The Reel World

“A successful breakout depends on three things: Layout, Routine, and Outside Help.”

You know, there was a time when the public could only dream of an Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone team-up. Now thanks to a little film called The Expendables, when it comes to the realm of action star team-ups, anything is possible. Case in point: Escape Plan. When this film was first announced, I figure it would be devoid of any real substance and just another attempt to capitalize on the success of  Expendables (the first one; the second is not that great) but the film surprisingly holds up on its own without having to cling to anything else.

Gone With The Wind is the most popular film of all time still to this day if you talk about adjusted dollars. The Birth of a Nation was the most popular film of all time for a considerable time prior to that. Both films could be said to have a benign view of slavery and white supremacy, although it would be easy to use much stronger language than that. In most circles, both films have been considerably discredited due to this myopic view. Both films almost completely ignore or disregard the incredible cruelty of using human beings as a commodity for commerce. Even that doesn't begin to address the evil. Slavery continues to subjugate and demean up to 30,000,000 people worldwide to this very day, but it was sanctioned by law in much of the United States until after the Civil War. The horror, indignity and monstrous unfairness of it all cannot be overstated. Those involved in the abolitionist movement prior to the Civil War were driven by a fanatical and fervent desire to expose the abominable hypocrisy that was prevalent. A small core of free men and women of all races risked their lives to fight the abomination.

12 Years a Slave was a book that was written as a true account of the blind evil of the time. It is now a movie by young director Steve McQueen (that's his real name; he is obviously not the dead actor). In Saratoga Springs, a young highly regarded musician has a beautiful family and home. His name is Solomon Northup, and he has a good life. He is intelligent, friendly and eager to make the most of his talents. He is persuaded to assist two entrepreneurs with a venture and travel to Washington, D.C. After much success and celebration he wakes up to find himself in chains, and so begins the 12 years. He is transported on a slave ship and changes hands among owners over those 12 years. He is, after all, property. He is now part of a “peculiar institution”.

"Try not to be distracted by the cleavage and the hairspray."

It all started out as a mock trailer written by Robert Rodriquez for the 2007 farce Grindhouse. The project combined such talents as Rodriquez, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright. They were all fans of the 1970's exploitation grindhouse films. You can certainly see the influences in the movies these filmmakers have made on their own. Machete was equally a farce and only intended to give you that drive-in trailer feeling during Grindhouse. Along the way the segment staring Danny Trejo became something more.

I remember the day I was watching CNN and they broadcast the news of Captain Richard Phillips being rescued after being held captive by Somali pirates back in 2009.  The story of a captain facing gun-toting pirates and being held captive on a lifeboat for four days is a story rich with material that begs to be made into a film.  Now four years later, this heroic story comes to the big screen (in IMAX for those lucky enough to have an IMAX nearby) helmed by director Paul Greengrass (United 93) and starring Tom Hanks in what I believe is the performance of his career.

Very little setup is needed as we meet Captain Phillips (Hanks) as he is on way to take command of the U.S. Maersk Alabama to captain the ship around the horn of Africa and through pirate-infested water.  All crew members know the risk that comes with taking a position on any ship that travels past Somalia, but there is no other route for a crew to take, leaving them with no other choice but to steer through the violent waters as quickly as they can.  Just as we are watching the stern and confident captain plot his route, we are also introduced to Muse (Barkhad Abdi) who leads a crew of his own that has only one intention, and that is to strike pay dirt by seizing a ship on the open sea.

"Let me tell you a story."

Remember the tagline in Alien? "In space no one can hear you scream". Gravity begins, appropriately enough, with complete silence. We're treated to a rather spectacular view of the Earth from orbit. Eventually chatter begins to intrude upon our revelry. We soon meet the crew of a space shuttle mission to do repair work on the Hubble telescope. We quickly learn that this is the final mission for retiring astronaut Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, although I certainly consider it a bad sign when he's told to enjoy his last walk. He's acting as a mentor of sorts to younger astronaut Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock. There are others on the mission, but we're treated to very little time with them. In a short time, they won't really matter.

"This is your job. You want a safer job, go work at the post office. You want a clear conscience, go start a charity. But if you want your own island and your boss says you gotta go out there and take a beating, you go out there, take it and come back to work and say, 'do you need me to do it again?'"

This may just be me, but any job that requires me to happily take a beating simply isn’t for me, and no matter how much money is on the line. A movie about a bright kid from a broken family, down on his luck getting taken in by a charismatic wheeling-dealing/sociopathic businessman, and before long finding himself in over his head, sound familiar? I’m sure it does, but what I have come to learn in recent years is just because it has been done does not mean that it still can’t be entertaining.

“There are only a few things I really care about in life: My body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, and my porn.”

I have to say, I didn’t see that last one coming the first time I saw the trailer. Another thing I didn’t see coming when I first heard about the film, that it was the feature film directorial debut for actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Quite the illustrious career Gordon-Levitt has had; I knew he had been around the block as far as acting goes, but I had no idea of his list of accomplishments until after I consulted IMDB; the man has over sixty acting credits to his name and has been part of some of the biggest and innovative films in recent years. So it would seem that the only viable question about him taking on the responsibility of the director’s chair is, why didn’t he do it sooner? I suppose the correct answer to that question would be he was waiting for the perfect script to make his debut. Well you know the old adage, if you want something done….

After first seeing the trailer for Rush the first thing that came to mind is how the film looked like nothing director Ron Howard (Apollo 13, Backdraft, Parenthood) had done before.  Set in the world of Formula 1 racing where everything was about speed, style and sex, this seems like a world far removed from the wheelhouse we expect from Ron Howard.  But upon watching the film, beyond the tremendous visuals on the track we are given a story that is more than just a simple rivalry, but a story about the drive to succeed at any cost whether it be by skill or obsession and envy; what matters to these men is to be number one.

Chris Hemsworth buckles into the driver seat as James Hunt, the English driver who plays the part more as a rock star of the track than your typical driver. He parties, he drinks, and he thrusts himself between the sheets of nearly every beautiful woman who crosses his path.  He knows every lap around the track comes with the risk of certain death, but this only pushes him to enjoy life to its limits when he is off the track.  But Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl of Inglourious Basterds fame) approaches the track with respect and is methodical with every step towards getting behind the wheel and racing.  Where Hunt simply lets the mechanics do their job to deliver a car for him to race, Lauda is there helping design the car and giving his input to ensure his car is the fastest one on the track.  It’s these obsessive personalities that collide on and off the track that deliver the real drama of the film.

I honestly expected to be bummed watching Enough Said. The film marks the penultimate screen appearance by Sopranos icon James Gandolfini following his untimely death from a heart attack in June. So while I always looked forward to watching Gandolfini, there was an undercurrent of sadness in knowing this was one of the last new performances we’d ever be getting from the immensely talented actor. Thankfully, Gandolfini’s work here is as lively and funny as the rest of this romantic comedy, so you’re more likely to walk away with a smile on your face than a tear in your eye.

Enough Said is the story of a masseuse named Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who begins dating likable, low-key TV historian Albert (Gandolfini) after meeting him at a party. Eva and Albert bond over their shared status as lonely, divorced parents whose daughters are about to head off to college. Meanwhile, Eva’s new favorite client is Marianne (Catherine Keener), a poet she met at the same party who appears to be perfect in every way…except that she can’t stop ragging on her ex-husband. So imagine Eva’s horror when she realizes the “loser” and “slob” of an ex-husband Marianne has been mercilessly slamming is actually “Fat Albert.”

“You made me feel so safe. You told us that you could protect us from anything.”

Prisoners poses a lot of provocative questions. Chief among them is, “Who ultimately bears the responsibility of protecting one’s family?” Is it enough to leave these matters completely in the hands of dedicated, but hopelessly overwhelmed law enforcement officials? And, in a life or death situation, would you ever take the law into your own hands to save someone you love? My favorite thing about Prisoners, one of the best movies I've seen this year, is that the film respects its audience enough to withhold any easy answers.