The Patience Stone 2012

     This film takes place in an unnamed Middle Eastern country at war.  It is adapted from a bestselling novel written by the director.  A young Muslim woman in her thirties tends to her older husband.  He was shot in the neck upholding the honor of his family and his fellow fighters plus his close family has abandoned him.  The woman starts passing the time telling him about her feelings.  In the Middle East, women and their feelings have no importance to men.  There is a story in Persian mythology that you can tell your life story to a patience stone, it will absorb your feeling and collapse under the weight.  Her husband is paralyzed and he becomes her patience stone. 

     Basically, this film is a one-person monologue and boxed in by the constraints of the novel.  I suspected the ending but I found it very unsatisfying.  It takes patience from the viewer to reach the end of this film and I wonder if it’s worth the time invested?  The trailer gives glowing reviews but the film can’t live up to the praise.  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

102 min, Drama directed by Atiq Rahimi with Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Hassina Burgan, Massi Mrowat, Mohamed Al Maghraoui, Malak Djaham Khazal, Faiz Fazli, Hatim Seddiki.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 86% critic 73% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.

Frozen 2013

     The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson inspires this film by Disney.  Anna and Kristoff start off on an epic journey with a loyal reindeer, Sven.  They are looking for Anna’s sister Elsa.  Her icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter.  Anna, Kristoff and Sven battle Mount Everest-like cold with Olaf the snowman.  They find Elsa has isolated herself in an ice castle and she spends every moment trying to suppress her magical powers of creating ice and snow.  Instead, the opposite is happening, her emotions are triggering eternal winter and she doesn’t know how to make it stop. 

     This film is very busy sending mixed messages.  Young women need to support and stay loyal to each other but they need hunky men around them and an assortment of funny creatures?  All this needs to tie into a boatload of sales of related merchandise.  There can’t be just a movie, it has to sell and sell outside of the theater or DVD.  A lot of singing must be included as well.  Despite all this, the movie is interesting and draws you into the characters.  I liked Olaf the snowman, he wants it to be summer?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Animation directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer lee with the voices of Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santion Fontana, AlanTudyk, Ciaran Hinds, Chris Williams, Stephen J. Anderson, Mai Wilson, Edie McClurg, Robert Pine, Maurice LaMar

che.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 89% critic 88% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.

 

About Time 2013

     When Tim Lake turns 21, his father tells him he can travel back in time by clinching his hands, which is best done in a closet.  He can’t change history but he can revisit and revise portions of his life.  It’s very useful when you have botched your behavior and get a chance for a do-over.  His first goal is to get a girlfriend.  He travels from Cornwall to London for training as a lawyer.  He meets Mary but needs to do selective time travel changes to get their meeting done correctly.  Along the way, he creates a perfect marriage proposal, saves his wedding from best-man speeches and saves his best friend from a professional disaster.

     This is good and the time travel adds an interesting twist.  Let go of your disbelief and be glad the changes are different instead of a repeat like Groundhog Day.  I like Rachel McAdams but Domhnall Gleeson is 5 years younger than she is and he seems younger?  Richard Curtis was the director of the film Love Actually.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

123 min, Drama directed by Richard Curtis with Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Richard Cordery, Joshua McGuire, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie, Will Merrick.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 69% critic 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.  

All is Lost 2013

     A man is on a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean.  He’s asleep below when water starts to pour into the cabin.  His sailboat has rammed its side into a floating shipping container.  The incoming water has disabled his navigation and radio equipment.  He is able to use fiberglass sheets and an epoxy solution to patch the damaged area.  The next event is a violent storm that turns the boat completely upside down twice.  Of course, the repair can’t hold in this type of seas.  His only choice is to launch his raft and save whatever he can to help him on the second part of his journey.

     It is probably a good idea not to watch this film with anyone who has sailing experience.  Why didn’t he do this, why doesn’t he have this, why is he doing that?  Critics love this film but is this entertainment or just art posing as entertainment?  I imagine this was difficult to film since it also shows what is happening underwater.  3* (This movie is OK)

     

106 min, Action directed by J.C. Chandor with Robert Redford.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, 93% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.

Ender's Game 2013

     The basis for this film is an award winning and best selling novel by Orson Scott Card.  Formics, a hostile alien race determined to destroy humanity, attacked the Earth seventy years ago.  The people of Earth have banded together to prevent another attack by this superior race.  Groups of teenagers are chosen for training and evaluation to select the best of the best for further training to battle the Formics.  Ender Wiggin is slim and quiet but he begins to show the most promise as a leader.  He is taken to a battle school orbiting around the Earth for further training.  Groups are pitted together in battles to sift deeper to obtain the best.   The last battle between the groups will be the final test before facing the Formics.

     This may be more suited to teens than adults, I found all the special effect training sessions becoming boring.  There is a lot of psychological screening going on along with the training.  It’s possible this veers a long way from the book and the end has a twist.  My question is, why the gap of seventy years?  3* (This movie is OK)

114 min, Action directed by Gavin Hood with Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 60% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Lost Islands 2008

    The Levy's are a large family of eight and the year is 1980 is Israel.  The father lectures on fulfilling dreams and the mother preaches family loyalty.  There are fraternal twin boys in the family and they both like Neta, a new girl in town.  Ofer, one of the twins, wants to go into an elite commando unit of the Israeli Army but the father has an unfortunate car accident and he’s paralyzed.  Ofer decides to stay home and help with his care.  Erez, the other twin is drafted into the unit Ofer dreamed of joining.  Ofer lets Neta go and he starts dating Erez’s former girlfriend.  The father, Ofer, Erez, Neta and Erez’s former girlfriend are all mixed up.

     It is interesting to seen an Israeli family in 1980, they watch the program Lost Islands every summer on TV together.  The twins are really into the film Aquarius and the songs.  Somewhat complicated keeping track of all the characters including a friend who is almost a family member.  3* (This movie is OK) 

103 min, Drama directed by Reshef Levy with Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov, Shmil Ben Ari, Orly Silbersatz Banai, Yuval Scharf, Ofer Shecter, Pini Tavger, Michal Levi, Yigal Adika, Gilat Ankori.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 5* with one review.

Thor: The Dark World 2013

     The Dark Elves were a race of beings living thousands of years ago.  They tried to send the universe into darkness by using a weapon called the Aether.  Asgard warriors stopped them but the leader escapes to await another chance to use the weapon.  Jane Foster and Thor have not seen each other for two years but she is waiting for him to return to Earth.  Thor has been trying to broker a peace between the nine realms.  Jane goes to investigate a wormhole and becomes sucked into it.  Thor learns that Jane is missing and when he returns to Earth.  She returns at the same time and he brings her to Asgard.

     I’m not sure you could call the storyline a plot?  Everything is so complicated and interwoven that I wonder if even the actors know the story?  A lot of the Marvel Comic movies must rely on viewers knowing the background of the characters in order to be able to fill in the blanks?  What if you’ve never read any of the comics, how do you figure anything out?  Is any of it important, it's just action and without meaning?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

112 Min, Action directed by Alan Taylor with Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 65% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.