Silver Linings Playbook

Quick Read: Silver Linings Playbook, the latest movie from director David O. Russell is a peculiar but entertaining story. It will definitely make you laugh and make you think. Something a good movie should make you do. Is it a must see? No, not really. Will you be upset if you missed this movie? Probably not but if you have some time on your hands and you want to see an entertaining movie, give Silver Linings Playbook a look see. I give it two and a half buckets of Killer Korn.




If you aren't a fan of Bradley Cooper then skip this movie because his face is all over this puppy. Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley who plays Pat who suffers with bi-polar. He had a serious incident which landed him in an mental institution in Baltimore. He is a manic man who seems to be unwilling to deal with the break up of his marriage. There's an orders of protection out for Pat who lives with his parents Robert DeNiro who plays Pat Sr. and Jacki Weaver who plays Dolores. Pat so desperately wants to get his life back together and have things go back to the way they were before his "episode" that he is willing to do practically anything. He really wants to reconnect with his estranged wife Nikki played by Brea Bee, who has that orders of protection out against Pat. The other is a restraining order for the school Pat used to work at as a high school history teacher. His encounter with a member of the faculty is hilarious.

The rest of the talented cast includes Chris Tucker (who is finally in a movie without Jackie Chan) who plays Pat's good friend from the mental institution named Danny, Julia Stiles playing Veronica, John Ortiz who plays Ronnie, and the lovely Jennifer Lawrence (who I may now have a small crush on) as Tiffany. Ronnie and Veronica are unhappily married and Tiffany is Veronica's sister who is either sanely crazy or crazily sane, I'm still not sure. She does though have some of the best lines and moments in this movie and it shows her abilities as an actor in a way The Hunger Games has failed to, so far. Most of the lines are in the trailer but she has a few other great ones that make Pat rethink things. She opens up a door Pat has padlocked since his episode. Especially when she agrees to break the law for Pat.

Tiffany agrees to help Pat do something he shouldn't do but she wants something in return, she wants him to dance with her. She wants to dance in a dance competition and her deceased husband never would when he was alive. The deal is struck and Pat and Tiffany begin to practice and throughout their practicing does Pat finally see the bigger picture about him and his life. This movie to me, while choppy and hard to follow at times is all about love. The love of family, friends, and the Philadelphia Eagles (which as a Cowboys fan offends me to my core but whatever). It's about the sacrifices you make for those you love and how they sacrifice for you no matter what.

If you don't mind a movie that deals with mental illness at its forefront, a movie that kind of indicates that maybe those with mental illnesses actually live better lives than those without, because they live life without hiding behind walls then see Playbook. There is no visual feast for the eyes (again unless you like Bradley Cooper) but the performances are top notch. And while it's given a lukewarm score by Danny Elfman, one you will definitely forget, there are songs that you will remember and want on your ipod. Silver Linings Playbook is worth the money and be careful because it just may make you look at life (and the mentally ill) in a completely different way. I'll see you at the theater!   

Life of Pi

Okay, I went into this film thinking it was going to be great, amazing even. Life of Pi falls sadly way short of those marks. It's a good film, heavy on great visual effects, really light on story. If story doesn't mean all that much to you then you should enjoy this film. If story is all that matters, skip Life of Pi. I give it one bucket of Killer Korn.




Up front I want to say, I think Ang Lee is an amazing director at times. There are also times when you wonder if the man has any idea what he is doing. His Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Eat Drink Man Woman, and one of my personal favorites Ride With the Devil are all phenomenal. His Incredible Hulk and The Ice Storm, not so much. In my opinion, Life of Pi fits squarely in-between those two extremes. If you want a movie that is a visual feast for the eyes then Life of Pi better be the next film you go to see. The 3D is so amazing it's sometimes hard to believe your eyes and you really can only tell one time throughout the film where the real Bengal tiger ends and where the CG tiger begins. Amazing!!! Sadly though, where the movie excels in visual goodies, it severely lacks in any real emotional depth. It doesn't build those emotional bridges I thought were necessary to make this film one for the ages.

Starring Suraj Sharma as the younger Piscine Molitor Patel, Pi for short, it's a movie based on his time at sea on a lifeboat with a ferocious Bengal tiger. It's a tale told to an author who has just scuttled his second novel played by Rafe Spall. He was told to go visit Pi by Pi's uncle if the author wanted to hear the greatest tale ever told and the author does. The author goes to visit adult Pi played by the very talented Irrfan Khan. Adult Pi told the author that through his story, he found God which is what the author is hoping to find himself. Adult Pi begins to tell the author where his name comes from, The Piscine Molitor Hotel's swimming pool that Pi's uncle absolutely loved. His uncle loved it so much that Pi's father chose to name his youngest son after said pool. That's when I started scratching my head.

The scratching went on when before the coming shipwreck, Pi seems to have no loving, profound moments with his mother, father, or brother. Younger Pi falls in love with a dancer but there's nothing about their romance at all except how adult Pi remembers how he never said goodbye. So when his family perishes in the shipwreck, there are no pulling at the heart strings at ALL! I wouldn't say I didn't care that they passed but I can't say that I was all that broken up about it either. What goes on in the lifeboat however is thrilling stuff thanks to a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, a drugged up hyena, and a even more drugged up tiger. Sadly though the movie descends into Cast Away mode. Think Tom Hanks on the open sea but instead of talking to a volleyball, he has a Bengal tiger to keep him company. And while out there on the open sea, Pi barely sheds a tear for his dead family and instead does all he can to keep the tiger alive. As you can guess, there was more scratching of the head going on.

Like I said, visually the movie was amazing and if it should be ignored come the movie award season, that would be a crime. I'm sure the movie looked breathtaking not in 3D but in 3D it was jaw dropping. Scored with heartbreaking fragility by the incredible Mychael Danna, the score is often the only thing that has any emotion during the movie. Now if I've made Pi out to sound like a movie not worth seeing, my apologies. You may see it and get a completely different feel from the movie that I did and you may actually find it at the very least redeeming if don't actually find God. If you see it, I hope you enjoy it more than I did...and I'll see you at the theater.

Red Dawn

Red Dawn (the remake) wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Pulled from the dirt heap of old movies begging for a new life, Red Dawn surprisingly still has legs. This is one 80's movie that while being iconic, the remake doesn't diminish its original predecessor. If you're looking for an escape and you want to cheer that good old American "fight to the death" spirit, then check out Dawn. I give it two buckets of killer korn.





Going in, I honestly thought this movie was going to suck. Why is that, you ask? Two reasons in particular. One, if you remember back, the original 1984 movie really wasn't all that good. Yeah I know, we THOUGHT it was but truth be told, it was borderline bad, even with Patrick Swayze. The premise was sooo far out there, Russians landing troops in your backyard, that it almost made you scratch your head. But in the time of Reagan and Mother Russia being the big evil of the day, why not capitalize on that fear for a few dollars. Number two, this remake was pulled together by first time director Dan Bradley. Usually the words "first time director" makes me save my money or see something else. Dan, in his previous career was nothing more than a stunt man, and at one point in his career played Jason Vorhees for a day while shooting Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI back in 86. Basically, he spent all his time in front of the camera being pulled, pushed, and landing on matts with fake glass flying all around him, which if you see Red Dawn, is pretty much all that's on the screen. Dan spent no time behind the camera but he didn't do such a bad job.

Red Dawn deals with some serious sibling rivalry between Chris Hemsworth's Jed Eckert and Josh Peck's Matt Eckert. Matt's a cowboy who never thinks about the team, only his own glory and Jed is a Marine whose only concern is for the team and not himself, ever. Their father is the sheriff of Spokane, WA. Tom Eckert played by Brett Cullen and all three men have had to learn to adjust to each other when the matriarch of the family passed away years ago. Matt never forgave Jed for joining the Marines and leaving him when their mother died and Jed never realized how wrong he was for doing so until the North Koreans started dropping troops into tiny, sleepy Spokane. At least you're supposed to believe they're North Koreans (HEY, JUST GO ALONG WITH IT, OKAY?). Jed and Matt race to get out of town and in the process of doing so while dodging troops with automatic weapons, pick up Josh Hutcherson who plays Robert Kitner and Conner Cruise (son of Tom Cruise, yes THAT Tome Cruise) who plays Daryl Jenkins.

The rest of the cast includes Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Edwin Hodge, Alyssa Diaz, Julian Alcaraz, Jeffery Dean Morgan, and the evil Will Yun Lee and Capt. Cho, the North Korean prefect of the greater Spokane area. After watching their father take a bullet in the head, and with a rag tag bunch of teens, Jed decides they need to stay and fight. Seems like a radical idea, especially when NONE of the group has so much as ever touched a gun outside of himself before. All of a sudden though, after a few short training exercises these kids take to combat like fish out of water. They're jumping, shooting, creating diversions, and planting explosives like Black Op soldiers. They call themselves The Wolverines after the towns football team and they don't really have a mission, just maim and kill until the ammo and the C-4 runs out. That is until Jeffery Dean Morgan's character Tanner and his two other "unretired" Marines show up looking for those Wolverines. They are seeking assistance in trying to acquire the North Koreans radio.

More shooting, jumping, and running ensues as The Wolverines and the unretired Marines storm the stronghold of the Koreans. This is where the movie takes a huge leap into WTF Land! But if you can suspend reality and all common sense then you just may enjoy that sequence. Bottom line questions are, is Red Dawn an entertaining film? Yes it is. Did it have potential to be even better? Absolutely. Is it worth the price of admission? That depends. If you are going to see it to watch young white suburban kids kick North Koreans asses then you will get your moneys worth. If you are going for some other reason, like say you liked the original and you wanted to see the updated version, I would wait for DVD. Remember, the original 1986 movie really wasn't all that good, just sayin'. BUT (and that's a big but) if you could see yourself picking up arms and risking life and limb to fight a foreign invader, if that idea excites you and gives you good bumps then Red Dawn is your movie.

The cinematography was amateurish at best. At its best, it looked like it was shot by kids in high school, at its worse it made you want to puke. I am a HUGE fan of the stedi-cam, the handheld camera, not so much. I understand Dan wanted to make you feel like you were right there, in the middle of the mad scramble, right in the middle of all that action but there were moments where I felt like I was going to puke. The handheld thing was truly annoying and was thankfully moved away from as the movie went on. The score by Ramin Djawadi was ignorable. It didn't stand out in ANY way, it didn't deliver any heroic themes and it was only cued up during the time when you aren't looking for any music, during the action sequences. As a stand alone score, it's good but in the movie, you won't remember it. If you do go see Red Dawn remember, I warned you! I'll see you at the the theater!

Lincoln

Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's latest opus is a fascinating movie if you care to learn about how the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. If you don't know what the 13th Amendment is, it's the abolishment of slavery. If you don't really care that much then you might find it boring but Spielberg never makes, okay rarely makes a bad film and Lincoln isn't at all a bad film. That's why it gets three buckets of Killer Korn.



If Abraham Lincoln was anything like Daniel Day-Lweis' portrayal of him, I would have loved to have met him. I have never wanted to meet any president, never cared to meet the figure head of the Republic, the leader of the free world. Just wasn't my thing but that being said, if Lincoln was as graceful, even handed, gracious, magnanimous, and intelligent as he was in this movie, then his hand would have been one I would have liked to shake. I don't know if this will win Day-Lewis another Oscar but I do know it will win him a brand new legion of fans for he is fantastic as the 16th President. Sally Field's portrayal as Lincoln's tortured wife Molly Lincoln was every bit as good as Day-Lewis'. All of the performances were stellar and to me stand out was James Spader.

Yes you read that right, James Spader. He has finally found a roll that he fits into perfectly as W.N. Bilbo, a political operative who was hired by Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward played by David Strathairn to get in anyway he and his cohorts could, votes by key Democrats to vote for the 13th Amendment. I have rarely been impressed by anything Spader has done throughout his career, I was impressed by him in Lincoln. This movie also starred Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (what a year this kid is having), Jared Harris (Prof. Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes; Game of Shadows), and Gloria Reuben are just a few of the outstanding actors in this extensive cast. And I'm quite certain whoever Spielberg wanted, he didn't get a "no".

This movie, amazingly is startlingly timed. It coincides almost poignantly with the re-election of the 44th President Barack Obama. It shows just how far we as a people and a nation has come. This movie, like I have indicated is light on Civil War action and very heavy on trying to get the Constitution amended trying to kill slavery. When you walk out of the theater, you live in a world where the President is a Black man. That realization is powerful to me and that's a testament to Spielberg, for creating and crafting a movie that seemingly transports you back in time to that moment when back alley deals are made, backs are stabbed, the votes are counted, and slavery is killed in this country.

Inspired by the book by Dolores Kearns Goodwin entitled Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Spielberg's movie puts you inside the offices and almost inside the heads and the hearts of the Republicans that wanted to abolish slavery and the Democrats that looked to keep it going. The only complaint I have it the ending, I think Speilberg overdid it on the ending and went for the grandiose instead of the more emotional. Outside of that, the sets, the costumes, the makeup were all seemingly perfect. The score, composed by the masterful maestro himself, John Williams was uplifting, poignant, humorous, and solemn when it needed to be. It's a great score to a great movie and one I definitely recommend. It is well worth the price of admission so see it, and I'll see you at the theater.

Skyfall

Skyfall, the twenty third installment in the James Bond franchise is definitely one of the better Bond films in it's history. Therefore it gets three big buckets of Killer Korn. It brings you a part of James' life that you never knew, and may have never wanted to know. If you like keeping Bond at arms length then don't see this movie. However, if you've always been curious where Bond comes from and what his back story is, Skyfall answers all those questions.


The most accomplished director of a James Bond film ever is the man responsible for Skyfall. He is the Oscar Award winner Sam Mendes and he does a marvelous job with one of the weakest story lines for a Bond film (remember The World Is Not Enough and Goldeneye? Exactly). That being said, it's also one of the more original (if that's possible) Bond films as well and shows a true love for London. Usually Bond films have our hero traipsing all around the globe, and seldom if ever coming home. When he does, he's only there to get some new toys and then he's off again. Skyfall has James running through the London Underground tube system at rush hour, something never before seen. It's a magnificent foot race between Bond and his worthy (and often times funny) nemesis Silva played the freakishly talented Javier Bardem.

Starring alongside those two men is Dame Judy Dench reprising her role as M and that's it as far as recognizable faces go in relation to the latest Bond films. Unless of course you count Rory Kinnear who plays M's chief asst. Tanner, he was in the previous two films. This time around we get the lovely Naomi Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Berenice Marloh, and fresh off his turn in Cloud Atlas, Ben Whishaw as the new Q. It's a strong cast and only one real performance is wasted but I won't divulge that here. The story revolves around a list that's been stolen of every British agent currently undercover in terrorist organizations around the globe, putting countless agents at risk. If that sounds familiar, just think back to the first Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie, it's the same premise.

Now, much like it's predecessor, Skyfall starts off with one hell of a chase sequence. Bond is after the man who killed fellow agents, ripped out the hard drive that contained said list and fled into the streets of Turkey (note to filmmakers, time to find a new locale, Turkey no longer impresses). They chase by car, then motorcycle across rooftops (that actually did impress me), and then to the train where Bond and the bad guy fight on top of. Naomi Harris' character, a fellow agent is in hot pursuit and when ordered to "take the bloody shot", hits James sending him plunging into the river below. From then on, MI6 is blown up and relocated underground, Bond comes back from the dead and they realize they have a new enemy, Javier Bardem's Silva.

Silva is a vicious and violent man and has every right to hate the ground M walks upon and he is her primary target in this movie. Bond is moved into the role of protector and he plays it well, just not well enough. This movie has everything you want a Bond film to have, including the names of James' parents. Yes, we learn so much more about Bond in this film than we ever knew before. It's entertaining, breathtaking, exhilarating, and predictable. HEY, it's James Bond, after twenty three movies you're bound to get predictable. Mendes does a fine job though of putting Skyfall together, it is shot beautifully, especially if you love silhouettes because there are more than a few of those here, I'm guessing for dramatic effect. It's scored blandly by James Newton Howard until the Aston Martin shows up, Then you perk up and pay attention and actually smile. Like I stated at the top, if you've always felt comfortable keeping secret super agent 007 at arms length then don't see Skyfall, if you've always wanted to know a little more then Skyfall is the movie for you and I'll see you at the theater!

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is not for everyone though I found it absolutely breathtaking and a work of genius. I give it only two and a half buckets of killer kiorn though because it's a convoluted storyline and it can be confusing. If you go in like I was told to go in, suspending all belief and just ride the wave, you will get swept up in this movie just like I did.



You ever go in to see a movie and then come out completely changed? You ever then, look at the world and the people around you with a completely different eye than you had just two ours before? That's what I felt like after seeing Cloud Atlas. Now I will be completely honest with you, I had no desire to see this movie whatsoever, thankfully a dear friend recommended it and since I trust her taste, I told her I would go give it a look see. She told me not to get caught up in the story line because it will make the movie worse, to just sit back and enjoy the ride and that is just what I did. No better advice was ever given. Directed by the brother and sister duo that brought you the Matrix Trilogy along with Tom Tykwer who directed The International, Cloud Atlas is a film that spans time and even space in a way never before seen.

Adapted from the novel written by David Mitchell that was published in 2004 (which I am now curious about reading), and written somehow for the screen by Lana and brother Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, Atlas deals with multiple lives that are separated by years if not hundreds and even thousands of years. Its extensive cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Keith David, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, and Doona Bae as the principles. I can't even begin to list their characters names because each person plays more than one character. I also can't really get into the story except to say this tale was a tale of the abolishment of slavery, rebellion, betrayal, music, and love.

This is not a movie for the average movie goer. The average movie goer will more than likely get up and walk out. In fact, this was probably the biggest waste of money by the producers of a film other than Ishtar (remember Ishtar?). That's not good news for any of the fourteen producers of the movie (and three of the fourteen were the directors of the film) but something made them fork over the money and I am going to have to go with, it was their love of the novel. The novel, whose very own author told those directors that even HE didn't think his novel would make a good movie but the project went on regardless. If this book inspired that kind of fanaticism then it sounds like something worth looking into because this movie WILL lose money. That being said, I can honestly say that I feel like one of the lucky ones that did see it. I feel like one of the fortunate few and I feel sympathy for those that either saw it and didn't get it or will never get the chance to see it.

It was a visual feast for the eyes AND the ears. The name of the movie, according to the movie comes from a piece of classical music entitled The Cloud Atlas Sextet. If you've seen the trailer then you've heard the melody and if you've been living under one of those big rocks out there and missed the trailer, don't worry because I'll include it and you can hear it there. The score was created by Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, and Tom Tykwer and it was beautiful, graceful, dramatic, sorrowful, and inspirational throughout the film. It was more than a job well done, it was Oscar worthy. I recommend it but I do so with a caveat, if you don't go in with an open mind and an open heart, this film will go right over your heads. If you go in though, with no preconceived notions or ideas, if you go in just prepared to enjoy the ride then you will love this movie as much as I do, I swear it. Go see it and I'll see you at the theater!

Flight

Flight gets 3 out of 4 buckets of killer korn. It is a very well done film and all the performances were exemplary. I highly recommend it.


"Let me tell you a story about an addict" is what the tag line should be for this movie because Flight, directed by Robert Zemeckis is littered with them. Well not so much as littered with them than about one main one. His name is Captain Whip Whitaker played by Denzel Washington and he is a straight screw up. The man has no redeeming qualities you can see and is a hopeless addict. Hapless however, he is not. In fact, Whip is a man sent from God to save the lives of those on board his plane that suffers a "catastrophic failure" about 30 minutes into it's flight from Orlando to Atlanta. Now I am not the biggest Denzel Washington fan, that's right I said it, to me he's much like Clive Owen, the same guy in every film he's in. There seems to be very little acting done, that being said though I feel this is one of his finer performances to date, right behind his Det. Alonzo Harris from Training Day, his portrayal of Malcolm X, and his Pvt. Trip from Glory. Two of those won him Oscars and the one that didn't, should have. 

Denzel shines in the role of the unrepentant Whitaker and when he swills booze from the bottle and sniffs up lines of coke, it's Denzel like you have never seen him. Playing alongside Denzel is a very very talented cast which includes the likes of Don Cheadle who plays Whips lawyer Hugh Lang. I think this is the first time those two men shared the screen together since Don played Mouse and Denzel played Easy in one of my favorite movies, Devil In A Blue Dress. Whips pusher is the charismatic and potentially dangerous Harling Mays played hilariously by John Goodman, yes...THAT John Goodman. There's also Bruce Greenwood, the lovely Tamara Tunie, the Oscar award winning Melissa Leo, and a great turn by Kelly Reilly from Sherlock Holmes fame as Watson's wife who plays the addict Nicole. It's a great cast and a superb movie.

The most magical and riveting moment is when the plane basically falls apart and takes a nose dive for the earth. Now if you've ever been on a plane at one time in your life like I have, I am sure you wondered walking into the plane if you would ever walk off that plane, like I have. That's what makes the sequence of the plane going down so riveting. I don't know how much training Denzel did in flight school or how much he hung out with pilots to get the vernacular down but he was incredible. His performance was so convincing that it almost made you feel, well made me feel that he was a pilot for his day job and did this "acting" thing on the side. It was that good. The secondary story line seemed to be thrown in but it was tied up together brilliantly at the end.

I have always enjoyed Robert Zemeckis' films, he is a very competent and solid director. A bit boring at times but I'll take competent and boring over stupid but exciting any day of the week, especially with how much ticket prices are these days. The look of the film was nothing special except for the crash sequence but it was scored absolutely beautifully by Alan Silvestri. I hated his score for the tepid Avengers movie but he more than makes up for it here. It couldn't have been a finer score written for this movie than the one he penned. All in all I highly recommend Flight, it's absolutely worth the price of admission and I will see you at the theater.