Promised Land

Gus Van Sant's latest film, Promised Land is a very good film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a timely film about a serious issue that a lot of small town Americans are currently dealing with. Promised Land is about a natural gas company trying to lease the land of a small town in Pennsylvania and it's a very compelling movie, until the end, and it's because of that weak ass ending that I bestow only two buckets of Killer Korn to Land.




For those of you who aren't all that familiar with Gus Van Sant, understand the man is a phenomenal director. One of the very best! He did a film back in 2003, Elephant that still disturbs me to this day (and I highly recommend it, it will blow your mind). He was also the director of the amazing Good Will Hunting, Milk, and My Own Private Idaho, so Gus has been responsible for some great movie making. Sadly, there's always a flip side to that coin though. He was also responsible for Finding Forrester, Psycho, and To Die For, all of which were hardly decent, let alone good. In a way, he's a lot like Ang Lee, when he's on there's very few that are any better, when he's off, he's WAY off. Much as Lee's Life of Pi, Gus' Promised Land is neither amazingly good or god awful, it's just a good, solid film (with a weak ending).

Starring Matt Damon as Steve Butler, the point man for Global, a natural gas company that wants to lease the land of the farmers, Promised Land starts off really well. Steve's partner is the truly talented Frances McDormand who plays Sue Thomason, a devoted mother and true team player. Together the two of them set out to get the farmers and land owners to sign over the rights to the land that will allow Global to drill and frack for natural gas. Steve pitches for Global but crusty old Frank Yates, played by Hal Holbrook throws a monkey wrench into the whole program. He convinces those that came to hear if the town's council will allow natural gas into the town, to vote on it, something Steve and Global do their best to avoid.

As if that weren't bad enough, Dustin Noble, played by the charming John Krasinski waltzes into town as a member of Athena, an environmental organization determined to stop Steve and Global. To say he makes life way more complicated than it should be for Steve and Sue, is an understatement. He even makes a play for Steve's romantic interest, Alice, played by Rosemarie DeWitt. Dustin out thinks, out-maneuvers, and out hustles Steve at almost every turn, which of course, drives Steve up a wall. My one problem with this film, other than the cornball ending, is how Steve continually states that he is "a good man". It really gets tired after awhile, and you begin to wish how he would just shut it up with that already.

I won't give away the ending, all I'll say about it is that I thought it was weak and silly. If you pay close attention to the beginning of the film, you'll understand why I feel the way I do about the ending. You can't build one thing up only to have it so completely fail at the end. Promised L:and was written by the two main actors, Damon and Krasinski and it's a job well done. But they really should have, in my opinion, rethought the ending. The score was a nice light touch by the usually heavy handed Danny Elfman, which surprised me. The music is almost like a wisp of air, blowing past your ear unheard, which is perfect for this film, since you don't want anything distracting you from what's taking place on the screen. I would recommend Promised Land only if A, you're curious about small town life and B, you want to really know what fracking is (this kind of fracking, not the Battlestar Galactica kind of fracking). Take a look, maybe you'll like the ending, and if you do then the movie is definitely worth the price of admission. And if you go, then I'll see you at the theater.   

Zero Dark Thirty

I know Zero Dark Thirty is the must see this holiday season. The follow up film by award winning director Kathryn Bigelow has been heavily anticipated since she walked off the stage, Oscar in hand, and ex-hubby sitting in the audience, defeated (James Cameron). ZDT is a quality movie and if you're truly curious how the hunt for Osama bin Laden went down then this is the movie for you. I, however, can only give it two buckets of Killer Korn.




I can't say that I was overly impressed with Zero Dark Thirty, but I wasn't underwhelmed either. This movie is like walking that fine line of "if they had just done this..." or, "if they had just said that..." then the movie would have been an exhilarating experience. As it stands, Zero Dark Thirty, in that regard, is an utter failure. Before you lose your mind, understand this, ZDT is a technically proficient film. Kathryn Bigelow's budget is readily apparent on the screen (a far larger budget than her Hurt Locker film). The cooperation she received from the military to make this film could almost make you wonder if there was some money handed under the table (that wasn't my original line, but I didn't want anyone calling me sexist). The explosions are loud, the blood is plentiful, and the fear is palpable. Kathryn makes a great statement in this film about terrorism, it can strike anywhere at anytime. Unfortunately that's the only thing this film exceeds in saying.

The story line is WEAK! Wait, that's me being to kind. The story line is virtually NON-EXISTENT! That's better. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know what you're going to say, "Mark, the story line is all about the pursuit and murder of the one man that ordered the murder of 3000+ Americans on 9/11" which is correct, but tell me this, who DOESN'T know that? This film brings you nothing new except all the behind the scenes shenanigans and posturing of the CIA and the United Sates Government during that hunt and honestly, that's just not an interesting story, mainly because there is no story. Written by Mark Boal, this story is about a ghost, no not bin Laden who was a ghost, it's about the ghost that chased him down. Her name is Maya, played wonderfully by Jessica Chastain (a star is rising). Maya comes out of nowhere and thrown into the fray after 9/11 to help fight terrorism. Her first assignment, before even getting to her desk is to watch the "interrogation of a detainee" (torture). The man doing the interrogation is Dan, played ruthlessly by Jason Clarke (who worked alongside Jessica in Lawless).

From there, Maya is all in. Late nights and early mornings, Maya is on the job at her desk. Who she is and where she comes from is never told. How she got the assignment or why is again, never told. Who she knows or what she knows is yep, you guessed it, never told. This super spy from the CIA is a ghost. She has no friends, no boyfriend or fiance back home, and no sexual inclinations of any kind. She's a robot and that does little to endear her to the viewing audience. She shows one moment of emotion and vulnerability, wait, my mistake, she actually shows two moments. One when she's almost assassinated by two guys with AK-47's who shoot at her car and at the end of the film. And speaking about the film, it's all over the place. Now, I don't know if this is Mark the writer's fault or Kathryn the director's fault, but this movie's timeline is as loose as baby poo. YES, that's me being kind, again.

You hardly know what year it is and since no one visibly ages on screen, you as the viewer just has to guess. What you do know is that it all takes place after 9/11  and bin Laden's death on May 2, 2011. Everything between those two monumental moments, in this film, is a crap shoot. The cast is great, outstanding performances by Kyle Chandler as Joseph Bradley, Jennifer Ehle as Jessica, Harold Perrineau as Jack, Mark Strong (one of my favorites) as George, Edgar Ramirez as Larry, and James Gandolfini as the CIA Director. It's too bad the storyline couldn't match the talent of the cast. The intensity does get ratcheted up towards the end of the film with the raid on Osama's compound but that whole thing was longer than it needed to be. In my opinion, it was done so for those guys (and girls) that are Call of Duty gamers. You know the ones, those people that wait outside of a video game store for hours when the new first shooter game hits the shelves, yeah the final ten minutes is for them.

I really wanted to like this film and a part of me really did, but my reaction to it mirrored the audiences when the credits rolled. There was a smattering of applause but the air was teeming with indifference. Go see it, judge for yourself, is this a movie worthy of a best picture of the year nomination, or is it a film you'll get on DVD...eventually? I say nay but let me know what you think, and I'll see you at the theater!

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is, in my opinion, worth the price of admission. It has everything you would and could want in a movie and then some. It's a well made, taut film with nothing lacking, for that I give Jack Reacher three buckets of Killer Korn.



Now whether you love him or hate him (and I know a lot of you hate him), you should definitely check out Tom Cruise's new film, Jack Reacher. I know, I know, a lot of you out there are probably under the impression that this movie sucks but trust me, it is far better than you think it is and far better than what you've read about (so far anyway). Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who brought you the immensely entertaining Way of the Gun starring Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro, now brings to the screen one of fictions most popular characters, Jack Reacher. Now when the man who would being playing the 6'5" Reacher was announced, pretty much the whole world groaned, including yours truly. We all thought "Not HIM! Anybody but HIM!", am I right? Seriously Tom Cruise is about 5'7" on a good day while wearing lifts but I have to tell you, where he falls short in the physicality department, he more than makes up in the embodiment of the character.

For those of you that have never read one of the sixteen Reacher novels written by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is a retired MP who never stops until he's gotten to the truth. He's a relentless investigator and in this movie he is summoned by James Barr, played by Joseph Sikora, a man Jack investigated before, a man who has been arrested for mass murder. The DA, played by Richard Jenkins and detective Emerson, played by David Oyelowo are discussing Reacher and just how hard he is to find. He's a ghost, no known address, no p.o. box and gets his pension wired to him to points unknown, basically, he's off the grid. Just was the two men pretty much chalk it up to never finding Reacher, he walks in on their meeting. The lawyer defending Barr is Helen Rodin played by owl eyed Rosamund Pike who has some very interesting encounters with Reacher.

Initially Reacher believes Barr is guilty and has come to Pittsburgh to make sure he gets thrown into the deepest darkest cell in Pennsylvania. However, the more Reacher and Helen dig the more Reacher thinks his earlier feelings were wrong. In the midst of coming to that train of thought, there are car chases, fist fights, threats, betrayal, and murder and not necessarily in that order. In the middle of all that chaos is Reacher, the one constant beacon of truth and forward movement. The man never sleeps, hardly eats but he's like a shark, always moving, never stopping. While moving and digging, he happens to come upon a very dangerous individual named Charlie who is played charmingly by Jai Courtney. That's when Reacher enlists the aid of Cash played with grace and humor by Robert Duvall. Reacher and Cash take on Charlie and his henchmen in a well thought out battle.

I have not read the Reacher novel this movie is adapted from, entitled One Shot, and probably won't since I am not a fan of Lee Child's writing. I am a fan however of this movie. Like I stated earlier, it has everything you could possibly want in a movie these days except sex which is a good thing. Sex would just muddy the waters and since Reacher conducts himself almost like a monk when working a case, the lack of sex makes sense. McQuarrie does an outstanding job in both directing and writing this film. His dialogue is witty and humorous and the action sequences are never lacking and his choice of Joe Kraemer to score the movie was perfect. Joe delivers a tense, heavy score that compliments this movie on every level and he gives Reacher an almost heroic theme, even though Reacher wants you to believe that he's not a hero. If you want to see something worth the price of admission then forget who is playing Jack Reacher and see Jack Reacher because honestly, you will thank me and I will see you at the theater.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit is quite simply brilliant. Nothing more needs to be said. I highly recommend it and give it four big buckets of Killer Korn.



The Hobbit is quite simply, one amazing roller coaster ride. When the last Lord of the Rings movie hit the theaters there was talk about The Hobbit and who would direct it. The studio claimed it did NOT want Peter Jackson at the helm at ALL. Peter's fight was for what I think was money, I'm not quite sure, you can look that up but basically the two sides were at war with one another. It was all folly because who was the studio going to get to direct The Hobbit other than the mad New Zealander who brought the fantastic LOTR trilogy to the screen? NO one. Sure, there was talk of Guillermo Del Toro, the very talented director who gave us Hell Boy I and II, Pans Labyrinth, and the soon to be released sci-fi epic Pacific Rim but it would have paled in comparison to Jackson's movie. I'm certain of it, though in all fairness Guillermo does get a writers credit on The Hobbit so he was in some way responsible for what's seen on the screen. And what's seen on the screen will literally take your breath away.

The movie starts off right where the first LOTR movie starts and yes there is a cameo of Elijah Wood reprising his role as Frodo. It starts off with Frodo wanting to meet Gandalf, played again by Ian McKellen, as he approaches the shire with his wagon of fireworks for Bilbo's Party. Then the movie transports you 60 years into the past and we see a young Bilbo, played charmingly by Martin Freeman smoking his pipe as Gandalf appears. He wants Bilbo to join him on an adventure and of course the comfortable and frightened of his own shadow Bilbo declines. Gandalf seems to leave him alone until the dwarfs come knocking and once they are in Bilbo's house, all hell breaks loose. These dwarfs aren't you ordinary dwarfs however, one of them happens to be heir to the throne of Erebor, the great dwarf kingdom the resided in the lonely mountain, that was until the all powerful dragon Smaug took the kingdom and all it's gold for himself. That heir is Thorin, played with such passion and conviction by Richard Armitage that it seems like he could convince you to pick up arms and fight with him.

The other 13 dwarfs are for too numerous to name but they are quite the lot and they will follow their rightful King anywhere. Gandalf was tasked to find the 14th member of their group and he's chosen Bilbo. At first his reasoning is because hobbits have the ability to go unseen if they choose and the group needs a burglar but later on it's revealed why Gandalf really chose Bilbo and it's a heartfelt moment between him and Cate Blanchett who reprises her role as Galadriel from the LOTR trilogy. The dwarfs, Bilbo, and Gandalf set out to recapture Erebor from Smog and return Thorin to the throne as King but before they can do that, they must do battle with armies of Orcs, trolls, their own insecurities, and Bilbo's self doubt which is pretty significant. It's not until Bilbo finds something that allows his confidence to grow and allows him to truly become part of the team...and I think you know what that thing is.

The Hobbit is a visual spectacle and the software created by Peter Jackson's Weta Digital put in some serious overtime. The visual effects were dizzying, the 3D was amazing, and the shots of New Zealand that once again play the part of Middle Earth were breathtaking. I beg of you, if you are going to see this movie, do your best to see it in IMAX 3D and if you can't, at least see it in 3D, you will NOT be sorry. The wonderful thing about this film though as opposed to a few prior "visual feasts for the eyes"films I've blogged about, this one brings you that emotional impact those others lacked. You feel for Thorin and his band and when he stands up and walks towards his nemesis in slow motion, it's a thing of emotional beauty. And the wondrous score by the award winning Howard Shore also helps with that. Howard's score is perfect, simply pitch perfect in every way. If you were waiting for a 3D movie that is well worth the price of admission then this is it. I can't wait for part two, I wish it came out tomorrow. Get a ticket, get in line, and you just might see me on that line and if not, I'll definitely see you at the theater.

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina, the new film from Joe Wright, the director of Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, and the god awful The Soloist is an absolute amazing film...to watch. If you are seeking something new and inventive storyline wise, save your money or read Tolstoy's novel of the same name. The movie is long and pretentious and it will bore you after awhile. Not worth the price of admission in my opinion and I give it one bucket of Killer Korn.




I saw this film based on the Joe Wrights previously amazing film Atonement, a movie I did not like after my initial watching of it. In fact, I hate Atonement when I first saw it and thought it was rubbish, well upon further review I have come to absolutely love that film. It is an amazing thing to watch and I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. It was Atonement that had me buy a ticket to see Anna Karenina, hoping to see something akin to the brilliance of Joe's Atonement. I knew it wouldn't, couldn't be another Atonement but I was hoping for something close. This was a massive swing and a miss by Joe Wright. He is a very competent and talented director and though he has that Martin Scorsese affliction of using the same people in all of his films, you can overlook that by what he puts on the screen, usually.

This time out he uses the talents of Keira Knightley to play Anna, she was in both Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. There's also hold over Matthew Mcfadyen who plays her brother, Jude Law who plays her husband Karenin, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson who was in Savages as the wife stealing Vronsky. The rest of the cast is comprised of other character actors who you may or may not recognize from other movies, they are just satellite characters in this movie. As for the performances of the actors, there's a lot of standing around and posing,  it was hard to see any real "acting" going on but they were all dressed exquisitely. If you are no fan of Kiera Knightley then pass this movie right on by because she is practically in every scene. Her shooting schedule must have looked ridiculous. If you are a fan and find her fetching then you may want to see this movie twice (and buy the DVD when it becomes available).

Now when I said this movie was amazing to watch, I meant it and this is where Joe Wright gets major credit. The majority of the movie is filmed in a theater, which can lend to that feeling of claustrophobia but was expertly done. One second the actor is in an office and, with some deft camera work is in a restaurant the next. Your eyes continue to be played with throughout this film until you're almost dizzy but I suppose it was all done out of necessity since they story line has been told a million times before. Wife of a boring husband falls in love with an exciting and younger good looking man and falls in love. Woman is then ostracized from her friends and the circles in which she previously ran in with ease. She's degraded, called names, embarrassed, and ashamed to the point that she cannot take it anymore and does the unthinkable. Yawn...

This movie is obvious award bait and it reeked of pretension. The costumes were amazing though and costume designer Jacqueline Durran should be up for an award or two for her work as well as Sarah Greenwood for her production design. It wouldn't surprise me if cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, who has worked on previous Wright films and is doing the cinematography on the Godzilla reboot isn't up for some award himself. As will another holdover from the Joe Wright collection, composer and Oscar award winner Dario Marianelli. His score is lush, powerful, mournful, and moving. It rivals his award winning score to Atonement in my opinion though should it be nominated, I doubt it would win but it is masterful. Once you get past the costumes, the scenery, and the music though there really isn't much to this movie so like I stated earlier, unless you're a Keira Knightley fan, see something else and I'll see you at the theater.

Dragon

I just caught Dragon hoping to see a good kung fu movie. It had been awhile since I saw one and I was hoping this would sate me. After seeing this movie, I don't know what to make of it. It's a martial arts film sorta, a criminal investigation movie kinda, and a police procedural all in one. It's like CSI meets Law and Order meets Shoa-Lin Temple. It's an interesting mash up of genres but I am still trying to figure out of it's a good one. I give it a one and a half buckets of Killer Korn.




There's really not much to say about Dragon. It's a story that has been told before a million times over. You know the one, where a drifter comes across a town where no one knows about him or his checkered past. Where he meets a town girl, marries her, settles down and becomes a valued member of the community only to eventually and inevitably have his past catch up to him after he does a good deed. Yep, that's the story here except it takes place in this movie in 1917 China (you can see that same story played out in today's world in A History of Violence with Viggo Mortenson). Basically two big bad guys come into a butchers shop where the paper mill guy is repairing the paper coverings on the windows. The bad guys demand money from the elderly shop keeper and proceed to beat him silly. When the paper mill guy (who is cowering in a darkened corner by the way) can't take it anymore, he jumps in and seemingly gets his butt kicked. At least it appears that way at first.

He gets flung around the shop while hanging on for dear life to the main bad guys waist and refuses to let go. The fight, if you can call it that rages on and you feel bad for this paper mill guy after awhile. The second bad guy takes himself out and a lucky punch by the paper mill guy takes out the main bad guy. This man is lauded as a hero by the towns folk and he and his family are given great honors. It all begins to fall apart slowly though when the a cop comes to investigate the death of two men (this is the CSI part). He re-enacts the fight in his head and where you saw a bumbling man in over his head, the cop sees a martial arts master who easily dispatched the two bad guys with simple ease.

As the movie gets further along you come to find out that the cop was right, this paper mill guy IS a master and was at one time second in command to the most ruthless gang in China, the 72 Demons. He was running from the gang and it's leader when he happened to stumble onto that small village, met the towns girl, married her and had a kid. Breaking away from the gang wasn't easy, especially when the paper mill guys father was the leader of the 72 Demons. Needless to say father and son go at it in the end as they deal with some serious family issues. Papermill guy is played by Donnie Yen, his father is played menacingly by Yu Wang, the damaged wife is played by Tang Wei, and the detective is played by the talented Takeshi Kaneshiro. The performances were great and the story telling was inventive but when it was all said and done it's a story you've seen a million times before. And before you go in expecting this to be one of those Saturday afternoon king fu movies, STOP! There really isn't that much martial arts in this film. Three fight scenes, that's all you get so make em count!

The movies seemed choppy at times and wanted to take itself too seriously most of the time. It should have embraced the wackiness of the characters but it didn't. That would have made for a much more interesting film. I would skip it and wait for the DVD but if you do decide to see the movie then I'll see you at the theater!