THIS MEANS WAR

February 20, 2012

 Greetings again from the darkness. Well it’s mid-February and the hope is that this is the worst movie I will sit through all year. It’s a waste of talent and utterly senseless … which would be fine if it happened to be funny. Somehow the writers and director manage to mash-up a spy thriller, action film, buddy film, and romantic comedy into something that is none of those and a slap in the face of the viewers.

This one is directed by McG, whose first two theatrical films were Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, both of which had more and better action sequences than this (that says plenty). It stars three very attractive people in Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon. Their job is to continue to look attractive, sparkly eyes and all, in each progressively more absurd scene. Chelsea Handler is tossed in as Witherspoon’s married friend, who doles out horrible and trashy dating advice in what sounds like a lousy stand-up comedy routine. Angela Bassett, a normally fine actress, is totally out of place in her couple of scenes as the always-angry boss. Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds) is totally wasted as the generic bad guy.

 The movie bookends two lackluster action sequences that make little sense and are not much to look at. In between, we have two best buddy co-worker spies competing for the affections of the same girl, who is taking advice from her nasty, jealous friend. All of that is done with little action, no suspense, minimal comedy and absolutely no logical sense. Did I mention that the three leads are all very attractive? One of the minor details that really irritated me was a scene in a giant video store where Pine and Witherspoon are debating the hierarchy of Hitchcock films. In and of itself, that would be fine. But this conversation takes place in front of a display of multiple copies of Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. Multiple copies. In a video store. Probably more copies than Amazon has in stock. Throw in an escalating series of outlandish dates, a multi-million dollar bachelor pad for Pine (what is the salary for a 30 yr old spy?), buddy dialogue that makes Riggs & Murtaugh or Tango & Cash sound like Lincoln and Douglas.

This is evidently supposed to be an action flick for chicks. There is gunfire, muscles and childlike banter coming from two attractive spies who both love the attractive woman who is desperate to be loved. This means flop.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you don’t believe it could be this bad

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you prefer not to pay $9 for a nap

watch the trailer (knowing that these are the “good” parts):

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Posted by David Ferguson

TMI (1-3-12)

January 3, 2012

TMI (Today’s Movie Info)

 Christopher Nolan and crew are in post-production for the final entry in his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.  The story picks up 8 years after The Dark Knight and again features Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Michael Caine as Alfred. This time Batman faces off against the hulking, one-man army Bane, played by Tom Hardy.  There is also an appearance by Catwoman, played by Anne Hathaway.  Nolan has stated that there will be approximately 50 minutes of IMAX footage in this final chapter.  Release date is July 20, 2012

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Posted by David Ferguson

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

December 20, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. Based on the best-selling 1974 John LeCarre’ spy novel, opinions on this movie will cover the full spectrum. Many will find it painfully slow and frustrating, if not impossible to follow. Others will be thrilled with the subtle clues and reality-based exchanges between British spies in the early 70’s. This is no James Bond thriller with exploding yachts, world class fist fights and bikini-clad women. Rather, it’s a peek at what real life spies do … huddle in soundproof rooms and exchange information through stunted conversation where just shy of enough is said.

 John LeCarre’ actually worked for the British Secret Service prior to becoming an author (also wrote The Constant Gardener and The Russia House). He based this novel around the discovery of a traitor, which remains the biggest scandal in the history of British intelligence. This story covers some of that and even more. We see how trust and loyalty are so crucial, yet none of these men ever fully trusts the fellow agent sitting next to him. Very little is spoken, but much is communicated through a nod, raised eye brow, a slight cock of the head, or even the adjustment of one’s spectacles. Cigarettes and scotch are the common ground from which discussions spring.

 Swedish Director Tomas Alfredson delivered the exceptional vampire drama Let the Right One In a couple of years ago. Mr. Alfredson has a distinctive feel for the look of a film, and atmospheric is a word that fits this movie, as well as his earlier one. The tone, color and texture is key to this world, and we are immersed in blues and grays. His camera work is unique and wondrous as he massages the small, confined spaces and allow us to pick up the gestures of all involved.

 The cast is a group of wonderfully talented (mostly) men: Mark Strong, John Hurt (Control), Toby Jones (Tinker), Colin Firth (Tailor), Ciaran Hinds (Soldier), David Dencik (Poor Man)and Stephen Graham. Especially enjoyable are Tom Hardy as a rogue agent who breaks the “mole” theory wide open, Benedict Cumberbatch as the youngest agent, and of course, Gary Oldman as George Smiley. Oldman’s performance will awe many and bore a few. This is a man trained to say only what must be said. You can see the resolve in his eyes. These still waters run VERY deep. Some will compare him to the performance of Sir Alec Guiness in the BBC production, and both are terrific and strong (though different).

While a rousing recommendation would be nice, it’s just not in the cards. This movie will have a very specific audience … those who thrive on mental jigsaw puzzles and are inspired by juggling an endless stream of characters and possible plots. If that describes you, then get in line on opening day.

note: John LeCarre’ has a quick cameo during the Christmas party flashback

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you are the type who likes to play six chess matches at a time OR your addiction to spy novels leans towards the most realistic of the genre, rather than the most action-packed

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: the Bond movies are your preference in spy thrillers OR needing a scorecard to keep track of the players ruins a game for you

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

WARRIOR

September 12, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. It’s always a bit thrilling when a movie catches us off-guard and is much more than expected. Walking in, I was all set for a testosterone fueled fight fest featuring BS bravado and mounds of machismo. While that element is abundantly present, writer/director Gavin O’Connor wraps the fighting around a pretty interesting story about family, bravery, desperation, pride and forgiveness.

The story begins with the convergence of a broken family – two brothers and their father. The split occurred many years ago, and without the details, we are able to piece together that dad (Nick Nolte) was a violent drunken ex-Marine and the mother planned to take the two boys and run. One of the brothers (Joel Edgerton) had fallen in love and decided to stay with dad. The younger brother (Tom Hardy) went with mom and even nursed her through her final days of cancer prior to his joining the Marines. The three men have been incommunicado for years, until one day Tommy (Hardy) shows up on Nolte’s doorstep.

 What sets this one apart is the details of each of the brother’s stories, very little of which I will discuss here. There is a terrific scene on the Atlantic City beach where their demons confront each other and we see that so much pain and bitterness exists despite their having been teenagers at the time of the split. They each felt abandoned by the other. Now one is an angry ex-Marine and the other is a desperate physics teacher with a family. This story couldn’t possibly end any place other than smack in the middle of an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) cage fight!

 Their Dad (Nolte) had trained the boys as youth wrestlers and now a giant $5 million tournament is being held. Both brothers are carrying secrets and need money to solve their problems. Their secrets drive them to risk life and limb in the cage of this most brutal activity. To best describe these characters, Tom Hardy has the presence and physique of the guy you would never consider confronting in a bar fight. Joel Edgerton is the kind that your buddies would egg you on thinking you could probably take him. Instead you would end up in the back of an ambulance.

 As expected, and shown in the trailer, the MMA tournament ends with the two brothers facing off and guilt-riddled dad watching from the crowd. Despite the rowdiness and violence of the fighting, very little blood is shown. That’s not what this movie is about. Instead we get many adrenaline-rushes from the spectacle of the fights, plus a split-screen montage of the training leading up to the big moment. This is a crowd-pleaser in the vein of The Fighter, but not quite as mainstream given the MMA element.

 The two leads were each on my list of favorite movies last year. Joel Edgerton was in the excellent and under-the-radar Animal Kingdom, while Tom Hardy was in the mega-hit Inception and will play Bane in the upcoming Batman film. In this film, Edgerton has more freedom with his character, but Hardy does a wonderful job of capturing the quiet intensity followed by roid rage in the ring. Most surprising is the fine job turned in by Nick Nolte. He really showed up for this one. Other support work comes from Jennifer Morrison, Kevin Dunn and Frank Grillo. We also see former Olympic wrester Kurt Angle as the terrifying Russian MMA machine Yoba, and writer/director Gavin O’Connor as JJ Riley, the millionaire sponsoring the tournament.

There will be comparisons made to both Rocky and The Fighter, and both make sense. It is not quite at that level, but don’t mistake this as some dumb fight movie made for teenage boys. There is a story and it provides further proof that men, no matter how hard they try, manage to screw up the whole family thing more often than not … but in the end, they do try their best to make things better!

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you are up for a high intensity male-centric family drama with an abundance of testosterone OR you want to see the best Nick Nolte performance in years

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you prefer slow, weepy family dramas rather than the simmering explosions of male communication OR simply watching MMA is more violence than you care to take on

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

INCEPTION (2010)

July 18, 2010

 Greetings again from the darkness. Some movies are made as pure visual entertainment. Others are made as a vision of a story. The best combine elements of both. The great ones WOW you with what you see on screen, while keeping your mind focused on the multiple dimensions of a story that just won’t let you jump ahead. The previous sentence is my feeble attempt at describing what happens during Inception.

Writer/director Christopher Nolan turns 40 at the end of this month. He now has 3 instant-classic films to his credit: Memento, The Dark Knight and now Inception. I am not a good enough writer to describe just how talented he his at making films. What I can tell you is that this movie gave me a “runner’s high” … it put me “in the zone”. As a viewer, I felt in perfect sync at each twist and turn.

There are two pieces of advice I will offer. First, go see the film at a theatre on the big screen. Don’t wait for NetFlix. Second, pay attention to every scene and every line. Trust Mr. Nolan to take you on this wild ride. You may be able to figure out the ending (if there even is one), but you will have missed the real point of the film … how did you get here?

Here is a brief synopsis: Leonardo DiCaprio plays an expert thief. He is a thief who steals ideas by infiltrating the dreams of his targets and snatching their ideas. A very wealthy tycoon played by Ken Watanabe hires DiCaprio for a risky project of Inception – the inserting of an idea into the subject’s mind through dreams, rather than the stealing of an idea. DiCaprio’s team is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (with physical brilliance while lacking gravitational force), Tom Hardy (from Rocknrolla), master chemist Dileep Rao, and new recruit Ellen Page (“Juno” plays a brilliant architect prodigy with a genius of space and dimension). Cillian Murphy plays the target and Michael Caine is DiCaprio’s father in law … the link between who Leo is now and his previous life with his wife, played hauntingly well by Marion Cotillard.

A perfect Nolan touch is Ellen Page’s character name – Ariadne. A quick google finds that Ariadne, in Greek mythology, fell in love with Theseus and helped him escape Minotaur’s labyrinth. The film is full of mazes and is itself a labyrinth punctuated by a stunning and powerful score by Hans Zimmer. You will find yourself bouncing from dream to reality, jumping into another’s dreams, layering dreams upon each other … oh, and watching a mind-bending special effect as the city of Paris is folded over on top of itself.

Clear your mind for 2 and a half hours and let a terrific filmmaker take you on a journey through mindspace that we never really pay attention to. The payoff is dream-like.  This film was on my “films of interest” list on my First Half recap.  If you missed the recap, here is the link:  https://moviereviewsfromthedark.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/2010-first-half-recap/

4 Comments | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

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