RED 2

Starring Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, and John Malkovich
Directed by Dean Parisot
Year: 2013
IMDB / Wikipedia

My wife surprises me from time-to-time and, when she told me she wanted to see the original RED when it came out in 2010, I thought she was either messing with me or didn’t fully understand what the movie was about. So, we went to the theater, watched it, and she actually liked it. She wasn’t ga-ga about it, but she had positive things to say. She didn’t bring it up too much and never pushed to buy a copy of it so I thought she tolerated it. However, when the first trailer for the sequel came out she immediately said we should see this one, too. Another surprise. It’s good when your spouse can keep surprising you.

The second was much like the first, lots of explosions, a lot of gunplay, people being killed indiscriminately, plenty of laughs, and a plot that requires a suspended sense of disbelief as a pack of retired CIA spooks trot the globe to find a missing nuclear weapon and the people who want to see it ignite a geopolitical incident. Though implausible, the script is well written, the actors seem to lose themselves in their roles and, in a film where everyone has license to overact, they all seem to share the screen equally well without one overshadowing anyone else. It’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours but don’t look for anything terribly original or groundbreaking. It’s a good ensemble film and the next one will probably be some sinful popcorn fun as well.

Most Valuable Actor: The strength of this cast is their ability to work well together but that also makes awarding this honor next to impossible. Willis is steady but unremarkable, Malkovich and Mirren are both wonderful but don’t get enough screen time to warrant the honor. Newcomer Byung-hun Lee adds a good element to the film but his character isn’t drawn as well as the others. This leaves Parker who is essentially Nancy Botwin in a different life in this film. Fuck it, they all get the honor.

Trailer:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Year: 2011
IMDB / Wikipedia

Every now and then, I will find it necessary to break protocol to tend to my extremely large Netflix queue. This is one of those times.

There are times when I feel that sometimes a story is too involved to be interesting or, at the very least, accessible. At times, I have found films with a myriad of characters and twists too complex to follow and, in turn, lose interest in any sort of conclusion because it will not be satisfying. Perhaps that’s just me and I should pay more attention to these kinds of stories so a masterpiece is not lost on me.

With this film, the story is certainly complex and, yes, I did get lost in it but was able to catch up  at several points. The search for a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service had its share of characters, motives, opportunities, twists, turns, and shifts, and it was all cobbled together by a director who fancied himself the second-coming of Stanley Kubrick. While enjoyable, I felt that there were issues with the film trying to do too much in the time allotted and that kept me from becoming fully invested in the development or the outcome. What I did enjoy was the character development and the splendid portrayals of these flawed people by every member of the cast. I may have to watch this one again to get a real sense of the film and maybe discover something the second time around.

Most Valuable Actor: It would be too easy to put Oldman in here, especially since he received an Oscar nomination for his role as George Smiley, but I have to tip my cap to Mark Strong here, an agent whose actions and seemingly innocuous backstory made him the most interesting character in the film. His role may have been small but he truly was the one who was the common thread through it all. A powerful role that was obviously overlooked.

Trailer:

Skyfall

Starring Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, and Judi Dench
Directed by Sam Mendes
Year: 2012
IMDB / Wikipedia / Official Song

During the summer months you may have the opportunity to see a movie in the park. If it’s as good as this one, I suggest you do not pass up on the opportunity. 

Whenever James Bond returns to the big screen we are witnessing both a cinematic landmark as well as a bit of a resurrection. The epitome of the static character has found a new dimension with Craig that hasn’t been seen since George Lazenby‘s turn as the British super-spy and I am in the vocal minority of people who is glad to see its return. An emotional Bond, with flaws and the ability to be hurt or even killed, is infinitely more interesting from a character development standpoint and makes for a better film. However, with top-shelf writers and Sam Mendes at the helm, the world of a new, raw, and gritty Bond can mesh seamlessly with the archetype that has been developed over the last 50 years.

And with a new Bond we get a new breed of villain that still casts the traditional large shadow, but is also more devious and has more than just a single motive. With Skyfall, Bardem fills the role with the first Bond villain that is truly terrifying and a bit twisted to boot. His character is to the Bond universe as Heath Ledger‘s Joker was to the Batman universe and that was to push the protagonist to his mental limits, testing boundaries, and even dredging up the past to make a point. Bardem’s role raises him to the upper-eschelon of Bond villains but he is not the …

Most Valuable Actor: which goes to Judi Dench as M. Before she took the role during the Pierce Brosnan era, M was much like Charlie on Charlie’s Angels–appearing at the beginning to give Bond his assignment and at the end telling him good job right before the credits rolled. Dench made M something more and that is a major reason the character had a much larger role in this film. Only a terrific actor can shift a paradigm like this in a franchise that seems afraid of change.

Trailer:

Apollo 13

Starring Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris
Directed by Ron Howard
Year: 1995
IMDB / Wikipedia

During the summer months you may have the opportunity to see a movie in the park. If it’s as good as this one, I suggest you do not pass up on the opportunity. 

Films like this tend to remind me that real life can be as dramatic as anything we can imagine. Watching this in the park amongst families with small children, I wondered how many of these kids will have their minds blown when their parents explain to them later that this actually happened. There were three astronauts on a “routine” mission to the moon and their capsule suffered a catastrophic explosive failure; then, the combined efforts of those three and hundreds of people back on Earth helped get them home safely. A truly remarkable story of the power of people in intense situations.

And it is the realism that makes this movie great. Much of the the dialogue of the astronauts in the capsule was taken verbatim from transcripts and recordings made during the flight though some of the sub-plots were embellished for dramatic effect. And the actors didn’t try and over-act in scenes, they let them manifest organically. The feeling of this film was almost that of a documentary at times but it was still a wonderful piece of historical drama. Yes, there’s the theme of human perseverance and teamwork but those seem like by-products in a film that focused on the events and the people rather than slipping on the historical rose-colored glasses and telling a syrupy-sweet story. This is how history should be captured on film.

Most Valuable Actor: This is a real head-scratcher because there are so many deserving candidates for this honor. The obvious choice of Tom Hanks would be good, Kevin Bacon is another fascinating choice, as is Ed Harris as the flight director Gene Krantz, and even Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell but I think Gary Sinise as the left-out astronaut-turned idea-cog Ken Mattingly gets the nod here. Sinise is good at making sure his performance fits the role and not the other way around. His grounded portrayal of Mattingly was sincere and powerful without becoming a focal point or a burden on the movie. Truly a fine performance.

Trailer:

Babel

Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Rinko Kikuchi
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Year: 2006
IMDB / Wikipedia

I received this movie a few years ago as an Easter present from my folks. I didn’t know it at the time but they presented me with a horribly depressing film about death and human misery as a way to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection. I don’t want to read too much into it, I just thought it would be an interesting factoid. Another interesting factiod about this movie: Pitt and Blanchett are the two least-interesting characters in this entire marathon of celluloid agony. Two wonderful actors sharing screen time with a story that is limp, lifeless, and only seems to exist to make the other stories connect in some way.

Much like the other film of his I watched, 21 Grams, Inarritu weaves seemingly disconnected stories together to show how the actions of one can have international repercussions. The film follows two Moroccan brothers, an American couple, a Mexican maid, and a young Japanese girl in a story about accidents, character, humility, and forgiveness. This film does a good job at making a simple point long and the resolution on all the stories are left wanting, but that is the trademark of Inarritu. To follow these stories to their end would probably result in a much longer feature and, I guess, not knowing makes a statement, unfulfilling as it may be. Not the kind of movie I will yearn to watch repeatedly but it was a nice piece of cinema for a lazy day.

Most Valuable Actor: Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi turned the most memorable performance in the film as the sullen deaf-mute teen girl who is looking for some sort of attention and affection following the tragic suicide of her mother. Her work was so fine, in fact, that she became the first Japanese woman in over 50 years to be nominated for an Oscar for this role.

Trailer:

Field of Dreams

Starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, and James Earl Jones
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Year: 1989
IMDB / Wikipedia / Trailer

During the summer months you may have the opportunity to see a movie in the park. If it’s as good as this one, I suggest you do not pass up on the opportunity. 

It’s been a few weeks since I actually sat in a north Boulder park and watched this film with about 50 other people, but I can still write about this film with all of my emotion because I have seen it so many times. It was a landmark film, it touched everyone’s life–even if you didn’t like baseball, because it was so much more than just a film about a man who builds a baseball field in his corn field so the late, great “Shoeless” Joe Jackson‘s spirit could play baseball again. It’s a story of recapturing the past, cherishing it, and learning to believe in yourself as you look forward into the future.

Part of Costner’s unofficial baseball trilogy that includes Bull Durham and For Love of the Game, this story, like those, transcends sports and that’s part of what makes it great. It is about finding what we love about baseball inside of all of us. Some like the rhythm of the game, some like the aura of the past, while others see it in more quantifiable terms, regardless if it’s in dollars and cents or in batting averages and ERA. Baseball has a connection to everyone, whether they are a passive observer or a rabid fan, everyone can come away from this film with something. Watching it on a grassy field on an evening after fathers played catch with sons and people gathered in a picnic-style atmosphere, it was almost too perfect. Almost.

Most Valuable Actor: James Earl Jones, for many reasons, but mostly for this.

The Grey

Starring Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, and Frank Grillo
Directed by Joe Carnahan
Year: 2011
IMDB / Wikipedia

Every now and then, I will find it necessary to break protocol to tend to my extremely large Netflix queue. This is one of those times.

This film is not what you expect it to be yet exactly what it needs to be at the same time. Director Joe Carnahan’s way of taking any kind of story and turning it into something that you don’t expect but enjoy nonetheless. Carnahan took a story of roughnecks who survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness and makes it into a deeply personal and moving character study under the guise of a survival action/drama. What makes this a great film is that there is plenty of action and drama to satisfy even the pickiest movie fan. 

It does help that Carnahan leans on one of the best dramatic actors in the business in Neeson, whose character is as rugged and unsuspecting as the wilderness he and his tenuous companions traverse to escape the pack of vicious wolves. His supporting cast was chosen, not for name recognition (Mulroney and Dallas Roberts were the only other two people I recognized) but for their ability to truly encapsulate their characters and make this film downright hard to watch at times because of its brutal realism. But, the journey was worth the payoff and the film ends with Carnahan’s usual understated elegance. 

Most Valuable Actor: Carnahan has a knack of getting the best from every actor under his command and Neeson also seems to take it up a notch. The definite bookend of the film, Neeson’s chemistry and ability to “act small” in a dramatic situation and then turn and be big and dominant in an action sequence the next moment is quite remarkable. Dare I say, his work here eclipses his work in Taken.

Trailer:

Babe

Starring James Cromwell and Christine Cavanaugh
Directed by Chris Noonan
Year: 1995
IMDB / Wikipedia

With my first family feature of this journey, I’m so glad it was Babe. Though I had never seen this film in its entirety before, I found it a delightful respite from my usual fare of comedies and heavy dramas. Those who know me know I’m a sucker for a good kid’s film and this one does not disappoint. Based on Dick King-Smith’s novel, The Sheep-Pig, this is a delightful movie that is a simple story, has good morals, and is very enchanting. Plus, there’s talking animals. Kids freakin’ love talking animals.

What I enjoyed the most was the central message of respect and kindness that is often lost in the stories we share with kids. Everything these days seems to be placed on an edge where sarcasm and one-line jokes have replaced common decency and kindness to one another. Instead of trying to understand one another, we simply try and talk over each other in a bid to one-up an adversary or even friends. This films teaches the old lesson that you can indeed catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Or, you can herd more sheep with a password than just being yourself. I don’t know. Just watch the movie, even if you don’t have kids.

Most Valuable Actor: Cromwell played the old farmer and his stoic, no-nonsense way of living was as delightful as any of the talking animals. He believed in hard work, honesty, and the sweet rewards of life. Though his lines are few, his sheer presence in a scene commanded attention and respect.

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