Category: Film Reviews

Lone Survivor Is A Testosterone Binge

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Movies2 Comments

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Earlier tonight, I was lucky enough to score a pass to see “Lone Survivor”. This is based on the true story of Mark Luttrell and the doomed Operation Red Wings. It is a testosterone binge because it is about Navy Seals and they are essentially walking bags of testosterone.

It features a stellar cast. Mark Wahlberg is the Lone Survivor of the group and turns in one of the best performances I’ve seen from him. Taylor Kitsch surprised with a depth not seen elsewhere in his back catalogue. He plays the Lieutenant who is the leader of the squad. His performance combines his proven action chops with a much more nuanced character than he is usually cast. Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster round out the team on the mountain.

Where this one shines is it’s portrayal of the bond between these men. They refer to each other as brothers and there is a palpable sense of that throughout. The more the situation deteriorates, the more intense the connection between them becomes. Given the title, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that not everyone goes home at the end. When the team starts suffering, you suffer vicariously along with them. When they start dying, even though you know it’s coming, it is still emotionally impactful. It is crafted well enough that in the time you spend with them, you come to share a small part of that bond.

When the team members are hurting, the audience grunts and groans along with them. Seeing them hurt is like seeing someone you know hurt. You feel their pain, and that is a testament to the creative team behind the camera as well as the people in front of it.

A quick caution here. The violence is brutal, direct and explicit. This one is nor for the squeamish. Other than that, if you’re in the mood for a fact-based action trip which is long on realism and short on flag-waving this one is definitely worth seeing.

Cheers, Winston

Last Vegas: Old Stars = New Laughs

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Media, Pop CultureLeave a comment

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Great news for me… Movie screening season is here again! We don’t get any in the summer, but now that it’s snowed here, the screeners are starting up again.

And what a start they are off to. My screening season kicked off with the new comedy “Last Vegas”. It stars Kevin Klein, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Robert DeNiro. Over the years I’ve enjoyed all of them in different movies. I can’t remember any I’ve enjoyed as much as “Last Vegas”.

All of them are in top form and play brilliantly with a sharp and witty script by Dan Fogelman. Director Jon Turteltaub wisely gives his stars room to do what they do best without seeming to crowd them or overwork them.

The story revolves around four men who have been friends for sixty years. They gather in Las Vegas for the wedding of one of their number to a much younger woman. It looks at issues of aging, loneliness, insecurity and the value of true friends. If that sounds preachy and maudlin, then I’ve misrepresented it. It’s also filled with lowbrow jokes and the type of razor sharp delivery that has made each of these men legends in the industry.

I haven’t laughed at any movie that much in years. It was absolutely hilarious! It is by turns sad, touching, comic and blends all of these ingredients brilliantly. The script like the ensemble cast is note perfect and perfectly balanced.

There’s no way I can tell you just how wonderful this movie was. You just have to see it for yourself.

Cheers, Winston

Rockin’ Robo Rampage… del Toro Nails It

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Movies, Pop CultureLeave a comment

I know I’m a little late to the gate, but I’ve just seen Pacific Rim and had to give it a quick review.

Awesome!

See, I told you it would be short.

Okay… Maybe a little more meat on the bone is needed. Freakin’ Awesome!

So now that I’ve had my fun, I’ll try to tell you why I think it’s so awesome.

Guillermo del Toro’s dna is all over this movie. It’s in the incredible creature design, the characters who inhabit the world and his unrivaled attention to detail.

Best explanation for giant monsters rampaging about in forever. I won’t spoil anything, just having a non-nuclear / environmental reason is pleasantly refreshing.

Despite the scale of the monsters v. robots fight scenes, the characters maintain their humanity. I would best describe them as two-dimensional stereotypes with depth. I realize that sounds strange, but allow me to clarify. They are definitely undeveloped and predictable, but they are so well written, directed and acted it creates the impression that you are getting more than you actually are.

Visually, Pacific Rim is staggering. The VFX are used to great effect to emphasize the sheer enormity of what is going on. Because del Toro is such a brilliantly visual artist, there is a consistently unified feel and internal logic to the designs of the film.

I really can’t say enough good things about Pacific Rim. It was a wild ride, and one I’m going to take again!

Cheers, Winston

World War Z… A Difference Of Scale

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Movies, Pop Culture, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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I was fortunate to recently receive passes to the screener for “World War Z”.  I’ve got to say, it was much better than I had feared.  It’s not a perfect movie, but then how many are?

I have a short list of favorite zombie movies.  “Shaun Of The Dead”, the original “Night Of The Living Dead” and of course “Zombieland”.  All of these offer small sections of the overall disaster.  Each focuses on just one group of survivors, usually in a localized geographic area.  You may get bits of news or hints about the rest of the world, but the focus is always right where the characters happen to be standing. Not so much with this one.

It starts with a family in a kitchen and within minutes, it expands to the city and shortly after that, the world. It puts the WORLD in “World War Z”. That is it’s greatest success. Sure it’s all Brad Pitt all the way through, but the blur of supporting characters adds to the sense of huge scale. As the hero goes globe-trotting in search of patient zero, the film retains its humanity with brief sat-phone calls to the family he left behind.

Brads’ UN researcher turns the activist motto on it’s head. Instead of thinking globally and acting locally, his focus on his family causes him to think locally but act globally. That reversal is the spring which drives the whole movie. He isn’t playing a hero or an anti-hero. The character is a guy thrust into an untenable position doing what he must for his family. It’s that personal, human touch that redeems what could have been just another slaughter fest.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’m going to stop here. My personal verdict. Definitely worth going out to the theater for.

Cheers, Winston

Do Your Parenting Yourself

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Media, Movies, Personal Responsibility, Pop Culture, Society1 Comment

Tim Winter, who is apparently the president of the grandly named “Parents Television Council” recently wrote an article for Fox News.com. In his article, Mr Winter decries the failure of the movie rating system. I almost agree with him. Almost.

I agree that you can’t base viewing decisions on something as vague as PG-13 rating. This is particularly true if you don’t understand the ratings system. In the article, he complains that “The King’s Speech” received a worse rating than “Drag Me To Hell”. Here’s the reason. Most people understand that “Drag Me To Hell” isn’t based on reality. It’s also a morality play. Bad things happen to the bad person. Ratings boards LOVE morality plays. They will put up with a lot of questionable content if there is a clear and simple moral lesson. In this case, the message is: don’t willfully hurt others to get ahead. Not to spoil the movie, but the main character does just that and the rest of the movie revolves around their punishment.

“The King’s Speech” on the other hand is based firmly in reality. It is about King George the fifth learning to overcome his stutter so that he could address his people via radio during World War Two. Because it’s a real story about real people, there are no easy moral lessons. During the movie the King s speech therapist has him use profanity as part of an exercise. Being real people, specifically the King of England, there is a much greater likelihood of impressionable people emulating the language. The great irony of course arises because I doubt if anyone of an impressionable age was likely to watch that particular movie. Nonetheless, that’s the thinking behind the ratings on the two movies.

He also complains about ratings creep. This is the tendency of ratings standards to become more lax over time. This is a very real phenomenon and reflects the cultural evolution within our society. Profanity, sexuality, and violence have become more prominent in society and it’s unrealistic to expect our entertainment and the standards to which it’s held not to evolve with it.

Ultimately, it’s up to the parents to teach their children about how to judge what they’re going to watch. In my case, this meant watching movies either before or with my daughter. I watched a lot of things I didn’t really want to, but it’s the commitment I made to her. It was my way of protecting her from the worst of what was out there and giving her the tools to make her own decisions instead of relying on the ratings on the box.

I guess my message is this…. Don’t let some stranger decide what’s right for your kids. Do your parenting yourself.

Cheers, Winston

“The HOBBIT” Rules!

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Loving Life, Media, Movies, Pop Culture, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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My friend Jason came through for me again. I told him I planned to go see “The HOBBIT” on my birthday next week and he called a friend and hooked me up with passes to the press screening last night. (Thanks again J, you ROCK!)

I don’t do spoilers, so I won’t give away any plot points. I will say that I had some concerns going in. Chief among them the question of how to expand a single (slim) book into three movies. Asuming that the next two are the equal of this one, the answer is: brilliantly…. for the most part. There were a couple of bits I wasn’t totally on side with, but not enough to spoil the overall experience.

The much hyped 3D / 48 frames per second technology rendered the trademark visuals just that much more luscious. New Zealand is still the most beautiful star in the film. The Weta teams, both virtual and physical are once again clearly at the top of their game. Overall production quality is still astonishingly high and one expects nothing less.

I won’t say any more on it until it has been in wide release for a while. Suffice to say, I plan to see it again while it is in theaters. Then begins the long wait for part two.

Long story short… The “HOBBIT” Rules!

Cheers, Winston

“Tintin” Review

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Personal, Pop Culture1 Comment

My friend Jason gave me screener passes to the new Tintin film as an early birthday present.  So bright and early this morning, Lynn and I dragged ourselves out of bed and headed off to the ten a.m. show.  It couldn’t have been more worthwhile.

I have been a been a fan of the iconic red-headed trouble magnet for years.  I suspect that Spielberg and Jackson have as well.  That is the only way they could have done such a fabulous job of interpreting it for the screen.

Going in, I was slightly worried.  These two industry giants are best known for massive blockbuster pictures and Tintin has never been a blockbuster character.  My worry was that he and Snowy (his loyal and absolutely adorable dog) might get lost in it all.  To their credit, that was never a concern.  No matter how impressive the location, or over the top the action the focus always stayed firmly on the characters and story.

The casting is similarly impeccable with Tintin played by Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock and Daniel Craig rounding out the main characters as the villainous Sakharin.  As note perfect as they were, I have to give a quick shout-out to one of my favorite comedy duos.  Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) play bumbling Interpol inspectors Thomson and Thompson.  They are in fine form and just added that extra touch to my enjoyment of this movie.

Visually stunning, well written and brilliantly played, Tintin stayed true to it’s source.  In my opinion a brilliant movie that could serve as a guide for a different sort of animated movie experience.  Sadly, it probably won’t.  Based on the quietness of the exiting crowd, I don’t expect it to get much box office.  As much as I loved it, much of the audience seemed indifferent to it.

The sequel is already in the works (surprise, surprise), set to be directed by co-producer Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings).  I’m not sure if this movie will grab enough audience to get the sequel green-lighted, but I certainly hope it does.  It’s a rarity these days.  A movie chasing the mainstream that isn’t just another cookie-cutter clone of the last big box office hit.

Here’s hoping it makes it!

Cheers, Winston

“Hugo” Is Brilliant, But Not For Kids

On By WinstonIn Film Reviews, Media, MoviesLeave a comment

Last night, I had the opportunity to see the new Martin Scorsese film “Hugo”.  I had no idea what the storyline was, only that a friend had scored passes for it and invited my family and I along.  I made a point of not looking it up so as to approach it with fresh eyes.  I’m very happy that I did.

Before I go any further, I have to say that I am not generally a Scorsese fan.  In fact, I generally dislike the mob/crime films for which he is perhaps best known.  Rather, I prefer his less mainstream works.  Until tonight, my favorite amongst his films was “The Aviator”.  It’s an incredible bio-pic covering the life and eventual downfall of Howard Hughes.  If you’ve never taken the time, I highly recommend it.

But enough about the past, on to the present.  Or in this case the further past.

Despite the look of the commercials, and despite the young leading characters, this is not a children’s movie.  There is nothing in it to terrorize children.  There are scenes of mild peril, but no graphic violence or nudity.  Indeed visually, it is about as family friendly as it gets.  It is in the last third of the movie that the young ones will lose interest.  About the time the film’s actual raison d’etre is revealed.

I won’t give it away, because I hate spoilers myself, but it didn’t go where I expected it to.  I have to say that I was greatly relieved by that.  I went in expecting another kids outwitting the adults to save the day movie.  What I ended up with was a well told story filled with interesting and fully developed characters.  The casting was absolutely brilliant.

What pleased me the most, was the casting of Chloe Grace Moretz in the role of Hugo’s friend Isabelle.  Given that the only films I had seen her in were “Kick-Ass” and “Let Me In”, I was concerned she would end up being type cast as an innocent looking killer.  Isabelle couldn’t be further from those previous outings and has provided her a vehicle to display a wider range than those emotionally stunted characters.

Asa Butterfield is outstanding in the title role, and it is a pleasure to watch his character’s evolution over the course of the film.  With Sir Christopher Lee, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Jude Law in supporting roles, there was no shortage of talent when the two young stars were off-screen.

As I said at the start, I won’t tell you what it’s about.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise.  I will tell you this however.  I don’t expect it to have a large box office past opening weekend, but I do expect it to receive a lot of nominations and maybe take home some hardware during the upcoming award season.

“Hugo” is a brilliant film, and one that will definitely end up on my shelf.  I hope you take a chance on it and enjoy it as much as I did.

Cheers, Winston