"Defiance" is the true story of the Bielski brothers: Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schrieber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), who escape when the Nazis invade their town and hide out in the woods. As their hideout progresses, they come into contact with other Jewish refugees and have to decide whether they can "save everybody" or just keep their group small to survive. Tuvia and Zus have very different opinions on the subject, leading to some conflict among the brother and tension in the camp. Tuvia is determined to help all that need them, which certainly becomes an ominous task. Of course, the other complication is that they are being looked for by Nazi "Jew hunters" and must occasionally fight them off. This is a riveting story of a community being built by the necessity of survival and struggling to define what is "the common good". The performances by Craig and Schrieber are top-notch. Those looking for a "James Bond" type performance from Craig WILL be disappointed. This is a much more conflicted role and shows Craig's range as an actor. Schrieber is also very under-rated and has basically been very good to great in everything I've seen him do. Sure, the movie does get slow at times as we are watching the emergence of a new community with the conflicts, in-fighting and politics all come into play with different people trying to set or influence the rules to their own liking. Despite occurring in the relatively modern World War II era, you really get a sense of what it might have been like for the Europeans who first arrived in the New World and began to build what would become the United States. The story builds to a climax in which the Nazis bear down on them, forcing them to fight for their lives as they try to escape, using the "Exodus" story from the Old Testament to guide them. While more dialogue-driven than I would have expected, I still found the movie to be very entertaining. Grade: B+
When I see that a horror movie is rated PG-13, I immediately become concerned that it is too watered down to really be any good. Some things just need to be rated "R" to be effective. However, I have found that if it's done right, it can be pretty good. "The Uninvited", though, actually plays more as a suspense film than horror. Sure, there are some ghosts and some attempts to shock, but the horror element is really not a factor. It actually plays pretty well as a mystery. Anna (Emily Browning) is just being released from a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt following her mother's death. When she arrives home, she finds her father (David Strathairn) is now living with his mother's former nurse (Elizabeth Banks). When her sister (Arielle Kabel) tells her the new woman in the house is scheming to take their father, Anna begins to get some guidance from some ghosts around the house to help unravel the mysterious past of this "evil" potential stepmom. The movie plays out pretty well and all leads to a Shymalan-ian twist near the end. (Hey, look, I invented a word!!). It's not a great horror film, but it's a pretty good and entertaining mystery.
Quick analysis of "The Rocker": A poor man's "School of Rock". Is that a bad thing? Not really. Robert "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson) is a middle-aged ex-drummer whose former band went on to greatness while he has languished as a slacker. While staying at his sister's house, his nephew (Teddy Geiger) loses the drummer in his garage band. He reluctantly asks Fish to sit in with the band and the veteran rocker's influence helps the band take off. As they become more and more famous, their path puts them right in the path of Fish's former band, Vesuvius. Vesuvius itself is sort of a "Spinal Tap"-type with Will Arnett, Bradley Cooper and Fred Armisen as his former bandmates. My first instinct was to say that this is a very different Rainn Wilson from the one you are familiar with in "The Office", but as the movie progressed, he is really a variation of the same character. Of course, since that character is very funny, he does not disappoint here. This is a pretty funny movie throughout, though I would not go so far as to say it is a classic comedy. Fish really is reminiscent of Jack Black's character from "School of Rock" and, in some ways, I could almost see this movie having been done as a sequel to that film. It is definitely an entertaining watch and pleasant. For Rainn Wilson/"The Office" fans, this is definitely worth a look.
I'll start with all of the things that were good about this movie and there were plenty. Front and center is Brad Pitt. With all of the time "Brangelina" spend in the tabloids, it is easy to forget how immensely talented this guy is. In the title role as Benjamin Button, he hits it out of the park. The acting as a whole in this movie was top-notch. There really wasn't a bad performance. I also loved the concept of a person born as an old man and begins to age backwards. The cinematography was also very good and was shot to sort of look "of its time" (much of the movie takes place in the 30s and 40s). The film looked a little darker than I would have liked, but that was an intentional effect. Now, after all of that positivity, there was also a lot that went wrong. For one, the running time is simply too long. Many lengthy novels have been turned into shorter films and this was based on a short story!! I think I would have loved this film if it was edited a little more tightly. The opening sequence where a man builds a clock that runs backward goes on for about 20 minutes and adds nothing to the story. It merely sets up the concept of time in reverse, but has no other ties to this story. The sequence was completely unnecessary. The main plot of the movie is Benjamin and his relationship with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), who he meets as a little girl (he himself is around the same age, but appears to be around 80) and they remain in contact while they "grow up" and end up meeting in the middle and getting married. Of course, this becomes an issue as she starts to grow older and he is headed toward childhood. It is the story of a love that never wavers despite all of the reasons it just could never work. I wanted to like this movie, I really did. Sadly, when you boil it all down, it felt like a missed opportunity for something great (despite the Oscar nomination).
The problem with "high concept" sequels is that they lose the ability to surprise. When you are "wowed" by a movie, the "wow" is what you expect and that is very hard to deliver. In this case, it doesn't help that they show what would have been some neat surprises in the commercials! With all that in mind, the question is: Did this sequel overcome those problems? The answer is yes and no. This was definitely an entertaining adventure in the halls of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, but it did not have quite the impact of the original. As the story opens, the Museum of Natural History in New York is being closed for a major overhaul and the exhibits we all know and love are being packed up and shipped to permanent storage in the National Archives (under the Smithsonian). Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) no longer works at the museum as he has managed to succeed in the "As Seen on TV" inventing business. On the last night before shipment, the exhibits sort of let him know he let them down by leaving them and off they go. Of course, problems ensue when the magical tablet brings Egyptian King Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) back to life and Larry knows he must rescue his old friends. What follows is plenty of action and major set pieces which do a nice job showing off the Smithsonian. Hank Azaria is very funny in his role as the leader of his own "axis of evil" who is actually not all that frightening. Amy Adams joins the cast as Amelia Earhart, an excitable woman with a thirst for adventure. One of the main shortcomings of the film is that SO much is going on, it becomes difficult to follow (not the story, which is straightforward, but the action). They seem to be trying just a little too hard to get all of the various parts of the Smithsonian involved. Did I like this movie? Absolutely. It is a lot of fun and the kids certainly enjoyed. I just found the massive advertising gave away too many of the bits that should have been surprising. The cast all delivered and Ben Stiller actually was reduced to being a foil for Hank Azaria and Amy Adams. Go see it, just don't expect to be blown away.
This one has been sitting on the shelf awhile, so I popped it in the ol' DVD player last night. Being a fan of Dwayne Johnson and football, I knew I would get around to it eventually. Johnson plays Sean Porter, a man working at a juvenile detention facility that has an idea: What if they can get these kids to channel their anger and aggression and learn to play football? To give them a sense of "team" would help to take away their gang affiliations and give them a chance to think outside themselves and the horrible neighborhoods they come from. At first, he is met with opposition at every level: his bosses, the kids themselves and the communities that have no interest in putting a team of criminals on their schedules. Eventually, he works it all out and starts to build "The Mustangs". While I definitely enjoyed this movie, I can't go too high on the rating as you have seen much of the elements of this film before. The concept of misfits coming together to become winners is an age-old concept. It is a good entry in the "inspirational sports" movie genre, however, and I did enjoy it. Dwayne Johnson shows some acting ability here, even if the role is not exactly a stretch, and some of the backstories of these kids is very interesting. While this is not a must-see, I definitely recommend it. It is just a little disconcerting during the end credits when they show the real people the movie is based on and "The Rock" is actually some pasty white dude with a bad moustache!! Grade: C+
"Oh, yes, there will be blood" is one of my favorite tag lines for a movie. It was used for "Saw II", but could have easily been used for this movie. "Laid to Rest" is a low-budget slasher film that wants to be "Halloween" but falls well short. The movie follows the trials of "The Girl" (Bobbi Sue Luther) who wakes up as the movie begins in a casket. After freaking out (who wouldn't??), she manages to rock the casket, which falls over and she spills out. She finds herself in a mortuary, not knowing who she is or how she got there. Of course, that turns out to be a minor issue as she quickly learns she is being pursued by a psychotic killer who wears a chrome skull mask and videotapes his crimes. As the movie unfolds, she enlists the help of some others as "Chrome Skull" (Nick Principe) cuts a path of blood and destruction as he relentlessly pursues her. "Chrome Skull" doesn't waste time or take names as he wield his military-issue K-bar knife, killing people quickly and brutally along the way. The question that is never answered is: Having many opportunities to quickly dispatch our heroine, why does he never do so, seeming to want to "save her for later". We get to see a videotape late in the movie that explains how he met and captured her, but it doesn't even begin to explain why she is not "just another victim" (Of course, maybe it's simply that ol' Chrome Skull is a boob man). The film follows the "Halloween" framework of faceless boogeyman pursues determinedly pursues female victim, but this movie does not hold a candle to that classic. It did not bother me that Chrome Skull did not have a backstory as the mysteriousness of that faceless boogeyman could work, but they did try to hint at some kind of past and then never went anywhere with it, which did bother me some. The one scene I thought hit the mark was when Tucker (Kevin Gage), the kind-hearted stranger, separates himself from the group simply because he needs to "lose it" completely for a few minutes, breaking down crying over the horror he was witnessed to that point. That was a nice element of realism that almost elevated this movie above the genre. This movie was simply a non-stop bloodbath, but did not deviate from that enough to fulfill its promise.
"Defiance" is the true story of the Bielski brothers: Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schrieber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), who escape when the Nazis invade their town and hide out in the woods. As their hideout progresses, they come into contact with other Jewish refugees and have to decide whether they can "save everybody" or just keep their group small to survive. Tuvia and Zus have very different opinions on the subject, leading to some conflict among the brother and tension in the camp. Tuvia is determined to help all that need them, which certainly becomes an ominous task. Of course, the other complication is that they are being looked for by Nazi "Jew hunters" and must occasionally fight them off. This is a riveting story of a community being built by the necessity of survival and struggling to define what is "the common good". The performances by Craig and Schrieber are top-notch. Those looking for a "James Bond" type performance from Craig WILL be disappointed. This is a much more conflicted role and shows Craig's range as an actor. Schrieber is also very under-rated and has basically been very good to great in everything I've seen him do. Sure, the movie does get slow at times as we are watching the emergence of a new community with the conflicts, in-fighting and politics all come into play with different people trying to set or influence the rules to their own liking. Despite occurring in the relatively modern World War II era, you really get a sense of what it might have been like for the Europeans who first arrived in the New World and began to build what would become the United States. The story builds to a climax in which the Nazis bear down on them, forcing them to fight for their lives as they try to escape, using the "Exodus" story from the Old Testament to guide them. While more dialogue-driven than I would have expected, I still found the movie to be very entertaining.
