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Flash Movie Review: Fitzcarraldo
Look at the thousands of objects around us that sprung out of someone’s imaginative dream. I have been accused of being a big dreamer, except my dreams do not always have a basis in reality. Like that time I walked up into my attic and discovered a raccoon had eaten a large hole through the roof of my house. I stood staring at it and began imagining I could put glass blocks in the hole to create a skylight. Or a spiral staircase that would lead to a roof top deck. My daydreaming prevented me from seeing the raindrops that started to come through the opening. In this movie Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald aka Fitzcarraldo, played by Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre, The Little Drummer Girl), had a big dream. He wanted to build an opera house in the middle of the Amazon jungle. To do that, he had to amass a fortune and move a river boat over a small mountain. Fitzcarraldo was a bigger than life character, with an oversized determination. To start making his dream a reality; his girlfriend Molly, played by Claudia Cardinale (8 1/2, The Leopard), provided the funds to move Fitzcarraldo’s vision towards the real world. Besides the strange story, the other reason I wanted to see this movie was to see the great work of famed director Werner Herzog (Into the Abyss, Rescue Dawn), who was also the writer. His directing was fascinating to watch, from the over the top performance by Klaus Kinski to the way the scenes were set up and filmed; I found the movie captivating. The pacing was drawn out which at first bothered me; but as the story moved into the jungle, I found it brought an extra heaviness to the monumental tasks that laid before the crew and ship. If for nothing else, I appreciated the message that one should never give up on their dreams. For Fitzcarraldo, he wanted to bring Caruso to the jungle; for me, I wanted to have a skylight. German and Spanish with English subtitles.
3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Blood Diamond
The higher the value placed on objects, the more greed comes out in mankind, it seems to me. And the ones that suffer the most are the poor workers. At a time of escalating unstableness in Sierra Leone, conflict diamonds were being used to fund rebel forces. This startling film depicted the horrors people faced when forced to work in the diamond mines, as the wealthy power brokers sought out ways to gain even more strength for themselves. The story centered on a rare, raw diamond that could change the fortune of whoever had possession of it. Forcibly separated from his family; Solomon Vandy, played by Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, The Island), was the discoverer of this unusual diamond. Danny Archer, played by Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, J. Edgar) was the smuggler who saw an opportunity that could alter his life greatly, if he could only gain access to the incredible gem. With a shaky government, bloody warlords and conniving opportunistic businessmen, the level of greed was astounding to me. Leonardo was absolutely amazing in this role, even if I found the accent a bit odd. Matching in intensity, Djimon was such a strong presence, he filled out every scene he was in; it was a breathtaking performance. In a lessor role, I felt Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Hulk) as Maddy Bowen did an excellent job with the dialog she was given. This was not an easy movie to watch with scenes of bloody violence. However, with an incredulous story, along with the brilliant acting, there was no way I could look away. I was amazed how things of such beauty could elicit such ugliness in man.
3 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Into the Wild
Ultimately one must lead the life they choose for themselves, not the one someone has chosen for them. I remember years ago when I was between jobs, I received a great piece of advice: Do what you love and the money will follow. My mother always wanted me to be an accountant; yet, I knew I could never be one. The creative side of my mind would have shriveled up. Even when it comes to one’s personal tastes; do not let people impose their tastes on you. It is funny, no matter what length my hair was, my dad would always tell me to wear it differently. If it was long, he would tell me to cut it and if it was short, he would tell me to grow it out. It was maddening at times. Based on a true story; Chris McCandles, played by Emile Hirsch (Killer Joe, Speed Racer), had to live life the way he felt it was meant to be lived. Seeing the life his parents Billie and Walt McCandles, played by Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River, The Mist) and William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk, Vantage Point), were living; Chris did not want any part of it. After graduating from Emory University, Chris decided to get rid of his material possessions and hitchhike to Alaska, to live with nature. His journey would lead him to unexpected adventures. Written and directed by Sean Penn (Milk, 21 Grams), this was a stunning movie. Sean slowly brought out an amazing performance from Emile; both in acting and with the incredible physical transformation that took place. The supporting cast never felt out of place; they added shading to the adventures. Some viewers may think Chris McCandles was crazy to do what he did. I felt it was better to try something, even if it were to fail; than go through life wondering what would have happened, if I had only tried.
3 1/3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: ParaNorman
Imagine the possibility that there was something more to those people who had an imaginary friend as a child, or possibly as an adult. What if our imaginary friends were actual people from the past? I, for one, wish I could talk to deceased relatives or historic famous people; what an incredible opportunity it would be. Norman Babcock, voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, The Road), talks to dead people. His deceased grandmother, voiced by Elaine Stritch (Monster-in-Law, Autumn in New York), could be found seated on the family sofa knitting away, but only Norman could see her. It was this ability that made Norman stand out, but not in a good way. His schoolmates made fun of him, he had no friends; even his sister Courtney, voiced by Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, 50/50), considered him a nerd. Norman pretty much was a loner except to the dead people around him. I was immediately drawn to the story due to Norman being different and a loner, a kindred spirit. The tale was about whether Norman could prevent the destruction of his town by zombies, ghosts and a witch’s curse. I do not know if it had to do with the wonderful stop motion filming used for this exciting movie, but I enjoyed everything about it. From the quick humorous one-liners, to the great visuals; seeing this film was absolute fun. I believe an entire family would enjoy this creative movie, with the exception of very young children below the age of five. And for those of you, who still have imaginary friends, feel free to bring them along for a a wildly good time.
3 1 4/ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Expendables 2
Welcome to Madame Trudeau’s new interactive wax (or maybe plastic) action figures show. See them get up out of their seats, shoot a gun, light up a cigar and even say the wildest things; it will blow your mind. Can you count how many stunt doubles are in this movie? I was not expecting much when I went to see this action film. Not only was there an abundance of testosterone on the movie screen, there was a strong presence of it spread among the theater seats. In this sequel Barney Ross, played by Sylvester Stallone (Cop Land, Demolition Man) returns with his Botoxed band of buddies, along with a few extra surprises. At the start of the film, we see the group battling their way out of their latest job, with explosions and blazing gunfire. There was a constant stream of things blowing up and bullets flying throughout the adventures in the film. I noticed every bullet that struck a person created a spray of blood; it was almost cartoonish to me. The story centered on a job that went wrong. A member of the gang was needlessly killed by the sinister Vilain, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme (Universal Soldier, Double Impact). Yes, Jean-Claude was the bad guy in this film. And to his credit, it appeared he did his own leg kicks. Barney and his band were determined to get revenge. No matter how outnumbered they were or how unlikely the scenario, nothing would stop them. Adding extra muscle, Barney received help from Trench, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies, Last Action Hero). There was such campiness with Arnold on the scene. The script took liberties with some of the former action heroes’ famous lines, giving the viewer a smug, tongue-in-cheek pattering of dialog. This is the type of movie you would see if you just want total action, little plot and character development. A straight forward, simple story with aging movie stars trying to remain tough and young. It ain’t pretty. Scenes of blood and violence.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Inkheart
Based on the popular fantasy book trilogy, this story came to life in this fun movie. I actually read the book Inkheart and thought it was a wonderfully creative story. Only if you have read the book, would you be disappointed with this movie. But on the bright side; if you have not read the books, then you would be comfortable seeing this magical tale filled with action, drama and thrills. What made a big difference for me was the great cast. Brendan Fraser (Crash, Furry Vengeance) is the perfect go to guy for these types of roles–fatherly in a large teddy bear way with cartoonish facial expressions. Playing Mortimer aka Mo, he was believable as the gifted reader who could bring characters to life. Let me rephrase that: when Mo reads from a book, the characters really materialize in person. There is a down side to this special talent, however. Someone living in the current world has to take the story book character’s place. Mo with his daughter Meggie, played by Eliza Bennett (Nanny McPhee, Perfect Life) has been searching for the book he read years ago that trapped his wife into its story. With the addition of Paul Bettany (Margin Call, Legion) as Dustfinger and Helen Mirren (The Debt, The Last Station) as Elinor, the actors made this pleasant movie more exciting. I just wish the film had followed the book’s story better. Having said that, I would not have paid full price to see this film in the theaters; but on DVD, it was an enjoyable time.
2 1/3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy
I was most appreciative for the genetics lesson given by Dr. Marta Shearing, during this suspense movie. However, what I really could have used was an organizational chart for all the different top secret departments involved in this story. As you have heard from the movie trailers, Jason Bourne was not the only one; we are introduced to Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Avengers). It was fortunate the studio chose him for this role; another actor may not have been able to make the poorly written story palatable. The writers wove the previous movies’ story lines into this updated version. All I understood was the program that created Jason Bourne and Aaron Cross was under investigation. We first met Aaron out in the wilderness, in the middle of a survival test, unaware of the agency’s troubles. I understood this movie would be more of an introduction for us; however, there was too much of it. Instead of grabbing the viewer’s attention early on, the story plodded along until Cross and Dr. Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea, The Brothers Bloom) became the main focus. And lucky for us they were because both of them were strong actors that kept the story going forward. I expected to see more action than what finally came into play in the latter half of the movie. When there were fight scenes, they went by so quickly, I did not know if Aaron ever had a punch land on him. Planning a sequel was certainly on the minds of everyone involved with this film; I just wished they would have cut down on the introductions and given us a clearer, more exciting story.
2 2 /3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Jodhaa Akbar
A monumental love story with a rich historical pedigree, this extravagant movie covered a lot of ground–literally. As I was watching this film, my mind flashed with images of past conflicts that have taken place around the world. A common factor I found present was the clashing of two distinct religions. Each side tried imposing their culture on the opposing force. I do not understand the reasoning behind some religions sending out members in an attempt to convert individuals. Where does this mentality of “my religion is better than yours” come from? Set in the 16th century, the Mughal ruler Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, played by Hrithik Roshan (Luck by Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) formed an alliance with an opposing kingdom by agreeing to marry that ruler’s daughter. This was a radical idea due to the fact Akbar was Muslim and the princess was HIndu. Besides family members having their doubts, ministers of each court were leery of such an arrangement. How could Akbar make this marriage work with the strong willed Princess Jodhaa Bai, played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Bride & Prejudice, Endhiran)? The first 30 minutes of this saga was hard for me to get into; I could not figure out what was going on. But trust me, it will be worth your wait as the story came alive when the focus turned to Akbar. I discovered if I watched this movie with my western sensibilities, it came across as this over the top, melodramatic soap opera. With soaring music that would sweep into the scene, people breaking out into song and a cast of thousands filmed for maximum exposure; this was a big Bollywood production. Granted the fight scenes were a bit hokey, especially with the one to one combatants, where one could see punches missing their intended targets. In spite of the technical deficiencies; the movie bloomed with beautifully colored scenes and told a story about respectfulness, tolerance and one of the greatest loves in history. Brief scene with blood. Hindi/Urdu with English subtitles.
3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Ice Age: Continental Drift
With massive seismic activity, land masses splitting apart, deep chasms forming, homes being lost; you would think there would be enough excitement to last through this entire animated film. Unfortunately that was not the case in this latest installment of the movie franchise. When the ground splits open, ripping their homeland to pieces; Manny and his gang take off on a wild sea adventure. Voiced again by Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond-TV, The Lost Words), Manny captains an iceberg as he desperately tries to find his family. I found myself starting to doze off from the predictable and bland story. The jokes were less sophisticated, geared more towards kids. For a CGI movie it did not have the same visual impact that Madagascar 3 or Brave had on me. I will say this movie did have great character voices with Wanda Sykes (Evan Almighty, My Super Ex-Girlfriend) as Granny and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge, Righteous Kill) as Sid. A new character was Captain Gutt, voiced by Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones-TV, Death at a Funeral), who with his fellow pirates was determined to prevent Manny from returning to his family. If you have children and they want to see this film, then it would be appropriate for them. But as for the rest of us, maybe it is time this franchise became extinct.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man
The only thing I get when I walk up into my attic is cobwebs in my face. I wish one of the spiders living up there could give me a bite like the one Peter Parker received, that gave him his special abilities. This movie was one of the better ones that fall into the prequel/reboot category. Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) as Peter Parker/Spider-Man had the perfect blend of teenage angst mixed with new found cocky confidence. Real life girlfriend Emma Stone (Easy A, The Help) who I love, was perfect as his love interest, Gwen Stacy. The spider-man suit was no where to be found in the first hour of this action film and I did not feel as if I were missing out on something. We were shown more back story about Peter and his absent parents, leading to a clue that may explain their disappearance. When Peter’s body began to transform, the humorous scenes showing the changes were fun. I felt the pacing kept everything moving forward as the action increased when Spider-Man took to the streets. Great visuals and special effects were plentiful in this super movie. And with any of these type of super hero movies there has to be a villain; I thought the writers did a good job in the way the villain was introduced into the story. This certainly will be one of the best comic book summer movies this year along with The Avengers. Be sure to sit through the first set of credits.
3 1/3 stars
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