This film should have been good, it really should have been, but it wasn't. It fell short of brilliant.
America several decades in the future is rapidly becoming a vast wasteland. Blight is killing the crops, NASA has faked the moon landing solely to bankrupt Russia and the MRI is a machine of the past. Cooper (Matthew McConaghey) is having none of that. He wants his only son to go to college, have other options in life than just being a farmer which is what his simple test scores say he will be. He wants to figure out the ghost who keeps moving books in his daughter's room. Then Coop gets a mysterious message with coordinates which lead him and young Murph (Mackenzie Foy), as in Murphy, named after the law, to the underground NASA movement led by Professor Brandt (Michael Caine). Here, they realize that the Earth is dying, thanks to the dust storms and lack of food to share. He is determined to develop a formula which will let all the citizens leave the Earth, but there is not enough gravity for this to happen. Thus, the back-up plan: bringing thousands of fertilized eggs to grow another population so the species doesn't die out.
Let me back up, NASA is launching a mission to follow-up on the planets in another galaxy. There is a wormhole near Saturn where twelve new planets exist. Each of these have been explored to see if they can sustain human life. Despite everything, including leaving his family behind, Coop decides to go, he was a pilot in the air force after all. Coop sets out with Amelia Brandt (Anne Hathaway), Professor Brandt's daughter and two others: Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Rom (David Gyasi).
They make it through the wormhole and land on the first planet where the gravity is so heavy and slow that just one hour on that planet encompasses seven Earth years. This planet is a disappointment, filled with water and huge tidal waves that are horribly destructive. The next planet is even worse, a barren tundra with amnomia for air. Dr. Mann (an uncredited Matt Damon) sent out a positive signal just so he would get rescued. Coop took a chance and now, there is only one viable planet left and not enough fuel to return home. He sends Brandt to that other planet with all the zygotes while he manages to return home through a black hole which actually turns out to be a tesseract. Time travel is involved, people. Yes, this film gets super weird really fast.
Back on Earth, decades have past. Murph (now Jessica Chastain) is all grown up, determined to help Professor Brandt solve the equation, only to have discovered he lied, there is no way to solve the gravity equation. Tom (Casey Affleck), Coop's son, is a farmer but the dreadful amounts of dust have already killed his oldest son and are slowly killing his wife and other son, named after his father. While she is gathering her stuff from her old bedroom, her father is in the tesseract and he turns out to be her ghost, forcing the books off her shelves; he told himself the area where NASA turned out to be and he solves the missing part of the equation and messages that to Murph using morse code in the watch he left with her. She solves the equation which saves everyone.
Coop wakes up in a space shuttle orbiting Saturn and sees his elderly daughter one last time before she dies, as time continues to pass. Murph (now Ellen Burstyn) urges him to go and help Amelia on her new planet which, unlike the other two, is good, crops are thriving there.
The film has several plot holes or stuff that is easily missed. How does the tesseract work, exactly? It shouldn't necessarily work the way it does. And how does gravity slow down time? How will all the fertilized eggs become people?
Whatever, though I have problems with those things what bothered me more is Hans Zimmer's overwhelming score. Sure, it's great, but it is too loud and used too frequently. Some of the lines are murmured and thus, you miss them. The acting is mediocre and these are good actors. The only good scene is when Coop returns from the first planet to find that twenty-three years have past and he catches up on all the messages he has missed. His son is now married with a family and his daughter is the same age he was when he left. That scene made me cry. However, other than that, the acting wasn't great. Hathaway was a disappointment and Chastain should have been better. The plot of the film also was unsteady, dragging at parts and then speeding up too quickly before slowing down again and then ending. Chastain isn't frantic enough when she is packing up her room, when she returns to NASA to solve the problem, the score takes over the scene, ruining her achievement. Her romance with a fellow doctor (Topher Grace) isn't developed at all. After she solves the problem, saving all living humans, she merely jumps into his arms and starts kissing him. But they must get married and have children because she does have kids, later. And what happens when Coop rejoins Amelia on the new planet?
At least this film looked good. Grade: B
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
The Astronaut Wives Club: Pilot
I have read the book and greatly enjoyed it, but as far as the show is concerned, I was disappointed. Here, each woman is determined that her husband be the first in space, and none are that appreciative of the talents of the other astronaut candidates. Most also undervalue themselves, believing that it is their job to help their respective husbands get what the husbands want. Only Rene Carpenter (Yvonne Strahowski) believes that she has something more important to look forward to, after all, she's the mother of four and a college graduate.
The wives of these Mercury Seven could have easily been forgotten but LIFE Magazine decides to do a photo shoot for the wives and continues to follow their story. Of course all the wives are in, and voila, the story begins.
Sure, the wives appear gorgeous, the perfect housewives, but there is more than what meets the eye.
The Coopers marriage is beyond rocky, though Trudy (Odette Annable) has stayed, but solely for the sake of his career. She even went as far as filing the papers, but it would have ruined her husband's career, so she stayed, though anger could sometimes get the better of her. She also believes that she's a modern woman, and maybe she is, but only for the late 1950s.
It is also her idea to surprise the men for a test launch of a rocket only to have everything go horribly wrong. Louise Shepherd (Dominique McElligott) catches Alan (Desmond Harrington) with another woman, something I saw coming, after all, at the beginning his secretary was in his office, not at her desk.
But even worse, the rocket explodes only seconds after launching. Most of the women are sick and grateful that their husbands weren't on board. Louise, however, is the exception, saying simply that they will learn from their mistakes. Most of the other wives leave in a huff, not realizing before how dangerous the whole thing was.
When it comes time to launch, the Russians have beaten the Americans, having put a man in space first. Whereas that was done is almost complete secrecy, the press is all over the rocket that carries Alan Shepherd into space. But Louise refuses company, terrified out of her mind and nearly faints when she finally stands up, thrilled that mission control made contact with her husband inside the capsule. She doesn't let anyone know how scared she is, and manages a gracious, beautiful statement to the press gathered outside her door.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at things, this is only the beginning, with the moon as one of the next goals, so there is no time for breathing room, leaving Louise forced to understand that her fear will become routine not a rarity. She decides that she needs kindness and compassion from other humans who vaguely understand what she is going through. The wives are friends, for now.
Now, there are some things that the show gets right. For example, Annie Glenn (Azure Parsons) has a stutter in real life and also in the show so at first, many don't like her because she's painfully shy. Marge Slayton (Erin Cummings) was also previously married and divorced, something she refused to discuss, not that anyone could blame her.
However, the show fails. There were several great moments and the performances of the wives are pretty good, not Emmy worthy, not even close but certainly good enough to keep the show moving. The husbands are mostly underdeveloped and most are interchangeable at this point which needs to change. The show also moved at a speed far too brisk, skipping over many events and jumping between gaps in time far too quickly. The pilot opted to cover two years in time, which is just far too much and most of the wives haven't been introduced properly yet which is a real shame. The dialogue is also bad, most of the time far too modern for the time. This show has the material to be much better than it is, and I think it has the talent to make it better but it is nothing more than a wasted opportunity thus far, hopefully it will get better. Grade: B-
The wives of these Mercury Seven could have easily been forgotten but LIFE Magazine decides to do a photo shoot for the wives and continues to follow their story. Of course all the wives are in, and voila, the story begins.
Sure, the wives appear gorgeous, the perfect housewives, but there is more than what meets the eye.
The Coopers marriage is beyond rocky, though Trudy (Odette Annable) has stayed, but solely for the sake of his career. She even went as far as filing the papers, but it would have ruined her husband's career, so she stayed, though anger could sometimes get the better of her. She also believes that she's a modern woman, and maybe she is, but only for the late 1950s.
It is also her idea to surprise the men for a test launch of a rocket only to have everything go horribly wrong. Louise Shepherd (Dominique McElligott) catches Alan (Desmond Harrington) with another woman, something I saw coming, after all, at the beginning his secretary was in his office, not at her desk.
But even worse, the rocket explodes only seconds after launching. Most of the women are sick and grateful that their husbands weren't on board. Louise, however, is the exception, saying simply that they will learn from their mistakes. Most of the other wives leave in a huff, not realizing before how dangerous the whole thing was.
When it comes time to launch, the Russians have beaten the Americans, having put a man in space first. Whereas that was done is almost complete secrecy, the press is all over the rocket that carries Alan Shepherd into space. But Louise refuses company, terrified out of her mind and nearly faints when she finally stands up, thrilled that mission control made contact with her husband inside the capsule. She doesn't let anyone know how scared she is, and manages a gracious, beautiful statement to the press gathered outside her door.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at things, this is only the beginning, with the moon as one of the next goals, so there is no time for breathing room, leaving Louise forced to understand that her fear will become routine not a rarity. She decides that she needs kindness and compassion from other humans who vaguely understand what she is going through. The wives are friends, for now.
Now, there are some things that the show gets right. For example, Annie Glenn (Azure Parsons) has a stutter in real life and also in the show so at first, many don't like her because she's painfully shy. Marge Slayton (Erin Cummings) was also previously married and divorced, something she refused to discuss, not that anyone could blame her.
However, the show fails. There were several great moments and the performances of the wives are pretty good, not Emmy worthy, not even close but certainly good enough to keep the show moving. The husbands are mostly underdeveloped and most are interchangeable at this point which needs to change. The show also moved at a speed far too brisk, skipping over many events and jumping between gaps in time far too quickly. The pilot opted to cover two years in time, which is just far too much and most of the wives haven't been introduced properly yet which is a real shame. The dialogue is also bad, most of the time far too modern for the time. This show has the material to be much better than it is, and I think it has the talent to make it better but it is nothing more than a wasted opportunity thus far, hopefully it will get better. Grade: B-
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Empire: Season One Recap and Reaction
I have finally finished watching this show. Despite my countless issues with it, it is a must see, mostly thanks to the excellent cast of colorful characters.
Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) has just been released from prison where she has spent the last seventeen years of her life, going down for a drug deal where the money was used to start her husband's record business. Now, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is her ex-husband, he's moved on, eventually getting engaged to Anika Calhoun (Grace Gealey).
Lucious, however, has his own problems. He's just been diagnosed with ALS and has less than three years to live. He needs to decide which one of his (and Cookie's) three sons will take over the family business. There's Andre (Trai Byers), the eldest, book smart, the CFO of the company. Next, Jamal (Jussie Smollett), the most talented, though Lucious will never admit it. Then, there's Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), the spoiled youngest child and the one whom Lucious is personally grooming to take over.
Once Cookie is released, she takes over Jamal's career and wants him to take over the business. Unlike his father, she's never cared that he's homosexual while Lucious finds it appalling.
All three of Lucious's sons are disappointments: Andre married a white woman, Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) and is bipolar, Jamal is gay and Hakeem is dating an older woman, Camilla (Naomi Campbell). Lucious sends Camilla away, almost forcing Hakeem to sign with the enemy label.
Judd Nelson plays Billy Baretti, the sworn enemy of Lucious. Lucious used to work with him, but now Baretti has the rights to many songs that Lucious wrote, which makes Anika's betrayal by working with Baretti all the more bitter. Perhaps she had good reasons. Though Lucious had proposed to her, forcing her doctor father to commit fraud, he nevertheless hooks up with Cookie and Anika catches them. Cookie tells on her because if Lucious's money disappears, then hers does too, and she never wants to back to being poor.
Jamal turns out a nasty act, nearly tossing Baretti over the edge of a building just to get the song rights back, despite his issues with his father, he's the most talented and helps Lucious write new songs, so Lucious decides that Jamal will take over, leaving the almost turned religious Andre and devastated Hakeem out in the cold. Cookie isn't pleased, she wanted him to leave the business to both Hakeem and Jamal, and is forced to work with Anika to get revenge on Lucious.
Now, ironically, perhaps, by the time the season is over, only Hakeem isn't a law breaker. Lucious murders his longtime friend and Cookie's cousin, Bunkie (Antoine McKay) because Bunkie wanted more money. Cookie almost smothers Lucious with a pillow, something only Jamal knows about. Jamal nearly tosses Baretti over the ledge and Andre gets into a fist fight with Vernon Turner (Malik Yoba), one of Lucious's right hand men and doesn't call the cops when Rhonda accidentally kills him. Rhonda also happens to be pregnant. I hope everything goes okay, considering she sure can drink. Also, the two have an open marriage, but now, they are bound forever.
The plot line that I had huge issues with was the one where Lucious forced Jamal to marry a back up singer, Olivia (Raven Symone) when he was eighteen, all the time while he was sleeping with her. Olivia is now in an abusive relationship and leaves her young daughter, Lola wiht Jamal, who slept with Olivia a grand total of once but he takes this new role of fatherhood seriously, only to have Lucious ruin everything. This plot line was sort of stupid. First of all, a DNA test is never performed. These are wealthy people, surely they would want that for sure, and a father forcing his son into a cover marriage, that's just barbaric. I hated the whole thing. I could have imagined a woman trying to pin a baby on Hakeem, that would have actually been believable. Whatever, it was only briefly, I don't think we'll see Olivia again.
Oh well. Still, this is a great show, with excellent guest stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson as a musical therapist, Timberland out does himself with the great songs, covering several genres effortlessly. The cinematography and editing are also great, each episode almost feels like a short film instead of a television show. The acting is the true stand-out, with the five main characters playing someone so complex. All five deserve Emmy nominations, too bad that almost certainly won't happen. Grade: A-
Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) has just been released from prison where she has spent the last seventeen years of her life, going down for a drug deal where the money was used to start her husband's record business. Now, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is her ex-husband, he's moved on, eventually getting engaged to Anika Calhoun (Grace Gealey).
Lucious, however, has his own problems. He's just been diagnosed with ALS and has less than three years to live. He needs to decide which one of his (and Cookie's) three sons will take over the family business. There's Andre (Trai Byers), the eldest, book smart, the CFO of the company. Next, Jamal (Jussie Smollett), the most talented, though Lucious will never admit it. Then, there's Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray), the spoiled youngest child and the one whom Lucious is personally grooming to take over.
Once Cookie is released, she takes over Jamal's career and wants him to take over the business. Unlike his father, she's never cared that he's homosexual while Lucious finds it appalling.
All three of Lucious's sons are disappointments: Andre married a white woman, Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) and is bipolar, Jamal is gay and Hakeem is dating an older woman, Camilla (Naomi Campbell). Lucious sends Camilla away, almost forcing Hakeem to sign with the enemy label.
Judd Nelson plays Billy Baretti, the sworn enemy of Lucious. Lucious used to work with him, but now Baretti has the rights to many songs that Lucious wrote, which makes Anika's betrayal by working with Baretti all the more bitter. Perhaps she had good reasons. Though Lucious had proposed to her, forcing her doctor father to commit fraud, he nevertheless hooks up with Cookie and Anika catches them. Cookie tells on her because if Lucious's money disappears, then hers does too, and she never wants to back to being poor.
Jamal turns out a nasty act, nearly tossing Baretti over the edge of a building just to get the song rights back, despite his issues with his father, he's the most talented and helps Lucious write new songs, so Lucious decides that Jamal will take over, leaving the almost turned religious Andre and devastated Hakeem out in the cold. Cookie isn't pleased, she wanted him to leave the business to both Hakeem and Jamal, and is forced to work with Anika to get revenge on Lucious.
Now, ironically, perhaps, by the time the season is over, only Hakeem isn't a law breaker. Lucious murders his longtime friend and Cookie's cousin, Bunkie (Antoine McKay) because Bunkie wanted more money. Cookie almost smothers Lucious with a pillow, something only Jamal knows about. Jamal nearly tosses Baretti over the ledge and Andre gets into a fist fight with Vernon Turner (Malik Yoba), one of Lucious's right hand men and doesn't call the cops when Rhonda accidentally kills him. Rhonda also happens to be pregnant. I hope everything goes okay, considering she sure can drink. Also, the two have an open marriage, but now, they are bound forever.
The plot line that I had huge issues with was the one where Lucious forced Jamal to marry a back up singer, Olivia (Raven Symone) when he was eighteen, all the time while he was sleeping with her. Olivia is now in an abusive relationship and leaves her young daughter, Lola wiht Jamal, who slept with Olivia a grand total of once but he takes this new role of fatherhood seriously, only to have Lucious ruin everything. This plot line was sort of stupid. First of all, a DNA test is never performed. These are wealthy people, surely they would want that for sure, and a father forcing his son into a cover marriage, that's just barbaric. I hated the whole thing. I could have imagined a woman trying to pin a baby on Hakeem, that would have actually been believable. Whatever, it was only briefly, I don't think we'll see Olivia again.
Oh well. Still, this is a great show, with excellent guest stars, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson as a musical therapist, Timberland out does himself with the great songs, covering several genres effortlessly. The cinematography and editing are also great, each episode almost feels like a short film instead of a television show. The acting is the true stand-out, with the five main characters playing someone so complex. All five deserve Emmy nominations, too bad that almost certainly won't happen. Grade: A-
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Spy
This was a great film, one that will be enjoyed by most.
Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency but she works behind the scenes. She's the voice is star agent's Bradley Fine's (Jude Law's) ear. Susan is also harboring a major crush on him so she is devastated when he is murdered on the job. Bradley may not have been the best agent-he killed the only man who knew where a nuclear bomb was because he sneezed, having not taken his allergy medicine, but Susan is out for blood.
She begs her boss, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) for a field position and Elaine reluctantly relents. So with various frumpy disguises, Susan is in the field, out to report on De Luca (Bobby Cannavale), an Italian who is close with Raina (Rose Bryne). Raina is the daughter of the guy Bradley killed and she has custody of the bomb.
Fortunately, Susan has a rogue agent, Rick Ford (Jason Statham) trailing her because he doesn't believe that she is capable of field work. Susan is fine, though she does throw up all over her first dead body. However, then Susan also goes rogue, following Raina and saying that Raina's dad hired Susan to be Raina's bodyguard. This is after Susan saved Raina from being roofied. Raina doesn't trust anyone though so she drugs Susan right back, with Susan's true identity fortunately still in tact.
The rest of the film contains tons of double spies and twists and turns, too many to recount them accurately. But suffice to say, that Bradley is still alive posing as Raina's boyfriend to stay alive. Susan saves the day despite Ford showing up at the last minute, she is the one throwing the punches and literally firing the shots. McCarthy has tons of difficult stunts, including the finale where she is hanging off a helicopter.
In the end, the nuclear bomb is secure and Elaine wants to keep Susan out in the field. Bradley tries to take Susan out to dinner, but she shuts him down gently, saying that she would prefer a girl's night.
Although the plot is great, this film is truly funny. Most of the credit does go to McCarthy though she has great support from Statham, Law, Bryne, Janney and Miranda Hart (Chummy from Call the Midwife). Hart is Nancy, another basement agent, and Susan's best friend. Nancy gets some great laughs when she attacks 50 Cent (she adds piece to that) at one of his concert's, but fortunately he's game and even lets her borrow his helicopter to save Susan's butt. The two have a great friendship, cemented by Nancy saving that Susan needs champagne and beef jerky at the end.
There are many great lines and parts of the film, like when Susan almost eats a cloth wipe at a fancy restaurant that Bradley took her to because Burger King was full. Then, she tries to do the same thing at a restaurant in Rome and it turns out to be actual food. Susan doesn't know anything about wines but doesn't call Bradley out when he assumes that she has cats at home. The office also is filled with rats, though they don't seem to be carrying any diseases, thank goodness.
Despite everything going well, they add an end scene which sort of ruins the film. Ford is driving off in a small boat, wanting to explore Europe, not realizing that he's in a lake which is fine. Neither guy truly appeared Susan and even though she longs for an actual relationship, marriage and family, you don't think that she's going to be with either one of them. Then the end scene comes along with her waking up after a night with Ford, not pleased with herself, only to have the pompous Ford respond, informing her that she enjoyed it. The feminist film has a masculine ending.
This definitely a complete film, perhaps a perfect date film, with tons of action and humor. I loved all of McCarthy's disguises, flawlessly moving between them with ease. Her performance anchors the film. The cinematography, editing and everything is great, but that ending sort of ruined it for me. Not enough to majorly impact the grade but enough for me to over-analyze the whole thing. Grade: B+
Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency but she works behind the scenes. She's the voice is star agent's Bradley Fine's (Jude Law's) ear. Susan is also harboring a major crush on him so she is devastated when he is murdered on the job. Bradley may not have been the best agent-he killed the only man who knew where a nuclear bomb was because he sneezed, having not taken his allergy medicine, but Susan is out for blood.
She begs her boss, Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) for a field position and Elaine reluctantly relents. So with various frumpy disguises, Susan is in the field, out to report on De Luca (Bobby Cannavale), an Italian who is close with Raina (Rose Bryne). Raina is the daughter of the guy Bradley killed and she has custody of the bomb.
Fortunately, Susan has a rogue agent, Rick Ford (Jason Statham) trailing her because he doesn't believe that she is capable of field work. Susan is fine, though she does throw up all over her first dead body. However, then Susan also goes rogue, following Raina and saying that Raina's dad hired Susan to be Raina's bodyguard. This is after Susan saved Raina from being roofied. Raina doesn't trust anyone though so she drugs Susan right back, with Susan's true identity fortunately still in tact.
The rest of the film contains tons of double spies and twists and turns, too many to recount them accurately. But suffice to say, that Bradley is still alive posing as Raina's boyfriend to stay alive. Susan saves the day despite Ford showing up at the last minute, she is the one throwing the punches and literally firing the shots. McCarthy has tons of difficult stunts, including the finale where she is hanging off a helicopter.
In the end, the nuclear bomb is secure and Elaine wants to keep Susan out in the field. Bradley tries to take Susan out to dinner, but she shuts him down gently, saying that she would prefer a girl's night.
Although the plot is great, this film is truly funny. Most of the credit does go to McCarthy though she has great support from Statham, Law, Bryne, Janney and Miranda Hart (Chummy from Call the Midwife). Hart is Nancy, another basement agent, and Susan's best friend. Nancy gets some great laughs when she attacks 50 Cent (she adds piece to that) at one of his concert's, but fortunately he's game and even lets her borrow his helicopter to save Susan's butt. The two have a great friendship, cemented by Nancy saving that Susan needs champagne and beef jerky at the end.
There are many great lines and parts of the film, like when Susan almost eats a cloth wipe at a fancy restaurant that Bradley took her to because Burger King was full. Then, she tries to do the same thing at a restaurant in Rome and it turns out to be actual food. Susan doesn't know anything about wines but doesn't call Bradley out when he assumes that she has cats at home. The office also is filled with rats, though they don't seem to be carrying any diseases, thank goodness.
Despite everything going well, they add an end scene which sort of ruins the film. Ford is driving off in a small boat, wanting to explore Europe, not realizing that he's in a lake which is fine. Neither guy truly appeared Susan and even though she longs for an actual relationship, marriage and family, you don't think that she's going to be with either one of them. Then the end scene comes along with her waking up after a night with Ford, not pleased with herself, only to have the pompous Ford respond, informing her that she enjoyed it. The feminist film has a masculine ending.
This definitely a complete film, perhaps a perfect date film, with tons of action and humor. I loved all of McCarthy's disguises, flawlessly moving between them with ease. Her performance anchors the film. The cinematography, editing and everything is great, but that ending sort of ruined it for me. Not enough to majorly impact the grade but enough for me to over-analyze the whole thing. Grade: B+
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)