Blog Archives
Flash Movie Review: Me and Orson Welles
There is something magical when the lights dim and the audience settles into momentary silence. The heavy curtain purrs as it takes flight and there standing before you is a scene that wakens into life. I love the experience of live theater (such an odd term that suggests there is dead theater) with actors claiming their parcels of stage land. My close friend, who was a theater major, has the most fascinating stories about theater life; I love listening to them whenever the subject comes up. Finding this treasure of a film was sweet, since I backed away from it when I saw Zac Efron’s (The Lucky One, 17 Again) name attached to it. But gratefully the story captured my attention by combining two of my favorite things: movies and theater. Zac played Richard Samuels, a boy who skipped a school day to venture into the heart of New York City and the lights of Broadway. As a 17 year old Mr. Efron was okay for this role, even with his somewhat thin acting abilities. I will cut him some slack here; since he, along with the majority of the cast, had to go up against a tour de force performance by Christian McKay (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Mr. Nice) as Orson Welles. I was riveted to my flat screen by Mr. McKay’s performance. The movie was set in the 1930’s when young Orson was opening up his Mercury Theater, with a modern version of Julius Caesar. There are thousands of stories about Mr. Welles’ ego and character; they all got played out with Christian’s amazing acting. He dominated every scene, every line, every actor; he even looked like the real Orson. Everyone was a pawn to this bombastic man, even Zac’s character who was hired on the spot to be in the opening night production. I will say Claire Danes (Stardust, Temple Grandin) did an admirable job playing Orson’s ambitious assistant, Sonja Jones. This was an excellent movie to watch; that combined my love of theater and movies into one decent production.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: La Mission
In the Latin community, so I have been told, the males need to be machismo, manly. I do not buy that, but I am aware that there is a strong focus on being a family. We can all assume that when a child is brought into this world, whatever their parents’ backgrounds, they will love their child unconditionally. If only that were really true. I have witnessed the horror of a child being kicked out of the house by their parents, because they announced they were gay. These parents only loved him as long as they believed he was straight. What made this situation worse was how the parents had nothing to do with him from that day on…until they found out years later how successful their son had become in the business world. Then all of a sudden they tried re-establishing a relationship with him. For these reasons, I was intrigued when I saw the trailer for this movie. In the mission district of San Francisco lived Che Rivera, played by Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality, Law & Order-TV). He was an ex-con, recovering alcoholic and a single dad. Respected by some, feared by others; Che’s world spun out of control when he discovered his son Jes, played by Jeremy Ray Valdez (Constantine, All She Can), was gay. Though this story can and has played out in many ways, I felt having the setting take place in a hyper masculine, Hispanic neighborhood gave the conflicts more intensity. Benjamin and Jeremy did a wonderful job of acting, in spite of several undeveloped scenes. Even if I had never known about my friend’s parents, I would have still found this dramatic film to be a truthful story. In my world, love is either an all or nothing proposition.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Brave
I do not have children; but if I had, my hope would be that I raised them to be free thinking, independent adults. My parents did, even if that was not their intentions. With that being the case, the story in this Pixar animated movie was a success. Princess Merida, voiced by Kelly MacDonald (No Country For Old Men, Nanny McPhee), was not going to grow up in the traditions of her mother Queen Elinor, voiced by Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Last Chance Harvey). Merida did not want her parents deciding who she could marry or how she should act. If only she could make her parents understand; the young princess was determined to break the traditions of her family. What I found different in this movie was the presence of a strong conflict between mother and daughter. In my opinion it was about time an animated movie dealt with deeper real life issues, yet still have the elements of a funny Disney movie. There was conflict, a challenge and a consequence; but for the broader audience, there were elements of humor, adventure and fantasy. It was like having a smorgasbord of emotions spread out for the viewer to sample. Visually this movie was stunning; the amount of detail was breathtaking. I was mesmerized by Merida’s beautiful, flaming red hair–it looked so real. Overall I felt the film had a split personality. There seemed to be a shift in focus that dulled the story for me, when the witch’s spell came into play. But like any relationship, one could not pick and chose the parts they liked. The entire movie experience for me was good, not great and I almost felt as if I had just been to Scotland.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Five Minutes of Heaven
The act of forgiveness has always been mercurial at best for me. When I was younger, if someone broke my trust or crossed me I would wipe them out of my life. Just like deleting data from a disk or setting fire to the film negatives of all the memories I had of them; I would never think about them again. These days I have had some success on being a forgiving person. Inspired by real life individuals, this Sundance Film Festival winning movie dealt with the powerful acts of forgiveness, redemption and revenge. Alistair Little joined the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) at a young age. The time was during the conflict in Northern Ireland and Alistair’s goal was to kill a Catholic. The victim’s little brother witnessed the whole murder. Fast forward to a peaceful time and the media came up with a marketing idea to have the younger brother and killer meet and shake hands as a true sign of peace in the country. It was from this point that this film really worked for me. The adult Alistair was played by Liam Neeson (The Grey, Wrath of the Titans) and the surviving brother Joe Griffen was played by James Nesbitt (Coriolanus, Match Point). These two men took the intense script and added a knock out emotional punch to it. Mr. Nesbitt was riveting as he dealt with his red hot anger for revenge. I was glued to my television screen as each man dealt with their demons and thoughts on meeting once again. There was one quick bloody scene in the beginning of this dramatic film.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Prometheus
Let me first state the obvious: This science fiction thriller is a prequel to the movie Alien, which starred Sigourney Weaver. The steady tension in this movie was similar to the previous one; it kept me captivated. Believing they found clues to the origin of mankind, a group of explorers traveled to a distant planet. Michael Fassbender (Shame, A Dangerous Method) was excellent as the android David, who had specific reasons for being part of the crew. Charlize Theron (Snow White and the Huntsman, The Italian Job) was steely good as Meredith Vickers, the crew’s captain. I was quite pleased Noomi Rapale (The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo Swedish franchise, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) did an excellent job as Elizabeth Shaw, the scientist who discovered the map that lead the explorers to their destination. Not only were the special effects excellent throughout this film; but I felt the visuals were works of art, they were beautiful. I only had wished the story was as good; parts of it made no sense to me. For example, the idea that one could get up and walk around right after having abdominal surgery with only staples closing the incision was ridiculous. To me it felt as if the special effects were thought of first, then the writers came up with the scenes to accompany them. Honestly, I left the movie theater a bit disappointed. It was like getting a beautifully wrapped birthday gift that you were excited to open, only to discover that you already had something just like it.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Hysteria
Women, for all these years how have you been able to put up with us men? Inspired by true events, this romantic comedy’s main story was about the development of a device that would be used to cure women from the medical condition called hysteria. Set in Victorian England, the young physician Mortimer Granville, played by Hugh Dancy (Our Idiot Brother, Adam), came upon the idea by chance. While holding his friend, played by Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Stardust), Edmund St. John-Smythe’s motorized feather duster; Mortimer came up with the device which was to become the forefather of the modern vibrator. With Dr. Robert Dalrymple, played by Jonathan Pryce (Tomorrow Never Dies, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise); the two men formed a successful partnership. However, one of Dr. Dalrymple’s daughters, Charlotte played by Maggie Gyllennaal (Crazy Heart, The Dark Knight), was skeptical of the whole concept. I thoroughly enjoyed Maggie’s character as she was a strong advocate for women’s rights. All the actors looked like they were enjoying themselves and came across the screen in a likable way. The majority of the audience was female who were hooting and laughing throughout the film. Make sure you stay for the credits, to see a timeline on the evolution of the vibrator. You may not walk out of the movie theater with the urge to light up a cigarette, but you easily will have a smile on your face.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Charlie Bartlett
It took me one week to realize there was a pecking order in high school. The first time in my music class, I was picked on for knowing about Ludwig van Beethoven. For Charlie Bartlett, played by Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy, Star Trek), it only took one day. Granted, wearing a blazer on the first day in your new school was similar to waving a red cape in front of a bull, in my opinion. After being expelled from several private schools, Charlie’s mother Marilyn Bartlett, played by Hope Davis (Real Steel, The Weather Man), had no choice but to enroll him in a public high school. Like anyone going into high school, Charlie just wanted to fit in and be one of the popular kids, not one of the untouchables. Striking an alliance with one of his tormentors, Charlie set up a little business in the boys restroom. He would listen to classmate’s issues similar to being in a confessional and dispense pharmaceutical drugs to them. With any successful business, it did not take long for Charlie to get on principal, played by Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes franchise), Nathan Gardner’s radar. This offbeat comedy displayed in a quirky way, the angst and trials of high school life. I thought the acting was well done especially from Robert Downey Jr. No matter where you placed on the pecking order in your school, this movie is sure to bring back some memories for you.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
With some hesitation, I went to the early showing of this animated movie. As I suspected, the theater was packed with parents and their children. Don’t get me wrong, I knew this movie time would attract more children then a late night showing. The talking, eating, fighting and crying of various kids did not wipe the smile off of my face, though. Granted the father seated behind me who left with his crying child within the first 30 minutes, was enough reason to smile as far as I was concerned. However, this humorous movie had enough jokes, sight gags and fun claymation to keep me entertained. I thought the comedy had a bit more sophistication to it, geared towards the adults in the audience. Possibly the wonderful visuals would be enough to entertain the younger ones. The Pirate Captain, voiced by Hugh Grant (Music and Lyrics, Love Actually), was determined to finally win the Pirate of the Year award. Setting sail to plunder unsuspecting sailing vessels, the Pirate Captain knew the competition was stiff with Cutlass Liz, voiced by Salma Hayek (Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) as one of the competitors. Both actors did an admirable job in their roles. For me, the stand out performance was from Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Harry Potter franchise) voicing Queen Victoria. The story, I felt, dragged out too long; but, I enjoyed just sitting and watching the beautiful art of claymation.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Appaloosa
What is it about the western movie genre that attracts a loyal following? My maternal grandmother loved them and both my parents were big fans for years. I think it is because there is a no-nonsense purity to them. They depict a time in our history where everything seemed to have a direct cause and effect mindset. For these reasons, that is why this movie worked well on several levels. The story began straightforward enough about a town hiring law men partners Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, played by Ed Harris (The Abyss, Pollock) and Viggo Mortensen ( A History of Violence, The Road) respectively, to protect itself from the menacing rancher Randall Brage, played by Jeremy Irons (Margin Call, Georgia O’Keefe). This was Mr. Harris’ project since he was director, actor and part of the writing team. He, along with Viggo’s fine acting, really made this movie worth watching; both were outstanding in their roles. In the hands of these two actors, the script was better than I thought it would have been with different actors. The two deputies found their job becoming complicated when Allison French, played by Renee Zellweger (Miss Potter, My One and Only) arrived in town. In spite of a few slow parts, I reckon this old fashioned western is worth renting, if nothing else to see the mighty fine acting.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
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