Exodus

Exodus is yet another 21st century Biblical adaptation. Like the Western, Bible stories depict a specific time period, but they are constantly being adapted to mirror the thoughts and concerns of the era. Stagecoach vs. Unforgiven. The 10 Commandments vs. Exodus. In Ridley Scott's adaptation, Moses is kind of an acekicker. He's a warrior and general who is banished, gets hit on the head, and starts talking to God. God is represented by an angry little boy whose tantrums embody the 10 plagues of Egypt. Moses argues with God, but ultimately listens and abides. I guess that's us now. 

Mocking Jay .5

When did we start cutting movies in half? Be honest, Hollywood, did you just shoot one movie, divide it up, and charge me twice? Going all the way back to Back to the Future 2 & 3, those so & sos were up to something. I can forgive Doc Brown and Neo's Matrices because, even though the sequels were bullspit, they were separate stories. Kill Bill was divided out of necessity, plus it kicks ace, so all is forgiven. But Mocking Jay is one book the way Hunger Games is one book. Give me one complete story, don't leave out...

Equalizer

Respected actresses get older and they play bitter divorcees, on the verge of a life changing moment. Respected actors get older and they play solitary bad aces, on the verge of shoving a corkscrew under a Russian mobster's chin. Denzel, Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan: they all seem to be starring in these (let's face it) upscale exploitation movies with "spy" or "thriller" attached to them. Here Denzel acts as an avenging angel, resourceful in his use of household items. Whether corkscrewed, barbwired, or nail gunned, he gives the mobsters that piercing, Glory stare. Ultra-violent and absurd, sure. But that stare...

Walk Among Tombstones

There's no disputing Liam Neeson kicks ace. Following the death of his wife, his movies are ultra-violent and dark, as he plays the brooding ex-mercenary/cop/spy. His characters are kind of broken, but "possess a particular set of skills" that allow him to...kill a whole bunch of people. I can go along for the ride because, in the end, it's fiction. But why do movies like Tombstones have to include torture and mutilation to set things in motion? It's become a necessity for thrillers and we're so numb to it, we just move on to the next one.

The Drop

Tom Hardy is the man. He's this generation's Marlon Brando. His character reminded me a lot of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront--subtle, sad, but with this undercurrent of rage. If you follow that movie template, James Gandolfini filled in for Charlie (smart & shiftless) and Noomi Rapace for Edie (noble & broken). The Drop has the same gritty blend of working class crime with a fallen protagonist. That's probably the character type I am most drawn to: the guy who knows there's something better, but doesn't quite know if he deserves it.

Calvary

A brutal, unflinching metaphor on how society punishes religious faith for the sins of the world. Cheese-and-rice. It's gonna take me a few episodes of Saved by the Bell to get over this one.

November Man

I had a vision while watching this movie: a bunch of people getting together to make a mediocre, run-of-the-mill spy thriller. The first day of shooting, Pierce Brosnan inexplicably wanders on set and decides to be in the movie. "I say," Mr. Brosnan says in a cultured English accent. "Why don't I just play the lead?" And he does. Because he's awesome.

Sin City 2

Almost immediately after watching this movie I had to revisit the first Sin City to get back into the characters and their intertwining stories. I like the fact that the timeline isn't exactly clear from one movie to the next, or even from story to story. This movie had the same look, feel, and hard-boiled dialogue of the first, but it seemed to lack the same excitement and nuance. It almost felt like one of those animated Disney sequels released to DVD. They want to give you a little extra, without the same commitment they had the first time around. 

100 Foot Journey

I don't think you can necessarily use the term "food porn" if you're not crazy about the food. When it comes to Indian cuisine, for me, it's more like food dating. I'm interested in some of your sexier dishes, but I'm not sure about an uninhibited evening of curry-sutra. Let's get to know each other first; I can't be slutting it up like I do with French food. Ultimately, Journey depicts this balance: French & Indian cuisine, culture, and storytelling. You know there will be a clash from the onset, but this will lead to a delicious blend of feelgoodiness.

Get On Up

You gotta have a list of things to check off for a biopic of a musical legend:

Aged performer reflects before a show.
Troubled childhood haunts career.
Performer alienates loved ones.
Musical montages depict rise/fall.
Performer makes amends with loved ones.

This movie has all of that. But it also opens with a heavy set woman sitting on a toilet, prompting James Brown to fire a shotgun at the ceiling. It's his toilet, so he's edgy. Plus he's high. Then he looks into the camera. The audience becomes complicit to everything he does: good, bad, and worse. Sold.

Hercules

We're starting out with the 12 Labors of Hercules? Sweet! Wait, what? We're bypassing the hydras and impenetrable lions and grounding Hercules in reality? Awwwwww.....raspberries. Why does every fantasy movie have to get real and just a little dark? Can't they just be big, dumb fun anymore?

Wish I Was Here

I liken this movie to a sketch or rough draft: it's not completely fleshed out, but it has some interesting ideas. There was an abundance of Scrubsy zaniness--Rabbi watching YouTube, kids duct tapped to chairs, supermarket fistfight, cosplay, Turk. It didn't always contribute to the flow of the story, so at times I wanted Zach Braff to tilt his head and look up...imagining these odd tangents. You have to paint the broad strokes yourself: failed actor home-schools kids, reconnects with family, makes peace with dying father. That's where I would start, but what the fork do I know?

Snowpiercer

This is a film Terry Gilliam would make, go over budget on, have taken away by a studio, throw a tantrum over, then release independently. In short: it's weird. The good weird. People are riding on a train in a dystopian ice age. The train represents society and (literally) the passage of time, as the passengers live on the train. People are separated by rail cars: poorest in the back, richest in the front, and everything in between--schools, foliage, water, sushi, dance clubs. But, with any good revolution, the downtrodden must revolt, disrupt the status quo, and derail the train.  

Boyhood

Filmed over 12 years with the same collective of actors--the child actors mature into young adults, the adult actors become a little more weathered with each passing year. That by itself was fascinating to watch. It's not a longitudinal documentary & it doesn't have a traditional story structure, but you feel like you're being given a glimpse into the development (mentally & physically) of a young boy. He is witness to divorce, alcoholism, abuse--what has unfortunately become the contemporary family bullshoot. But you watch it all unfold as well, like a concerned 3rd party, a voyeur into someone else's life. 

Apes @Dawn

Probably the most unexpectedly unique thing about this movie is that it's about apes. The humans are secondary. Unlike a modern superhero movie where you wait almost an hour just to see the forking costume, the story focuses on the tribe of apes. There's power struggles, familial tension, combat that is brutal and emotional. You almost forget you're watching something a team of tech nerds created on iMacs. They captured the eyes of their subject, which is a difficult task for any artist to accomplish. There's pain and anger, probably taken directly from the motion capture actors. Andy Serkis 4eva.

Transformers...Again

What the fork is a Transformer? I watched the cartoon as a kid, I'm 4 movies deep, and I have no idea what these things are. They're aliens from planet Cybertron. Great! But they're also robots. Robots that can change into cars and planes and split. And they have creators: ancient beings that want to destroy them...like Prometheus. The more I watch these movies, the more I wonder if a) story ideas are transcribed in drug-fueled staff meetings or b) scripts are generated randomly by a Micheal Bay super computer. A sexy computer with tight pants and pouting lips.