and matched the intensity of this story. And since this film is presented also in the IMAX format, his photography would actually enhance the feel of that format even more. The visual effects predominantly created by Weta Digital, Double Negative and Framestore were seamless and, again, matched the feel of Rodriguez's powerful direction.

 

Certainly if you are a Rodriguez fan, this will be a film that you'd expect considering his distinct style, but even if you're not, there's something in this for everyone: action, adrenaline, explosions, nifty visual effects and talented direction. This is almost like seeing a great summer flick except it's a bit early.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                     Rated: PG-13                                  122mins.

 

Isn't It Romantic

Well, it had to happen. With as many romantic comedies that Hollywood has cranked out over the decades, a parody of them had to be the next step. There have been a plethora of them: "Pretty Woman", "The Wedding Singer", "Runaway Bride", "27 Dresses", "13 Going on 30", "The Proposal" to mention a handful. So when I saw my first trailer of "Isn't It Romantic", I really felt that it had potential and I was right.

 

New York City architect Natalie (Rebel Wilson) works hard to get noticed at her job, but is more likely to be asked to deliver coffee and bagels than to design the city's next skyscraper. And if things weren't bad enough, Natalie, a lifelong cynic when it comes to love, has an encounter with a mugger that renders her unconscious, waking in a hospital to discover that her life has suddenly become her worst nightmare--a romantic comedy--and she is the leading lady.

As Natalie's 'alternate universe' occurs, we see that the people in her 'normal' life become the stereotype in this new world--her hard-as-nails neighbor, Donny (Brandon Scott Jones) becomes the gay sidekick to Natalie, the leading lady, An obnoxious investor Blake (Liam Hemsworth) becomes her new, handsome love interest, her office assistant, Whitney (Betty Gilpin) becomes her social nemesis, her good fiend and co-worker, Josh (Adam Devine) actually ends up being the same as in the real world, and a model on a poster, Isabella (Priyanka Chopra) becomes a possible love interest for Josh. As these new characters unfold, we see a direct correlation with all the typical, formulaic structure as in the genre of romantic comedies.

 

Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Saunders as Natalie's mom, Alexandra Kis as 12 year old Natalie and Jay Oakerson as Gary.

 

This was cleverly directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson ("Private High Musical" '08, "Blimp Prom" (TV movie) '09, "Drunks vs. Highs (TV movie) '09, "Naked But Funny (TV movie) '10, "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" '11, "Zombies and Cheerleaders" (TV movie) '12, "The Final Girls" '15) plus TV and shorts. The emotions this filmmaker was able to extract from Wilson being totally perplexed of this new world she's now in was simply amazing, but considering that light fare is his comfort zone, he must've felt right at home with this project. It was creatively written by Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox and Katie Silberman, based on a story by Cardillo. The only one of these writers that has the lion's share of feature film experience is Dana Fox and considering the other two writers have limited feature film experience, this was surprisingly written well. It is a tight, cohesive, concise script with sharp satirical wit and even though it was as predictable as the genre it's parodying, because the writing was delineated so well, it was actually a pleasure watching it, not to mention entertaining. Other than a couple of hairline places of choppiness, this storyline simply soared. This had all the occurrences that one would find in a typical romantic comedy replete with how scenes go from starting something to the next day--like sex scenes--because they are rated PG-13, the sidekick friend, the guy who clearly doesn't match the girl and the other guy who's clueless.

 

I typically NEVER recommend romantic comedies to anyone to see, but since this is a parody of that genre, I feel this is clearly an exception. It's got a great ensemble cast, especially Rebel Wilson whereas this is probably the best role she's ever portrayed. Also both Liam Hemsworth and Adam Devine were very believable in their roles. This is a great popcorn flick so go and enjoy.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                 Rated: PG-13                                   88mins.

 

Cold Pursuit

Vigilante films have been one of the mainstay genres in Hollywood for a number of decades mostly because everyone likes to see wrongs made right, so since it's been a little while since we've seen a good 'ol vengeance type film, why not see it in the form of "Cold Pursuit"?

 

Quiet family man and hard-working snowplow driver Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is the lifeblood of a glitzy resort town, Kehoe, in the Rocky Mountains because he is one who keeps the winter roads clear. He and his wife, Grace (Laura Dern) live in a comfortable cabin away from the tourists. The town has just awarded him "Citizen of the Year". But Nels has to leave his quiet mountain life when his son, Kyle (Micheal Richardson) is murdered by thugs of a powerful drug cartel. As a man who has nothing to lose, he is stoked by a drive for vengeance. This unlikely hero uses his hunting skills and transforms from an ordinary man into a skilled killer as he sets out to dismantle the cartel one thug at a time. Nels' actions ignite a turf war between a maniacally unpredictable gangster known as Trevor 'Viking' Calcote (Tom Bateman) and a rival gang boss, White Bull (Tom Jackson). Justice is served in one final spectacular confrontation that will leave (almost) no one unscathed.

 

Others to round out the cast are Domenick Lombardozzi as Mustang, Emmy Rossum as Kim Dash, Julia Jones as Aya, John Dorman as John 'Gip' Gipsky, William Forsythe as Brock 'Wing Man' Coxman, Nels brother, Michael Eklund as Speedo, Bradley Stryker as Limbo, Wesley McInnes as Dante and David O'Hara as Sly.

 

This was directed by Norwegian veteran, prolific Hans Petter Moland ("Secondloitnanten" '93, "Zero Kelvin" '95, "Aberdeen" 2000, "The Beautiful Country" '04, "A Somewhat Gentle Man" '10, "In Order of Disappearance" '14, "Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith" '16) plus others, a short, a video and a documentary. Certainly this filmmaker chose the perfect lead actor to pull off this role since Neeson isn't a stranger to vigilante films. This being the situation, it probably wasn't difficult to direct this actor in being believable in his role. But since Moland has directed different genres of films, he certainly knows how to go out on that limb. It was written by virtual newcomer to the screenwriting field, Frank Baldwin. Being this green, he certainly was able to provide a good storyline to keep its audience on the edge of their seats. What made this a bit more fresh and original than that of the other vigilante films is that there was a certain amount of dry dark humor nestled within the dramatic parts of the film, otherwise it would be fairly akin to "Taken" '08 and the like. What actually interests me is the fact that this writer has already gotten the green-light for pre-production of his "The Godmother" and his "The Run" has been announced. This is extremely unusual in the Hollywood community since they, like any company, have to be convinced that any filmmaker is that good to garner any future work. There are a couple of places of choppiness and slowness in this, but because of his lack of experience, this was certainly an admirable attempt and surprising outcome for potentiality. The film was based on the 2014 film "Kraftidioten" or "In Order of Disappearance" by Kim Fupz Aakeson.

 

If you are a filmgoer that is truly attracted to vigilante, conspiracy type of films, you will be in film heaven. It's not a huge acting stretch for Neeson who could do this type of film in his sleep, but he is easy to watch in these roles because of his passion he brings to the table. A perfect film? No, but a film that one can certainly escape into.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                     Rated: R                                     119mins.

 

 

 

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

Honestly, when I saw my first "The LEGO Movie" trailer, I immediately considered that it was a total waste of the film it was on. It looked inane, boring and ridiculous. After seeing that film, I was hooked. It was incredibly well written which made it very funny--and it was amazingly well designed to boot. So after this this installment, I must say "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" was uproarious as it was entertaining.

 

The much-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, global box office phenomenon that started it all, "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part", reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action-packed adventure to save their beloved city. It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO invaders, General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) and Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) from outer space, wrecking everything faster than it can be rebuilt. The battle to defeat the invaders and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Unkitty/Ultrakitty (Alison Brie), Metalhead (Nick Offerman), Benny (Charlie Day) and others to faraway, unexplored worlds that test their courage and creativity.

 

Others to round out the cast are Maya Rudolph as Mom, Will Ferrell as President Business/Dad, Jadon Sand as Finn, Brooklynn Prince as Bianca, Channing Tatum as Superman and Jonah Hill as Green Lantern.

 

This was creatively and intricately directed by Mike Mitchell ("Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" '99, "Surviving Christmas" '04, "Sky High" '05, "Shrek Forever After" '10, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" '11, "The SongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" (live action sequence) '15, "Trolls" '16) plus TV and shorts. Other than a handful of live-action feature films, this filmmaker has crossed over to the animation side of feature films, and successfully I might add. As with this film, his resume is chocked full of different animated films and are well delineated as they are entertaining. Although animated films don't appear to be as difficult to direct as their live-action counterparts, they are, at least, as difficult mostly because of the massive amount of post production utilized in this and other animated films. It was co-directed by Trisha Gum who was also the animation director. It was brilliantly written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller ("Extreme Movie" '08, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" '09, "The LEGO Movie" '14, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" '18) plus TV and shorts, based on a story by Lord, Miller and Matthew Fogel, which is based on the LEGO Construction Blocks. Even though this film has an impressive cast, the real stars of this are these two writers. Their culture oriented humor simply makes this story not only very funny, but entertaining as well. They, being the writers for "The LEGO Movie", the same humor was evident in this also. This franchise certainly has the unlimited resources for a plethora of material in which can be extracted for yet, another fresh and funny storyline. Other than a couple of very small places of slowness in script, this story soared. And, of course, the animation by WAG (Warner Animation Group) is amazingly designed well.

 

This franchise has something for everyone: bright colored LEGO blocks with LEGO people for the kids and a very clever humorously written script for the adult moviegoers. And if one sees this, it has got to be seen on the large screen to take advantage of the grandiose of the production. It's even presented in a nifty IMAX or 3D format to get the full impact of this story. This is a great escape for all to see, especially living in a world that is fraught with a gazillion problems. Grab the popcorn and enjoy!

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                    Rated: PG                                      107mins.

 

The Kid Who Would Be King

We've all seen films about medieval castles, knights with dragons and swords back in the middle ages, but it's not common to see these elements brought into modern times, unless it may be a comedy. However, "The Kid Who Would Be King" being a drama, albeit light, but a drama, both areas of time are presented in a somewhat original way.

 

Old school magic meets the modern world in this epic adventure. Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) thinks he's just another nobody, until he stumbles upon the legendary, mythical sword in the stone, Excalibur. Now he must unite his friends, namely Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) and enemies, Lance (Tom Taylor) and Kaye (Rhianna Dorris) into a band of knights and, together with the legendary wizard Merlin (Patrick Stewart), take on the wicked enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) and her hoards of supernatural warriors. With the future at stake, Alex must become the great leader he never dreamed he could be.

 

Others to round out the cast are Angus Imrie as Young Merlin, Denise Gough as Mary, Alex's mother, Noma Dumezweni as Mrs. Lee, Mark Bonnar as Mr. Jeffreys and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Mr. Kepler.

 

This was cleverly directed by a virtual newcomer to the director's chair, Joe Cornish ("Attack the Block" '11) plus TV. Being a writer and coming off of a ton of TV certainly has helped this filmmaker to be able to pace, stage and convey his need to his actors to enable them to emit the correct emotions that fit certain scenes. Assuming he will get more work helming films, he will only become more effective as time goes by. It was also written well by Cornish ("Attack the Block" '11, "The Adventures of Tintin" '11, "Ant-Man" '15) plus TV. Obviously he has more writing experience than directing, but I believe this filmmaker is as talented as he is because of the amount of TV experience he has. With the exception of a couple of small places of slowness which added to the fact that this could've been cut about 5 minutes shorter, this storyline was concise, tight and flowed well. The fact that he was able to combine medieval and modern times was the most fresh and original aspect about this script. If you like this filmmaker's brand of filmmaking, His "Snow Crash" TV movie, which he has written and directed has been announced. The visual effects predominantly created by Double Negative and Rodeo FX were seamless and definitely enhanced the plot.

 

If films about fighting villains is something that entertains you, this should fit the bill, especially since the villains are being fought in two entirely different eras. It's the quintessential popcorn flick, and in this day and age, this is why movies are made--to allow oneself to escape and go to a place and time with odd characters and enjoy a ride even if it is for only a two-hour running time.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                     Rated: PG                                   120mins.

 

They Shall Not Grow Old

I don't watch every documentary that is released, however the ones I've seen are amazingly well done. There is so much we can learn from documentaries such as "Murderball", "The Corporation", "Fed Up", "Supersize Me", "Roger and Me", "Capitalism: A Love Story", "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" to mention a handful, but when I saw "They Shall Not Grow Old", it probably is the best documentary I believe I've seen.

 

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes the groundbreaking documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old", presented on the centenary of the end of the First World War, Applying state-of-the-art restoration, colorization and 3D technologies to century-old footage--carefully chosen from hundreds of hours of original Great War film held in the archives of the Imperial War Museum (IWM)--Jackson has created an intensely gripping, immersive and authentic cinematic experience. The only narration comes from Great War veterans themselves, selected from over 600 hours of BBC and IWM archive interviews, resulting in a gripping account of "The War to End All Wars", told by the soldiers who experienced it.

 

Some of the voices of the soldiers used in this documentary are Thomas Adlen, Donald Bain, Thomas Baker, Leslie Briggs, Henry Carter, Charles Chabot, Walter Cook, William Daniel, Jack Dillon, Stanley Down, James Payne, Arthur Smith and Henry Barnes.

 

This was brilliantly and compassionately directed by Peter Jackson ("Dead Alive" '92, "The Frighteners" '96, "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy '01, '02, '03, "King Kong" '05, "The Lovely Bones" '09, "The Hobbit" Trilogy '12, '13, '14) plus others and shorts. You will know how much work Jackson put this film when you watch the making of it at the end of the credits of the documentary itself. It's a 30 minute segment that chronicles the restoration of the film, the colorization and even fitting in the voices of the soldiers on the original footage with the voices of the veterans. He went to the same area where the Western Front took place and took thousands of pictures so as to incorporate the correct colors we see in the final release. Footage back then was shot in a 16mm frames/second so it appeared that the movement of people was faster and jerkier than normal, so Jackson and his crew at Park Road Post in New Zealand were able to quicken the speed of the footage to a 24mm frames/second--the normal speed today, so it looked very normal, Even in some shots that panned across the countryside where objects seemed too far away, Jackson was able to zoom the footage in so objects became clearer and more prominent which gives the audience a personal feel to what they are watching. Jackson starts the film out in the typical smaller size film format in its black and white and 16mm film speed and gradually brings us this much larger, colorized format in the newer 24mm film speed, and it just blows you away. It is breathtaking. I kind of akin this to Lowell Thomas' "This is Cinerama" whereas Thomas explains a new format in film making using a spliced huge 3 screen format to produce one picture. It starts in its usual small, black and white format, and when Thomas finishes the explanation, he tells the audience, "and this is Cinerama", and, all of a sudden, the screen goes to gigantic in full living color. Back then it was awe-inspiring to audiences. When I saw a retrospective of it, it was amazing to me, and I'm used to color, larger-than-life screens, so I can only imagine what that must've looked like then. The work on this was exhaustive and labor-intensive, but the outcome is stunning. It took Jackson 4 years to complete this and by what we see, as the audience, we can surely see why. It was a personal film for Jackson since the film is dedicated to the memory of his grandfather, William Jackson (1890-1940), who served in WWI in Britain. He lost his life at age 50 due to injuries incurred during that war which spanned from 1914-1918. Nearly 1 million men in Britain and their countrymen lost their lives in this war, and it was a brutal one. In fact, it is rated R for a certain amount of war brutality, hence the adage, "war is hell". If you like this brand of filmmaking, Jackson's "The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun" has been announced.

 

If you like documentaries, this is one that will resonate with you, especially if you can appreciate ones centering around wartime. Plus, there haven't been many films chronicling WWI as much as WWII or the Middle East war or even the Vietnam war. The films that come to mind about WWI are "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Sergeant York". That about sums that up, so it is refreshing to see this. Jackson said that he made this so people out there could possibly start looking up their ancestry and maybe, just maybe they might come to realize that someone in their family might've been in the Great War. Who knows?

 

Out of 4 Stars: 4               Rated: R           133mins. (99min. running time, 30min. making of the film and a 4min. introduction at the beginning of film.)