47 Ronin

47 Ronin, the first full length feature film by director Carl Rinsch was a colorful, beautifully rendered remake of the 1961 film The 47 Ronin. It was an entertaining film though there were some head scratching moments. Thankfully there weren't that many of them, because of that I give 47 Ronin two and a half buckets of Killer Korn.













Like the story of the 300 (or 500 depending on which version of the story you believe) Spartans that stood up against the massive Persian army, the story of the 47 Ronin is very similar. It's a tale of great shame and heroism both at the same time. The story deals with the half breed outcast Kai, played by Keanu Reeves who was raised in the woods by certain creatures that taught him their ways who he then turned his back on. He was instead found in the woods by Lord Asano, played by Min Tanaka and his men. Lord Asano brought Kai into his home and raised him with the help of his daughter Mika, played by the beautiful Mo Shibasaki. Because Kai wasn't full Japanese he couldn't become Samurai and the leader of Lord Asano's Samurai Oishi, played by the very talented Hiroyuki Sanada and his men never let Kai forget what a shame it is that he's even allowed on the property.

This story takes place in feudal Japan, with Lords protecting his people and their lands from other Lords who are seeking to expand their kingdoms. Lord Asano's rival is Lord Kira, played by Tadanobu Asano who has grand designs on Lord Asano's land and his daughter. Lord Kira doesn't play fair  and solicits the help of a very powerful witch, played by the lovely (but creepy in this movie) Rinko Kikuchi to help him get what he wants. After a fateful evening, the Emperor orders Lord Asano to take his own life via seppuku. When a Samurai no longer has a Lord to follow, he becomes a Ronin and Lord Asano's Ronin are ordered by the Emperor to not seek revenge for Lord Asano's fate. That's when the movie truly get's interesting. Lord Asano's men are scattered to the four winds, Oishi is imprisoned for a year, his lands are taken over by Lord Kira and his daughter Mika has been given a year to grieve for her father but after that, she's Lord Kira's wife and will be the mother of his children. The problem with that is Kai and Mika have been in  love with each other since they were children so Kai is enlisted by Oishi, upon his release to help avenge Lord Asano's shame and to prevent the marriage of Lord Kira to Mika.

47 Ronin is a visual feast for the eyes. The colors, the costumes, the makeup, it's all there to titillate that particular sense. And for a movie that was all about feudal Japan to not be shot in Japan, it was a job well done by production designer Jan Roelfs. There should be a nomination for some award coming his way soon for this movie. The sets felt organic, like they were filming in existing locales and not on built stages. The cinematography was gorgeous and again for 47 to not be filmed in Japan the shots were impressive. The score by Ilan Eshkeri was graceful, gentle, and dramatic, and sometimes the music was all those at the same time. 47 Ronin had the potential to be a really bad film but surprisingly it was a job well done all around, well maybe not with the dialogue which at times didn't really connect but that tends to happen in Keanu Reeve's vehicles for some reason. If you want a fantastical romp through feudal Japan and you enjoy tales of Samurai, or if you know about the 47 Ronin already and are interested in it's retelling then check out 47 Ronin, and I'll see you in the theater.            

Her

Her, the latest film by accomplished writer and director Spike Jonze, whose last feature length film was the wonderful Where The Wild Things Are delivers an amazing fun and heartbreaking film. It's the most creative take on male/female relationships that I have ever seen and it's because of this that I give Her four buckets of Killer Korn.












Spike Jonze has delivered yet another movie that seems to have taken the romantic relationship movie genre up another level. It's a charming movie that has all too familiar moments to those that have been in a relationship of some kind. Her will make you smile, laugh, and make you uncomfortable as you're taken through familiar relationship circumstances. The difference here is that the relationship is between a man and his computer's operating system. It's not just any operating system though, it's the most advanced OS ever created. It's an artificial intelligent, intuitive, ever evolving operating system and it gives you the choice of picking a male or female voice. The main character in the movie, Theodore played by the talented Joaquin Phoenix chooses a females voice and what man wouldn't when the sultry voice of "Samantha" is provided by Scarlett Johansson.

Theodore is your every day, garden variety hard worker in the somewhat distant future, working for HandWrittenLetters.com. He dictates letters to his computer at work and when they are printed out, they look as if they were written by hand. He's recently divorced and seems to have great rapport with his upstairs neighbors Amy, played by Amy Adams and her husband Charles who is played by Matt Letscher. Theodore, a recent divorcee isn't quite ready to date yet and though seems truly mortified by the idea of it, goes on a date with the lovely Olivia Wilde. That leads him, somewhat unwittingly to get the latest OS and soon after, Theodore has never been happier. He finds himself thinking of Samantha as the girl he's dating and not his computers operating system. Samantha is taking care of him in ways his wife never did and even gets Theodore a book deal. There is this odd moment when Samantha and Theodore try to include sex into their "relationship" but I won't divulge that secret, you'll just have to see it to believe it.

Her is a movie I couldn't wait to see once I saw the trailer and it did not let me down. While I wasn't all that big of a fan of Spike's Wild Things, I was impressed and Her has impressed me yet again. He is a great director and a very talented writer and I almost wish it didn't take years to get another film from him. Shot by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, Her has a very soft look. Nothing is too bright or dark and the colors red and orange are often prominently displayed. The city landscapes seem to change in the blink of an eye. One moment it appears Theodore is in L.A. and the next he's in Japan. I'm guessing that's done to give us the idea that future cities will be even more massive in size and scope. There is no "score" for Her, instead there's music by Arcade Fire, Karen O, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and others. The music selections fit this movie perfectly, a movie that really didn't need much music to begin with. I highly recommend Her if you're looking for an intelligent, well written, and well acted film and I'll see you at the theater.

Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr, Banks, the latest film from director John Lee Hancock is not the "feel good" movie of the year, to say the least. Brought to life by the man that brought us The Blindside, Saving Mr. Banks is a true dramatic retelling of how the iconic Mary Poppins was brought to the screen. It's a heavier film that I thought it was going in and it possess more heart that I initially gave it credit for, because of that I give Saving Mr. Banks three buckets of Killer Korn.










I honestly don't think Saving Mr. Banks could have cast any better. Tom Hanks playing Walt Disney, Emma Thompson playing the immovable author of the Mary Poppins books P.L. Travers, Colin Farrell playing Travers Goff, Paul Giamatti playing the affable limo driver Ralph, Bradly Whitford playing Disney screenwriter Don DaGradi, and B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman playing the talented songwriting brothers Robert and Richard Sherman respectively. If they gave out golden statues for best cast then Ronna Kress would walk home with one. I'm sure it wasn't hard to get this movie cast, but to get the right people into the right roles is never easy. They got the job right on this movie.

Saving Mr. Banks is the story of the struggle Walt Disney and his crew underwent to get the rights to and make the movie of the iconic character Mary Poppins. According to the story, Walt (he prefers first names) has been approaching Ms. Travers (she doesn't) for almost twenty years about the buying the book rights to her book and she has declined him every year. This time however, she's not selling anymore books, her royalties have dried up, and she could lose her house and that just won't do. So she reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to meet Walt and what she does to her hotel room after Walt adorns it with the stuffed animal likenesses of his famed characters, you have a pretty good idea Ms. Travers won't be an easy sell (spoiler alert, they all end up in the closet...well not all of them).

Ms. Travers has final script approval, doesn't want the movie to be a musical, and demands no animation in the movie, with Walt is at his wits end Ms. Travers flies back to London. Now while Tom and Emma are on the screen together are magical, the real star of the show is Colin Farrell. His Travers Goff grabs your heart, captures your imagination, and puts a smile on your face with his sense of humor. Sadly he is a tragic character that needs saving, more from himself than from something else. The relationship between him and his daughter "Princess" Ginty, played wonderfully by relative newcomer Annie Rose Buckley is full of laughter, wonder, and tears.

Once Walt figures out the Mary Poppins didn't arrive to save the children, but instead was there to save their father did things finally start moving in the right direction. Saving Mr. Banks is a charming yet heartbreaking tale of learning how to let go of your past and how not to let it get in the way of your present or future. Scored wonderfully by Thomas Newman, the music added a really beautiful element to a movie that could have done without music. It was a fitting score. I highly recommend Saving Mr. Banks, but you may want to keep some tissues on hand, yeah...it's another one of those and I'll see you at the theater.

Trailer Alert: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This trailer looks intense and I am now truly looking forward to the movies hatching in 2014. I was a fan of Ruper Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes but sadly Rupert is not doing Dawn. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the work of Matt Reeves, the man that bought us the impressive Cloverfield. Now sadly he followed up Cloverfield with the atrocious Let Me In, but hopefully he's learned his lessons from that debacle and Dawn mirrors the drama and excitement of Cloverfield. Starring the chameleon Gary Oldman, the intense Jason Clark, and the amazing Andy Serkis reprising his role as Caesar, Dawn looks like a worthy successor to Rise to me, what do you think?

Philomena

Philomena, the latest from accomplished director Stephen Frears, the man behind such films as The Queen and one of my all time favorites, Hi Fidelity delivers a heart breaking and ultimately satisfying tale of love lost. At times this movie broke my heart and made me laugh out loud. For that, I give Philomena three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.












Stephen Frears has never failed to impress me as a movie goer and his streak is intact. Philomena is a true story about Philomena Lee, a woman who kept the fact that she had a son fifty years ago hidden from even her own daughter. She finally comes clean on his fiftieth birthday and the only thing she has to remind her of her little King is an old black and white photograph of him when he was two or three and his name, Anthony Lee. When she was very little, Philomena's father dropped her off at an orphanage after her mother passed away and never came back for her. There she was raised by the nuns and forced to work seven days a week as payment for her room and board. One day she goes to a carnival, meets a charming man and gets pregnant. Her son is born and reared in the orphanage until some rich Americans come to purchase a child. The nuns sell the children for a thousand pounds a head and only the wealthy can afford that price back then, and they usually were Americans.

Philomena Lee is played by the incomparable Judi Dench and she is, in a word, marvelous. She is charming, shy, reserved, sarcastic, and plays the "fish out of water" thing perfectly. Her daughter Jane is played by Anna Maxwell Martin and upon hearing that she has a brother out there in the world, she turns to disgraced politician and one time reporter for the BBC, Martin Sixsmith, played by the charming Steve Coogan to see if he can help. Martin has just recently had his fair share of troubles with the current administration and was let go. He picks up Philomena's story at first in the hopes of getting some semblance of his career back on track, but he eventually becomes a dogged an impassioned investigator while trying to find Philomena's son. The two don't always get along or see eye to eye but they are quick to forgive and they ultimately care for one another. The quest takes them from England to Ireland to America and that leads them right back to where they started, back at the orphanage.

What's so heartbreaking about Philomena is that it's based on a true story and that Philomena Lee is a real person. Her story is horrific on one hand and uplifting in another. Martin Sixsmith wrote a book entitled The Lost Child of Philomena Lee and Steve Coogan not only acted in the movie, he was also one of the producers on the film, and he also co-wrote the screenplay based on Martin's book. This was obviously a passionate project for him. According to the text at the end of the film, there are thousands of mothers looking for their lost children and children looking for their mothers. Records have been lost or destroyed which makes that quest all the harder and speaking from a limited experience in that regard, I know how painful that can be. Shot by cinematographer Robbie Ryan, the camera is always present and in the middle of it all but it doesn't feel intrusive. Everything is shot just off to the side, making the audience bystanders in this unfolding drama. Scored beautifully by Alexandre Desplat, the music was subtle and moving which made it perfect. I commend Desplat's light touch and I recommend Philomena, but if you go, you might want to bring some tissues and I'll see you in the theater.

Trailer Alert: Jupiter Ascending

This looks...interesting. I don't know how excited I am to see this, but the trailer has some impressive visuals. Directed by the Wachowski's, the brother and sister team that brought us the Matrix trilogy and most recently Cloud Atlas, Jupiter looks to be just as confounding as the latter was (though I did enjoy it). Starring Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, and Sean Bean, Jupiter Ascending appears prime to be the most expensive sci-fi film of 2014. Will I see you in line is the question. :)

Trailer Alert: Edge of Tomorrow

I love Doug Liman's work, I have been a huge fan of his since Go back in 96. While I loved The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I did not enjoy Jumper (though I think that was more due to the bad acting than Doug's directing. Hayden Christensen is just...bad). I didn't hold Jumper against Doug and when I learned that Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and the lovely Emily Blunt was his movie, it has been placed on the top of my must see list for 2014. The premise is not original but the look is, and with Doug's direction anything is possible. It drops June 6, I'll see you in line.

Trailer Alert: Godzilla

If the movie is as good as the trailer for the new Godzilla reboot then it looks like something worth seeing. The trailer looks incredible almost like a mini movie and finally they seem to have the size and motion right. This isn't your dad's Godzilla movie, this looks like something a few people put their heads together over to make sure they got it right. It stars Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Juliette Binoche, Richard T. Jones, Ken Watanabe and a whole host of others. I think this looks bad ass and I can't wait to see it when it drops May 16th.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the latest film from acclaimed director, writer, and producer Peter Jackson is the latest in his Hobbit trilogy. It was an amazing film, dizzying in it's action sequences, dazzling it it's images, and gripping in its storytelling compels me to give The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug four buckets of Killer Korn with extra butter and refills.













To make up for the crime of being guilty for a sever lack of dragon action in the first Hobbit, Peter Jackson more than makes up for that mistake in this beautifully rendered follow up. In fact the last third of the film is dominated by the Benedict Cumberbatch voiced Smaug the dragon, and its interaction and conversations with Bilbo, played again by Martin Freeman is spectacular. The same cast and characters are back for this go round but along for the ride is Legolas played again by Orlando Bloom (who actually wasn't in The Hobbit book) and is even more lethal than he was from Peter Jackson's original LOTR trilogy.

The dwarves are still trying to reach the lonely mountain, outrunning the group of Orcs dedicated to not just stopping them but drinking their blood. The Orc in charge of capturing them this time is Bolg because the Orc from the first Hobbit has been summoned back by the king, by Suaron. He has returned and is building an army. His strength has returned and his mini battle with Gandalf was riviting. And for the first time ever, be it in the LOTR movies or the two Hobbit movies do we actually see ordinary men (and some color). They aren't soldiers or warriors, just fishermen and traders, it was almost a shock to me. This time the action is fast and furious and the movie has moments that will literally make you laugh out loud. The action sequences drew you in and took you by the neck and didn't let you go until they came to an end. The barrel riding sequence should be an amusement park ride somewhere on this planet.


 Bilbo is sent into Erebore to find the arkenstone, a glittering jewel the dwarves treasure most above all else that glitters. He's asked to try an find it without awakening Smaug, which he fails to do much to the delight of the audience. Smaug is rendered brilliantly and the action is seamless. If you didn't know any better you would think they captured a dragon and made him act. Shot by cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, Desolation couldn't have been an easy shoot. Having actors act while talking to nothing, only to have that something added in post production had to have been frustrating at times, but it was a job well done. Scored once again by the magnificent Howard Shore, the same man that's done all the scores for the LOTR films and the first Hobbit, the music is familiar, but not boring. It wraps around you like an old warm coat that you are intimately familiar with. This time around there is a song that plays when the end credits roll entitles "I See Fire" and it's perfect for this movie. See The Desolation of Smaug, you will truly not be sorry, I swear.

Out of the Furnace

Out of the Furnace is the newest movie from director Scott Cooper, the man behind the Oscar winning performance of Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. Scott delivers a movie that was brutally violent for no good apparent reason. There is little to no dialogue and the film will leave you unfulfilled and disturbed. I give Furnace two buckets of Killer Korn just because of the cast, but that's it.











Out of the Furnace got two buckets of Killer Korn from me out the gate due to it's impressive cast. Boasting two Oscar award winners, an icon, and a slew of talented actors, and being directed by the man who did Crazy Heart, I really thought Furnace was a can't miss movie. I was completely dead wrong about that. It got two buckets from the start but it stalled there. The premise of the film is a revenge film but that just doesn't wash in the end. Woody Harrelson plays the drug addled, murdering psychopathic Harlan DeGroat. He lives in the mountains of southern New Jersey and as Forrest Whitaker's character Police Chief Wesley Barnes stated, "they have their own brand of justice up in them hills". Harlan throws bare knuckle fights up in them hills (I know, I said the same thing) and Rodney Baze Jr., played by Casey Affleck wants some of that action. He more or less needs the action due to owing a lot of money he just doesn't have.

Rodney's brother Russell Baze, played by Christian Bale is the overprotective older brother of Rodney who is about to do yet another tour in Iraq. Russell gets himself into a deadly auto accident and does time behind bars. How much time no one truly knows because the passage of time is done so horribly in Furnace that you only know things have changed because Russell's father passes away and his beautiful girlfriend Lena Taylor, played by the lovely and talented Zoe Saladana is now spending her time with Chief Barnes. Willem Dafoe plays John Petty, bar owner and gambler in his own right and he owes Harlan a considerable amount of money. He then introduces Rodney to Harlan and that's when everything goes to shit.

Out of the Furnace is a great looking movie if you like small town USA. I would even dare to say it's a well acted one, though Sam Shepard is completely wasted in this movie. The problem with Furnace is the story. Out of the Furnace is so ridiculously over the top bloody for no apparent reason, and the violence was completely unnecessary. Another issue I have with the movie is Russell's character. What he does at the end of the film seems completely out of his character, mainly because we aren't given any indication that he can or will get that dark and dirty. He's a nice guy throughout the entirety of the movie, until the end and I don't know about anyone else but it left me scratching my head and that is NOT a good sign. Skip Out of the Furnace completely, you will be glad you did.  

About Time

About Time, the latest film from director Richard Curtis, the man that brought us Pirate Radio and Love Actually is both a heartwarming and ultimately a heartbreaking tale of a love between a father and son. I know, I know, the poster and the trailer leads you to believe that it's a cutesy romantic comedy about a boy who can time travel, it's all a bait and switch. However, the switch this time is...beautiful. Because of that I give About Time three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.











Richard Curtis is a master at this kind of movie making and while this particular film is completely devoid of people of color, and the majority of the characters in this film are reduced to cardboard cut-out status, it's still a well done film. How is that, you ask? Simple, the characters that ARE developed are so open, loving, warm, and vulnerable that you can't help but pull for them. While it can make you feel a tad manipulated, that feeling won't hit until well after the movie is over and you're writing your blog on it. Take Tim, played by Domhnall Gleeson. He's the ridiculously introverted, shy, clumsy son of Bill Nighy who plays his charming, affable, warm and open dad and Lindsay Duncan who plays his cold, aloof, and disconnected mother. It's the coldness of the mother that sends Tim and his  sister Kit Kat, played by Lydia Wilson running into the arms of their dad or Uncle D, their Alzheimer suffering but adorable "third parent" played by Richard Cordery.

When Tim turns twenty-one his father let's him know that he, like the previous men in the family now has the ability to travel in time. Find a dark private place, clench your fists, concentrate on the time you'd like to go back to, and voila you're there. Never mind the gaping plot holes in a story like this, while the thought of, "won't they run into themselves?" may enter your mind at some point, you mentally discard it to see where the story goes and you'll be rewarded for it. Tim uses his new found time traveling powers to go back and right the mistakes he's made in his life up until that moment and beyond. For every mistake Tim makes in his life, he now has the instant ability to go back and fix it right then and there. The problem arises when he tries to go back and fix someone else's mistakes, then his life gets completely twisted.

About Time isn't a tale of romance, though there is certainly a romantic element involved. No, about time is about the love between a father and a son. Between two men that would have become the best of friends had they not been related by blood. Rachel McAdams who plays Mary, Tim's romantic interest does an exceptionally charming job at almost making you believe the movie is about her and Tim, until the end. That's when by now the tears are running down your face and you're looking for a tissue.

The way About Time is rendered on the screen, you would think that every home in England, no matter how expansive it is, is a cramped space with lots of doors and rooms off to the sides somewhere. Actually even when the characters were outdoors I got that feeling. Shot straight up by cinematographer John Guleserian, there were no tricks regarding the time travel aspects. No flashing lights, no sparkles or twinkles, just flashbacks of moments. His indoor shooting though could have been better. The music is at times over the top sappy, but that's to be expected in a movie like this. Scored by Nick Laird-Clowes, the score is piano heavy but the film is dominated by music of pop stars, and while one or two may be timely and poignant, for the most part the music is utterly forgettable. I would recommend About Time if you have or had a great relationship with your dad, and even if you didn't, it's still worth the price of admission. I'll see you at the theater.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Wonder Woman

Yes, the die has been cast and the iconic role has been filled. Given to a virtually unknown actress who's last film was the atrocious and laughable Fast & Furious 6, Zack Snyder and company have cast Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in the currently filming Batman Vs. Superman movie.

There will be many people weighing in on this decision, giving their thumbs up or thumbs down. They won't be as vociferous as the opinions given when Ben Affleck was cast as Batman, but they will come, fast and furious-ly (see what I did there?). Anyway, ladies and gentlemen...Wonder Woman!