Quik Flix Hit

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | Comments Off

Summer Movie Series

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Rated PG-13

Warner Bros./Village Roadshow

I have a thing for time-travel movies. When protagonists scramble backward or forward in time attempting to correct wrongs or save the day or recapture love, for me, it hits a sweet spot. Based upon the trailers, I went into Edge of Tomorrow eager to see how the time-jumping theme would be put to use. It didn’t disappoint.

In the Bloghouse Given that the film takes place in the near future and that the time-traveling mechanism is actually created by aliens and not built by humans provides a fresh approach. Based on a Japanese light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Edge is Groundhog Day (1993) crossed with Source Code (2011).

We follow Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), a brash public relations officer in the military, who’s also cowardly on the actually soldiering side of things. Through a bit of plot contrivance, Cage is forced into frontline combat against a seemingly unbeatable alien force.

Cruise imbues his character with enough forced confidence, which crumbles in the face of real danger, that I connected with his terror as he is literally shoved into a heavy, weaponized bodysuit and airdropped onto a field of battle no less horrific than Normandy on D-Day.

The aliens, Mimics, are fiercely conceived as octopus-like monsters that burrow through the earth like caffeinated groundhogs, then emerge to tear through adversaries with multiple buzz-saw appendages.

Cage’s mission goes horribly wrong for every soldier involved, but not before he takes sight of legendary soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt).

Instead of waking up in the afterlife, Cage is reborn into the same day and at the same spot where his mission began. Yes, the same commanding officer (Bill Paxton) will berate him, the same elite squad will mock his recruitment into its ranks, the same doomed mission plans will be laid out. After things go badly again, and he’s reborn again, he and we get the drift of things. After a few rounds of being horrified by his circumstances, Cage begins to use the knowledge at hand not only to mold himself into a better soldier, but to get to know his enemy and to construct something of a survivable battle plan.

Director Doug Liman (The Borne Identity, Go) has fun with Cage’s learning curve, finding creative ways to repeatedly kill our hero. I won’t spoil how or why Cage faces this dilemma, but it holds the key to possibly winning the war.

Cage eventually connects with Rita, who knows more than expected about his plight. She’s a hardened soldier—not completely convincingly played by Blunt; Michelle Rodriguez would have been typecasting but also perfect—who’s all about the mission.

The plot isn’t as complex as it could have been, which will ease confusion for those who struggle with gimmicky scenarios like time travel. I think Edge starts strong, builds up quite a bit of steam with its “live, die, repeat” format, but ultimately runs its course before its endgame arrives. But I’m still a softie for time-travel movies.

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Quik Flix Hit

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | Comments Off

Summer Movie Series

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Rated PG-13

Marvel Enterprises

Let’s see. When last we left off, Uncle Ben was murdered, as was Gwen Stacy’s police captain dad. The Lizard was behind bars. Gwen and Peter Parker’s relationship was broken but there was a spark of hope. And poor Peter was no closer to understanding why his parents abandoned him.

In the Bloghouse This sequel to the 2012 reboot answers the questions about Peter’s parents and adds several other wrinkles to his life, not including the on-again-off-again thing he has going with Gwen.

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone return and bring their chemistry with them, and the visuals are up to snuff, but I feel like the good will and characters built in Part One are wasted in this follow-up. This isn’t a bad movie, mind you, but I don’t know why they keep overstuffing these things with bad guys and plot—that misfortune befell 2007’s Spider-Man 3.

Peter and Gwen’s relationship, his mom and dad’s disappearance and the birth of supervillian Electro (Jamie Foxx) would have been enough story. But we also get the Harry Osborn/Green Goblin subplot (which really should be main-plot material), inconsequential villain Rhino and Sally Field’s Aunt May jockeying for position.

Nerdy, introverted scientist Max Dillon becomes Electro after getting zapped by genetically enhanced electric eels. For some reason he blames Spider-Man, despite the fact that Spidey is basically the only person who has shown him kindness. With his ability to harness electricity he fearsomely commands the city’s attention, even though his costume and uneven makeup leave something to be desired.

Meanwhile, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan, Chronicles) returns to the city to find his billionaire father Norman (Chris Cooper) dying from a hereditary illness, an affliction Harry discovers he shares. He reconnects with old friend Peter in a well-written and -acted scene that underscores this plotline deserved more time.

Meanwhile, Gwen tires of Peter’s inability to commit, which is largely due to the danger he represents to her as a superhero and the promise he made to her dying father to stay away from her—again to keep her way from danger. Two good reasons in my book.

The plot lines converge in a final showdown I won’t spoil, but comics fans have seen coming since the first movie.

The first film, with its charismatic leads and reworked origin story, convinced me that I could do with another Spider-Man series; this one caused me to wonder if it might be time to give Spidey a break.

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Quik Flix Hit

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | Comments Off

Summer Movie Series

Godzilla (2014)

Rated PG-13

Warner Bros.

Godzilla takes his time showing up in his new movie. At first I’m thinking great, less is more. After awhile, I’m really getting eager to see the big guy. Finally, I’m wondering if Godzilla’s going to make a cameo in his own movie. He does eventual make his entrance. It’s a good one, the mighty creature rising up out of the ocean, water cascading off his mountainous frame like waterfalls, towering over birds and helicopters, blotting out the sun, opening his mouth to stop the show with his roar. Humans and giant monsters alike pause to take notice.

In the Bloghouse The whole movie is like that: setup, delayed gratification, big scene. Repeat.

There’s a prologue 15 years ago that mainly functions to give the protagonists a tragic backstory. In present day, a scientist played by Bryan Cranston has basically gone insane after his years of dire global warnings go unheeded. His estranged son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Avengers: Age of Ultron) reluctantly arrives to talk some sense to his dad. Before long the son discovers, lo and behold, the old man’s not bonkers. Thus Ford is pulled into his dad’s mission while trying to get home to wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen, Oldboy, Very Good Girls) and his own son. Olsen’s wasted in this, while Cranston brings gravitas this movie doesn’t need. Japanese legend Ken Watanabe is also wasted as a scientist whose function I still haven’t figured out.

When technology goes awry—Cranston told us so!—it produces a giant insect parasite that tears across the globe, eagerly off on some unknown mission. Once military intervention fails, it’s up to our scaly hero to save the day. With his awesome tail and fire breath, Godzilla’s formidable in battle, even when being double-teamed by giant monsters.

There’s lots of destruction of large-scale architecture, but nothing we haven’t already seen in big-budget action flicks. Honestly, I had more fun watching Pacific Rim (2013), itself a tribute to classic Japanese Kaiju films like Godzilla.

Make no mistake, this Godzilla is leaps and bounds ahead of the 1998 American reboot. My issues with the film resides in the screenplay, not in its execution. Director Gareth Edwards has a knack for amazing images and the execution of a scene. When this film’s on, it’s on. A scene of an elite military team parachuting into the monster warzone borders on iconic. The men jump from a plane then seem to fall endlessly with red flares streaming from their boots, through cloud holes, into dark sky, into glowing thunderclouds, back into dark sky, and downward. It’s a beautiful sight, visual poetry. Another scene of beautiful destruction involves a burning train roaring through the night and off a destroyed bridge. There’s a memorable visual of soldiers moving through lush jungle, and of a suspension bridge swaying and crumbling as it holds busloads of people.

Can I also note that actor Sally Hawkins, who plays a scientist, has absolutely nothing to do in this movie? Why even include this character?

If you’re a Godzilla fan, or into big-budget summer action—albeit doled out at deliberate junctures—check this out, otherwise: Skip it.

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Quik Flix Hit

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | 1 Comment

Summer Movie Series

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Rated PG-13

Marvel Studio

For me Captain America stands in contrast to the other superfolks in the Marvel film universe. For sure, Marvel’s cash cow franchise has enough to brag about. I enjoyed much of the Iron Man series and the impressive culminating effort, The Avengers (2012). The franchise has its clunkers too: Hulk (2003) and the Thor films, for my money. The Captain America movies have neither the brilliant, hedonistic, wink-wink hubris of the Iron Man series, nor the over-the-top demigod, Viking-esque, parallel universe hodge-podge structure of the Thor films. This is probably why Captain America stands out from the pack.

In the Bloghouse Starting with 2011’s first film, I liked the throwback setting (World War II), the simple plot (defeat the Nazis), the quick origin-story setup and the delicate love story. Before things got intertwined with all the other superhero motives and movies, there’s earnest Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) trying to set the world right, one patriotic punch, one patriotic speech at a time.

It’s a testament to Evans’ performance and the writers that we continue to admire Steve Rogers/Captain America’s earnestness instead of mocking it.

In Winter Soldier, I liked the instant chemistry between Cap and fellow veteran Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) aka The Falcon. I also like the chaste chemistry between Cap and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Even when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and all the Hydra-S.H.E.I.L.D.-Avenger’s stuff starts weighing down the plot, the film finds nice touches of do-or-die matter-of-factness that lightens things up again.

The Winter Soldier himself is intriguing and coolly brutal, sprung from the Bucky Barnes character from the first film (is that a spoiler?), but I think more investment of that character in Part One would have really paid off in the pathos they attempt to wring out of this film. I didn’t remember enough of Bucky to make his sad, brain-scrambled existence very impactful this go-round.

Here’s hoping that as Marvel gears up its next round of superhero films—independent and team efforts—it keeps Cap simple and refreshing.

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Quik Flix Hit

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | Comments Off

Summer Movie Series

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Rated PG-13

Twentieth Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment

So here we are, another X-Men movie. This one’s a linking film between 2011’s look-they’re-all-young-now prequel, X-Men: First Class, and series proper, where they are old dudes and dudettes. Elements of this film were established in 2013’s standalone feature, The Wolverine.

In the Bloghouse It’s not as confusing as it seems—if you even bother to try and sort through it all. It’s enough to know that some time in the future, the human and mutant races are under siege and nearing extinction. Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen) and the few remaining good/bad mutants are in a last-stand battle to stave off lab-created supermutants. These genetic robotic-mutant monstrosities can adapt to any of its foes’ varied mutant powers, making the supermutants all but invincible.

Once all seems lost, a Hail Mary time-traveling gimmick is employed that allows Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to be mentally catapulted 50 years back in time to his younger body. Hot-headed Wolverine isn’t the best representative to send on this mission to destroy the enemy before it’s even created, but his near-indestructible Adamantium frame and mental constitution make him the only one capable of making the journey. Not only must he stop an as-yet-created enemy, he must convince now-younger Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to assist him. That second part may be harder than the first since the two mutant leaders are respectively suicidally depressed and incarcerated in a super-prison—and hate each other to boot. (See the previous film if you don’t understand how this came to be.)

Stopping the supermutants—created through a nefarious Vietnam-era government program—involves stopping rogue mutant Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). The last movie saw her blue-hued, shape-shifting mutant making romantic gestures with both Professor X and Magnetic. Her now-bitter character’s actions put her on a collision course with mad scientist Dr. Trask (a great Peter Dinklage), which will ultimately create the bleak future. All of this occurs at a brisk pace, is action packed and—thankfully—humorous.

Fassbender, McAvoy and Lawrence bring needed dimension to the proceedings, and Jackman’s always engaging, particularly in the ’70s setting. Despite occasionally cutting back to the future, the original X-Men crew, including Storm (Halle Berry) and Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) get limited screen time.

How many more of these films can they make? I like them and the creators still find space to employ the mutant/societal outcast trope effectively, but I think the series is running out of road.

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A Woman Phenomenally

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Marvin in Obituary | Comments Off

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”

Maya Angelou
1928-2014

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Marvin in Movies | Comments Off

Oculus (2013)

Rated R

Relativity Media

It’s been a good while since a horror film’s caught me in its spell using strong storytelling, empathetic characters and intelligent construction.

In the Bloghouse The past 10 or so years have seen the horror genre littered with moderately successful (mostly PG-13) fare—The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Insidious 1 and 2, The Conjuring, Sinister—that has given hope to a perpetually gasping genre. These films have filled in gaps between often uninspired, sometimes insipid found-footage subgenre works (the Paranormal Activity sequels, V/H/S), so-called torture porn (the Saw sequels, Hostel, High Tension, the Evil Dead remake), undead features (Zombieland, World War Z, Shaun of the Dead, Stake Land), teen scream films (the Final Destination sequels, the Prom Night and Carrie remakes).

Sure, along the way there have been a few that have aspired to press beyond the status quo—The Descent, The Cabin in the Woods, You’re Next, Plus One, Let the Right One In, The Purge—but frankly these days I’m finding more satisfaction with dramas and thrillers (Headhunters, The Square, the True Detective cable series, Good Neighbors) that have used horror elements for accent than with horror films themselves. Personally, I think those PG-13 successes have as much to do with abysmal alternatives as they do with being genuinely impactful genre efforts.

Oculus arrives at a time when I’ve grown tired of observing my favorite genre on life support. You’ve been waiting for a horror film that engages you as a viewer, right? Here you go. This is a full-blooded horror film that gets the job done right.

The short of it: This film is about a haunted mirror. But really, any piece of household furniture in the service of this script and this director (Mike Flanagan, Absentia) might get the job done.

After years of being separated by tragedy, two siblings reunite to take on the evil forces they believe responsible for the death of their parents. Specifically, Kaylie (Karen Gillan, Guardians of the Galaxy) believes the Damask-like antique mirror brought into their home 11 years ago eventually drove their father to murder their mother and eventually take his own life. Lack of evidence of these supernatural forces led to brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) taking the blame and spending years in a mental institute. Kaylie has grown into a beautiful and successful antiques dealer who reacquires the mirror with a hidden agenda to seek revenge and clear the family name. Tim, meanwhile, has come to believe most of the details of the tragedy have been reworked by his mind as a coping mechanism and has simply come to accept the sad facts of his deeds.

The past and present stories function on parallel tracks, which work seamlessly even as the two time periods draw ever nearer until the finale, where they actually overlap.

OK, enough of the plot. I’ll leave you to discover its many terrors and surprises. Sound, lighting, editing and acting are all on point, but Oculus uses sure-footed manipulation of perception as its trump card. Because the mirror can manipulate time, space and sound, the film uses this device to manipulate the audience as much as the siblings.

An excellent scene, for example, involves the protagonists not sure which version of themselves is real and which is their mirror illusion. One pair is inside their home facing imminent danger, while the other pair has escaped the house. Should they act to save their endangered selves inside the house, or is it a trick of the mirror to get their outside selves back inside the house? Flanagan has a lot of fun goosing the viewer with such scenes.

Kaylie, thinking she’s fully aware of the mirror’s capabilities, has rigged the house with recording devices, alarms, and has outside contingency plans and even a failsafe. But really once we—and she—discover that the forces behind the mirror can affect and distort video/audio feeds and cell phones, how sure are we of any thing we see or hear?

This is how you build terror: you plot it, you create characters (in two time streams) that we care about, you give us the ground rules and then reveal that those rules can be bent, you use the tried and true tropes of the genre not simply to shock but to enhance story and characters.

Kaylie’s manifest love for her brother when they were kids is contrasted with her present-day disappointment in his willful attempts to deny a devastating past. Meanwhile, her obsession that has only grown since Tim was taken from her threatens to overtake her careful, rational plans. Tim tries to temper his hard-won sanity with his love for his sister; to reach her on some level involves embracing her self-assured belief in the mirror’s evil—that belief once sent him to the psych ward for years.

This film keeps getting compared to The Conjuring. This film is better than The Conjuring.

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Solitude

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Marvin in Obituary, Writing | Comments Off

What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.

Gabriel García Márquez
1927-2014

Incredible, Amazing, Mighty

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Marvin in Family | Comments Off

My mother is a superhero.
Unmatched in courage, faith, commitment.
I look to her like all mortals look to heroes,
and offer this heartfelt
thank you,
time and again.

For Thressa Mae Brown
Happy birthday, Mom.