Gifted

Movie Man Mike drops by with a review.

Gifted (B-).  Chris Evans is probably best known for his roles as Captain America in the Avengers movies or as Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four series.  He has gotten some lower-profile roles in other films and, in my view, has proven that he’s more than an action figure actor.  He turned in a solid performance in the film Snowpiercer.  He’s proven himself again in Gifted.

This is a film about a highly intelligent and adorable little girl—Mary Adler (played brilliantly by Mckenna Grace, Independence Day: Resurgence)—who presents something of a challenge to her Uncle Frank.  Uncle Frank just wants Mary to have a normal childhood, which is something his mother deprived Mary’s mother from having.   But Mary’s intellect is far above average, and that quickly comes to the attention of Mary’s teacher, who pushes to have Mary put in a more challenging educational environment.  The push to harness Mary’s intellect creates a conflict that threatens the close bond Mary and Frank have forged.  At times the story seems somewhat contrived, but Mary’s charm, along with the superb dialogue and an unexpected resolution of the conflict, make the film well worth the investment of your time.

Brooklyn – a second opinion

Movie Man Mike finally reports in.

Brooklyn.   A.  There is a good reason this film got an Oscar® nomination for Best Picture.  It’s terrific.  Everything about it is terrific.  The screenplay is well-written.  The characters and their interactions are so very charming.  From the little old lady who runs the boarding house where Eilis lives in Brooklyn to her rigid supervisor at the store where Eilis works, these characters are engaging and believable.  What’s more, with the exception of Jim Broadbent and Domhnall Gleeson (both appearing in the Harry Potter films), the cast consists of relatively unknown actors.  Yet each and every one nails their performance.  Set in the 1950’s, the story is about a young woman named Eilis (Saiorse Ronan, City of Ember) living with her sister and mother in Ireland.  The job market in Ireland is not good but America is the land of opportunity, so the family arranges through their church to send Eilis to America.  The story follows Eilis on her journey to America and we get a glimpse of what life was like in the 1950’s for the single working woman.  Eilis is homesick until she meets Tony (Emory Cohen, The Place Beyond the Pines), an Italian boy with an eye for Irish girls.  As the story moves forward, Eilis finds herself in conflict over her love for Ireland and the place she makes for herself in Brooklyn with Tony.  This is truly a beautiful story filled with rich characters.  Sairose Ronan received a well-deserved Oscar© nomination for her role in this film.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Movie Man Mike checks in with a blockbuster.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. (B+).  This film is a fun, entertaining Summer action blockbuster film.  It’s got all the usual characters—Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downy Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  And of course, there’s even some screentime for Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson).  With all the characters, you almost wonder how writer Joss Whedon has time to develop the characters and the story.  But Whedon is no newcomer to this.  There’s time to develop a little backstory—particularly for Hawkeye and even time enough for a little budding romance.  And there’s time to develop an action packed story arch with the unintended creation of Ultron—a super android (James Spader).   By the end of the film we are introduced to a new superhero—Vision (Paul Bettany), who teams up with the good guys to help defeat Ultron and his army of super-being androids.  There’s plenty of action in this film but I have to say that after a while some of the fight scenes in this film began to seem a little too similar to the fight scenes in the last Avengers film.  I just hope that’s not a sign that the franchise is wearing thin.  Certainly, there will be more to come.  And you will want to stay for the credits so that you’ll get a glimpse of the next villain to do battle with the Avengers.

Ex Machina – a second opinion

A new review from Movie Man Mike.

Ex Machina.  A-.  What does it mean to be sentient?  I think, therefore, I am.  These are questions that are central themes of this film.  The film opens with Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson, known for playing Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter series) having won an special internship to work for the founder of the company he works for, which is a large internet company.  Caleb is whisked off to a remote location, where the reclusive founder, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), reveals that he believes he has developed a sentient android.  Caleb is tasked with testing the android to ascertain whether it is, in fact, sentient.  For Caleb, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  The dynamics that follow  between the very odd founder Nathan, Caleb, and the android are fascinating and surprising.  No spoilers here.  If you are a sci-fi fan, by all means, go see this film.  I, for one, can imagine all sorts of awesome sequels and I do hope that there will be one.  Performances by all the actors are terrific.

Jupiter Ascending

Movie Man Mike is back!

Jupiter Ascending.  B.  Okay, I’m a sci-fi geek.  Let’s just get that out of the way to start with.  That’s probably why I liked this film, while it has failed to draw in broader audiences.  The film, the stars, and the story are not likely to win any awards or even nominations.  However, the film does contain some pretty cool visual effects and some fun alien creatures.  I saw it in 3-D on an IMAX screen, and I have to say that the 3-D effects were probably the best I’ve encountered to date.

The story-line generally involves a battle between three siblings from another part of the universe.  The siblings are each angling for control over Earth.  Balem Abrasax, played by Oscar-nominee Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn), has control of Earth when the film opens, but we learn that his control is threatened by the reincarnation of the siblings’ mother, Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis, Oz the Great and Powerful) who would dispossess all of the siblings of their holdings were she to re-assume her position of power.  Jupiter Jones, born on Earth, has no clue that she is reincarnated, leads a very ordinary life, and doesn’t quite believe in beings from outer space.  The siblings send down teams of people to locate her and assassinate her or kidnap her and bring her to them.  Caine Wise (Channing Tatum, 21 Jump Street) is a genetically engineered ex-military hunter who has fallen from grace.  He is sent by one of the siblings to protect Jupiter Jones from assassination and he winds up taking on a little more than he was hired to do.  While the story is a bit complex, the infighting between the siblings and their deceptions and underhandedness draw the viewer into the story.  The film isn’t for everyone and it does have a little cheesiness here and there, but if you like science fiction films, you ought to check this one out.

Captain Phillips

Movie Man Mike graces us with an appearance!

Captain Phillips. A-.  I never got around to seeing this film in the theaters last year, but it received nominations for Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor, so I figured I would see what the buzz was all about.  Good grief, this was a surprisingly riveting movie.  When it started and I realized that it was about the Somali pirates raids on U.S. ships off the coast of Africa, I tensed up, thinking that I probably wasn’t going to be all that enamored with the film.  Wrong.  The film draws you in as it sets up the scene for a raid of the US MV Maersk Alabama.  This is the telling of the true story of the 2009 hijacking.  Captain Richard Phillips is played by Tom Hanks.  Hanks’ performance is so amazing that I totally got lost in the fact that it was Tom Hanks and I felt like I was right there with him during every tense moment.  I am really surprised that he didn’t at least get a nomination for Best Actor out of this one.  The story is a good one and with a good outcome.  Even if this were fictionalized, the suspense of the story would make it a good movie to see, but knowing that it is based on true events makes it all the more incredible.  I recommend this move whole-heartedly.

Retreat

A new review from Movie Man Mike.

Retreat (B+).  This was a riveting psychological thriller of a movie.  Kate (Thandie Newton) and Martin (Cillian Murphy of Inception) head to a private island cottage in hopes of rekindling their marriage, which has suffered some very difficult times.  After a couple of days on the island, Kate spots a stranger walking toward the cottage.  Enter Jack (Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot).  Jack is unconscious when then find him and has blood all over his face.  When he finally comes to, he seems a little crazed and begins to explain that he is in the military and there’s an airborne virus crossing the globe and it’s killing everyone it comes in contact with.  Kate and Martin are a bit skeptical, but what choice do they have but to follow Jack’s direction and seal up the cottage.  They are especially unnerved by the fact that they cannot reach anyone on the short-wave radio.  Events progress and things get really tense.  I’m purposely vague here so I don’t give anything away.  Let me just say that this was really a great rental, with a bit of a surprise ending.  Performances by all three of the main characters are solid.

Bernie

New review from Movie Man Mike.

Bernie (B+).  This movie has been out for quite some time and I kept hearing good things about it, so I decided to check it out.  It’s still selling out!  Let me say up front that I am not really a fan of Jack Black or the genre of movies that he is known for, but I have to say that he was quite good in this film.  This story is based upon actual events in Carthage, Texas, and many of the actual townspeople from Carthage appear in it.  The main character is a man named Bernie Tiede (Jack Black, Be Kind Rewind), who is an assistant funeral director.  Bernie moves to town and wins the hearts and souls of the townspeople, including rich widow Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine, Noelle), which is amazing because nobody likes Marjorie.  Bernie winds up killing Marjorie and is put on trial for the murder.  You would expect the townspeople to turn on Bernie, but he is so beloved that the townspeople come to his aid.  This is a black comedy and it has some hilarious lines in it, some of which appear to be impromptu commentary from actual residents of Carthage.  If you don’t see this at the theater, by all means rent it.  You won’t regret it.

Moonrise Kingdom

A new review from Movie Man Mike.

Moonrise Kingdom.  B.  The cast of this film creates some pretty big expectations.  Bill Murray (Stripes), Frances McDormand (Blood Simple), Edward Norton (The Painted Veil), Bruce Willis (The Whole Ten Yards), and Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive).  And those are not even the main characters.  This was a cute and sweet film.  The two main characters are misfits in their respective worlds.  They meet and decide to run away together.  When the rest of the grown-up cast realizes it, an all-out search ensues and the results are quite amusing.  The entire cast gives a solid performance.  In my view the only weakness in the film was that I had higher expectations in the laughter department, given the cast and subject matter.  If you don’t see this one at the theater, it will make a great rental for a rainy day afternoon.

The Hunger Games

New review from Movie Man Mike.

Hunger Games (B-).  Given how this film has performed at the box office, I’m probably one of the last to see it.  First: the negatives: Surprisingly, this film left me wanting to check my watch 2 or 3 times to see how much longer it had to go, which is a shame.  The pace should have been driven by the action, but it was edited in such a way that the action didn’t really drive the pace.  Many things could have been improved in the way this was presented.  I would have liked to have seen a little more definition of what the relationship was between Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, Passengers) and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth, Arkansas).  The filmmakers go to the trouble of showing you what great strength Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, The Disaster Artist) has, but then you never get to see him use any of that strength.  Donald Sutherland (Forsaken) plays President Snow and he delivers a good performance as usual, but you don’t get enough of a glimpse of what motivates him.  Finally, I would have liked to have seen a little more character development of the bad guys.  You barely get a glimpse of who they are.  I also never really got a good feel for the relationships of the various districts to one another and to what seems to be the capitol city of the planet.  I am sure the books could afford to go into greater depth, but for someone who hadn’t read the books, I was left wanting more.  I had so many questions, like what were the other districts like?  Who was Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley, Interstellar) and how did he get that position?  What was Donald Sutherland’s relationship to it all and how did he get his position?  What did Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, Definitely, Maybe) and Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson, Management) do when they weren’t training and escorting District 12’s Hunger games participants around?  Now the positives: Woody Harrelson.  He delivers a great performance as Haymitch Abernathy-a former winner of the Hunger Games.  Stanley Tucci (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) also gives a nice performance as Caesar Flickerman, the emcee of the games.  And I liked the idea for the story itself—a dystopian society where each year two participants from each district are selected to be part of the hunger games, which are a fight to the death.  The purpose of the games is to serve as a reminder of an ugly rebellion by the districts.  And, as Donald Sutherland puts it, the reason there is a winner at all is that it gives the people something to hope for.  What this film gave me to hope for was better presentation, more detail.  And it is for that reason (hope) that I will probably see the sequel.  Maybe then some of the background detail will be made more evident.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Movie Man Mike sends this review of an off-the-beaten-path movie.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (B).  The Reverend Thomas Malthus would have loved this film.  It just could be the solution to the population explosion.  We usually think of young children as being “innocent.”   Kevin dispels that notion.   Kevin is a rather unique boy with an inexplicable tie to his mother, played by Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer).    The audience gets to see Kevin (Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) through the eyes of his mother and one begins to see how difficult parenting can be, but particularly so in Kevin’s case.  Kevin is a sociopath.  We get glimpses of the complexity of Kevin’s attachment to mom  throughout, like when he and mom are talking about the expected birth of Kevin’s baby sister.  Kevin reveals his understanding that he and his mother don’t like each other, but are “comfortable” with one another.  The one criticism I have about this film is that it’s one of those films where it jumps back and forth in time and it gets to be so jerky in its jumping that it is very difficult to discern what is past and what is present.  The audience is mostly left to piece it all together in their heads after the film.   The back-and-forth timeline is used as a device to tell the story, but it’s almost too confusing.  On the other hand, the format leaves the audience with lots of intense and disturbing little scenes so that afterwards you can fit the various puzzle pieces together and contemplate just how Kevin came to be and how hard it was for his mother to love and understand him.  This is a powerful movie with some great performances by all three actors playing Kevin and by Swinton.  I really recommend it, but you will want to be in the right frame of mind when you see it.

A Separation

A new review from Movie Man Mike

A Separation (A).  This may be my favorite movie in a while.  The script is very well written, the story is intense, and the acting is superb.   This film gives us a glimpse into the culture and values in Iran.  The film opens with a husband (Peyman Moadi,  13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi) and a wife (Leila Hatami, The Last Step) appearing before a judge and the wife is asking for a divorce.   This scene sets the stage for much of what is to come, as we learn that the wife wants to leave the country but the husband will not, because he is bound to care for his father who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.  The wife wants to leave the country and take the couple’s daughter with her.  When asked why, she says it is because she doesn’t want to raise her daughter under conditions existing in the Country.  Because the husband will not agree to the divorce, there is no divorce.  The story then moves forward as we see the impact of the separation on the couple, the daughter, and the father.  The husband has to hire help to come care for the father during the day and we get a glimpse of the cultural life existing in Iran as well as the values of its people.  The story comes to a head when the caregiver (Sareh Bayat, Oblivion Season) has a miscarriage and accuses the husband of being the cause of it.  Things really get tense and interesting as relationships and values are tested.  This is a great movie and I highly recommend it.

John Carter

Movie Man Mike checks in with a new review.

John Carter. (B+).  The critics have really panned this film, and it didn’t do all that well in its opening weekend, but it has rated well with those who’ve seen it.  This is a fun, action-filled adventure film and I recommend it.  I saw it in 3-D and really liked that version, but I’ve talked with others who saw the 2-D version and liked that, so I am not sure you HAVE to see it in 3-D to appreciate it.  To be sure, this film has a flaw or two in the story line, and it takes a few liberties with the original Edgar Rice Burroughs book, but it is largely true to the original.   John Carter (Taylor Kitsch, 21 Bridges) is a Civil War hero who gets transported to Mars by the fate of an encounter with a superior, alien race.  On Mars, he discovers that the lower gravity gives him a kind of superpower in that he is able to jump great heights.  This superpower comes in handy as he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between warring Martian tribes.  And, of course, he meets a princess, Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins, Cowboy Drifter), who convinces him he must help her people to defend themselves.  Only after he gets involved does he discover that the conflict and its outcome is scripted by Matai Shang (Mark Strong, Before I Go to Sleep), who is the leader of the alien race that caused Carter to be transported from Earth in the first place.  I’ve heard this film described as “Tarzan on Mars,” but it’s really much more than that.  It was a fun movie to watch and well worth the price of admission.

Hugo

Movie Man Mike gets with the program and sees an Oscar winner.

Hugo. (A-)  Very worthwhile film.  This film is a good one for the whole family.  Before the Academy Award nominations, I can’t say that I had really seen much about this film, and that’s a shame.  I am glad that I didn’t see it before the Academy Awards because it would have made my personal choice of “Best Picture” all the more difficult.  This is a well-made film with some great writing, editing, and special effects.  The story is set in Paris, France and focuses on a talented young boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield, Ender’s Game).  Hugo lives in a clock tower in the train station and he keeps the clocks running.  He’s got a penchant for fixing things—and apparently for fixing people.  He meets George Miliés (Ben Kingsley, Transsiberian) who runs a little shop in the train station and who is himself in need of fixing.  I won’t spoil the story, but Hugo embarks on more than one or two wonderful adventures and discovers a thing or two about himself.  And if you’re a fan of the Harry Potter films, you’ll love watching this film to see how many Potter actors you can spot.

The Artist

Movie Man Mike sounds off on another Oscar contender.

The Artist. (A-).  The more I think about this film, the more I like it.  I was skeptical about the idea that I would enjoy a silent film, but this one worked.  For the very reason that there was no talking (or almost none), it caused me to focus on the actors and their performances.  One complaint I have about many films today is that the special effects often overshadow any real story.  This film had a story and a message and it didn’t need fancy special effects to tell the story.  The film is set during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s at a time when film is moving out of the silent era and into the talking era.  The story is about fictional actors who had to make that transition, and what better way to show that than to show it using a silent film format.  Of course, to tell the story, this film needed great actors.  And that’s what it got with Jean Dujardin (The Wolf of Wall Street), as George Valentin—star of the silent film era, and Berenice Bejo (The Past), as Peppy Miller—who plays the rising starlet in a time of transition from silent film to talking film.  Both actors received Oscar nominations and they are well-deserved.  One member of the cast left out of the Oscar nominations was Uggie, who plays Valentin’s dog.  He’s so cute he deserves a special Oscar category all to himself.

Moneyball

A new review from Movie Man Mike.

Moneyball (B+).  Baseball is such a game of numbers and statistics, and this film takes the numbers to a new level.  I gained a real appreciation for baseball and for what Billy Beane tried to accomplish—to level the playing field and overcome the inequities in payrolls between ball clubs.  While I don’t follow baseball closely, I suspect that if all teams adopted the approach he championed, then the financial inequities are still there.  Nevertheless, the story is a perfect story of how the little guy triumphs now and then.  Brad Pitt (Fury) gives a convincing performance as Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A’s.   Jonah Hill (The Watch) is perfect as the egg-head, whiz-kid who runs all the numbers on the players and challenges the old ways of recruiting players.    One of the weaknesses in this story, in my opinion, is that Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March), who plays the coach of the Oakland A’s, is relegated to more of a background role.  I would have liked to have seen more direct evidence of the conflict and attitude he had with the new system.  It’s there, but it’s almost secondary because the story is presented through the eyes of Billy Beane.  I have to wonder if there was concern about changing the story from “the Billy Beane story” into the “Art Howe story.”  In any event, a very entertaining film and worth watching (even if you don’t follow baseball).

Red

DVD review from Movie Man Mike

Red (B).  I rented this film recently because of its cast:  Helen Mirren (The Hundred-Foot Journey), Bruce Willis (Looper), Morgan Freeman (Feast of Love), John Malkovich (Warm Bodies), and more.  This is a light comedy about a group of over-the-hill retired secret agents.  Frank Moses (Willis) learns at the beginning of the film that the CIA has put out a hit on him and that starts the ball rolling.  He contacts some of his former “associates” to try to find out who’s behind it and why.  While it’s not a rolling-in-the-floor-laughing movie, it does have its humorous moments.  My favorite scene is watching the elegant Helen Mirren in a white-sequined formal dress operating a machine gun on a tri-pod.  What an image that is.  And, at 66 years of age, Bruce Willis  looks great and can still deliver an action film.  This film makes for a pretty good rental.

The Descendants

A new review from Movie Man Mike

The Descendants. (B-).  Meh.  I was underwhelmed by this film.   I’ve been hearing the buzz about George Clooney’s Oscar-caliber performance and so I decided to check it out.  Yes, Clooney (Hail, Caesar!) gives a solid performance as the grieving husband in the wake of the coma-inducing accident sustained by his wife.  I actually thought Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars), who played the daughter, gave an even better performance.   Part of the problem here is that Clooney’s role wasn’t really written to be Oscar caliber.  The writers injected a little black comedy into Clooney’s misfortune when he learns that his wife had been having an affair with another man and she intended to divorce him before she sustained her injuries.  Frankly, watching the sordid details of this poor man’s misfortune play themselves out on the screen was not all that entertaining.  Perhaps it was because it seemed all too possible and real.  In any event, I wish I had saved the price of admission and my time.  I wouldn’t have missed much.

Margin Call

A new review from Movie Man Mike

Margin Call (B).  With a cast like this one, you would expect great things from this film, but the cast is just one part of what makes a good film.   This film is set in New York City in 2008, and tells the story of the early days of the financial meltdown.   Actually, that’s just the problem.  We all pretty much know what happened.  We’re living it and we read about it, right?  The story doesn’t really add much of anything to what we know, so the story is a bit thin.  Having said that, the performances were just as you would expect—riveting.  Jeremy Irons (Appaloosa) could read the phone book and draw an audience.  Kevin Spacey (The Life of David Gale) was brilliant as always.  Zachary Quinto (from the TV show “Heroes” and Star Trek) and Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) both give solid performances.  If there’s a weak link in the performances, it’s Demi Moore (Forsaken).   She’s billed as almost a guest star (“with Demi Moore”), but she’s one of the key actors in the story.  At the end of the day, this film is probably worth seeing for the performances, but it’s more of a rental than a must-see at the theaters.

The Help

Another fresh review from Movie Man Mike.

The Help. (A-).  I loved this film.  So many people have read this book and also seen the movie.  It seems to have wide-spread appeal even though its setting—1960’s Jackson, Mississippi—has an almost unbelievable, fictional feel to it.  But I can believe it.  I may not have grown up in the deep south, but I experienced a similar upbringing to the one depicted in this film, and the film caused me to spend a lot of time reflecting on those experiences.  The film’s depiction of the historical dividing line between black and white is a reminder of just how far we’ve come as a country.  This film is well-acted and well-scripted, with lots of Oscar potential.  The dialogue and the plot are entertaining and well worth the price of admission.

Contagion

Movie Man Mike sends us this review.

Contagion. (C-).  The great cast in this film is what attracted me to see it.  Laurence Fishburne (Mystic River), Matt Damon (True Grit), Gwyneth Paltrow (proof), Jude Law (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Kate Winslet (Divergent), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Elliott Gould (Ocean’s Twelve).  That should be enough to make a good movie, right?  Nope.  This film had very little plot.  It’s more of a mockumentary.  A what-if scenario.  The film looks at what might happen if a supervirus were to get loose.  That’s too simple of a concept to drive a feature-length film.  A plot is needed.  In about 5 minutes time, you can see how a supervirus can multiply and spread across the globe.  The rest is pretty much filler.  Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet are dead early in the film, so we don’t get to see much of them.  Jude Law plays a blogger and his character is just strange.  As a viewer, you don’t know whether you want to like him or hate him.  Marion Cotillard’s talents are wasted on a role that seems nearly pointless to the overall action.  In short, don’t waste your money on this one—either in the theaters or as a rental.

Green Lantern

Movie Man Mike takes on another superhero flick

Green Lantern (B).  I was a little skeptical about seeing this one.  The comic book character was in the second tier of superheroes and then I heard about the CGI of Ryan Reynolds’ body and wondered what that was all about.  After seeing this film, I concluded that it’s on par with all of the Spiderman movies, most—if not all—of the Superman movies, and some of the Batman movies.  In short, it’s good, clean Summer entertainment.  The story was good.  The message was good.  Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) did a nice job playing a superhero.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tim Robbins (The Truth About Charlie) was in the film playing a U.S. Senator, and I got to hear the voice of Geoffrey (The King’s Speech) Rush (which is never bad) as one of the Green Lanterns.  I recommend this film and would advise you to stay through the first, short set of credits to see a little bonus preview of the next installment in the series.

Repo Men

Movie Man Mike sends us this DVD review

Repo Men (C-).   This was a pretty dark and gruesome futuristic film about guys who repossess artificial body organs whose users have defaulted on the very expensive payments on the organs.   I was prepared to stop watching it early on because it was so bad, but once you get past the initial set up of the storyline, it gets a little better.  There are aspects of this theme that remind me a bit of Blade Runner, only Blade Runner is a superior film in so many ways.  I generally like Jude Law (Side Effects) and Forest Whitaker (Black Panther) and despite their nice performances in this film, they simply chose a bad script/concept to sign up for.   If you’ve already seen this, I’m sorry.  If you’re thinking about renting it as I did, don’t bother.

Thor

Movie Man Mike gets hammered.

Thor. (B-)  I didn’t much care for the comic book character; it was really kind of boring.  But the big screen, some CGI, and Chris Hemsworth (The Cabin in the Woods) combine to make his an engaging movie-going experience.   This is the first of a summer filled with action heroes and it’s worth the price of admission.  The film has some big-name actors in it as well, with Anthony Hopkins (Noah) playing Thor’s father, Odin.  Rene Russo (Tin Cup) is Thor’s mother.  Natalie Portman (The Other Boleyn Girl) plays Thor’s earth-girl love interest.  And Tom Hiddleston (Kong: Skull Island), who has previously mostly had a TV career, is quite good as Thor’s brother, Loki.

You’ll want to stay through the credits because there’s a preview of Thor’s next film—The Avengers—which is currently being filmed.  The Avengers is set for release in 2012 and will have an all-star cast and a whole line-up of superheroes, some of whom will have their own stand-alone films out this summer.  You won’t want to miss these action-hero films if you want to be on the same page when The Avengers hits the big screen.   Also, The Avengers is being written and directed by Joss Whedon, who is known for his ingenious work with the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Serenity.

Jane Eyre

Movie Man Mike gives us his take on a new release

Jane Eyre (B). This 2011 film left me unfulfilled. Don’t get me wrong, I love Judi Dench, and she’s the reason I went to see this film in the first place. Her performance was spot-on, but certainly not the centerpiece of the film. I enjoyed the rich dialogue and the head-strong, principled character of Jane Eyre, played by Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland). I also enjoyed the performance of Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) as Edward Rochester. All-in-all I couldn’t help but to wonder if they’d cut some essential parts of Charlotte Bronte’s story from the film because I never really felt the characters’ motives as determined from their history, nor did I feel that the ending resolved the conflicts within them in a meaningful way. I was also perplexed by Eyre’s abrupt departure from the presence of St. John Rivers upon his insistence that Ms. Eyre should marry him and go to India with him. That scene didn’t ring true to her character, and we don’t really know enough about Mr. Rivers at that point to understand his motives other than him seeing Ms. Eyre as a good catch. I found this film captivating, but it left me unfulfilled.