Posted on July 15, 2015 at 8:00 am
At the end of the last “Kung Fu Panda” movie we got a hint that our hero, an adopted son of a loving father, would get his first chance to meet his biological family. In this new chapter, Po (Jack Black) finds a community of pandas and has to train them in kung fu to take on the evil Kai (Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons).
Posted on July 14, 2015 at 2:16 pm
Bella Heathcote (“Dark Shadows”) and Douglas Booth (“Romeo and Juliet”) play Jane and Mr. Bingley in the latest of innumerable movie and television adaptations of Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. While I have not seen them all, I feel confident in saying that this will be the first that has the five Bennett girls fighting zombies with swords and martial arts, based on the best-seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
In the original book, Jane is so sweet natured she finds it almost impossible to think badly of anyone. In the film, Heathcote said, “The thing about Jane in the book is she also feels responsible for her sisters. There are other aspects of Jane in the book that also hold true to this film. Because of sense of responsibility she has to be a great fighter. She wants to protect her family. But she is still sweet and she is still a woman who wants to love someone and be loved. Those relationships are important to her, perhaps even more so because its’ such heightened stakes.”
The entire cast had fight training before filming. But “Bingley isn’t the best zombie killer,” admitted Booth. “He often finds himself being saved by the wonderful Bennett sisters or his very dear friend, Mr. Darcy. The film definitely focuses on the talents of the Bennett sisters. They are known throughout the land as an awesome pack of death machines.” He did learn some important zombie-fighting tactics, especially “always travel in packs.” “And anything can be a weapon,” Heathcote added firmly. “A hairpin, a boot, anything can be used to kill a zombie. My most satisfying kill was with a boot heel.” “A spiky heel straight through the eyeball,” said Booth, with an admiring glance.
Booth had read the book and was very happy to join the cast. “I’ve done straight costume dramas before and it is thrilling and exciting and different and sexy to see something like this.” All of his friends were texting him, “Can I be an extra?” “Can I be a zombie?” “But wait — how do you kill them? There’s no guns!” “The props department had a fun time creating a whole bunch of killing instruments and it is fascinating to see all the ways they had of defending themselves. It wasn’t like a zombie movie where everyone’s being chased from A to B. It’s about how this love story can endure; how would the upper classes protect themselves?”
The zombies in the film go through stages. When they are first bitten, they act normally and try to cover the bite so no one finds out and tries to attack them. “They can get into society, and that breeds a sense of paranoia in society.”
“It’s everything I loved about the original and then there’s thrill thrown in,” said Heathcote. “I first thought, ‘How could this possibly work as a concept?’ But it does!”
Posted on July 10, 2015 at 8:00 am
Twin brothers known as The Krays” ran a brutal crime ring in 1960’s London. A new movie called “Legend” stars Tom Hardy as both of the identical twin brothers, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
A 1991 film called “The Krays” starred real-life brothers Martin Kemp and Gary Kemp.
They have also been the subject of documentaries like this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZHiEAVJz8
Posted on July 9, 2015 at 5:16 pm
The Minions should pay a little less attention to villains and a little more to penguins. Like “Madagascar’s” penguins, “Despicable Me’s” yellow minions were comic relief characters who took the lead in follow-up features. But the Minions are not quite up to the level of their black and white counterparts. While “Penguins of Madagascar” was one of the funniest films for any age of last year, “Minions” is a reasonably diverting entertainment with some great visuals, some good ideas, and some missed opportunities. The Minions are an adorable concept, a cross between Oompa Loompas and marshmallow Peeps. But they speak in gibberish, which is more fun in smaller doses. And while this movie selects three of them out of the multitudes to be the focus of the adventure, their characters are not especially interesting and their personalities are not especially differentiated. The same is unfortunately true of most of the human characters as well.
And “Despicable Me” had Gru, and Gru had a nemesis to best, lessons to learn, and little girls to change his life. We miss that emotional and narrative heft in this film.
What we have instead is a cute origin story going back to the earliest life on Earth, with the minions evolving out of little yellow single-cell floating creatures. By the time they make it to land, their purpose has been established. They will seek out and support the greatest villains on the planet. But, the narrator (Geoffrey Rush) informs us, in tones suggesting a nature documentary, “Finding a boss was easy. Keeping one was not.” A T-Rex. An Egyptian Pharaoh. A vampire. Napoleon. They just don’t last, primarily because the Minions’ efforts to be helpful backfire. Almost literally.
The Minions retreat to the Arctic, and that takes care of a few more centuries. But they have no purpose. And so Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set off to find a new evil genius to support. It is 1968, and they arrive in New York City, to the sound of the Rolling Stones singing “19th Nervous Breakdown.” They find out that in pre-Disney Orlando, Florida, the upcoming Villain Con (cleverly modeled after Comic-Con) will give them a chance to meet the top bad guys of the world, especially superstar Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock). They hitch a ride along the way with a smiling suburban family (Michael Keaton and Allison Janney), who turn out to have more in common with the Minions than expected. And, when they pass the test failed by all the other criminals, Scarlet takes them on and assigns them the crime of the century — she wants them to steal Queen Elizabeth’s crown. Scarlett’s husband, Herb (Jon Hamm) serves as Q, giving out the gadgets, and then it’s off to the Tower of London.
Individual moments are charming and funny, and baby boomers will appreciate the 60’s references and soundtrack, which should do for “Hair,” Hendrix, and Donovan what “Guardians of the Galaxy” did for 70’s rock. But a bedtime story about the three little pigs only reminds us more pointedly of how much better the “three little kittens” bedtime story was in the first film.
NOTE: Stay through the very end of the credits for a funny song and dance and some wow-worthy 3D effects.
Parents should know that this film has comic, cartoon-style peril and mayhem (no one hurt), weapons, explosions, chases, thong underwear, and brief potty humor.
Family discussion: How should you decide what your purpose is and why is that important? Can you understand the Minions even though they are not speaking English, and, if so, how? What made Scarlet so mean, and why do so many people admire her?
If you like this, try: the “Despicable Me” movies and “Megamind”
Posted on July 9, 2015 at 5:08 pm
B| Lowest Recommended Age: | High School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, some sexuality, and language |
| Profanity: | Some strong language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Perils and violence, intense themes of encouraging people to die so that wealth people can live longer |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to Theaters: | July 10, 2015 |
The longing for eternal life has inspired many stories, maybe most of them. What is creating a story itself if not a kind of search for immortality? Anne Rice created her series of books about vampires because the death of her young child made her imagine characters who would not die. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice, with a man entering Hades to bring back woman he loves, has been told in many forms, last year in the animated film “The Book of Life.” This year alone, films like “Ex Machina,” “Terminator Genisys,” “The Age of Adaline,” “The Moon and the Sun,” and this film, “Self/Less” are just some of the films that explore the idea of a consciousness that can survive a human lifespan.
In this case, there is a very rich man, still, near death, relishing the chance to demolish a young, ambitious competitor in as public and humiliating a fashion as he can devise. His name is Damian (Sir Ben Kingsley), and he lives in a Manhattan apartment of an opulence so gaudy it would make Marie Antoinette blush. Everything is covered in gold or marble except for the bubbling indoor fountain and the window with a view of Central Park. Damian has money and power. He also has a community activist daughter (“Downton Abbey’s” Michelle Dockery), presumably trying to prevent everything he is building, who is not speaking to him. He has a furious will to live, but his body is dying.
And then he gets a card with a phone number and a message that this could help. The impeccably elegant Dr. Albright (Matthew Goode of “The Good Wife” with his authentic British accent) offers a very pricy special service. For a quarter of a billion dollars, he will transfer a dying person’s consciousness to a fresh, new body. And for that amount, you can bet it will be top quality. Damian is going to come out of this process looking like Ryan Reynolds.
That’s pretty much like getting the keys to a Lamborghini. So, of course first of all, Damian wants to take it out for a wild test drive, in the greatest city in America for living it up, New Orleans. We have almost as much fun as Damian does because director Tarsem Singh has a flair for striking, kinetic visuals and dynamic edits that make this part of the movie so vibrant we can feel the testosterone and adrenaline — and whatever other drug Dr. Albright is giving him — pounding through his system.
But Damien starts getting flashes of images and people he does not recognize. Are they hallucinations? Or are the memories of that handsome body breaking through? And if the memories can seep through into Damian’s consciousness, can the personality, the spirit, the feelings, the skills be there, too?
Singh is big on visuals but not much on storylines (“The Cell,” “The Fall,” “Mirror Mirror”). So, while this has more story than his previous films, it is still less than we are entitled to expect. You would have to be as impaired as Damian not to figure out what is happening, or to believe everything Dr. Albright says. But there are some nice twists, and some good fight scenes (Damian’s new body has mad skillz). And somewhere in there are some provocative concepts about life, death, memory, identity, and, well, karma.
Parents should know that this film has some violence, including shoot-outs, with characters injured and killed, and some disturbing themes about re-animating corpses and wiping memories. There are sexual references and situations, drinking, drugs, and some strong words.
Family discussion: Why does what Damian learns about the body make him think differently about what he has done? Who should decide how scientific discoveries like these are applied?
If you like this, try: some other films on this theme including “Seconds” with Rock Hudson, “Never Let Me Go” with Keira Knightley, and “All of Me” with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, and a very funny brief segment in the Woody Allen film, “Stardust Memories”
