At The Cinema - June 2013

The East – 10
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Thrillers
b.  New Stars
c.  Moral dilemmas

At the halfway point of 2013, this is the best and certainly most engrossing film I’ve seen so far.  The stunning actress Brit Marley plays Sarah, a former FBI agent who now works for a private firm that specializes in protecting corporate clients.  She is assigned the task of infiltrating The East, an eco-terrorism group that strikes back at corporations that they see as evil. 

As Sarah begins to get the trust of the group, it’s no surprise that they begin to turn her to their way of thinking, especially as she begins to develop feelings for the leader Benji, played by Alexander Skarsgard.  She will have no shortage of moral dilemmas along the way, and they provide much of the movie’s tension.  We don’t know what the group is going to do, and we don’t know what she is going to do.  Is this a realistic movie?  I doubt it. Will you care?  I doubt it.  It’s so enthralling as a drama that I got sucked into every minute and every detail, from the dumpster-diving that Sarah has to do to survive, to the “jams” that they perform on the corporations. 

Marley has what I call movie magic.  She’s gorgeous but vulnerable and you can’t take your eyes off her.  The camera loves her and she’s got “it.”  Unless I miss my guess, a star is born in this movie.

When I watch a movie, I don’t care about the backstory, or how hard it was to make.  I don’t care about the technical execution.  What I’m looking for is a great story and to be transported into that story.  But, I have to admit that the backstory here is almost as interesting as the movie.  Marley and director Zal Batmangli co-wrote this and lived on the road for a year as a way to research, including dumpster diving for sustenance.  The script, acting, and direction all communicate their level of commitment.  If there are going to be better movies this year, I can’t wait to see them.

Now You See Me – 5
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Trickery
b.  Sleight of vision
c.  Deception
There are a lot of fads in movie making over the last 20 years or so. 
There’s the “Sixth Sense” effect which compels many movies to have a big reveal at the end. 
There’s the “Morgan Freeman” effect which states that, despite the many unemployed actors in Hollywood, only Morgan Freeman can play a certain type of role (or do a certain type of voiceover.)  There’s the “Transformers” effect which intimates that you can’t be intimate.  Every movie must be so over-laden with bigger and bigger special effects and computer graphics that if you’re not mind-numbed by the time you leave the theater, you were asleep.  The audiences love these overblown spectacles.  

This movie starts off with a nice premise and begins to build slowly before going off the rails.  The final 15 minutes feature as ridiculous a “reveal” as you’ll ever see, and it cheapens the entire experience.  I hate it when a movie is dishonest in its ending, and this ending sacrifices any credibility that the movie had.  Most of the acting is just irritating, Morgan Freeman is reaching the “overexposed” point, and the ending is so far-fetched that you will feel a little used.  Turns out there’s very little magic in this movie.

This is the End – 2
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  garbage
b.  Apocalypse stories
c.  stoner movies

Best I can tell there are three great mysteries in the world:  What are women thinking?  How do airlines come up with their ticket pricing?  And, why does Seth Rogen keep getting to make movies?

As has happened many times over the years, I went to this movie with my wife and a friend with whom I have probably seen 200 movies.  My wife walked out and went shopping halfway through, and my friend says he never laughed once, certainly a bad sign in a comedy.  This is only the second movie my wife has walked out of.  The first was Tropic Thunder.  No appreciation of masturbation jokes, and there are about 100 here.  As for me, I laughed a few times, but not really in enjoyment.  More of a “I can’t believe they would put that on the screen” type of laugh.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel totally detached from the world?  The audience is guffawing, and you’re thinking “what am I missing?”  That was my feeling as I aged 5 years just watching this poorly written, poorly acted (and they were playing themselves), poorly executed garbage.  I have had those moments of detachment three times in my life, when I just didn’t get it:  The TV show “Friends”, anything with Adam Sandler, and anything with Seth Rogen.  Forgive me, I’m missing that particular laugh gene.  If you’ve got it, you might enjoy.  If not, sit this one out.

Stories We Tell - 9
You’ll like this movie if you like:
a.  Little Secrets
b.  Family drama
c.  Amazing Casting

Right up front, let me say that this is the most amazingly well cast movie I have ever seen.  I’m going to write about that aspect, only because the chances are you will never see this movie, so I’m not going to spoil anything.

Actress Sarah Polley decided to do a movie about her deep dark family secret, the fact that she was not the biological daughter of her father.  She was the product of an affair her late mother had.  She interviewed her family and tracked down her biological father, and captured it all on film, almost as if she was unraveling it as she filmed it.

Alternately sad, funny, manipulative, and poignant, just like real life, the movie takes us through a family with its share of stories to tell.  It seems her mother Diane was sometimes a mess, and before she passed away from cancer when Sarah was 11 (and already a famous child actress by the way – which isn’t mentioned in the film) she bounced through life like an artist who couldn’t find the perfect medium to express herself.  I guess we all psychoanalyze our parents to some degree.  Polley puts it on film, and luckily gets to edit it.  She interviews her two brothers and two sisters, and it seems the five of them are bouncing through life much like their mother – much like most people. 

Here’s the greatest aspect of this movie – the casting.  It totally fooled me.  She (presumably) mixes real 8 millimeter film from her childhood with film she creates – and you can’t tell the difference.  She casts actors and actresses to portray her mother, father, and other key players, and it totally fooled me.  I thought I was watching real footage.  While I couldn’t figure out how they got the old footage, I was shocked to find out it wasn’t real.  Polley totally played me.  But in a good way.  This is an amazing technical achievement, of Zelig porportions.

Unfortunately, the story and movie go on about 15 minutes too long (don’t they all) and Polley doesn’t seem to know how to wrap it all up into a perfect package, but maybe it was too messy to do that anyway.  

Here’s the real kicker.  Because her mother was so unsure who the father was, she almost had the baby aborted.  That Sarah Polley was born and has gone on to such a relevant career, as a renowned Canadian actress and director, made me want to read as much as I could about her, Wikipedia and beyond.  She’s fascinating and this is just one astounding achievement.  Thankfully, she’s just begun, and her mother’s decision to risk scandal has made the world a more entertaining place.

Man of Steel – 5
You’ll like this movie if you like:
a.  Video Games
b.  Mass Destruction
c.  Seriousness

Save a little Mario Brothers and baseball, I have avoided the video game craze.  But, I understand there are many aficionados.  I assume this movie is for them.  It is a completely useless re-telling of the Superman story, with extensive liberties.  Russell Crowe plays Marlon Brandon, as a heavyweight is required literally and figuratively to kick off the Krypton sequence, which lengthens with each re-telling.  By the time they film the 2022 version, the whole film will be on Krypton, which might at least be original. 

The legacy of this movie will be destruction.  Superman and his enemies get to completely destroy two cities – Smallville and Manhattan.  They careen through buildings like they are made of legos and we never see anyone die from all this.  Buildings are falling, trucks are blowing up, and everyone just runs.  It’s all ridiculous.  I wanted to grab the controller.

There are two sad parts to this movie.  I can’t believe Christopher Nolan, who produced it, had any input at all.  The movie is so serious that one longs for that light touch, humor, and wonder that Christopher Reeve brought to the role.  There is not one laugh, not one smile, anywhere to be found in this tale.  Lighten up already.  I guess they haven’t figured out how to make humor a special effect.

The other sad part is that Henry Cavill could be a great Superman.  He certainly has the abs for the part, and in the few good sequences in the film, he is impressive.   He may be able to be more than a special effect.  We can only hope.

World War Z – 9
You’ll like this movie if you like:
a.  Zombie flicks
b.  Brad Pitt
c.  Saving the world
People are dying of a virus, then taking about 10 seconds off before they revive as zombies and they are hungry.  It’s up to Brad Pitt to figure out how to stop them.  He plays a retired UN Investigator with all kinds of skills.  So let’s send him out amongst the zombies and see what he can do.  Yep, that’s the plan.

He can do quite a bit, as it thankfully turns out.  He’s up to the task with some resourcefulness and deductive reasoning.  There are several great scenes where he has to make decisions – on a rooftop, in battle when one of his guards get bitten, and in an airplane.  This isn’t the run of the mill special effects movie.  It’s got heart, an actual script, and some terrific action.  My only quibble is that it ends kind of abruptly, but then I was thankful that they kept it under 2 hours.  Not a bladder buster – another plus.

After The Man of Steel, I was ready to give up on the big budget blockbusters, and concentrate on the independent films like The East, and Stories We Tell.  Then, this movie placed me firmly on the edge of my theater seat.  Go help Brad save the world.

At the Cinema - May 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness – 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Great Acting
b.  Great Special Effects
c.  Zippy Action
This is a tough one.  This JJ Abrams production is a well-scripted slam-bang action film that fits perfectly in the box office sweepstakes the way it is played today.  Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto stride through their portrayals of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock with gusto and verve.  Just like the first Abrams’ pass at Star Trek, this movie is a casting triumph.  The villain is terrific.  There’s snappy dialogue that perfectly weaves the various relationships.  It’s entertaining and the casual movie goer will enjoy it.
But…
I’m a Trekkie.  When I think of the 60’s I think of the Beatles, Star Trek, and girls who said “no.” 
I’ve watched every episode of the original series more times than I care to admit and those stories are embedded in my head the way “you can’t handle the truth” is embedded in yours.  For 50 years episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever,” “The Space Seed,” and “The Trouble with Tribbles” have crowded more important information out of my brain. 

Along comes the immensely talented Abrams and his “alternate reality” which he thinks gives him license to rewrite television history.  Amazing stories are discarded like they never happened.  The emotional depth of the legendary 2 part episode “The Menagerie” is cancelled with one death.  They rewrite the background of a legendary villain from the series.  The last part of the movie is practically a reimagining of a previous one.  Could we get an original script next time?   If I say anymore I’d need to do a spoiler alert.  Forgive me for being a trek traditionalist.  This is an excellent movie perfectly aligned with today’s standards of productions.  But, it could have been much more.  It could have enhanced the legend instead of rewriting it.

So here’s my ranking of the Star Trek movies:
Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan.  Had this one not been so good, it may have all stopped, but what a classic story.
Star Trek – the reboot was terrific
Star Trek IV:  The Journey Home - Whales
Star Trek Into Darkness – Trying to keep things going
Star Trek:  The Motion Picture – the first, and fortunately they got better.
Star Trek V:  The Undiscovered Country – Shatner’s swan song
Star Trek III:  The Search for Spock – Shouldn’t have jettisoned the body
Star Trek V:  The Final Frontier – Spock has a brother and he’s cuckoo

Mud – 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Matthew McConaughey
b.  Arkansas
c.  Characters
This is a gentle and well-paced movie set in rural Arkansas.  McConaughey plays the title character, an on-the-lam redneck living in seclusion in a boat in a tree, yes a boat in a tree.  Somehow, he has a plentiful supply of cigarettes.  He befriends two teenagers who live on the river.  Elllis and his buddy Neckbone discover Mud while exploring the little island on which he’s hiding.  Mud is determined to reunite with his true-love Juniper played by Reese Witherspoon, who may or may not be worthy of his devotion. 

There’s a lot of wisdom about life and love that will be passed between Mud and his two young friends as the drama slowly unfolds.  Despite some unnecessary violence to conclude the movie, this is a nice movie that meanders along like a trip down the Mississippi.

The Great Gatsby – 6
You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Opulence
b.  Spectacle
c.  Glitz & Glamour
I have no idea what to make of this movie.  As usual, I guess I’m the only person alive who hasn’t read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, published in 1925, which didn’t become a must-read until after his death in 1940.
It’s a side by side portrait of old money and new money in the jazz age, and what they both think they can get away with in love, crime and decadence.  The themes and the story were undoubtedly daring for the first half of the last century, but seem to be old hat in the first half of this century.  We’ve seen and heard stories way better than this in the last 90 years.

Director Baz Luhrman, who last modernized Moulin Rouge, applies all the modern movie-making techniques, from 3-D to rap music in an attempt to dazzle us into submission.  You either buy a movie’s magic or you don’t and I didn’t buy this anymore than I’d buy a rap cd.

Leonardo DiCaprio is as earnest as ever as the mysterious Jay Gatsby, and Carey Mulligan shines as Daisy Buchanan.  They’re not the problem.  The problem is that one can’t help feeling the incredible over-indulgence portrayed on the screen was in fact present in the over-production of the movie.  Lovely to look at, but nothing to hold.

Scanning the Satellite

Manhunt:  The Search For Bin Laden – 9

This is the HBO documentary that chronicles the two decade hunt for Osama Bin Laden – the real Zero Dark Thirty.  It is an engrossing account of how Al Qaeda grew, and how much the CIA knew prior to both twin tower attacks.  It describes how the analysts built leads that they sometimes couldn’t capitalize on for years.  It is a fascinating tale of detailed persistence with revelations by many of the participating CIA players.  Terrific stuff.

Phil Spector – 7

Al Pacino stars as Phil Spector in this made for HBO movie.  Helen Mirren is the attorney trying to defend him.  Phil Spector was always considered wildly eccentric, but if he was this nuts, they should have put him away a long time ago.  It would’ve saved a life.