Chronicle

He Said:
What would you do if suddenly you discovered you had superhero-like powers? Would you only use them to help others? For your own personal gain? To hurt others so that the ones you care about may live? Could you draw the line on going too far?

I think it’s probably pretty easy to answer those questions at first glance, but when presented with certain difficult circumstances, the line may become a little blurry. This is what I loved about this movie. It took three normal people with unique personalities and lives and said what would happen if these people got this kind of power? I thought Chronicle gave a very real take on what could happen.

The special effects were believable and very entertaining to watch. The movie also uses a unique filming style — Andrew buys a hand-held camera and essentially documents his life going forward with the camera. So the viewer got the sense that nearly the whole movie was filmed with a hand-held camera, similar to that of The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield. The filming style might not be for everyone, and in some points might have even been considered a little annoying, but I really felt it added to the authenticity of the film.

My Rating: Worth seeing on the big screen.

She Said:
What I loved about this movie is also what annoyed me the most about it: how it was filmed. Using the amateur/found-footage storytelling approach, Chronicle does an excellent job of presenting what could happen if a few teenagers suddenly obtained superhuman powers; I liked how the camera almost became another character and how it helped me feel like I was seeing raw footage of what was happening. What I didn’t like was the limited focus it gave and how it made me feel dizzy. I’m thankful director Josh Trank used one of the characters’ superpowers to control the camera so it wasn’t shaky all of the time, but I still got bored with the technique and had hoped we’d see a more traditional technique at some point.

While  Chronicle is about superpowers, this isn’t your standard superhero film. It’s a realistic look at what could happen if three ordinary kids were given superpowers. What helped make this extraordinary plot so believable were the actors who played the main characters. They each did a superb job at investing me in their journey. As the story progressed, I felt like I really got to know and understand each of them, which is what made the story compelling.

While I enjoyed Chronicle, I don’t think it’s necessary to see it on the big screen. This is an excellent rainy day rental.

My Rating: Wait for DVD

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

In Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Edward and Bella get married. They take their honeymoon and consummate their marriage only to discover Bella is pregnant shortly after. Jacob must make the hard decision to help protect Bella, the woman he loves, from his own kind — or help the werewolves destroy the Cullens and the vampire which grows inside Bella.

He Said:
I really do enjoy movies about vampires and werewolves. I think some of the better examples are Interview with a Vampire and the Underworld series. I’m not the biggest fan of the Twilight Saga. There are things I like about it, but more things I dislike about it. I think of it as a teen drama about relationships that has the added twist of vampires and werewolves thrown in to attract a bigger audience. Vampires that have skin that sparkles in sunlight? Come on. If you’re going to do something like that to an undead creature like a vampire, you’d better give it a pretty elaborate purpose, and I haven’t seen any reason yet, other than it looks shiny.

I can sort of get on board with a high school romance, but with these movies, it’s just too over the top for me. There’s just too much, “I’m going to die a horrible death without you in my arms” feel to the films, and the latest film remains consistent. I will say that of all of the films in the Twilight Saga, I like the storyline for Breaking Dawn the best, but I also thought it had the worst acting of any of them. There were several scenes where I had a smirk on my face because of the excessive amount of cheese — and don’t even get me started on the telepathic talking wolves.

My Rating: Because the movie still holds some supernatural entertainment, I’ll say wait for DVD. If you don’t care for vampires or werewolves, I’d say don’t bother.

She Said:
Personally I was never sucked into the Twilight franchise. I attempted to read the first book, but couldn’t get past Meyer’s awful writing. From that moment on, I tried to appreciate the saga for what it was –- a teenage love triangle packed with brooding werewolves and sparkling vampires. I’ll even admit that I had a tiny bit of fun with a few of the movies in the saga and wasn’t entirely unenthusiastic about seeing Breaking Dawn last weekend.

The movie opens with Bella and Edward in the final stages of planning their wedding. We immediately find out that Bella still wants to be transformed into a vampire…after the honeymoon. This leads to an awkward confrontation between Jacob and Edward (in front of Bella) where they fight about whether or not Edward’s lovemaking will kill Bella. Of course Bella doesn’t care – she wants Edward so badly she’s willing to take the risk. This is pretty much where I checked out of the movie (and we weren’t even 10 minutes in). I can appreciate falling madly, deeply in love with someone and losing yourself in that feeling, but this is above and beyond lunacy. Bella is so enthralled with Edward she’s actually willing to die for a little action? Come on. Give me a heroine I can actually relate to.

Of course it just gets worse from here. While Bella manages to survive Eddie’s lovin’, she now has to worry about his demonic seed growing inside her. The central story of this movie revolves around Bella’s pregnancy and her determination to carry the baby despite the fact that it’s killing her. I couldn’t get past the idiocy of her choices to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for her.

In addition to giving us a stupid heroine, Breaking Dawn also offers us long, drawn-out, visually appealing scenes that do absolutely nothing to push the plot forward, clumsy dialogue, and horrible acting. The only good thing I can say about this film is that it was only 108 minutes long.

My Rating: Don’t Bother

In Time stars Justin Timberlake as Will Salas, a man who is short on time. In this alternate reality / future people are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. From then on, individuals must obtain more time in order to continue living. Time has replaced money as the currency of the day.  The story is set at some indeterminate point in the future, but the precise era is difficult to determine.  The architecture and fashion look very current 21st century.  The cars have the distinctive whine of electric engines, but the style of the 1970′s.  Technology is far advanced in some areas (like genetic engineering) and far behind in others (they still use pay phones).

The rich have more time than they can use. The poor struggle to earn their time on a daily basis, living day-to-day with just enough time to get by. When a 105-year-old man decides that he has lived long enough, he commits suicide by giving Will all his remaining time — over a century’s worth.

Predictably, Will’s good fortune quickly turns sour. Pursued by the mob for his time and the by police for the death of the old man, Will quickly loses his extra time and is forced to take a hostage / love interest Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) on the run.

Their flight turns into a crusade for the poor. Sylvia turns against her wealthy father and joins Will in his quest. At this point the film takes on a decidedly Robin Hood-esque quality. Rob from the rich and give to the poor. For a couple with the smarts to put together such an encompassing and successful campaign against the economic powers of the world, they’re not very good at budgeting their own time, which causes frequent trouble for the two.

Despite a mediocre performance by Timberlake, In Time manages to deliver an entertaining couple of hours. Cillian Murphy (most notable for the role of the Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman films) delivers the most compelling performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham… sorry, I mean the time-cop charged with bringing in the rogue disrupting the order of things.

In Time

Unfortunately, Henry didn’t want to be saved. As a token of gratitude, Henry gives Will nearly all of his time while Will is sleeping and then waits for the remainder of his time to run out. He dies and falls over the side of a bridge to the concrete below. While being given all of this extra time is great for Will, he also becomes a prime suspect in Henry’s death and is on the run from the law.

He Said:
I really loved the premise of this movie. Want a cup of hot coffee? That will cost a few minutes off your life. Need transportation somewhere? That will cost a couple hours. Want an exotic sports car? That will cost 50 years. Do you need to be loaned some time? The interest rate is thirty percent. The rich can potentially live forever while the poor often run out of time. It was an interesting take on immortality and population control. However, the execution of the film I wasn’t so fond of. The acting wasn’t at all believable and was incredibly cheesy. There were a few serious moments in the film where I couldn’t keep myself from bursting out with laughter. A lot of the scenes and lines were just plain silly. The movie had an amazing premise, but its execution was reminiscent of a high school play.

My Rating: The movie still provided a fair amount of entertainment value so I won’t say don’t bother, but I’d at least wait until DVD or TV.

She Said:
While I loved the premise of In Time, the execution of the film left a lot to be desired.

What really irked me about this movie was the protagonist. Will (Justin Timberlake) is a regular guy from the ghetto who seems hell-bent on doing the “right” thing, but I never really understood what drove him. Sure, there was a defining moment in the beginning that probably what pushed him into becoming a vigilante, but I never really knew for sure, since early on he behaved charitably for no concrete reason. If I can’t identify with a character’s motives, it’s impossible for me to root for him. So that was problem number one. It just got worse from there.

The acting was abysmal, there was zero chemistry between Timberlake and Seyfried, the special effects looked like a high school film project, there wasn’t enough tension to move the plot forward, the dialogue was forced and cheesy, and the rules of the world were laughable.

It was disappointing. Based on the premise alone, the movie had a lot of potential but it just didn’t come together. Oh well…maybe next time.

My Rating: Don’t Bother

(Editor’s note: Visit later this week for a different view of  In Time.)

#1 – Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man.  The after-the-credits cut scene from Iron Man 2 had some fans worried that Downey – and Tony Stark – might be cut from the film or relegated to a background role.  Never fear, the trailer confirms that Downey will be front and center in the Avengers and gives every indication that Tony Stark continues his role as Iron Man.

#2 Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner?  Eric Bana didn’t work out.  Ed Norton didn’t work out.  Maybe Ruffalo can successfully portray the troubled Dr. Jeckyl-esque Banner on the silver screen.

#3 What’s up with the Black Widow’s (Scarlett Johansson‘s) hair?  The new look is decidedly less sexy than the version that had fan boys all twitterpated in Iron Man 2.

#4 How many chances does Zak Penn get?  Penn, who wrote the screenplay for The Avengers, has a hit-and-miss record with superhero movies.  X2 was generally a success.  X-Men: the Last Stand made buckets of money but was not popular with genre fans.  Elektra was just plain awful.  The Incredible Hulk was a disappointment.    Now he’s got a successful sci-fi TV series in Alphas to his credit and a shot at writing Marvel‘s most ambitious movie to date.

#5 Hawkeye!  My favorite Avenger, played by Jeremy Renner, got about three seconds of screen time in the trailer.  That’s just a little less time than he got for his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Thor.  I’m hoping he fares better — proportionally — in the final film.  But with so many big names and big characters in the movie, will there be time for everyone to get his/her due?

#6 Nick Fury is off the chain.  This is what Samuel Jackson‘s cameo appearances in every Marvel film for the years has been building up to.  This is the moment we’ve been waiting for.  Jackson gets a little more screen time to be his bad self.

My Snap Judgement:  It looks like Marvel can overcome the overcrowding and high expectations to deliver the best action film of 2012.  But I could be wrong…

Unlike either of its predecessors, the new version features a woman in the lead role. If you like a strong female lead, then Kate, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead,  is the girl for you. She’s tough as nails, willful, resourceful, and always right.

I took my wife along to this one, as she’s a big fan of the film’s 1951 progenitor.   Not to steal Shannon and Michael’s schtick, but SHE SAID that she liked the fact that it veered back to the original’s sci-fi roots, although she thought that the special effects were “silly”.  The Akira-like alien tendrils left her cold.

One interesting side note – the best character in the film doesn’t speak a word of English.  The burly Lars, played by Norwegian Jorgen (there’s supposed to be a little slash through the ‘o’, but I don’t know how to type that) Langhelle, requires subtitles for his infrequent dialogue, but manages to steal the show anyway.

The 2011 The Thing is less dark and mysterious than the last go around.  Less time is spent wondering what’s going on and more on surviving the alien scourge.  If you’ve never seen either of the previous incarnations, you won’t be left out.  No prior knowledge is required; this version stands on its own.  Although, oddly, it is set in 1982, the year the last version hit theaters.  The Thing is bloody and the alien is horrific-looking, but the gore level is tame by today’s R-rated horror film standards.  While not a classic, The Thing is an enjoyable film that has me looking forward to the inevitable 2042 re-re-remake.

He Said:

Will uses a select group of apes to test his formula for a cure and is close to going into human trials when a tragic event causes the project to be halted. Will suddenly finds himself caring for an orphaned baby ape whom he raises as his son — Caesar.

Little does Will know his formula was passed down from Caesar’s mother to Caesar. As Caesar grows older, his intelligence grows off the charts and he eventually becomes aware that he’s being treated as a pet rather than an equal. Eventually, due to certain events, Caesar is put into an animal control shelter with other apes; the facility really resembles an animal prison. Being acutely aware of what’s happening, Caesar is not about to just cope with his predicament – he uses his intelligence to escape the shelter and steal a supply of Will’s 112 formula from Will’s shed. Caesar returns to the shelter and releases the aerosol 112 formula to the other apes and establishes himself as the leader of the pack. Together they plot to escape the shelter.

This movie is all about the story. I thought it had an excellent, and plausible, beginning to the Planet of the Apes story line. It’s amazing how human Caesar looks when showing certain expressions and I was surprised at the emotion I was feeling for him. I’m not just talking about feeling bad for an animal, but more feelings of betrayal of an individual. I also enjoyed seeing the subtle nuances of progression over time as the apes got more intelligent. It was quite impressive really.

My Rating: I would rate this as worth seeing on the big screen

She Said: I have a confession. I’ve never seen the original Planet of the Apes movie starring Charlton Heston. I did study it, though, in one of my English classes in college. From what I recall, Planet of the Apes was a revolutionary science-fiction film that set the cinematic standard for decades to come. Not only was the film a brilliantly told parable about the nature of man, it featured one of the greatest twist endings ever. Since I love prequels, I already had a feeling I was going to like Rise of the Planet of the Apes. What I wasn’t prepared for was how much I enjoyed this movie.

The movie’s premise isn’t based in some outlandish futuristic world – it’s as close to reality as we can get with the genre. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a story about the complicated relationship between fathers and sons; it’s about growing up, growing old, and letting go. I think that’s what roots this movie in reality. The protagonist’s motivation is real and even more importantly – it’s relatable. I could understand, and identify with, his motives every step of the way, even when I thought the film took a clichéd turn.

While I don’t normally comment much on actors’ performances, I do need to call out John Lithgow’s performance as being marvelously brilliant. I’m equally impressed with James Franco and motion-captured Andy Serkis in their stellar performances. Rise of the Planet of the Apes had everything that I want from a science fiction film – a solid, moral commentary, relatable characters, and stunning special effects. I also thoroughly enjoyed the literary allusion to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In fact, I was giggling like a schoolgirl as one particular scene unfolded.

My rating: See it on the big screen

In my opinion, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, which is number 5 (or 2), is the best film in the series.  It simply is the  superior film in so many ways.  The acting and cinematography improves greatly from the previous film.   There are many more things that get better, such as the light saber duels.

Many features may have been improved, but the additions were even better.  Without Yoda, the series is nothing.  And Lando helps round Han Solo’s character out.  R2-D2 also becomes funnier and more talkative.  Darth Vader becomes a person, and is shown to express emotion and possibly be somewhat human.  Finally, new technology is added.  It may not seem like much, but the AT-ATs have meaning.  They represent exactly how powerful the empire is while still showing that a skilled strike can topple it, or so I like to think.  They also show the skill put into making the movies.  The scenes were created with models and stop motion animation.  That’s pretty good for stop motion animation.

Finally, the movie has one of the best endings of all time –  it ends and you really want to know what’s next.  Instead of something good, like the previous one, it ends with a hand-less Luke learning Darth Vader is his father, and Han Solo frozen in carbonite.  This ending is considered one of the best cliffhangers of all time.

The movie is given a 97% by rotten tomatoes, and I agree, an A+ is the perfect score for this movie.