Zero Tolerance

action, movies, , , , , ,

zerotoleranceDirected by Wych Kaosm, Zero Tolerance seems like an action feature billed as a thriller. An ex-CIA operative, played by Dustin Nguyen discovers his estranged daughter murdered in Bangkok.  He hooks up with his former partner, played by Sahajak Boonthanakit, and together they delve into the city’s criminal world. They discover his daughter’s devious past and uncover her killer.

With names like Kane Kosugi, Dustin Nguyen, Gary Daniels and Scott Adkins, you easily suspect many hand-to-hand action scenes. Not so with Zero Tolerance because the movie graces only two full-length brawls. One brawl is a real karate fight, which is cool to watch as Nguyen and Adkins try to take each other down. If you go crazy over martial arts and hand-to-hand combat in movies, then you might be disappointed in the fight scenes.

The characters are strong in the movie with a weak storyline. Some plot points are left unclear and the pace is slow at times. Dustin and the other actors do a great job in playing the good guys against bad guys while dealing with amoral personalities.  One aspect about the movie I did not like is the repugnant strain of chauvinism. It is not just in one scene but throughout the movie, and even the good guys were abusing the women. I was taken aback by the abuse because this is supposed to be an anti-trafficking movie.

I found out after viewing the movie that the scenes with Adkins and Kosugi were shot a couple of years after the unreleased movie was canned.  I didn’t even notice, but still it doesn’t save the movie. It is decent enough if you are a diehard martial arts fan. You can rent it or catch it on cable.

Ascension

action, drama, movies, mystery, romance, science fiction, , , , , , ,

ascensionOriginally introduced as a miniseries for the SyFy Channel, Ascension is now available on DVD.  The movie is set against stimulating and enormous elements on which the story plays more with the human approach to drama.

The story is looks great for a miniseries, offering a spacecraft built in the 60s. The attention to detail is extraordinary, and draws the viewers into the experience.  The direction allows the actors to do stellar work with such notable talent as Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, and Brad Carter. They all work together and keep the plot moving forward with memorable performances.

The CGI is well done with a few amateurish looks to scenes when viewing the exterior shots of the spacecraft.  Keeping in mind that the SyFy Channel produced the movie, the special effects comparably are not that bad.

The storyline is what wins the movie for me. In 1963, in the gripes of the cold war, we guard against our future survival by launching a huge interstellar ship call the U.S.S. Ascension. With 600 or more people aboard to guarantee our survival, the ship is little over 50 years out on a 100 year mission. Threatening the crew is an unprecedented domestic murder.

The movie is promoted as “Mad Men in Space” and I agree it is the best way to describe it. The twists and turns in the story is a little too much like a soap opera, but it keeps you on your toes with the plot moving along nicely.

All in all, I was surprised how good Ascension actually is for a low grade cable show. I really recommend it.  There is a lot of entertainment value for sure.

The End of the Tour

book, comedy, drama, legend, , , ,

The End of the TourDirected by James Ponsoldt, The End of the Tour brings to life the true story in 1996 when Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky, played by Jesse Eisenberg, and writer David Foster Wallace, played brilliantly by Jason Segel, hang out together for five days.

Some might call it an intellectual movie, a road movie or dramedy.  The movie begins in 2008, when we are informed that Wallace has committed suicide. Lipsky is invited to present a tribute on NPR.  Here he slowly flashes back to 1996, when Wallace’s book Infinite Jest is released with worldwide praise, including a citation from well-read magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. Lipsky thinks it would be a great idea to interview Wallace and pitches it to his editor. He agrees that it is about time Rolling Stone did a piece on a gifted writer and off Lipsky goes to Ohio for his interview.  How the story plays out is what the movie is all about, and I rather not spoil it for you. Though, there are some interesting points about the movie I’d like to point out.

The movie is based on Lipsky’s memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself.  Published in 2010, the book was well-received by his peers.   Wallace and Lipsky hit it off right away, and engage in philosophical conversations about loneliness, love, writing, fame, and the meaning of life. In other words, they spend time looking for the answers to life that plaques them.  Clearly, the movie is not for everyone. It lacks action-packed drama that populates our movie theaters today.

Jason Segel is very good as Wallace, and this role is quite a contrast to his other characters in movies like The Muppets and The Five Year Engagement. Watching him in this movie is pure pleasure because there is so much depth to Wallace as a sovelist, short story writer, essayist, and college professor.

The sound track by Danny Elfman is brilliant and engages the story.  Elfman adds a bit of spice to the movie with songs from REM and Tindersticks, an English indie rock band.

If you don’t know about Lipsky and Wallace, then it might be difficult to understand and follow the movie.  It is worth watching, though, for the acting is great, including the supporting actors.

Flowers in the Attic Movie Series

book, drama, family, movies, , , ,

flowerattic4movDoppleganger family is known in the bestselling book series with a large fan base and devoted followers. Now, all four movies are out as one package in a DVD set.  The Lifetime network produced these four movies, and they are Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Yesterday of Seeds. Covering all four movies can be cumbersome, but let’s take a look at Petals on the Wind. The movie is the second adaptation of a series based upon the V.C. Andrews books about the Doppleganger family.  The movie is somewhat better than Flowers in the Attic, which is the first book and movie in the series.

Like all the movies in the disc set, it is hard to cram the whole book into two hours. Unfortunately, it shows in the movies. The Petals on the Wind includes the most vital parts of the story, and if you read the books, you will not suffer as much.

If you happen to only watch the movies, keep in mind that the series is based on incest between the two main characters. The incest plays a major plot point in the whole series.

Petals on the Wind starts ten years after the children (Cathy, Chris, and Carrie) leave the attic, which happens in the first movie. They run away from a horrifying situation. Cathy, the dancer is sharp, persuasive and strong-willed to get the justice that is awaited. Chris, the doctor is quiet, good-looking and devoted to Cathy. Carrie is sweet, weak and disorientated.

The three characters discover a healthier life. Yet, the undercurrents of what happened to them in the attic will never be forgotten.  They fight illicit feelings of guilt, hidden anger and endless pain. Trying to ease their discomfort, Cathy assures she will put an end to their mother because she ruined them. She pretty much threw them away.

It is important that you watch these movies in sequence because so much happens in these four movies. It will be hard to understand the undercurrents of the prior movies. I am sure ardent book fans will love the series even though it was made for Lifetime not movie theaters.

Knock Knock

drama, horror, movies, , ,

Directed by Eli Roth, Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves in a story that needs to be left on the shelf.  We meet Reeves character as a strong, handsome man, who is devoted to his family. His wife and kids take off for the weekend where he grudgingly remains at home working.  After the wife and kids leave for the beach, he settles down for the evening, which happens to be rather dark and stormy.  He is surprisingly interrupted by someone constantly knocking at his door.

He opens the door and voila. Two sexually energized, hot, hot chicks are at the door and need is Good Samaritan help.  They take over the scene and coyly ask to use his hair dryer because they are soaked through due to the rain.  They wait for the cab while the hot chicks play a clever game of seduction. Reeves’ character tries with all his might not to fall prey to their enticement. It culminates in a brief ménage à trois, French for “household of three”…how appropriate.

The situation gets worse and before it gets better it gets even worse.  Uninhibited pleasure-seeking comes to mind as the women make his life miserable, along with nauseating table manners and a fondness for stay-at-home bullying.

The movie is rated R for obvious reasons and most times feels like a porn movie gone bad.  Reeves’ character is basically good, so feels downtrodden for his moral dilemma he is facing for his infidelity.  The movie trailer promoted a plot twist, but it fell flat on its rear end.

The upside to the movie is the message about being faithful and the consequences of infidelity or going to the dark side of life.

https://youtu.be/ti6S3NZ5mKI

Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos (A Rooster with Many Eggs)

animation, comedy, family, movies, , , ,

Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos, directed by Gabriel Riva Palaico Alatriste, comes in Spanish and English, A Rooster With many Eggs.  The animated movie is not a compelling story, yet it’s not really bad either.  The characters are lovable with lots of slapstick humor.  The story takes a unique approach by being lively, entertaining, and mildly titillating, without due seriousness, and a lot fun with innuendos and double-entendres.

The movie follows an apprehensive little rooster named Toto, voiced by Bruno Bichir. His is challenged with confronting and handling an evil rancher. He threatens to purchase and tear down Toto’s family farm. The farm has been in the family for generations.   Toto’s challenge is to fight Bankivoide, voiced by Sergio Sendel, a mammoth rooster. The cockfight will end with the winner-take-all stakes. Feeling the pressure of such an unconquerable task, Toto cannot face the ordeal alone, so he asks his pals for help. Strangely, his pals are a frog, mucho huvevos and a strip of bacon. Can they conquer Banki and keep his family’s farm.

As mentioned earlier, the movie is filled with innuendos and to some extent racy humor compared to customary animated feature. Easily, the Spanish jokes are lost in the English translation since it is primarily written for the Mexican audience.  As an English speaking viewer, I still found a genuine amount of jokes that hit my funny bone. The characters are over the top on the ludicrous side, but the charm is their saving grace. Such as the favorable-intended frog, he earns a lot of laughs.

A Horse Tale

drama, family, movies, romance, , , , , ,

horsetaleDirected by Brad Keller, A Horse Tale received the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for all ages.  The story follows a typical uptight city accountant, Michael Thompson, played by Patrick Muldoon. He is raising his daughter by himself and is over protective. His daughter, Chloe, played by Mandalynn Carlson, has an unpleasant incident at school, and her dad stresses out. So much so that his assistant recommends they move to her Uncle Cliff’s horse farm. Her uncle needs help with the books, anyway, before the merciless bankers take the farm away from them.  With Christmas coming up, it is a perfect time to visit the family and help save the horse farm.

Cliff, played by Rick Herod, is grateful for Michael’s help. But, Samantha (Sam), played by Dominique Swain, is in charge of running the farm. She has a hard time with the idea of a city guy stepping in to help. Sam is not interested in any assistance from an outsider. They smooth over the rough edges, and decide working together is the best way to avoid losing the farm.

The story is predictable.  But, it is a good family movie because it promotes getting in touch with your family and working together toward a common goal. It also touches on the importance of accepting help when you are trying to overcome a problem. The movie even offers a message to parents: No matter how hard it may seem, let your children grow up and be in command of their own lives. Be willing to let them make mistakes on their own.

I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story

documentary, movies, , , , , ,

IAmBigBird DVD-3DThe big yellow feathered bird on Sesame Street has been a household icon for decades. The documentary I Am Big Bird celebrates more than Caroll Spinney’s life and contributions performing Big Bird for over 40 years. The movie celebrates the making of the Muppets and puppeteers far and wide.

Directors Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker keep the pace even with family home movies of Spinney’s beginnings in both his personal life and career. Interviews with Spinney, his family, original cast and crew of Sesame Street relate tales of early educational television. For example, Spinney and some of the crew tell a time in the early days when he almost quit the Muppets because he felt he wasn’t contributing enough to the show. But, he was talked out of it, and soon Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Spinney’s other Muppet persona, became well-known puppets on Sesame Street.  Eventually, Big Bird became the most popular character on the show.

The interviews openly discuss his first marriage, which resulted in three dearly loved children, who are also interviewed in the documentary, clearly showing their love for their dad. Unfortunately, he and their mother divorced, and Spinney suffered through the ordeal.

He met the girl of his dreams by three unsuccessful attempts to date her. Debra tells the story so pleasantly. You can’t help but admire their relationship. Debra is interviewed quite a bit in the movie and her love and understanding of Spinney is very clear. Other items come up in the documentary that are surprising and out of the ordinary. Never explained was why they didn’t have children of their own.

Finding out the staggering complexity of Spinney’s work in the puppet costume is spellbinding.  The demands alone for being a Muppet are amazing, but Big Bird is so much more complex and tasking on Spinney’s body. You need to see it. Just being a Muppet is highly demanding, but to be Big Bird is even more so.

The documentary shines a light on Muppets creator and genius Jim Henson. Clearly a very good friend of the Spinney’s, seeing Henson is heartfelt. The documentary shows footage and memories of working alongside Henson. Big Bird sang “It’s Not Easy Being Green” in front of the packed cathedral at Henson’s funeral, one of the most memorable scenes in the documentary.

She’s Funny That Way

comedy, legend, movies, romance, , , ,

She's Funny That WayShe’s Funny That Way is a good movie, coming across sometimes funny and sometimes serious, but has a great cast that keeps the show on the road. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who directed such winners as Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show, does a fine job on this movie as it tries to find an amicable ending.  Another favorite of mine, Wes Anderson, who directed such witty movies as The Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr. Fox, is one of the many producers of this movie.

It starts off with a sit down interview with Izzy, played by Imogen Poots, who is a hooker-turned actress and now successful. She talks about her rise to stardom and her first role on Broadway.  She reflects on the people involved with her breakout role, and the movie cuts to that time on Broadway where they are thrown into a romantic state of uncertainty and confusion.

A salacious, but bleeding heart director, played convincingly by Owen Wilson, hires Izzy, a former hooker he solicited, now turned actress, to star alongside his wife, played humorously by Kathryn Hahn, and his wife’s ex-lover, played by Rhys Ifans. Playing on the outer edge of this confusion and adding a lot of hilarity are Jennifer Aniston, Cybil Sheppard and Will Forte. There are also numerous cameos such as Tatum O’Neal, Quentin Taranitino and Peter Bogdanovich himself.

The movie really gets fun when the director’s wife (Hahn) discovers his fetish for soliciting and then helping call girls. It comes to light when one of the more recent call girls he helped, Izzy, auditions for a role in the play he is directing. She does a fantastic reading because she is reading for a call girl, type casting. A hilarious scene follows where his wife, who wants to get back at her husband, rehearses with the lead actor (Ifans) in a passionate love scene, and she makes real sexually advances toward him. The director tries to stay professional, as her husband he is jealous. I was laughing at his reactions, so funny all the way through, and Wilson is hilarious.

Jennifer Aniston plays someone that I have never seen her play before, an unlikeable character, so I was uncomfortable with it at first. She does a great job of being the typical psychologist, who totally makes the patient feel inadequate and weak. Adding to that, in their face telling them what is wrong with them. Aniston is great and funny.

There are so many good qualities in this movie. The reason I really enjoyed it is because of the director, Peter Bogdanovich brought all these fine actors, some is has worked with before, together. He is such a wonderful director, and I am delighted to see him working again.

What We Did on Our Holiday

comedy, holiday, movies, , , , , , , , ,

whatwedidThere are several things that I really liked about What We Did on Our Holiday. It is a Scottish comedy, and it takes place in the Scottish Highlands. The subtle jokes are funny, but you have to be a Scot or familiar with the culture to really understand them. The movie follows three children of estranged parents.  All played wonderfully by Emilia Jones, Bobby Smalldridge, and Harriet Turnbull.

The movie has two directors, Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. After their notable success of their BBC series Outnumbered, they weave an unsteady story about a family visiting their children’s grandfather, played truthfully by Billy Connolly. He is dying of cancer, so his whole family is celebrating his 75th birthday with a huge weekend bash as a final good-bye.

The parents of the three children, Doug, played by Harry Potter’s (David Tennant), his wife Abi, played by Gone Girl’s Rosamund Pike, are divorcing and hope to keep it a secret from the rest of their family. They tell their children not to let anyone know about their pending divorce while visiting them over weekend. Keeping a secret or lying about one’s parents has an effect on the children, and they end up telling their grandfather the truth.

The parents are constantly battling over issues such as telling the truth even if the truth is sad or shocking.  It is not just Doug and Abi who are having a rough time.  The children’s aunt and uncle (Doug’s brother and sister-in-law) are going through some rough times in their marriage as well.

The story really gets interesting when the children go to the beach with their grandfather and he passes away on the beach. Before he passes away, he tells them he is a descendent of the Vikings, and he wants to be burned out at sea like his Viking ancestors did long, long time ago.

So, the oldest daughter goes back to the house to tell the parents that grandfather passed away. But, their parents are arguing as the rest of the family is too. They are so busy arguing that they don’t even know the daughter is there and needs their attention. She decides to go back and handle the remains of grandfather instead. The children honor his wishes and burn him at sea like a Viking, which has repercussions in the 21st Century Scotland.

Other theatrics involving the repercussions of the Viking funeral and other family problems are quite funny. The fast-paced editing keeps the story moving and ties together nicely like the ending of a Scottish tale.