Gravity: A Must See!

After an accident leaves them adrift in space, medical engineer Ryan Stone and astronaut Matt Kowalski must work together to not only survive, but get back to earth.

To say that Gravity was an intense film experience is to make an understatement of epic proportions. There are only a few moments during the film (the opening scenes, which set the stage for the chaos that is to come), in which the audience can breath and relax. But once the first incident takes place, they will be lucky if they can catch their breath again as they are twisted and turned upside-down and right-side up, usually through the eyes of Ryan (played by Sandra Bullock) as she and Matt (played by George Clooney) try to survive. There were so many close calls and jaw-dropping moments that it is hard to imagine any other film this year (or for a while going forward) making the audience's palms as sweaty and also making them unknowingly duck and move from side to side in a vain attempt to help Ryan and Matt dodge more space debris or hang on before they drift away into deep space. Director Alfonso Cuaron is to be commended for creating a space-based film that truly felt like it was shot in space (I know how silly that sounds but trust me, if you see it in IMAX 3D, it's almost like being there). George Clooney was..., well to borrow a line from a previous review I did on a film he starred in, George Clooney, with all of the swagger and coolness one would expect. Sandra Bullock gave a tremendous performance that is sure to make people think about her as something more than the "girl next door" character she always seemed to play in all of those romantic comedies she starred in. She was tough, resourceful, relatable and her journey provided the emotional anchor to the film, giving the audience a reason to root for her to keep going and try to make it back to earth.

Films like Gravity are an absolute delight to watch for it was able to do something most other movies nowadays are not able to, entertain us, giving us something so breathtaking, terrifying and ultimately satisfying that we are able to truly escape from our everyday lives and slip into a world that reminds us that for all of the terror, misfortunate and heartache we face, the human spirit and will can overcome anything.

Grade: A

John Carter: A continuation of Taylor Kitsch's bad summer

Civil War veteran John Carter finds himself transported to Mars, where he becomes entangled in a different civil war between the inhabitants of the planet. He must decide if he will help the Martian Princess or simply continue to drift through life as he was doing back on Earth.

At this point, you almost feel bad for Taylor Kitsch. Both of the major summer blockbusters he has starred in (this one and Battleship) have lost their respective studios money and were soundly drubbed by film critics. However John Carter, like Battleship, was not such a horrible movie. The story, while overburdened with an excess of useless subplots, cutesy Disney moments and unnecessary characters, was accessible enough for the audience so they could at least have a basic understanding of what was happening on screen (i.e. John needed to unite two of the warring factions against the third in order to save the planet and rescue the beautiful Martian Princess). The action became repetitive (yes, we know John can jump really high, that was clear the tenth time we saw it on screen!) but it was palpable and kept the audience engaged. Kitsch tried his best to play up John as an anti-hero who was torn between those incidents which broke him back on Earth and the need to become the warrior and leader he seemed destined to become, and there were some scenes which were effective (the part where there are cuts between a battle sequence and John burying his family comes to mind) but there were some points where he just seemed lost and looked more like Abercrombie & Fitch model who accidentally wondered unto the set. The rest of the cast failed to rise above the mediocre dialogue and character development provided to them by the cliched script.

It is never going to be considered a classic or even a great sci-fi fantasy film but John Carter is not the most horrible way to spend two hours of your life.

Grade: C

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Get your stinkin paws on a copy of this movie!

Dr. Will Rodman is attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. One of the chimpanzees who is exposed to the drug shows an incredible amount of human - like intelligence and emotion, so Will raises him like he was his own child. He is named Cesar and he lives peacefully with Will until he is taken from him and sent to an ape sanctuary. It is there that he is exposed to the inhumane treatment his fellow primates receive, so he formulates a plan to not only help them all escape, but rise up against their human captors.

Prequels are never easy to make (just ask George Lucas). A prequel not only has to acknowledge and pay homage to the original film, but also present its own compelling story to fall in line with that of the original. The original Planet of the Apes (not the 2001 remake by Tim Burton, which was a mistake on a number of levels) carved out a niche for itself as a sci-fi classic, as well as creating a loyal fan base, due to its imaginative story - telling, an extremely quotable leading man in Charlton Heston (even if you have not seen the movie, you are no doubt aware of lines such as "take your stinking paws off me you damn, dirty ape") and ground-breaking makeup effects which made the talking apes believable. This meant that director Rupert Wyatt, James Franco and the rest of the cast and crew of "Rise" had quite a task in front of them but thankfully, for fans and regular film - goers, they were more than ready and created a film that not only does right by the original Planet of the Apes but holds its own.

The story revolved around how Will was trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's (a disease that was afflicting his father Charles). To that end, he experimented on chimpanzees, one of which (with a name that fans of the series will recognize) has a child that Will adopts and raises as his own after she dies. If handled incorrectly, this story could have devolved into a cliched summer action film which would have concentrated more on the destruction and chaos caused by the primates as opposed to the intelligent and thought - provoking film it was. Wyatt took the time to build the story, as well as the characters, allowing the audience the chance to get to know Cesar and empathize with him as he faced emotionally situations. It also helped that the gentleman playing Cesar (Andy Serkis) was able to provide so much emotion in his performance. Serkis is the same guy who breathed life into Gollum and King Kong but this performance has to be considered his finest. Add to that the spectacular finale, which featured the primates ripping up downtown San Francisco as well as the Golden Gate Bridge, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes turned out to be one of those rare prequels that came close to topping the original.

Grade: B+

Paul: A close encounter of the hilarious kind!

Graeme and Clive are two sci-fi fanatics that are on a quest to find out what is really going on in Area 51. But on their way to investigate they run into an actual visitor from another planet named Paul, who is on the run from the authorities. Together they hatch a scheme to get Paul back to his mother ship and back home.

Paul was essentially a buddy road trip film that happened to have an alien and some other screwball shenanigans added in to make it atypical for the genre. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were hilarious as Graeme and Clive respectively, showing the same kind of comic talent and timing that made the other flims which they have starred in together (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) memorable comedic fare. There were plenty of sight gags, thinly veiled references to other classic sci-fi films (the audience was finally shown who truly inspired Stephen Spielberg to create E.T.) and just enough dry "British" humor to cause the audience to geniuely chuckle throughout. But the best (and perhaps most unexpected) part of the film was the fact that title character (voice by Seth Rogen) was so entertaining, effective and believable. Usually when one thinks of a character that is completely CGI unfortunate mistakes like Jar Jar Binks pop into their heads, but Paul was different. He was different in that he did not act like one would expect a visitor from another world to. He wasn't screaming, "take me to your leader" or threatening passers-by with death rays, he just seemed like a regular person. He smoked, cursed and acted crude at points but there was a heart to him which made him endearing. Director Greg Mottola was wise to seize upon this and accenutate those moments where Paul, Graeme and Clive were just hanging out having a good time because those were the moments where the audience could gravitate toward the guys and the quest they were on.

This film was one of those rare comedies that was actually funny, and it is definitely worth a look.

Grade: B

Tron Legacy: A visual dynamo...that's about it

Sam Flynn, the son of a virtual world designer, goes looking for his father twenty years after his disappeared. In his quest to find him, he winds up inside the digital world that his father created and must fight to not only save himself, but to also stop the evil overload that now rules the digital domain of The Grid.

The best aspects of Tron Legacy were its production design and visual effects. Sure, the slow motion bullet-time-esque action shots and skin tight bodysuits worn by the main characters reminded one of The Matrix and the look of The Grid had certain Blade Runner aspects to it, but director Joseph Kosinski was able to build upon what Steven Lisberger, the director of the original Tron, created in the original and fashion a slick, innovative and awe inspiring futuristic world of light cycles and planes, stunning architecture and intense action which most sci-fi fans will find hard to pass up. Where the film faltered was in its story and characters. Garrett Hedlund (who played Sam) was no Keanu Reeves (and trust me, that's a bad thing), Jeff Bridges channeled too much of The Dude (his trademark character from The Big Lebowski) to be taken seriously as Kevin, his CGI-aided role as Clu looked a little too fake (and creepy) from time to time while poor Olivia Wilde (who looked amazing in her bodysuit) was never given much to do as Quorra other than look pretty. The whole story of Sam rushing into The Grid to save his father and stop Clu's evil invasion plans was never given any traction. It never developed into something substantial and felt choppy, rushed and tacked on in an effort to fill time between the visually dazzling sequences.

Just sit back and watch all of the amazing visuals in Tron Legacy, those should be entertaining enough to make you forget that there is not much of a story.

Grade: C+

The Thing From Another World: A Sci-Fi Classic!

When scientists in the North Pole discover something strange has crashed into the ice near their research post, an Air Force team led by Captain Patrick Hendry is dispatched to uncover just what it is. However, what they find not only threatens them, but the entire world.

Even though it was released in 1951 and contains some unavoidably dated special effects, The Thing From Another World remains a fun and intriguing film to watch. The fun comes from the way director Christian Nyby, (although most film connoisseurs will argue that the film’s producer Howard Hawks did the bulk of the directing for the film), was able to utilize the isolated setting of the Anchorage outpost (where the bulk of the action took place) to elicit a sense of claustrophobia and fear as The Thing went about hunting Captain Hendry and the rest of the cast. There was also plenty of action and crackling dialogue (a standard for Hawks - directed films) which kept the film moving at a compelling clip. The intrigue of the movie came from recognizing the impact that it has had on the sci-fi films which came after it. Movies like Alien and Aliens were influenced, both in story and iconography, by The Thing From Another World (witness the Geiger Counter employed by the Air Force men which is similar to the Motion Tracker used by Ripley and others in the Alien films as well as the desire by the Air Force leadership to capture The Thing for further study, something the Weyland/Yutani Corporation was always trying to accomplish in the Alien films). Beyond the obvious influences on modern sci-fi cinema, The Thing From Another World serves as a sort of time capsule which captures the mood of 1950’s America regarding subjects such as the Cold War and the uncertainty regarding the Space Age which had just begun.

All film theory aside, The Thing From Another World is just a tremendously entertaining film to watch.

Grade: A

Solaris: Brainy Sci-Fi at its best!

Dr. Chris Kelvin is sent to investigate what has happened to his friend and the rest of a research team on a space station that is orbiting the planet Solaris. But once he discovers the truth behind the strange happenings on board will he want to return to Earth himself?

I don’t believe that directors set out to confuse the audience with their films, confusion leads to alienation and, ultimately, an upset crowd. After viewing Solaris, I am sure there were more than a few viewers who were looking for a refund because they did not get it. They no doubt saw the name James Cameron on the dvd cover or movie poster and thought Solaris would be a rip-roaring, action packed thriller with big guns and even bigger explosions much in the same vein as Cameron’s previous films (Aliens, Terminator, etc.). Little did they realize that Cameron only produced the movie and let the director, Stephen Soderbergh, craft Solaris into a brainy sci-fi thriller more in line with a film like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It is a shame if viewers decided to turn off the movie once they realized they were not seeing the second coming of Aliens for they missed a film that challenged them to think and react to concepts and ideas that the story introduced, an exercise missing in most sci-fi films (or films in general) nowadays. Solaris dealt with a number of philosophical questions such as what is real, are we alone in this universe and if we are not, what would those other beings we come across want from us (if anything), what does it mean to be alive, and other thought provoking issues that could cause one’s eyes to go cross if they thought about them long enough. A film like this one could easily veer into the realm of pretentiousness if its actors are not believable, thankfully the performances were strong and helped to carry the narrative along. George Clooney gave a very un - George Clooney like turn as Dr. Chris Kelvin in that he was not suave and smooth with the usual charm he is known to exude. Kelvin was a broken man, disconnected from life thanks to the suicide of his wife Rheya (an affective Natasha McElhone) , who is simply going through the motions. When Rheya suddenly reappears to him thanks to the alien phenomena on the space station that is orbiting Solaris, he has to face the feelings and emotions of their tenuous relationship (which we see via flashbacks during the film). Their relationship was the thing that kept the audience hooked and made them ponder some of those deep questions previously mentioned.

Solaris is definitely not for everyone, but you are willing to take a chance and immerse yourself in a film that forces you to work out your own answer, it is worth a look.

Grade: B

Sunshine: Brainy sci-fi at its finest

We as human beings like to believe that we control our own destinies and, if threatened by something such as mass extinction, we would do everything in our power to stop this. But there is also another school of thought which posits that perhaps a threat such as mass extinction is beyond our control and it should be left to a higher power to decide if mankind goes the way of the dinosaur. No, I am not starting a theological debate, merely outlining what the film Sunshine attempted to explore.

Eight astronauts take off in a spacehip called Icarus II to deliver a nuclear bomb to the sun's core in order to restart it. They not only face the usual dangers associated with space travel, but their journey is also complicated by the fact that they discover Icarus I (the spaceship which made the first attempt at restarting the sun) abandoned.

Beyond the solid acting provided by the international cast, the filmmakers are to be commended for creating a sci-fi film that was not only entertaining but also challenged the audience to think about just what Sunshine was trying to show/say. Director Danny Boyle's stunning visuals and screenwriter Alex Garland's smart script were able to draw the audience in by presenting them with an intriguing sci-fi plot. They then ratcheted up the intensity, both action and thrill-wise, during the final quarter of the film before the decisive showdown between Kappa (Cillian Murphy), the scientist and Pinbacker (Mark Strong), the man of religion which was essentially a philosophically-driven throwdown for the fate of humanity. It is hard to believe that filmmakers would tackle a complex debate like science vs. religion and how each could figure in destroying or saving mankind but Boyle and Garland did it in such a way as to not seem preachy or overbearing. They utilized the sci-fi genre to explore this matter and did so with tremendously effective gusto. There are probably naysayers that will point to the lack of sustained action or the somewhat obvious visual cues Boyle seemed to borrow from another thriller set in space (i.e. Alien) as detriments to the film but Sunshine was never meant to be seen as a monster movie.

Sunshine was a bombastic journey that did not shy away from exploring the type of philosophical debate one would not expect to have after the credits rolled.

Grade: B+

Knowing: I know this...

It's great when the star of a film is able to give a performance that is not only memorable, but elevates said film into something more. However there can be times when an actor's performance, like say Nic Cage in Knowing, can be so awkward and distracting that it's hard to even pay attention to the movie.

A time capsule unearthed at his son's school holds dire predictions for John and the rest of the world, one of which is that the end of life on the planet will happen soon. Will John be able to stop that prediction from coming true?

As it was pointed out to me by a good friend that saw Knowing before I did, the religious overtones in the film are heavy, even if director Alex Proyas tried to mask that by adding an extraterrestrial element to the whole thing. John (played by Nic Cage) was a broken man who had lost faith after the death of his wife, turning away from religion and family. His story arc, the road to redemption by trying to figure out just what the mysterious predictions from the time capsule meant, was a compelling one, but it was severely mismanaged via poor storytelling on the part of Proyas and the screenwriters and the aforementioned bad acting. The film seemed to become bloated and plodding when it got away from John's search for answers about the numbers or attempted to bring other characters into the mix (I love Rose Byrne but she seriously added nothing to the film). The whole relationship between John and Diana (Byrne's character) felt forced and silly at points as she took him at his word one minute then yelled at him for being a crackpot the next. The bland characters and gaping plot holes did nothing but hurt the film and if redemption and family were truly what the movie was attempting to explore, then more time should have been spent doing so and not trying to awe the audience with badly CGI'ed plane crashes. Then there's Nic Cage, whose own unique brand of acting might work for some, but clearly is not for everyone. He really was just unlikable as John, and the staccato-like unevenness of his performance could leave one wondering how the guy still gets work.

On paper Knowing seemed like a cool concept with predictions about the end of the world, creepy numbers which could help save everyone from destruction and a main character whose journey to salvation would make for a gripping viewing experience. Too bad it turned out to be another spasmodic sci-fi junker.

Grade: C-

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Not the crappy remake, the original

Remember that soap box I was on earlier about how remakes were just bad in general? Well, recently Fox decided that The Day The Earth Stood Still needed to be remade and decided to slicken up the timeless masterpiece with overwrought CGI, a story with more plot holes than you could count and the dude who played Neo in The Matrix Trilogy. Said remake turned out to be as putrid as day old sewage so my advice for you, gentle reader, is to check out the original, which is a classic.

A flying saucer lands in Washington D.C. and the alien onboard, named Klaatu, wishes to meet with every government on earth. He refuses to reveal the reason why he came until he can talk with the governments. After his request is denied he seeks to understand the people of earth and soon befriends a young boy and his mother. As the military continues to search for him he unveils his mission to a few, unsure if he will be able to deliver it to the world.

The film was not an action-packed thriller with a marauding group of alien invaders looking to conquer earth with their death rays. Instead, it was the tale of a peaceful alien attempting to teach the people of earth that their ways and methods of war and powerful nuclear weapons could ultimately lead to their destruction. Also the film carried a message about how man’s intolerance of those different from themselves and fear of the unknown were nothing more than destructive stupidity which needed to change. Far from being excessively preachy the films’ messages of tolerance and understanding were universal and timeless. There were excellent special effects and Michael Rennie’s performance as Klaatu was extremely convincing.

Grade: A