The Reel World

Journalism today is in disarray. I say that not because there aren't many, many passionate journalists who want to do the best job possible. I say it because there are just many, many, many more bloggers who don't know how live up to those standards or why it's even important. The internet changes everything in the music industry, the movie industry, and the media industry. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. It just means that it's chaotic, and it often seems like no one is in control.

“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.

"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.

"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.

"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?

“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.

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.

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.