Bone Tomahawk

As a child, and even to this day, I’d never really enjoyed western-themed films of the 50s or 60s, as they’d always seemed boring to me and I had never really seen what was the big deal about them.  I know John Wayne is “The Duke” whom everybody thought of as the epitome of the movie cowboy, even giving him that moniker in real life, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a movie in which he had starred.  It wasn’t until the decade of the 1980s that I’d take notice and a liking to that genre, when Young Guns was released in 1988.  Maybe it was because the film featured actors close to my age or maybe it was because they were actors I’d enjoyed in other films that brought familiarity to that western…I don’t know.  But what I do know is that Young Guns was the gateway film that led me to look into other westerns, whether from years before or new films being released at the time.

Now I’m not saying I’m now a bona fide western film enthusiast, but I’ve seen my fair share of them to honestly say I’ve given them a chance and that the genre is worth its salt.  I’ve now seen all of Clint Eastwood’s westerns and still have quite a few on my Netflix queue, so I’ll get there.

With that said, when a new western comes out, you can bet I’ll give it a chance, and when it’s a western mixed with a subgenre—say, like horror—I’m all over that.  So when I had heard that Kurt Russell was going to star in such a film—interestingly called Bone Tomahawk—I placed it in the queue, right away, receiving it yesterday, and watched it.

After a drifter named Purvis (David Arquette) shows up in the little burg of Bright Hope, then is subsequently arrested after being shot by the town’s lawman, Sheriff Hunt (Kurt Russell).  The town’s doctor, Samantha O’Dwyer (Lili Simmons), is called to the jail cell to tend to Purvis’s wound, being watched over by one of the sheriff’s deputies.  When Hunt, with his deputy, Chicory (Richard Jenkins), goes to investigate where they think the drifter buried some items they believe he’d stolen, Samantha, Purvis, and the deputy go missing.  Told by a local Native American, The Professor (Zahn McClarnon), that the two were abducted by cave-dwelling savages, the sheriff and Deputy Chicory get a posse together—including Samantha’s injured husband, Arthur (Patrick Wilson), and John Brooder (Matthew Fox), the local educated womanizer—to go look for the missing people and rescue them…but they have no idea what they’re in for.

The film starts a little violently, showing the crimes Purvis and his partner, Buddy (Sid

Haig), perpetrate as they slit the throats of some sleeping cowboys to steal their money and belongings.  But right away, we get a little taste of the horror side of this tale, showing us a mysterious figure killing buddy as Purvis is able to get away.  It’s a little unexpected and hooks you into the movie pretty quickly.  

We’re then introduced to Sheriff Franklin Hunt and his deputy, Chicory, seeing that they have a good respect for each other.  I was mildly surprised to see the chemistry between these two actors as they worked well in the film.  I’ll always watch a movie Kurt Russell stars in, so it was a no-brainer for me to dive into this flick.  Now in his twilight years, the man is still a “man’s man” and has that grizzled look about him which is perfect for someone playing a lawman in the old west.  I guess it helps that he’s known for playing Wyatt Earp in Tombstone some 20+ years ago, but Russell holds his own here. 

I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out for Richard Jenkins, seeing as he’s usually cast as an overlooked supporting actor or, lately, for comic relief in such films as Me, Myself and Irene or Stepbrothers.  Maybe it helps that he’s nearly unrecognizable with the scraggly beard and graying hair, but he was perfectly cast here as the loyal aging deputy.

Matthew Fox seemed to be channeling Val Kilmer’s role as Doc Holiday from Tombstone—minus the drunken antics—in this flick as John Brooder and turns out to be quite the bad-ass in this role.  One such scene has two men stumbling upon their camp, seemingly having no ill intent.  Kurt Russell’s character as the sheriff agrees to let the men forward so they can talk, but suddenly Fox’s character just shoots them to death without a second thought; his claim was that the men were sizing them up for others to ambush them later—he might’ve been right.  Fox is likable here, standing out in this role, and being that he’s acting alongside Kurt Russell, that’s high praise.

Patrick Wilson, as Arthur O’Dwyer, does a fine job as well, and I sort of feel bad for him because of the believable physicality he put into this role.  Wilson’s character is introduced in this story as having a previous injury he’s healing up from.  But when his character and others have to travel by horse, and then by foot, you can see he puts his all into it.  With the primitive crutch he uses to get around, he must’ve had some tiring takes to contend with throughout this shoot.  But his drive to keep on going to find his wife is convincing as his character never gives up.

The thing that surprised me about this film is how they steered away from your typical movie formula on who lives and who dies.  As the men near the land of the savages and attacks are eminent, you’ll probably start taking guesses on what character is going to survive and which ones will die.  The writer and director, S. Craig Zahler (who’s quite the newbie in this position, only working as cinematographer and other minor titles in the movie business), definitely turned the basic principles on its head as he went through this story.

Now, the cave-dwelling savages?  Even though they’re just actors in costume, not any type of creature per se, they’re presented frighteningly at first as we only get quick glimpses of them when they first attack.  The screeches that they use to communicate are unnerving as well and pretty interesting once you find out how they create those sounds.  Once the characters are up close with the savages, you get a very cringe-worthy scene that some may turn away from—the scene is quite violent, but is needed to show exactly what these beings are all about.

So what’s my final “bit” on Bone Tomahawk?

It’s a nice little western tale, but made better with the horror aspects added to it.  The characters are very likable and the story has very good character development as it moves along during the traveling scenes.  My only peeve is that we really don’t see too much of the landscape, which is something I enjoy in westerns—it usually gives you a

firm aspect of the time period—but you get enough here that you won’t have to suspend disbelief.  Some may feel a little anxious because there is sort of a slow burn to the film, but once we get into that third act, shit gets real.  You’ll notice a couple of cameos—Jamison Newlander (of The Lost Boys fame) plays Mayor Porter and Sean Young plays his wife, Mrs. Porter.  Overall, if you’re a western and/or horror movie fan, you’ll enjoy this film.

Well, that’s all I’ve got today…thanks for reading.

Maggie

We all know Arnold Schwarzenegger as the big action hero, the one to save the day who has no time to emote any sentiments one way or the other, just to kick ass and to spit out a few funny one-liners.  I mean, come on, the one big role that made him a star was to have him play a robot that barely speaks.  So would you ever think of casting him in a dramatic role of a father who has to go through a range of emotions?  Maybe it’s his age, how he’s matured since his time as governor of California a few years back, where he’s taking a more responsible role in life, as well as his movie roles.  Perhaps it’s just the changing of the movie era where we really don’t need cheap action movies anymore with a leading man who presumably can’t get hurt and constantly spits out cheesy witticisms, one after the other. 

I really can’t put my finger on it.

Certainly, most movie-goers don’t think of Schwarzenegger as a well-rounded actor who can render his feelings without words, and I was one as well, but there was a movie a while back that sort of changed my mind.  The movie was The Last Stand, where Arnold played a sheriff of a small town near the Mexican border where a drug cartel leader had to travel through to get out of the country.  The movie was your typical action-drama fare and was pretty forgettable.  But there was one little scene within the film that made me take notice and had me realizing that Schwarzenegger had some acting chops.  It was just a quick little scene where one of his deputies was in the back of a police cruiser a, dying, and Schwarzenegger’s character opened up the door to see about getting him into the hospital.  Although you couldn’t see the deputy or knew if he was alive or dead, but because of Arnold’s facial expression, he was able to tell us how bad the deputy was without saying a word.  I thought it was a powerful scene in that forgettable movie and it changed my opinion of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s acting credibility.

So, this brings me to 2015’s Maggie, a dramatic zombie movie…and here’s the synopsis per IMDb.com…

A teenage girl in the Midwest, Maggie Vogel (Abigail Breslin), becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies.  During her transformation, her loving father, Wade Vogel (Arnold Schwarzenegger) stays by her side.

You may remember Abigail Breslin from another zombie movie a few years back—Zombieland—so this would be her second film of said genre.  She was also the cute little girl from Signs who collected all the water in glasses that helped in the climax of that movie.   She’s really grown into a fine actress and holds her own here in this film alongside Schwarzenegger.  The chemistry is palpable between them and believable in every sense, especially the love he has for her and how he conveys the difficulty he’s facing, realizing that he’s going to have to eventually deal with his daughter when she finally turns.  Most zombie films show characters not having a problem with taking out someone who turns, but you can see—and understand—his apprehension.

Unlike most zombie films, the victims in this one take days to turn, giving friends and family time with them which makes it harder to accept.  You can see that, not only in Schwarzenegger’s performance but in other supporting performers as well.  And that’s where this movie might lose some people, that they might expect this to be like Dawn of the Dead or World War Z…but it’s a drama first and foremost, not a full-fledged zombie flick.  As a matter of fact, I really don’t understand why they had to make the epidemic a zombie infection…it could’ve—and maybe should’ve—been something more rational, like some returning plague from centuries ago.  Having it be a contagion where people return from the dead gives the film a unrealistic approach and takes away from the melancholy the characters are going through.

The filmmakers also may have provided themselves a disservice by introducing that zombie theme to this, as audiences would probably want to see some “Walking Dead” type of tropes to it and being let down when discovering it’s more about the family drama than zombies.  With all that in mind, you have to go into this movie understanding what it is and how it’s going to play out, because it’s a slow burn for sure with not much of an exciting payout at the end.

But back to what I’d mentioned about Schwarzenegger and his evolved acting abilities, we see it here throughout and I was pleasantly surprised.  Although I’m always taken out of the movie at first with his thick Austrian accent, very quickly I went with it here and enjoyed his performance

throughout, really feeling what he, as a father, was going through.  Even though it’s really not a real life sickness, you can substitute zombism (or the "necroambulist infection" as it’s called in the movie) for any terminal illness and you can put yourself in his place with the further addition that he was going to have to euthanize his daughter—or, at least, condemn her into a quarantine zone where she'll suffer—at some point in the near future.

So, what’s my final “bit” on Maggie?

I liked the film a lot, although it took a little time to realize I wasn’t going to get a traveling zombie-hunting flick.  You have to go into this movie understanding it’s a family drama about the relationship between a father and his terminally ill daughter.  The zombie aspect is just a visual backdrop that is not important to the story besides to set up some scares and to give the supporting characters reason to be apprehensive towards the main character’s illness.  The dynamic between Schwarzenegger and Breslin is what this film is about and should be viewed with that in mind.  I recommend this film for that reason alone.

Fun fact:  Schwarzenegger loved this script so much that he agreed to do the movie for free.

Anyway, that’s my review…thanks for reading!

Fantastic Four (2015)

Well, this franchise certainly has a troubled past, seemingly always getting the short end of the stick, dating back to 1994 when Roger Corman, along with Constantin Films, attempted to bring these iconic Marvel Comics characters to life on screen for the first time.  Understandingly, these heroes aren't necessarily an easy bunch to render—an elastic man who can stretch his limbs or whole body at will, a girl who can turn invisible and form force fields, a guy who can burst into flames and fly, and a hulking monster made of stone.

 

The endeavor in 1994 was made in vain, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), with the studio only making the movie in order to retain the comic book movie adaptation rights, never intending for the film to see the light of day.  What's even sadder about this story is that the cast and crew were not privy to that knowledge and really thought this film was going to be released in theaters.  To this day, the film has not been released in any format, but bootlegs have been obtained by some and you can even get the film in parts on YouTube—I've seen some of these parts and the movie...is...not good.

 

Nearly a decade went by before 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to make a live action film and in 2005, a decent film was made.  It still missed the mark, being a little campy and didn't have the greatest special effects throughout the movie.  My biggest complaint was how The Thing was rendered, with Michael Chiklis in a made-up suit.  Although it looked great and believable, compared to the comic book character where it's supposed to be a monsterish creature nearly the same size as The Hulk, The Thing looked like a dwarf in that film.

 

In 2007, the film garnered a sequel which fared a bit better, especially with the inclusion of another Marvel comic book character, The Silver Surfer, but it didn't do much better in box office receipts than its predecessor.

 

20th Century Fox shelved any thought of a sequel or reboot for a few years until 2012, when a film was announced to be helmed by Josh Trank.  The director made a name for himself with the sleeper hit, Chronicle, and he seemed to have a good eye for this type of movie.  However, early on, Trank was quoted as saying he'd like to have Michael B. Jordan (who starred in Chronicle) play the role of Johnny Storm.  The comic book fan boys became enraged, taking to the internet to display their anger at having an African-American play the role.  Of course, I didn't care one way or the other, only hoped that the movie would be a hit.

 

As time went on, stories came to fruition about troubles on set, disagreements between Trank and the studio, news of reshoots needed, and, finally, a tweet from Trank (although quickly deleted...but not quickly enough) expressing his frustration in working with Fox.  Along with the negative reviews that started pouring in, I really had no intention of putting money down to watch it in the theater.

As the movie hit home media recently, I received 2015's Fantastic Four in the mail from Netflix and took a look for myself.

 

Per IMDb.com, here's the synopsis...

 

Four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways.  The four must learn to harness their new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

 

Before we get started, I've just got to say that there was one gripe I had when casting was announced:

Why bring in such young actors, or baby-faced performers, for a film about manly superheroes?  Miles Teller is good, but he looks like he's in high school.  Same thing goes for Jamie Bell.  If anything the 2005 film had right was the age range of these characters.  I know studios want to get the teens to see these films, but don't ostracize the 30- and 40-somethings like myself.

 

I digress...let's get back to discussing the film.

 

At the start of this film, I found it amusing and entertaining, especially introducing us to Reed Richards as a child (Owen Judge) and how he's always dismissed by his teachers simply because his intellect was way above theirs.  Reed's friendship with a young Ben Grimm (Evan Hannemann) was interesting and fit within this part of the film as Ben is equally as shunned by his bully of an older brother so the two friends understand each other.  Even when Reed and Ben are shown as friends when they are older (played by Miles Teller and Jamie Bell), it's still believable and can see a bit of chemistry between the two.  Teller definitely has an attention-grabbing appeal to him, making the audience understand him even though he's playing a genius, and gives the character likability, keeping us interested in his character arc.  Unfortunately, Jamie Bell's Ben Grimm is just there with nothing to do expect to literally be the one to toggle switches for Reed Richards.

 

As the story moves on and we see that Reed Richards has achieved his life's ambition of inventing a teleportation device, we're introduced to Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his daughter, Sue (Kate Mara), as they attend the science fair where Richards happens to be showing his invention.  Cathey as Dr. Storm seems well placed in this film, playing the serious and strong character that's needed here, not only as the father to Johnny and Sue, but also a father figure to the whole group.

Mara, on the other hand, doesn't seem like the right actress for Sue Storm.  I've always found her too brooding and introverted in other parts she's played and that's exactly how she'd portrayed her character here.  It really seems like she doesn't have any fun in this film-maybe it had a lot to do with the behind-the-scenes trouble of the shoot or maybe it was the overall direction she'd received-but I wish she could've added a little something extra to the role.

 

Now, for the controversial role of Johnny Storm, played by Michael B. Jordan, he wasn't bad at all and I actually wished he had more to do.  However, his performance was a far cry from the supposed Oscar-worthy role he played in Creed (I say supposed, because I haven't seen that film yet).  The special effects utilized to show his body in flames were done a bit better than the previous films, but we really don't get that sense of awe Chris Evans gave in the role a decade prior.

 

So, generally speaking, you know what the problem was with ALL the characters in this film?  They really didn't have much to do until the end of the story.  When Ben Grimm turns into The Thing, he just agonizes and pouts about his transformation (which, by the way, looks a bit better than the 2005 version since they use MoCap'd CGI to bring him to life-but why, for the love of Pete, doesn't he wear pants?)...but he seems to get over his predicament as he easily jumps into the secret operative job for the government.

 

And Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell), when he turns into "Dr. Doom," he basically shows up to

wreak havoc and decides to destroy Earth for no real reason that's discernible.  And that look they gave him here...ugh!  Why didn't they keep the classic iron mask look?  I'm waiting for the day we can see this character come to true apperception, complete with mask and a deep Vaderesque voice.  Hmmm...someday.

 

All in all, I wasn't satisfied with the characters' reactions when they come to the realization that they've changed...that's where the problem lies.  Each of the members transform into their heroic forms, they really don't do much with it, only learn about it and deal with it...separately.  Although the group comes together, it doesn't happen until the very end of the film.  That aspect of their lives should've happened in the second act, along with the threat of the story—Victor von Doom, a.k.a., "Dr. Doom."  Instead, he shows up angry, and then goes back to the alternate universe as he puts the wheels in motion for the destruction of Earth...and for these actions, he gives no reason whatsoever.

 

I think if this film wasn't interfered with by Fox and just let Josh Trank fulfill his vision, we might've had a nice film.  It just seems like some fine tuning was required...or maybe other scenes needed to be filmed...something's definitely missing.  It's really hard to put your finger on it.

 

So...my final "bit" on 2015's Fantastic Four?

 

Overall, I thought it was a good film...not as bad as some people are touting it.  I truly can't say I have any hatred towards it or have any reason to believe it warrants some of the really nasty reviews it had received from some outlets.  But studio interference is an obvious reason for what's wrong with this film, as it looks like Trank sort of gave up at some point during filming.  Some reviews described the film as having one big first act, no second act and a quick third act...I highly agree with that assessment because that's the best way I can describe this.  But it's not a total loss as the film is worth a look and really isn't that bad.  However, it'll leave you feeling something was missing...especially when there were a lot of scenes from the trailers that never made it to film.  If there's any saving grace to this is maybe Fox will just give up the rights and let Marvel insert these characters into their cinematic universe where they can fit seamlessly...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.

 

Well that's all I have to say about this flick...it's worth a watch and can be entertaining at times, but it

feels rushed at the end and you'll feel something was left out once the film ends.

 

Thanks for reading!

Coming Attractions of 2016

Well, folks, we've made it through 2015 and into a new year with new movies coming out that I'm very excited for, many of them being comic book adaptations.

 

So, I'd like to get my thoughts on some of these upcoming titles, based on their trailers and what I know about them...and of course, the ones that I find to be the most interesting.

 

1. Deadpool

So, the first one up is one that I'm actually pretty hyped about and think this is going to be a hit, possibly the best of the year (in my opinion).  The Ryan Reynolds-starred Deadpool is yet another comic book adaptation, based on a character who's loosely floated around the X-Men universe of comic books.

 

When February 12th rolls around, you can bet I'll be first in line to see this character come to life.  You may be saying, "No...Reynolds already brought him to the screen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009" and I'd say you were half right.  See, the character was somewhat there at the beginning of that film with Reynolds mouthing off one-liners and hamming it up with his witty humor, but completely ruined at the climax when the filmmakers turned him into a mute amalgam of many mutants.  He didn't have his signature mask and costume, no funny comebacks or repartee; it was just a thorough fuck-up and misunderstanding who the character was supposed to be.

 

So, I guess we should be happy that 20th Century Fox has no idea how popular this character is and what a hot commodity the comic books are to fan boys who've read them.  Otherwise, this movie would've been slapped with a PG-13 rating, an insistence to have Hugh Jackman star alongside Reynolds, and include more mutants in the movie to make sure they make a ton of money selling a toy line to the kids out there.

 

What I've seen so far in the trailers are faithfulness to the comic book character who, in my opinion, reminds me of Ryan Reynolds every time I read an issue.  So, without a doubt, casting him as the title character is a great start.  The trailers are already showing us that constant humor, how Deadpool never shuts his mouth and constantly makes quips as he fights.  It's already showing us he's going to break the fourth wall, talking directly to the camera, but I'm not sure they're going as far as showing him knowing he's in a movie.

 

I give the trailer an A+, I give Reynolds major props for his promoting of the film, and I just can't wait for this film to be released.  Let's hope director, Tim Miller, doesn't let us down.

 

 

2. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Just in time, after the hype of Deadpool will be dying out and to satisfy all the DC Comics fans, we will get the sequel to Zack Snyder's Man of Steel on March 25th with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

 

Warner Bros is getting much closer to what they've been wanting since Avengers did it in 2012, which is to get the Justice League of DC characters together for their counterpart of a superhero ensemble.  I'm hoping they do it right and don't mess this up because there's a lot at stake here.

 

If I'm calling out Deadpool as the one movie I'm excited about, I'd have to give BvS a close second.  Man of Steel was awesome and I'd loved what they did with that character.  Certainly, a lot of fans didn't like Snyder's approach in Zod and Superman's battle that left Metropolis in ruins, obviously killing quite a lot of people in their wake.  So seeing Superman (Henry Cavill) in the trailer, answering to that in the court scene, cut along the anger towards Superman we get from Batman (Ben Affleck), has me speculating and pondering where it'll go.

 

Recently, a newer trailer goes as far as to show that Doomsday is going to be brought into the mix, with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) helping in that battle.  It's definitely a great ending to that preview, showing all three of them stepping up together to aid each other to fight the threat.  I'm almost, if not equally, as hyped to see this one as I am Deadpool.

 

 

3. Captain America: Civil War

So far, I'm listing these films in the order that I'm enthusiastic about, but that'll change as we go along.  But for the most part, on May 6th, Captain America: Civil War is certainly the third most of what I'm excited for on this list.

 

Continuing on as Marvel Studios embark on the third phase of their films, this trailer appears to show the dark times the team is going to go through.  Not only is the exposition of the trailer telling us that the government wants to have all superheroes sign off on a new act that will have them answer to someone above them, but there is also issue with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) standing up for his friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan), who is a wanted criminal for his crimes from the previous movie.

 

It's clear that Rogers and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) are going to be on opposite sides as we see a lot of dark battles between friends and sides chosen that'll probably mean the end for some of these characters that we've grown to love.

 

What's exciting about this film, however, is that we're going to see the character of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) for the first time as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I thought it certainly wouldn't happen, that Sony would NEVER sign off on such a deal (all we need is The Fantastic Four and the X-Men to join and we'll be set!), but they did and I'm ecstatic.

 

For the inclusion of Spider-Man in this film alone, I'm looking forward to seeing how he'll fit and how the continuing storyline goes for the Avengers as a whole.

 

 

4. X-Men: Apocalypse

So, wow...what is Fox going to do with an X-Men movie that is not going to feature Hugh Jackman as Wolverine?  Well...on May 27th, we'll find out.

 

2014's Days of Future Past was one of the best X-Men films to date and I find it hard that Bryan Singer will be able to top it.  With quite a few new cast members playing younger versions of the characters from the first three films, not to mention setting this film in the 80s, they're going to be fighting an uphill battle.

 

The trailer didn't really impress me, but we may be getting something else soon to really sell this film.  Maybe they'll hit it home with a Super Bowl spot...time will tell.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'll be putting my money down and watching this when it's released, but I'm doubting we'll get anything as impressive as the last entry.

 

 

5. Independence Day: Resurgence

Talk about a little too late!  It took them 20 years to get a sequel?!  And why isn't this being released on the Fourth of July weekend?  June 24th?  Really???!!!

 

I'm so far removed from this franchise, I can't even see myself going to watch this in the theater.  I mean, have you watched the original lately?  What was once a great and ahead-of-its-time sci-fi film is now a weighted down parody of an alien invasion flick.

 

So seeing this new trailer, I'm only reminded of the original because it doesn't seem any better or amazing than the two-decade-old previous film.

 

I doubt that I'll see this when it's released, but we'll see.  They just need to really wow me in a second trailer.

 

 

6. The Purge 3

Although it's slated as to be released on June 29th of this year, we've yet to see a trailer of even an official title of the third Purge film.

 

I'm just saying, if we DO get this movie in 2016, that I'm looking forward to it.  The first one was a good concept, which I think should've been written a bit better, but the sequel was awesome.  So if The Purge 3 does keep Frank Grillo in the cast, I think we'll have a good movie come June.

 

By the way, the movie poster that you see pictured is some fan-made art that I'd found online.  To date, no poster has been released yet. 

 

 

7. Star Trek Beyond

Now, I've never considered myself a Trekkie, always citing myself as a Star Wars fan boy over Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock's universe.  But something amazing happened when J.J. Abrams jumpstarted the franchise all over again back in 2009.  Maybe it was the cast members who perfectly gelled with one another or maybe it was the lens flare, but the two previous movies were so enjoyable that it's a no-brainer for me to plop down my money for Star Trek Beyond on July 22nd of this year.

 

So far, what they've shown us in the trailer...eh...I'm not impressed or wishing that time would speed up so that I can see this movie soon.  But, banking on what Abrams had done with the first two films, I'm sure he'll hit it out of the park with this sequel as well.

 

 

8. Suicide Squad

Probably the one film out of these ten releases I'm discussing is one for which I am not that excited.  Maybe it's because I'm not familiar with the comic book series, maybe I'm not a Will Smith fan, and maybe it seems like a silly concept...I really can't put my finger on it.

 

The good?

 

I like where Jared Leto went with the Joker and how he veered away from previous incarnations of the character.  He doesn't look like Nicholson's imagining or Ledger's rendering, but more like the badass punk rock version of the Joker.

 

In the first trailer we were treated to, we see that Batman makes an appearance in the film.  But whether it's a short cameo or a bigger part, we don't know.

 

The bad?

 

To me?  Everything else.  It all reminds me of an announcement Sony made a couple of years ago when they stated that they were going to have two more Spider-Man films and a Sinister Six film.  Now, the Sinister Six, in the comics, are a group of villains who go up against Spider-Man through a run of comics.  How would that have worked?  A film about all bad guys?  Thank goodness we'll never find out with that Sinister Six movie.  But that's what Suicide Squad reminds me of...hopefully, on August 5th, I'm proven wrong.

 

 

9. Doctor Strange

An interesting one...on November 4th of 2016, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to continue with a strange entry-Doctor Strange.

 

Since no trailer or plot has been given as of yet, I'm guessing we're just going to get an origin story of this character (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and seeing how he fits into the whole thing.

Throughout all these Marvel films, gods, as well as talking animals and trees have been thrown into the mix as starring characters, I don't think there's anything they can introduce to the screen that'll cause you to suspend disbelief too much.

As with all the Marvel films so far, you'll find me in my seat in the theater waiting to see this one...I have faith in all that they've done and what they will do from here on out.

 

 

10. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Finally, the Star Wars franchise sounds like they're going to release an interesting prequel, going back to before the events of A New Hope, explaining how the rebels were able to obtain the plans to the dreaded Death Star.

 

Now, director Gareth Edwards, fresh from 2014's Godzilla is taking the franchise to a delicate area, where Lucas had failed himself back in 1999 through 2005.  But with the series in the hands of Disney, and the overall understanding that those previous prequels just did not work, I think we're going to get something special here.  As long as Edwards takes note of what Abrams had done with The Force Awakens, keeping things retro and having it being able to mesh with the 1977 movie at the conclusion, I think we're in for a treat.

 

 

Well, folks...it looks like 2016 is going to be another great year for films.  These are the ones I'm looking forward to the most and I'll make sure to go over them as they're released.

 

Thanks for reading and I'll be back for another review soon!

Cop Car

There’ve been a few new flicks I’ve seen, with one or two that have fallen into the independent range of production, and Cop Car falls into that category. When I'd first seen the trailer, it seemed like a good concept and that it'd be an enjoyable and thrilling movie. I've always been a fan of Kevin Bacon and I do love it when he plays a villain, so I decided to place this one on Netflix and wait for it too arrive.

To synopsize, Travis (James Freedson-Jackson ) and Harrison (Hays Wellford)—two mischievous friends wandering the open farm lands of their small town— come across an abandoned police cruiser in a tree-covered clearing. Finding the keys, the two boys decide to take the car for a drive while having fun with all the equipment and firearms left behind. The vehicle’s owner, Sheriff Kretzer (Kevin bacon), returns to the area where he parked his cruiser and finds it missing. As we soon find out, the sheriff isn’t all that respectable and needs to find his vehicle before his true nature is exposed.

The cast is relatively small as it mainly stars the two children and Bacon, but the plot is an interesting

concept. Although I feel that most children wouldn’t do such a thing as to freely take a vehicle—especially a police car—that has been left with the doors unlocked and keys sitting inside, it does seem plausible as the two boys exhibited tendencies to be more on the delinquent side. For instance, they appeared to be miles from their homes without any adult supervision, even discussing their travel to be over a day’s walk. Still, I felt that we really don’t get much of a backstory on these two besides the quick exposition from them when another character asks about their guardians.

Kevin Bacon plays the backwoods hick sheriff perfectly, complete with mustache and southern drawl. Even though we really don’t get to see how everything led up to the clearing, we see enough to know he’s a dirty cop and has a secondary life of corruption.

The first thing I’d noticed when the film started was how it appeared to be a movie set in the late 70s or early 80s. The clothing the boys wore and the soundtrack gave me that impression and I thought that was interesting until we see Bacon using a modern cell phone throughout the flick. But that won’t take you out of the film or make it any less enjoyable. However, as I had mentioned the music, I really didn’t care for the soundtrack themes and thought it had a bit too much of synthesizer, which is why I felt it was supposed to be set in the 80s.

Over all, it’s a forgetful film, which is a shame because the story had the potential to be something better. I think that maybe if they had made the kids in their teens and gave them more interaction between themselves and Bacon’s sheriff character, perhaps it would’ve given the plot a bit more tension. Throughout most of the first half, the kids were actually oblivious to their position, having fun joy riding and trying to use items they’d found in the car. My thinking is that if they knew what they had gotten themselves into and had a bit of back-and-forth with Bacon through the CB, we’d have more of a pressure-filled thriller.

As a whole, Cop Car will keep you interested just to see what comes of the kids not to mention Kevin Bacon’s dilemma as the corrupt sheriff that can’t afford to have these kids turn up with his cruiser, leading all to know what he was doing in that clearing in the first place. So you come away feeling that it was ninety minutes of your life that you won’t get back, but more like an interesting flick that just missed the mark.

So, my final "bit" on Cop Car?

The pros? The two boys, James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford, play their parts a bit reserved but are believable as a couple of misguided preteens. You can accept that they decided to go on a bit of an adventure, leaving their home with only the clothes on their back with a single beef jerky stick to share between them. The only aspect I can’t get over is their decision to take the cop car (which, I might add, didn’t seem to be too far away from Bacon’s character…how did he not hear the car roar to life and drive off?). So, I really can’t recommend this film, but I won’t sit here and tell you not to see it. If you have an hour and a half to yourself, where you’re not doing anything and would like to sit and watch a halfway decent movie, rent Cop Car and have at it.

Thanks for reading and I’ll try to get back here in a timely manner to give my thoughts on another flick.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Now if there’s a movie that can draw me out of movie-review-retirement, it’s this movie—a new Star Wars film.  A movie done, maybe not perfectly spot-on to be in line with the original canon (the films between 1977 and 1983), but at least has the feel and believability to be a continuation of said films. 

***SPOILERS AHEAD (TURN YOUR SPEEDER AROUND NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE) ***

Back in 1999, when the first prequel, The Phantom Menace, was released, I’d foolishly thought we were going to receive the same George Lucas magic we’d gotten two decades prior, so sure he was going to capture lightning in a bottle for a second trilogy go-round…but it wasn’t meant to be.  Sadly, those films were just boring political tales told between exciting accounts that were given to us in exposition by some of the characters (Where were those movies?!), leading up to the origin of Darth Vader.  Don’t get me wrong, some of the scenes and subplots of those films were exciting, but it just couldn’t make up for Jar Jar Binks in the first one, Anakin and Padme’s bad romance-novel love story in the second, or Darth Vader’s easy turn to the dark side in the last one.  We all had such high hopes for those prequel films, but they all fell flat, unfortunately.

George Lucas had always mentioned that he’d like to continue the story with a trilogy to follow Return of the Jedi, but I think most of the fans—myself included—kind of cringed at that idea, especially after the waste of film—well, digital film—that the prequels had been.  Yet, having Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles still sounded intriguing.  Some of the books I’d read and heard about had had Han and Leia marrying and having a child that grew to be trained as a Jedi, even some books revealing that Leia, herself, had learned to use the Force, excelling in lightsaber skills.  But as the actors aged quite a bit since the last 1983 film, I didn’t think it was possible to bring them all back, especially Harrison Ford who’d actually wanted the Han Solo character killed off back in the original trilogy.  At the time, the whole thing just seemed like a pipe dream…better just to live with my fond memories of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

So back in 2012, there was a strange little news tidbit when it was reported that Disney bought Lucasfilm for a whopping $4 billion and soon after, announced that a new film was being planned.  A year after that, it was confirmed that the new film was to be helmed by J.J. Abrams (of “Alias,” “Lost,” and Cloverfield fame).  Being very impressed by his original films and how he was able to revive the Star Trek film series, I felt the Star Wars franchise was in great hands.  In the two years that followed, and being that we’re in the 21^st century where it’s nearly impossible to keep anything a secret in Hollywood, set photos and videos were leaked, giving us a feel for what we were all going to get.  It looked great, seeing that Abrams was going the practical route and not choosing to have a CGI porn fest with the new film.

So, anyway, without much more backstory on how the film came to be, let me jump right into the synopsis of the film, Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens.

It seems as evil never truly dies as The First Order has risen after The Empire was defeated decades prior.  Led by the mysterious Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), their priority is to find the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and destroy him.  To counter this new threat, a new Resistance, led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), fights to keep information of Skywalker’s whereabouts that they have in their possession as they get help from two unlikely heroes—Finn (John Boyega), a defected storm trooper from The First Order, and Rey (Daisy Ridley), a lowly scavenger from the planet Jakku.  But as the Resistance base is discovered, there isn’t much time as The First Order is preparing to destroy them with their newest and deadliest weapon on the Starkiller Base—a weapon hundreds of times the destructive power of the Death Star.  Will the Resistance be destroyed for good?

First off, I’ve just got to say…it was so weird to have a Star Wars film start without the familiar 20^th Century Fox logo and fanfare.  It always seemed to go hand-in-hand whenever I watched one of the films.  So much so, that whenever I hear that intro music in any other movie, I instantly think that I’m about to watch a Star Wars flick.

Now…about The Force Awakens…

The new characters introduced for these new generation Star Wars films, I felt they had held their own right from their introductions.  Unlike the prequels, where some of the characters grew on you—while many others did not—these new characters were written right and the actors were given good direction to make us like them instantly.

With Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), we see him as a Han Solo type, a bit of arrogance and showing no

humility or anxiety when coming up against an enemy.  I wish we’d had seen a bit more of him in this film, but being that this film had quite an ensemble, I can understand why and hope to see more of him in the sequels.  Right away, he’s likeable and we understand he’s a heroic figure as part of the Resistance.

Of course, who cannot like BB-8?  Obviously the R2-D2 for the millennials of the audience, it’s a cute little roly-poly robot that’s like a stray dog you can’t help but let tag along with you.  The character, as a droid, is surprisingly able to express some emotion and you can almost understand what it’s saying through its beeps and squawks.  I was even more amazed by its performance since I’d heard that the representation was done, not by CGI, but by a practical effect.  And I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it perform during video footage of a Star Wars panel at the San Diego Comic Convention. 

John Boyega’s character of Finn raised some eyebrows and even upset some diehard Star Wars fans when we first saw him in the teaser for this film.  I guess there was some backlash as to seeing a black man as a storm trooper.  Seeing the original trilogy, and trying to forget what I’d seen in the prequels, I’d never had an opinion on what race or gender was supposed to be under that white armor.  Why would this be a problem?  I’ll say this: this subplot of having a storm trooper with feelings, having misgivings about killing people in cold blood, was something I would’ve never foreseen.  I hope we get more of Finn’s backstory, maybe in flashbacks, about his journey to becoming a storm trooper.  Maybe it was just a throwaway scene, but I was curious as to whom that other storm trooper was that died in his arms and left the bloody streak on Finn’s helmet.  Maybe he still has friends that are storm troopers and we’ll see Finn be torn on what side to stay on.  But Boyega pulled off a good performance here.

Daisy Ridley turns out to be quite a strong character that seems to have a lot of backstory we won’t see for a while.  It’s interesting how the story plays her up to be Han and Leia’s daughter, how she achieves the proficiency of piloting a spacecraft and knows her mechanics, but ends up being a mystery.  But she’s never perceived as a damsel in distress, even when she’s in trouble.  To that effect, she’s never saved; instead she saves herself when captured.  And I like that mixture of her character, how she’s not overly feminist but is still tough when it’s called for.

Now, the big baddie, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is definitely shown as a force to be reckoned with, presented as a villain who seems to be more powerful than Darth Vader.  His masked persona and disguised voice gives him the shadowy appearance of someone you don’t want to mess with. 

However, later in the film, it appears he’s conflicted with his emotions involving his parentage which creates a problem for his allegiance to the dark side of the Force.  The arc of this character may seem a little quick and forced, but as with all the aspects of this film I have to look at it as a third of a story.  Hopefully we get to see more on how Kylo Ren came to be…as well as The First Order as a whole.

Now, some of the familiar faces are here—some blended in, some a little forced into the story.  Carrie Fisher’s Leia is back, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) have big parts as well, R2-D2 appears in sleep mode throughout most of the film, and good ol’ C3PO (Anthony Daniels) makes a cameo as well (the aforementioned forced-in character).

With all the performances, their dialogue sounds like it’s from the heart or off the top of their heads, not read from a cue card like the prequels seemed to be in comparison.  Abrams is not trying to produce a Shakespeare-in-space melodrama, he’s trying to continue the feel of the movies most of us grew up with.  So far in his career, he’s struck me as a man who can fill Spielberg’s shoes with ease.  I really never had any reservations about Abrams taking over for George Lucas and always thought it was best to let Lucas retire for good.  Some of the other directors mentioned as taking the reins for this film were a little scary (I won’t mention any names here), so I’ve always felt at ease with the announcement of Abrams.

Okay, now for a few of my critiques.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that I dislike this movie or have a huge problem with these characters or scenes I’m about to explain, they’re just certain aspects of the film that kind of irked me or took me out of it altogether…and don’t worry, there are only three of them that I’ll list right here.

First is the lightsaber duel between Finn and Kylo Ren.  From the moment we’re introduced to Kylo Ren, we see he has tremendous powers, even appearing stronger and more expanded than Darth Vader’s powers from the earlier films.  We see Ren stop a laser blast in midair and even extracting

information from other characters’ minds, so how would Finn be any match for him?  Through exposition we find out that Finn was born and raised to be a storm trooper, not even given a name but a label—FN-2187, so how is it he can use a lightsaber and go toe-to-toe with a being as powerful with the Force as Kylo Ren?

The second nitpick is another lightsaber duel, again with Kylo Ren, but this time with Rey.  It’s alluded to that she may have the Force strengthened within her, but in Star Wars lore, we all know that she still must have training in order to wield a Jedi’s weapon.  To top it off, she nearly defeats the villain—again, one trained with the dark side of the Force—in this scene, leaving me scratching my head.

My final criticism is with the representation of the Supreme Leader Snoke character (voiced and motion captured by Andy Serkis).  I’ve heard grumbles about the character’s gigantism, but totally understand that the character was projected as a hologram and know that it was done before in The Empire Strikes Back when the Emperor was projected in much the same way, so I can’t knock that.  My criticism falls on the rendering of the character.  The CGI seems dated and looks as if it was created during the beginning stages of computer imagery at the turn of the century.  With the rendering work on the latest Planet of the Apes movies (both featuring Serkis’s MoCap performances) and on the Hulk in both Avengers movies, I thought we’d get something in a Star Wars movie that’d blow us away.  Nevertheless, I would like to see more of this enigmatic villain.

Little touches that I noticed and loved was little details to show that this film is tied to the original trilogy.  For example, Abrams didn’t try to show any fancy technology within the ships, but instead showed us that the Falcon and X-wing fighters…and even the tie fighters still have those Atari-esque monitor read-outs.  The storm troopers, although a little updated in their armor design, is essentially what we’d seen in the original trilogy…and they’re not CGI clones (at least, I don’t think they are…and if they are, they don’t appear to be).  Although I had my reservations about Snoke’s depiction, most of the special effects look great and had me amazed during a lot of the scenes…the Millennium Falcon never looked so awesome!

Not really criticisms, but I wish we get more familiar scenes and planets (systems) in the upcoming films.  I would’ve loved to see at least one of them in this film, like Tatooine (which I thought we were seeing in the trailer).  But maybe we’ll return to it in the next one, or even Hoth or the forest moon of Endor…or Cloud City… 

Speaking of Cloud City, Billy Dee Williams has been on the record, not confirming that he’s going to reprise his role as Lando, but saying that he can’t talk about it, which leads me to believe we will see him again.  Apparently, he’s signed a nondisclosure agreement, so his return is probably in the works.  I mean, can you imagine Lando meeting Rey for the first time, saying, “Hello, what have we here?” in that smooth Colt 45 voice?

I can probably go on and on about this film, quibbling and discussing to my heart’s content.  I’m sure I’ll think of one thing or another that I’d forgotten to mention on this review after posting, but I think you get all the points I’ve presented here and see where I fall on my opinion of the film.  So, without further ado, here’s my final “bit” on Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens:

Overall, a great film—probably the best I’ve seen in 2015—and it’s definitely on par with the original trilogy.  Its only setback is that there’s such a long time between Return of the Jedi and this one that you really can’t say that the sequel comes in seamlessly.  It’s certainly nice to see some of the original cast again and wish they’d have played a bigger part or made sure to stick around for the sequel.  By the way the film ends, maybe I’ll get my wish in the next film, but this is by far better than any of the prequels.  I loved a lot of the sprawling scenes featured in this movie that we’ve never seen in previous Star Wars films.  Some examples: The First Order’s rows upon rows of storm troopers as General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) addresses them, the Starkiller Base’s weapon sucking in the sun and discharging its gargantuan blast to destroy the targeted planets, the Millennium Falcon flying above the sands and through the downed destroyer ship carcass, the primitive—yet crude—lightsaber Kylo Ren wields…all such great sci-fi eye candy.  I plan on taking in another viewing or two and will definitely add this to my Blu-Ray collection once it’s released.  If you’re a Star Wars fan, I know you’ve seen this already, so I don’t need to tell you to get out there and watch it.  But if you’ve never seen one of these films, you need to start with the ’77 film, watch the two sequels to that, ignore the prequels, and jump right into The Force Awakens.

Well, thanks for reading and May the Force Be With You!

MY RETURN

Before I get into reviews of various films, I'd like to address the elephant in the room-namely, my return to this blog.

Last October, in 2014, I was actually pretty excited to furiously watch-and subsequently write my views about-numerous horror movies to produce thirty-one articles each day of the month, counting down to Halloween.  It was fun, like most of my movie-watching experiences, but the writing wore me out.  So much so, that I decided to take a break and even pondered the desertion of my blog.  As luck would have it, work at my employment started to skyrocket, so I couldn't put any time to Cinema Bits even if I'd wanted to.

I had been thinking of returning earlier, back last spring, but a project fell into my hands that was very exciting and took up a bunch of my time.  It had to do with another passion of mine: the American pastime of baseball.  I won't get into that here-this blog is called Cinema Bits and not Baseball Bits (though that sounds catchy!)-so I'll keep to the talk of motion pictures.

So, now, as 2016 approaches, not to mention that work has slowed down a bit, I think it's high time that I make my return to my cinephilic hobby.

With that said, I'm going to try and put down to words, most of the new flicks I've treated my eyes to and maybe put in a classic here and there.

So, for those of you who've silently followed along in the past, get set to enjoy some posts here and there.  I'll try to keep consistent and post more frequently.

I thank you for your patronage and readership.

Manny the Movie Maniac