Elysium
In the year 2154, there exists two "worlds", our Earth (still hot, flat and crowded) and Elysium which is the ultimate bedroom community, just a 20 minute shuttle ride from Earth. On Elysium, it is like Stepford, with golf courses, nice houses, no crime and these neat Med Pods, which you put yourself into and get healed of whatever ails you.
Needless to say there is some dissension between the inhabitants of these two worlds and Elysium does a good job of keeping out the undesirables. Jodie Foster plays the Dick Cheney of Elysium, the Vice President who tells the President what to do. Matt Damon is a loveable loser on Earth, working a factory job. When he suffers a "health mishap", he become desperate to get to Elysium for healing. To patch himself up, he gets outfitted with an exoskeleton courtesy of his Q, Spider. Did I say Spider Man?
Directed by Neill Blomkquist of South Africa, we have graphic reminders of not only apartheid South Africa but also the gaps between the haves and have-nots in our world. The military shuttles of Elysium are painted with Springboks and what appear to be Republic of South Africa flags.
The real star of the show is Sharlto Copley who plays Kruger, the enforcer against the Earthlings. Looks bad, acts bad and sounds... great! What an accent! He's a bad dude and is a good villain against Matt Damon.
The dystopian future takes a new twist with the version of Elysium. It certainly sounds plausible which makes this a cross between futurism and science fiction. Lots of nods to Total Recall as well as Iron Man. In the end, the movie can't decide if it is a dark future movie or new action hero. It works best as the dark future movie.
* * * of 4
Needless to say there is some dissension between the inhabitants of these two worlds and Elysium does a good job of keeping out the undesirables. Jodie Foster plays the Dick Cheney of Elysium, the Vice President who tells the President what to do. Matt Damon is a loveable loser on Earth, working a factory job. When he suffers a "health mishap", he become desperate to get to Elysium for healing. To patch himself up, he gets outfitted with an exoskeleton courtesy of his Q, Spider. Did I say Spider Man?
Directed by Neill Blomkquist of South Africa, we have graphic reminders of not only apartheid South Africa but also the gaps between the haves and have-nots in our world. The military shuttles of Elysium are painted with Springboks and what appear to be Republic of South Africa flags.
The real star of the show is Sharlto Copley who plays Kruger, the enforcer against the Earthlings. Looks bad, acts bad and sounds... great! What an accent! He's a bad dude and is a good villain against Matt Damon.
The dystopian future takes a new twist with the version of Elysium. It certainly sounds plausible which makes this a cross between futurism and science fiction. Lots of nods to Total Recall as well as Iron Man. In the end, the movie can't decide if it is a dark future movie or new action hero. It works best as the dark future movie.
* * * of 4
American Hustle - opens Dec. 25
Starts December 25 - starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Directed by David O. Russell.
Sounds like a good follow-up to Silver Linings Playbook
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/exclusive-look-american-hustle-011836837.html?vp=1
Sounds like a good follow-up to Silver Linings Playbook
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/exclusive-look-american-hustle-011836837.html?vp=1
The Conjuring
I had heard this was a "true story" along the lines of the Amityville Horror. When I was in the 8th grade, I recall reading the book and it was one you couldn't put down. At one point I was pretty scared and noticed that it was 2 a.m. and I was the only one up in the house. Good thing there were no ghosts in that house.
In The Conjuring, the house (set) just looks like it was custom-made for ghosts. Why anyone would live there is beyond me. I kept hoping for an interesting plot twist like in Cabin in the Woods but alas none was coming.
I read recently that humans are instinctively scared of loud noises and that is used to good effect in this movie. The clapping is used with good effect. I was glad that I was in a theater of other people rather than poking around a dark cellar. Why do people do that?
The Amityville angle is kind of like in the book - there's a place in the house where bad things happened. And they throw in a rip-off of the Exorcist. I'd hoped they would add a religious angle to it but... this is Hollywood. That would have helped a lot.
* * of 4
In The Conjuring, the house (set) just looks like it was custom-made for ghosts. Why anyone would live there is beyond me. I kept hoping for an interesting plot twist like in Cabin in the Woods but alas none was coming.
I read recently that humans are instinctively scared of loud noises and that is used to good effect in this movie. The clapping is used with good effect. I was glad that I was in a theater of other people rather than poking around a dark cellar. Why do people do that?
The Amityville angle is kind of like in the book - there's a place in the house where bad things happened. And they throw in a rip-off of the Exorcist. I'd hoped they would add a religious angle to it but... this is Hollywood. That would have helped a lot.
* * of 4
Grown Ups 2
This is the first Adam Sandler movie that is a
sequel. Unless you consider that
basically every movie he’s every done is a sequel of a Man-child (Billy
Madison) with a beautiful wife/girlfriend (Just Go With It) and his goofy
friends (Steve Buscemi and Allen Covert) in a Northern town (Mr. Deeds) seeking
to relive their youth (Grown Ups). Don’t
fix it if it ain’t broke is his motto.
Our hero finds himself just a few months after moving
back to his hometown basically doing what a Man-child does: not much, hanging around K-Mart, walking
around town, hanging out with his friends and their parents.
The other Men-children are along for the ride: Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade. The movie gets slow to start then the second
half is filling with a ridiculously –themed 80s party (Wedding Singer).
Something to see if you’ve got not much else going on
this summer.
** of 4
Only God Forgives - opens 7/19
By the team that brought you Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling - this one set in Bangkok
The Lone Ranger
It's tough to take a genre like the American Western and reinvent it. So much history and so little room for imagination. The Lone Ranger does a pretty good job of it. $225 Million in special effects wtih ILM helps a lot.
The movie is told a flashback by Tonto who is in a diorama straight out of A Night at the Museum. A boy (a real live Woody) asks "I thought the Lone Ranger was a good guy". And so the story starts with a meet-cute on a speeding train between Tonto (Johnny Depp) and John Cane (Armie Hammer).
To its credit/detriment, there are many nods to the John Ford era of The Searchers, including being smack-dab in the middle of Monument Valley. The Indian Raids are taking a toll on the white settlers. A posse must be formed. They walk right into the valley next to a mountain....
And the fun begins. The evil villian must be tamed by a superhero. Quick, put on this mask! Disney tries hard to make the Lone Ranger a western Batman but with mixed results. The monologue-ing, the unwillingness to kill, the secret identity, it just does not quite translate to the anything goes era of westward expansion, Indian removal, gunfighting and carousing. So no deeper meanings here
This one is all about the special effects and the fast pace which make for a good ride. In fact, the next Disney ride into the cave is already previewed here. Look for it soon in Orlando.
* * * of 4
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