Premium Rush - Review

Premium Rush
24 August 2012 (USA)
91 min - Action | Thriller

Rated: PG-13
Foul Language

Director: David Koepp

Writers: David Koepp, John Kamps

Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon and Dania Ramirez | See full cast and crew

Grade: C+

In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.

The tag line on the poster gives and indication of what is most important, gutter language or the title of the film (Of course Ride like Hell is mild as compared to the unnecessary use of foul and profane language that permeates the film's dialogue). It would have been a much more enjoyable film without the trash talk.

Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie - super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who's used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when a routine delivery turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. When Wilee picks up his last envelope of the day on a premium rush run, he discovers this package is different. This time, someone is actually trying to kill him. -- (C) Sony

Judging from the trailer this looks like a fast paced, cool, story about a hip bike messenger in the Big Apple innocently caught up in a dangerous web criminal intrigue. Well, that assumption is at least partly right, but if you have ever had to navigate the streets of New York (either driving or on foot) you have almost certainly had a brush with one of these haughty, sweaty, smelly, obnoxious bikers who arrogantly claim the streets of Manhattan as there own expecting absolute impunity for their utter disdain for traffic laws and the safety of anyone else on the street.

Certainly the bike riding is amazing and exciting for about 30 minutes or so, but it gets old pretty fast and with a paper thin formulaic plot it runs out of steam as the events get more and more unbelievable.  The best moments of the Premium Rush are the 'stop time' moments where Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in a split second must decide his course through a congested intersection...with his eyes squinted in close-up, he decides whether to peel to the right (nope, he'd hit a baby in it's carriage), peel to the left (nope, he'd get flattened by a UPS truck) or find some alternate crazy route kinked with twists and turns (yep, by the skin of his teeth he squeaks through with his life intact).

Sadly, Detective Monday (Michael Shannon) is like a caricature from a Roadrunner cartoon, totally unbelievable. Wilee's girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) also gives a paper-doll performance. The frustrated Bike Cop (Christopher Place) turns in a decent comic relief cameo performance but there aren't really any good performances in the film aside from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and that simply isn't enough.

Then we get to one of my pet peeves. Gutter language. If I must be subjected to trashy profanity on a daily basis in real life...I certainly don't want to pay good money to be subjected to more of it. What ever happened to the idea/art of 'creative writing'? Are real-life bike messengers going to use trashy language...in New York? Are you kidding? As they say in the Big Apple, "Forget about it!", still, motion pictures are fictional. They don't have to use constantly use the 'F bomb' in order to relate an intriguing story.

One other thing I'll give the writers credit for is that they chose to make the bad cop just that 'a bad cop', for once at least there isn't some contagion of corruption in the police department, it's just one bad cop. I am so tired of the Hollywood morality that dictates that all authority figures must be on the take. Just because Hollywood has the morals of alley cats (with my apologies to alley cats everywhere) it doesn't mean the rest of the world subscribes to 'Moviland's' cesspool standards.

Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt           Dania Ramirez    

 Michael Shannon             Christopher Place

The Apparition - Review

The Apparition
(2012)
82 min
Horror | Thriller

Rated: PG-13
Grade: D+

Director: Todd Lincoln
Writer: Todd Lincoln
Stars: Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan and Tom Felton | See full cast and crew


Once You Believe You Die...And If You Don't Believe You Won't Die For 82 Minutes In The Movie Theater.

A couple are haunted by a supernatural presence that was unleashed during a college experiment. He has not let his girlfriend know of his past involvement in the controversial parapsychology research nor what drove him to leave the research group.

When frightening events start to occur in their home, young couple Kelly (Ashley Greene) and Ben (Sebastian Stan) discover they are being haunted by a presence that was accidentally conjured during a university parapsychology experiment. The horrifying apparition feeds on their fear and torments them no matter where they try to run. Their last hope is an expert in the supernatural, Patrick (Tom Felton), but even with his help they may already be too late to save themselves from this terrifying force. -- (C) Warner Bros.

Watch out for spiders Kelly says as Ben enters the crawl space under the house to find out what is going on under the kitchen floor. The linolium has cracked and been pushed up by some sort of mold or something has grown in the spot where the neighbor's dog came in earlier, stopped, stared at a spot on the wall and then just dropped dead.

When a film says it's a thriller or scary...it dang well better be or it's going to get slammed by the critics. This film has received nothing but bad, tepid at best, reviews.

How stupid is this? The couple are too afraid to sleep in the house because of all the scary, threatening stuff going on inside so they retreat to the safety of a tent pitched on the patio in the back yard. He hears noises so he leaves her sleeping in the tent and goes off to investigate. While he is gone the security cameras break free of their brackets and snake their way into the tent...wooo...so scary.

A huckster in the Warner Bros. marketing department came up with the tagline "Once you believe, you die." he should either be fired or given a raise. It is an interesting ploy in the trailer but is really a bit of  'bait and switch' since the premise isn't really used in the plot.

This is a poor attempt at a 'scary movie'. There are a couple of cheep gotcha moments but that's about it. The Apparition is illogical and pointless. The film sat on the shelf at Warner Bros. for over a year apparently waiting for a slow opening weekend when it could be sprung upon an unsuspecting public and it would have minimal competition.

When paranormal activity starts in the house where the young couple lives one might get the hope that perhaps this thing could work out to be a little spooky but it soon devolves into illogical stupidity like you expect in your common garden variety 'dead teenager movie'. By about the 60 minuet mark the wheels really fall off of this train wreck.

Cast

2016 Obama's America - Review

2016:
Obama's America

Documentary - 2012 (USA)

1 hr 27 min

Rated: PG

Directors: Dinesh D'Souza, John Sullivan

Writer: John Sullivan

Stars: Dinesh D'Souza | See full cast and crew


Grade: B+

Dinesh D'Souza, the author of The Roots of Obama’s Rage, pulls back the veil that has shrouded the president's past. Love him or hate him, you don't know him. He expounds on the president's past, doing the job the media avoided in the  lead up to the election of 2008. Included is an interview with the president's half-brother George Obama. D'Souza discusses what drives Obama's world view, how it was developed and proposes what America will look like should he be elected to a second term.

From all the initial buzz about this film I was prepared for a aggressively anti-Obama exposé. It was surprisingly non hostile, the onslaught doesn't really ever materialize. Mr. D'Souza simply presents the president's political world view, as expressed in his own words, much of which is related in the president's own voice from Obama's audio book, Dreams From My Father (He points out that the title of the book is 'Dreams From My Father' not 'Dreams Of My Father', that young Barak's world view is the same as that of his father's), he further explains how Obama came to embrace that particular view.

Obama and D'Souza came from similar backgrounds yet have starkly differing world views. This film asks why, and how did these two men, so similar, become so different.

Mr. D'Souza travels to the places where Obama lived and traveled to during his formative years, and he talks to various people who knew Obama and/or his father, step-father and mother during the times they lived or or visited these places.

Dinesh D'Souza speaks with George Obama, the president's half-brother living in Kenya

I would like to have heard more from George Obama, the interview with him is too brief and without depth.

Under the talented tutelage from the teaming of renowned producers, John Sullivan and Gerald R. Molen, the production values are excellent just as one would expect, the film is insightful, thoughtfully and expertly filmed and edited. The film was not particularly revelatory to me, but the vast majority of America and the world for that matter (unless they have done their own homework) has been denied by the mainstream media any semblance of  in-depth investigative journalism when it comes to Barak Husein Obama. Via an egregious act of dereliction of its duty the mainstream media not only failed to investigate but has run interference for Obama, shielding and deflecting all attempts to lean anything of substance about the man it helped ascend to the presidency, bringing validation to Mr. D'Souza's claim,'Love him or hate him. You don't know him'. 

In the current election cycle government political campaign contribution sources report to date that the Major Networks have donated to both the Obama and Romney campaigns, at a rate in excess of 10 to 1 in favor of Obama. So much for an impartial media.

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Mr. D'Souza, in conclusion, then contrasts Mr. Obama's world view with that of the founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson and Franklin. He strongly asserts that we as a nation now stands at a very critical crossroads, which world view will we subscribe to. The future of The United States of America is in the hands of 'We The People'. 

Whether you support President Barak Obama or not, this is a must-see for all American voters who intend to participate in the upcoming election. It provides insight into Obama's personality and psyche that Americans did not know about him in 2008.
Where will America in 2016? This is the theme of the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, based on the book of the same title by Dinesh D'Souza. He gives an amazing and long overdue psychological analysis of the man who won an election in 2008 and, for the last three-and-a-half years, has held the title of Commander and Chief over the most powerful nation on earth, and he accomplished it all based on one word, "Change."

As president Barak Obama has certainly 'changed' America, but has it been in the way that most Americans who backed and voted for him expected?

This election is not an issue of race. It is not an issue of religion. It is not even an issue of a choice of Democrat-vs-Republican. This is an American issue!

Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed - Review

Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed

War / Drama

Runtime 94 min.

Rated PG-13

Director: Ryan Little

Writers: Lincoln Hoppe, Lamont Gray

Producers: Ryan Little, Adam Abel, Gil Aglaure

Stars: Corbin Allred, David Nibley and Jasen Wade | See full cast and crew

Grade: A-

On August 15, 1944 the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) jumped over the south of France. Their mission was to support and protect the Allied Troops marching to Berlin. Landing in enemy territory, they fell under immediate attack. In their effort to complete the mission and rendez-vous with their unit, three isolated paratroopers come across a group of French resistants in desperate need. They decide to help liberate some of the captive Partisans. Doing so they risk their lives in an effort to live the Airborne Creed. -- (C) Official Site

 

Nine years ago "Saints and Soldiers" a creative, bold and thrilling World War II drama hit the film festival circuit and was well received, winning several awards. It was proof that a small band of Utah filmmakers could get a very big bang out of their limited bucks. With a production budget of only $780,000 the film nearly doubled its investment raking in $1,310,470 at the box office.

Director Ryan Little (a Utah-based filmmaker known for a number of short subjects focused on issues of faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, The RM, The Singles Ward, The Home Teachers, prior to Saints and Soldiers) has sojourned back to the World War II, and to Utah for filming locations, to create his non-sequel sequel (or is it the second installment of a franchise?) Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed, a thoughtful drama about not only the physical but the emotional and spiritual toll on men called to war.

Saints and Soldiers was tense and moving, Airborne Creed has all the emotions of the first film if not more. Most certainly, there is more action in Airborne Creed. I have seen the film twice and found it just as riveting the second time around.

This World War II film is based on the mission of a U.S. Army elite unit, the 517th, a parachute regimental combat team that jumped into enemy territory over Southern France on Aug. 15, 1944. The mission known as, Operation: Dragoon, was to support and protect the Allied troops marching on Berlin. Jumping into heavy fog, those that survived fell under immediate attack. The story is based on actual events and characters, including Harland “Bud” Curtis, a member of the 1st Battalion communications section.

Rossi (Corbin Allred), Curtis (Jasen Wade) and Jones (David Nibley) are three Airborne soldiers who have just been dropped into occupied France, not long after D-Day. They have all become  separated from their unit but the three soon find each other as they try to make their way back to their rendezvous point. As they try to find their way, they encounter Emilie (Virginie Fourtina Anderson), a pretty French Resistance fighter, who pleads for their help to spring some other Resistance members being held and tortured by the Germans.

As they slog their way through episodes of combat and tension, various encounters dredge up flashbacks for the soldiers. Rossi is haunted by memories of when his best friend Pvt. Gates (Trenton James) was killed in action; Curtis dreams of his girl Charlotte (Nichelle Aiden) back home; and Jones remembers arguing with his preacher father (Paul Nibley) about enlisting in the Airborne instead of joining the chaplain corps.

In one of the movie’s compelling moments, in a risky yet interesting move, the attention focuses on a German officer, Capt. Neumann (Lincoln Hoppe, also one of the film’s screenwriters), and his poignant soul-searching over the horrors he has seen and committed in the name of the Fatherland.

As he did with the first "Saints and Soldiers," Little takes the tiny "Airborne Creed" budget and squeezes every available ounce of production values. Little (who is his own cinematographer) incorporates tight editing, strategically used computer effects and a group of World War II re-enactors to make his films look big and epic. His technical skills keeps the production values from betraying the story, which is engaging dramatic. It chronicles how war grinds down the men who fight it, no matter which side they are fighting for.

While researching for the film Ryan Little and producer Adam Abel interviewed a member of the 517th, Hoyt Kelley. The 89-year-old veteran from Logan, Utah, was a staff sergeant over training in military intelligence in the 1st Battalion of the 517th who led night patrols. While some parts of the movie were fictionalized and “cleaned up,” Kelley, who screened “Airborne Creed” twice, endorsed it by saying it was very realistic.

“I’m not much on war movies, to be honest. They deviated from the story a little, but all in all, I thought they did a pretty good job. It’s certainly the best Utah movie I’ve seen,” Kelley said. “It’s a great family picture.”

In an interview with Deseret News, Little stated,

“The reality of war is pretty graphic and hard-core. As we did our research, we heard some pretty horrific war stories, and we’d say, ‘Yeah, that won’t go in our movie,’” Little said laughing. “At the same time, there are a lot of emotional stories that are touching, the moments of humanity in war. Those are the ones we gravitate toward, where someone in a really difficult situation makes the right choice.

“War is more gory than we portray it, but we’re not trying to make a giant visual spectacle with lots of violence. We are going more for the humanity hidden in the depths of war, the human story, the relationships between the characters.”

“I’m fascinated with how does a person maintain who they are when in a difficult situation. How do you maintain a good attitude, a sense of humor, or a desire to help others, when your life is in danger and you could be killed at any moment? How do you hold yourself together?” Little said. “I think those are things that Adam and I find fascinating.”

“What sets ‘Saints and Soldiers’ apart from other war films is that we don't just blow things up. We bring heart to a very heroic piece of world history,”

Jasen Wade who plays Harland 'Bud' Curtis (who also played Levi Savage in 17 Miracles) doesn’t think the film is completely family-friendly.

“Not sure I would let my 8-year-old daughter watch this film yet. Maybe next year or the year after...

It still has a necessary level of violence that is crucial to the storyline, that may not be suitable for all family members. War is hell. If you don't show the hell then you have simply sanitized history and left out a dimension of storytelling, doing a disservice to the men and women who sacrificed so much. There has to be honesty in the filmmaking process, but you also have control what you focus on, and how much you focus on it. Some films focus mainly on the hell, and others focus on the heroics. My hope is that our film did the latter.”

It is my opinion that they succeeded in practically every aspect. Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed is a thinking persons' war movie, it's also a feeling persons' war movie.

Cast

 Corbin Allred    ~    David Nibley    ~    Jasen Wade

Rossi         ~        Jones        ~        Curtis

Nichelle Aiden    ~    Lincoln Hoppe

 Charlotte ~ Capt. Erich Neumann