The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire.   What mostly stood out for me is the very visceral and surreal beauty in the cinematography and detail of the Roaring 20's era.  Obviously, there was a lot of money spent on the production and the lead characters do a decent enough job.  Overall, that's about all I can say, as there was nothing exactly jutting out at me, except for the exceptional performances in Mulligan as Daisy and Joel Edgerton as her husband Tom.  Maguire, though a good actor, is just being his usual wide-eyed self essentially serving as the audience's witness and narrator to the enigmatic Gatsby and Daisy.  DiCaprio is now notorious for these type of roles, whether they are classic, period, etc. What I didn't like was how the lush production value overwhelmed the actual heart of the story, including brief soundtrack insertions by Jay Z. 

Pain & Gain

You would think that a crime drama based on real life events starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, and Ed Harris; and directed by Michael Bay would at the very least be watchable.   The bizarre crime spree of 3 bodybuilders and a host of other accomplices is turned into a black comedy-drama that doesn't work on any level.  This is one film that I was sadly unable to even finish.  It didn't even satisfy on a cheap level. What little humor I saw was barely palatable, and there was not enough interesting character development, star charisma, or chemistry to push the story along.  I don't know why the fuck they even made this movie, less it was just a chance for these stars to work together, get jacked in the gym, have fun in their criminal portrayal, and.... Hey, wait a minute.   I get it now.  This is sort of like Wahlberg's film The Big Hit fifteen years ago, a testosterone injected cast with stylized action and humor.  No, shit wait again. That was at least actually entertaining and watchable and enjoyable on certain levels.  On the surface, Pain & Gain would understandably have some sort of interest and certainly it did on the initial box office draw.  But for me, it was just pain and no gain.  Normally, one would say save your money.  In this case, save your free time.

Snitch

Snitch stars Dwayne Johnson and from the cover, trailer, and typical filmography of Johnson, one may easily think that it's just another typical action movie.  But you couldn't be further from the truth.  That's not to say that it doesn't contain it's fair share of action.  It does, but it's very appropriate action to the story.  But more importantly, it's a crime drama about a father willing to put his life at risk by going undercover to save his son from an unfair drug sentence.  That rather unbelievable premise being my only critique, is quickly disseminated by the rest of the compelling story and performances.  A modest exploration and commentary into the world of drug smuggling and the current legal policy in the U.S., also lend it a certain authentic weight. That said, it's surprisingly good and Johnson gives an honest performance that calls on more than just good looks and muscles for a change.  So, if you prefer it's an "action" movie with substance and authenticity, not unlike Mark Walhberg's Contraband that harks back to this recent and refreshing trend of action movies driven by character and story while minimizing or eliminating special effects, cgi, and other Hollywood gimicks.  Further supplementing the solidity of Snitch, are excellent performances in the supporting cast that include Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, and Michael Kenneth Williams. 

The Butler

A surefire Oscar contender this year in numerous categories is Lee Daniel's The Butler, a movie that chronicles the life of African-American Presidential butler Cecil Allen (played superbly by Forest Whitaker) and inspired from the real life of Eugene Allen.  I knew this film would be good, but wasn't expecting just how much. It is a genuinely authentic and instant American classic that I believe is garnished with pure unapologetic truth and humility from all of the outstanding participants. What is truly remarkable about the film is that with a greatly talented all-star ensemble of actors in Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey (whose acting ability has developed immensely), David Oyelowo, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jane Fonda, Liev Schreiber, and Alan Rickman among a who's who of many other notable performers; the immense star power of talent that is contained in The Butler never take away from the focus of the film's powerful story.  From the Eisenhower administration in the backdrop of the Jim Crow and emerging Civil Rights era  to the present Obama administration where racial inequality is still being carried out, the life of Cecil Allen is a story for every American of every generation to not forget where we come from, the tragic cost and sacrifices ensued , and the present day honesty or denial that fault us all in acknowledging and overcoming ourselves.  I give immense credit to director Lee Daniels and writer Danny Strong for doing an exceptionally well job at conveying the important theme of how the life of a Black domestic was just as relevant and noteworthy in the fight for civil rights, as anything from seemingly more pro-active figures like a Black Panther militant, peaceful protester, social activist, congressman, or even a President.  In addition, all of that is magnificently balanced by just the right amount of converging storylines and relevantly, well developed supporting characters, and humour to offset the thematic weight.

A Good Day To Die Hard

Recently, I went to imdb and saw the possibility of another Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis scheduled for 2015 with the title of Die Hardest and I thought to myself, "What the fuck!  Are they really going to resurrect John McClane's ass again after this fiasco of a movie?"  Seriously though,  there is no really good day or night to watch A Good Day To Die Hard.  This time, John McClaine goes to Russia to help out his estranged son (Jai Courtney) who's on trial for murder.  Oh and he didn't know his son was in the CIA and so becomes part of a plot with his son to stop a political nuclear weapons bla bla bla thing.  This film lost me from the very beginning, as it was soo unbelievably implausible as to why McClane would go to Russia and what the fuck was he gonna do there.  Shoot and blow shit up to get his son out of jail?  Oh, my bad, someone already basically does that for him unintentionally.  How convenient for McClane and so now we can finally have him driving, shooting, and tearing his way through the streets of Moscow.  Yeah, he's back at home now folks.  From there, it just gets worse as John Sr. and Jr.  go after the Russian bad guys while repairing their relationship.  There is no sense of urgency to this limp film and Willis' limp performance is just as annoying as the badly played Russian villains. There is better character development , plot believability, and enjoyment in a 1st person shooter video game.  That 92 million dollar budget could have been put to better use and seems like a financial crime.

The Last Stand

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as an aging sheriff of a small town, that just happens to serve as the last destination point before crossing Mexico for a most wanted and recently escaped fugitive drug lord played by Eduardo Noriega.  I have to be honest here.  I naturally wasn't expecting a lot from this movie given that it was the return of Schwarzenegger as a lead actor after his notorious family scandal.  But I give this movie credit for playing it very smart and being surprisingly enjoyable.  I mean it's wise, for instance to pepper The Last Stand with a fairly talented cast in the humor of Johnny Knoxville,  the dramatic gravity of Forest Whitaker, and the outrageous villany of Peter Stormare.    Then add to the recipe for the first half of the movie generally without focusing on Schwarzenegger's character (this is a very good thing), action plot sequences that greatly mirror the recent success of the Fast and Furious movies.  Finally, stir carefully resisting the urge to abundantly dip the dialogue with generic action movie one liners, and let Schwarzenegger finish the film by doing his best version of a still tough squinty-eyed Clint Eastwood.  Of course, by this time, you really don't care about the increasingly washed over illogic of the plot.  It's just good  action entertainment which is something Bruce Willis and company should have learned better when they made A Good Day To Die Hard.

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.