Category Archives: Action

Disclosure Day

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Disclosure Day                   4 ½ stars

We are not alone. Movies and TV have been exploring this subject for decades. On TV there were episodes of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. In the movies we have seen Men in Black, Arrival and Cowboys and Aliens. Then there are the Steven Spielberg films of E.T: The Extraterrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and War of the Worlds. They consider what it would be like if we are visited by beings from another world. This weekend we saw that Mr. Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic World Rebirth and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) are still very much interested in this subject with the release of the much-anticipated Disclosure Day. Disclosure Day captures the current mood of the country with the backdrop of turmoil and distrust in the government. In the movie tensions start out high with the threat of a coming war. From the opening scenes we find out that there are government agents trying to prevent a closely guarded secret from getting out to the public. There is a not well-known private organization hired by the government called Wardex that is charged with hiding the fact that aliens have been visiting Earth ever since that first incident in Roswell back in 1947. (This organization is so secret that not even the President knows about it.) Wardex is led by the villainous Noah Scanlon (brilliantly played by Colin Firth) who will stop at nothing including murder to keep the secret from getting out. There is a pair of especially gifted individuals that Scanlon is after. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Challengers)) is an ex-employee of Wardex who has joined a wider group of ex-Wardex folks led by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo (The Color Purple and Drive-Away Dolls)). Hugo has entrusted Daniel with a backpack full of hard drives that contain decades worth of evidence about the truth, but Daniel is reluctant to take on this role. Then there is Margaret Fairchild (the extremely talented Emily Blunt in one of her best performances yet), the weather person at the local Kansas City TV station, who believes she belongs somewhere else. (Along the way she will discover talents she didn’t know she had, like the ability to speak and understand foreign languages and read minds.) Spielberg uses his established methods in storytelling by alternately allowing us to get to know the characters in personal conversations and then giving us an intense action sequence with lives on the line. The truth is an often-used term in the movie as some of the characters are determined that people must see the truth on what is referred to as Disclosure Day. The question of what the known presence of alien beings will do to the faith of the God-fearing public is raised, particularly by Daniel’s girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson). Will they still believe in a supreme being if they see that they are not alone? Unfortunately for Jane, at the hands of Scanlon she will experience a powerful alien technology that allows one person to invade the consciousness of another and influence their actions. Can she resist his evil intensions? Besides all the action and the fast-moving plot, the film delivers a message of empathy; that is, if we can just recognize the pain that others are going through, this will be a much better world. Spielberg has once again put together a communal experience that will blow our minds and open our thoughts to the possibilities that the future holds. Disclosure Day looks like the big movie of the summer. You should not miss it.

Destroyer

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Destroyer                            4 stars

In the new crime drama, Destroyer by director Karyn Kusama, Nicole Kidman gives her most gritty and unusual performance of her career.  She is Erin Bell, a corrupt and substance abusing detective with an appearance to match.  Her look is absolutely unrecognizable with bad skin and sunken eyes and a stare that can nearly kill.  In the story she is on the path of a criminal from her past, Silas, a leader of a gang of bank robbers who has resurfaced after nearly twenty years.  On a past undercover assignment, she failed to stop the deaths of several people in a robbery that Silas masterminded.  Now she is on a personal mission to right past wrongs as if she was somehow responsible for the deaths herself.  Along the way she has to deal with a sixteen year old daughter who is becoming a juvenile delinquent.  The story is likely similar to past police/crime dramas featuring a tough anti-hero, the difference being that here the main character is a woman.  There is no modern technology used here like we see in police procedurals today.  Erin Bell uses good basic police work in tracking down her target.  There are some creditable supporting roles here including Sebastian Stan as Bell’s undercover partner and Toby Kebbell as the evil Silas.  It is Kidman that is the true heart of the film as she is in virtually every scene.  One can’t help get the feeling that she is stretching for awards glory is taking on such a difficult role.  She already has received a Golden Globe nomination for the film.  One warning for viewers is that you need to pay close attention to the plot as it is told in a nonlinear fashion.  All is not as it initially appears.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny      2 ½ stars

My tour of the Disney channel brought me back to the fifth and final installment of the classic Indiana Jones adventure movies first created by Steven Spielberg back in 1981: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The movie appeared fifteen years after the previous film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where Jones (Harrison Ford) did battle with a Russian speaking Kate Blanchett, which I was not impressed by at the time. It’s not Spielberg this time, but James Mangold (A Complete Unknown, Logan, Wolverine) who is running things from the director’s chair for his second Indiana Jones movie. (Yes, he did Crystal Skull too.) Now it’s a nearly eighty-year-old Indy who must battle the bad guys while trying to recover a valuable ancient artifact, in 1969 New York City. But before all that we must travel back to the closing days of World War II when the younger Indy (thanks to the magic of de-aging special effects) was escaping from the Nazis and fighting to keep one half of the Antikythera or Archimedes’ Dial out of the hands of the evil Professor Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round)), who believes it has time travel properties and that he can use it to change the outcome of the war. We get all the trademark scenes that the Indiana Jones movies are known for: the chase scenes at a breakneck pace and the narrow escapes as Indy dispatches the enemies, one by one. But then back in 1969, Jones is approached by Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag)), Indy’s goddaughter. She has been studying the circumstances of her father, Basil, and Indy’s encounter with the Nazis and thinks she has an idea of where the two halves of Archimedes’ Dial may be. But as things go before Indy can agree or not agree with Helena’s plan, Professor Voller, who has survived the war, appears and together with his former Nazi henchmen try to acquire the dial for themselves and get rid of Indy. So, it’s off to another wild chase, this one through the streets of New York (with Indy on horseback), in the middle of a parade that is honoring the three Apollo 11 astronauts who have returned from the first moon landing. And there also happen to be war protesters to add to the mayhem. But this is just the beginning. The adventure continues in places like Tangiers, Greece and Sicily, as Indy and Helena try to stay a step ahead of their Nazi pursuers, always with the obligatory fight scenes and imminent danger. And as usual, there is the required reference to Indy’s fear of snakes. Ultimately, we find out just what powers the dial does possess and they may not be what these villains expect. Mangold has incorporated all the elements of an exciting Indiana Jones here, but one cannot escape the feeling that this has all been done before and better. Perhaps it would be better to leave our favorite aging heroes be and just keep their heroic acts and death-defying feats active in our memories.

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel                 3 stars

I had the chance to see Captain Marvel unexpectedly because I was looking for something else that turned out not to be playing at that theater.  There has been a lot of attention on this movie because it is the first Marvel Comics movie that features a female lead.  Brie Larson stars in the lead role as Carol Danvers/Veers.   Not being a comic book person, this character is not one that I am at all familiar with.  She is best known for fine previous roles in Short Term 12 and Room.  Larson is a fine actress but seems to go through much of this film without that much expression.  The story is interesting enough, set somewhere else in the galaxy where a war is going on between alien races The Kree and The Skrulls.  Our heroine is having strange dreams that show she has memories from two different lives.  Eventually, this condition will be explained but it certainly takes a while.  Her journey takes her to earth in about 1995 where we get plenty of references to 90’s pop culture and technology. (Blockbuster Video, Nine Inch Nails)  There she meets Agent Nick Fury of Shield played by a CGI version of Samuel L. Jackson.  He is aged backwards by computer effects back to his “A Time to Kill” self.  We get to see plenty of action and a few plot twists until the big climax where comic book magic takes over giving Captain Marvel practically unlimited powers which is the point things become boring for me.  This is usually my problem with superhero movies, when the characters display their super abilities that have no place in our own universe.  Captain Marvel is a step forward in allowing women to have major roles in Hollywood, but it is much the usual story about big budget comic book action movies that are overblown and ultimately lose my interest.

Hotel Mumbai

Hotel Mumbai   4 stars

Hotel Mumbai tells the true story of the Islamic terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India in 2008.  It’s a well done presentation of the absolute terror that the victims of the attack went through facing young men with automatic weapons and hand grenades while having no defense other than running and hiding.  It also depicts the acts of heroism that the staff of the hotel displayed in protecting the guests of the hotel, many of whom are quite wealthy.  The movie doesn’t hold anything back as it shows just how horrifying it must be to be to be experiencing such a terrible event.  I remember well the news of the attack back around Thanksgiving in 2008.  The attack seemed to go on forever before the Indian Special Forces finally killed all the terrorists involved.  At the end of the movie we are shown much about the outcome of the story.  In all well over 100 people were killed across the city.  Of the victims in the hotel, half were the hotel staff.  Also, it took 21 months to restore the damage left behind and reopen the hotel.  If you see Hotel Mumbai be ready to feel more tension and dread than you do from any horror movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3     3 stars

I continue with my catch up on Marvel movies I missed with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, the third iteration of these heroes who are always there to save the galaxy, courtesy of writer/director James Gunn. This one could be called the one where Rocket finally realizes that he is a racoon. While it has all the action and the wisecracking of the earlier two movies of 2014 and 2017, it does have a more somber tone to it. Both Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) are in a funky mood near the beginning, and the end of the movie feels like the gang is breaking up. The heroes are tasked with a mission to save the life of Rocket who has been gravely injured. They must retrieve a computer file from a ship that seems to be made of living tissue that belongs to the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). We are introduced to Rocket’s backstory while he is in a coma and find out that when he was a small racoon cub, he was captured by this villain for the purpose of experimentation to produce a perfect species. (This explains Rocket’s extraordinary powers.) Now the High Evolutionary wants to capture Rocket again to learn his secrets, but in the meantime, he tries to destroy an entire civilization that he created since they are not perfect. (Does that sound like a familiar theme?) So, the stakes are certainly high enough to deserve the Guardian’s attention. The membership of the Guardians has expanded since the first movie with past differences being put aside. They include Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), of course a full-sized Groot (Vin Diesel), Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova). The movie is worth seeing based on the emotional way that Rocket’s story is told. However, the overall tone feels off with Peter Quill and others going through internal struggles that take away from the usual upbeat feel of these movies. Of course, the soundtrack features a variety of popular seventies rock music as always. The special effects are quite impressive which explains why Guardians earned a Best Visual Effects Academy Award nomination. The ending feels like this is the end of the franchise, though of course, you can’t be sure.

The Dead Don’t Die

The Dead Don’t Die         3 stars

The Dead Don’t Die by Jim Jarmusch puts a new comedic twist on an old genre, the zombie movie.  This light but bloody comedy brings together a very talented cast that includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane and Tom Waits.  With this group of actors you wonder how could this film possibly miss.  The movie has more hits than misses so has some moments that don’t hit the mark.  The premise is that polar fracking being done by corporations has caused the earth to move off of its axis leading to strange events throughout the world.  Of course this includes the dead rising from the graves to seek out human flesh to satisfy their appetite which is completely logical, right?  Much of the comedy is delivered by Murray and Driver who both give their lines in the most deadpan manner imaginable.  (Remember, the way to stop a zombie is to Kill the Head.)  Also making a significant contribution is Buscemi as Farmer Miller, the white racist whose accusations have little basis in reality.  There is an ongoing gag involving a new country song that bears the title from the movie.  Tilda Swinton has a most unusual role as the Irish undertaker, a new comer to the small town of Centerville.  It is a very strange role that only Swinton could deliver on.  It being a Jarmusch film, it wanders into the ridiculous at a couple of times that detracted from the overall feel of the movie.  The Dead Don’t Die is not the funniest Zombie movie I’ve seen, but if you are a zombie movie fan you should not miss this one.

Sirat

Sirat       4 ½ stars

At the opening of Sirat we see the words on the screen telling us that Sirat is the path between heaven and hell and that it is narrower than a strand of hair and sharper than a sword. These words serve as a warning for what the viewer is in for. Sirat, by Spanish film director Oliver Laxe, is the most slow-burning and harrowing film I have seen in a long time. As it progresses it becomes a test of endurance for the movie goer. The movie starts with hands building a large stack of speakers somewhere in the desert. Eventually, they are in place and the music starts. The sound we hear is that of loud rave music with a steady beat and non-melodic sound with over a hundred people seen dancing. They are some where in the Moroccan desert next to a mountain range. Luiz (Sergi López), a middle-aged Spanish man is wandering through the crowd with his young son, Estaban and their dog, showing a photo of his daughter to people asking if they have seen her. His daughter has been missing for months, and she was known to frequent these illegal rave events. Then a truck carrying armed soldiers appears, stopping the event and forcing the dancers to leave. As the crowd starts to drive away, a quintet of rave followers who are part of the crew drives off on their own path and Luiz decides to follow them in the hope that he may learn of the whereabouts of his daughter. There is another rave to be held in the desert in a few days, and they intend to get there driving through the desert. (They are driving a large truck and an RV, but Luiz and his son are in a mini-van that is not equipped for the rough roads.) We hear radio reports making vague references to there being a state of war. Later, they see troop convoys making their way through the desert. This movie is not about the search for a missing daughter, but something much more ominous and existential. Initially, it may look like a road trip movie, but it isn’t Thelma and Louise or even Mad Max. These travelers find themselves in one of the most isolated and unforgiving places imaginable. It is a place practically devoid of human or animal life. The mood of the film changes to something more ominous and is aided by a loud and hypnotic sounding score like nothing I have heard before. There are long stretches of the film showing the voyagers driving through the plains and on dangerous mountain roads with quiet rest stops along the way. As they make progress one gets the feeling of dread and heightened tension while wondering where the film is going. Then the sudden shock comes at the most unexpected time leaving the viewer completely stunned. The film may be described as an obscure arthouse film, but it is absolutely devastating and will not be forgotten. Besides López, all the cast are non-professionals who Laxe found among actual rave goers as he has followed the rave scene for the last six years. Thus, the actors are very authentic. Sirat is nominated for Academy Awards in the Best International Feature and Best Sound categories and is deserving in both categories. Of the nominated foreign films I have seen, I find only The Secret Agent to possibly be superior to this extraordinary film. You are warned though that this one is not for everyone.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Avatar: Fire and Ash        3 stars

As incredible as it sounds it has now been seventeen years since James Cameron brought us Avatar, his spectacular CGI-3D movie about the blue-skinned inhabitants of a distant planet called Pandora and the efforts of humans to dominate and exploit it for its natural resources. The humans developed a technology that allowed them to blend in with the alien race in copies of their bodies. Then in 2022, came Avatar: The Way of Water, which followed a family of the Na’vi race who flee from their own tribe and come to live with the Metkayina, another tribe that has a close relationship with the sea and the creatures that dwell there. Both movies were noted for their colorful and overwhelming special effects using body capture technology and their tales of exploitation of native cultures by a technologically superior race in the search for valuable resources (an indictment of corporate greed). Cameron’s latest incarnation, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story, with most of the same characters and the same astounding special effects of the first two films. We follow Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the fearless Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family through family drama, their dealings with their Metkayina hosts, adventures with some incredible animal inhabitants and the inevitable conflict with their human pursuers, who seem to never learn from their past experiences. Meanwhile, Jake’s enemy, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), has not given up on tracking down Jake, who he regards as a traitor for “going native”. (You may remember that Jake and Quaritch were both humans who now inhabit Na’vi bodies, able to breathe the air of Pandora that is toxic to humans.) The movie feels like it has little to add to the story, featuring much of the same conflicts and action that we’ve seen before despite its three and a quarter hour running time. One very notable addition though is the villain, Varang, who leads her tribe, the Mangkwan, who prey on the vulnerabilities of other Na’vi tribes and steal whatever things of value they can find. Varang is ruthless and smart as well, able to adapt to new situations. It doesn’t take long for her to see the value in allying herself with the vengeful Quaritch. Oona Chaplin is perfect for the role of this native leader. (Chaplin is the granddaughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin.) Overall, this third iteration seems like more of the same including the relentless greed of the humans and the spirituality of the native Na’vi. Of course, the movie did not need to be nearly this long. The word is that James Cameron is planning on two more movies in this series (each probably over three hours). I feel that the story has been played out and it is time to move on to something else. We will see if he follows through on this plan.
 

Hot Water

Hot Water.     4 1/2 suns

Hot Water is a light drama about family relationships with humor added to deal with the tension being faced by two family members.  It is by Lebanese director Ramzi Bashour and concerns an American boy being kicked out of high school in Indiana for a violent act and his Lebanese mom who is forced to deal with the situation, leading to a road trip across the country. The mother, played by Lubna Azabal is a professor at a university and a single mom to 19-year-old Daniel (Daniel Zolghadri who is biracial) . After being kicked out of school, the only option for Daniel is to move in with his dad who lives in California.  But to do that mother and son have to travel across the country by car and meet up with dad halfway.  Thus starts the mother and son road trip bringing together the pair who rarely see eye to eye but love each other, nonetheless. Of course, dad has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, so this decision seems questionable. There is plenty of beautiful scenery on the journey and some funny adventures too, like when they meet Sasha (Dale Dickey), a friend of dad, who brings them to a geothermal hot spring in Colorado where she proceeds to go for a dip completely naked. Along the way they confront their differences and find how they really care for one another.  (We finally do meet dad and find out just how weird he is.) Another interesting touch is the way that Mom displays that she is trilingual, speaking English, Arabic and French, easily switching from one language to another. I highly recommend Hot Water, which I expect to make it into theaters.  The director, Ramzi Bashour, Zolghadri and Dale Dickey were present for Q&A. I got to talk with Zolghadri who told how he loved to see the country this way.