Lucy

Check out Scarlett Johansson.  She looks anxious!  Well, wouldn't you, if you suddenly had super powers foisted upon you by accident?  Ha!

OK, let's back up a bit.  LUCY is a really stupid, fun movie!  Do the two sometimes go together?  Of course!

No spoiler, but here's the gist of the film.  Poor Scarlett is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Duped by a sleezy boyfriend, she ends up the target of a very bad villain.  The bad dude uses her and some other innocents as drug mules....

But the drugs Scarlett carries are straight out of sci-fi:  they have a mind altering effect.  How?  Well, the substance seems to allow Scarlett to use 100% of her brain!  Big shocker, because science supposedly tells us that we use under 10% of our cerebrum.

Scarlett's brain expands!  The world becomes her oyster!  BAM!!!

Scarlett becomes capable of mind over matter and even seems to have the ability to travel through time!  Who would have guessed that we could do so much with our heads?  Haha.

Oh, this film is truly fun.  NO details about the where the plot goes, but just imagine lots of great graphics and see our female victim turn into conqueror!

Luc Besson is the creative writer director behind this sci-fi original.  Morgan Freeman rounds out the cast.

If you like futuristic films, and you enjoy a lot of bad guy vs good guy shooting scenes, this film is for you !

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One bit of advice:  Leave your intelligence elsewhere as you suspend disbelief and marvel at one very unusual, innovative, aesthetic sci-fi thriller.

Borgen

BORGEN....what a strange name for a TV series.  Borgen means “the Castle,” a nickname for Christiansborg Palace, which is the house of Denmark’s government.

So what's the show about?  Danish politics!  Zzzzzzzz........ Wait!  Don't snooze just yet!  I had the same reaction when my daughter Sara, a movie guru, suggested I watch it.  

A bit of background:  The Danish series, which started in 2010 and ran three years, was a hit all across Europe.  It was the rave of every film blog.  It was the talk of the town, so to speak.  We in the U.S. are slow to join the throngs of film enthusiasts.

Think of it as you would Breaking Bad.  Some of us (this reviewer for sure) were slow to catch on to the genius of Breaking Bad, but when we did, we were hooked!

Borgen is the same.  WOW!  

So what's it really about? Never a spoiler, I will describe it generally:  A brave woman named Birgitte Nyborg, with a long history in Danish politics, suddenly finds herself elected Prime Minister.  Huh?  How can such an event be a surprise?  Easy.  In Danish politics, there is a "coalition" system, where the majority sector gets to choose its prime minister.  

Birgitte is a wonderful character:  Happily married and the mother of two, she ventures into the world of leadership with great optimism, full of principles, morals, and a sense of purpose.  Lo and behold, the realities of the political arena set in, and soon our heroine is fighting some fascinating battles!

Add to Birgitte a very pretty young newscaster, Katrine, who plagues the new prime minister in her search for truth, justice, and the DANISH way!  Of course, she has baggage of her own and we come to be entranced with her character as well.  

Don't forget the prime minister's right hand man, a young, dynamic, brilliant "spin doctor", Kasper, who helps her out of the hot spots by twisting the truth just a bit!  Oh, he happens to be in love with the pretty reporter!  Don't you just love it?  

Other fascinating characters populate this unique and searing series.  They are easy to remember, as each holds our attention with different insights into the Danish political fray.

What's the real reason I love this series?  I am learning so much about Denmark, its way of life, its history, and its relationship to other countries.  In one episode, I even learned about Greenland and how the poor struggle for survival.  I even learned that Denmark founded Greenland.

The Danes have always been an extraordinary people.  They have done good in the world.  They have a solid moral history.  They saved 8000 Jewish citizens from the Nazis by smuggling them to Sweden.

To watch Borgen, you have to go to Amazon and buy the series.  Yeah, a bummer.  But I say the cost is well worth it.  And don't worry about the subtitles.  After a while, you forget you are reading them.

Dare to enter Borgen, a world of politics, intrigue, and excitement.  You won't forget this unusual journey.  

You will never look at Denmark the same.

Gone Girl

Every so often a film comes along that is a WOW!

I call 'em "knock-your-socks-off" flicks...because they razzle-dazzle and put you right on the edge of your seat.   Gone Girl is every bit the fantastic film critics say it is.

RUN out and see it.  Right now!  Skip work!  Put off chores!  Haha.

OK, let's back up a bit.  First off, I will provide no spoiler details, so you can read on with ease.  What is the story about?  It's a very simple premise, revealed by the title itself.  A husband comes home on his anniversary and finds his wife missing.

Who is the wife?  A mysterious, beautiful author of children's books, thus famous.  As a celebrity, it is not long before the media feed like vultures on the missing spouse.

New focus:  The couple's past.  They're a strange pair.  No details, since I can't give anything away, but each is rather bizarre:  he's been out of work for a while, and she's a trust-fund kid.  Their relationship is a whirlwind romance, but not quite what you'd expect.

On to the acting:  Amazing.  Ben Affleck grows on you.  He gets better with time.  He was wonderful in Argo, but he's even better in Gone Girl.  There is already Best Actor buzz afloat.  Rosamunde Pike plays his love interest.  She was a great villain as Amanda Frost, the double agent, in one of the James Bond films.  I think she is worthy of a Best Actress nod for her work here.

Best secondary actor:  Kim Dickens.  Critics have overlooked her.  She is a little known actress who got her start as one of the lab workers opposite Elizabeth Shue in Hollow Man.  She plays a detective in Gone Girl, and she sometimes steals the show.

If you like who-dunnits, mysteries that twist and turn and surprise, Gone Girl is for you.  You think the plot is moving in one direction and bam, it takes a different turn!  Think Hitchcock.  Think Twilight Zone.  Yes, you are never sure about reality, or motives, or actions!

Who's bad?  Who's good?  FUN!!!

This film gets an A+ rating.  I doubt you'll find a better mystery-thriller.

By the way, it's a lengthy flick, but the time will pass in an instant!

Enjoy.

Fed Up

Hi Viewers!  Normally I review razzle-dazzle, knock-your-socks-off movies....and I sometimes suggest you RUN out to see a film.

Not true with this one.  It's a documentary.  Yeah, a learning thing.  Think of being back in school.  The teacher is lecturing you and you are trying to pay attention.  Zzzzzz.....

Haha!  Well, it's not quite that bad.  Do you have an interest in diet?  Are you fighting to shed a few pounds?  Did your doc suggest you eat less fats and carbs and maybe even hit the treadmill too?  If so, you might consider this exposé.

What's it about?  SUGAR!  Yes, nothing more complex...or simple, as carbs go, if you get my drift.  The film shows you how almost every food you eat is full of sugar.  Think you're eating low-fat?  Maybe, but you have NO idea how much sugar you are ingesting on a daily basis.

The film is somewhat morbid:  It focuses on obesity in kids.  Sad fact is that many kids in school are way, way, way overweight.  Some fight the weight, others don't.  Just like adults.

So what?  I happen to enjoy my occasional SEE'S candies.  I happen to enjoy my occasional hot fudge sundae.  I happen to enjoy a lot of sugar-laden foods.  See, I'm a sugar addict.  I admit it.  You too?  Don't take away my cakes and pies and cookies...please!

Many of us are a few pounds overweight and figure hey, life is short.  Problem is, those words can be prophetic.  Sugar can mess up our metabolism, and give us cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other really nasty health issues.

The film:  Very revealing, when it comes to the sugar we eat without meaning to.  Very weak, when it comes to telling us what to do about it.

A must-see?  Hardly.  But, if you are one of those many folks seeking reasons for why you can't lose those extra pounds in spite of some solid efforts, consider viewing this documentary.

In fact, maybe RUN out and see it....for just a bit of needed exercise!

Divergent

Divergent offers a fascinating premise:  In a futuristic society, everyone must belong to one of five groups, or "factions":

1.  Dauntless (the brave)  2. Amity (the peaceful)  3.  Erudite (the thinkers)  4. Abnegation (the generous) and 5. Candor (the honest)

On a special day every year, all sixteen year olds must select the faction to which they will devote themselves for the rest of their livers.  Once they make the choice, they can never go back on it.  They cannot go home again.

Enter young Beatrice, played brilliantly by Shailene Woodley.  She takes an aptitude test (that looks into her mind...haha) to determine where her talents might lie.  Lo and Behold!  She is a freak!  She does not fit into any of the five categories.  She risks being DIVERGENT!

You get the picture.  No spoiler, so I hesitate to offer plot details.  Let's just say that she does select one of the five groups of society in spite of her ominous test results.  Problem is, she has to hide her true self from others in that group.

Worse:  The group she chooses makes her go through a rigorous training program. The trainers are tough dudes who run our young heroine through some mighty tough trials. If she fails in her training, she will be dumped and then, as an independent, what will become of her?

Ah, such angst!

This sci-fi thriller is fun.  The basic messages hit home:  Do we all need to fit into a group?  What if we don't?  Does society function best if we each know our place in life?  What if you end up an outcast?

Machiavelli is alive and well in this flick.  Everyone believes in the greater good and subjugation of the individual.  Might makes right.  The ends justify the means.

Well...not everyone, thank goodness. Our heroine, and her boyfriend, just happen to tend toward free will.  They need to fool their peers into thinking they are true believers.  How do you fit a square peg in a round hole?  How do the non-conformists manage among the conformists?   Uh-oh!

Acting: Great!  Shailene Woodley, who finally got big star exposure in a brief role as George Clooney's rebellious daughter in The Descendents, has been acting for years.  She came up as a child actor.  Her former lead roles were in The Secret Life of the American Teenager and The Fault in our Stars.  Her love interest, played by Theo James, is a little known British star who will no doubt gain traction for his handsome demeanor.

Is the film five star?  No.  I would say that the ideas might be more significant than the actual plot.  Yet I have to admit that the story grabbed me and held on.  There are times in the film that we truly have to suspend our disbelief and go with the flow.  But that is sci-fi, right?

Are you a conformist?  A divergent?  Where do YOU belong?  Where do I belong?

Hmmmm...............

Two Faces of January

Check out the threesome!  That's Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac.  They create a tour  de force that rivals any Hitchcock thriller.

Think of a theatrical performance with three stars on stage.  They are closely knit, inextricably bound to each other, tied in a very creepy way!  They need to figure each other out to survive!

Never the spoiler, I can say this much:  A couple travels happily in Greece, touring the Parthenon and partaking of the wonders of Athens.  Then they meet a stranger.  He gets entwined in their lives.  Before long, the three become complicit in a crime, well, more than one, and end up on the lam!

Yes, it's cops chasing tourists.  Across Greece.  But with a twist:  Who is good?  Who is bad?  What does the stranger have to do with the couple?   Who can be trusted?  There is murder, mayhem, and of course a stash of money at play too.   Oh my, what a delightful mess!

The music and setting are pure Hitchcock.  I was reminded of Vertigo. Remember Jimmy Stewart and the beautiful, blonde Kim Novak?  Enter Viggo and Kirsten:  They have so much of the aura and mystery of the famous Hitchcock characters.

Acting:  Superb!  Viggo Mortensen is best known, in this viewer's opinion, for A History of Violence, where he was fantastic as the man who could not escape his past.  Kirsten Dunst's best work, I believe, is as Marie Antoinette.  And Oscar Isaac played the lead in the Coen brother's moving story of a musician in Greenwich Village in Inside Llewyn Davis.

This film grabs and does not let go.  Join the threesome as they run from cops amid Greek ruins.  Enter the labyrinth of intrigue and deception.

Next time you travel, don't talk to strangers!  Haha.

Enjoy a fine work of art.

Boyhood

Ya know those corny oval frames with 12 round openings, one for every grade's school picture? Well, that's kinda this in film form. But it's anything but corny. If you complain that "no one does anything different in film these days," you owe it to yourself to see director Richard Linklater's oldest-yet-newest endeavor, Boyhood. I have a feeling this film will hover in my mind for some time.
IMDB's synopsis: "The life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to 18." Yep, that's all folks. Except that it was 12 years in the making, using all the same actors, so we witness the very real aging of Ethan Hawke, Susanna Arquette, and the maturation of Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater (Richard's daughter). Now THAT is something new to film.

Dialogue and performances are flawless - so natural, you'll start swearing you're watching a reality show. This film is so real! Characters are flawed, yet totally redeeming. You may be disappointed if you're expecting plot twists and high intensity.  But look closely. You are being handed LIFE on a platter, and much like the genius of Thornton Wilder's Our Town (which I could never appreciate until I was over 40), the message is there if you look hard enough.

If any of you readers out there go to see it, weigh in a comment; we'll discuss more.