Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, TV Movie

Year: 2012

Country: Germany, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore

Rating:

Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

My Review: A chick flick - A well produced chick flick. Written & directed by way too many people: Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer (based on a novel by David Mitchell). Stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, James D'Arcy, Keith David, and many others. The actors in this movie play several roles as the time-shifting movie jumps back and forth from past to present and future. I don't usually like the 'many stories equals one' themes that writers have played with over the years, but this one takes a slightly different track. Here the same people are presented as incarnations of themselves in different eras. The characters are slightly different in each time frame, but the soul of the character remains intact from one version to the next. The results are a deeply moving story and well developed characters. Despite some elements I typically eschew (multiple directors and writers and the 'many stories' theme, this movie managed to keep me emotionally involved and intellectually curious. I eagerly absorbed the narrative and awaited the next time-shift with some anticipation. I was very intrigued by the way that these character incarnations were affected by the actions of their previous selves. It's not six separate stories; it's an intricately woven tale of the intertwined fates of several seemingly disconnected characters. It's an expressive and impressive attempt to weave synchronicity and fate into a dramatic character based drama containing time travel elements (on of my favorite elements/themes). Despite the long running time, the pacing was outstanding. The production didn't fall for the convenient trap of speeding everything up (including dialog!) in order to shorten the run time. The cinematography, effects and locations were spectacular. I give this 'chick flick' a 5 out of 5. It really surprised me. I didn't think (and neither did Netflix) it would rate that high on my scale.

Summary: Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his lover; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.

Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2002

Country: USA, Canada

Rating:

Starring: Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu, Nigel Bennett, Timothy Webber, David Hewlett

Director: Vincenzo Natali

My Review: A sci-fi, mystery, thriller with decent writing, good direction and fine acting. Written by Brian King, directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube and Splice). The primary character (Jeremy Northam - played by Morgan Sullivan) is bored with his dead-end corporate cubical job, and decides to offer his services as a corporate spy. He soon finds himself working as a 'double-double agent' for a mysterious and seductive handler (Rita Foster - played by Lucy Liu). His dip into the world of corporate espionage soon spirals out of control, becoming a deep-dive into the murky waters of the corporate underworld. He's brainwashed so many times there's no telling who he really is. He believes his cover completely, the problem is - he believes all his covers completely. The character soon finds himself lost and way out of his depth in this Spy vs Spy techno-thriller. Some editing and pacing issues detract slightly from this well written sci-fi thriller. I give this movie a 4 out of 5.

Summary: Hoping for a more exciting life than the suburban drawl he currently inhabits, nerdy salary man Morgan Sullivan takes a job as an industrial spy at Digicorp, a global computer corporation. Digicorp assigns him the duty of flying to various conventions around America, recording the speeches that are made. But when Sullivan meets a mysterious woman he begins to realize that his job may not be what it seems, as he descends into a dark underworld of brainwashing and struggles to maintain his own identity.

Genre: Drama, War

Year: 1983

Country: UK, Japan

Rating:

Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryûichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson

Director: Nagisa Ôshima

My Review: Another movie in one of my favorite genres - The World War II genre. Here is an outstanding movie with flawless direction (by Nagisa Oshima) and superb acting (by David Bowie as Maj. Jack 'Strafer' Celliers, Tom Conti as Col. John Lawrence, Ryuichi Sakamoto as Capt. Yonoi, Takeshi Kitano as Sgt. Gengo Hara, Jack Thompson as Group Capt. Hicksley, and many others). The movie is set in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. The camp is located on the island of Java in Indonesia, and the location filming in New Zealand made for a very believable backdrop. The work camp is run by Capt. Yonoi, a man with strong beliefs in discipline and honor. He considers the prisoners cowards because they chose surrender over suicide. Col. Lawrence lived on the island before being defeated and captured by the Japanese. He speaks the language, understands Japanese culture and speaks the language. Because of his intimate knowledge regarding customs and culture, he's considered to be a traitor by many of the other POWs. Maj. Jack 'Strafer' Celliers is the newcomer. His arrival marks a change in the balance of power among the prisoners and a challenge to the Japanese hierarchy of control. The movie is a character based drama, and there is a lot of work on the relationships in this movie. The relationships between guards and prisoners, prisoners and other prisoners, the commander of the camp and the primary officers of the prisoners. External influences don't come into the movie until the last minutes of the movie. It's a moving and dramatic tale of life under war-time. The writing and direction managed to avoid most of the stereotypes and racial bias notable in many western WWII POW movies. The characters in this movie were very life-like and quite dynamic. While the movie can be a bit slow at times, I still appreciated the pacing and found it better than most modern movie. I give this movie a 4 out of 5.

Summary: In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a Japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honor and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of committing suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the Japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Year: 1971

Country: Hong Kong

Rating:

Starring: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien, Marilyn Bautista, Ying-Chieh Han

Director: Wei Lo, Chia-hsiang Wu

My Review: The first movie featuring Bruce Lee. Yes it's a Hong Kong production. Released in 1971, the movie was written and directed by Wei Lo (and Chia-Hsiang Wu). Starring Bruce Lee this movie garners more attention than it would otherwise warrant. The production is pretty bad, and the writing overly cliched. It's a murder mystery with some social context around labor union struggles. Set in the present the late 60s/early 70s. This movie pits Bruce Lee (as Chein) against a criminal organization controlling factory workers in Hong Kong. Bruce Lee plays Chein a country boy who moves to the city in order to work in a cousins ice factory. He promises not to get in trouble or start fights, but this wouldn't be much of a movie if Bruce didn't get pulled into a martial arts mix up. When workers at the factory start complaining about the wages or difficult nature of their work they disappear. The mysterious disappearances soon become too blatant to ignore, and a corrupt crime syndicate is found out behind the disappearances. Once the veil is lifted, drug smuggling discovered and murder uncovered - Vendetta must be satisfied! It's Bruce and the laborers vs the corrupt big Boss and his cronies. The plot is quite simple, the soundtrack terrible, the special effects badly executed, the acting poor, the dubbing horrible, the direction weak, and the movie a mess. If it wasn't for Bruce's screen appeal and some choreography, this movie would sit on the bottom rung of retched kung-fu disasters. As it is, I can only manage a 2 out of 5 for this movie.

Summary: Chein is a city boy who moves with his cousins to work at a ice factory. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fight. However, when members of his family begin disappearing after meeting the management of the factor, the resulting mystery and pressures forces him to break that vow and take on the villainy of the Big Boss.

Genre: Documentary

Year: 2012

Country: Israel, France, Germany, Belgium

Rating:

Starring: Ami Ayalon, Avi Dichter, Yuval Diskin, Carmi Gillon, Yaakov Peri

Director: Dror Moreh

My Review: An amazing documentary that pulls back the veil and pulls no punches. Candid interviews with six former heads of Shin Bet - Israel's anti-terrorism agency. Charged with protecting Israel's citizens and the state itself from the destructive forces which constantly assail the fortress state of the middle-east. Here we are offered the inside view from the men who helped protect Israel from all manner of threat foreign and domestic. A truly outstanding documentary which details the history of the Shin Bet, it's role in history, their leadership of the organization and the extraordinary tales of the men and women who work so hard to protect their nation. Some of the stories are brutal, cruel and violent, but they're honest. It's a deliberate attempt to reveal the truth regarding the politics, the reality and the dire consequences of anti-terrorism measures designed to protect Israel from the destructive forces that constantly press at it's borders. The documentary is powerful and could easily be interpreted by one side or the other, as pro or anti Israeli. It's a raw visceral view at the real-politic of life in a besieged state. The interviews are candid, nuanced, unrehearsed and full of moral dilemma. At times the movie drags, but it never disappoints. Some aspects feel pro-Israel, but I can't imagine how this movie could have been made by someone with an anti-Israel slant, so some bias in that regard is warranted and expected in order to allow access on such a scale. In a never-ending battle to keep Israel intact, the men who led Shin Bet reveal their insights into that quest, their personal views are priceless in this outstanding movie. 4 out of 5.

Summary: A documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.

Genre: Horror

Year: 2013

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore

Director: Fede Alvarez

My Review: Evil Dead (remake - 2013): Astonishingly bad. A remake of a classic cult flick (The Evil Dead). The original film (1981) is one of my favorites. I should have known that there'd be no real reason to watch a remake of such a classic. The original was written and directed by Sam Raimi. This one's written and directed by Fede Alvarez. The story itself is essentially the same. A group of friends vacation at a cabin in the woods. They discover an evil book, and they 'accidentally' release a host of demons. After the original plot, the changes here are the lack of a powerful lead (as Ash from the original). The computer animation/cgi doesn't really make the movie better. I wonder if that's the reason why they remade the movie? Because they could? The trailer was awesome, the movie, not so much. Too much gore, not enough suspense or terror. I don't understand why the dialogue (from this writer/director) was just as amateur as the original movie. A remake by a more mature writer/director would have been better served by better writing. I give this movie a 2 out of 5.

Summary: Five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.

Genre: Action, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Year: 1951

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jeff Corey, Walter Reed, J. Farrell MacDonald

Director: Lee Sholem

My Review: Released in 1951, this movie is the earliest Super Hero movie made. It features George Reeves as the Man of Steel (George Reeves is NOT the father of Christopher Reeve). George Reeves also played Superman in the television series during the 50s. This movie was essentially a promotional vehicle for the television show; which started up after the movie was released. The plot involves the world's deepest oil well. The well penetrates so far into the Earth's crust the it pierces the lair of a strange race of fury 'Mole Men'. These creatures grow in the dark and seem no more threatening than a Star-Trek Ferengi. The townsfolk however are ill-prepared to accept the existence of these subterranean dwellers and they threaten to extinguish them at first sight. Only Superman can avert the genocidal tragedy, as he rebukes the townsfolk for acting like Nazi stormtroopers. The plot is exceedingly limited and it serves only to introduce viewers to the Superman character in film. The acting is as wooden as a popsicle stick and the effects were laughable. As a matter of fact, the movie would have rated lower if it wasn't for the slightly humorous chuckle I got from watching a movie with such poor production value. I give it a 2 out of 5.

Summary: Reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in the small town of Silsby to witness the drilling of the world's deepest oil well. The drill, however, has penetrated the underground home of a race of small, furry people who then come to the surface at night to look around. The fact that they glow in the dark scares the townfolk, who form a mob, led by the vicious Luke Benson, intent on killing the strange people. Only Superman has a chance to prevent this tragedy.

Genre: Action

Year: 1999

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, M. Emmet Walsh

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

My Review: Wild Wild West - I loved the television series. Thankfully this movie isn't a remake or attempt to 'do Wild Wild West' in any way. It's a movie with the same name and similar characters, but it really doesn't try to be the television series in any way. Here we have Will Smith playing Capt. Jim West, Kevin Kline playing U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon, and Kenneth Branagh playing the bad guy, Dr. Arliss Loveless. The casting was excellent for an action comedy spoof - terrible for a serious remake of The Wild Wild West television series. The movie is set post Civil War, and Jim West is working directly for the white house in order to track down a former Confederate crackpot intent on disrupting the 'Union' with a diabolical plot. Artemus Gordon becomes the ungrateful side-kick who fancies himself above the physical form of law enforcement. Together they find Salma Hayek to be a lovely accomplice on their mission to thwart the plans of the evil Dr. Arliss. The production is flashy in costumes, comedic in dialog and quick in wit and pacing. I found the movie quite entertaining despite its preposterous settings and presumptions. One must suspend a lot of disbelief in order to keep up with the tongue in cheek out of period come-ons and jokes, but keeping pace has its rewards as this movie makes for some excellent entertainment in the afternoon. Will Smith and Kevin Kline play a pair of conceited patriots intent on thwarting the 'machinations' of one disgruntled Confederate scientist. There's a bevy of lovelies thrown in for eye candy, and a couple of clod-like brutes to round things out. In the end the plot is uncomplicated, the production quite hollywood, the jokes slightly humorous and the entertainment quite satisfying. I give it a 4 out of 5, while fully realizing that it really has no lasting value.

Summary: The two best hired guns in the West must save President Grant from the clutches of a 19th century inventor-villain.