Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens

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When I first saw the trailer for Cowboys & Aliens, I was excited. Combining the old west with science fiction seemed pretty cool. Director Jon Favreau had hit a home run while directing Iron Man. While not getting a home run on this go around he at least gets on base.

The movie starts out with some promise. A stranger (Daniel Craig) who is wearing a large metal shackle on his left wrist walks into a classic dry and dusty town. You meet the town preacher (Clancy Brown), bar keep (Sam Rockwell), cattle rancher (Harrison Ford), doe eyed town woman (Olivia Wilde), sheriff (David Caradine) and trouble maker (Paul Dano) which are all essential elements to your standard western. Shortly thereafter they are staring at lights in the sky and all heck breaks loose. Things blow up, people are killed and some are taken away. The townsfolk set off to try to rescue their loved ones.

This is where the story gets a bit contrived. It takes place in 1873 in the south west. For these people to see flying machines and electric lights and people being swept up into the sky, they really didn't freak out all that much. When they see the aliens, they pretty much seem cool, calm and collected. They did refer to them as demons which would make sense, but it didn't have the shock factor to the locals that you think would happen. Cliches and formulaic events continue leading up to the big climatic battle that takes on cowboys, aliens and indians as the players.

During the 118 minute running time there were moments of "Wow" and moments of "That's cool" for the most part of the movie. It's those moments of "Huh?' that held the movie to a base hit. Cowboys & Aliens was rated PG-13 for intense sequences of western and sci-fi action and violence, some partial nudity and a brief crude reference.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Super 8 (spoiler free)

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What appears to be the best kept secret for the movies happened this weekend. After seeing trailers for Super 8 you're left wondering just what is it braking out of the train car, scaring away dogs, putting fear into the towns folk and causing the disappearance of nine people. Usually weeks or months in advance there are clues as to what "it" is. Not this time around. I don't know, maybe they put some major damage clauses in contracts with everyone involved in the project that they wouldn't even dare risk it. The beauty was that walking into the theater I had no idea what to expect.

To ratchet up the hype, Twitter and Paramount teamed up. Two days before the advertised release they went through different venues to let people know that they could go to a special location for information about pre-release date shows. It happened to be showing at my regular theater in IMAX format. Regular 2D format would release on the scheduled date. Normally I would have waited, but this time I went: one because I was really interested and looking forward to the movie and two I had another M&Ms prize for $3 off a ticket. So for $7 I was able to see the IMAX version a day early.

Now here's where it gets tricky, reviewing without giving away any spoilers. It was directed and written by J J Abrams of Lost, the Star Trek reboot and Cloverfield fame with Steven Spielberg producing. Both men leave their fingerprints all over this movie. Right from the opening scene we're pulled into an emotional state. The slow camera movement and the minimal on screen action without words speak loudly tugging at the heart strings. From there the level of emotion is held tightly and pulled tight and then relaxed accordingly.

The emotional center is Joe (Joel Courtney). The year is 1979. Match Game is on TV, Disco is waning and the aftershock of Three Mile Island is weighing on the minds of Americans. Life events are changing rapidly for Joe. His dad who is a deputy for the small town of Lillian, Ohio doesn't think his friends are good enough given those changes. His friends are making a horror movie via a super 8 camera hence the name of the movie. While trying to capture a scene at the local train station, a train accident happens under mysterious circumstances. Afterward, strange things are starting to happen. Something on the train got loose but what is "it"? We don't know until about half way into the 112 minute movie. So like Cloverfield we don' t know what "it" is allowing the drama and action to build.

Speaking of "it", the lens flares are not "it". Abrams has used the lens flares before. We saw them used extensively in Star Trek. In Super 8, it was over done and became annoying. Any of the night shots had flares left and right and up and down. It would have been one thing if they were views through the camera the budding movie production team was using, but no it was from the mind of the director. Maybe he was using the flares as a type of misdirection to hide little clues in the background as to what was happening.

While we're talking about clues, there was a short clip that just recently started making its rounds on the internet. Abrams took a page from the Lost game book. Pierre Chang had orientation films for the Dharma Initiative that outside of the hour each week on network TV gave those little extra information nuggets to help explain what was happening in the bigger world expanding the little slices of story we were given. If you do a little poking around with Google, I'm sure you'll find the Super 8 "leaked" footage.

The emotional journey of Joe with his friends and family in dealing with the accident drive the story and keep our eyes glued to the screen and our minds scrambling to try to put pieces of the story puzzle together. The coming of age story has threads similarly woven within Goonies or even ET. While they didn't use quite the same language those 80s movies had it had its own to earn a PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and some nudity. There were a couple of items that were introduced that didn't have a completely satisfying explanation or ending but the overall picture was well worth seeing.

When you go, do not leave as the credits begin. Take a moment to breathe deep to take in the ending and make sure that you stay through the credits. The bonus that you get gives the movie a satisfying conclusion tying together some of the loose ends. It is a great little treat for those that wait!

As a side note this week. Have you had the aggravating experience of someone who talks or texts throughout the movie? Or do they even pull out their phone to check texts or calls or try to use them as a flashlight during the show with the screen light shining as a bright high beam beacon in the middle of the dark theater? I had it happen while watching Super 8, a man having a conversation on the phone during the middle of the movie. The funny thing was that I had noticed that they didn't run the theater trailer telling people not to text, call or talk during the movie. The Alamo Drafthouse had that situation and they kicked out the patron who called back and left a nasty profanity laced voicemail for management. Alamo Drafthouse turned around and created a PSA (Public Service Announcement) using that voicemail. Here is the link to the censored version over at YouTube. If you want the uncensored version, check the suggestions on the side of the censored version. As I write this between the two versions it has about 3.5 MILLION hits in less than a week. AHHHH, if only all theaters would enforce their own rules in the same way! Oh, I did let my management know about the situation and not having the house rules before the movie. The manager said he would check with the projectionist because it was supposed to be there for the IMAX theater.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Source Code

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Lots of choices this weekend. With Easter less than a month away the guys who brought us Despicable Me bring us the animated Hop. The next generation of Easter bunny who decides he doesn't want to carry on the family business. Maybe. What about a comatose child being attacked and taken over by evil spirits in Insidious? Got something better? What about a science fiction action thriller with elements from Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. This one sounds like a winner in the movie Source Code.

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds himself in the seat where the same eight minutes is being repeated over and over again. Unknown to him is that he is now part of the Source Code program that puts him into the body of another man aboard a doomed train that explodes. During those eight minutes he needs to find the person who bombed the train so that he can be stopped from setting off another larger and more dangerous bomb in Chicago.

Stevens finds himself extracting more details with each attempt with the guidance of mission controller Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). The problem is that Stevens has no idea how he ended up in this assignment in the first place and time is running short to prevent the second bomb's detonation. It's a race against the clock in eight minute increments. The same time span of eight minutes, but each a little different from the previous.

We see the rabbit hole. We're pulled in and then popped out. The explanation given of Source Code by its inventor Dr Ruteledge (Jeffrey Wright) is pretty straight forward and understandable within the confines of quantum physics and quantum mechanics. Can Stevens handle the constant repetition of those eight minutes? Can he save the lives of millions of people including trainmate Christina (Michelle Monaghan) who he's falling for? It's a wild premise that kept me glued to my seat the entire time.

For only his third time around, director Duncan Jones had the movie run for a very tight 93 minutes. Due to some violence including disturbing images of a train filled with passengers repeatedly blowing up and language, the film was rated PG-13. While I don't think it will open in the top spot because of the animated bunny during the Easter season, I believe this one has staying power for the longer haul and worthy of a look.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: I am Number Four

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This week finally had a better selection. So is this just a single "warm" day only to go back to the coldness that has been the banality of the past month's releases? We'll have to wait and see what happens for next week. In the mean time, a social media posting for Unknown with Liam Neeson vs I am Number Four which several people pointed out had Dianna Agron from Glee, which should I watch and the response was for the latter. The movie is based off of a book of the same name.

What surprised me right off the bat were the companies involved. Touchstone Pictures and Dreamworks. I thought there was still a bit of bad blood between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Disney. Apparently I was wrong. With Michael Bay directing, you know that there are going to be some big action scenes and lots of things blowing up. The opening set up scene has the fast panning motion as we start from outer space and zoom across the globe heading down into a hut in a jungle. A few more seconds later and we have people darting through the dense tropical growth running for their lives! Yep, no doubt Michael Bay is involved!

The basic storyline could have been part of the X-Files. Planet Lorien (sheesh, not only does she have an island, but she has a planet too! Lucky bugger! Sorry, inside joke) has been destroyed by the Mogadorians. There are nine youths and their protectors that were sent to Earth to hide. They are the last of their kind. Number Four (Alex Pettyfor) and his protector Henri (Timothy Olyphant) detect that Number Three has been killed. To protect Number Four he goes by the name John Smith and they run to Paradise, Ohio. Oh yeah, you could detect the irony in the naming selection of that town!

While trying to blend in John meets Sara (Agron). Of course they fall for each other. But Sara and the football quarterback are supposed to be an item. This is where I tried to figure out Agron as Sara vs her Glee character Quinn Fabray. Small town Ohio, dating the football hero. For me, the roles and how she plays them were too similar. He tries to blend in, but not really. He upsets the apple cart on several levels drawing attention to himself.

Eventually the Mogadorian's track down John. The Commander (Kevin Durand, Kimi from LOST) has his team and some nasty beasties to track down the Loriens. He has these openings along side his nose that look like gills but actually help turn him into a intergalactic basset hound of sorts. Eventually in a Michael Bay film you end up with the one gigantic battle/action scene. About this time, Number Six (Teresa Palmer) joins the fray. Turns out when the Loriens get together they have powers beyond what each alone could do. Six does a great job taking on the bad guys. Ultimately, there is the giant explosion to end the battle.

There were a couple of items that weakened the film. They introduced a tin foil hat conspiracy theory alien chaser but didn't flesh out his background enough. Some of the alien technology was really advanced, but some seemed too Earthling. Same with the Loriens themselves, they appeared very human like, but the Mogadorians not so. The last point being why the human antagonist did what he did at the end. What thought process was being used when he made that last big action? The movie ran for 110 minutes. Taking an extra ten minutes to explain that one action would have been appreciated instead of leaving it on the cutting room floor or as a DVD extra.

On the plus side, they have set this up for a sequel. I would be interested in seeing what happened to the other Loriens. What powers do they have and how do their powers combine. Just why was Earth chosen as their hide out? The different symbols that we enountered, how to they fit into the larger puzzle. Do they have any connection to crop circles? These would all be good questions for the next movie or two to answer. These ponderings were enough to capture my attention and leave me wanting for more.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for language.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Skyline

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Sometimes a movie trailer shows promise and looks interesting. But then you go to the movie and realize the two are very different items. This is one of those times when you got sold a bill of good. Skyline was really flat lined.

The audience is dropped right into the middle of the action right as the movie begins. We meet Jarrod and Elaine (Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson) who are staying with friends Terry and Candice (Donald Faison and Brittany Daniel). As they sleep, blue lights start falling from the night sky of Los Angeles. They are awoken by rumbling to discover people are being taken away by the blue lights. We are being invaded by aliens ala Independence Day. Creatures are coming out and taking people ala Cloverfield. We watch the military try to take out the alien ships like the military attacking Godzilla all to no avail.

Ho Hum. For the main players we are never given any reason to cheer for them and hope they live. Just like a typical slasher horror film, one by one by one they are taken out in a cliche manner. The acting is very wooden, the scenes are very choppy. The special effects of the ships could have been impressive, but as we look at some of the ships and creatures which appear to be part mechanical and part living organism, there are either heat or cloud or dust or some sort of distortion obscuring the intricacies. Certain plot details are shown but aren't given a pay off or are ignored or even worse, contradicted. They try to use a time line of events, but what for? It doesn't make sense.

When you discover what the aliens want and how they go about getting it you wonder how this could be happening. It doesn't make sense, repeating to emphasize the point and the ending is just horrible. It could be set up for a sequel I guess but hopefully, mercifully it won't happen. This movie wasn't given advanced screenings for review usually indicating you have a stinker on your hands. As I write this, on Rotten Tomatoes it has an 11% fresh rating.

The movie is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some language, and brief sexual content with a running time of 92 minutes. My suggestion would be if you start heading towards the light of this movie, turn around and make a bee line away from Skyline.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.