Godzilla

The newest Godzilla has everything you want in a summer tent pole movie: a sufficient amount of monster footage, generous servings of destruction, an okay storyline and generally decent acting by the human cast. (And the 3-D is good, too.)

Godzilla’s clever title sequence includes “redacted” credits over nuke-related archival footage, hinting at official cover-ups of atomic testing and the effects of radiation. An old-school opening theme signals a serious attitude.

Joe and Sandra Brody (Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche) both work at a Japanese nuclear plant. Joe wants to shut the plant down due to seismic rumbles; Sandra goes to check on the reactor and dies when tremors lead to disaster and force the closing of escape doors.

Throughout the film are reminders of 9-11 footage that are branded into our gray matter, starting with shots of Sandra running to escape an approaching dusty cloud of danger.

15 years after the nuke plant event, Joe’s grown up son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) leaves his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam (Carson Bolde) in San Francisco to bail out his widower dad in Japan. Joe has trespassed in the forbidden area around the nuke plant. When he convinces Ford to return with him to the area, they discover why the plant is off limits.

Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Wantanabe) and his sidekick Vivienne (Sally Hawkins) are seen in the film’s opening scene, checking out a weird crater in a uranium mine in the Philippines. They are involved in the cover-up of events at the shuttered plant. Here’s where we meet the first monster.

As the two flying monsters make their way from Japan to Hawaii to the US west coast, they are pursued by Godzilla, with whom they faceoff in San Francisco. (The battles evoked cheers from the preview audience.)

In addition to visuals that trigger 9-11 memories, the 2011 Japanese earthquake (which caused damage to the real life Fukushima nuclear plant) is referenced when monsters cause a tsunami in Honolulu.

A sensitive touch that director Gareth Edwards brings to Godzilla is a focus on small children and the way peril affects them throughout the film. I was surprised that the 2014 Godzilla’s movements were less fluid than I’d expected. On the other hand, the sounds made by all the monsters are masterpieces of audio production.

The new Godzilla film is good enough to satisfy but not so good as to come close to classic status. It is likely to be warmly embraced by many who recall the old version, as well as by Godzilla newbies.

 

 

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Million Dollar Arm

Million Dollar Arm is a sports movie, sort of, but it has other hooks to attract audiences. First off, I’d guess most sports agents don’t look like J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm). Our St. Louis native son in the lead role provides eye candy for women.

It’s being promoted as a baseball movie, but none of the actors is ever involved in a baseball game. It may be promoted in other parts of the world as a cricket movie, but none of the actors participates in a cricket match.

The film has 2 central stories: (1) The “fish out of water” adventures of the two young Indian men who come to America to pitch baseballs (along with a third Indian assistant) and (2) J.B.’s gradual realization that fulfillment comes not just from making money but from doing the right things.

There’s also a simmering romance between J.B. and Brenda (Lake Bell), the woman who rents his guesthouse.

It’s a “feel good” movie that’s likely to have good word of mouth. It’s rated PG, so you can bring your kids and your grandma.

After his meal ticket jock, a Rams linebacker named Popo (Rey Maualuga), takes his business elsewhere, J.B. and his teammate agent Aash (Aasif Mandvi) come up with the Million Dollar Arm competition. J.B. theorizes that a strong-armed cricket pitcher can be taught to pitch a baseball well enough to get a contract. They travel to India to find candidates for the scheme. Rinku (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal) are the winners who come to America.

USC baseball coach Tom House (Bill Pullman) is given the job of taking the raw talent these young men possess and turn them into pro prospect pitchers. J.B. opens his house to the wide-eyed Indians but initially gives them only minimal guidance about domestic life in America.

Tryouts are arranged. Big league scouts and media attend. Rinku and Dinesh are washouts. The scheme is a failure. Until… grizzled scout Ray (Alan Arkin) hooks J.B. up with the Pirates, who somehow missed the first tryout. If you’ve ever seen a sports movie, you can guess how they do at their encore audition.

Million Dollar Arm is based on a true story, but comes to the screen with a good amount of Hollywood embellishment. The movie should serve as a solid foundation for Jon Hamm to build a movie career upon, now that Mad Men is coming to an end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Neighbors

 

Neighbors is one of those movies that’s funny, but you wish it were just a little bit funnier. Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) are a couple with a baby girl who get new next door neighbors—a college fraternity!

Teddy (Zac Effron) is the leader of Delta Psi and Pete (Dave Franco, younger brother of James) is his best friend and backup. Upon move-in, the chapter meets and promises to do something memorable like previous members have done. (Flashbacks show earlier Delta Psi’s inventing Beer Pong, for instance.)

Mac and Kelly figure they should play nice. They drop over for a visit, offering weed as a good will gesture. They promise to call Teddy instead of the police should things get too loud.

Things get too loud quickly. When Teddy doesn’t answer, a cop (Hannibal Buress) is summoned. A peaceful coexistence between the neighbors proves to be impossible and leads to a climactic party and confrontation.

The fight between Mac and Teddy as the party rages is one of the funniest since Hugh Grant and Colin Firth faced off in Bridget Jones’ Diary. Their final encounter at the end of the movie is also a silly bit of fun.

Neighbors is rated R for raunchy, but it could’ve been worse. There are many small to medium laughs and a handful of big ones. Rogen as Mac is not unlike other Rogen characters you’ve seen. Byrne seems to slip in and out of her native Aussie accent at random.

Lisa Kudrow as the PR-minded college dean is the highlight of the supporting cast. Fans of Workaholics may recognize cast members from that show in a cameo. And the baby Stella (Elise and Zoey Vargas) is one of the cutest infants you’ve seen onscreen since Swee’ Pea in Popeye.

I can relate to Mac and Kelly. I speak as a suburbanite who’s had noisy parties thrown in my neighborhood by high school and college students, when their parents were out of town. But nothing in my world has ever come close to the havoc wrought by Delta Psi in Neighbors.

 

 

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

 

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Andrew Garfield seems incredibly comfortable in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Also, his version of Peter Parker enjoys being Spider-Man more than did Tobey McGuire’s. The Spidey angst here is more about his relationship with Gwen.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 pivots back and forth between Peter’s romance with Gwen (Emma Stone) and Spider-Man’s efforts to save the world from evil. Will the couple stay apart? Can they resist the attraction? And will Spider-Man be able to contain bad guys who bring new terror to the screen?

As usual, something catastrophic happens to turn a normal person into a creature bent on doing bad things. This time it’s nerdy Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) who, thanks to powerful electrical current, becomes Electro.

Honestly, I didn’t care for Electro as a villain. His powers seemed poorly defined though almost limitless. Jamie Foxx, as usual, is great but the character lacks qualities that would make him more memorable.

Harry Osborn (Dean DeHaan) is heir to the Oscorp organization and is about to segue into his Green Goblin identity. Like Foxx, DeHaan is a talented actor. But the evolution of the Green Goblin is less than satisfying.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 launches with Spider-Man trying to rein in a terrorist in a truck, Aleksei (Paul Giamatti), while also trying to make his way to a graduation ceremony where Gwen will be speaking. Giamatti’s character looks and acts like a refugee from The Road Warrior and the role fails to take advantage of Giamatti’s acting prowess.

Sally Field returns as Aunt May and, although she’s still pretty at age 67, in one shot her neck looks just awful. (Pardon my being catty.)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has action galore. The sequences with Spidey using his web spinning to move rapidly through a cityscape are, to me, more enjoyable than the scenes showing Spider-Man trying to neutralize the villains.

Director Mark Webb delivers one of my favorite shots of the year in this film. It shows Gwen falling, in very slow motion. The contrast from the high energy pace of the rest of the movie is stark.

This is not a must-see film unless you feel a personal need to catch all the tent-pole movies this spring-summer in order to keep tabs on the super heroes. TAS-M2 delivers all the movie stuff that goes well with popcorn, and it entertains, but it has shortcomings that cause it to fall short of greatness.

 

 

 

 

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The Other Woman

 

Women (and men) who have caught their spouses cheating will enjoy the comeuppance received by deceitful scoundrel Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in The Other Woman. Revenge comes in many forms from the trio of women he’s used and the payback is rough.

Carly (Cameron Diaz) is a New York City attorney having a carefree romance with Mark—until she finds out he is married. Dutiful wife Kate King (Leslie Mann) is shocked to find out that hubby is messing around, but she isn’t overly angry at Carly, because Carly didn’t know he was married.

Kate and Carly become chums. Following a night of alcohol-fueled female bonding, the two follow Mark on a weekend trip to the beach. Conveniently, Kate’s brother Phil (Taylor Kenney) has a beach house near the spot where Mark is cheating with a third woman, Amber (Kate Upton). When Amber learns of Mark’s treachery, the getting even begins.

Coster-Waldau’s credibility as a sleazeball is easy to buy, considering that he also plays the amoral Jaime Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones. That character fathered two sons with his sister, tried to kill a small child and, on the latest episode, committed a particularly vile act.

Leslie Mann has been funny in movies before—mainly in Judd Apatow films since he’s her real life husband. But The Other Woman may be her funniest performance to date.

Also appearing in the film are a weathered-looking Don Johnson as Carly’s dad and Nicki Minaj as Carly’s secretary.

The film may remind you of 1996’s The First Wives Club in which three ex-wives seek to make life less happy for the husbands who dumped them for younger babes. In The Other Woman the take down is complete and funny.

Nick Cassavetes is the director. His best-known film is The Notebook, a love story that’s a favorite of many romantics. The Other Woman isn’t quite so touching, but its resolution should be satisfying to most women moviegoers.

And for the guys, we get a few seconds of Kate Upton running in slow motion on the beach. (Thanks, Nick!)

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Transcendence

Transcendence is a mess. When producers pay Johnny Depp $20M (+ a percentage), as has been reported, one expects a significantly better product.

Will Caster (Depp) is a computer geek working in the world of Artificial Intelligence. He is shot by anti-tech activists who oppose his mission. He survives the wound, but the bullet is coated with materials that lead to his gradual demise.

His wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and friend Max (Paul Bettany), who work alongside him, transfer his intellect to computer drives. When Will communicates via computer screen following his death, the plot begins to unfold.

Sadly, the story is weak and poorly told. None of the characters in the film, including Will, are worth caring about. Transcendence lasts just over 2 hours but seems much longer.

For all the philosophical questions about the ascent of technology the film purports to raise, the framing of those issues is muted by a lack of basic film making skill. Yes, it has many cool images and some nice effects but they’re not sufficient to make the film compelling.

The name Johnny Depp will sell enough tickets to justify his huge paycheck. The name Christopher Nolan as a producer may attract fans of Inception and Memento into movie houses. The fact that rookie director Wally Pfister has worked as Nolan’s cinematographer may also lure fans to the box office. But Transcendence is not a good movie.

For the past 20 years, any Johnny Depp movie was, for me, a movie I wanted to see—just because his onscreen work has been consistently entertaining. Even films like The Tourist and The Rum Diary were made worthwhile by his presence. Now, after last year’s Lone Ranger and this new release, a Depp film is no longer a “must see” for me.

Transcendence is not the worst movie of 2014. But it is the most disappointing so far.

 

 

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Draft Day

For hardcore NFL fans, Draft Day is a must see. The entire story takes place on NFL Draft day. Draft Day starts slowly. The movie, happily, builds picks up speed along the way and come to a satisfying ending.

Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. He holds a high pick but wants to parlay it into something better. He’s on the phone with fellow NFL GMs trolling for deals and seeking info. Meanwhile he’s dealing with all the other characters in his workplace world.

Ali (Jennifer Garner) is the team’s salary cap manager. She’s also Sonny’s live-in girlfriend. Coach Penn (Dennis Leary), who flashes the Super Bowl ring he earned as a Cowboys assistant, wants to have a say in the team’s picks. Team owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) gives Sonny plenty of leeway to make his moves—as long as they have a positive outcome.

Weaver’s father, a former Browns head coach, has died just a few days before draft day, which leads to a bit of family drama with his mom (Ellen Burstyn).

As the day progresses, leading up to the draft at Radio City, questions are asked and answered about certain players. It seems unrealistic that a team would still be investigating a player’s character at the last minute—considering all the intelligence that’s gathered for months leading up to the draft.

Chadwick Boseman, who starred a year ago as Jackie Robinson in 42, gives a likeable performance as a collegiate linebacker who’s hoping to go high. Sam Elliott has a brief role as the head football coach at Wisconsin.

Draft Day features several real life individuals. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is played by… Roger Goodell! TV talking heads in the movie include Chris Berman, Jon Gruden, Deion Sanders, Rich Eisen and Mel Kiper.

Two production touches I liked: The flyover beauty shots of several NFL stadiums look terrific on screen. And the way director Ivan Reitman handles split screen shots during Sonny’s several draft day phone calls is clever. (Reitman was director of Ghostbusters, Stripes, Kindergarten Cop, Meatballs and many others.)

As Weaver wheels and deals, tension builds, leading up to the actual picking of the players. The drama of the choosing—seen from several points of view—is greater than was expected.

This is the 3rd Costner movie in the last 3 months and, by far, the most entertaining. As mentioned earlier this year, Costner is an actor enjoyed by men and women. While men may want to see this film because of its football story, women should be able to enjoy the Sonny-Ali relationship and the many conflicts between various characters.

Draft Day will make NFL fans anxious for the draft to begin and will serve as a reminder of just how entertaining NFL football can be. With the real NFL Draft set for May 8, this film should guarantee a bigger TV audience for the annual ritual.

Yes, releasing Draft Day just 2 weeks into baseball season is a bit of a nose thumb to our former national pastime. But NFL football is big enough to get away with it.

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Divergent

There are similarities: A grim vision of the future, young people facing off against each other, young people facing off against authority, unconsummated sexual tension and… cool costumes. As happens in another recent movie, a ceremony near the film’s beginning brings the citizenry together as it tears families apart.

But—–Divergent is not The Hunger Games and Shailene Woodley is not Jennifer Lawrence.

In a bombed-out futureworld Chicago, Tris Pryor (Woodley) faces a choice she must make: Which of five factions will she choose to join? The smart folks are Erudite, the peaceful people are Amity, those who cannot lie are Candor, the brave and daring are Dauntless and the selfless belong to Abnegation.

Tris does not fit neatly into any one of those categories, so she is destined to be Divergent (according to personality testing). However, when choosing time comes, she picks Dauntless.

Her training is brutal, but she makes it through with help from one of the team leaders, the hunky Four (Theo James). He realizes that she’s a bit brainy for Dauntless, but he makes it work. It’s not a spoiler to tip that they fall in love.

The Dauntless leaders get their crew involved in a political battle. Erudite, led by Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is looking to overthrow the government run by Abnegation, whose leaders include Tris’ parents.

Divergent establishes its characters and tells its story clearly. Its violence is direct but not gory. The effects are good but not overbearing. A favorite scene is a nighttime zipline ride from the top of the John Hancock building. Wheeeeee!

Shailene Woodley received an Oscar nomination for her work in The Descendants. She was good in last year’s The Spectacular Now. For Divergent, she has been handed the keys to a franchise. Her acting chops are strong. But can she command an action role? I say yes. (Her Spectacular Now co-star Miles Teller is a fellow Dauntless trainee, FYI.)

Woodley may have the prettiest eyes in movies, but her look is not glam. She’s not a hardbody, but manages to pull off the athletic moves necessary to play Tris. (Not all of that work can be done by stunt doubles.)

The key to the success of Divergent will be, as with the Potter/Twilight/Hunger films, the passion of fans of the books. But for those of us who did not read the Divergent book, the movie is solidly entertaining. While it resolves its main plot issue, there will be more to come. The sequel Insurgent is due out in March 2015.

 

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Bad Words

Bad Words is one of those funny little movies that is definitely not for everyone. It has a ridiculous concept, an obnoxious lead character and a charming kid.

Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is a 40-year-old proofreader with an encyclopedic knowledge of words. He finds a loophole in the rules and enters a spelling bee in Columbus, Ohio, which he wins. He moves on to the national finals where the story picks up steam.

On the plane ride to LA, Guy meets and immediately disses a young boy of Indian descent (Rohan Chand) who ignores the putdowns and maintains his upbeat attitude.

Dr. Bernice Deagan (Allison Janney) runs the spelling bee. She is just as upset at Guy’s participation as are the parents of the kids in the bee. Dr. Bowman (the 82-year-old Philip Baker Hall) is the emeritus leader of the bee. He co-hosts the national telecast of the finals with Pete Fowler (Ben Falcone).

Jenny (Kathryn Hahn) is Guy’s sponsor and occasional lover. She has an online news outlet for which she is covering him and his wacky mission. She works to discover his reasons for crashing this party to which he is not welcome.

Other than his talent for spelling, Guy has no obvious redeeming social values. He is an absolute dick. He is rude to everyone: the kids, their parents, Jenny, the hotel staff, etc.

Eventually Guy becomes a friend to the young boy with the perky spirit. He takes him out for a night of totally inappropriate debauchery. Is sabotage his ulterior motive?

Bad Words delivers a few big laughs and several chuckles. Guy’s bad behavior, especially the terrible things he says to people, is often shockingly impolite. An actor less likeable than Jason Bateman would offend greatly. Guy is a total jerk but because it’s Bateman in the role, audiences are more likely to cut him a break.

Bad Words is Bateman’s competent debut as a director. The script is by rookie Andrew Dodge.

Viewers who appreciate its outrageous story and its mean-spirited humor have already championed this film. There are critic blurbs galore. But Bad Words is a movie with a central character who is hard to embrace and cheer for. That, for me, makes this movie hard to like. See Bad Words at your own risk.

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The Grand Budapest Hotel

If the Marx Brothers were still making movies, they might’ve made The Grand Budapest Hotel. “Zany” is not a word I often use, but it’s the best word I know to describe TGBH.

Like the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup, The Grand Budapest Hotel is set mainly in the 1930’s in a fictional country with an oddly named lead character. Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) ruled Freedonia; Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) works in the imaginary European country Zubrowka.

Director and co-writer Wes Anderson has given us another movie with visual treats galore. This was suggested by the film’s preview trailer, which is better than many actual movies. Seeing TGBH in all its glory proves the product is as good as its tease.

The story is told via a triple flashback. A young girl opens the movie by reading a book about the hotel. Anderson cuts to the author (Tom Wilkinson) who flashes back a few decades to a time where his younger self (Jude Law) gets the lowdown from Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham).  Moustafa recalls his early days as hotel lobby boy (Tony Revolori) and his adventures with hotel concierge Gustave.

When the hotel truly was grand, dowagers (older ladies with money/property) would visit the hotel where Gustave would service them sexually. Madame D (Tilda Swinton) was among his favorites.

Following her passing, Gustave and his lobby boy take a rail journey to the funeral where they manage to steal a valuable work of art (which was supposedly bequeathed to Gustave). This is followed by Gustave’s imprisonment, which leads to a daring breakout. Throw in a wonderful wintertime chase scene on skis and sleds and the ludicrous story becomes even more bizarre.

The film’s cast includes Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Willam DeFoe, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan and Jason Schwartzman. Of course, Bill Murray is there. Murray has become an Anderson “director’s trademark.”

In 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson seemed to have dialed down the quirk factor a notch or two. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, it’s back up there. As he did with the young leads in Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson has cast an unknown in a pivotal role. The rookie Revolori does a more than decent job as the lobby boy.

The Grand Budapest Hotel may be too weird for those who prefer their comedy more direct. But if you are among the growing legion of Wes Anderson fans and/or you have a taste for something goofy, silly and, yes, zany, do not miss this movie! (Rated R.)

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