rate the last movie you saw

[Paul MacLean]

Blood Diamond

Solid, watchable thriller set during the Sierra Leone Civil War. The main problem however is that this film is trying to pass itself off as a "statement" about blood diamond trafficking, when it is basically an action movie -- a good action movie, but little more than that. There's no question it effectively depicts the atrocities of the civil war, but at the end of that day the viewer's sympathies are directed to DeCapprio and Hounsou and their quest, rather than the legion of extras who get riddled with bullets.

The climax is a very well-staged, but basically an old-fashioned shoot-em'-up, where the bad guys "get there's" -- unquestionably satisfying, but little more than a cheap thrill that deflects attention from the horror of the civil war, and relegates it to a "backdrop". The title cards at the end of the film grasp for credibility in their explanation that blood diamond trafficking was greatly reduced soon after, and I'm thinking "Why? Because Leonardo DeCapprio's fictional character helped another fictional character?"

The performances are superb however, and Decapprio's accent flawless. But as usual, although DeCapprio is a fine actor, he still looks like a kid to me.

Blood Diamond is the antithesis of Sylvester Stallone's 2008 Rambo, which made no pretense of being anything other than an action movie, and surprised the viewer by surreptitiously exposing the atrocities committed in Burma (and is the better film by a significant margin).

[John Johnson]

The Three Musketeers (1993)

Although this is "my kind of movie", for some reason I never got around to watching it until now. I'm a huge fan of the George McDonald Fraser / Richard Lester adaptation from 1973, and I have to say this version doesn't really measure up. It's not terrible, but it is uneven, and clearly modeled on Prince of Thieves (right down to Michael Wincott as the henchman in black, and the Bryan Adams song over the end credits).

While I didn't initially warm to a bunch of "brat packers" playing Alexander Dumas' heros, I have to admit they won me over. Each one -- Sheen, Platt, O'Donnell and Sutherland -- were all charismatic and heroic. And although I generally preferred the performances of Lester's film, I'm forced to admit that these rugged, rowdy young bucks probably look and behave more like real musketeers than Richard Chamberlain or Frank Finlay.

On the other hand, Tim Curry is so over-the-top as Cardinal Riechlieau I half-expected him to start twirling his mustache. The character as written is also completely one-dimensional and nothing but a standard "evil" guy -- in contrast to the much more complex refined Richlieau of the Lester film (played by Charlton Heston in one of his best performances). Michael Wincott is sufficiently good in the role of Rochforte, but again his character is very one-dimensional (and why does this guy wear black in every movie?).

The action scenes lack energy -- the cutting fails to create tension and the fights are generally much too slow-moving. The best scenes are actually the character interactions (particularly the tavern scene). The romantic moments are also very touching -- too bad there are almost none of them. D'Atagnon's romance with Constance isn't developed at all, and they have only two brief scene together.

The overall story arc is good, but the dialog less so, and its "clever" one-liners and witticisms pretty stilted. The script could have used another re-write. Michael Kamen's score however is one of his best -- and better than his work on Prince of Thieves (which I always felt was one of his more perfunctory efforts). Otherwise, despite some appealing things, there's not much that's very striking about this Three Musketeers, which is pretty formulaic.

But it was still better than The Musketeer!

Paul,
On a side note, the BBC have announced a new 10-part miniseries of The Musketeers planned for 2014. Cardinal Riechileau is played by Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor Who.



The Musketeers tells the story of an elite group of soldiers who protect the king at any cost. D’Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino), Athos (Tom Burke), Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) and Porthos (Howard Charles) are brothers in arms, fighting for what is just, regardless of personal risk.

Writer and creator Adrian Hodges says: "I'm thrilled we can finally release the first image since wrapping filming on The Musketeers. I hope the picture gives a good idea of the look and intensity of the Musketeers themselves, and a hint of the excitement of each powerful, dramatic and action-filled episode."

The accomplished cast also includes Peter Capaldi, Tamla Kari, Maimie McCoy, Hugo Speer, Ryan Gage and Alexandra Dowling as well as a multitude of guest stars.

The 10-part drama (10x60-minute) for transmission in 2014 is a BBC Drama Production for BBC One, co-produced with BBC America in association with BBC Worldwide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latest ... -shot.html

[Paul MacLean]

On a side note, the BBC have announced a new 10-part miniseries of The Musketeers planned for 2014. Cardinal Riechileau is played by Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor Who.

Interesting. Thanks for the news!

[Paul MacLean]

Juno

I never saw this film in its theatrical run because I was turned-off by the trailer, which made it look like a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and an ABC Afterschool Special.

But trailers can be deceiving, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover a film that was sweet, touching, offbeat and really one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It was also refreshing to see a film deal objectively with teen pregnancy, and not hit you over the head with a preachy "message" (from either perspective). I have two good friends who had a child while they were still in high school, and more disturbingly I also knew someone who was a lot like Jason Bateman's character (a has-been musician with dreams of fame -- and a fondness for teenage girls), so much of Juno really rang true for me. Ellen Page was absolutely captivating in the title role, and robbed by the Oscars (who won that year again?).

[Paul MacLean]

Ender's Game

Solid, attention-holding and well-acted, but it often has the feel of a remake. I haven't read the book, but the screenplay at least bears some striking similarities to other things (most notably Starship Troopers). Visually it also feels very familiar -- there's a "been there, done that" look to the sets, costumes and effects. The visual style is also rather drab in appearance, with most everything rendered in muted grays and pale blues. Plus, it was shot on a Red Digital camera (which shoots in high-res 4K but has bland, washed-out color reproduction in my opinion).

It's a likable enough movie (and the cast and characters are all believable and the strongest asset), but it isn't especially fresh or inventive. Steve Jablonsky delivers a typical "Remote Control" score, which is perfunctory but never once inspiring or emotionally stirring (and only adds to the formulaic tone of the movie).

[Monterey Jack]

All Is Lost (2013): 10/10

Wow, one of the best movies of the year, alongside the oddly thematically similar Gravity. Both are about geographically stranded characters pushed to extremes of physical and mental endurance to survive and find their way home. Robert Redford's craggy magnificence is put front and center as the literal one-man-show (there isn't even a Wilson to bounce dialogue off of), and he delivers a fantastic, virtually silent performance, not to mention how impressive it is to see the 77-year-old legend doing the majority of his own stuntwork. Just a fascinating, gripping film.

[Paul MacLean]

Labyrinth

I don't think I've seen this film since the 80s, and at the time I didn't completely warm to it. I had been expecting something along the lines of The Dark Crystal (albeit with a slightly more "real world" setting), and was rather disappointed when I learned it was to be a rock n' roll musical!

In any case, revisiting the film, I find it holds-up really well. While I overall prefer The Dark Crystal, I'm forced to admit that Terry Jones delivered a stronger screenplay than that of Jim Henson's previous film, with a more complex plot (and much more complex characterization). The story is as much about growing-up as it is a fantasy, and the character of Sarah is wonderfully sympathetic, with a believable depth. Jennifer Connelly does an amazing job bringing her character to life, and holds her own with the more experienced (and also excellent) David Bowie.

The puppet characters are no less impressive -- not just Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, but the vast array of goblins, talking door knockers, "helping hands", etc. Despite the fact they are all executed with "old fashioned" puppetry, they still look great by today's standards, and are frankly more convincing than any CGI creatures I can think of.

Labyrinth is also willing to indulge in occasional crude humor (like the shot of Hoggle taking a leak in the fountain, or a gorge of eternal stench"), which is refreshing in the wake of the sanitized "goody-two-shoes" tone of most other fantasies. This is definitely a film for older kids!

Alex Thomson's photography shimmers with an otherworldly allure (much like his work on Excalibur and Legend) though I wish Trevor Jones' score had been more orchestral and not tried so much to ape the style of the songs, but it is dramatically effective, with a lovely theme for Sarah.

Labyrinth is not without some awkward moments -- Sarah seems a little blasé and acclimates a little too quickly to suddenly finding herself in another world. The film could have also have lost the "Chilly Down" sequence, which doesn't add to the story (and also has some sloppy blue screen compositing). I'm not a huge fan of musicals, or rock 'n roll, so Labyrinth's songs don't do a whole lot for me to begin with, but for the most part they don't detract from the film (nor do they really date the film either, despite their "80s" style).

Overall I'd rate Labyrinth a resounding success, not only as a surpassingly-imaginative fantasy, but also as a touching story that has a lot to say about friendship, doing what's right, forgiveness, perseverance and growing-up. And best of all, even at the end of her ordeal, when Sarah has "grown up", she finds she doesn't have to abandon her fantastical friends after-all.

The film is also a reminder of the amazing (and sadly-forgotten) art of animatronics, whose verisimilitude has still never been equaled by CGI. More filmmakers ought to watch Labyrinth and consider how wrong-headed it was to abandon the art of physical puppetry in favor of the lazy ease of mouse clicks.

[Monterey Jack]

Olympus Has Fallen (2013): 3/10

Wow...here's a movie that makes White House Down look like a masterpiece. Appallingly violent (see Melissa Leo kicked repeatedly in the stomach!), lousy special effects, a complete dearth of humor, and it even has the gall to copy the "Bill Clay" scene from Die Hard almost verbatim. White House Down was no classic, but at least you could see the budget up there on the screen, it had some likable characters, and action sequences that weren't ridiculously bloody or consistently staged in poorly-lit, murky environments. Hey, remember when Gerard Butler had charisma?

[Eric Paddon]

Parkland (2013) 8 of 10

-This is literally the first "new" film or TV thing I have seen in several years and because of the subject matter and because it is based on Vincent Bugliosi's sensible last-word book on the JFK Assassination I had to see it. I commend it for giving us a dramatization of events that sticks to the real thing and not the fantasy la-la-land that Oliver Stone gave us and contaminated the record with. The one inaccuracy I saw in what was depicted was in the confrontation between Robert Oswald and his brother that evening, which incredibly left out the most compelling moment that Robert recalled of the event, which was after Lee kept giving him vague and evasive denials, he looked him in the eye through the glass which then brought a blunt response of "Brother, you won't find anything there."

-In telling us also about FBI agent James Hosty and the threatening note Oswald had delivered to the Dallas FBI office, I was surprised they cut from the final print (but included in the deleted scenes) the scene of Hosty coming down to question Oswald which was very critical to establishing the film's chief point that the only major cover-up that took place in the government was the local FBI office destroying their Oswald file to avoid the embarrassing fact that they had been watching him before the assassination but didn't raise him to a serious threat level.

-My one other quibble about the film is that it should have been longer and given us some more meat in a few key areas of the story. As it was, we were being served up some interesting and factual stories that ultimately are more about the periphery of events in the assassination saga and some items that I think are important for audiences to know should have also been dramatized. There could easily have been room for the saga of Howard Brennan, the only witness in Dealey Plaza who saw Oswald firing his last shot and whose description of the gunman was the basis for the police bulletin that caused Officer J.D. Tippit to stop Oswald which resulted in his being shot dead. The Tippit shooting likewise I felt should have been depicted.

-From an ideological subtext, the film had to acknowledge Oswald's history as a defector but it avoided mentioning the fact he was heading the pro-Castro "Fair Play For Cuba Committee" group at the time and that he was as deeply involved in communist activities then as he had been when he defected to Russia. Like most liberals who reject conspiracy talk and who honestly acknowledge the evidence that proves Oswald acted alone, there is at the same time this tendency to play up the idea of Oswald as a loser seeking attention for no good reason when the point that has been uncomfortably avoided for 50 years in this circle is that Oswald's motive was very likely rooted in his politics which were Communist and which he was a fanatical follower of. For some reason, the idea of John F. Kennedy as a martyr to the evils that Communist belief can lead to is an idea a lot of people, even those sensible enough to acknowledge the facts of who did it, are just uncomfortable with so instead of a big conspiracy of the Oliver Stone variety we then get served up a portrait of Oswald that isn't accurate.

-Quibbles aside, I'm glad there is at least another competent historical telling of the events to see as an alternative to Stone's garbage (the Quantum Leap episode on the assassination is another one). I also was surprised to see in the end credits in the role of JFK's naval doctor, Gary Clarke who 50 years ago had been one of the co-stars of "The Virginian" on TV and who then under his real name C.F. Lamoreaux wrote a number of episodes of "Get Smart!". Just goes to show how you can always see an unexpected name from the long-ago past pop up when you least expect it!

[AndyDursin]

THOR - THE DARK WORLD

8/10

This sure-fire sequel doesn't break new ground, but as a follow-up to one of the best Marvel films, THOR 2 provides the same level of humor, action, a dash of romance and exciting special effects as its predecessor. Only Brian Tyler's serviceable score comes up a hair short of Patrick Doyle's score for its predecessor -- otherwise, good fun all the way around...and I'm more excited about a third Thor movie than AVENGERS 2!

[Monterey Jack]

I would give Thor 2 the exact same grade, Andy...the direction is a bit on the "serviceable" side (no surprise coming from a TV director), but at least the camera isn't Dutched at a 45-degree angle in every third shot like in Kenneth Branagh's original. This is what separates the Marvel films from DC's attempts at superhero fare over the last decade...each and every one of them is FUN and funny and lighthearted, whereas there was exactly ONE joke in last summer's glum, dour, endless Man Of Steel ("He's kind of hot!"). Chris Hemsworth remains a commanding presence, Natalie Portman is lovely as always, Kat Dennings gets more chances to steal scenes ("Please tell me those weren't the car keys"), and the ratio of humor to drama to action was handled deftly. I was totally lost on the first of the two post-credit scenes, though...who the hell was Benicio Del Toro supposed to be? Still, this was a lot of fun, and I hope they make a third film after Avengers 2.

[AndyDursin]

I would give Thor 2 the exact same grade, Andy...the direction is a bit on the "serviceable" side (no surprise coming from a TV director), but at least the camera isn't Dutched at a 45-degree angle in every third shot like in Kenneth Branagh's original. This is what separates the Marvel films from DC's attempts at superhero fare over the last decade...each and every one of them is FUN and funny and lighthearted, whereas there was exactly ONE joke in last summer's glum, dour, endless Man Of Steel ("He's kind of hot!"). Chris Hemsworth remains a commanding presence, Natalie Portman is lovely as always, Kat Dennings gets more chances to steal scenes ("Please tell me those weren't the car keys"), and the ratio of humor to drama to action was handled deftly. I was totally lost on the first of the two post-credit scenes, though...who the hell was Benicio Del Toro supposed to be? Still, this was a lot of fun, and I hope they make a third film after Avengers 2.

This is all you need to know about Benicio and "The Collector" --

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/everythi ... s-scene-in

I totally agree on the tone and its effectiveness -- my wife can take or leave most of these comic book movies but she enjoyed a great deal.

That tone you describe is the reason why I always gravitated towards Marvel instead of DC comics growing up -- and they've captured that element on-screen perfectly. The real problem with DC's movies is the dourness works fine with Batman but when they've tried to "go lighter" with GREEN LANTERN (ugh) or MAN OF STEEL, they've been unable to capture that element of escapist fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously. I mean, is JUSTICE LEAGUE going to be more like WATCHMEN than THE AVENGERS? That's a real issue for them, and I don't know how they make it work unless they hire the right people who have a light touch. This much I know -- David Goyer and Zack Snyder are NOT those guys!

[mkaroly]

GRAVITY - 9/10. A very close female friend of mine wanted to see it. I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. Loved the visuals and the film built tension really well. Made me happy I don't work out in space! Lol...I also recently bought my first Smartphone, so I think the end of the world must be near. Lol...

[Monterey Jack]

Pain & Gain (2013): 1/2 - 10

The latest piece of reprehensible swill from Michael Bay is one of the most loathsome movies I have seen since the I Spit On Your Grave remake...just a nonstop assault of painful farce, disgusting violence, skeevy sexism and stranded actors framed against a perpetually dusky sunset. I find it hilarious that this is Bay's idea of a "small, personal" film...I guess the fact that there's only one scene of characters walking away from an exploding car in slow motion is supposed to make this Bay's version of an arthouse flick. How can this man have made so many movies, for nearly two decades, and STILL not know how to make movies that don't feel like some Ritalin-deprived, perpetually horny teenage boy's most icky fantasies?

[DavidBanner]

Gravity - Just saw it on Friday at the DGA in 3D. Had heard great things but went in prepared to go either way. Had a couple of false starts as they initially had to reboot something, and the movie stopped for a minute about five minutes in. But from there on it was smooth sailing.

Was completely blown away by this movie. It has story logic issues, of course, but that's not what it's about anyway. (And I bet you could make a really scary comparison between its plot elements and various bits of Armageddon... but I digress).

On one level, this is a brutal movie about what it takes to survive against all odds. There really isn't anything more complicated than that, and there doesn't need to be anything more. Sandra Bullock gives what I consider to be her best performance - she was mostly acting by herself and dealing with a LOT of technical stuff that would not normally be conducive to a performance this genuine.

On another level, this is another technical masterstroke by Cuaron. Some of these scenes really sneak up on you before you realize you've been watching for over ten minutes WITHOUT A SINGLE CUT. Cuaron not only maintains an almost unbearable level of tension but he even gets in a few opportunities to play with Douglas Trumbull's concept of "First Person Cinema", where the camera literally goes inside Dr. Stone's helmet and sees through her eyes.

At the Q&A at the DGA, James Cameron did the questioning. He's obviously a very big fan of this movie. His comment about it after watching it for his 3rd time was that he spent the screening with his hand in front of his mouth, muttering "Oh my f-ing Christ!" Cuaron noted that Cameron was one of the only people who told him this movie could even be made. Much of what you see in the movie was in Cuaron's screenplay as done with his son Jonas.

A couple of interesting bonuses will be on the Blu-ray when it hits stores. The first will be an option to watch the movie without music. Cuaron initially tried to see if the movie would work without any score, but he said this didn't go for him. He's including that option to let viewers decide for themselves. Personally, I very much liked the score of this movie, but it's not what I would consider standard movie music, even for the stuff you guys don't like out of Ramin Djawadi or Zimmer. In a good movie theater with Dolby Atmos, or in a good home theater with a subwoofer, that score really propels many of the more dangerous scenes. The second bonus will be a short film by Jonas Cuaron called Aningnaaq, which shows the other side of one conversation...

I don't know that I would recommend the movie to anyone who has anxiety issues. This is the kind of movie that could give someone a panic attack. And to my mind, it's my favorite movie of 2013.