Dredd

Okay, right off the bat the good news is, this is a better version of Dredd than Sylvester Stallone's take on Judge Dredd. The bad news is making a better version of a Sly Stallone's Judge Dredd wouldn't be something you'd consider daunting. That being said, if you saw the wonderful film Raid: The Redemption (which I blogged about) then you've seen Dredd, except without all the amazing martial arts. It's basically the same story line as Raid, in fact if I were a producer of Raid, I'd think of suing...seriously! I was sitting there, watching this movie and waiting to see something I had never seen before aaaaand nope, it never came.

What I don't understand is if some studio head hands you his check book and says, "Go ahead and make that film you've always wanted to make" and then you go out and make something like this, I would think you should be working in Home Depot or something (in the garden gnome section no less). Directed by Pete Travis, this movie lacked ANYTHING original, I mean NOTHING at all. Not to mention it's utter nonsense like it's the future and people are still taking pictures with their cell phones? REALLY? There is supposedly a 94% unemployment rate and yet people are still shopping at the malls and (wait for it....) THERE ARE STILL MALLS???? Are you kidding me? This is Pete Travis' third movie and one of the three was the absolute atrocious Vantage Point so I should have known this would suck (but hey, at least my popcorn was good).

Mega City One stretches from Boston to DC and the rest of America is a nuclear wasteland. There are these megatowers known as blocks that rise into the sky and all the people that survived the war now live within Mega City One and in these "blocks". The only thing keeping anarchy from running wild are the Judges from The Hall of Justice. The most infamous of all the judges is Dredd and what's his assignment on this given day, train a rookie recruit. But wait, you know she just can't be ANY ordinary rookie recruit, she has to be special if Dredd gets saddled with her. Lo and behold, the rookie is a psychic (the producers pulled NO punches when it came to originality). Dredd, played by the talented Karl Urban takes rookie Anderson, played by Olivia Thirlby out into the madness of Mega City for her pass/fail evaluation. Yawn!

They soon find themselves in Peach Trees block with the responsibility of solving a multiple homicide. They are there accidentally (chasing down guys driving erratically and under the influence of narcotics) but wouldn't you know it, Peach Trees is the sole processing plant and distribution hub of the new drug on the street, the same one the drives were "high" on or "slow" on known as "slo-mo". Slo-Mo basically slows everything down but what you aren't told is why anyone would take the stuff. You aren't told if the drug makes you feel good, tastes good, makes good experiences more intense or not, you're just told that shit just lasts longer. So why anyone in their right mind would want to take a drug that slows shit down while your living in a hellish time makes NOOOO sense to me but I digress. Now that the cops are there, the slo-mo Queenpin Ma Ma wants Peach Trees locked down and the Judges eliminated because one of her top soldiers gets arrested in connection with the multiple homicide. Now the dim lit chase throughout the block ensues.

The surprise towards the end that involves more judges just screams even MORE lack of originality. On second thought, if I was one of the producers on Raid: The Redemption, I wouldn't sue. I wouldn't anyone thinking my movie and this Dredd crap had anything in common. The music by Paul Leonard-Morgan was the only redeemable thing about this film but if you don't like hip-hop beats and serious distortion in your movie scores, you might want to pass. All in all I say watch Raid: The Redemption. It's a much better movie and far more entertaining and just know that once you've seen that movie, you've seen this one. And as for us Judge Dredd fans, we'll just have to keep waiting for that GOOD Dredd movie because right now, we're 0 for 2. I'll see you at the theater!

Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX

I saw this movie when it first came out, back in 1981. I was twelve years old and I was blown away. Raiders of the Lost Ark solidified my love for the movies (Empire Strikes Back which came out a year before was my first love) and made me a die hard Spielberg fan. When I heard this movie was being re-released in IMAX, the twelve year old inside me told me simply "WE ARE GOING!".

I sat in my seat, popcorn in my lap, soda in my hand and suddenly when the movie started I was twelve years old again. My feet hung off the seat because my legs were too short to reach the floor. The bucket of popcorn in my lap was huge as was the tub of soda, and I had a box of Lemonheads in my pocket (I always had Lemonheads when I went to the movies back then).

I was throwing every punch, reciting every word, humming along with John Williams' masterful score, and having the time of my life watching Indy chase down the Ark against his rival Belloq. All to keep it out of Nazi Germany's hands. I don't know who is responsible for re-releasing one of my all time favorite movies (in IMAX no less) and I don't know how long it's playing but if you can catch it, catch it. I HIGHLY recommend it because I bet you're feet won't touch the floor either.

Arbitage

Okay, so I'll admit I am not the biggest Richard Gere fan. I know, shocker right? It's for the same reasons I don't particularly care for Clive Owen, there's no acting going on. They are the same guy in every movie and it gets annoying. However, again I'll admit (big time confessions) that Richard Gere BEING Richard Gere actually works in his latest film Arbitage. Written and directed nicely by first time feature film director Nicholas Jarecki, Arbitage tells the story of hedge fund manager Robert Miller and all that encompasses his world from high finance to the art world to fruad, and a crime so serious it threatens to destroy him.

Susan Sarandon (in what could be considered a come back year) plays wife Ellen Miller, a seemingly vapid wife of a billionaire. That is until all the cards are laid on the table. Brit Marling plays Robert's daughter Brooke Miller. Brooke works at her fathers firm and much like her mother has her head in the sand until she starts sniffing around the books. Robert is in talks to sell his firm to Standard Banking and Trust and his books are doctored so the deal can go through. If that happens he can then pay every one of his investors back their money without seeing any jail time. While trying to negotiate the sale he's also cheating on his wife with artist Julie Cote, played by Laetitia Casta. She is a french artist supported almost entirely by Robert and she's foolishly waiting for Robert to leave his wife.

Robert is involved in a serious crime one night and calls the only person he can think of to help him, Jimmy Grant who is played by Nate Parker. In comes Tim Roth playing Detective Michael Bryer (and seemingly reprising his role from his TV show, Lie To Me). Bryer is one of those angry, bitter cops that can't stand the wealthy and powerful and he runs this crime down like a man possessed because he knows, in his gut he knows that Robert Miller is guilty. As they say in court though, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove and Bryer is out to prove it any way he can. He harasses Jimmy almost non stop to get him to crack and talk, convinces the DA to issue a warrant to convene a Grand Jury against Jimmy, and even comes up with a piece of evidence that would send Jimmy to jail for at least ten years for something he didn't even do.

All this is going on while Robert is trying to hold everything together and sell his company. He feels that once he sells then everything will be alright because to him, money is the cure-all for every problem. He tells you that much in the beginning of the film. Being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo from CNBC he tells her of a lesson he learned in fifth grade. Everything in this world revolves around five things, M O N E Y! Now I won't give the ending away because I recommend you see it. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all by the film. The score by Cliff Martinez is a slow burning, taut one that haunts. It's subtle and perfect for the story line because the music rides the waves of Roberts emotional lows and lowers. Check out Arbitage and I'll see you at the theater.

Lawless

When I saw the trailer for Lawless, I thought this was in my wheel house. I have always had a peculiar interest in outlaw moonshiners (family being from the south and all). Also being a fan of Nascar, which got it start thanks to those white lightning runners in the first place. Yes the first superstars of Nascar way back when were lawbreaking moonshiners, anyway I digress. As I was saying, I found the subject matter intriguing and then the cast pulled me right in. For those of you who don't know by now (those living under a big rock or something), Tom Hardy is the man. He was the man as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and he keeps that going here in Lawless as Forrest Bondurant, the elder brother of the Bondurant family. Once I learned that this movie was based on true events, and those Bondurant boys actually lived, well then I couldn't wait to see it.

Starring alongside the man is Shia LeBeouf as the youngest of the Bondurant boys, all bark and no bite Jake Bondurant. He's impetuous, enterprising, and the soul of the family. Where Forrest is the ice and Jason Clarke who plays Howard Bondurant is the fire, Jake is the heart and soul, he is the soft underbelly of the Bondurants, the one that needs to be protected. And with Forrest and especially the hot headed Howard, Jake had all the protection he needed. He works for his brothers in their restaurant/garage doing the grunt work, sweeping the floors and the like but what he really wants to do is get into the shine business. A business in which his brothers are very successful at. Jake feels that he along with his best friend and "business partner" Cricket Pate who also works for the Bondurants, played by Dane DeHaan there's no way he can fail. Howard's fine with letting Jake in but Forrest knows better. He knows Jake is tender and while he may have all the ambition in the world, he doesn't have near enough heart. When Jake and Cricket strike out on their own and make a deal with the notorious Chicago gangster Floyd Banner played with a quiet ferocity by Gary Oldman, Forrest relents.

Everything is fine until Special Deputy Charlie Rakes, played by Guy Pearce comes into town from Chicago. He's there to make all the moonshiners toe the line and make their payments to his boss or he's there to kill them and shut down their operations. All of the shiners in the county go along, all except for those Bondurant boys (but you knew that, didn't you?). Standing up against Rakes brings to mind that old Japanese proverb, "the nail that sticks out gets hammered hardest". Rakes goes after the Bondurant boys in every way he can, both legally and illegally. It doesn't matter to him how he gets them, as long as he does and even if that means inciting Forrest and Howard by almost beating Jake to death, so be it. Even if that meant terrorizing Forrest's girlfriend Maggie Beauford, played by the lovely Jessica Chastain, then so be it.

Directed by John Hillcoat, who did the bleak The Road back in 2009 and based on the book The Wettest County In The World by Matt Bondurant (no, that is not a coincidence), Lawless is a movie with no real centerpiece. You find yourself rooting for Forrest in the beginning only to end up cheering for Jake in the end. The movie see-saws and I always considered that flawed filmaking, but this movie has such powerful performances that you don't mind that. This movie is also about transformation. You watch Forrest transform from the menacing presence to a loving and gentle man, same for Howard. The starkest transformation though belongs to Jake. Where he was once that soft underbelly, Rakes turns him into someone scarier than Forrest and it's mesmerising to watch.

My biggest problem with this movie is the music. Supposedly the score was done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the men behind the music of The Road and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The music was sort of avant garde or to be blunt, it was different. Nothing compelling and it didn't help the films along, same goes with this film. Such powerful performance's deserved a powerful score and instead you get disappointing and forgettable accompaniment. Other than that, Lawless is a should see. You will NOT be wasting your money, I assure you and I'll see you at the theater.

Little White Lies

When this movie hits the DVD shelf, I WILL OWN IT! There, I said it and I make that bold proclamation because this little French film (which by French film standards wasn't little at all) is worthy of a spot in my collection. Les petits mouchoirs or Little White Lies (as it's known here in the US) was originally released in 2010 in France and it has just graced our shores and I'm glad it did. It's basically France's version of The Big Chill, that classic 1983 film where a bunch of old college friends reunite after the funeral of one of their friends. Little White Lies follows much of the same gameplan and it's done exceptionally well right down to the soundtrack of hits by The Isley Brothers, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Ben Harper, and David Bowie.

Directed by Guillame Canet, this movie starts off with the camera trailing and following a man in a club, he's waving high, goodbye, kissing women, hugging men and looks like he's having a great time. His name is Ludo played by the Oscar aware winner from The Artist (though this movie was filmed before The Artist), Jean Dujardin. After a tragic accident lands him in the hospital we meet all his closest friends who are devastated. There's the "leader" of the group, the recognizable Francois Cluzet from The Intouchables, the insecure Marie played by Marion Cotillard, fresh off her Dark Knight Rises performance. The rest of the cast, unless you know French film and it's cadre of actors is a collection of talented but unknown actors and actresses. Benoit Magimel plays the steady but frustrated Vincent, Gilles Lellouche plays the man whore Eric, Valerie Bonneton plays Max's wife Veronique, and Pascale Arbillot plays Vincent's wife Isabelle, and Laurent Laffite playing the maddeningly insecure Antione. There is also the sage Jean-Louis (my favorite character) played by Joel Dupuch.

Every years these friends go on a two week vacation on wealthy Max's dime, he's a restaurateur but this year they wonder if they should go due to Ludo's accident. After much debate they decide to go but not before Max is confronted by his best friend and chiropractor Vincent who tells Max something that shakes him to his core and threatens their friendship. You can see Max doesn't know how to handle the news and it effects everything about him during his vacation. From that one paradigm shifting truth are a bunch of little lies underneath. If it's not Eric lying about his relationship, it's Antione lying about the secrecy of texts he's still getting from his ex girlfriend. If it's not Vincent's wife lying to her husband about wanting to be a wanton slut, it's Marie lying to herself about her NOT being a wanton slut and what she really wants. Then there's Max, lying to everyone that everything is fine and that there's nothing wrong between he and Vincent. That is until Max says something off color which makes Vincent try to take Max's head off for it.

Jean-Louis sees through all of this but says nothing, he just smiles and accepts these people for who they are. He's like a second father to Max who used to put Max to work for him digging clams when he was a child so he knows Max pretty well and knows not all is well with this group. Now I'll admit, there are times where this movie could have ended many times and would have been okay. After awhile you may get that "let's wrap this puppy up" feeling more than a few times, I know I did. Don't worry and don't be impatient because the end of this film (when it does finally come) is so emotionally beautiful that it makes me want to own it the second it's on disc. Maybe if you see, which I suggest you do maybe you'll want to own it too and I'll see you at the theater.