Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer ~ As far as word of mouth, and 2014's must see film, this was it. Everyone was talking about Snowpiercer. A future dystopic tale, where the world has been frozen over by an attempt to halt global warming and what's left of Earth's population has been loaded onto a constantly globe circling train divided by class into cars, just sounds insane, or at the least, very Terry Gilliam. In fact, and homage, John Hurt's character is even named Gilliam. Yes, it's a mental idea, but once you wrap your mind around it, it gets rather predictable, sadly.

Director Bong Joon-ho, probably best known for the wonderful new age kaiju eiga The Host, really wants to be Terry Gilliam here, and for the most part he succeeds. The amazing cast is caked in Gilliam grime, except for those who are clean and just plain odd. Captain America Chris Evans, The Help's Octavia Spencer, Alison Pill from "The Newsroom," Jamie Bell, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, and supremely odd Tilda Swinton are among the all star cast that make this flick.

The film is based on a French graphic novel called Le Transperceneige, and was Bong Joon-ho's first English language work. The class struggle turned into a rolling revolution is peppered with enough bizarro futurism and dystopian madness to keep things interesting. It's a science fiction ride that crosses The Poseidon Adventure with Les Miserables that has to be seen to be believed, and well worth watching.

Planes: Fire & Rescue

Planes: Fire & Rescue ~ I saw this one as part of a double feature at one of the state's only surviving drive-ins, the Delsea Drive-In in Vineland NJ. It was paired up with Guardians of the Galaxy, which was the second time in two days The Bride and I had seen that. If I'm being honest, I think the drive-in experience itself was far more interesting than the Planes flick.

Let's be honest, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a sequel to a sequel/spin-off that was meant only for DVD release but got pushed into theaters because of the success of its forefather, Cars and its official sequel Cars 2. We're seriously treading on King Kong Lives territory here. This can only be so good, and from what I saw, it's serviceable.

To be fair, I have to say we came in late as the folks at Delsea had to search our car to make sure we didn't bring in any outside food contraband, so we missed the first five to ten minutes of the movie. It's the same old story, old plane teaches a new plane new tricks, and learns a lesson himself as well. Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Wes Studi, and Patrick Warburton are fun as the voice cast.

I enjoyed the original trailer for this flick as it didn't betray right away that it was either animated or part of the Cars world right away. I kinda wish the movie had taken some of that tact. I liked the use of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" here, a nice touch. I did doze off a couple times, and while I could blame that on being tired, it should be noted that I did not blink during Guardians of the Galaxy.

I also have to admit that the viewing of any movie happening in the Cars universe bothers me somewhat as I wonder what happened to the people. I highly suspect that this world exists in the aftermath of Stephen King's "Trucks" short story, and is sorta hinted at in Jon Negroni's Pixar Theory. I also can't help but wonder if Thomas the Tank Engine is also part of this world... brrrrr...

Gravity

This is an Oscar nominated and winning film. Let me be clear, Gravity is a B-grade scifi thriller that got very lucky. It breaks tradition. It has stars, it has special effects, a high caliber for cinematography and direction, so it gets a pass. I truly wonder if the names George Clooney, Sandra Bullock, and Ed Harris were not involved, would the art film snob crowd that usually haunt the Oscar movies even be interested?

Astronauts are on a Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Telescope when debris from a destroyed Russian satellite scrag the mission and the shuttle. Untethered and lost, two of them, Kowalski (Clooney) and Stone (Bullock), try to get to the International Space Station after the debris hit. Only a preliminary knowledge of gravity and physics is needed to know how truly and totally screwed they are.

Kowalski is the voice of reason and experience in contrast to Stone's inexperience and panic. Their audio interaction when we really can't see facial expression is testament to these two actors' superior ability. These are two professionals, two artists in the field. Once separated, with only Clooney's voice, he proves what real acting is. Bullock substantially carries the film solo after that. No Oscars, Academy? Really?

Those awards went to director Alfonzo Cuaron, and to the cinematography and visual effects folks. It won the most Oscars that year and similarly swept the BAFTAs, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Golden Globes, while still being basically a 1970s scifi thriller with a good pedrigree. The visuals are stunning, and I can imagine it might have been dizzying in 3-D, or simply on the big screen.

I dug Gravity a lot. Despite its space trappings and apparent scientific inaccuracies, it explores the truly horrific themes of loneliness and helplessness in a very real way. Highly recommended.

Game Change

Game Change ~ I always have trepidations when liberals make a movie about conservatives, especially in the vicious and hostile environment the two sides have existed in the last few years. And I'm not taking sides either, I feel the same way about movies made by conservatives about the liberals. The problem of course is that the latter films are never really that good or get that much exposure. An American Carol might be the exception to that rule, but even it is very heavy handed.

I have discussed several times the sheer quality of the programming on HBO, and Game Change is no exception. The story of Governor Sarah Palin's rise and fall during the 2008 Presidential Election is an amazing rollercoaster ride, and by amazing, I mean it in both the good way and the bad way. The film does well in showing that, we see the good and the bad, but sometimes, just sometimes the humor in the script can be quite cruel. I think that was a bit unnecessary. It's all about show don't tell, folks, I think we all know what kind of person Sarah Palin was during the Election.

Other than Woody Harrelson, who I have trouble keeping a straight face whenever he's in a movie, the cast is first class. Julianne Moore is great as Palin, except when she goes over the top, which is thankfully not often. Ed Harris and the rest of the ensemble cast turn in admirable performances. Well worth watching, just don't take it, or your own politics that seriously, when you're watching it.