The Expendables 2

 Last night I wanted a diversion and decided to watch The Expendables 2. I expected another fun and explosive ride and I got what I was expecting. Lots of big explosions, plenty of bullets flying and numerous kills--my diversion. The story has the "expendables" going into a military installation to retrieve a hostage (who turns out to be Swartzenegger) right from the beginning of the film. Before the title rolls across the screen you are exposed to lots of action and violence. This is just the prelude to the main story in which Church (Bruce Willis) finds Barney (Stallone) to demand that the boys go on an operation because of some unfinished business. He wants Barney to take his team to the site of a crash to retrieve something important from the villian, Van Damme. If you saw the first in this series you can probably guess what happens from here. The Expendables 2 is not a good film. It is a fun film for those who like aging macho actors and action, adventure films.

Seeking A Friend For the End of the World

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, is a good movie with good acting. While it is advertised as a comedy, it is not. Instead Seeking a Friend is an intelligent and surprisingly moving story of two emotionally damaged people and the healing they receive by being in each other's lives. Yes, it's set against the backdrop of an asteroid's impending collision with Earth, but that doesn't mean that the film is depressing. If anything, it reaffirms the value of life and instills the belief that the simple act of being kind and making someone happy gives us meaning. What else can you ask for in a movie especially on that stars one of my favorite actresses, Keira Knightley?

Prometheus

What a disappointment! I expected more from Ridley Scott. Why is this movie such a disappointment? Well, you must know a little about the story. Prometheus is the story of a trillion-dollar mission to discover the origins of human life on a distant planet. Basically, this is supposed to be the greatest exploration undertaken in the history of mankind.

So who do they send? A group of goons who resemble the Three Stooges. Within minutes of touching down, the 'scientists' are yanking off their helmets, on the basis of 'it seems fine to me', dipping their fingers into strange organic ooze, and lugging a severed alien head back to an unquarantined spaceship in a sandwich bag.

Once there, they speedily discover the meaning of life. Then, while one of them gets a bit drunk, his two female companions decide it would be useful to stimulate the head electrically to reanimate it. They don't say why. They give it a bit too much juice, then too little, then dither over too much or too little like a couple of schoolgirls fiddling with a bunsen burner, while the most important scientific discovery in human history waggles its ears and rolls its eyes - before eventually blowing up like a frog in a microwave.

The entire movie is a litany of ludicrous so-called science, schoolboy errors, and pseudo-profundity about the origin of species. Ironic really, when none of the crew would have a chance in hell in any sort of contest governed by Darwinian rules.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a silly name for a film but it is truly an exceptional film that features some of the best British actors. The film stars Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton, Liza Tarbuck, and Ronald Pickup. It is a fun and delightful film.

The seven principal characters of this film have all come to a point in their lives, where remaining in the UK is no longer feasible, mostly due to financial reasons. Each has stumbled across a brochure outlining the wonderful possibilities that await them in India at a newly refurbished Marigold Hotel. Enrollment into the hotel facilities includes the flight to India as well. However, upon arrival; it seems that the facilities are far less luxurious than advertise.

The film follows each individual through his or her path of awakening; for each individual has come to India for a different reason. This film has good acting, is well scripted, and is well directed. The Indian backdrop for this film is exotic. I highly recommend this film.

Delicacy (2011)

Delicacy is a French film that stars Audrey Tautou, François Damiens and Bruno Todeschini. Audrey Tautou plays Nathalie who is devastated after the death of her new husband Francois (Pio Marmai) and spends the next three years mourning him, in a daze, floating through life. One day unexpectedly she kisses a new colleague of hers, Markus (Francois Damiens), an unattractive, balding Swede in an act that leaves him perplexed and creates tensions at work. While the first part of this movie is rather slow and somewhat boring but about midway through the movie it picks up and becomes interesting and profound. I think that most people will see some of themselves in the movies' relationships.

The Hunger Games

I was looking forward to the release of The Hunger Games on iTunes because I enjoyed reading this book and the remainder of the trilogy. It stars  Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. What I can say is that I knew that it could not be as good as the book, but this is just about always the case. I was correct. However, I think they produced a reasonably good adaptation of this simple but complex book. I will warn you not to see the movie before reading this short, easy-to-read book.

If you are unfamiliar with the book or movie, The Hunger Games is based on the novel by Suzanne Collins. In her book we see the country of Panem, which is divided up into 12 districts.. Panem is what remains of the United States after a revolution. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for the past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to kill their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. The Hunger Games is the story of Katniss.

Bound For Glory (1976)

Bound For Glory is an excellent biography of Woody Guthrie. It stars David  Carradine, Ronny Cox and Melinda Dillon. This movie follows Woody, played by Carradine, from the Texas/Oklahoma "dust bowl" to what he thought was the promised land, California. When Woody starts his journey he is nothing more than a hobo and sign painter. At the end of this fabulous journey he becomes one of the greatest folk singers of all time. Upon arriving in California he finds that he and the thousands of migrants from the southern US are not wanted. Woody has to eat at soup kitchens and sleep in a truck bed of a migrant park. Here he develops his amazing musical skills, but instead of doing it for nothing more than financial gain, Woody writes songs to inspire the migrants to unionize and protest their slave wages and living conditions. I truly recommend this film. It is excellent.

In Time

 I had not heard of the film In Time until I saw that it was showing on HBO. The trailer looked interesting and I watched it the other night. In Time stars  Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy. It is the year 2161 and a genetic alteration has allowed humans to stop aging after their 25th birthday thereby making it possible for them to live forever. But due to concerns of overpopulation, the system is tweaked so that money is replaced by 'living time' as the standard currency and people must acquire more time through labor and commercial means after turning 25 years of age, or die within a year. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is a 28-year-old man who lives with his 50-year old mother, Rachel (Olivia Wilde) in the ghettos and works in the factory. He encounters a 105-year-old Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), who has more than a century on his clock and is attacked by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer), the 75-year old mobster boss of a gang called the 'Minutemen', who are infamous for stealing other people's time by force. Will helps Hamilton escape the confrontation. Hamilton tells Will that there's enough time for everyone, but it is being stockpiled for the rich to use in becoming immortal. An upset Henry describes how he is tired of being alive. He commits suicide, but not before transferring all his time to Will. Raylond Leon (Cillian Murphy) and his Timekeepers investigate the death and believe Will killed Henry for his time. So now Will is on the run from the law. After the tragic and unjust death of his mother later that night, Will promises to bring down the system and exact revenge. He forages into the upper class New Greenwich community and along his travails, he meets the beautiful 27-year-old Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) who is the daughter of the 90-year old millionaire, time-loaning businessman Phillipe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). Will kidnaps Sylvia while escaping the Timekeepers.

While you will be entertained by this flick it falls short of what it could have been. 

Sarah's Key

I am on a roll when selecting movies to watch over the last few months. Last night I saw Sarah's Key staring Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance and Niels Arestrup. Thomas plays an American journalist in Paris who embarks on a story about the Holocaust and discovers connections between the past, her present marriage, and her unborn child. Beginning as an article on the 1942 roundup of Jews in France, not by the Germans but the French themselves. Initially they are housed in a Paris coliseum before being sent to Auschwitz. However the story soon becomes a journey of self-discovery as the protagonist stumbles upon a terrible secret of a family forced out of their home and a young girl called Sarah who makes an impulsive decision to leave her younger brother locked in a cupboard. A film about the Holocaust is certain to be moving, but the circumstances in this one are harrowing, the truth astonishing, and the coincidences as unbelievable as the tragedy itself. It is a journalist's quest to dig up the lives of others and unleash the truth, but this film shows the price of these actions. I recommend this film but be warned that it intelligently covers a wide-range of moral and ethical issues that evoke strong emotions.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows

I was pleasantly surprised as I watched Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows during my recent flight from Baltimore to Tampa. The "modern" form of Holmes is a far cry from the Holmes of the Arthur Conan Doyle books that I read so many years ago. Guy Richie, the director, has made Holmes into an action hero.

In this movie, Holmes, played by Robert Downey, Jr, is again matching wits with the evil Professor Moriarty, Jared Harris. Moriarty appears to match Holmes man-to-man intellectually; however, he follows no moral code or displays any hint of empathy whatsoever. This makes him the most dangerous man in Europe. As always Holmes has his sidekick, the trusty Dr. Watson played by Jude Law.  In this story Watson insists on going through with his marriage, a prospect Sherlock frequently reminds him will destroy his manhood and shatter his well-being.

Holmes' interactions with Moriarty and Watson define this film. When Holmes and Moriarty share the same room, real tension emanates from the screen. Their verbal sword play is a credit to the writing and the actors who joust for tactical advantage just by using metaphors. Holmes' interactions with Watson are not so good. For example, the relentless double entendres about their "relationship" lead the audience to question whether or not Holmes is homosexual or bisexual. Who cares? Overall I still recommend this movie if you enjoy a nonstop action adventure centering around Sherlock Holmes.