Flight

Robert Zemeckis decides that not every film needs motion capture and 3-D to make something worth going to the cinema for.

After twelve years away from making live-action films, Robert Zemeckis returns with a low budget, (for Zemeckis) low concept drama that is safe for audiences and for his return to the director's chair.

Denzel Washington plays William "Whip" Whittaker, an airline pilot who is an alcoholic and drug addict. How do we know this? Whip opens the film in a hotel room with flight attendant Katerina Marquez (Nadine Velazquez) after having a night of drunken sex. Whip needs to finish off his beer, take a hit of marijuana and a line of cocaine to get himself going.

Whip is responsible for a short flight from Orlando, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. During the flight, Whip makes sure to have himself a bottle of orange juice mixed with multiple bottles of vodka. Upon descent into Atlanta, the plane suffers a terminal problem and appears doomed. Whip, being the amazing pilot he is, performs an aerial maneuver to try and save the plane and eventually crashes the plane into a field, killing six out of 102 persons on the flight.

Whip is then informed by Charlie Anderson, (Bruce Greenwood) head of the pilot's union, that an investigation is being conducted into the crash. High powered attorney Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) is brought in Whip and Charlie to assist when the toxicology report on Whip comes back to reveal that he had drugs and alcohol in his system when the plane went down.

During this time, Whip and recovering drug addict Nicole Maggen (Kelly Reilly) form a connection and spend time together at Whip's father's home. Nicole is trying to straighten her life out while she watches Whip try to handle the investigation and try to cope with his alcoholism. Will she stay and ride this out with him or will Whip's continued behavior be too much for her? This really isn't a hard film to figure out.

It may seem like I am coming down hard on this film, and I am, but this is not a bad film by any means. This is a film based solely on performances and nothing else. Robert Zemeckis directs this film with no major flaws, though the plane crash in Cast Away was better, in my opinion.

Denzel Washington takes this role and runs with it. His performance, and most everyone's performance in this film is very solid. Don Cheadle has the most bland role as a man with no strings attached to this situation and tries to do his job the best he can. Denzel has a decent shot at an Oscar nomination and it would be deserving. I have seen better performances this year already, see my review of The Master, but a nomination would certainly be deserving.

The true standout for me was by James Badge Dale. I have never been a fan of JBD, especially in 24 or The Departed, but he steals the one scene he is in. JBD plays a man who has cancer and knows the end is near. He shares a scene with Whip and Nicole and provides the scene with warmth and humor. It is a shame we don't see him again as he completely stole his sole scene.

As stated, Robert Zemeckis and writer John Gatins provide us with a very safe film. This certainly earns it's R-rating, but Zemeckis and Denzel never push the film or Whip into too much of a dark area. This film provides a really good performance for Denzel and a safe return for Robert Zemeckis.

And it's nice to see a film directed by Robert Zemeckis where the characters have eyes that seem alive!

6.4/10

Wreck-It Ralph

What would a holiday movie season be without a Disney film over-running the cinema?

This year's offering is aimed towards the video game crowd. Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is an 80's arcade villain in the video game "Fix-It Felix, Jr." The plot of "Fix-It Felix, Jr." involves Ralph destroying an apartment building while Felix (Jack McBrayer) attempts to fix Ralph's destruction. After doing this for thirty years, Ralph dreams of shedding his villain persona and wanting to embrace the idea of being a hero.

Ralph decides to leave the "Fix-It Felix, Jr." game and enters into another game in an attempt to obtain a medal to prove he is a hero. Ralph enters the game "Hero's Duty", a Halo-style shooter game and is able to retrieve the medal he has pined over for so long. In his attempt to return to the "Fix-It Felix, Jr." game, he winds up in kart-racing game "Sugar Rush".

Once in "Sugar Rush", Ralph loses his medal to Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) who uses the medal to enter the main kart race of the game. The ruler of "Sugar Rush", King Candy, (Alan Tudyk) considers her a glitch in the game and disallows her entry into the kart race. Vanellope is crushed, but Ralph decides to help her learn to drive so that she can win the kart race and Ralph can get his medal returned to him.

During this time, Felix teams up with the lead character from "Hero's Duty", Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Jane Lynch) to find Ralph and to stop a massive bug invasion that could possibly destroy all of "Sugar Rush" and all the arcade games.

This is a film that is all built on your love for current and nostalgic video games. The commercials and trailers lead me to believe that this would be a film that incorporated lots of classic and new video game characters into a large scale video game adventure. As this is true, especially in the first act, the middle portion of this film falls into the usual pitfalls of a Disney film.

Once Ralph ends up in "Sugar Rush", the film becomes a lot more predictable. At first, Ralph and Vanellope are mortal enemies, not seeing eye to eye on anything. Once the main plot kicks in, they go from enemies, to friends, to enemies and friends again in very predictable fashion. I know this is a Disney film and that certain points would be hit, this film feels very safe and predictable in the middle portion of the film.

What initially starts out as a film that takes us into this video game world, then becomes almost sweeter than the world that "Sugar Rush" is based off of. Once the third act kicks in, the film becomes a bit more entertaining than the act that had proceeded it.

All of the voice acting provides a solid job, John C. Reilly and Jane Lynch especially. Jack McBrayer is decent, if forgettable as the very average hero, Felix. Sarah Silverman, who I find somewhat funny in her stand-up, comes off as annoying as the edgy Vanellope.

The design of the video games and the worlds they inhabit is very impressive. The colors and details are very solid and the way the characters meet and move about the worlds is imaginative. The world of "Hero's Duty" was a hilarious riff on "Halo" and the sequence of Ralph in this world was a comedic highlight for me.

This is a solid, if unspectacular addition to the Disney filmography. Highlighted by a very strong first act and a solid third act, this is a mild recommendation. This would be a higher recommendation if the middle of the portion of the film was more entertaining and had a less predictable factor. As it is, kids and lovers of all things video games will really love this film. As I am not the biggest video game fan, maybe some of this film missed for me. My mild recommendation though, comes from the storyline more so than the video game nods itself.

As it is, this is Disney and you know right away what type of film you are walking into.

6.8/10

The Bay

I know I have been away a lot lately. I have had a lot of personal things come up in the last couple of weeks that took priority over the blog site. I failed on the 31 In 31, I know and I have been lacking in film reviews. For all that, I apologize. Hopefully soon things for me will return to some semblance of normalcy, and I will do my best to keep the reviews coming.

Enough about me, though. I am here with a new review!

Today brings the film, Chicken Shit... wait, I mean it's called The Bay. Barry Levinson, a director who is very, VERY hit and miss with me decides his career has reached its lowest and thrown his hat into the cliched "found footage" genre.

Taking place in the fictional town or Claridge, Maryland on July 4, 2009, mutated isopods from a large chicken processing plant (hence the Chicken Shit mentioning) begin infecting fish and the local residents. As the day progresses: locals, doctors and the CDC attempt to find out the cause of these mutated isopods and a way to stop the outbreak.

The film is told from the present day, 2012, by news reporter Donna Thompson (Kether Donohue) who was in Claridge on that fateful day to document the 4th of July festivities. She continuously pops up and speaks with an unseen person asking her questions. She states that all the footage from that day was suppressed, but is now available and shown to the audience.

What follows are various forms of video documentation from TV cameras, surveillance, police dash cams and more. We see various stories regarding locals who are becoming infected and making their way to the hospital. A doctor at the hospital, when not working on the infected, speaks on SKYPE chat with the CDC in an attempt to find out what is causing this infection. During the day, we also follow Donna and her cameraman around as they go from documenting the joyful festival to the many corpses that fill the town by day's end.

Barry Levinson does an adequate job of showing multiple points of view and keeping the storytelling very streamlined. The plot is very straightforward regarding the initial findings of what is causing the infection to the very final moments. As this is supposedly shot as a "found footage" film, the occasional usage of a musical score to showcase the type of emotion for the scene does not seem to fit. Especially if the film is structured as a composition of what occurred that day by Donna.

Beyond the musical score, which I feel there should have been none, another quibble I have is regarding character motivations. This is typical when it comes to this type of film, but why not drop the camera and help? Besides that, there is a subplot involving a family on a boat that is on their way to Claridge. Once they arrive on the island and assess the scene, why would they continue onward instead of staying on the boat? I know we are in the third act and the story can't just be spent hiding in a boat, but it just doesn't ring true.

Along with the family on the boat, one character appears to be infected by getting blood on them and then using water to try and rinse the blood off. It feels like we are going to be waiting for something to happen with that, but this character never gets infected and their story continues onward without any further mention.

Which then leads me to the end. As someone near and dear to me likes to mention, this film feels like it suffers from a Deus ex machina. We do not see a resolution to the infection, but we are told what happens. The way it is delivered feels like they had no way to end the film and just decided to come up with the one in the final film.

This is a mixed bag of a film, but on the whole, I did enjoy it more than not. Besides a third act that seems to wrap up everything too quick in a neat little package, this is a solid "found footage" film that utilizes a more grounded suspense style to it instead of cheap shocks and over the top gore.

And for Barry Levinson, this is better than Sphere. So, you know, there's that.

6.3/10

31 In 31: Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight

Seeing as we had a Tales From The Crypt ripoff reviewed, why not review a Tales From The Crypt film.

Frank Brayker (William Sadler) is on the run from The Collector (Billy Zane). In Frank's possession is an artifact shaped like a key. Taking shelter in a boarding house with a various assortment of cliches, including: ex-con Jeryline, (Jada Pinkett) town drunk Uncle Willie, (Dick Miller) antagonistic cook Roach (Thomas Haden Church) and boarding house owner Irene (CCH Pounder).

Meanwhile, The Collector notifies two police officers that Frank is a threat. The three then head out and locate Frank. Before long, The Collector reveals himself to be evil by killing one of the officers and demanding the key artifact. Frank uses a liquid inside the artifact to keep The Collector at bay. The Collector then summons his own batch of demons to invade the boarding house and retrieve the key at any cost.

This is a fun little film that takes the best elements from the Tales From The Crypt television show and incorporates them into a film. You got yourself over the top violence, random sex, swearing and an entertaining plot.... even if it makes no sense.

The plot consists of something about demons roaming the world in darkness and using seven of the key artifacts to control the power. God intervened and scattered the keys so that light in the world... you know what, instead here is the back story from Wikipedia: "Following the creation of Earth by God, there were demons in the darkness who used seven keys for focus the power of the cosmos into their hands. When discovered, God created light that scattered the demons and the keys across the universe. The artifact that Brayker holds is the last key they need to reclaim power, and to protect it God had a thief named Sirach fill the artifact with the blood of Jesus Christ at the crucifixion, which is what creates the seals that repel the demons and prevents them from touching it. The guardians of the key, immortal while holding it, have since been passing it on, refilling it with their own blood when they die; Brayker received the key from his superior officer duringWorld War I"

Still makes no sense, but what does it matter? When you go to a movie with Tales From The Crypt in the title, you don't go for plot. Instead, the movie delivers on many of its (low) standards and promises. The film is not longer than it should be and all the actors in this film seem to know what type of film they are in as all of them have fun with their roles.

The role of roles though, goes to Billy Zane's Collector. I know I can be crucified for this, but Zane's performance steals the show so much, it could almost be Oscar-worthy. This is the role Billy Zane was made for and he embellishes every second of it. Using his persuasiveness, The Collector is equal parts charming, funny, terrifying or combinations of both. This is truly Billy Zane's film.

In the end, this is an awful movie, but for a Tales From The Crypt movie, this is top notch. With decent directing from Ernest Dickerson, an imaginative (if convoluted) plot and all actors bringing fun to the movie, this is a very entertaining affair.

Plus, Billy Zane is truly amazing in this film.

31 In 31: Tales From The Hood

What would a review of Halloween films be without a Tales From The Crypt rip-off?

What we have here are four stories with a wrap-around segment. As I did with my prior review about V/H/S I will review each story separately.

Welcome to my Mortuary

The wrap-around segment consists of three stereotypical gang members who arrive at a local funeral home looking for "shit". What is "the shit"? It's never explained, though one can assume drugs. If it is drugs, why not just say that? I mean if some stereotypical gang members come up asking me about "shit" I'd be dead cause I have no idea what they are talking about. Whatever this "shit" is, the gang members know that the "shit" is in the funeral home and want it badly. Unfortunately, the funeral owner Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III) is very eccentric and decides to tell them spooky tales first while the gang members fumble around the place. Eventually, the final story ties into the three gang members' story and it is revealed in predictable fashion that they are dead, Mr. Simms is Satan and no one gets any "shit". Sorry.

Rogue Cop Revelation

What an awful title for this segment. Anyway, four stereotypical white cops who also happen to be racists... yeah, I was shocked too, led by Newton (Michael Massee) along with a new cop who is black, Clarence Smith (Anthony Griffith) and is not racist... again, I was shocked, all arrive at a routine traffic stop of black politician, Martin Moorehouse (Tom Wright). The stop does not go as planned and the cops kill the politician, plant drugs on him and send him into the water. One year later, Clarence is no longer a cop, an alcoholic and suffers from guilt. All the cops, with Clarence, gather at the grave of Martin who is then resurrected. Martin exacts his revenge on the four, white cops then berates Clarence for not doing anything to stop his death. Martin then makes it appear that Clarence killed everyone. Nothing new and very, very predictable. Fin.

Boys Do Get Bruised

Writer and Director Rusty Cundieff stars as Richard Garvy, a sensitive teacher to Walter (Brandon Hammond) who, on a daily basis, sports new bruises on his body. Walter continuously mentions being tormented by a monster, who Richard brings up to his mother Sissy (Paula Jai Parker) and her boyfriend Carl (David Alan Grier). I am not a David Alan Grier fan, but his, albeit, brief performance in this story steals the show. His role is dark and frightening and pulled off very well. Considering the types of horror stories in this film, this is probably the best as for the most part, the horror of this film is really grounded.

KKK Comeuppance

Alright, the corny segments return with Corbin Bernsen playing Duke Metger: stereotypical Southern, racist senator. Duke resides in a former plantation which Black and Jewish persons protest on a daily basis. Duke has a large painting of a voodoo witch on one of his walls. After the death of his image maker, dolls of the witch appear and attempt to extract revenge on the racist Duke. Corbin Bernsen hams it up as his anger against the revenge-seeking dolls becomes more violent. This is one of the more predictable stories of the bunch and the only entertainment of this film is the cheese ball factor. Nothing special here.

Hard-Core Convert

Stereotypical gang member Crazy K (Lamont Bentley) attempts to kill and old rival. Instead he is almost killed by three stereotypical gang members (I wonder who they are?). After recovering, Crazy K is serving life in prison when he is visited by Dr. Cushing (Rosalind Cash) who transfers him to a separate facility. Here, Crazy K is put in place with a crazy white supremacist (Not Corbin Bernsen) then placed into a sensory deprivation chamber where all the persons he has killed haunt him. Dr. Cushing offers him a chance to forgive and save his soul. Crazy K defies her with his arrogance and it is revealed that these are his final moments on the street after being shot. A decent attempt at a morality tale.

Overall, this is a mixed bag of a film that worked better when I was younger and didn't know better. As it is, there is a decent mood and about two stories are worth watching and a really good performance from David Alan Grier. If you can get past the annoying wrap around where gang members supposedly use about four words in their entire vocabulary, you might find yourself a decent horror anthology. Unfortunately, an attempt could have been made to not be so stereotypical regarding just about every character in the film. This could have been better, but certainly could have been worse. Just don't expect the reinvention of the wheel.

Argo

Ben Affleck makes it three for three in the directing department.

Set in 1979 during the Iranian hostage crisis, Argo follows six embassy staff members who escape from the U.S. Embassy in Iran and take refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). The Iranians who have taken over the embassy are working to verify if anyone has escaped their takeover. The Canadian Ambassador knows if he is caught harboring the six escapees; the six, himself and all inside the home will be killed. The State Department understands that this is a time sensitive issue and contacts CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to assist with an extraction process.

After shooting down various ways to get the six out of Iran, Tony brings forth an idea to set up a fake movie that wants to shoot in Iran and include the six staff members as the film crew. Tony enlists Hollywood makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) with creating all that is needed for the fake, science fiction film: Argo.

Once set up, Tony then flies to Iran and meets up with the six staff members at Ken Taylor's home. He informs them of the plan, and with the help of his superior, Jack O'Donnell, (Bryan Cranston) Tony attempts to lead the six staff members through Iran posing as the film crew and out of Iran without being captured or killed.

Ben Affleck directs this film with a mostly solid eye, and does not often let the film meander too far from the two major plots that are going on. If there was one issue with the film, it lies with the fact that too many unnecessary characters are included. We are introduced to various characters for one scene, only to never be seen again. I understand that each character does serve a purpose, but some things could have easily been cut for the sake of time.

And speaking of the sake of time, Ben Affleck occasionally cuts back to the Iranian hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy to focus on the hostages. As the plot is about the six staff members that escaped, it feels like Ben Affleck would occasionally lose focus of the plot about the six and want to cover the entire Iranian hostage crisis. This only occurs a few times, but each time it jarringly pulls you out of the film, even if it is only briefly.

This film could have used another run through by the editor, but overall this is an exceptional film. Ben Affleck gives the feel of a 1970's thriller as the film is focused on the plot and not a lot of sensational elements. Some criticism has been made about why Ben Affleck plays the role of someone who in real life was Latino. I have no clue as to why, but his performance in this film is well done. Also well done are the film's opening and penultimate scenes that depict the initial takeover of the U.S. Embassy and the attempted escape by Tony and the six staff members.

Argo deserves the praise it is getting as the film is well acted, directed and one of the best films of the year.

8.3/10

Frankenweenie

Tim Burton makes his best film since 1996's Mars Attacks... unfortunately, it came from an idea he had in 1984.

Frankenweenie tells the story of young Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) and his beloved dog Sparky; living in the quaint town of New Holland. Victor is an exceptionally smart kid, but also a lonely one. His father Edward (Martin Short) suggests that Victor play baseball in an effort to be a more personable kid. Victor gives it a whirl, and while playing, loyal Sparky ends up on the wrong end of a car accident.

Missing his best friend, Victor takes an idea from the local science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau) and decides to try and reanimate Sparky. Victor being the smart kid he is, brings Sparky back to life and the two friends reunite. As bringing Sparky back to life might upset certain people, Victor decides that he has to hide Sparky.

Determined to not stay hidden for long, Sparky makes his way about town and is discovered by a local kid Edgar E. Gore (Atticus Shaffer). In exchange for keeping quiet, Edgar demands from Victor to help him reanimate another animal so Edgar has a project for the local science fair. Victor complies, but this attempt at reanimation does not go entirely as planned. Soon, Victor's secret leaks about town and he must find a way to keep the locals calm, control other students attempts at reanimation and rescue the entire town.

As stated, Frankenweenie is a really good film and feels like old school Tim Burton. The one thing that disappoints me is that this idea is almost 30 years old, right around when Tim Burton was beginning to make his name in Hollywood. The original idea was a 30 minute live action short made in 1984. The same basic premise stays, but has been elongated to fill a feature length running time.

My quibble about the film not being a new and fresh idea aside, this is a very lovely stop motion, animated film. The simple story involving a boy who loves his dog even after death is simple enough. As the film goes on, though, that basic idea is almost cast aside in favor of turning the film into a classic 50's monster film. This is not a bad idea, as I am not sure if Victor and his dog would be able to fill the runtime adequately. As the film speeds into its third act, the film changes, but in a very entertaining way.

Overall, a welcome return for Tim Burton and a film that is thoroughly enjoyable as a fantasy, comedy and horror film.

7.5/10