LOOPER

Looper is the new sci-fi, action film from Dir. Rian Johnson. Starring Bruce Willis & Joseph Gordon Levitt as old and young Joe, respectively. In Looper, time travel hasn't been invented yet. But 30 years in the future it will have been.  Controlled by the mob time travel is used to "get rid of" people.  So when they need somebody to "disappear" they send them to the past. To a predetermined place and time to a waiting Looper. Who promptly pulls the trigger on his trusty Blunder-buss, collects his payment (in the form of silver) from the back of his mark. Incenerates the body then goes on about his day.

Sounds pretty sweet right? Well wait for the catch. The only downside is the retirement plan. To earn your retirement you have to kill yourself. Your future self. The mob doesn't like loose ends. Therefore one day (no looper knows when) your silver payday will be a golden one. The gold represents your last job. Yourself.  This means you just earned your retirement.

The next thirty years doing whatever contents your heart. Until the day they come for you to send you back in time to be killed by your... (younger) self.

Now if that wasn't enough to fry your brain. Strap up b/c you're going to love the rest of this ride.  On top of the action, in addition to the thought provoking temporal storyline. This movie is deep.  Joseph Gordon Levitt is a man searching for something to live for; on top of trying to find himself.  Bruce Willis is a man fighting to save a woman he will never see again. Even though they play the same character, they are two eentirely different people. The beautiful duality of the story enters as each man is on his chosen path. They each become more like the other.

If I were going to pick a nit. l would say, it could of had more action. But it wasnt even needed. The Characters and the story are more than entertaining. [Side-note]: Once you get to the farm.... That little boy is off the hook!

Why should you go see Looper? Because hands down it is the best movie Ive seen yet in 2012! The moral of the story is also multifaceted.

Its never too late to change.

The Amazing Spider-Man

This Tue July third. Our beloved Spider-Man franchise is getting (because of SpiderMAN 3) a much needed reboot. Starring Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone, I was surprised to see Martin Sheen & Sally Fields portraying Peter's legal guardians; Uncle Ben and Aunt May.This is not the Peter Parker of yester-year. Spidey's got a brand new bag. One of the revamps to be appreciated is the more accurate portrayal of Peter Parker.


Petey is a smart kid. But he doesn't know everything.  And even though he wasn't built like an athlete or anything, he still wasn't a punk.  And Spider-man is a super Hero, but at the same time he was still human.  He limps. He bruises.  So that was definitely an interesting. I can't count how many times I've asked myself about a Hero. Having super skin.  This ain't Superman we're discussing.  When you get hit, why wouldn't you get a black eye for it?

One theme that remains unchanged is RESPONSIBILITY.  Toby's rendition included the line "With great -power, comes great responsibility".  In this update its more of an underlying theme throughout the whole picture. Which starts out because Peter is a teenager, therefore he's irresponsible.  But later translates into  he accidently creates the Lizard. So he has the responsibility if righting that wrong.  Not that he wanted to take matters into his own hands.  He even went to the cops in hopes they could handle it. Of course they couldn't. Big surprise.  And guess who was there to save the day.  Hint: No it wasn't Mighty Mouse.

Why go see this movie? Its Effn all that!  A brand new spider.  With a whole new attitude.  He's agile, nimble. And he MADE HIS WEB-SHOOTERS!  In case the last incarnation misled you.  Spider-man has NEVER generated webs out of his body/wrists.  That was not accurate.  He home-made web-shooters, which take replaceable web cartridges. But I digress.  I already can't wait for the sequel.

Go see Spider-Man

BATTLESHIP

Ok to be 100% honest I was seriously concerned about this movie.  Namely b/c it is based off of the game from many of our childhoods.  This comes off as a bad idea.  To my knowledge, nobody asked for a movie about the game battleship.  This means they're off to a bad start.  The story is told over the backdrop of an alien invasion.  Always a step in the right direction.  I may be speaking for myself only, but I can't get enough of these.  Any and every interpretation of what the day looks like when we finally meet aliens; I can get my hands on, I want.


One positive point for me, This movie highlighted the Navy.  All branches of service deserve their fair share of shine.  Having been a while since we had a good Crimson Tide, the Marines are threatening to monopolize the entire market.

The story is a familiar one. A boy forced to grow up, and all it took was the death of his big brother and potentially the end of the world. Our villains left something to be desired.  When you're getting your invasion on, there is no room for mercy.  While I'm hopeful there's a reason behind it.  The aliens didn't get their hands as dirty as they could or should have.  Prolly the reason they lost. I'm assuming they wanted to keep down the violence on humanity to keep their PG-13 rating.


All in all, I wanted to see this movie b/c of the aliens.  Definitely worth a look.  Go check out Battleship!

The Raid: Redemption

This was an entertaining film.  Worth going to see, AND paying for!  A squad of police officers have orders to raid an apartment building, in an attempt to arrest its Druglord owner.  On the 14 floors between the officers and the kingpin's top floor penthouse apt; the building is filled with goons, muscle, look-outs and the dealers themselves. It's a kung-fu movie, but it's also current.  More precisely it's Gun-fu.

So why see this movie?

The action.  Enough people got molly-whooped so distinctively that you must see them die!  If a movie doesn't have at least one death that blows your mind, the action fails. It is predictable.  From the rip you know that these guy are gonna be betrayed.  If they haven't already.  Some of the fight choreography begins to get stale, but its still worth the ticket price. I would definitely say go and see The Raid: Redemption.

SAFE HOUSE

Safe House is the newest release hitting Theaters today Feb 10th. Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Renolds.  It's a spy movie where you don't know who's trying to kill you or necessarily why. Where by the time you figure it out, it may already be too late.

Denzel, who is a traitor, turns himself over to authorities in the midst of being pursued for his latest bit of Intel going to auction to the highest bidder. Before his extradition to the US, he is held at a safe house for, let's call it "aggressive questioning". 

Ryan Reynolds plays the custodian of the safehouse. Termmed a "House Keeper". He's on his first assignment for the agency and has spent 12 months watching a house with no guests. Begging for a promotion, Reynolds desperately wants to prove himself to his superiors. Today he finally gets his chance.

During questioning the safehouse is breached and attacked. The team that has brought in Washington has been killed.  And Reynolds is the only thing standing between his house guest and a bullet in the head.

Safe House is a fun action flick that will remind you exactly why Denzel is the man.  The fight choreography is bone breaking. The car chases are Earth shattering. And the DP's use of shadow definitely gives you a clear idea about how dark these characters are!  Safe House gets two thumbs up! Definitely worth the cost of admission.

Red Tails

This is the story of the brave souls who flew as part of the 332nd Fighter group of World War II.  More commonly referred to as the Tuskegee Airmen.  The first Black Aviators in American History.  This story is one we should be clamoring to see.  Red Tails itself, much like the men of the 332nd had an all uphill battle before them to get this movie made.  This "Black" movie.  With an all black cast.  No major white roles, and complete with a black Director.  This is exactly the kind of project that Hollywood says is not, cannot and will not be profitable.  Making this movie a success today sets ourselves up for more victories in the future.

As an African-American filmmaker I understand the implications of Red Tails' success, or lack of which thereof could have on the entertainment industry for years, as it applies to others; minorities or otherwise who have a story to tell.  But may not be able to get it out for logistics.  Or the bottom line not being profitable enough for investors.  I saw this film at a preview screening and am still planning to patronize it.  Because I want every dollar counted.  And I want to inform Hollywood that this type of movie ("Black") can be successful!!!

Red Tails is an important film not b/c of who it highlights.  But b/c of the inspiration it brings.  Let alone the pride it invokes in men to had to fight and die just to be considered equal by their peers.  The ONLY reason these men we permitted to become pilots was b/c of the Tuskegee EXPERIMENT. The higher ups in the Army did not think it was possible for an American Negro to pass the pilots exam, basic training and aviation training.  It was not until we proved we could, that we were allowed to.  And even then they didn't want to let us.

The success of Red Tails TODAY is just as important as brother Martin's marches 40 years ago.  It's success will demonstrate what power we wield yet so often yield.  That we support good quality work.  Stories about strong Black Legendary Characters.  That we have learned from our past. In aim not to repeat it.

HAYWIRE

Haywire, is Soderbergh's spy epic...  "A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission."  


Per the spy book 101 its up to said super soldier to prove her own innocence. Failure to do so will usually result in charges of treason, ones being disavowed or death.  Its not an unfamiliar story. But one so many of us are fond of.  The thrill, the mystery, the what and the why. Who can be trusted?  So why Haywire and what's so different about it? 


The answer to that, is two more questions. The Who and the How.  First the how; one way, a more traditional approach I suppose, would be with numerous shoot-outs. Your Jason Bourne, or True Lies kind of spy.  Shoot first, shoot later, then after nobody's moving get around to asking a question or two.  These heroes have earned their place as Cinema Americana, but as a whole I feel audiences are steering away from those types of story arcs because they too closely resemble the real world.  And when real world atrocities are no longer discernible from the demented creations of a prolific story teller.  Then its probably time to adjust our storytelling.  Movies are meant to be an escape. Movies should mirror real life; Not be outdone by it.  


Newcomer to the big screen Gina Carano is stepping up to the plate in an attempt to put a new twist on this familiar tale.  Gina's special addition to the role is that she's a retired MMA fighter.  Definitely adding some great technical fighting scenes to the story of this Spy.  From the first scene in the movie you can see she's a fighter.  And not too shabby either.


On the whole, the movie has it slow points.  I found myself dosing off, asking when the next fight was coming up.  But when it did I definitely wasn't disappointed.  The plot wasn't overly convoluted and left me feeling satisfied.


If your up for a girl, who gets down and splits wigs... Go and see HAYWIRE

The Darkest Hour

I like this movie. I'm eager to say that because it's been months since I've been able to flat out say I've liked any movie recently.  Firstly this is the first time I've wanted to go to the Theatre in months.  At long last I say FINALLY!

I haven't been to the movies since this summer. A superhero epic I'm sure.  And nothing since then has peeked my interest.  No Muppets. No War Horse.  Tower Heist.  No Twilight none of that bullshit.  Also I kinda gotta admit I am a freak for a good alien invasion movie.

Life is good. We are alone in our own Galaxy of ignorance.  Then one day BOOM everything changes.  We're under attack.  From life forms we can't see that suck electricity incessantly.  Then what really matters finally gets put back into focus.

Humans are killed by the score.  Humanity gets kicked in its ass.  But still fights.  Learns the enemy and adapts.  We overcome.  It takes overcoming just to stand and fight.  Which is where the movie ends.  Survivors beginning the fight for whats left of Earth.

I also like the fact that the movie leaves you with hope.  If they ever do come down here for us.  I doubt we would be effectively fighting back inside of three days.  But hey anything is possible right.

This movie gets 3 out of 5 Tribbles
And 3 cheers for Humanity!!!

Hazaaaah!!!