Star Wars - The Force Awakens

Director JJ Abrams brings the Star Wars franchise back to life in the new episode The Force Awakens.

In a nutshell, it is a fun, fast-paced, thrill ride in a galaxy far, far away.

Set years later, after the victorious triumph in episode six, The Return of the Jedi, we find that Luke Skywalker has vanished...and the forces of the dark side are seeking him out.

Abrams and team introduce us to a whole new set of heroes, while bringing some of our old favorites back.

So is this new film any good? Yes it is. Definitely a thumbs up for sheer entertainment.

But because Abrams wants to embed the new characters in the familiar turf of the original trilogy, it often seems like a remake. Even composer John Williams' music feels mostly old, though in this case his Star Wars themes are beloved.

Having said that much of the film feels like a re-warming of old stuff, there is much to like, especially the new faces Daisy Ridley as scavenger Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as ace pilot Poe, and Adam Driver as the tortured baddie, all fine in their respective roles.

Special mention must be made of Harrison Ford returning in fine form as an old and grizzled Han Solo, along with his hairy pal Chewbacca.

The movie ends with a slew of questions dangling in mid air...so we will just have to return for episode eight in a year or two.

I'll be there.

Creed

Imagine you are a member of a writing team sitting down to pen the latest installment in a long running and successful movie franchise. You could play it safe and basically "repeat" what has worked before and/or you could step out and innovate with something new. There are risks associated with both choices.

In the new film in the Rocky series, titled "Creed," written and directed by Ryan ("Fruitvale Station") Coogler, the writers come up with a real winner, one that lovingly embraces the best of the past, while presenting a brand new central hero in Adonis Johnson, illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, played expertly by Michael B. ("The Wire") Jordan.

Abandoned to foster care as a child, Adonis early starts fighting for his identity. And even after Creed's wife adopts him, giving him a life full of opportunity, Adonis never loses that fighting spirit and seeks to fulfill it by acquiring a mentor, Rocky Balboa. What happens next, as the aged Rocky warms up to Adonis and takes him under his wing, is a heartfelt chapter in the Rocky saga. Sylvester Stallone's pitch-perfect performance as the humble and humorous Balboa may very well earn him an Oscar in the next awards season.

OHMSS - 1969

The initials OHMSS stand for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." It's the title of a James Bond book by author Ian Fleming.

And it is also the name of the very best 007 film made so far in the 24 Bond movies. Including the excellent Casino Royale and Skyfall.

OHMSS features the best Bond Girl (Diana Rigg), the best Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the best score by John Barry, and the story (very close to the book) that really humanizes James Bond in a way no other film has done.

In a nutshell, in OHMSS, Bond falls for Tracy, the headstrong and wayward daughter of a Corsican Godfather, (one of the most lovable mobsters in all of cinema!) who pleads with 007 to tame his daughter and marry her.

Many fault this 1969 film for the absence of star Sean Connery, replaced by newbie George Lazenby. While it is a fair criticism, the movie still works overall.

If you have not seen it, give it a try.

Spectre

It has been a looong time since writing a movie review here (*Interestingly my last post was for Skyfall, the excellent Bond film from director Sam Mendes). I kept saying to myself that, when the time is right, I will write here again.

Apparently the time has come.

I just saw Spectre, the new James Bond film.

As I sit here following my viewing of Spectre, and I reflect on how much UK film critic Mark Kermode, whose opinion I trust, liked this film, I am wondering, Did we see the same movie? Is he nuts or is it me?

As a long time fan of everything 007 from the books to the films, I hate to say this: I did not like it. Spectre is a letdown. In fact, I was bored and underwhelmed by it. I think I would be embarrassed if I were director Sam Mendes or star Daniel Craig.

To be fair, let me start with the things I liked about Spectre:

The globe trotting typical in a Bond movie is on full display here with various locations such as Mexico, Austria,  Rome, Tangiers, and London.

The "Bond Girls" are fine this film, in particular the beautiful Monica Bellucci (in the film all too briefly, a big missed opportunity I'd say) and dangerous yet sexy Lea Seydoux (who does a nice job with a role that never quite lifts off).

Q played by Ben Whishaw is great, as is Ralph Fiennes as the new "M." Andrew Scott as a shifty bureaucrat is good but vastly wasted in a throwaway role that could have been so much more.

A few of the set pieces are quite good especially the opening Day of the Dead sequence and the fight on the train.

Now for my beefs:

What a wasted opportunity! If ever a film felt like a committee had written it, this is one. What really hurts is to see the talents of Craig, Christoph Waltz and others go to waste in a big budget film. So much talent, and so little story, motivation, or momentum.

The story, if there is one, has something to do with an assignment from the prior "M" (played by Judy Dench) in a brief video mysteriously delivered to Bond. There should have been much more to this, but alas there never is.

The motivation is never explained. Bond just goes gallivanting around the world wreaking havoc wherever he goes.

There is no momentum, just a drawn out, long film that drags most of the time. Every 15 minutes I was checking my watch and calculating how much longer till the ending credits.

My son Kevin, a filmmaker, said there is something wrong with the sound of the movie. This is most apparent in the scenes with the new "M" which are actually hard to hear.

As my son Kevin and I drove home from the multiplex, we both agreed that the Biggest Missed Opportunity was that Andrew Scott's annoying bureaucrat should have been The Big Bad, wearing a disguise yet later revealed as the mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld. And Monica Bellucci should have returned as his "Irma Bunt."

Well, despite my disappointment, many are enjoying Spectre. That's good. It will probably make bajillions at the box office.

Let's hope for another fresh reboot the next time around.

Anyone for Chris Nolan as director?  And Michael Fassbender for Bond?

Terrence Seamon loves movies. Follow him on twitter @tseamon

Skyfall

For most of Skyfall's ample running time, I kept thinking "This is not a Bond film." Now, after some reflection, I can say, This is much more than a Bond film.

It has everything you would expect in a Bond film including great action, lovely women, gorgeous location filming, and a terrific villain played by the formidable Spanish actor Javier Bardem. One down note: The theme song by Adele is terrible and the busy score by Thomas Newman works well enough but lacks the flavor of the legendary John Barry's music.

But in the hands of director Sam Mendes and writer John Logan, you get much more than you expect from a 007 film including a rather serious and even topical story about the accountability of government decision making; a rather adult theme about getting old and losing your edge; and even a big reveal about the origins of James Bond himself.

This Bond delivers a big and satisfying entertainment. Who knows? Maybe this one will be up for an Oscar?

Posted by Terrence Seamon on Saturday Nov 10, 2012

Looper - Review

Looper is a very effective and satisfying sci-fi film from director and writer Rian (Brick) Johnson. Without spoiling the fun, Looper is a fine film with a rich story that feels like a cross between Ray Bradbury and Stephen King.

All I will say is this: if the older you met the younger you, would it be a positive encounter? would each enjoy the experience? would the younger find the encounter to be an exchange of wisdom?

Or would you discover that the older you was an incredibly selfish murdering a__hole who will stop at nothing to get what he wants?

In a NY Times magazine interview, Johnson said that he was inspired by the movie Witness which moves from the City to a Farm. Witness, a film by Australian director Peter Weir, is one of my favorite films from the 1980's.

For those who might not remember, Witness is about a Philadelphia (the City of Brotherly Love, not) cop named Book (played by Harrison Ford in one of his best roles) who is looking after an Amish mother and her son (played by little Lukas Haas who appeared in Johnson's film Brick) after the youngster witnesses a murder in the city train station.

When the kid fingers a cop for the killer, Book galvanizes into action to get the mother and son out of town. In the process, Book gets seriously wounded, but is nursed back to health on the idyllic Amish farm.

There are all sorts of resonances going on here between Witness and Looper, including strong mothers with weird little kids.

In Witness, the Farm is a refuge from the evil of the world in the City. When the killers finally come to the farm, there is a bloody climax.

Something similar happens in Looper though it's not as simple as bad cops vs virtuous cop. When the bloody climax comes, it is a whoa-inducing moment that seemed to be a clear nod to two other sci-fi oldies, Scanners from director David Cronenberg and The Fury from director Brian DePalma.

Another worthy sci-fi film that Looper reminded me of is Frequency where a freak storm creates a weather worm-hole through time allowing one person to speak via ham radio to his deceased father in the past.

Looper director Rian Johnson may be nodding to Frequency in the grisly sequence where the first runaway looper is 'interrogated.'

As a fan of sci-fi films, I was delighted when Looper shifted ever so subtly from time travel to telekinesis. In doing so, Johnson's strange future world of time traveling verged into the realm of super-powered mutants.

I wonder if that signals where he may go next...?

Posted by Terrence Seamon on Tuesday October 2, 2012

The Mystery of John Carter

Great story from the creator of Tarzan. Great director who made Finding Nemo. Up-and-coming heart-throb star (from Friday Night Lights) heading a strong cast. A new big-budget fantasy film from Disney.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, one of the big stories out of Hollywood this year, in case you have been asleep, is the dismal thud heard across the land when the film "John Carter" arrived in theaters.

Not that it was a bad piece of work. Far from it! John Carter actually is a very good flick!

A good space opera story, well told, with action, surprises, humor, and love. A good cast with a lot of strong talent, some of it hidden under CGI such as Willem Dafoe in a lead role as a Green Martian.

So why did this movie fail to find a raving audience the way that Star Wars once did?

As I have argued to anyone who will listen, I think the studio dropped the ball and failed to market the crap out of this film the way they should have. Though the director says he is steeped in this story, very few others living today are. So you have to create an audience!

Also I think there was a failure of vision for what John Carter could be as a franchise. Look at how Peter Jackson has turned the Hobbit into three films, for goodness sake!

The Barsoom Mythology of Edgar Rice Burroughs is truly an extraordinary epic sci fi fantasy! Surely there were three films crammed into one in John Carter that could have been planned and rolled out as a trilogy.

Film 1 would have introduced John Carter on Earth leading to his transport to Mars and meeting the Tharks and saving Dejah.

Film 2 would have basically matched this movie, minus the last big battle, ending with the Thern sending him back to Earth.

Film 3 would show more of his ten year search for a medallion on Earth, culminating in his return to Mars and climactic battle with the baddies.

It could have been the start of a huge franchise.

Sadly, it looks like there won't be a sequel. And John Carter will become a footnote in the history of movie making.

Posted by Terrence Seamon on Saturday September 15, 2012