Movie Review Madness - The Lion King

As Ray and I walked into the theater, Ray overheard a kid say to his mom, "I'm excited. It's going to be tough to not sing out loud."

Well, it wasn't that hard actually. Hakuna Matata is darn catchy. Circle of Life soars.  But I'm going to place The Lion King movie (live action CGI version) third behind the original animated version (first place), and the Broadway show (second). This movie version is good, but a bit slow, a bit ponderous, and just lacked that super wow factor I felt when I watched director Jon Favreau's version of the Jungle Book.  Kids were getting restless in the audience, and I admit I checked my watch.

The CGI filming is awesome. It's quite amazing and I appreciate that part of the movie magic. The voice acting is good - you can't go wrong with James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Eijofor is evil as Scar, Donald Glover is good as Simba, and Beyonce rules as Nala. Seth Rogen cracked me up a lot as the warthog, Pumba.

I was entertained, glad I saw it on the big screen, but there was just something missing - maybe I set my expectation bar a tad too high. I'd watch the original again in a heartbeat, this version - maybe not.   The Lion King did not ROAR in capital letters in my opinion.

Movie Review Madness - Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange, the latest Marvel product, is a head trip. Fun, trippy special effects and a crazy plot about time and mind over matter makes this rather cerebral.  Brains over brawn. As Entertainment Weekly points out “it wouldn’t work as well as it does without Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton – two actors who in addition to being intelligent, top-shelf stars both project a slightly alien, otherworldly air.”  So true.  They are clever and seductive, giving their characters a lot of depth.

Cumberbatch, as Dr. Stephen Strange is an ego surgeon who’s a charming jerk. Rachel McAdams has the thankless job of fellow doctor/former love interest.  After a horrible car accident, his hands are ruined so he looks for a cure in Nepal. Word has it that there is An Ancient One who can teach one mind control and more. Let the brain do the healing. Swinton is perfect as the mystic. Her right hand man, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the day to day trainer. Soon Strange is moving beyond logic – dimensional portals, teleportation, and more, plus weird facial hair. Meanwhile the dark forces of Kaecilius seeks to destroy the Ancient One, but Doctor Strange, now in his levitation cloak seems to have the upper hand.

Doctor Strange is just bizarre fun – high IQ wit and just wicked special effects raise the bar.  Again as, EW says, “it’s eye candy and brain candy.” Perfect afternoon at the theater.

and P.S. stay for the final, final, final credits and see that Marvel tidbit more

Movie Review Madness - The Martian

The Martian gets a huge thumbs up from me, and Matt Damon is excellent. We first meet our NASA team on Mars as they do their research jobs and live. Concern arises when ground control announces the arrival of a wicked dust storm. The crew is told to get situated and leave the mission a tad early. Jessica Chastain is the leader and it’s her call to lift-off after seeing Matt Damon (Mark) get hit by debris and knocked out. They assume he is dead, based on the situation. She did what she could and the team agrees, saddened by his passing.

Back on Earth, Jeff Daniels is the NASA head who has to announce the death of an astronaut. Meanwhile, back on Mars, the dust storm leaves and we hear a gasp and see movement as Mark regains consciousness. He’s injured, but alive. He manages to get back to their base, sew himself up, and assess his situation. He counts food bags, works on communications, and as a botanist he proclaims he needs to “Science the crap out of everything.” He’s rather matter of fact about the chance for death, but he plans to live as best he can for as long as he can. He has rover transportation, and figures out how to plant and grow potatoes to extend his nutrition.

Will he make contact with Earth? What happens then with NASA? Can he be rescued? What about his team who are flying home from Mars? Can they turn around? What about the Jet Propulsion Lab and math geniuses? Does the math work in regards to fuel and time calculations? And really….what could go wrong? (other than the only music Mark has is disco music left from Jessica)

The Martian does a great job with depicting the astronaut challenges for living.  Matt Damon brings such a nice manner to his role – he’s smart, funny, and very believable. He’s human and gives us the full range of emotions. The movie was a tad long – they could have tightened up some of the earth segments. But when Matt Damon is on screen, he holds our attention. 

 The Red Planet never looked so good.

Movie Madness: 12 Years a Slave

Solomon Northup wrote his book "12 Years a Slave" in 1853. Wow. Here was a black man in Saratoga, NY - free, educated, cultured (violinist), and happy with a wife and two kids. Life was great until he was lured by two men to go on tour with his violin and he ended up in Washington DC (south of the Mason Dixon line). Oops. After a night of wining and dining, he awakened shackled, alone, and without papers.

The film "12 Years a Slave" chronicles Northup's journey to hell and back. Chiwetel Eijofor needs to work on his Oscar speech now. His performance is spot on and often without dialogue. Just the puzzlement and despair on his face, and then his determination to survive is breathtaking. His first enslavement is with a "kind" plantation owner played by Benedict Cumberbatch. However, the overseer (Paul Dano) is petty, mean, and evil. Northup and Dano come to blows and the result is not pretty. Ultimately, the owner sells Northup to another. Then he's moved to another and here's where the going gets tough. Michael Fassbender's plantation owner is nutso evil. He flaunts his affair with a slave girl, Patsy, in front of his wife. She, in turn, manipulates Northup.

Mid-1800s was not a pretty episode in American history, and this film does not approach it lightly. The beatings, degradation, and slave life is depicted brutally honestly. It's not an easy film to watch, and yet it is absolutely intensely well done. Eijofor is one of those actors you've seen in lots of things - television and movies. Now he has leaped into the forefront of Oscar watch with this role of a lifetime. Brad Pitt, who is a producer on this film, is a hero also. As a white man who abhors slavery, he's Northup's connection to friends up North and his final passage to freedom. I'm not giving away a huge plot line - the man lived to write his book, but the twelve years he lost to happiness is horrific. This is not a popcorn movie. It is just great filmmaking and storytelling.