Captain Phillips 2013
134 minutes If one followed this
story in the press, there will be few surprises in the film. It all rolls by just as you might
expect. Tom Hanks is superb as Captain
Phillips. Although the US Navy ships and
the technology available to them were very different from the tin can I sailed
on in the 1950s, the procedures followed and the demeanor of the officers and
crew were totally familiar. Touring
around a container ship to follow the action is worth the price of admission.
.
The Cheap Detective 1978
92 minutes This is a Neil Simon
spoof of film noir. There are all sorts
of plot twists as he draws on scenes from Casablanca
and The Maltese Falcon to create a
wacky detective story that brings back memories of every P.I. movie you ever
saw. Peter Falk ends up with all the
babes, and there are at least five of them, including Madeline Kahn and
Ann-Margret.
.
E.T. the
Extra-Terrestial 1982 121 minutes
I never seem to have had a chance to see this until now. It’s a great kid’s film. Ten year old Elliot finds E.T. and bonds with
him. Elliot tries to hide him and
protect him from adults who will want to examine him as a phenomenon from space. E.T. just wants to go home and Elliot and his
brother help E.T. scrounge the parts he needs to make a phone. The government does move in but E.T.seems to
die and they back off. Elliot and his
friends steal the body and E.T. immediately revives. The government scientists give chase but he
kids escape thanks to E.T.’s amazing powers, and they help him rendezvous with
his spaceship. It was all sort of heartwarming
from the aspect of the kids, but I couldn’t help wondering if E.T. wasn’t just
manipulating them to get what he needed to get home.
.
Eames: The Architect
and the Painter 2011 This documentary tells the story of the
husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames, widely considered America's
most important designers. Their creations include furniture, photography,
interiors, multimedia exhibits, games and much more. Their
work is an important chapter in the
story of 20th C. art.
.
Elysium 2013
109 minutes It’s 2159 and the
top 1% or so have moved from a grossly polluted planet earth to an artificial
satellite 17 minutes away by shuttle. Jodie
Foster is in charge of security in Elysium and one of her tasks is to make sure
no earthlings trespass on her turf.
Meanwhile life on earth just keeps going from bad to worse. Matt Damon gets a fatal blast of radiation at
the plant where he works and decides to get himself to Elysium, where there is
a cure for his condition. He conspires
with some felons, and they get the job done.
Some nice special effects.
.
Fast & Furious
6 2013
130 minutes The crew got rich
on the Rio heist in “Fast and Furious 5,” but they are fugitives and can’t
return to the US. This film was an
attempt to broaden the audience appeal of the series by going beyond underground
street racing. Federal agent Luke Hobbs offers to clear their
criminal records if they take down a skilled and slippery mercenary organization. They eventually do but only after logging a
lot of miles through narrow European streets in some really expensive cars. There was supposed to be a sequel, but the
death by sports car of the late Paul Walker will likely preclude that.
.
Fruitvale Station 2013
90 minutes Early on I was
wondering why was I watching a young black guy go about his unremarkable daily
life. Oscar Grant loves his mother and
his girlfriend and most of all his 4 year old daughter – he’s a good father
when he’s not “on vacation,” meaning in jail.
He really wants to get his life in order, but he’s just lost his job
because he showed up late too many times.
Although things aren’t going well, the family is strong and it seems
like there is hope for him. On New Year’s
Eve he and his girlfriend leave their daughter with her sister and head
downtown with some friends on BART. At
Fruitvale Station Oscar is attacked by a white guy he was in prison with. The transit police come and pull the black
guys off the train and proceed to handcuff them. While Oscar is on the ground on his stomach
with his hands cuffed behind his back, one of the cops shoots him. He’s taken to the hospital, his right lung is
removed, they can’t stop the blood, he dies.
His mother is allowed to see the body through a window, but she can’t go
into the room because “it’s a crime scene.”
The screen goes black. Don’t miss
this film. It’s a true story and the actors
spent some real time with the people they portrayed. If you get the DVD, watch the Bonus
Features. Forest Whitaker explains why
he produced the film. The young
director, Ryan Coogler, isn’t as eloquent as Whitaker when he tries to answer
questions about why he made this film, but he leaves you hoping you’ll see more
of his work.
.
Lee Daniels’ The
Butler 2013 113 minutes If a director is going to put his name in
the title of his film, he’d better have a great story and some first rate
actors to tell it. He does. The story is that of Cecil Gaines, a young
black guy who sees his father murdered by a planter for no good reason and
heads north to look for work and a life.
Fortunately the planter’s mother, Vanessa Redgrave, had taught Cecil how
to make and serve drinks and snacks. He
gets a job in a hotel bar and restaurant and from there is hired to work as one
of the butlers at the White House. The
adult Cecil is played by Forrest Whitaker and his wife by Oprah Winfrey, her
first film appearance in 15 years. Cecil
works for 9 presidents and quietly agitates for equal treatment of the black
staff members at the White House.
Meanwhile he has to make his own adjustments to our changing society,
including his son’s aggressive participation in the civil rights movement, which
starts with a stint with the Black Panthers. This film is a must. Where else could you see Robin Williams
playing Dwight Eisenhower or Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan?
.
Legend of the Fist: Return
of Chen Zhen 2010 Donnie Yen reprises Bruce Lee’s role as the
legendary fighter Chen Zhen in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation in WW
II. The Japanese committed some serious
atrocities in China, but I have serious doubts that any of them revolved around
martial arts competitions. The kung fu
action is spectacular, but somehow it comes off as lame attempt to stir up
anti-Japanese feeling. Chinese film
makers seem to do the same thing over and over.
Telling the real story would be far more effective.
The Lone Ranger 2013
149 minutes This ain’t the Lone
Ranger us old folks grew up with or at least Tonto isn’t. Johnny Depp as Tonto never gets out of his makeup
which includes a dead bird on top of his head.
The whole thing is nutty and I enjoyed it all.
.
Neverland 2011
2 episode miniseries This is the
back story for Peter Pan. Peter belongs
to a gang of pickpockets run by a Fagan like character named Jimmy Hook. They steal a magic orb which whisks them all
off to Neverland. And then lots of stuff
happens.
.
Tenchi: The Samurai
Astronomer 2012 141 minutes
In 17th C Japan the Yasui family specialized in the game of
go. Santetsu Yasui (1639-1715) succeeded
his father as head of the family and pursued a career as a player, but he also
had an interest in the stars and was appointed as the first official astronomer
in the Edo Period. One problem was that
the Chinese calendars the Japanese had used for hundreds of years were no
longer accurate. This film is about is
Yasui’s efforts to develop an accurate calendar and persuade the Imperial Court
to adopt it. Eventually he settled on
the Chinese Jokyo calendar modified slightly to account for the difference in
time between China and Japan, an idea which no one had thought of before. It is also a very Japanese love story.
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