Alex Cross

I have to admit I thought this film was going to be so so bad, but for Tyler Perry's first run at playing the lead in an entirely new genre for him, it was a bit north of ok.   Of course, it was substantially helped out by having a pretty decent story that wasn't so predictable and having a greatly needed and talented supporting cast.  As a Detroiter, I also give them credit for setting and shooting it here.  The problem with Alex Cross, however, does seem to come from Tyler's attachment to it, as in all fairness he is no Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington.  As a result and perhaps a bit unfairly, such an important James Patterson character adapted to film so successfully a decade ago and reprised by Perry, seems to already have a built in auto destruct at least in immediate thought.    It is the scrutiny that I also share even after viewing Alex Cross, especially at the very real possibility of another Patterson film with Tyler as the lead.

Parker

Jason Statham plays a thief  Parker with a code of integrity who's double crossed  and left for dead by his partners in crime for declining his participation into their next heist.  With the help of a real estate agent played by Jennifer Lopez, he goes after the bad guys.  Not much imagination here and certainly no stretch for Statham. I like Jason Statham, even knowing that his films aren't always the best of the action genre.  But Parker certainly falls very short of my already meager expectations here.  First off, the story is dull from the start and the other actors themselves seem to exude that in their performance.  Secondly, and probably more importantly, Jennifer Lopez should never have been inserted in this film.  A bored and nearly broke real estate agent living at home with her mother and yearning for some new excitement meets the exciting outlaw in Statham and is immediately intrigued.  I didn't buy it, there was no chemistry, and (spoiler alert) there was not even consummation between the two.  The latter was probably a good thing on second thought.  I suppose they were going to try and use Lopez to insert a sort of starry eyed romantic comedy sort of thing to a Statham film, but it doesn't work for the aforementioned reasons.  I mean, if I was bored from the beginning and then you have all this lag time before the romantic comedy genre crashes horribly into a substandard action film, it isn't very long before your waiting for this film to just fucking end.  I couldn't even bring myself to look at the special features on the dvd, namely the one titled "Who is Parker".  I'll tell you who Parker is.  He's the same guy as he was in the Transporter, Snatch, Crank, etc. but this time stuck on a dvd featurette that makes for a better drink coaster.

Argo

Argo is the true story of CIA operative Mendez and his plan to rescue 6 American embassy staffers hiding out in a hostile Iran.  In a nutshell, the movie is good.  Director and actor Ben Affleck does a very good job in this.   What really makes this movie excel is not just the incredulous story, but how Affleck manages to effectively capture and pace the film in a way that left me on the edge of my seat.  It's a solid film, but I must admit that after hearing much about this and with its many accolades,  I was expecting something a bit more spectacular.

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths is a wild ride for sure. Starring a great cast in Collin Farrel, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson,  and Sam Rockwell, it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh of In Bruges fame.  Writer Marty endeavors to write a book about psychopaths along with the persistent help of  best friend Billy.  Wildly chaotic with black humor and inspired delusional storytelling make this film a great ride for the viewer.  The mix of witty dialogue, great acting, and unexpected heart complete the film very nicely.  It's a film seemingly going nowhere, but cleverly taking you everywhere. 

Superpower

Whether you scrutinize the whole world of conspiracy theory or not, if you live in the United States and don't recognize the very real blemishes that we have as a country and how it has and continues to affect us today, shame on you. Superpower is a documentary that explores many of those blemishes and invites us to suspend our American exceptionalism, think, look back at history, and then examine our current state as it relates to our military industrial complex.  Told via interviews with various historians, political leaders, ex-military, and authors; the documentary is compelling at forcing us to look honesty within at our previous and present role as a world superpower and the cost we pay to maintain it.

Flight

Flight is a 2012 film starring Denzel Washington as an airline pilot, who happened to miraculously end up saving the lives of the majority of the passengers and crew.  But as a result of the inevitable fame, comes an investigation that reveals his alcoholism.  This is a very, very good film, most notably in the acting ability of Denzel Washington.  I believe that it is definitely one of the best roles he's ever done, so realistic and compelling is his performance.  The supporting cast is also great, but it is Denzel's journey as pilot Whip Whitaker that is at the heart of the film.  What also makes it great, is that it is also a social commentary on how we as a country treat celebrity/heroes and how we all "function" in a drug culture.

Red Dawn

When the North Koreans invade Spokane, Washington, it's up to a group of teenagers led by ex U.S. Marine Jed (Chris Hemsworth) to take a stand.  Yeah.  Well in case you didn't know, Red Dawn is a remake of the 1984 film of the same title starring Patrick Swayze.  Unfortunately, it's not a remake in believability, acting charisma or talent, or any of the appeal that made the original good.  First, off it doesn't do a very good job of adequately establishing how (even tactically) and why the North Koreans would be invading America in such a grand manner.  If you've stomached through that implausible shit and gotten to the point of where the North Koreans have actually taken over the town, you'll find much more implausibility in these hunky-dory American teenagers all of a sudden learning how to fight a sophisticated guerrilla style war against a more sophisticated airmobile world army; oh and again led by (spoiler alert) an eventually martyred "Captain America" who in the short duration has to somehow impart growing up and being brave to his annoying younger brother Matt (Josh Peck) and the rest of the small-town scrubs who eventually become the infamous Wolverines militia with such an unrealistically  high reputation.   Throughout, I couldn't help but ask where everyone else was, like the fucking American military, the other adults to help them, and even more support for the North Koreans hunkered down in that town.  Eventually, the Wolverines run into 3 real Marines fighting the Koreans behind the enemy lines, who laughably seem so shocked and in awe of the group's reputation, as deep gaps in story logic allow them to perform professional clandestine operations with the Marines.  Just like the performances, everything in Red Dawn felt so small and unbelievably anemic like a bad tv show. This movie quickly degenerates and is akin to an after school kids special that was just impossible to even care about, as it lacked any sense of real urgency.  Red Dawn should not have even gotten to the show and was a waste of my time with it's corny, pretentious, homogenized patriotism.  That's the bottom line.  These days, I really abhor remakes done too soon; and more importantly, remade worse.

Killing Them Softly

All set to write a piece on one of James Gandolfini's last film projects Killing Them Softly after viewing it last night, I wake up today and turn on the news and learn of his passing at the age of 51.  First off, a moment of sadness, respect, and deep admiration for one of the best character actors of his generation and acclaimed television stars who I believe truly changed the "game" in his role as Tony Soprano.  That being said, he was no less effective in this role, portraying the wore out boozing hitman Mickey, subcontracted by fellow hitman Pitt to help eliminate the robbers of a high stakes card game.   The movie is interesting for sure in it's caper premise, laced throughout with black humor and showcasing the current American political-economic overtones of the day and how they also permeate the criminal community.  We're meant to see the parallels within this world and how it is in essence no different in many ways to how banks, government, businesses, and people in general restructure and respond to an economic crisis.  But what made Killing them Softly really stand out for me, are it's strong dialogue and cast performance.   Many movies aren't often made this way anymore, especially in a criminal drama where in this case dialogue moves the film along and takes center stage to comparatively little to no action.

The Grandmaster

When I first started this blog nearly a year ago, my very first post was in reference to really wanting to see this movie.  Wong Kar Wai fans are no strangers to extensively waiting on his cinematic masterpieces to finally emerge and in reference to my last post of feeling very confident in that assertion, I found out that I wasn't wrong.  Where to even begin here is the only real dilemma I have.  First off, a biopic about the life of Bruce Lee's Master from a director known more for his artsy melodramatic films, is a challenging enough prospect.  Adding to that are the other recent and competing series of movies about Yip Man, including the successful Ip Man films of Donnie Yen.  Well, The Grandmaster is all that and then some.  Wong Kar Wai fans should love it, as it is on par or better with the best of his other films.  It is a visual masterpiece in cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd with an equally impressive soundtrack in the recurring collaboration of composer Shigeru Umebayashi of In The Mood For Love fame. The tale of Yip Man's life as viewed in a series of dramatic flashbacks is powerful, albeit I concede, sometimes at the expense of being confusing and getting far away from the prime character (more on that to follow).  Also, there are so many parallels and references to Kar Wai's other films, that at times, it was deja-vu like; especially in the melancholic longing and regret relationship of Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi's characters already prevalently seen in Kar Wai's  2046.  I'm obviously a bit too biased in favor of Kar Wai films, but I suppose that too much Kar Wai heavy handedness could be a turn off to the average person wanting to just see a typical martial arts movie.  But I would argue that The Grandmaster is more than just a martial arts film or even a  more truer martial arts film than most.  Martial arts is simultaneously a backdrop to the story and the most important point to the narrative. In making this movie, what I really appreciate more than just the aforementioned characteristic style of a Kar Wai movie, is how as the writer he really did the historical research and stayed true to the deeper themes of the martial arts.  That tumultuous time period in the early part of the 20th century in Chinese history caused a lot of shifts that affected the martial arts in permanent ways.  The rivalry of martial artist in the north and south or the battle of internal and external arts, is not always shown so effectively.  That was the "golden age" of Chinese martial arts, prior to changes in the government suppressing and eliminating them.  For me personally, that was indeed one of the best things about watching The Grandmaster.  That authentic look and feel of the period so well displayed with all it's martial diversities being shaken around by the chaotic historical realities of the time, was brewing with martial art stories.  Not many martial art films can authentically showcase a comparatively simple southern style like Wing Chun against more sophisticated, internal styles like Bagua or Hsing-I to help impart the worthy trait of Yip Man.  Sure, the Ip Man movies may have had the martial expertise of  Donnie Yen and choreographer Sammo Hung.  But the extensive training of actor Tony Leung, the always masterful choreography of Yuen Woo-Ping, the cinematography of Le Sourd, and the well invested research of Kar Wai make The Grandmaster more than distinct enough on its own in stylistic aesthetics and authenticity.  Where else could you find such a symbolically relevant and awesome display of Zhan Ziyi's character displaying the bagua circle walk in a northern snowfield?  The texture and atmosphere of all the settings from the rain soaked streets of Foshan to the seedy glamour of the Golden Pavilion, is just as rich as the dialogue throughout. Kar Wai is great at summarizing key parts of the story beautifully through these wonderfully constructed montages of artistic images, subtley framed gestures, and music to emote the passage of events in time. It should also be noted that this movie, arguably for better or worse, does not exclusively celebrate the life of Yip Man.  Kar Wai seems to go out of his way whether intentional or not to pay equal homage to all the old school martial arts masters of that era.  Perhaps, that's also why the movie falls under the title of The Grandmasters. I certainly don't fault him for that, as it could be argued that the film is only guilty of being overly zealous in the themes of higher martial arts.  As I mentioned before, other films have captured moments of authentic martial arts in theme, historical meaning, and display as well, but relatively few martial art films come close to the overall cinematic density that is The Grandmaster.  A Kar Wai film to it's credit usually demands repeated viewings to really see the rich tapestry that is woven throughout and this one is no different.  After reading that the original cut was nearly 4 hours long, I only wish that a longer cut was available instead of being edited down to 120 and 130 minute versions.  After purchasing the Chinese dvd, it looks like I'll still need to view the Weinstein edition whenever it drops, which will more than likely have a richer picture quality, a behind the scenes feature or two, and a more accurate subtitle translation.  With that in brief being said, The Grandmaster(s) is indeed grand.

In Anticipation of "The Grandmaster"

One thing about director Wong Kar Wai, is that he makes you wait and wait as he delays and delays his brilliantly poetic films.  Well, the wait is over, as I just had to order my dvd copy of The Grandmaster yesterday, as soon as I knew it was available.  Harvey Weinstein and his American distribution will take their time about releasing it directly in the States and may do some unnecessary choppy chop on this art piece.  I say "art piece" with great confidence, not just because I'm a huge fan of China's equivalent to the team Scorsese and Deniro in director  Kar Wai and lead actor Tony Leung, but because the trailer variations and opening 30 minutes that I couldn't help but take a peak at online, are instant marvels of cinematography on par with classic visual martial art works of art like Kar Wai's classic Ashes of Time and nodding to Zhang Yimou's  Hero.  In addition, the higher internal level and historical elements of the various southern and northern martial, seemed to be justly represented and explored; which to me is exquisitely interesting in any martial arts film.

In the meantime, check out Tony Leung who's been training for the role since 2007 in this clip.

Silver Linings Playbook

This was an awesome and compelling movie with a great cast. Bradley Cooper was very good and Jennifer Lawrence was outstanding, especially considering how young she is.  It's a film about mental illness told with great warmth, humor, and humanity.  More importantly for me, it's a film that really speaks about the restorative power of love for those struggling with it.  

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is Peter Jackson's first in a series of  three part prequels to the LOR movies.  Of course there are a lot of expectations to this film and for the most part, it is delivered.  In addition to having a great director, an excellent story, cinematography, and a talented cast in newcomers Martin Freeman and Richard Armistice,  viewing the beautiful and scenic backdrop of New Zealand alone, is worth the nearly three hour running time. So let me get to the main detractors.  If anything, it takes a while to get the story really going, which is understandable considering the LOR sequels were/are very much, the successful shadows to resurrecting its orgin story.  Once it does get going though, Jackson is obviously back at the helm in brilliantly moving the adventure along to a point where it becomes rather hard to distinguish this earlier adventure from being mistaken for just another LOR film.  Another similar point I would makes, though not as strongly, would be that the main ensemble of characters especially the protagonist were slightly lacking in the kind of diverse cohesion that successfully help drive the plots of the LOR series.   So my main criticism would be that despite or because of the nearly predictable nature of this film, that simultaneously helps in audience familiarity (though I grew up watching the Hobbit as a kid) and hurts in so far as originality; what ends up suffering the most is the overall momentum slightly lagging to take the audience to the second film.  However, all in all, this was the start of a great movie trilogy that generally only and perhaps unfairly suffers from ironically being judged by it's already successful sequel in LOR.  Nonetheless, Peter Jackson has done it again in carefully covering the main bases and holding to the integrity of the story.