World War Z 2013

     Gerry Lane is a former United Nations investigator.  It was very dangerous work but he's retired and now his specialty is making breakfast pancakes for his wife and two daughters.  They become stuck in a typical Philadelphia traffic jam but his wife notices a lot of helicopters overhead.  There is a sudden explosion and chaos begins.  They learn of a highly contagious virus that transforms infected people into zombies.  Gerry agrees to go back to work with the UN in order to investigate the cause of the plague and a possible cure.  He is doing this because his family will be safe aboard a UN fleet in the Atlantic Ocean as long as he is on this assignment.

     Most of this film has been done multiple times before.  There is action every minute that keeps you from examining plot and visual holes.  A lot of scenes are at night so you can’t see the details.  Brad Pitt is the only man in the world who can save us!!!  Some scenes are unbelievably funny because of the epic scope!!!  3 * (This movie is OK)

116 min, Horror directed by Marc Forster with Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertez, James Badge Dale, Judi Boeken, Matthew Fox, Fana Mokoena, David Morse.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 7.1 out of 10, 67% critic 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Great Gatsby 2013

     This film is an adaption of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  The setting is spring of 1922 in New York.  Nick Carraway is a writer from the Midwest and he’s just moved to the city.  He settles into an inexpensive and rustic home next door to the  estate owned by wealthy Jay Gatsby.  The constant elaborate parties held at the huge estate fascinate Nick.  Living across the bay in another estate is Nick’s cousin Daisy.  She is married to wealthy aristocrat Tom Buchanan and they have a young daughter.  Tom is a failure as a husband with his constant affairs and womanizing.  Daisy was in love with Jay before she married Tom and Nick becomes drawn into the lives of Jay, Daisy and Tom. 

     A popular novel and story get a very flashy and colorful treatment.  I did see this in 3D but it must fly off the screen?  It’s definitely filled with the Luhrmann style!!  I don’t think this detracts but adds to the film and is reined in during the later scenes.  The acting is good and the characters well cast.  It seems that critics either like or hate this film, you’ll have to see which side you are on your after viewing?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

142 min, Drama directed by Baz Luhrmann with Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki.

Note:  Blockbuster 4*, imdb 7.4 out of 10, 49% critic 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Shadow Dancer 2012

     Colette McVeigh and her family were grief stricken in the 1973 when she asked her younger brother to go out for cigarettes for their dad and he was killed.  He was an innocent victim of the conflict in Belfast involving the IRA.  The family joined the insurgency after their loss.  Twenty years later, Colette has a son of her own.  In 1993, she is brought in to see an agent of MI5 after a failed bombing attempt in the London tube.  She is forced to become a double agent or go to prison for 25 years and have her son taken into child protective services.  Suspicions are immediately aroused when her brother’s secret operation is ambushed.

     As soon as this film was over, all I could say was, what happened?  A lot of plot twists and turns, believable in the beginning but then hurried without sufficient explanation at the end.  3* (This movie is OK)

102 min, Drama directed by James Marsh with Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Brid Brennan, Gillian Anderson, David Wilmot, Domhnall Gleeson, Aidan Gillen.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 6.2 out of 10, 81% critic 54% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Teddy Bear 2012

     Dennis lives in a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark.  He is a 38-year-old bodybuilder who lives with his controlling mother, Ingrid.  His uncle marries a woman from Thailand and Dennis decides there may be a chance to find true love for himself.  He talks to his uncle to get information and makes a trip to Pattaya.  He tells his mother  he is going to a competition in Germany.  His mother is so mad over him being away that she won’t answer his calls.  Unfortunately, the place where his uncle was introduced to his wife is a very sleazy bar.  Nothing seems to be working out until he meets people at a gym where he goes to workout.

     This is a very different film.  Both Dennis and his mother are codependent on each other.  Even though Dennis is a very large and muscled man at 308 pounds, his mental age and experience level is much younger than 38.  It will take a lot of courage for him to strike out on his own path.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

92 min, Drama directed by Mads Matthiesen with Kim Dold, David Winters, John Winters, Barbara Atler, Chanicha Shindejanichakul, Elsebeth Steentoft, Lamaiporn Hougaard, Mia Maria Back.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 93% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hearts of War 2007

     This film is also titled The Poet.  Rachel is a young Jewish woman and the daughter of a Rabbi.  She becomes unconscious in a heavy snowstorm on her way home.  Oscar Koenig is an undercover German officer stationed in Poland and living in a small cabin in the woods.  He finds Rachel in the snow and takes her to the cabin.  As he nurses her back to health, they discover their mutual interest in poetry and they fall in love.  German soldiers invade Poland, they burn Rachel’s village causing the death of her family.  Rachel is engaged to Bernard and Oscar helps them escape into the woods.  Rachel discovers she is pregnant and Bernard agrees to marry her and care for the child.  Rachel has Oscar's baby in the woods and they begin living at a German camp at the border in order to survive.  Oscar visits the camp and sees Rachel.

     This is the second time I’ve seen this film.  The first time, I really liked it but when I saw it again I thought it seems too much like a Lifetime or Hallmark movie.  A lot of tearjerker scenes and circumstances that seem improbable.  3* (This movie is OK)

96 min, Drama directed by Damian Lee with Daryl Hannah, Roy Scheider, Kim Coates, Colm Feore, Nina Dobrev, Zachary Bennet.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb , 3 out of 10, 45% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Emperor 2012

     The entire world is still in shock after the onslaught of WWII.  U.S. General Douglas MacArthur and his aide General Bonner Fellers pay a visit to Japan. They are there to decide if Japanese emperor Hirohito should be tried and executed for war crimes.  General Fellers unexpectedly reunites with his lover Aya.  She is a former Japanese exchange student.  She taught him about Japan’s culture and customs.  She is suddenly missing and he embarks on a mission to find her.  His journey opens his eyes to the destruction of Japan.

     This film did not get very good reviews but I thought it was enjoyable. The addition of the romance between Fellers and Aya lightens the otherwise very heavy war and destruction theme.  Jones makes me wonder if MacArthur was really like this, a lot of swagger, huge corncob pipe and baggy pants?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

106 min, Drama directed by Peter Webber with Tommy Lee Jones, Matthew Fox, Eriko Hatsune, Toshiyuki Nishida, Masayoshi Haneda, Kaori Momoi, Colin Moy, Masato Ibu.

Note:  Blockbuster 2 ½*, imdb 6.3 out of 10, 30% critic 47% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dead Reckoning 1947

     Soldiers Rip Murdock and Johnny Drake are recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.  They are on their way to Washington by train but Johnny gets off the train and Rip learns he’s dead.  Rip meets up with Johnny’s married former girlfriend to try to get information.  Rip becomes involved with a crooked gambler and a complex blackmailing scheme.  The next complication is that Rip is charged with murder.

      I had a difficult time with this film because of the dialogue and all the twists and turns in the plot.  I couldn't remain interested and the lines that Bogart uses seem ridiculous.  “I haven’t had a good laugh since before Johnny was murdered.  Do you think I fell for that fancy tripe you gave me?  It’s not a new story baby.  You killed him, why lie?"  All the nicknames for the girlfriend get on my last nerve.  I also couldn't stop mixing up Scott with Bacall, they look alike?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

105 min, Drama directed by John Cromwell with Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, William Prince, Morris Carnovsky.

Note:  Blockbuster 4*, imdb 7.1 out of 10, 67% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.