Author Archives: moviejoltz
Flash Movie Review: Mr. Peabody & Sherman
The first time I rode public transportation without adult supervision was so exhilarating. A friend of mine joined me as we took the train to go downtown. I remember sticking my hand out the window just far enough to let it rise and fall on the rushing current of air like an airplane. Prior to this my mother had accompanied me but this time she agreed to let me go with a friend. You see, I knew the route by heart since we used to explore downtown on the weekends. However, this time with my friend I felt for the first time like an independent adult. When I think back to that time it occurs to me isn’t that one of the best compliments a parent can receive about their child, that they are growing up to be an independent and hopefully responsible adult? With that being the case then the boy in this animated film was in good hands with Mr. Peabody, voiced by Ty Burrell (The Incredible Hulk, Modern Family-TV). The smart, creative genius Mr. Peabody, who was in the process of adopting as his son Sherman, voiced by Max Charles (The Three Stooges, The Neighbors-TV), would use his time machine to take Sherman back to events that shaped history. Unfortunately when Sherman’s friend Penny Peterson, voiced by Ariel Winter (Speed Racer, Modern Family-TV), learned of Mr. Peabody’s invention, it would take no time for the two friends to cause a ripple in time that would change history. Would the smartest canine in the world be able to set history right while trying to raise a son? One of the things I liked about the original Mr. Peabody cartoons was his quick wit, puns and sarcastic remarks. Gratefully the writers kept all of that in this adventure film. The actors did an admirable job voicing the cartoon characters, quickly playing off of each other, at times in rapid fire dialog. I found the humor became stale as time went on. With most of the story being predictable I am not sure if younger children would enjoy this movie. The crowd was more adult at the after dinner time showing I attended. I assumed they were there for nostalgic reasons. An issue I had with this film had to do with the ending; I felt it was rushed as it tried to do too much in a short time frame. It redeemed itself with the message I took away from the story on how love makes a family.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: 300: Rise of an Empire
When I began posting my movie reviews I made a commitment to write one a day for an entire year. It was not always easy; I had to decline social engagements, besides dealing with the electronic gremlins that would mess up my postings from time to time. There were days where my fingers had to do double time to get the review done before the strike of midnight; not that I would turn into a pumpkin, just wouldn’t be able to keep my word. However, I carried out my promise to myself and did it. Some of my friends thought I was crazy with my rigid dedication but I have always had that trait. It is similar to my not eating 5 hours before I go to bed as a means of maintaining my weight. Right from the beginning of this action drama, I could identify with the actors’ dedication in achieving their impressive chiseled physiques besides the characters’ determination in fighting to the death to save their land. I cannot call this a sequel since the writers were clever to create a story that paralleled the story from the previous movie, 300. Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom, Gangster Squad) played Greek General Themistokles. With the Persian King Xerxes, played by Rodrigo Santoro (What to Expect When You’re Expecting, I Love You Phillip Morris), moving forward in his conquest for all of Greece; Themistokles would have to take his battle to the sea against the king’s massive navy led by skilled commander Artemisia, played by Eva Green (Dark Shadows, Casino Royale). It would take cunning, strategy and most of all courage to try and defeat the Persian forces that outnumbered Themistokles’ fighters. This movie played out like a dramatic opera; there were a multitude of heroic speeches, gruesome fights and passionate pleas. When I said gruesome I meant it because there was so much blood being spilled throughout the entire film that the characters even mentioned they would turn the ocean into a sea of red. It would be hard to talk about the acting since the whole movie had a graphic novel, computer game look to it; the characters were more cartoonish to me. I thought Eva was impressive with her fighting skills, finding it a nice twist to have a female badass. Playing the Spartan Queen Gorgo, I wished Lena Headey (The Purge, Game of Thrones-TV) had more screen time since her character had more dimension to me. This bloody war film started to become repetitive with its cycle of speeches and battles. Do not consider this movie as a history lesson; it was just fun to watch on the big screen. Also, no one could fault the actors for their dedication in contributing to this movie’s sharp look. There were multiple scenes with blood and violence throughout the film.
2 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Wind Rises
Even before I knew what dreams meant, music has always been around me. Once I learned how to walk I was immediately placed on any tabletop or chair seat where I instinctively would begin to move to any music that was playing in the house. From those basic dance moves, as I got older, a dream was born inside of me to become a dancer. Visions of me dancing on Soul Train, being a go-go boy or becoming a part of the Solid Gold Dancers lingered at the front of my mind until I realized I was not disciplined enough to forge through the actual work of becoming a dancer. However, my dream did not totally deflate because it still played a part when I became an aerobic and group fitness instructor. My aerobic classes were not your usual type of class. Being a long time member of the licensing agencies ASCAP and BMI (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; Broadcast Music, Inc.), I would choreograph every move to music from the actual artists. The members felt they were dancing at a concert. That dream of me being a dancer morphed into a career that has brought me unlimited joy, even to this day. Dreams are the fuel that ignites willful desire and in this English speaking version of the Oscar nominated film for best animation, there was a man whose entire life revolved around one simple dream. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt (Don Jon, Looper) voiced Jiro Horikosai, who only dreamt of flying. Due to his nearsightedness preventing him from flying, Jiro kept his dream alive by becoming an aeronautical designer like his idol Count Caproni, voiced by Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games franchise, The Terminal). Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle), this dramatic movie was utterly beautiful to watch. The way the colors and scenes would move and evolve were stunning to me. I did not realize the film was a tribute to a real person; if I had known this I might have felt a stronger connection to the story. As it was, I thought the story was slow in parts. If it was not for the flawless animation I would have been less entertained. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of all the events shown in Jiro’s life, but I could easily relate to a man living out his dream.
3 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Holiday
To this day I still experience an amusing delight when I receive a positive reinforcement of one of my beliefs. The one I am referring to is my belief that there are no accidents; there is a reason for everything. As I was working on today’s movie review I came across the following quote on one of my social media sites. It comes from the Irish writer Oscar Wilde and it reads: “You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.” This quote resonated deeply with me because in my own words I have always said the same thing. The surface of a person never influenced me unless there was an issue with their hygiene. The important stuff for me lies below, deep inside of them. I have no care about what car they drive or what they wear or what they do; who they are as a human being is what matters most to me. This quote came at the perfect time, for I was only in the beginning of writing my review. I am discarding it because this quote is the ideal way to lead off with today’s post of a classic film. Cary Grant (North by Northwest, His Girl Friday) played Johnny Case, a young man who fell in love with Julia, played by Doris Nolan (Moon Over Burma, Irene), who came from the wealthy Seton family. Looking to the future, Julia and her father could not understand why Johnny wanted to travel the world while he was still young, instead of settling down to work and make money. The only family member who seemed to understand what Johnny wanted to do was Julia’s sister Linda, played by Katherine Hepburn (Bringing Up Baby, On Golden Pond), the black sheep of the family. Directed by George Cukor (My Fair Lady, A Star is Born), this Oscar award nominated romantic comedy may be from a different era but the message it conveys is still relevant today. I do not think I need to tell you about the acting, directing or anything else about this movie. All you have to do is see how many stars I rated it below to know how much I enjoyed watching it. After viewing this film and seeing the quote, I feel everything fell into place to make this an extra enjoyable movie watching experience.
4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Son of God
The usual way we learned about extraordinary, historical individuals was at home, school or in books. We may have been taught about these larger than life people due to the country we lived in, the religion we practiced or the affect they had on the general population where we resided; though there could be many other reasons. Already aware of the importance of these people, if one wants to make a film about them, they would need to do their due diligence in getting all the facts straight before documenting events onto the screen. There are a couple of films that come to mind that achieved this, such as Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur, Planet of the Apes franchise) as Moses in The Ten Commandments and Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Schindler’s List) as Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi. So now here is this dramatic film about Jesus Christ that was produced by Mark Burnett, known for the reality television shows Survivor and Shark Tank. I discovered after watching this movie that it was born out of the History Channel’s mini-series The Bible. It says a great deal about this piece of work; Jesus Christ getting spun off, how pathetically sad. Diogo Morgado (Star Crossed, Mami Blue) had the challenge of portraying Jesus and he failed miserably. I found him to be a dull, unenlightened caricature who wandered from place to place for two hours. Darwin Shaw (Casino Royale, The Bible-TV) was only a tad better with his character Peter. The script was offensive to me. I am not an expert on biblical quotes but some of the things that people were saying in this film did not sound right to me. The sets were uninspired and the long shot repeatedly used of the city looked like a bad computer graphic made by a Commodore 64 computer. (You older folks may get this analogy.) If one is going to invest the time and money into a movie project of this magnitude, then they need to take the time to do it right. While watching this dull movie I felt it looked like it was just thrown together without much thought. I cannot even say this film would have been better as a TV movie or mini-series; it would make no difference. I think I can accurately say most people have heard of Jesus Christ and probably know more about his story than this film. There were a few scenes where blood was shown.
1 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Red State
As you may know I am not a major fan of the horror film genre. Part of the reason has to do with the characters that are employed for the story. I do not find zombies, mutants, vampires or any other such fictional beings to be inherently frightening. Sure their actions may make me squirm in my seat; however, I find reality can be scarier than fiction. When riding public transportation I no longer have my cell phone or MP3 player visible. When there is snow and ice on the road I am scared of aggressive drivers who cut in front or tailgate me, making no allowances for winter conditions. There is another group of people that truly frighten me. Individuals with fanatical, extreme views make me uncomfortable. I have witnessed their hateful actions. As far as they are concerned if you do not follow their beliefs then you are damned. For me this is scarier than any horror movie I have seen until now. In this film festival winning movie, writer and director Kevin Smith (Clerks franchise, Chasing Amy) put his own spin in creating this horror tale. After setting up an online date to meet Sara, played by Melissa Leo (Prisoners, The Fighter); friends Travis, Jarod and Billy Ray, played by Michael Angarano (Almost Famous, Sky High), Kyle Gallner (Jennifer’s Body, Beautiful Creatures) and Nicholas Braun (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Watch), headed out to meet her for a good time. The boys did not know Sara was part of a radical fundamentalist group that was on the radar of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This action thriller surprised me with the way it took something that could have easily been in the news and twisted it to a bigger extreme. Besides having the very capable Melissa Leo easily handling her character, I felt the movie received a boost by the presence of John Goodman (Argo, Inside Llewyn Davis) as federal agent Joseph Keenan. If you believe people could not be so extreme with their beliefs then you might not enjoy this action thriller. I found the story credible and could see it taking place, though maybe not to the level it reached; at least I hope so. As a complete film I found a few parts that did not make much sense; maybe it was trying to be satirical and I was not sure. For the fact this was a different take on the horror genre, it kept my interest even with several bloody scenes. Putting the idea for this story in proper perspective, one only has to take a look at our history of the past several decades. I cannot think of any recent horror film that would be scarier than encountering some of the characters in this bloody movie.
2 1/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Non-Stop
My face was pressed against the glass window as I saw the airplane being pushed away from its accordion pleated, collapsable walkway. There was an emptiness inside of me as my visiting family members were flying back home. I imagined them settling into their seats and wondered if any of them were looking out of the jet’s windows back at me. Once the plane taxied out of sight I turned and headed out of the gate area. Walking through the terminal I noticed the massive flow of arriving and departing human beings streaming everywhere. One of my little mind games I played when I was a kid was to make up stories about the different people who were walking past me. With the amount of people that travel through an airport, it is an ideal venue to play this game. Where this was an innocent creative outlook for me, back when one could accompany their guests all the way to their gate, these days a majority of people play this game but for totally different reasons. The writers and director used people’s stereotyping and fears to add a charged dimension to this action thriller. Liam Neeson (The A-Team, Kinsey) played former policeman turned air marshal Bill Marks. During a transatlantic flight Bill received a text message demanding $150 million dollars be transferred to an offshore bank account; otherwise, one passenger every 20 minutes would be killed. Added to the mystery was the fact that the bank account was opened in the name of Bill Marks. Liam gave it his all, committing himself to the role and doing a great job as a broken, alcoholic air marshal. If you think this sounds familiar you would be right; it reminded me of Denzel Washington in the movie Flight. The difference however was Denzel’s film made sense; this one had several implausible scenes that defied logic. Putting that aside, I will say there were some tight, tense scenes that kept the viewer guessing on who was the real villain. Personally, I thought the villain was not strong enough. Among the cast was the terrific Julianne Moore (Carrie, Hannibal) as frequent flyer Jen Summers. I found it surprising that relative newcomer, Oscar nominee and winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) had such a small role as flight attendant Gwen. She had maybe a paragraph’s worth of dialog; I can only assume this film was made before 12 Years a Slave. Rounding out the main characters was Michelle Dockery (Hanna, Downton Abbey-TV) as flight attendant Nancy. I have to hand it to Liam; at his age to still be an action hero and maneuver through the aisles of an airplane, he would be the main reason to see this thriller.
2 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: In Secret
There are a multitude of actions and reactions that can be attributed to love. The warmth that rises up to the surface of your skin when your significant other engulfs your hand with their hand is due to love. Saddened as you look at the remnants of your love’s face outlined on their pillow while they are away on a business trip, slows your heart rate for the duration of their time away. I remember spending weeks driving around the city and suburbs, taking photographs of places we had been to that were associated with happy moments, to create a memory photo album for their birthday. Yep, due to the love I had for them. Love can overrule the mind’s practical side and make us do some things that can be embarrassing, odd or even scary. For me, I cringe when I think about the time I went to meet them at the airport, dressed up as a shirtless cowboy. Please excuse me for a moment as I clear the taste of bile from my mouth. Most of us associate being in love with joyful thoughts, but in this dramatic thriller love revealed a darker side. Elizabeth Olsen (Oldboy, Liberal Arts) played Therese Raquin who was sent to stay with her aunt Madame Raquin, played by Jessica Lange (The Vow, Big Fish). She was to become a companion and caretaker for her sickly cousin Camille, played by Tom Felton (Harry Potter franchise, The Apparition). As time passed Therese was taken by surprise the day her aunt decided that she would be marrying her cousin and the three of them would live happily ever after. That was until one day Camille brought home his old friend Laurent, played by Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Drive). The sets in this period piece were excellent, depicting France in the 1860s. Already fond of Elizabeth Olsen, I thought her and Jessica’s performances were outstanding. Actually I enjoyed the entire cast; the acting level was of a high caliber. The problems with this film have to do with the script and the directing. There were slow dry scenes where I felt the story sagging. It was sad because the potential for a highly dramatic, powerful film was there but it never reached it. The only love I felt for this film was for Jessica Lange and Elizabeth Olsen.
2 1/2 stars
Razzie Award Predictions
This past Oscar season I have discovered new things about myself. From the nearby couple who kept talking during the movie I learned restraint; instead of asking them to look around and notice they are not sitting at home in their living room, I quietly whispered the “shhh” sound. During a particularly tedious film I realized I could do several yoga poses if I lifted up the armrests of my seat. Due to my keen observations I figured out to never sit near anyone who is carrying a large bag, purse or backpack; they inevitably have food in them, from candy to full size meals and cannot help but make munching, slurping or crunching noises. There is one other thing I learned and that is realizing how strong my determination can be. No matter how awful the film, I refused to nap or get up and walk out of the theater. As a result I have seen a whole bunch of movies I would normally never bother seeing. So I am going to try something new here and predict the Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the Razzies. These awards for the worst performances and picture were started in 1980 by the American copywriter and publicist J.B. Wilson. If nothing else consider this my little gift to you in the form of a cheat sheet on what to avoid, thereby saving yourself time and money. Without further ado please find below the winners for the worst of last year.
Worst Actor: Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger
This was close since Johnny was up against Sylvester Stallone who was nominated worst actor in three different movies. I chose Johnny because he coasted through this role, bringing nothing of value. Sylvester was simply trying not to act his age in boring movies.
Worst Actress: Halle Berry in The Call and Movie 43
With Naomi Watts being nominated for Diana and Movie 43, this could easily go her way. Both women were awful in their films. I did not see nominee Lindsay Lohan in The Canyons.
Worst Supporting Actor: Chris Brown in Battle of the Year
A pathetic performance for a silly film.
Worst Supporting Actress: Kim Kardashian in Tyler Perry’s Temptation
All my classes know not to mention the “K” word; not one family member’s name shall ever be uttered during class. So it kills me that Kim gets the award.
Worst Picture: Movie 43
I was torn here between this film and The Lone Ranger. Both would be suitable for worst film of the year; however, I went with Movie 43 because I found it offensive. The Lone Ranger was simply dumb.
May you avoid these lame movies unless you have a white elephant movie party, where everyone sits around and makes fun of the film.
Flash Movie Review: Pompeii
There are some things in life worth fighting for, metaphorically speaking. If I believe something is the right thing to do, I will argue the point without any time limit. I am willing to fight traffic if it means I get to spend quality time with a friend. (I bet you thought I was going to say a movie.) Love is certainly worth fighting for, wouldn’t you agree? There was someone I dated where I was wiling to make sacrifices or more accurately compromises because I felt it would help the relationship continue to grow. You may think it is silly, but one of my strongest self-imposed rules is my last meal cannot start later than 6pm, for dietary reasons. They liked eating at 8pm, feeling my time was too early. Luckily we both wanted to keep investing in our relationship so we negotiated times and made adjustments to help each other. In this situation it was worth it to me, to fight myself in the name of love. This fighting for love was one of the things I admired about this dramatic action film. Kit Harington (Games of Thrones-TV, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D) played Milo, who witnessed his parents’ death at a young age. Orphaned and alone he grew up a slave until he was old enough to become a gladiator. None of his fights meant anything to him until one day he saw Princess Cassia of Pompeii, played by Emily Browning (Sucker Punch, The Uninvited). I enjoy watching a movie that includes a historic setting or reenactment. It allows me to add a visual to what I have learned in school and books. Unfortunately the story for this film was pretty much a cheap knockoff of the movie Titanic, except there was fire instead of water. Kiefer Sutherland (Phone Booth, 24-TV) was forgettable as Corvus. I actually felt bad for Kit; with all the work he did to sculpt his body, he should have devoted some time to polishing his acting abilities for the big screen. He was one dimensional throughout the film. The only actor who did decent acting was Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Oz-TV) as fellow gladiator Atticus. I saw this film in 3D and it did nothing for me except cost me more money and made the picture look darker. The concept for this movie was silly to start with, add in the weak script and there really is no reason to fight your way to the movie theater to see this film. There were brief scenes that included blood.
1 2/3 stars
moviejoltz 