Category Archives: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Flash Movie Review: Interstellar
A mound of recently fallen autumn leaves became an ancient fragile pyramid that was ready to be explored by us. We had to be careful as we dug our way inside so the colored walls would not crumble and fall. The discarded stove in the alley turned into a rocket ship with 4 blazing thrusters and a retractable dock door that revealed a double landing deck made of steel. For a child the world was this huge amusement park, filled with infinite places to explore. I feel exploring is part of our human nature. Not necessarily in the same way, all of us do it in some kind of form. There are people who explore various stores to find the cheapest price on an item before buying it. When I take a trip to an unfamiliar place, I go into full explorer mode. After researching and mapping out my trip; once I arrive I usually go non-stop to cover as much territory as I can before I return home. Think about it; isn’t taking an art or dance class a way for us to explore our creative side? Throughout the ages there have been individuals who spent their entire life looking for something new and different; as I said, it is just in our nature. EXPLORING for a new planet to call home was imperative if mankind wanted to survive as a species since the Earth was dying. For Professor Brand’s, played by Michael Caine (Harry Brown, The Dark Knight franchise), plan to succeed he would have to depend on the skills of retired astronaut Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club, Mud), to pilot the spaceship. One of the passengers was the professor’s daughter; a scientist who Cooper referred to simply as Brand, played by Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables, The Devil Wears Prada). No one knew if the crew would be back in time before the planet expired. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight franchise, Inception), this science fiction adventure was a major piece of work. Without the use of green screens for the special effects, the actors were able to react in a more realistic way to the sets around them. Visually the movie was stunning with its broad spectrum of varied scenes, both on Earth and in space. Where I felt this movie stumbled was its story. Though the script per se was well done, even with the past and present story lines going simultaneously, the story had some muddled spots in it. With a running time of 2 hours and 49 minutes; I felt the film could have used a little more editing. The hardest part watching this movie was at the end; after sitting all the way through, I found myself confused to the point I felt I was left out in space.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Big Hero 6
When the day consisted of challenges and stress, some individuals find comfort by getting it soaked out of them with one squeeze. Meeting a friend or family member can begin with one of these, reattaching the shared bond of the two’s history together. At a time of grief, it tries to remove the tiredness and sadness from a person’s body. And then there is the special kind that greets you in the morning after drifting off from a romantic night into a deep slumber. A hug may not always be the cure-all but it certainly can come close. There is nothing like coming home after a hectic day at work and fall into a warm, inviting embrace. For me hugs have important therapeutic value; they can bring unconditional comfort and a sense of total acceptance. I still remain in awe on the sheer power a hug can have on us. Remembering a horrible breakup and how a pair of arms encased me as each breath I took was accompanied by a drenching removal of strength to continue standing. On the other hand there were times where a loving hug stretched out to greet and surprise me while tired, standing in line to exit after a long trip away. In its simplest form, a hug has universal appeal for all. HUGS took on more of a special nature in this exciting animated action film. Hiro Hamada, voiced by Ryan Potter (Supah Ninjas-TV, Senior Project), was content betting on his battling robot until he met at his older brother Tadashi’s, voiced by Daniel Henney (The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), laboratory an unusual looking robot named Baymax, voiced by Scott Adsit (We’re the Millers, The Italian Job). Hiro wanted to be part of this world filled with incredible devices being created by brilliant people such as Wasabi and Honey Lemon, voiced by Damon Wayans Jr. (The Other Guys, Let’s Be Cops) and Genesis Rodriguez (Identity Thief, Man on a Ledge). This movie literally shocked me with its bold new take on action heroes. Written with sensitive and humorous passages, this film provided a whole story for both the adult and kid viewing audience. The characters were average people who just happened to do amazing things in their lives. One of the aspects I appreciated most was the good vs evil aspect of the story without having to shed any blood or perform extreme violence. Now there was an issue about death that made the little 3-4 year old boy next to me cry; I believe he was in the minority. With wonderful visual effects and a strong story line, I left the packed movie theater feeling like I had just received a warm fuzzy hug. There was an extra scene at the end of the credits.
3 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Ouija
There were no commercials or advertisements as far as I could recall. None of the toy shelves at stores carried it. The only thing I can remember was it being the first game I ever played, not counting tag or hide-and-go-seek. The game was handed down to me, taught by my Mother. We would either sit at the kitchen table or on the sofa to play, with only one thing needed: a deck of cards. After she shuffled them she would lay all the cards out face down in rows. Each player would take turns flipping over 2 cards at a time. If they matched, for example 2 threes or 2 queens, the player kept the cards; if not, they would turn the cards face down and the next player would try finding a match. The winner was the one who collected the most cards. I used to love playing this game and eventually started playing it myself to see how long it would take me to match up all the cards. In turn, I taught the next generation after me this card game that had no official name. As time passed and I transitioned to board games with friends, I never showed any of my friends this card game that was done in the family. Not that it was necessarily a secret, it just remained a game one played with a family member. After seeing this film maybe that was a good thing. BOARD games were supposed to be fun, but not in this horror film. After finding a spirit board, aka Ouija board, a group of friends decided to use it to see if they could find out why a friend of theirs killed herself. They unwittingly introduced a dark, ancient spirit into their lives that only wanted one thing: them. Starting out at a slow deliberate pace, this horror movie never veered from it. First time director Stiles White created a bland, generic piece that seemed to attract only young adults based on who was in the theater with me. If you have never seen a scary movie, then it is possible you may jump a couple of times while watching this picture. With Olivia Cooke (The Signal, Bates Motel-TV) as Laine Morris, Daren Kagasoff (The Secret Life of the American Teenager-TV, Blue-TV) as Trevor and Shelley Hennig (Days of Our Lives-TV, The Secret Circle-TV) as Debbie Galardi being part of the cast, there was no acting worth noting here. Of course having such a poorly written script with no lines worth remembering, the cast could not help but to be boring. I cannot believe I am saying this but a better time would have been to save my money by staying home and playing a game with family and friends. There were several scenes with blood.
1 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Book of Life
As you turn the page of the novel you find an old photograph stuck between the pages. You see a younger you floating across a lake on an inner tube. Immediately memories flood your mind, flushing into your eyes as you can see and remember how the water was so cool and clear on that hot summer day. Absently you scratch your arm in the same spot where you had that reaction to the bug bite you got when you came out of the water. Besides the common things like photographs or hand-me-down objects that trigger one’s memory, I have always been fascinated with how the mind responds to what seems like random items to stimulate a memory. I can hear a couple of musical notes in a certain order and I get catapulted to a wide white concert hall where a full orchestra is in the middle of playing a romantic symphony. When driving through a densely tree lined street, images of a deceased relative well up into my consciousness because they had given me my first ride in a convertible car. The way the sunlight filters through the leaves, creating sparks across my windshield, reminds me of the car ride we had gone on. He had driven us down a long stretch of road so I could feel how the air would whoosh by me, tickling my ears. It seems as if memories of past relatives grow sweeter and softer as I grow older. DEATH was a place filled with celebrations, happiness and good food in this animated adventure film. Diego Luna (Milk, Elysiom) voiced Manolo, a man who was willing to die for Maria, voiced by Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy). He would have to fight his way through the dead and living worlds if he had any hope of seeing her again. The cool thing about this movie was the way the writers took the subject of death and turned it into a less scary place. I believe the story was based on the holiday Day of the Dead, though I am not familiar with it. For that reason I may have been at a disadvantage in the way I interpreted this movie. Granted some could consider this an odd idea for a children’s film and it did cross my mind as well. I understand how much easier death would be if we were taught to look at it as a celebratory passage in time and this picture did its best in that regard. The writers treated the subject with sensitivity which I could appreciate. However, I did not find anything special or unique about this picture. Yes the visuals were fun to watch and some of the dialog was cute, but I certainly wasn’t blown away like I had been with other animated films. After a short time has passed, I doubt I will have any memories left of me having seen this animated comedy.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Dracula Untold
Sometimes I wish I could have seen the earlier years of a person I have known or recently met. An individual, no matter how hard they have tried, will still act out a particular way based on past interactions from their life. I am sure all of us have had times where we silently wondered why a person was acting a certain way. It could be something as benign as not liking candles or as wicked as mercilessly teasing a cat or dog. I knew someone who rarely gave an opinion about anything. Being asked where they wanted to eat or what movie to see, they could not voice their thoughts, only say whatever or it did not matter. It wasn’t until I happened to meet their parent that I finally saw the reason why they were acting that way. The parent was overbearing and quick to belittle their child. My curiosity goes beyond people in the present; I would enjoy finding out what transpired with historical people, like Napoleon or Catherine the Great, that influenced or molded them that has not been told in our history books. Purely for entertainment value, I find taking liberties with a known character or actual person an acceptable form; look at the success of Wicked, the story about how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be. VLAD III dubbed Vlad the Impaler, played by Luke Evans (Immortals, Fast & Furious III), was an ideal candidate to use to create an action fantasy backstory. Protective of his family and subjects, not wanting to see the children of his kingdom experience what he had as a child, Vlad would have to look beyond his kingdom if he was going to repel the Sultan Mehmed, played by Dominic Cooper (The Devil’s Double, Need for Speed). His search would lead to a force that could even overpower him. The idea for this dramatic story was appealing to me and I found the opening scenes compelling. Joining Luke and Dominic was Charles Dance (Game of Thrones-TV, Gosford Park) as Master Vampire; all three had a strong screen presence. The special effects were not the greatest but were darkly fun to watch. With a good start it was all the more disappointing that the script got sillier and sillier as the film progressed. Seriously, I was stunned that the writers thought the idea of a blindfolded army going into battle was a good idea. Add in the trendy haircut for Dominic’s character Mehmed and this was a movie sorely lacking the guts for a great backstory. There were multiple scenes that had blood and violence.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Annabelle
Those initial first experiences are what gets played in most people’s heads when they encounter them again later in life. I refer to this as recordings in my head. Gratefully as I have aged I now have the ability to fast forward some of them when they crop up just as I am encountering some new situation that resembles a past experience. An example would be individuals who had a bad experience the first time they went to a dentist. Chances are their future visits were accompanied with a bit of dread. There used to be an amusement park in the city that had a creepy looking fun house. The first time I went there my cousins convinced me to go with them into the fun house. I was not scared initially by the exterior with its dark shadowed walls and large doorway that looked like a clown’s gaping mouth with yellowed teeth. As we entered, however, we were immediately thrust into darkness; there were only a few dim lights that barely cast a weak glow. For some reason I became separated from the rest of the group and wound up getting stuck in a maze of mirrored passageways. Each turn I took I would encounter some action that scared me further. I finally was retrieved after I began screaming and crying. From that experience it took a long time before I could enter a fun house without having a preconceived sense of fear. BUILT-IN fan base with some expectations would be a reason to do a prequel to a successful film which is why I believe director John R Leonetti (The Conjuring, Insidious) was on board for this horror movie. Soon to be parents Mia and John Gordon, played by Annabelle Wallis (Body of Lies, The Tudors-TV) and Ward Horton (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Mighty Macs), began experiencing frightening events after John bought Mia a gift of an antique doll for her collection. I had high hopes for this prequel since I had enjoyed John R. Leonetti’s previous picture The Conjuring. Unfortunately the poorly written script deflated much of the fear out of this film. It seemed as if the writers were randomly plopping down quick scenes to scare the viewer without much suspense. The acting did not do anything for me including the performance out of Alfre Woodward (12 Years a Slave, The Family That Preys) as bookshop owner Evelyn. With this film I felt the movie studio saw the success of The Conjuring and hurriedly decided they could earn more money by turning it into a franchise. Frankly the only thing I found scary was the possibility they would make another movie of this caliber. There were a few scenes that had blood and violence.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Boxtrolls
Guilt by association can be a decision based on a visual observation. What someone is essentially doing is making a judgement about you without having any knowledge of you. I have always taken offense to this type of discrimimation. It does not matter if it was family members or friends; I could never understand how people just assumed everyone in a group was the same, as if we were all made out of the same mold. The first time I became aware I was being judged was in school. Having been a larger sized boy than the average student, when it came to any athletic activity, I was usually one of the last students still standing before being picked for a team. Though I was too young to really understand the mindset, it did not take long before I became aware of many incidents involving me and various other students. The interesting aspect was witnessing how if a person repeated the same misconception over and over, others started to believe it was true. The outcome sometimes would be upsetting, other times humorous. ARCHIBALD Snatcher, voiced by Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Iron Man 3), was determined to capture every single last Boxtroll if it was the last thing he would do. He had made a promise to Lord Portley-Rind, voiced by Jared Harris (Pompeii, Natural Born Killers). Eggs, voiced by Isaac Hempstead (Closed Circuit, The Awakening), who had been raised by Boxtrolls since he was a baby, needed to seek out townsfolk who would believe him when he said Boxtrolls were decent and good. It was the only chance he had to save his family. This stop action animated comedy was so much fun. The clever animation was done in such a creative way that I sat with my eyes glued to the screen. With the array of different actors’ voices, including Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Super 8) as Winnie, I found myself believing the characters. The script had its twist of British humor that was not only amusing, but made one pay attention to the sly comments that were being scattered about. Also, the distinctive look of each character worked splendidly with the script’s speech. I am not sure young children will understand some of the humor; however, with a bad villain, wild scenes and plenty of physical comedy they will still enjoy watching this adventure movie. As a fan of most film genres and my avoidance of any movie publicity before seeing a film, this picture reaffirmed one of the reasons I love movies; it provided a joyful surprise with its uniqueness. Never assume just because it is an animated movie that it will be a cartoon. There was an extra behind the scenes segment in the middle of the lively credits.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Snowpiercer
I am curious to know where it first began how the mindset of one being wealthy equated to being better than someone else. From various news and media sources I have seen, I definitely can see being rich does not mean one has good taste. When I see some of these celebrities in their massive estate mansions, I have to wonder do they really need all of that space and stuff. Seriously, how many bathrooms does one need in their house? Enough for a party of 25 being able to all go to the bathroom at the very same time with no waiting? My first experience where I saw a wealthy person exerting their so called power over another individual was with a distant family member. Because they were successful in business, aka making lots of money, they began telling other family members what they should be doing to get ahead in life. Though I was young at the time I was offended by the way they would talk down to people, treating them like they were ignorant just because they were not as rich. Success and wealth are not terms I necessarily use to denote financial status. A person who has close and long relationships with family and friends is a wealthy person to me. POWER came to those who were wealthy in this futuristic science fiction film. After an experiment failed to reverse global warming, mankind was virtually wiped off the planet. Only a small group continued to survive in a self-contained train that continuously circled the globe. Even though the passengers all suffered under the same horrific experiment, inside the train there still were divisions of class. And with class power was soon to follow. This film festival winning thriller gave me a fantastic ride. With Chris Evans (The Avengers, Captain America franchise) as Curtis, Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive, Moonrise Kingdom) as Mason and Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station, The Help) as Tanya; the cast was well represented with abundant talent and star power; yet, I did not see any advertisements for this action movie. The story was interesting and easy to follow even with its surprise turns. I thought the look of the film was perfect in the way the viewer became a witness to the contrasts within the train. It was interesting how the few special effects were not very good; but it was okay, since this film was predominately story driven. What a pleasant surprise to watch a science fiction movie, having no prior awareness of it, that had a feasible story and was wildly entertaining. It really had a power over me and I was fine with it.
3 1/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Giver
They go hand in hand; for every high point in one’s life there will be a low point. It is just the natural order of things or the way I refer to it, the pluses and minuses of life. There is nothing like riding a high wave of elation; where positive feelings flood the body, coating all the senses with heightened awarenesses. Who would not want to have this type of experience; I know I would prefer it. However, life does not give one the option to pick and choose fully their experiences. I know I did not choose to trip off that street curb and scrape my knee on the ground. In my brain having both positive and negative experiences is necessary. You see, if a person only experiences one or the other what do they have to compare with what they are feeling? I know our emotions play a part in all of this. Though I wish I did not have to deal with the downs in life, I know they only make me appreciate the up times more. Without having the two polar opposites life would be pretty bland. ELIMINATION of the emotions was what the society in this dramatic science fiction film achieved for all of its citizens. There was no war, jealousy, hatred, bigotry or sexism; everyone lived in steady harmony. All negative experiences were a thing of the past; only the memories associated with them were stored in one individual known as the Giver, played by Jeff Bridges (True Grit, The Men Who Stare at Goats). When the time came to share those memories with his apprentice, the Giver needed to make sure the events of the past would not repeat themselves in the present. Based on the Newberry Award winning novel by Lois Lowry, this was one of my favorite books. Meryl Streep (Hope Springs, The Iron Lady) played Chief Elder who made sure all the rules were enforced to prevent history from repeating itself. The cast also included Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent, Oculus) as Jonas and Odeya Rush (The Odd Life of Timothy Green, We are What We Are) as Fiona. Sadly I have to say this film version sucked the life out of an incredible, thought provoking story. I was looking forward to seeing this picture and though Jeff and Meryl were excellent, they could not save the dullness of the script. For those not familiar with the book I believe they would mildly stay interested in this film. There was a cool look about the movie where some scenes worked well. Unfortunately with so much taken out of the original story, I could easily see where things could be confusing to viewers. It truly was a shame that a movie about an emotionless society was just as emotionless.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Deep in the recesses of your mind, unbeknownst to you, is a fond memory from your childhood. No matter what kind of early life was experienced, there usually is at least one thing you recall fondly. The trigger that ignites this memory could easily be one of the most innocuous things on the planet. When you encounter this catalyst the deeply embedded memory rises to the surface of your mind like a deep sea diving bell. This recently happened to me when I saw an old-fashioned candy called Dots in a 3 year old’s hand. The sweet treat has multicolored hard drops of candy stuck on a strip of paper that looks like it belongs in a cash register. One could remove each candy piece with their fingertips; but if one wanted to be real cool, they would use their teeth to peel the candy off the strip of paper. As soon as I saw that candy the memory of the candy store where I always bought those Dots appeared at the edges of my eyes. A tiny place planted on the corner of the block, the shop owner was oversized with arms that gave the warmest hugs. I had forgotten how safe and happy I was whenever I was in her store; the memory flooded me with a sense of calm, joyful peacefulness. JUST as I relived that memory so will many of you experience a past time in your life when you see this reboot of the warrior turtles. With New York City under siege by sinister forces, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were forced above ground in what would be the ultimate test for all of their past training. This action adventure had modern CGI technology working in its favor. The chases and fights were tight and big. Starring Megan Fox (Transformers franchise, Jennifer’s Body) as April O’Neil and Will Arnett (When in Rome, Arrested Development-TV) as Vernon Fenwick, this was where this comedy film quickly deteriorated. Besides being annoying the script was filled with lame jokes and references. The story was at a television cartoon level and though I did not necessarily have an issue with it, after a short time I felt the scenes lacked any real excitement. If it was not for the fight scenes I would have been even more bored than I already was with this movie. I feel once viewers who remember the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles see this film they will discover their memories were better than these updated characters. For those who did not follow the Ninja Turtles, they may find this was a picture that will soon be forgotten.
2 stars
