Sitting recuperating from all the driving I have done lately, I decided to take a look at what was showing on my Cable company's Movie on Demand. Within a few minutes of looking I was watching The Company You Keep with Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, with supporting actors Stanley Tucci and Nick Nolte, Julie Christie and the ever wonderful Susan Sarandan. Chris Cooper and Terrance Howard as the FBI agent. I could keep going with names, as you recognize people as the film goes along.
Robert Redford directed, as well as starred in this movie, and I'm sure got all his 'friends' or people he wanted to work with somehow involved. A great cast. The story of an old 'waterman' woman played by Susan Sarandan, turns herself in after 30odd years. This puts a young newshound played by Shia LaBeouf, very well I might add, and he runs across Robert Redford as a lawyer, Jim Grant. He soons determines that he is Nick Sloan, another of the 'waterman' wanted.
The movie then follows Jim Grant's journey as he leaves his young daughter with his brother, goes and finds other 'old' friends until he locates Mimi (Julie Christie - still looking wonderful). All the way Shia's character is poking, looking, putting two and two together until the story reaches its conclusion.
I thought the premise, the acting and the unfolding of the story on the whole was good. Robert Redford was at his usual best, and I was impressed that he could 'run' so well at his age (when I don't). It was fairly long (over 2 hours), and some scenes seemed to drag, but on the whole a good story. One in which kept me entertained while I rested.
3 out of 5.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Elysium - movie review
I went to see Elysium - at 10.10pm show - because I wanted to see Matt Damon in this role. After all I had seen him with his bald head for many months quite a while back. Unfortunately, I felt the movie missed its mark. It did not emotionally engage me.
The story line should have. The poor in future earth trying to get to the 'land of milk and honey' Elysium, (the international space station 100,000 times larger with a landscape like prosperous L.A. The aspirations of the poor, to get where all illness is miraculously healed, so you don't get old, you don't get sick, you live this wondrous life. Or at least a few do.
The rest, well they live in an overpopulated, crime-ridden, rubble-covered Earth (filmed in a garbage dump in Mexico where a couple of thousand people actually do live). Matt is Max who receives an overdose of radiation and then is made into a machine-man, who downloads a program into his head, and he needs to get to Elysium (which is heavily guarded - blowing unauthorized transports out of the sky).
The movie sets up as to how Max gets radiated, made into a machine-man, and how he gets to Elysium. Of course there is the emotional quotient as well. His childhood friend has a little girl who is dying and needs what Elysium has in order to get well.
There is some good support actors with Jodie Foster playing the going for power in Elysium, Sharlto Copley as the 'bad, bad guy', Alice Braga as Max's childhood friend grown up. Also Diego Luna, Wagner Moura and William Fichtner (he seems to be popping up a lot - still love his Crossing Lines TV show).
I'm not sure what makes this movie miss the mark, but for all the guns, the fighting, the human heart tugging, it did not touch me, or my friend who came with me. We both sat at the end and said, what's not right with this movie. I was disappointed. I like action movies, I like movies which have human heart strings, but somehow the director Neil Blomkamp missed the mark. Mind you, I was one of the many who did not overly enjoy District 9, so should have known. I understand I'm not alone in my estimation of this movie. I'm disappointed in that, because Matt Damon deserves a better movie.
2 out of 5 (the lowest I think I've given maybe ever, but for a long long time.).
PS Neil Blomkamp is south African, and I delighted in seeing the South African Flag on the side of Sharlto Copley's air transport plus he spoke with his South African accent. Look for the flag if you go see this movie. My friend missed it but you don't want to as it brought a smile to my face.
The story line should have. The poor in future earth trying to get to the 'land of milk and honey' Elysium, (the international space station 100,000 times larger with a landscape like prosperous L.A. The aspirations of the poor, to get where all illness is miraculously healed, so you don't get old, you don't get sick, you live this wondrous life. Or at least a few do.
The rest, well they live in an overpopulated, crime-ridden, rubble-covered Earth (filmed in a garbage dump in Mexico where a couple of thousand people actually do live). Matt is Max who receives an overdose of radiation and then is made into a machine-man, who downloads a program into his head, and he needs to get to Elysium (which is heavily guarded - blowing unauthorized transports out of the sky).
The movie sets up as to how Max gets radiated, made into a machine-man, and how he gets to Elysium. Of course there is the emotional quotient as well. His childhood friend has a little girl who is dying and needs what Elysium has in order to get well.
There is some good support actors with Jodie Foster playing the going for power in Elysium, Sharlto Copley as the 'bad, bad guy', Alice Braga as Max's childhood friend grown up. Also Diego Luna, Wagner Moura and William Fichtner (he seems to be popping up a lot - still love his Crossing Lines TV show).
I'm not sure what makes this movie miss the mark, but for all the guns, the fighting, the human heart tugging, it did not touch me, or my friend who came with me. We both sat at the end and said, what's not right with this movie. I was disappointed. I like action movies, I like movies which have human heart strings, but somehow the director Neil Blomkamp missed the mark. Mind you, I was one of the many who did not overly enjoy District 9, so should have known. I understand I'm not alone in my estimation of this movie. I'm disappointed in that, because Matt Damon deserves a better movie.
2 out of 5 (the lowest I think I've given maybe ever, but for a long long time.).
PS Neil Blomkamp is south African, and I delighted in seeing the South African Flag on the side of Sharlto Copley's air transport plus he spoke with his South African accent. Look for the flag if you go see this movie. My friend missed it but you don't want to as it brought a smile to my face.
2 Guns Movie Review
I thoroughly enjoyed 2 Guns with Densel Washington and Mark Walberg. I found myself laughing and enjoying the antics of these two great actors, obviously having fun.
These two 'bank robbers' who discover they are both agents of different forces who are being pursued by the CIA, drug runners and the pursuit and antics which follow is done in a humorous way. You will recognize several of the support players, and that was also fun, saying oh look whose playing this role. Won't tell you, because that's the fun of going to see it.
This is not a movie to go see if you want intellectual though, or some great concept. But, if you want to spend a couple of hours entertained by the antics of two actors having fun, then this is it.
I really don't have much to say about it.
3 out of 5.
These two 'bank robbers' who discover they are both agents of different forces who are being pursued by the CIA, drug runners and the pursuit and antics which follow is done in a humorous way. You will recognize several of the support players, and that was also fun, saying oh look whose playing this role. Won't tell you, because that's the fun of going to see it.
This is not a movie to go see if you want intellectual though, or some great concept. But, if you want to spend a couple of hours entertained by the antics of two actors having fun, then this is it.
I really don't have much to say about it.
3 out of 5.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
The Wolverine - movie review
Watching Hugh Jackman play any role is a treat, but being The Wolverine is always spectacular, and this latest outing of our beloved 'iron man with claws' is no exception. I did not know what to expect when yesterday I went, with my friend Trish to see it. In fact Trish was not sure she wanted to see it, she thought it was going to be too violent and did not want to see violence that day, but she succumbed and off we went together.
What a surprise, the movie, mostly set in Japan was a phenomenal movie, it was an action movie at its best. This movie needs to be seen if you are a Wolverine fan or not. It has a wonderful story line, it has action, it has heart, it has a new X-Man character - Viper, well played by Svetlana Khodchenkover. Tall beautiful and deadly, I found her demeanor quite frightening just sitting in the theatre.
Tao Okamoto plays Logan's romantic interest Mariko, with a fighter ally Yukio played by Rila Fukushima who has the ability to see when and how people are going to die. Hiroyuki Sanada also plays a part in this movie. (He seems to be cropping up in several movies. I first saw him on Lost so recognize him now). Anyway, back to The Wolverine. This movie has Logan soul searching, with dream sequences of his lost love Jean Grey, to come to terms with himself. Then he is requested to go to Japan to say 'goodbye' to an old friend, but instead encounters a proposition to give up his immortality and become normal.
What ensures with him and his two Japanese ladies, Mariko as his love interest, and Yukio as his fighter companion is a great story with action, softness and interesting Japanese scenery.
Much to my surprise, I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. A true action movie with all the components. Action, love, introspection and resolution. You can't find much better.
On the way to drop Trish off I said I give this movie 4 out of 5, and she says why not 5 (which I have my beloved Star Trek into Darkness) and I said because Star Trek I have gone to see many times and will see it many times again, I do not feel I have to rush back and see this one, but it was great!!!!
4 out 5.
What a surprise, the movie, mostly set in Japan was a phenomenal movie, it was an action movie at its best. This movie needs to be seen if you are a Wolverine fan or not. It has a wonderful story line, it has action, it has heart, it has a new X-Man character - Viper, well played by Svetlana Khodchenkover. Tall beautiful and deadly, I found her demeanor quite frightening just sitting in the theatre.
Tao Okamoto plays Logan's romantic interest Mariko, with a fighter ally Yukio played by Rila Fukushima who has the ability to see when and how people are going to die. Hiroyuki Sanada also plays a part in this movie. (He seems to be cropping up in several movies. I first saw him on Lost so recognize him now). Anyway, back to The Wolverine. This movie has Logan soul searching, with dream sequences of his lost love Jean Grey, to come to terms with himself. Then he is requested to go to Japan to say 'goodbye' to an old friend, but instead encounters a proposition to give up his immortality and become normal.
What ensures with him and his two Japanese ladies, Mariko as his love interest, and Yukio as his fighter companion is a great story with action, softness and interesting Japanese scenery.
Much to my surprise, I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. A true action movie with all the components. Action, love, introspection and resolution. You can't find much better.
On the way to drop Trish off I said I give this movie 4 out of 5, and she says why not 5 (which I have my beloved Star Trek into Darkness) and I said because Star Trek I have gone to see many times and will see it many times again, I do not feel I have to rush back and see this one, but it was great!!!!
4 out 5.
Pacific Rim - Movie Review
Pacific Rim was another one of those movies I was not sure I wanted to see, although I had enjoyed the Transformers series the shorts on this one seemed too outlandish, etc for me. Anyway, I decided I would go and see it and I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I found myself fascinated by the way in which the two people 'drifted' together in order to make the large mechanical man machines work.
It so happened, Friday when I saw this movie, (I caught the afternoon show in 2D because I did not want to see it in 3D) I was going home to do a 'channeling your guide' evening. I realized as I was watching the people 'drift' together it was similar to what I do with channeling, I allow a guide to come in and integrate with my voice, so they are in affect in my mind and voice in order to give their person a message. This fascinated me, as I watched.
Then as the movie progressed I found myself having a moment of a different perspective. I was beginning to get upset with the constant thought 'the earth is ending' theme, which I have been finding in books, (Dan Brown's Inferno, James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge's Zoo in particular) and how in the movies they seem to destroy towns with no thought, that when they are crushing these buildings that there are people in them (Man of Steel for instance). Anyway, I had been seeing this as the thought form for the 'killing off a good portion of humanity' being played out.
But, as I have said in other reviews, sometimes you see a movie for a thought, or a scene well done. In Pacific Rim, I heard once more (it was also in the book Zoo, and World War Z) about how we have messed with the environment, and the petroleum's are doing something on a larger scale to the environment.
As I sat there, enjoying the discovering of the 'drift', watching the fights between the monsters coming out of the drift, and these large mechanical men (which by the way I often could not tell who was who while they were fighting) my realization that these books and movies were more about the environment and the affect on us, rather than just us being killed off. I found that awareness more peaceful.
I was not familiar with the main actors except Idris Elba (from the English TV show Luther - I happen to like him a lot). But, Charlie Hunnam (born in England) and Rinko Kikuchi, (born in Japan) I did not recognize from anything I have seen. Seems like 2008 was when they both had movie releases, in genre I don't watch.
The question always is - is Pacific Rim worth watching. If you like large mechanical beasts attacking each other, the world needing saving from aliens (that was a surprise) and how we humans win the day with out human stubbornness, then yes this is worth seeing. Plus watching Idris Elba march around is worth it.
3 out of 5.
It so happened, Friday when I saw this movie, (I caught the afternoon show in 2D because I did not want to see it in 3D) I was going home to do a 'channeling your guide' evening. I realized as I was watching the people 'drift' together it was similar to what I do with channeling, I allow a guide to come in and integrate with my voice, so they are in affect in my mind and voice in order to give their person a message. This fascinated me, as I watched.
Then as the movie progressed I found myself having a moment of a different perspective. I was beginning to get upset with the constant thought 'the earth is ending' theme, which I have been finding in books, (Dan Brown's Inferno, James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge's Zoo in particular) and how in the movies they seem to destroy towns with no thought, that when they are crushing these buildings that there are people in them (Man of Steel for instance). Anyway, I had been seeing this as the thought form for the 'killing off a good portion of humanity' being played out.
But, as I have said in other reviews, sometimes you see a movie for a thought, or a scene well done. In Pacific Rim, I heard once more (it was also in the book Zoo, and World War Z) about how we have messed with the environment, and the petroleum's are doing something on a larger scale to the environment.
As I sat there, enjoying the discovering of the 'drift', watching the fights between the monsters coming out of the drift, and these large mechanical men (which by the way I often could not tell who was who while they were fighting) my realization that these books and movies were more about the environment and the affect on us, rather than just us being killed off. I found that awareness more peaceful.
I was not familiar with the main actors except Idris Elba (from the English TV show Luther - I happen to like him a lot). But, Charlie Hunnam (born in England) and Rinko Kikuchi, (born in Japan) I did not recognize from anything I have seen. Seems like 2008 was when they both had movie releases, in genre I don't watch.
The question always is - is Pacific Rim worth watching. If you like large mechanical beasts attacking each other, the world needing saving from aliens (that was a surprise) and how we humans win the day with out human stubbornness, then yes this is worth seeing. Plus watching Idris Elba march around is worth it.
3 out of 5.
Friday, July 26, 2013
R.I.P.D. movie review
I'm not sure if it was the planets were not aligned right, or if it was the mood I was in, but I did not really enjoy R.I.P.D. I have mentioned before I find my humor is situational, not slapstick, not put down, and definitely not embarrassing, and by rights I 'should' have enjoyed this movie. I attended with a friend, who I noticed did not laugh a lot either, but said at the end she enjoyed it. I laughed twice. When I spoke with my usual movie going friend Trish, she said she laughed all he way through it. Humor is so directed to people's taste. If you have Trish's taste, you will enjoy this movie, if you have my taste, give it a miss. Now onto the movie itself.
Ryan Reynolds a recently deceased cop is teamed up with Jeff Bridges an older lawman. In the earth vibration these dead cops, look like a gorgeous blonde female (Bridges) and an older Asian gentlemen (Reynolds). Mary Louise Parker, is there controller, who has some interesting verbal by play with Bridges. The real bad guy of the movie is Kevin Bacon. The plot was unusual, paying penance by being a cop and rounding up escaped dead bad guys.
As you follow them tracking down aliens who look normal, but when shot with a special gun, turn into all sorts of strange, usually large bulging, peoples. As they go on their rounds, looking and tracking down these escaped dead bad guys, they discover a plot, which will basically destroy the world as we know it by reversing the going up into the afterlife, but having all of them coming back onto earth. Luckily, the heroes of the day succeed in achieving the end result of defeating the bad guys. And everything turns back to normal.
Obviously by the 1st paragraph I did not particularly like this movie. To me its a 2 1/2. To my friend Trish is a 3 1/2. Go see it and see where your humor button is.
PS. Mary Louise Parker had two movies come out at the same time. She is also in Red 2, which I'm going to write about next - now that one I enjoyed.
Ryan Reynolds a recently deceased cop is teamed up with Jeff Bridges an older lawman. In the earth vibration these dead cops, look like a gorgeous blonde female (Bridges) and an older Asian gentlemen (Reynolds). Mary Louise Parker, is there controller, who has some interesting verbal by play with Bridges. The real bad guy of the movie is Kevin Bacon. The plot was unusual, paying penance by being a cop and rounding up escaped dead bad guys.
As you follow them tracking down aliens who look normal, but when shot with a special gun, turn into all sorts of strange, usually large bulging, peoples. As they go on their rounds, looking and tracking down these escaped dead bad guys, they discover a plot, which will basically destroy the world as we know it by reversing the going up into the afterlife, but having all of them coming back onto earth. Luckily, the heroes of the day succeed in achieving the end result of defeating the bad guys. And everything turns back to normal.
Obviously by the 1st paragraph I did not particularly like this movie. To me its a 2 1/2. To my friend Trish is a 3 1/2. Go see it and see where your humor button is.
PS. Mary Louise Parker had two movies come out at the same time. She is also in Red 2, which I'm going to write about next - now that one I enjoyed.
Red 2 - movie review
I loved this movie. Being a big fan of R.E.D. so much so I bought the DVD, I was looking forward to seeing RED 2, and I was not disappointed.
Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, were back with Catherine Zeta-Jones joining in.
Once more the team is joined together as they work to track down a missing nuclear device. Assassins, terrorists and power-crazed officials are all either after them, or standing in their way.
I began laughing almost in the first minute, and continued right to the end. John Malkovich is fabulous. His faces had me in stitches. He conveyed so much in a look, a face here and eye lift there and I was in the aisle laughing. He was the star of this movie that is for sure.
All the others play there roles superbly. I love Mary-Louise Parker in her role as wanting the excitement, tired of Bruce Willis's character (Moses) protecting her, keeping her safe. So many scenes were hilarious. You just need to go see it. If you have seen R.E.D. and enjoyed it, you will love RED 2 even more.
4 out 5.
Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, were back with Catherine Zeta-Jones joining in.
Once more the team is joined together as they work to track down a missing nuclear device. Assassins, terrorists and power-crazed officials are all either after them, or standing in their way.
I began laughing almost in the first minute, and continued right to the end. John Malkovich is fabulous. His faces had me in stitches. He conveyed so much in a look, a face here and eye lift there and I was in the aisle laughing. He was the star of this movie that is for sure.
All the others play there roles superbly. I love Mary-Louise Parker in her role as wanting the excitement, tired of Bruce Willis's character (Moses) protecting her, keeping her safe. So many scenes were hilarious. You just need to go see it. If you have seen R.E.D. and enjoyed it, you will love RED 2 even more.
4 out 5.
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