Olympus Has Fallen

Strangely, there are currently two movies out about terrorists attacking and taking over the White House.  Forget the one with the easiest name to remember, White House Down.  It is stupid and badly done.  But RUN out and see Olympus Has Fallen!

I'm no spoiler, but you can guess what happens:  Very evil dudes take over the president's residence, and good guys come to the rescue and get it back.

Here's the kicker:  In the movie called Olympus, the taking of the White House is so damn realistic it will make your hair stand on end!

Right, I'm talking about the way the bad guys assault and dominate the White House.  You might expect to say, hey, as usual, I'll have to suspend my disbelief about how terrorists grab the most famous house in the land.  After all, aren't there a gazilliion agents and military folks guarding the White House?

Yes indeed!  But that does not mean that it is impossible to take it over.

How?  Haha...  For you to imagine, dear viewers!

Got your attention?

Great acting and a solid script enhance the realism of the movie.  Aaron Eckhardt is perfect as the President.  Gerard Butler is a man's man as the hero who fights the baddies.  And Rick Yune is scary as the cool-headed terrorist.  Don't forget about Morgan Freeman as the Acting President.

All in all, it's a fantastic ride!  Super action.  Most of all, believable.

If I were in charge of White House security and went to see this film, I'd have trouble sleeping at night!

Enjoy.

World War Z (WWZ)

Hi movie fans!

Check out the wonderful picture above.  That would be your favorite star, ladies, Brad Pitt, with his wife nearby and yes, a zombie with a knife in the back seat!

Does that whet your appetite?  If not, it sure whets the zombie's appetite! Haha.

I'm a zombie film lover, so I must admit to some bias before I offer my two cents on this delightful romp.  I find The Walking Dead series on TV absolutely captivating in its action and symbolism, and I watch almost every film made on the zombie theme.  OK, I confess: I'm weird when it comes to this genre!

WWZ?  A fine classic among this cult.  What makes it so good?

First off, the actors. Mireille Enos, the hero of the TV series The Killing, has a hauntingly beautiful face that expresses worry and angst every time she smilles. She is good!  Opposite her is none other than Brad himself.

In my mind, Mr. Pitt has gotten a bum rap, because the ladies go for him due to his looks.  Fact is, he's a damn fine actor. From the day he leaped into the libidos of the ladies in his role as the hitchhiker in Thelma and Louise, to the wonderful work he did in 12 Monkeys, to so many other portraits, Brad can really act!

Second positive point, the action.  Wow!  I will never spoil a movie for viewers, but these zombies are scary!  See, they don't just drag their feet like your standard zombie.  They run!  And fast!  In one of the most imaginative scenes ever, the undead, as they are called, scale a wall like ants!  Amazing!

Third, the story sort of works.  I can't give it away, but there's a strong plot line having to do with epidemiology.  How did the zombies get the disease?  Why does it spread?  How can it be stopped?

Of course, the film does not challenge us mentally.  It's all for entertainment.  So if you're in the mood for some lighthearted action, and lots of super film effects, get out and see this one!

Don't get eaten on the way!

Quartet

Critics raved about this movie.  Everyone told me to run out and see it.  I finally got to it on pay-per-view, and sorry, folks, it was just not my cup of tea.

Of course, I've never really enjoyed films that go into nursing homes and try to charm us.  Is there anything truly charming about these places?  Someday there, perhaps, go I.  Yeah, folks, it's the truth.  We might all be there.  Do you want to ponder that?

Don't get me wrong.  The elderly can be affable and interesting.  But if I am going to visit a home, I'll go see a family member, thank you.

No spoiler, because it's fairly clear from the cover and the hype what the movie is about: a special home exists for the formerly musically talented.  Is there such a place in reality?  I doubt it.  But go figure.  Hollywood wants a bit of suspension of disbelief.

I'm okay with the premise.  I'm not okay with the story.  All these talented folks must re-kindle their fire and get back in touch with their musical selves.  After all, they were once so great.  So, will they succeed?

Who cares?

The big issue is that these poor folks are old.  There's no getting around that.  And getting old is sad.  Sure, it takes a positive attitude in those twilight years to keep on truckin'.  As the saying goes, getting old is not for sissies.

The good points?  Great actors:  Maggie Smith and Geoff Rush.  Great music: Wonderful arias and choruses.

But watching the elderly struggle with their issues of senility and loneliness does not strike me as a solid evening of entertainment.

The moral of the story:  Simple.  Don't get old!  If you do, don't look back.  Well, do look back if you're trying to discover your old self.  Wait!  Shouldn't we strive to discover a new self as we age?

Bottom line:  Skip this one.  Ignore the rave reviews.  Unless you enjoy watching older folks suffer.

Gangster Squad

Filmdom offers us a nice array of gangster grit, including The Godfather and Scarface.  If you liked the shootouts in those classics, with lots of blood and gore, you'll love Gangster Squad!

The film opens with Sean Penn, who plays the somewhat mad, utterly power hungry Micky Cohen, standing over a dude with chains tied to his upper and lower torso.  In a few seconds, we see that the chains are attached to cars facing in opposite directions.  Yes, readers, you get to see a man torn apart at the waist!  Hahaha!

How's that for getting the full "flavor" of the flick right at the outset?

When it comes to gangster flicks, there's not much to the story.  It's really about bad guy vs. good guy.  Sean Penn is masterful, as usual, at his role: he's corruption, egotism, and violence incarnate!  Josh Brolin is the cop who must bring the bad guy to his knees.

So why am I not going on and on about these two fine actors?

Simple.

They're upstaged by the dazzling new starlet Emma Stone.  You might remember Emma from The Help, where she was outstanding as the young girl brave enough to stand up to racism.  I also recall Easy A, where she played the "slut" with grace and comic wit.  She was even great in Zombieland, where she wandered with fellow survivors and played the empowered young woman.

Emma, however, steals the show in Gangster Squad.  There's something about her mannerisms and style that elevates her from stereotypical gangster moll to a sympathetic character.  Check out the starlet in the picture above.  Doesn't she look like a gangster's girlfriend?

So, overall?

Tough to really say.  Yes, the film was entertaining.  Yes, it offered top action.  Yes, the characters were fairly well drawn.  Yes, the flick had talented, well-known actors.

But it lacked a certain something.

For you to determine, I hope.

42

42 tells tells the amazing story of Jackie Robinson, the first person "of color" to be admitted to major league baseball.

Impossible for me to be a spoiler here: most of us know the shameful chapter in American sports history.  Jackie Robinson came to the majors in 1947, and when he arrived, he was greeted with hate mail, boos from the crowd, racial slurs, threats against him and family, and a variety of other sundry treats typical of bigots of the time.

Most folks also know that Robinson stood tall, never reacting to the terrible racism, simply doing what he did best: baseball.  By excelling at the sport, he showed fans he was a quality ball player.  But that did not stop many idiots from harassing him, denouncing him, and showing the lowest, basest behavior that was all-too-common in an era when, in the south, African Americans sat in the back of the bus and used separate facilities.

The fun of the movie is in the details.  How many of us know the people who facilitated Robinson's rise to the majors?  How many of us know his history prior to breaking the color barrier?

I learned so much from this film about the real Jackie Robinson, up to the year 1947.  I checked a lot of sources online after viewing the flick, and indeed, every detail is true.

My only complaint is that the movie ended in 1947.  That was Robinson's rookie year with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  What about after that first year?  There is so much to the man after he started in baseball.

Did you know he was a Conservative Republican who supported the war in Viet Nam?  Did you know he was a compulsive eater in his later years and succumbed to diabetes at age 53?

This film is a must-see.  Very painful, of course.  You will watch the bigots in action and wonder how, in this country, more than a century after the Civil War, we allowed so much injustice.

The picture I chose was a defining moment in baseball.  That's the famous shortstop Pee Wee Reese with his arm around Jackie in front of thousands of fans.  Reese was from the south and raised with prejudice.  But he overcame his upbringing to show the world that it was time to end the racism.

See the film and weep.  See the film and be uplifted.  See the film and learn.

Grade: A

The Marine

Some movies have the worst scripts, the worst actors, the worst plot-lines, and the most stupidity....but strangely, sometimes these awful movies grip us!

OK, dare I say I enjoyed this ridiculous piece of nonsense?  Yes indeed!  Never the spoiler, I'll say just a bit: the story presents a muscle-bound ex-marine (yeah, that's the hunk in the picture....ladies can stop staring!) who struggles with civilian life.

His problem:  BOREDOM!  Yes, hard to believe, but Mr Muscles just can't seem find a job that keeps his interest.  Even beating up bad guys and throwing them through windows does not pique the interest of our "hero!"  After all, he used to carry a machine gun and run through enemy territory on a killing tear!

Worry not, dear viewers.  Muscles is about meet his match: very, very evil dudes who kidnap his wife.  Now that's a real no-no!

Marine to the rescue!

Well, I admitted the film was stupid, didn't I?  So why do I like it?  Simply for the over-the-top, mindless action.  You'll see cars being blown up like never before!  You'll see chases through alligator-infested swamps!  You'll see fast cars and big guns!  You'll see the Marine doing what he does best, fighting evil and standing strong and proud!

Fun!

John Cena, a well-known wrestler, plays the lead role.  He obviously wanted to break into the movies and "break" he did:  he broke the bones of endless villains!

I won't assign a grade to this film, or I'd have to give it an F.  However, it could also get an A-..... for those who are willing to park their minds and escape to the world of one very angry marine out for revenge.

Enjoy.

Savages

I got inspired to see this film by reading the book.  Before departing on a ten hour flight overseas, I picked up what looked like an easy read.  I was gripped by the story for almost the entire flight!

Before turning to the film, I must say that the style of the novel was one of the most original I have ever encountered: a staccato, fast-paced, hip, cool, narrative that simply got me caught up in a story that blew me away!  (Valerie, my English-teacher buddy, the book is a must!)

On to the film:  If you want different, bizarre, engaging, and mostly gritty, Savages is for you.  No spoiler ever, but I can tell you the basics. Two guys, old chums, are as different as night and day. One is a peacenik, a hippie love-your-neighbor type, who travels the world trying to save the poor. The other is a former marine, tough as nails, prone-to-violence type, who figures that might makes right.

They both love a very attractive young lady, and she loves them both back.  Yeah, it's a menage-a-trois, but with a twist:  The threesome make their living by growing the classiest dope this side of the Mississippi!

All is well in quirky dopeland in Laguna Beach, where they live, until the bad boys, a Mexican drug cartel, try to move in on their territory.

Then all hell breaks loose!

OK, enough on the plot. Check out the amazing actors: Benicio del Toro, John Travolta, Salma Hayek, and the budding starlet Blake Lively.  Oh, and the film is directed by Oliver stone.

I would not be surprised if Del Toro picks up an Oscar Supporting Role nod for his stupendous, creepy, over-the-top portrayal of a nasty drug lord.  Benicio does bad like few guys I've seen.

This film is not for the weak of heart. Expect a lot of blood and gore, and violence that makes shoot-em-up movies seem tame.

Grade of A+  

I could not stop watching this flick, which captured all the emotion and allure of the book.