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Two sides of the American way: Man of Steel and Dirty Wars. Also, a Spanish Snow White and The East

Volkmar Richter
Jun 13th, 2013

Superman is back with a new suit and a new attitude

Summer, comic book heroes; they go together in the movies. This week it’s Superman hoping to match all those Marvel comics characters and their box office. Seth Rogen, meanwhile, faces the apocalypse while anarchists, a secret paramilitary outfit and a bullfighting Snow White complete a pretty good line up.

Man of Steel:  3 stars

This is the End:  3 ½

Dirty Wars:  4 ½

 Blancanieves:  4

The East:  3

Cinematheque Open House:  --

MAN OF STEEL: Looking for a loud, crash-bang, building-toppling, effects-laden summer film? Here it is, with action scenes that, once they get going, refuse to stop until 143 minutes have been filled to excess. You get space ships crashing into high-rises, a planet splitting in two, even a plain old tornado. You get Superman raising a school bus out of a lake, rescuing Lois Lane in a glacier tunnel and going mano a mano with a vicious General Zod. It’s often thrilling, fascinating because it was mostly filmed here in B.C. (check out the Cassidy Pub) but also overpowering with earnestness.

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Ethan Hawke stars in two of the new films this week—one very good, the other very bad

Volkmar Richter
Jun 7th, 2013

Ethan Hawke is back with Julie Delpy,  chatting, bantering brightly and arguing in Before Midnight.

 It happens now and then. An actor has two films arriving the same week. Ethan Hawke, though, has two dramatically different in quality. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, meanwhile, will have you chuckling and there's some realistic teen talk on a bus.

Here’s the list:

Before Midnight:  4 ½ stars

The Internship:    3

The We and I:  3 ½

Safety Last:  4

The Purge:  1 ½

The Kings of Summer:  ---

 

BEFORE MIDNIGHT:  That’s three films now in this “Before” series and to me the best yet.  We catch up with Celine and Jesse who started an epic chatting session on a train and an all-night walk through Vienna in Before Sunrise (1995), resumed it in Paris nine years later in Before Sunset and are at it again.  They’re a couple now. He’s divorced and has a son and together they have twin daughters.

 

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After Earth, Now You See Me, a new documentary with Roméo Dallaire and four other films reviewed

Volkmar Richter
May 28th, 2013

Will Smith and his son Jaden make a nerve-racking visit to our planet in the space adventure After Earth

 

Two Hollywood films lead but please read on further for Roméo Dallaire’s new campaign, an affectionate visit to Little Italy, a strange story from Korea and a gem from Spain about old age.

 Here’s the list:

After Earth:   2 ½ stars

Now You See Me:

The Resurrection of Tony Gitone:  3

Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children:  4

Aqui  y Alla:  3

Pieta:  3 ½

Wrinkles:  4 ½

The English Teacher:  not reviewed

 

AFTER EARTH: What’s with all these end-of-the-world movies? We’ve just had Oblivion and there are more coming soon, including two comedies?  Are we that scared that we’re destroying the planet? Sad though; these movies don’t stir us into doing something about it. They merely entertain. After Earth is a sprawling adventure with an embedded environmental message and also a family affair. Will Smith wrote the story; co-produced it with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and others and stars in it alongside his son Jaden.

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The Hangover Part III and Fast & Furious 6, summer sequels going in opposite directions

Volkmar Richter
May 23rd, 2013

A monumental contest in the movie theaters: The Hangover Part III races against Fast & Furious 6. 

 This could be the biggest weekend ever for movie profits. Well, some pundits on the internet are saying that because another Hangover has arrived along with the latest Fast & Furious. That series has taken in $1.5 billion box office through its first five episodes. Good news, there’s quality over there out of the fast lane. Here’s the list:

The Hangover Part III:  2 stars

Fast & Furious 6:   3 stars

Beyond the Hills:  3 ½

Love is All You Need:  3 ½

Sunset Boulevard:  5

Epic: --

 

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Star Trek is back for the fans; Mud intrigues like a classic; The Iceman chills

Volkmar Richter
May 16th, 2013

The young Mr. Spock and Capt. Kirk and their early adventures in the new Star Trek movie

This is a great week for new movies. At the top is big fan favorite, but right behind are several very good films. Not enough? Check out the Cinematheque’s website. They’re showing the famous and very violent revenge trilogy from Korea consisting of Lady Vengeance, Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

The new movies are …

Star Trek Into Darkness: 3 stars

Mud:   4

The Iceman:  3 ½

I Declare War: 3 ½

Bitter Seeds:  4

The Reluctant Fundamentalist:  2 ½

 

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The Great Gatsby parties wild, Blackbird finds paranoia and jail, Kon-Tiki re-creates a perilous ocean voyage

Volkmar Richter
May 9th, 2013

Leonardo DiCaprio is the upward-climbing  nouveau riche The Great Gatsby

Two films this week dissect the American Dream, one in the corn fields of Iowa the other among the super rich of Long Island. But please notice a small Canadian film called Blackbird. It’s more real and relevant.

Here’s the whole list:

The Great Gatsby: 3 out of 4

Blackbird:  3 ½

Kon-Tiki:  3 ½

At Any Price:  2 ½

Peeples:  not previewed

THE GREAT GATSBY: This one should resonate with some people today. After all it’s about a love-struck man who imagines he can attract his woman with ostentatious wealth.  Bling, maybe? And she espouses a philosophy fit for a celebrity-crazy, narcissistic era: “That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

The parties are glitzy and since the time is the Roaring 20s alcohol is illegal, though as popular and widely available as marijuana today. And director Baz Luhrmann pours it out lavishly along with all that color and movement and 3-D images. So why does the movie not deliver more zing?

 

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Iron Man 3 wows; Still Mine charms and DOXA documentaries stir the pot

Volkmar Richter
May 3rd, 2013

It’s Iron Man 3 but for Robert Downey Jr. that’s four flights now as the Marvel Comics character; and his best.  

One movie tops them all this week. But if you’re not into Iron Man, there’s a small Canadian gem and a busy festival of documentaries.

Here’s the list:

Iron Man 3:  4 stars

Still Mine:  3 ½

DOXA 2013: many titles

 

IRON MAN 3: The biggest movie of the week may just be the biggest of the summer too. It is that entertaining, and not just for comic book fans. It’s for anybody who likes a fun popcorn movie now and then, enjoying huge set pieces of action and special effects with a smart story told around them. The first in the series had them all; the second didn’t and last summer’s The Avengers, which included the Iron Man character, raised the standard for this film to match. It does.

 

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Robert Redford’s Vancouver movie, Michael Bay’s Miami comedy and Terrence Malick on the wonder of love

Volkmar Richter
Apr 26th, 2013

Susan Sarandon and Robert Redford star in The Company You Keep about youthful political action that comes back to haunt

Another week with multiple new titles. There’s political resistance in two countries, a post-global warming terror, a trio of inept crooks, big stars in a low-brow comedy and more.

Here’s the list:

The Company You Keep:  3 ½ stars

Pain & Gain:  2 ½

To The Wonder:   3

The Big Wedding: 1 ½

Like Someone in Love:  4

Clandestine Childhood:  4

Leviathan:  2

The Colony 2 ½

Tai Chi Hero: not reviewed

 

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Tom Cruise upstaged by visual effects in Oblivion. Plus: My Awkward Sexual Adventure, Japanese B-movies and Projecting Change

Volkmar Richter
Apr 19th, 2013

Tom Cruise makes a rare excursion into science fiction with Oblivion

Only one big movie arrives this week. That leaves time for a series of old B-movies from Japan, a look ahead to a festival about change and a rarity from Canada: a funny sex comedy.

Here’s the menu:

Oblivion:  3 stars

My Awkward Sexual Adventure: 3 ½

Japanese B-movies:  3, 2 and 2

Projecting Change:   --

 

OBLIVION:  Dazzling visuals make this film work seeing, not the people in it or the story, which sadly powers down and turns ponderous in the middle. That’s a problem because it leaves us challenged to remain alert for the big explanations at the end. There are many.

 

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Ryan Gosling does tremendous job in The Place Beyond the Pines

Volkmar Richter
Apr 12th, 2013

Ryan Gosling is the chief reason why The Place Beyond the Pines gets a high rating this week

With 11 new films arriving all at once, all but one previewed, there’s lots to do and see today. Here’s the menu:

The Place Beyond the Pines:  4 stars

42:   3 

The Sapphires: 3 ½

Trance:  3 

Upstream Color:  3

Picture Day:  4

Becoming Redwood:  3

Revolution:  4 ½

Paris-Manhattan:  2 ½

Renoir:  3

Scary Movie 5: not previewed

 

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES: Ryan Gosling does such a tremendous job creating a realistic working class character in part one, that some people are disappointed by the rest of the movie. Don’t give up on it though. In part two the focus shifts to a cop, played by Bradley Cooper, also effectively, and in part three, 15 years later, it shifts to their sons. The three parts together build a thoughtful essay on how everything we do inevitably affects others and how sons carry on much like their fathers.

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