BRAVETOWN (2015)

May 7, 2015

bravetown Greetings again from the darkness. It’s a coming of age film. Nope, it’s small town Americana film. Wait … it’s a high school dance film. Hold on, it’s an anti-war film. Sorry about that, it’s a film about families struggling with grief.  Not that a film has to be any one type – the best rarely are – but writer Oscar Orlando Torres and first time director Daniel Duron are all over the place with this one.

Josh (Lucas Til, Havoc from the “X-Men” films) is a troubled young man with dazzling DJ skills beloved in the NYC club scene. An unfortunate turn leads to his mother (Maria Bello) and a Judge banishing him to live with his long lost father (Tom Everett Scott) in a small, idyllic place that could be AnyTown USA … or more appropriately, NoPlace USA.  Josh is required to go to regular counseling for one year, and of course his therapist (Josh Duhamel) is as unstable as most any patient (as noted by his passion for soccer).

As with any new high school student, Josh is quickly befriended by Tony the nerdy little brother of the beautiful dance team captain Mary (Kherington Payne, Fame 2009). Tony is played by Jae Head, who you will remember as the sharp-but-still-goofy little brother in The Blind Side. It’s pretty obvious where this is headed when we first see the lame dance routines. In the blink of an eye, Josh’s music has elevated the dance team to elite status while he also stumbles into a romantic situation with Mary.

We soon learn that this town is hiding something. No, it’s not like The Stepford Wives, but in case we can’t figure it out on our own, Mary illuminates the War Memorial Tree – filled with military medals awarded to those the town has lost to war. See, the whole town has been touched war casualties, but no one will deal. Laura Dern plays mom to Tony and Mary, but she is so disoriented by grief, that she often thinks her oldest son is still returning home someday.

With elements of Footloose and Step Up, the story is continually brought crashing back around us with clips from Platoon – a film Josh so loves that it plays a central role in the film’s climax and redemption for all involved. The best parts of the film revolve around grief and pain, but those elements are constantly chopped up with the abbreviated dance contests. Some script doctoring would have helped rescue a film that seems to have too much to say, yet underserves a solid cast (though Til and Payne are too old to play high schoolers).

watch the trailer:

 

 

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Posted by David Ferguson

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

July 2, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. I pride myself on being a fan of many different types of films – everything from World Cinema to Super Heroes.  However, it would be unfair to analyze, critique or compare a Transformers movie to any “normal” movie. Being somewhat limited in scope by the source material, director Michael Bay, delivers what the fan of the series want … full scale noise and all-out action.

While Mr. Bay admitted that part two of this trilogy was lacking much (an understatement), it appears his efforts to improve part three come not from a script doctor, but rather by tossing in some familiar Hollywood faces: John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Patrick Dempsey and Ken Jeong. Oh, and we also get Bill O’Reilly, an odd sequence with legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin (the second man to walk on the moon), and the best surprise – Leonard Nimoy voicing Sentinel Prime.

 Most of the same key players are back: Shia LaBeouf as Sam (friend to Optimus Prime), John Turturro (having cashed in on his 10 min of fame), Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson as soldiers, and Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam’s parents in a couple of throw away scenes that cost much less than the CGI that dominates the movie.

While I remain an avid opponent to 3-D, this film offers a few of the best uses since Avatar. Unfortunately the dimmed coloring offset the benefits and continue to annoy me. Just remove your glasses periodically and you can easily see how much brighter the colors are without the 3-D muting. Such a shame.

 Michael Bay knows explosions. And there is no shortage on display here. We get plenty of rock ’em sock ’em action and the military is on full display, especially with some pretty cool skydiving tactics. Heck, we even get Frances McDormand as a power-hungry bureaucrat. For those who know Chicago, the familiar sights abound. The Wrigley Building plays a vital role, though it still bothers me a bit to see a skyscraper destroyed. I will say the tilted office is not even close to the cool factor of the rotating hallway of Inception, though the effort is appreciated.

 The battle of the robots is what (lots of) people pay to see and the 40 plus minute final battle is something to behold, even if it drags on entirely too long. And I can’t fail to mention that the lack of presence of Megan Fox‘ character is explained a couple of times as having “dumped” Sam. Sam has rebounded nicely with Carly, played by supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who looks just fine in a $200,000 Mercedes, a slim white dress or conversing with an injured villainous robot. Yes, one must maintain a sense of humor during this movie.

The use of slo-motion, the ties to the space program, and the connection to Chernobyl are all a bit heavy-handed, but this is a Transformers movie, not a documentary. And the actual transformation of these guys is still one of the coolest on screen moments you can find … even if the story and dialogue will have you desperate for brain resuscitation when the movie finally ends.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you are a fan of Bay-splosions!

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you just can’t believe the same guy (Peter Cullen) who voices Optimus Prime, also voice Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame

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Posted by David Ferguson