20161026: Action Review--Bourne Supremacy

Name: Bourne Supremacy (2004)
IMDb: link to Bourne Supremacy page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, Franka Potente as Marie, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, Karl Urban as Kirill, Karel Roden as Gretkov, Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, Oksana Akinshina as Irena Nevski, Gabriel Mann as Danny Zorn, Chris Cooper as Conklin.

Directed by: Paul Greengrass.  Written by: Robert Ludlum (novel), Tony Gilroy (screenplay).

Matt Damon

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Pamela Landy is closing in on a mole in Berlin, Germany.  She hopes to identify and capture the mole, and possibly recover some 20 million USD in CIA funds from a past misadventure.  The operation goes awry in a big way, and Pam has some explaining to do.  Fake evidence is left that implicates Jason Bourne.

In Goa, India, Jason Bourne and Marie enjoy a simple life together.  Jason has headaches and nightmares about his Treadstone days.  Marie helps him make some slow progress on making sense of this.  Crashing this idyllic scene is the hitman Kirill, who kills Marie early on.

Delineation of conflicts:
Various CIA elements want to kill Jason to finally close out Treadstone, to get the person responsible for the Berlin mess, and to cover for the CIA official responsible for the lost CIA funds.  Pamela Landy keeps point on the expanded operation.  Nicky Parsons is re-engaged in the matter.

Jason would like to know what is going on.  He would like to find Kirill and dispose of him.  He would like to straighten out his memory of his first (unofficial) assignment in Berlin some years back, involving the botched assassination of the Russian Nevski.

Resolution: The need for secrecy, which seems to justify anything, wins out in several cases.  The need for the exposure of truth gets a couple of victories.

One line summary: Not as good as the first film.

Dream Diary

Statistics:

Cinematography: 6/10 This was a mixed bag.  Much of the film was a treat for the eye.  The claustrophobic rats' nests that were the CIA operations centers were dingy and ugly and off-putting as one might expect.  The film is a chase film, with moments of discovery regularly mixed in.  Sadly, the chase parts were weakened significantly by the shaky cam method.  Screw that misuse of resources.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog.  The music was occasionally (like the closing credits) engaging.

Acting: 5/10 I enjoyed the performances of Joan Allen, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Franka Potente, and several of the actors with smaller roles.

Unfortunately, Matt Damon was in the film, and his character was its center.  The fight scenes were well done, but were nothing new over the first film.  As with many of Damon's performances, his wooden lack of affect was not interesting.  Rather, it forcefully demonstrates his inability to show any inner life in his character, Jason Bourne.

Screenplay: 8/10 This was a great story.  However, the film is badly weakened by the choice of lead actor and by the shaky cam trash footage.

Final Rating: 6/10 Although I liked the screenplay, I thought the divergence from the books was a serious mistake.

20161026: Action Review--Bourne Ultimatum

Name: Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
IMDb: link to Bourne Ultimatum page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, David Strathairn as Noah Vosen, Scott Glenn as Ezra Kramer, Paddy Considine as Simon Ross, Edgar Ramirez as Paz, Albert Finney as Dr Albert Hirsch, Joey Ansah as Desh Bouksani, Colin Stinton as Neal Daniels.

Directed by: Paul Greengrass.  Written by: Tony Gilroy, Scott Z Burns, George Nolfi (screenplay), from the books by Robert Ludlum.

Jason Bourne, Nicky Parsons

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
In London, UK, reporter Simon Ross hopes to expose Operation Blackbriar, considered an upgrade to Project Treadstone.  Unfortunately for Ross, both the CIA and Jason Bourne catch wind of this.

Bourne tries to protect Ross, but the CIA murders Ross.  The CIA sets about to find Bourne and Ross' source.  The CIA brings in Pamela Landy and Nicky Parsons, who have previous experience with Bourne.

Delineation of conflicts:
People with weapons are chasing Bourne.  He wants to get away.  They want to catch him or kill him.

Resolution: Can Jason find something that will get the bastards off his tail?

One line summary: Worst of the Bourne films.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 0/10 Endless shit.  The shaky cam never ended, and the editing was extremely choppy.

Sound: 4/10 I could hear the dialog.  The music over the end credits was good, but mostly useless during the film.

Acting: 4/10 I liked the performances of Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, and Scott Glenn.

However, Matt Damon was in the film, which was a huge downside force.  His action sequences were believable about half the time.  His mind swamp of angst was a bad cross of irritating and boring.  His transformation from fighting superman to quivering spineless whipping boy for the likes of Dr Hirsch was just nauseating, and seemed to have little or nothing to do with the rest of the film.  So who cares?

Screenplay: 2/10 It's a chase film.  Again, who cares?  The delineation of conflicts section above was the shortest I've ever written.  What did it add beyond the second film?  Answer: ridiculous chase footage, fight scenes we've already watched, more angst nonsense, and some terrible film work.

Final Rating: 3/10 Unneeded pile of nonsense.

20161026: Action Review--Bourne Legacy

Name: Bourne Legacy (2012)
IMDb: link to the Bourne Legacy page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross (Outcome #5), Rachel Weisz as Dr Marta Shearing, Scott Glenn as Ezra Kramer, Stacy Keach as Adm Mark Turso, Edward Norton as Eric Byer, Michael Chernus as Arthur Ingram, Corey Stoll as Zev Vendel, Donna Murphy as Dita Mandy, Dennis Boutsikaris as Terrence Ward.

Oscar Isaac as Outcome #3, Albert Finney as Dr Albert Hirsch, Louis Ozawa Changchien as LARX #3, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, and David Strathairn as Noah Vosen.

Directed by: Tony Gilroy.  Written by: Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy (screenplay),  inspired by Robert Ludlum (books).

Dr Shearing, Aaron Cross

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Aaron Cross walks through rough northern Alaskan landscape to a safe house.  He gets to know his fellow member of the Outcome program, #3, before he treks off to his next destination.  Aaron has been out in the cold for so long that he is short of the medical supplies that the Outcome program uses to keep him in fine fighting shape.

About the same time, large structural breakage has occurred because of the information made public by Jason Bourne and Pamela Landy.  The powers that be decide to shut down the programs Treadstone, Blackbriar, and Outcome programs for creating superb warrior agents.  To complete the job, these powers authorize the murders of all the agents.

Those murders include Outcome agents, in particular #3 and #5 (Aaron).  Beyond that, many of the scientists who do research and monitor agents end up dead.  This almost includes Dr Shearing, but not quite.

Delineation of conflicts:
Aaron escapes the first murder attempt.  He regroups, knowing that his bosses are no longer his allies. He needs to find a new source for the chemicals that keep him whole.

Rachel would like to stay alive; the powers that be think she knows too much to live.  Aaron connects with Rachel and presses her to help him find his chemical boost.  Aaron and Rachel attempt to free Aaron from his chemical dependency, and attempt to get clear of the murderous pursuit.

The powers that be press hard to kill any and all who know too much or disgrace those with public personas, such as Pamela Landy.

Resolution: Both sides get partial success.

One line summary: Best installment of the Bourne series.

Three of the murdering bastards.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10 Often spectacular, occasionally grainy.

Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog.  The music over the closing credits was excellent.  For most of the film, the background music was useless.

Acting: 7/10 I liked the performances of Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Scott Glenn, Oscar Isaac, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Stacy Keach. However, the presence of the always disappointing Edward Norton and ever useless Corey Stoll almost ruined that for me.

Screenplay: 8/10 Rather good, better than the first three Bourne films.  The story moved right along, and motivations were mostly clear.  Normally I would rate this as 9 or 10, but the repulsive acting of Norton and Stoll blunted the clarity of the narrative.

Final Rating: 8/10

20161013: SciFi review--Ascension

Name: Ascension (2015)
IMDb: link to the Ascension page

Genres: SciFi, Fantasy   Country of origin: USA, Canada.

Cast: Tricia Helfer as Viondra Denninger, Gil Bellows as Harris Enzmann, Brian van Holt as Captain William Denninger, Andrea Roth as Dr. Juliet Bryce, Brandon P Bell as Aaron Gault, Al Sapienza as Councilman Rose, Jacqueline Byers as Nora Bryce, Ellie O'Brien as Christa Valis, Laura Lee Smith as Samantha Krueger.

Directed by: Mairzee Alma, et alia; see IMDb link.  Written by: Adrian Cruz, Philip Leven.

Ascension cast

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
In 1963, a 100 year mission to a near star is launched with a select crew of 600 people.  The main action takes place around 2013, or 50 years into the mission.

Over time all sorts of challenges arise, but have been handled, for the most part.  However, certain internal pressures have started to break things.

In 2013, outside the project, not everyone is happy with the Ascension project, mostly because it is far from transparent.

Delineation of conflicts:
Those who work on the lower decks (the 'lowers') resent those who lived above (the 'uppers') and have more privileges and resources to use.  Not everyone gets permission to reproduce; this does not engender confidence and satisfaction.

The ship's crew seems to be hated by just about everyone.  The Stewardesses (led by Viondra) help buffer disputes among groups and gather intelligence.  They have more privilege than many, which is cause for resentment.

Councilman Rose spars with the Captain, both for fun and to get a more pliable Captain in place. Viondra, the Captain's wife, tries to blunt Rose's attempts and keep the Captain in place.

In the real world outside the ship, things are busy as well.  Harris Enzmann fights to keep control of Ascension, and to handle problems as they arise.  Samantha Krueger is hired to find out just what is going on in Ascension.  Enzmann and Krueger naturally butt heads.  Can Ascension actually continue without Enzmann's guiding hand?

Resolution: Given the faults of the setup, the resolution is pretty clear.  This is one more cliche implementation of 'the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'

One line summary: Fake multi-generational space flight.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10 No problems.

Sound: 8/10 I can hear the dialog.  The music occasionally adds tension.

Acting: 5/10 I liked Tricia Helfer and Gil Bellows.  I disliked the performances of Laura Lee Smith, Al Sapienza, and Brian van Holt.  The rest were indifferent.

Screenplay: 4/10 Meh.  There were too many cliches.  The hugely expensive experiment is riddled with obvious flaws.  The whole project is set up without sufficient oversight and transparency.  The goals of Ascension were known to a much too small set of individuals.  Worse yet, these were stupid goals.

Most of the show is about the nuts and bolts of real world science and engineering.  Then there is a jump shift.  Producing individuals gifted with massively strong occult powers is absurd in this context.

The entire final hour was a complete waste of time since the property bounds out of SciFi into the realm of bullshit fantasy.  (There is plenty of good fantasy in film; this just was not it.  This property was 5 hours of SciFi that is straight-laced to the point of being ho-hum.  This is followed by 1 hour of fantasy.  Forget this!)

Final rating: 5/10 The butt of this joke is the viewer.

20161004: Action Review--Skinwalkers

Name: Skinwalkers (2006)
IMDb: link to Skinwalkers page

Genres: Action, Fantasy, thriller   Country of origin: Canada.

Cast:
Jason Behr as Varek/Caleb Talbot, Elias Koteas as Jonas Talbot, Rhona Mitra as Rachel Talbot, Natassia Malthe as Sonja, Kim Coates as Zo, Sarah Carter as Katherine, Matthew Knight as Timothy Talbot, Barbara Gordon as Nana, Tom Jackson as Will.

Directed by: James Isaac.  Written by: James DeMonaco, Todd Harthan.

Rhona Mitra

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Young Tim starts a walk through town with his tall, alert Nana.  In parallel, some biker thugs ride toward town.  Two or so minutes later, everyone in the town and all the invaders are in full-on deadly combat.

The invading murderers claim loudly, "We just want the boy."  Everyone in town would like to live, but each of them is willing to die to protect Tim, especially if they can kill the damned bikers first.

Delineation of conflicts:
The bullet-ridden dialectic reaches an impasse which enables a bit of narration.  The local werewolf (skinwalker) population has been present for quite some time, but it has become divided and polarized. There is a prophecy that a hybrid (Tim) will be born.  There will be three nights in which the blood moon will shine near the thirteenth birthday of the boy.  On the midnight of the third such night, the power of the hybrid will be manifest.

That power is the ability to end the curse that werewolves suffer.

Some of the werewolves embrace the power and bloodlust that the curse brings.  They want the boy dead.  The other faction cherishes their humanity, and wishes the hybrid to survive, to flourish, and to completely fulfill his destiny.

Resolution: Much of the prophecy is fulfilled while each of the two factions quite effectively reduce the numbers of the opposite side.  As the witching hour draws nigh, secrets are revealed and the plot moves forward from one last minute fight to the next.

One line summary: Not your typical werewolf elimination derby.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 7/10 This is a good-looking film, especially the daylight shots.  The dark inside and night time shooting was better than most in this genre.  The skinwalker masks were pretty poor, though, and there was a lot of werewolf footage.

Sound: 8/10 No particular problems.

Acting: 8/10 Rhona Mitra, Tom Jackson, Elias Koteas, and Barbara Gordon gave fine performances. I never expect much from child actors, but Matthew Knight was pretty good.  Jason Behr was better than I thought he would be.

Screenplay: 7/10 Daybreakers (2009) owes the current film for some of its concepts.  Daybreakers had a bigger budget, a more highly regarded cast, and a more detailed script.  Daybreakers was more on the science side of fantasy, while Skinwalkers was more in the traditional fantasy horror side.

In any case, I liked the film's energy, its nice combination of plot elements, and its ending.  Right up until the finish, I thought this was one of the usual bloody 'kill them all' movie.

Final Rating: 7/10

20160925: Comedy Review--The Road to Hong Kong

Name: The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
IMDb: link to The Road to Hong Kong

Genres: Comedy, SciFi   Country of origin: UK.

Cast:
Bing Crosby as Harry Turner, Bob Hope as Chester Babcock, Joan Collins as Diane, Robert Morley as Leader of the Third Echelon, Walter Gotell as Dr. Zorbb, Dorothy Lamour as Dorothy Lamour, Felix Aylmer as Grand Lama, Mai Ling as Ming Toy, Yvonne Shima as Poon Soon, Michele Mok as Mr. Ahso.  Then there is the cameo with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Directed by: Norman Panama.  Written by: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama (screenplay).

Joan Collins, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Babcock and Turner are two minor con men who have fallen on bad times.  By chance, Babcock finds the only copy (hm) of a secret Russian formula for an advanced rocket fuel.  He manages to read the formula (without understanding), but destroys the written copy soon after.  The pair discover that the formula is sought after, and could bring them money.  They start the search for a way for Babcock to recall the specifications for the fuel.

Delineation of conflicts:
The pair search for, and find, the High Lama.  The Lama's people have the lore to let Babcock remember the rocket fuel recipe.  However, the Lama and all his society agree that the special concoction needed to do this should never leave their home.  That is a fine mess for Hope and Crosby to bumble their way out of.

No sooner than they have ditched the High Lama's agents, the 3rd Echelon wishes to get the formula which will enable flight to the Moon.  From the Moon, the 3rd Echelon hopes to bomb modern civilization (1962 style) into submission.  Diane is the 3rd Echelon's agent who manipulates the con men easily.  She gets them to headquarters without too much trouble.

The last conflict is for Diane's loyalty.  She is loyal to her employer, but she grows to like both Babcock and Turner.  Her boss is willing to do anything to get the rocket formula, including killing either or both of the con men.

Resolution: This was a vaudeville style comedy, so one does not expect a rousing ending which is a triumph of coherence.  Instead, we get a couple more laughs from the film industry making fun of itself after the heroes (?) save the world but not themselves.

One line summary: Hope and Crosby in the last Road picture.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 5/10 This film gets an A+ for cheesiness.  The rockets, the submarine, the planet at the end of the picture, and the animated fish were incredibly obviously fake.  The footage of actors, though, tends to be crisp and well-framed.

Sound: 8/10 It is in mono, but has been updated for current broadcast standards.  I did not catch any pop and hiss that one normally expects from 54 year old properties.

Acting: 6/10 It's a comedy and I got a couple of dozen laughs.  It's hard for me to complain.  However, Hope and Crosby were both rather terrible at acting in this one.  On the other hand, I enjoyed Joan Collins the most.  She was gorgeous in 1962, she spoke her lines well, and her singing voice was better than I expected.  Dorothy Lamour and Robert Morley added good laughs.

Screenplay: 6/10 The overall plot is silly, and the script is slanted toward one-lines and sight gags.  So it's not a great work of art, but it was a comedy that got me to laugh.

Final Rating: 6/10

20160920: SciFi Review--Total Recall

Name: Total Recall (2012)
IMDb: link to Total Recall page

Genres: SciFi   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Colin Farrell as Douglas Quaid/Hauser, Kate Beckinsale as Lori Quaid, Jessica Biel as Melina, Bryan Cranston as Cohaagen, Bokeem Woodbine as Harry, Bill Nighy as Matthias, John Cho as McClane.

Directed by: Len Wiseman.  Written by: Kim Wimmer, Mark Bomback (screenplay).

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
In a dark future dystopia, Douglas works in the UK side of Europe, but lives in Australia.  His job is hardly fulfilling, and he is haunted by recurring disturbing dreams.  In this stressful situation, he considers using the service Total Rekall, which provides the customer with an extra set of memories that are satisfying in some sense.

Douglas signs up with Total Rekall to be a secret agent against Chancellor Cohaagen, the leader of the UFB, the strongest state.  His rewards would be excitement and a growing sense of self-worth, at least while experiencing the extra memories.

Delineation of conflicts:
The imaginary scenario of Total Rekall never gets imprinted.  Armed agents crash into Total Rekall to arrest or kill Douglas.  He avoids dying, but unfortunately goes home to his 'wife' Lori, who is not his ally.  Douglas is on a quest to stay alive, to regain his memories, to find old or new allies, and to figure out what he wants to do with what time he has left.  There seem to be factions within Cohaagen's administration, but all of them seem to be after Douglas.  Opposing the administration is the Resistance, one of whose leaders is Matthias.  Douglas tries to find Matthias.  Will this free Douglas, or will it just accomplish Cohaagen's goals of putting down the Resistance?

Resolution:  Murky, right up to the end.

One line summary:  Hard reboot of the 1990 classic.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 10/10  The practical and CGI effects are impressive, showing the improvement of technology from 1990 to 2012.  Compared to this film, the original seems somewhat inventive but clunky and out of date.  It's hard to miss the debt of the 2012 film to _Star Wars_ in general, storm troopers, droid armies, and city of Coruscant in particular.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog, which is good.  The background music is not all that interesting.

Acting: 5/10 Negatives: Kate Beckinsale is at her most unconvincing.  Jessica Biel was her usual unremarkable self, decorative but without warmth.  Compared to Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin, the 2012 pair were cold cardboard.

Positives: Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Nighy were great in limited roles.  I usually consider Colin Farrell a totally blunt instrument, but liked his acting here.  On the other hand, I believed Arnold's action sequences, but Farrell's, not so much.

Screenplay: 6/10 This film is a strong departure from the 1990 film of the same name, so much so that a different name altogether would have been appropriate.

Final Rating: 6/10

20160919: Comedy Review--Love and Friendship

Name: Love & Friendship (2016)
IMDb: link to Love & Friendship page

Genres: Comedy  Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon, Chloe Sevigny as Alicia Johnson, Morfydd Clark as Frederica Vernon, Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin, Jenn Murphy as Lady Lucy Manwaring, Lochlann O'Mearain as Lord Manwaring, Sophie Radermacher as Miss Maria Manwaring, Stephen Fry as Mr.

Directed by: Whit Stillman.  Written by: Jane Austen (novella Lady Susan), Whit Stillman (screenplay).

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Lady Susan Vernon loses her husband at Langford.  She imposes herself on Churchill.

Delineation of conflicts:
Not everyone is delighted by Susan's presence.  Susan is a notably charming flirt, a spendthrift, as well as devious and changeable.  Sir James Martin, quite a dolt but with income, is interested in Frederica, Susan's daughter, but Frederica is not interested in him.  Susan wants Sir James to succeed with Frederica for the income, but what will Sir James get in return?

Resolution: Delightful.  Stay tuned until the end.

One line summary: Comedy based on Jane Austen novella.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Lovely sets, good lighting, nice

Sound: 9/10 I could hear the dialog clearly, and the background music fit the period piece well.

Acting: 9/10 Kate Beckinsale was better than I've ever seen her.  Chloe Sevigny was good as Susan's friend.  Tom Bennett as fine as the blockhead Sir James Martin.

Screenplay: 10/10 Stillman's screenplay based on Austen's novella was rich in its word play, and nicely executed.  I had dozens of good laughs.

Final Rating: 9/10

20160911: Fantasy Review--It Follows

Name: It Follows (2014)
IMDb: link to It Follows page

Genres: Fantasy  Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Maika Monroe as Jay Height, Keir Gilchrist as Paul, Olivia Luccardi as Yara, Lili Sepe as Kelley Height, Bailey Spry as Annie, Jake Weary as Hugh, Daniel Zovatto as Greg.

Written and directed by: David Robert Mitchell.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
There is an opening, very short sequence about Annie, who is running from something.  She drives to a beach, then waits.  Next morning, she's dead.  Do we reconnect with this?

The film is about Jay Height, not Annie.  Jay grows closer to a boyfriend, Hugh.  They have sex at a remote place in the back of his four door sedan.  Then he drugs her, takes her to an abandoned car park, then ties her to a chair on rollers.  The boyfriend says that he's passed something on to her.  As they speak, a woman approaches.  The boyfriend gets agitated.  Unless Jay passes it on to someone else via sex, the whatever-it-is will come back for him.

Delineation of conflicts:
The police interview Jay.  They find the parking lot that Hugh took her to, chair she was tied to, her lost purse, and the apartment that Hugh said was his.

Jay seems to be followed by various characters.  Are they figments of her imagination, or is something real after her?  She has a difficult time showing anybody direct evidence of the followers, who seem to be reanimated dead.  Does that change?  Does she pass 'it' on to someone else?  Can she escape with the help of friends?  These are Jay's attempts to deal with the unknown.

Resolution: Jay finds that 'Hugh' was a Jeff Redmond.  Jeff tries to be helpful with limited success.  Greg tries to take the problem away from her in a bit of macho display that fails.  Where is the solution, or is there one?

One line summary: Slow boiling fantasy thriller.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Dingy and dark realistic photography of a town in steep decline in Michigan, USA.  It looks professionally done and adds to the atmosphere, I suppose.

Sound: 7/10 I can hear the dialog, which is the first big test on sound.  Did the foley or background music add much to the proceedings?  During the first 50 minutes, not so much.  Later the electronic music did some mood augmentation.

Acting: 6/10 The acting was much better than I expected for this sort of film.

Screenplay: 4/10 There is no possibility that any of the events in this film could happen, so this is supernatural horror, which I label as fantasy these days.  As usual with fantasy, one has to judge the film against its internal rules, since it has it has decided to lose connection with reality.

The one rule seems to be "if you've got it, you'll know it; convincing anyone else is another matter;" another is "pass it along or it will kill you."  The film stays pretty true to those two fantasy premises.

The film moves slowly, which was not a plus for me.  There was barely enough content here for a 42 minute television episode, much less a 105 minute feature film.  The tiny theme of the safe suburbs versus the evil city never seemed to go anywhere for me.  Just to cap everything off, the ending is nebulous.  Perhaps that was meant to be an opening for a sequel.

Some of the visuals seemed to be disconnected islands, such as when Jay swam out to a boat on a lake, and the opening scene with Annie.

Final Rating: 6/10

20160905: Thriller Review--Silver Streak

Name: Silver Streak (1976)
IMDb: link to Silver Streak page

Genres: Action, Thriller, Crime  Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Gene Wilder as George Caldwell, Richard Pryor as Grover Muldoon, Jill Clayburgh as Hildegard ('Hilly') Burns, Scatman Crothers as Ralston, Ned Beatty as Bob Sweet, Ray Walston as Mr Whiney, Patrick McGoohan as Roger Devereaux, Clifton James as Sheriff Chauncey, Richard Kiel as Reace.

Directed by: Arthur Hiller.  Written by: Colin Higgins.

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
George Caldwell (publishing) and Hilly Burns (secretary to an art historian) meet on a train trip from Los Angeles to Chicago aboard the train called the Silver Streak.  They get along swimmingly. Unfortunately, through their cabin window, George sees a dead body dropped off the train.

Delineation of conflicts:
The body was that of Hilly's boss.  When George inquires about the boss, he gets thrown off the train while it's still moving.  By luck, he catches up with the Silver Streak, and gets back on.  The rest of the film is about George trying to stay alive, to find out just what happened, and to set things right if he can.

Hilly seems to be involved.  Bob Sweet tells George about Roger Devereaux, whose 'chauffeur' Reace threw George off the train.  When George confronts Hilly and Roger about the matter, Roger has a feasible explanation.  Even better, the art professor himself shows up.  Or does he?

George gets a bit tipsy, and tells Bob Sweet about the matter.  George is confused and needs someone to talk to, after all.  So, will George be able to pass off the dead body sighting as just a drunken misperception, or will the truth win out?

Resolution: Just about the time you think you've got the film figured out, Richard Pryor's character shows up and changes everything.  The film moves to a satisfying conclusion.

One line summary: Murder mystery with Wilder & Pryor.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10 Among other things, this is a travel film.  The shots of the countryside from LA to Chicago are pretty nice.  The interiors are clear, well-lit, and well-focused.

Sound: 8/10 The dialog was easy to follow.  The music was typical 1970s fare.  Some of it was a bit too florid and orchestral for my taste.  Other parts were made with those old style synthesizers which sound primitive these days.

Acting: 9/10 Gene Wilder carries the show for the first 60% or so, and did a good job as the lead.  Jill Clayburgh was good in a limited role as the secretary who knew just a bit too much.  Ned Beatty's short stint was good.  Patrick McGoohan delivered urbane menace quite well, and Ray Walston was a good grumpy henchman.  When Richard Pryor entered the fray, the afterburners kicked in.

Screenplay: 9/10 The film was engaging from beginning to end, with a few laughs thrown in.

Final Rating: 9/10 Excellent.  Nice script, good execution by the cast.

20160904: Comedy Review--See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Name: See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
IMDb: link to See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Genres: Comedy, Thriller   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Gene Wilder as Dave Lyons, Richard Pryor as Wally Karue, Joan Severance as Eve, Kevin Spacey as Kirgo, John Capodice as Scotto, Anthony Zerbe as Sutherland, Alan North as Captain Braddock, Kirsten Childs as Adele.

Directed by: Arthur Hiller.  Written by: Earl Baret, Arne Sultan (story).

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Dave owns a news stand.  Wally is looking for a job.  Dave is deaf, Wally is blind.  Wally likes gambling, and owes his bookie Scotto 2800 USD.  Scotto, in turn, owes money to far nastier people. The bookie leaves a valuable gold coin in Dave's pay box before Eve kills him.  Dave and Wally are arrested for the crime.

Delineation of conflicts:
Wally and Dave try to prove that Eve did the murder, and Kirgo is her accomplice.  Eve and Kirgo attempt to retrieve the rare coin for Sutherland, and eliminate Wally and Dave.  The cops, led by Captain Braddock, want to apprehend Wally and Dave after they escape to prove their innocence. Wally's sister Adele tries to help them, and gets a load of trouble for her efforts.

Resolution: Dave and Wally do a lot better (and worse) than one might think.

One line summary: Pryor and Wilder in their prime.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 7/10 Meh.  Looks like 1980s video.

Sound: 7/10 I could hear the dialog, which was the biggest issue to consider.  Background music was barely a consideration.

Acting: 8/10 Wilder and Pryor dominate the film, but the supporting players added laughs as well.

Screenplay: 8/10 It's a fairly simple story, but well done.  The gag at the end with Anthony Zerbe and Richard Pryor was just delightful.

Final Rating: 8/10 If you like either Pryor or Wilder, you've got to see this one.

20160902: Fantasy Review--The Last Witch Hunter

Name: The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
IMDb: link to The Last Witch Hunter page
Genres: Fantasy, Action.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Vin Diesel as Kaulder, Rose Leslie as Chloe, Michael Caine as Dolan the 36th, Elijah Wood as Dolan the 37th, Olafur Darri Olafsson as Belial, Julie Engelbrecht as the Witch Queen.

Directed by: Breck Eisner.  Written by: Mark Sazama, Cory Goodman, Burk Sharpless (screenplay).

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Initial, part I: We're in the black plague era in Europe, say 13th century.  The spread of the plague is attributed to the spellcasting of evil witches.  Vin Diesel's character, Kaulder, is one of the witch hunters who finds the Witch Queen.  Kaulder and company put an end to the plague, but at the cost of Kaulder's wife, his only child, and most of his hunter friends.  While dying, the Witch Queen curses Kaulder.

Initial, part II:  In current New York City, Kaulder is still hunting witches.  Yes, the same Kaulder. He's allied with an old group within the church, the Axe and Cross, which tries and imprisons witches.  They also keep secrets.  Kaulder's main contact with Axe and Cross is Dolan the 36th, played by Michael Caine, in one of those short roles that he does so well.  Dolan is quite old, and Dolan the 37th seems ready to take over being contact with the immortal Kaulder.

Delineation of conflicts:
In the present, witch activity seems to be picking up.  Something large is brewing.  Kaulder suffers a number of reverses, and his list of allies shrinks.

The film began in apocalyptic mode, and near the end it is almost there again.  Kaulder must face what he did not face the first time, 800 years ago.

Resolution: Will Kaulder find new allies, or must he carry the day himself?

One line summary: Attempt at another Vin Diesel movie franchise.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 8/10 Well done on the whole; the visuals kept my attention.

Sound: 8/10 Dialog is clear.  Music seemed appropriate.

Acting: 5/10 Michael Caine was fine in his short role as noted above.  Vin Diesel is convincing as an action hero, even here with swords, magic, fists, and intention instead of cars, guns, and explosives. Julie Engelbrecht had her fine moments as Kaulder's arch nemesis, the Witch Queen, at the very beginning, and at the very end. Olafur Darri Olafsson was a blast as Belial, an in-your-face opponent for Kaulder.

Elijah Wood's performance sucked rocks.  Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, 17 episodes) was almost interesting as Kaulder's on-again, off-again witch ally.  That was a bit weak, since she was supposed to be the female lead.

Screenplay: 5/10 Violence and threat moves the plot along, so the 106 minutes runtime does not drag too badly. I'm glad I saw the film, but would not watch it again.  Why not?  The narrative is not well-constructed.  It seemed like every five minutes there was some change or rules, or some impressive (?) artifact to consider.

At the end of the film, I felt that I should have been happier for the protagonist, but just could not be. Would there be major challenges for him in the centuries to come?  Would Chloe be a reliable ally? By this time I did not care, and I felt this to be a major failing of the film.

Final Rating: 6/10 I liked it better than most people did, but I would be hard pressed to say, 'you must see this one.'

Checking against Box Office Mojo and IMDb, the film took in 27 million USD domestically, against 90 million USD production costs, so the chances for a sequel are slim.  The Numbers website puts worldwide revenue at 131 million USD, plus 19 million in disks. This does not increase the likelihood of a sequel by much.  Chances for a franchise: none.

20160831: Action Review--The Gunman

Name: The Gunman (2015)
IMDb: link to The Gunman page

Genres: Action, mystery, thriller, crime.   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Sean Penn as Jim Terrier, Idris Elba as Barnes, Jasmine Trinca as Annie, Javier Bardem as Felix, Ray Winstone as Stanley, Mark Rylance as Cox.

Directed by: Pierre Morel.  Written by: Jean-Patrick Manchette (novel), Don MacPherson (screenplay).

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Terrier worked in the Congo in 2006 during their civil war as a mercenary.   His speciality is assassination, and he kills the minister of mines.  Minister of mines is a key position, due to the Congo's mineral wealth.  Terrier's being tasked with this shows his level of trust with whomever is paying him.  Jim is having an affair with Annie, who is a doctor who does humanitarian work.  Felix is in love with Annie, which she does not reciprocate at the time.

Delineation of conflicts:
Eight years later, Jim is back in the Congo, again working in parallel with a humanitarian agency, but not as an assassin.  However, someone holds a grudge, and makes an attempt on his life.  Their agents are charged with providing proof of death.  Terrier intends to keep living.  In order to do that, he needs to know the motivations of whoever wants to kill him. His adversary has no intention of that happening, so the mystery/thriller action ensues.

Terrier leaves Congo for London to confer with his former colleague Cox.  He asks about the complete list of those who knew about the assassination.  This is the springboard for the rest of the film's plot: find the true players and ask them what's what.

Just to make things more interesting, Jim's past war injuries have had a cumulative effect.  He has memory loss and passes out now and them.  Can he keep it together long enough to sort this out?

Jim's first stop is Barcelona, the last known of Felix, his first real target.  However, Felix just might have his own agenda here.

Resolution: Jim finds out some of what he needs to know, but will he find out enough?

One line summary: Sean Penn as an action hero.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 7/10 Not all that good.

Sound: 8/10 Dialog is clear.  Music is subdued but appropriate.

Acting: 7/10 Mark Rylance was fine as I expected.  Ray Winstone was an asset. Sean Penn was in good form.  Javier Bardem disappointed as usual.  The overused Idris Elba was better than I expected in a small role.  Jasmine Trinca was OK for what the script gave her to work with.

Screenplay: 6/10 Violence and threat moves the plot along, so the 115 minutes runtime does not drag. The romantic angle was bleak and sad, but did resolve somewhat well.  I'm glad I saw the film, but would not watch it again.  Checking against Box Office Mojo and IMDb, it took in 11 million domestically, against 40 million production costs, so the chances for a sequel are slim.

At the end of the film, I felt that I should have been happier for the protagonist, but just could not be.  I felt this to be a major failing of the film.

Final Rating: 7/10 I liked it better than most people did, but I would be hard pressed to say, 'you must see this one.'

20160812: SciFi Review--Sharknado 4

Name: Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016)
IMDb: link to Sharknado 4 page

Genres: Action, SciFi   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Ian Ziering as Fin Shepard, Tara Reid as April Wexler, David Hasselhoff as Colonel Gilbert Shepard, Masiela Lusha as Gemini, Cody Linley as Matt Shepard, Imani Hakim as Gabrielle, Ryan Newman as Claudia Shepard, Tommy Davidson as Aston Reynolds, Gary Busey as Wilford Wexler, Al Roker as himself, plus many others.

Directed by: Anthony C. Ferrante.  Written by: Thunder Levin.

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Aston Reynolds has made a fortune building installations that prevent the formation of sharknados. Five years have gone by since Sharknado 3, and a new series of variations on sharknado form.  Fin's father, the Colonel, has been rescued from the Moon, and Fin's wife, April, has been revived and rebuilt as a cyborg.

Delineation of conflicts:
The sharks are hungry and are coming in several shapes and forms in several locations about the connected United States.  The majority of humans have no defense whatsoever against this.  Fin and his family attempt to fend off the sharks and help Aston stop the sharknado formation.

Resolution: Seriously?  If they can bring back April, they can do whatever they want for future Sharknado films.  The precedent has been set.  Nothing is ever finished here.

One line summary: Fin Shepard and family fight sharknados again.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 4/10 Natural photography without shaky cams: rather nice.  SFX: beyond cheesy, beyond rotten, just terrible, and there was a lot of it.

Sound: 5/10 OK, but nothing to brag about.

Acting: (-2)/10 There was no acting, except perhaps by Al Roker.  Gary Busey looked like he needed life support for this one.

Screenplay: (-1)/10 Hacksaws were the artistic motif.  Illogic reigned over everything.  This was one continuous downpour of bullshit.

Final Rating: 0/10 The Asylum at its worst, perhaps redefining the limits of bad.

20160812: Action Review--Atomic Shark

Name: Atomic Shark (2016)
IMDb: link to Atomic Shark page

Genres: Action, SciFi   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Rachele Brooke Smith as Gina, Jeff Fahey as Rottger, David Faustino as Fletcher, and so on.

Directed by: A. B. Stone.  Written by: Scott Foy, Griff Furst.

Image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
At a Southern California beach, Rottger rents out his speed boat for water skiers.  While doing this, the skier is eaten by a red glowing shark.  Rottger reports this to the beach patrol, but is ignored.

On the beach, there are lifeguards (led by a total jackass), the environmentalists, the voyeurs, plus the normal folk.   Gina is Rottger's daughter, one of the lifeguards, and a so-so student of the environment.  She draws her boss' disapproval by insisting that there is a shark problem.

Delineation of conflicts:
The sharks would like to kill and eat the humans.  The environmental group would like the radioactive waste in a sunken submarine to be cleaned up.

As the incidents mount, the drone flyer, the environmentalists, Rottger, and Gina band together to take the issue to the source of the mutated sharks.  The sharks do not take it lying down.

The millennials want selfies every so many minutes, so there is the war with the WiFi.

Resolution: Depends on whether the WiFi works out at sea to coordinate the attack using tablets.

One line summary: Radioactive mutant sharks vs environmental students in SoCal.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 6/10 Bright, well-focused, reasonably framed for natural, outdoor, daytime shooting.  The CGI was frequently unconvincing.

Sound: 7/10 No particular problems.

Acting: 4/10 Jeff Fahey was about as good as he could get given the rotten screenplay.  Other than Jeff, the other actors were between mighty poor and abysmal.

Screenplay: 1/10 Gods of all stars, save me from this crap! The script was just terrible.  This is one of the worst efforts I've seen through Syfy, which is saying a lot.  There were shark movie cliches, beach cliches, stupid boss cliches, radioactivity cliches, and father-daughter cliches.  Add in stereotypical views of millennials, the necessity of WiFi, and the 'ability' of sharks to do just about anything.

Final Rating: 3/10

20160811: Action Review--Ice Sharks

Name: Ice Sharks (2016)
IMDb: link to Ice Sharks page

Genres: Action   Country of origin: USA.

Cast:
Edward DeRuiter as David, Jenna Parker as Tracy, Kaiwi Lyman Mersereau as Michael, Clarissa Thibeaux as Alex, Travis Lincoln Cox as Sammy, Mia Danielle as Val.

Written and directed by: Emile Edwin Smith.

image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
A group of young (25-35-ish) scientists study warming patterns in the Arctic icepack.  A nearby Norwegian camp has been losing hunters in the last month or so.  Some of the underwater warming patterns seem alarming, so Sammy is sent out to check the sensors.

Delineation of conflicts:
The sharks would like to kill and eat the humans.  The humans would like to survive.  The sharks show behavior similar to teamwork.  For instance, the sharks manage to sink the station since the ice underneath it is so much thinner than it has been historically. The humans exhibit cleverness and bravery in countering the effects of the shark attacks on the station.  They seal out the sharks and get a new oxygen source while underwater.  Will they hold off the sharks long enough for help to arrive?

Resolution: The results were sad, but not as bleak as in most elimination derbies.

One line summary: Sharks vs environmental scientists in the Arctic.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 5/10 Where it was not shaky cam, it was good.  However, much of the SFX were truly, deeply, POS bad.  For instance, the model of the station was shabbily obvious for all too many minutes, rather like bad 1950s creature features.

Sound: 8/10 No particular problems.

Acting: 7/10 Some of it was a bit wooden.  On the other hand, the team showed courage and intelligence in the face of adversity.  The usual acting in such a film is to scream a lot, then do something extremely stupid.  This group was definitely better than that, which takes more acting skill.

Screenplay: 7/10 Unlike in a typical teen elimination derby, the somewhat older group in this film cooperated and had several small victories.  This did not compensate entirely against the depredations of the sharks, but it made for a better film.  There were adults present, and the adults wisely called mayday early on, which was a partially saving grace for the group.

Final Rating: 7/10 Yes, I must be in a generous mood, but this is the best Asylum film I've seen so far.

20160810: Comedy Review--Gambit

Name: Gambit (2012)
IMDb: link to the Gambit (2012) page

Genres: Comedy   Country of origin: USA

Cast:
Colin Firth as Harry Deane, Alan Rickman as Lionel Shabandar, Tom Courtenay as The Major, Cameron Diaz as PJ Puznowski, Spencer Cummins as Sgt Puznowski, Cloris Leachman as Grandma Merle Puznowski, Stanley Tucci as Zaidenweber,  Togo Igawa as Takagawa.

Directed by: Michael Hoffman.  Written by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (screenplay); Sidney Carroll (short story).

image courtesy of TMDb

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
Harry Deane hates his blowhard multimillionaire boss, Shabandar, who collects art.  Harry is moderately well paid as Shabandar's art curator.  Harry's long time friend, The Major, has a fine hand at forging known works of master oil painters.

Some years back, Shabandar bested the Japanese art collector Takagawa at the auction of Monet's Haystacks in the Morning.  Shabandar would dearly love to acquire the companion piece, Haystacks in the Evening.  Evening was lost in World War II, but Harry sees an opportunity.

Delineation of conflicts:
Harry would like to sell Shabandar the fake created by the Major.  Shabandar would like to own the companion piece.  Harry would like to get rich and stay out of jail, so he plans to create a fake provenance to the target painting.

Harry travels to Texas to find the American rodeo woman PJ Pusnowski, whose grandfather, Sgt Pusnowski supposedly liberated the painting from the Germans who had swiped it earlier in the war.  Shabandar paid 11 million pounds sterling for Morning, so Harry expects to get at least 12 million for Evening.  He offers PJ a large chunk of change, and she decides to cooperate in crafting a false segment of the provenance of The Major's copy.  That is, Evening had been sitting in Texas all those years.

While schmoozing Shabandar in London with PJ, Harry's weak position leads to his firing as well Shabandar's commandeering of PJ's attentions.  Shabandar hires Zaidenweber as an alternate authenticator for the proposed Evening.  Harry hopes to reverse his fortunes, but goodness, what a feckless fool!

Takagawa is in London, ostensibly, to sell certain television rights to Shabandar.  PJ helps Shabandar deal with the Japanese contingent brought along by Takagawa.  This will cement Shabandar's standing in Japanese television.  PJ is swimming in this deal and having the time of her life.  Harry is completely shut out of this, of course.

Harry's last asset is that he has The Major's fake Evening.  Can he use this to reverse all his setbacks?

Resolution: Harry seems a dim bulb, but is he?  Throughout the film, we see him face defeat after defeat, and a mounting sense of overall embarrassment.  The film's title is a good clue to Harry's actual plans.

One line summary: Fine remake of the 1966 caper film.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 9/10 Good looking from beginning to end.

Sound: 8/10 The dialog was clear, the foley was good, and the incidental music amusing.

Acting: 9/10 Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, and Tom Courtenay were excellent.  The rest of the cast did well.

Screenplay: 9/10 The pacing of the film was wonderful.  I got several hearty laughs out of the film, and a dozen or so chuckles.  Not once did I have to strain at suspending disbelief, and the ending came as a mild surprise.

Final Rating: 9/10